been delayed
owing to the non-arrival of the new cooking range, and the scullery was
still used as the paint shop. The outside work was also nearly
finished: all the first coating was done and the second coating was
being proceeded with. According to the specification, all the outside
woodwork was supposed to have three coats, and the guttering,
rain-pipes and other ironwork two coats, but Crass and Hunter had
arranged to make two coats do for most of the windows and woodwork, and
all the ironwork was to be made to do with one coat only. The windows
were painted in two colours: the sashes dark green and the frames
white. All the rest--gables, doors, railings, guttering, etc.--was
dark green; and all the dark green paint was made with boiled linseed
oil and varnish; no turpentine being allowed to be used on this part of
the work.

'This is some bloody fine stuff to 'ave to use, ain't it?' remarked
Harlow to Philpot on Wednesday morning. 'It's more like a lot of
treacle than anything else.'

'Yes: and it won't arf blister next summer when it gets a bit of sun on
it,' replied Philpot with a grin.

'I suppose they're afraid that if they was to put a little turps in, it
wouldn't bear out, and they'd 'ave to give it another coat.'

'You can bet yer life that's the reason,' said Philpot. 'But all the
same I mean to pinch a drop to put in mine as soon as Crass is gorn.'

'Gorn where?'

'Why, didn't you know? there's another funeral on today? Didn't you
see that corfin plate what Owen was writing in the drorin'-room last
Saturday morning?'

'No, I wasn't 'ere. Don't you remember I was sent away to do a ceilin'
and a bit of painting over at Windley?'

'Oh, of course; I forgot,' exclaimed Philpot.

'I reckon Crass and Slyme must be making a small fortune out of all
these funerals,' said Harlow. 'This makes the fourth in the last
fortnight. What is it they gets for 'em?'

'A shillin' for taking' 'ome the corfin and liftin' in the corpse, and
four bob for the funeral--five bob altogether.'

'That's a bit of all right, ain't it?' said Harlow. 'A couple of them
in a week besides your week's wages, eh? Five bob for two or three
hours work!'

'Yes, the money's all right, mate, but they're welcome to it for my
part. I don't want to go messin' about with no corpses,' replied
Philpot with a shudder.

'Who is this last party what's dead?' asked Harlow after a pause.

'It's a parson what used to belong to the "