nds.

This sum represented the thrifty savings of years, but the poor woman
parted with it willingly in order that the boy should become a skilled
workman. So Bert was apprenticed--bound for five years--to Rushton &
Co.

For the first few months his life had been spent in the paint-shop at
the yard, a place that was something between a cellar and a stable.
There, surrounded by the poisonous pigments and materials of the trade,
the youthful artisan worked, generally alone, cleaning the dirty
paint-pots brought in by the workmen from finished 'jobs' outside, and
occasionally mixing paint according to the instructions of Mr Hunter,
or one of the sub-foremen.

Sometimes he was sent out to carry materials to the places where the
men were working--heavy loads of paint or white lead--sometimes pails
of whitewash that his slender arms had been too feeble to carry more
than a few yards at a time.

Often his fragile, childish figure was seen staggering manfully along,
bending beneath the weight of a pair of steps or a heavy plank.

He could manage a good many parcels at once: some in each hand and some
tied together with string and slung over his shoulders. Occasionally,
however, there were more than he could carry; then they were put into a
handcart which he pushed or dragged after him to the distant jobs.

That first winter the boy's days were chiefly spent in the damp,
evil-smelling, stone-flagged paint-shop, without even a fire to warm
the clammy atmosphere.

But in all this he had seen no hardship. With the unconsciousness of
boyhood, he worked hard and cheerfully. As time went on, the goal of
his childish ambition was reached--he was sent out to work with the
men! And he carried the same spirit with him, always doing his best to
oblige those with whom he was working.

He tried hard to learn, and to be a good boy, and he succeeded, fairly
well.

He soon became a favourite with Owen, for whom he conceived a great
respect and affection, for he observed that whenever there was any
special work of any kind to be done it was Owen who did it. On such
occasions, Bert, in his artful, boyish way, would scheme to be sent to
assist Owen, and the latter whenever possible used to ask that the boy
might be allowed to work with him.

Bert's regard for Owen was equalled in intensity by his dislike of
Crass, who was in the habit of jeering at the boy's aspirations.
'There'll be plenty of time for you to think about doin' fa