`` ahh ... well , you 'd stayed to home with jem and his stomachache '' -a tactically helpful ailment , greatly exaggerated in order to keep her from having to sit through two hours of staring and whispering- '' so when jocky abernathy asked me would i care to go fishing with him ... '' `` roger mackenzie , '' she said , fixing him with a look of wrath , `` if you put your good silk stockings in a creel full of smelly fish and forgot them- '' `` i 'll just nip up to the house and borrow a pair from your da , shall i ? ''