Her appearance, her dress, her manners; what they were pleased to term her "stand-offishness"; her shortcomings as a housekeeper; her ignorance in the matter of mending under-linen; her novel-reading and piano- playing — all these had been toothsome morsels, far more enjoyable than the heavy pies, the thick chops, and the sardines which figured in that horrible Mesopotamian meal known as a "thick tea;" and had been picked to the very bone.