And when he suggested in a whisper that perhaps the circumstance need not be mentioned to Mrs.Masters, Nickem winked again and put his fore-finger to the side of his big carbuncled nose.
That evening Larry Twentyman came in, but was not received with any great favour by Mrs.Masters.There was growing up at this moment in Dillsborough the bitterness of real warfare between the friends and enemies of sport in general, and Mrs.Masters was ranking herself thereby among the enemies.

Larry was of course one of the friends.
But unhappily there was a slight difference of sentiment even in Larry's own house, and on this very morning old Mrs.Twentyman had expressed to Mrs.Masters a feeling of wrong which had gradually risen from the annual demolition of her pet broods of turkeys.

She declared that for the last three years every turkey poult had gone, and that at last she was beginning to feel it.

"It's over a hundred of 'em they've had, and it is wearing," said the old woman.

Larry had twenty times begged her to give up the rearing turkeys, but her heart had been too high for that.