In came the housemaid , with her cousin the baker . In came the cook , with her brother 's particular friend the milkman . In came the boy from over the way , who was suspected of not having board enough from his master ; trying to hide himself behind the girl from next door but one , who was proved to have had her ears pulled by her mistress . In they all came , one after another ; some shyly , some boldly , some gracefully , some awkwardly , some pushing , some pulling ; in they all came , any how and every how . Away they all went , twenty couple at once ; hands half round and back again the other way ; down the middle and up again ; round and round in various stages of affectionate grouping ; old top couple always turning up in the wrong place ; new top couple starting off again as soon as they got there ; all top couples at last , and not a bottom one to help them ! When this result was brought about , old Fezziwig , clapping his hands to stop the dance , cried out , `` Well done ! '' and the fiddler plunged his hot face into a pot of porter , especially provided for that purpose . But , scorning rest upon his reappearance , he instantly began again , though there were no dancers yet , as if the other fiddler had been carried home , exhausted , on a shutter , and he were a bran-new man resolved to beat him out of sight , or perish . There were more dances , and there were forfeits , and more dances , and there was cake , and there was negus , and there was a great piece of Cold Roast , and there was a great piece of Cold Boiled , and there were mince-pies , and plenty of beer . But the great effect of the evening came after the Roast and Boiled , when the fiddler -LRB- an artful dog , mind ! The sort of man who knew his business better than you or I could have told it him ! -RRB- struck up `` Sir Roger de Coverley . '' Then old Fezziwig stood out to dance with Mrs. Fezziwig . Top couple , too ; with a good stiff piece of work cut out for them ; three or four and twenty pair of partners ; people who were not to be trifled with ; people who would dance , and had no notion of walking . But if they had been twice as many -- ah ! four times -- old Fezziwig would have been a match for them , and so would Mrs. Fezziwig . As to her , she was worthy to be his partner in every sense of the term . If that 's not high praise , tell me higher , and I 'll use it . A positive light appeared to issue from Fezziwig 's calves . They shone in every part of the dance like moons .
You could n't have predicted , XXXXX any given time , what would become of them next .
If In after at down for into like of with