But his wife met this extravagant innovation with furious opposition.

It was sheer waste; it was something almost unpardonably prodigal.

They had eaten bacon all their lives, often bacon with the bristles thick upon it, and to throw away money like this was positively wicked.

However, the-old gentleman, being stubborn as a horse-nail, persisted; the wife, still grumbling, calmed down; and the one joint of meat became an institution.
Harry, the younger, still kept it up; but it had lost its significance in his day, for he had a fowl or two in the week, and a hare or a partridge, and, besides, had the choicest hams.
Now, this dispute between the old gentleman and his wife--this dispute as to which should be most parsimonious--was typical of their whole course of life.

If one saved cheese-parings, the other would go without cheese at all, and be content with dry bread.