in view--work they
had tendered for and hoped to get, and said they could look round after
Christmas and he might--possibly--be able to start some of them again.
They would be paid at the office tomorrow--Saturday--at one o'clock as
usual, but if any of them wished they could have their money tonight.
The men thanked him, and most of them said they would come for their
wages at the usual pay-time, and would call round as he suggested,
after the holidays, to see if there was anything to do.

In all, fifteen men--including Philpot, Harlow, Easton and Ned Dawson,
were to 'stand off' that night. They took their dismissal stolidly,
without any remark, some of them even with an affectation of
indifference, but there were few attempts at conversation afterwards.
The little work that remained to be done they did in silence, every man
oppressed by the same terror--the dread of the impending want, the
privation and unhappiness that they knew they and their families would
have to suffer during the next few months.

Bundy and his mate Dawson were working in the kitchen fixing the new
range in place of the old one which they had taken out. They had been
engaged on this job all day, and their hands and faces and clothes were
covered with soot, which they had also contrived to smear and dab all
over the surfaces of the doors and other woodwork in the room, much to
the indignation of Crass and Slyme, who had to wash it all off before
they could put on the final coat of paint.

'You can't help makin' a little mess on a job of this kind, you know,'
remarked Bundy, as he was giving the finishing touches to the work,
making good the broken parts of the wall with cement, whilst his mate
was clearing away the debris.

'Yes; but there's no need to claw 'old of the bloody doors every time
you goes in and out,' snarled Crass, 'and you could 'ave put yer tools
on the floor instead of makin' a bench of the dresser.'

'You can 'ave the bloody place all to yerself in about five minutes,'
replied Bundy, as he assisted to lift a sack of cement weighing about
two hundredweight on to Dawson's buck. 'We're finished now.'

When they had cleared away all the dirt and fragments of bricks and
mortar, while Crass and Slyme proceeded with the painting, Bundy and
Dawson loaded up their hand-cart with the old range and the bags of
unused cement and plaster, which they took back to the yard. Meantime,
Misery was wandering about the house and pounds lik