Chook's powerful frame, she asserted, was due entirely to careful nourishment in his youth.

"Good meals keep people out of jail," was her favourite remark.

Chook had learned this instead of the catechism, and the sight of Pinkey's starved body stirred his anger.

What she wanted was proper nourishment to cover her bones.
The next Sunday, while Pinkey was frying some odds and ends in the pan to freshen them up for breakfast, Mrs Partridge, who was finishing a novelette in bed, heard a determined knock on the door.

It was only eight o'clock.