he then sniffed the air , sneezed , and sniffed again ; master gaddels house smelled like their cellar , only without all the nice smells from the food mama kept down there the jams and the pickles and the slabs of cured pork and heads of hard cheese and the sweet prune wine that they let him have a sip of when he was a very good boy and did all his chores although lately the shelves seemed to empty a lot more fast than mama could fill them up again , which made mama worry even though she tried to hide it by laughing and saying he was eating them out of house and home .