look which
meant that men are trying at the best, once you are tied to them.

The cloaks continued to turn up in conversation, and Hendry poured
scorn upon Jess's weakness, telling her she would be better employed
mending his trousers than brooding over an eleven and a bit that would
have to spend its life in a drawer. An outsider would have thought
that Hendry was positively cruel to Jess. He seemed to take a delight
in finding that she had neglected to sew a button on his waistcoat.
His real joy, however, was the knowledge that she sewed as no other
woman in Thrums could sew. Jess had a genius for making new garments
out of old ones, and Hendry never tired of gloating over her cleverness
so long as she was not present. He was always athirst for fresh proofs
of it, and these were forthcoming every day. Sparing were his words of
praise to herself, but in the evening he generally had a smoke with me
in the attic, and then the thought of Jess made him chuckle till his
pipe went out. When he smoked he grunted as if in pain, though this
really added to the enjoyment.

"It doesna matter," he would say to me, "what Jess turns her hand to,
she can mak ony mortal thing. She doesna need nae teachin'; na, juist
gie her a guid look at onything, be it clothes, or furniture, or in the
bakin' line, it's all the same to her. She'll mak another exactly like
it. Ye canna beat her. Her bannocks is so superior 'at a Tilliedrum
woman took to her bed after tastin' them, an' when the lawyer has
company his wife gets Jess to mak some bannocks for her an' syne
pretends they're her ain bakin'. Ay, there's a story aboot that. One
day the auld doctor, him 'at's deid, was at his tea at the lawyer's,
an' says the guidwife, 'Try the cakes, Mr. Riach; they're my own
bakin'.' Weel, he was a fearsomely outspoken man, the doctor, an' nae
suner had he the bannock atween his teeth, for he didna stop to
swallow't, than he says, 'Mistress Geddie,' says he, 'I wasna born on a
Sabbath. Na, na, you're no the first grand leddy 'at has gien me
bannocks as their ain bakin' 'at was baked and fired by Jess Logan, her
'at's Hendry McQumpha's wife.' Ay, they say the lawyer's wife didna
ken which wy to look, she was that mortified. It's juist the same wi'
sewin'. There's wys o' ornamentin' christenin' robes an' the like
'at's kent to naebody but hersel; an' as for stockin's, weel, though
I've seen her mak sae mony, she amazes me yet. I mind o' a fu