The two
gentlemen remained at the house for about half an hour and as they went
away the mournful sound of the Town Hall bell--which was always tolled
to summon meetings of the Council--was heard in the distance, and the
hands remarked to each other that another robbery was about to be
perpetrated.

Hunter did not come to the job again that day: he had been sent by
Rushton to price some work for which the firm was going to tender an
estimate. There was only one person who felt any regret at his
absence, and that was Mrs White--Bert's mother, who had been working at
'The Cave' for several days, scrubbing the floors. As a rule, Hunter
paid her wages every night, and on this occasion she happened to need
the money even more than usual. As leaving off time drew near, she
mentioned the matter to Crass, who advised her to call at the office on
her way home and ask the young lady clerk for the money. As Hunter did
not appear, she followed the foreman's advice.

When she reached the shop Rushton was just coming out. She explained
to him what she wanted and he instructed Mr Budd to tell Miss Wade to
pay her. The shopman accordingly escorted her to the office at the
back of the shop, and the young lady book-keeper--after referring to
former entries to make quite certain of the amount, paid her the sum
that Hunter had represented as her wages, the same amount that Miss
Wade had on the previous occasions given him to pay the charwoman. When
Mrs White got outside she found that she held in her hand half a crown
instead of the two shillings she usually received from Mr Hunter. At
first she felt inclined to take it back, but after some hesitation she
thought it better to wait until she saw Hunter, when she could tell him
about it; but the next morning when she saw the disciple at 'The Cave'
he broached the subject first, and told her that Miss Wade had made a
mistake. And that evening when he paid her, he deducted the sixpence
from the usual two shillings.

The lecture announced by Philpot was not delivered. Anxiously awaiting
the impending slaughter the men kept tearing into it as usual, for they
generally keep working in the usual way, each one trying to outdo the
others so as not to lose his chance of being one of the lucky one...

Misery now went round and informed all the men with the exception of
Crass, Owen, Slyme and Sawkins--that they would have to stand off that
night. He told them that the firm had several jobs