A Spoon Counted Twice

At a Tallowmarket stall the token-seller tipped passage out of a spoon, one drop at a time, clicking her tongue at each fall. The traveller counted his remaining drops twice, then the ones still clinging to the spoon’s lip. Two drops a span, she said, and not a drop less. He offered her a span and a half for the price of one. She counted that too, and shook her head at the total.