Part 89 (1/2)

'We mustn't stop long, you know,' said Harlow. 'Most likely he's gone to the job, and he'll wait to see how long it takes us to get there.'

Barrington felt inclined to say that in that case Rushton would have to wait, but he remained silent, for he remembered that although he personally did not care a bra.s.s b.u.t.ton whether he got the sack or not, the others were not so fortunately circ.u.mstanced.

While they were resting, another two-legged donkey pa.s.sed by pus.h.i.+ng another cart--or rather, holding it back, for he was coming slowly down the hill. Another Heir of all the ages--another Imperialist--a degraded, brutalized wretch, clad in filthy, stinking rags, his toes protruding from the rotten broken boots that were tied with bits of string upon his stockingless feet. The ramshackle cart was loaded with empty bottles and putrid rags, heaped loosely in the cart and packed into a large sack. Old coats and trousers, dresses, petticoats, and under-clothing, greasy, mildewed and malodorous. As he crept along with his eyes on the ground, the man gave utterance at intervals to uncouth, inarticulate sounds.

'That's another way of gettin' a livin',' said Sawkins with a laugh as the miserable creature slunk past.

Harlow also laughed, and Barrington regarded them curiously. He thought it strange that they did not seem to realize that they might some day become like this man themselves.

'I've often wondered what they does with all them dirty old rags,' said Philpot.

'Made into paper,' replied Harlow, briefly.

'Some of them are,' said Barrington, 'and some are manufactured into shoddy cloth and made into Sunday clothes for working men.

'There's all sorts of different ways of gettin' a livin',' remarked Sawkins, after a pause. 'I read in a paper the other day about a bloke wot goes about lookin' for open trap doors and cellar flaps in front of shops. As soon as he spotted one open, he used to go and fall down in it; and then he'd be took to the 'orspital, and when he got better he used to go and threaten to bring a action against the shop-keeper and get damages, and most of 'em used to part up without goin' in front of the judge at all. But one day a slop was a watchin' of 'im, and seen 'im chuck 'isself down one, and when they picked 'im up they found he'd broke his leg. So they took 'im to the 'orspital and when he came out and went round to the shop and started talkin' about bringin' a action for damages, the slop collared 'im and they give 'im six months.'

'Yes, I read about that,' said Harlow, 'and there was another case of a chap who was run over by a motor, and they tried to make out as 'e put 'isself in the way on purpose; but 'e got some money out of the swell it belonged to; a 'undered pound I think it was.'

'I only wish as one of their motors would run inter me,' said Philpot, making a feeble attempt at a joke. 'I lay I'd get some a' me own back out of 'em.'

The others laughed, and Harlow was about to make some reply but at that moment a cyclist appeared coming down the hill from the direction of the job. It was Nimrod, so they resumed their journey once more and presently Hunter shot past on his machine without taking any notice of them...

When they arrived they found that Rushton had not been there at all, but Nimrod had. Cra.s.s said that he had kicked up no end of a row because they had not called at the yard at six o'clock that morning for the ladder, instead of going for it after breakfast--making two journeys instead of one, and he had also been ratty because the big gable had not been started the first thing that morning.

They carried the ladder into the garden and laid it on the ground along the side of the house where the gable was. A brick wall about eight feet high separated the grounds of 'The Refuge' from those of the premises next door. Between this wall and the side wall of the house was a s.p.a.ce about six feet wide and this s.p.a.ce formed a kind of alley or lane or pa.s.sage along the side of the house. They laid the ladder on the ground along this pa.s.sage, the 'foot' was placed about half-way through; just under the centre of the gable, and as it lay there, the other end of the ladder reached right out to the front railings.

Next, it was necessary that two men should go up into the attic--the window of which was just under the point of the gable--and drop the end of a long rope down to the others who would tie it to the top of the ladder. Then two men would stand on the bottom rung, so as to keep the 'foot' down, and the three others would have to raise the ladder up, while the two men up in the attic hauled on the rope.

They called Bundy and his mate Ned Dawson to help, and it was arranged that Harlow and Cra.s.s should stand on the foot because they were the heaviest. Philpot, Bundy, and Barrington were to 'raise', and Dawson and Sawkins were to go up to the attic and haul on the rope.

'Where's the rope?' asked Cra.s.s.

The others looked blankly at him. None of them had thought of bringing one from the yard.

'Why, ain't there one 'ere?' asked Philpot.

'One 'ere? Of course there ain't one 'ere!' snarled Cra.s.s. 'Do you mean to say as you ain't brought one, then?'

Philpot stammered out something about having thought there was one at the house already, and the others said they had not thought about it at all.

'Well, what the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l are we to do now?' cried Cra.s.s, angrily.

'I'll go to the yard and get one,' suggested Barrington. 'I can do it in twenty minutes there and back.'

'Yes! and a b.l.o.o.d.y fine row there'd be if Hunter was to see you! 'Ere it's nearly ten o'clock and we ain't made a start on this gable wot we ought to 'ave started first thing this morning.'

'Couldn't we tie two or three of those short ropes together?' suggested Philpot. 'Those that the other two ladders was spliced with?'