k in the morning hours.
Work! for the night is coming,
Work 'mid springing flowers.

'Work while the dew is sparkling,
Work in the noonday sun!
Work! for the night is coming
When man's work is done!'

When this hymn was finished, someone else, imitating the whine of a
street-singer, started, 'Oh, where is my wandering boy tonight?' and
then Harlow--who by some strange chance had a penny--took it out of his
pocket and dropped it on the floor, the ringing of the coin being
greeted with shouts of 'Thank you, kind lady,' from several of the
singers. This little action of Harlow's was the means of bringing a
most extraordinary circumstance to light. Although it was Saturday
morning, several of the others had pennies or half-pence! and at the
conclusion of each verse they all followed Harlow's example and the
house resounded with the ringing of falling coins, cries of 'Thank you,
kind lady,' 'Thank you, sir,' and 'Gord bless you,' mingled with shouts
of laughter.

'My wandering boy' was followed by a choice selection of choruses of
well-known music-hall songs, including 'Goodbye, my Bluebell', 'The
Honeysuckle and the Bee', 'I've got 'em!' and 'The Church Parade', the
whole being tastefully varied and interspersed with howls, shrieks,
curses, catcalls, and downward explosions of flatulence.

In the midst of the uproar Crass came upstairs.

''Ere!' he shouted. 'For Christ's sake make less row! Suppose Nimrod
was to come back!'

'Oh, he ain't comin' any more today,' said Harlow, recklessly.

'Besides, what if 'e does come?' cried Easton. 'Oo cares for 'im?'

'Well, we never know; and for that matter Rushton or Sweater might come
at any minit.'

With this, Crass went muttering back to the scullery, and the men
relapsed into their usual silence.

At ten minutes to one they all ceased work, put away their colours and
locked up the house. There were a number of 'empties' to be taken away
and left at the yard on their way to the office; these Crass divided
amongst the others--carrying nothing himself--and then they all set out
for the office to get their money, cracking jokes as they went along.
Harlow and Easton enlivened the journey by coughing significantly
whenever they met a young woman, and audibly making some complimentary
remark about her personal appearance. If the girl smiled, each of them
eagerly claimed to have 'seen her first', but if she appeared offe