So, the pie was brought down, and the worthy Mr. Boffin exercised his patience until Wegg, in the exercise of his knife and fork, had finished the dish: only profiting by the opportunity to inform Wegg that although it was not strictly fashionable to keep the contents of a larder thus exposed to view, he ( Mr. Boffin) considered it hospitable; for the reason, that instead of saying, in a comparatively unmeaning manner, to a visitor, “There are such and such edibles downstairs; will you have anything up?” you took the bold practical course of saying, “Cast your eye along the shelves, and, if you see anything you like there, have it down.”