ing the week one or other of them was
taken away to do some other work; once Crass and Slyme had to go and
wash off and whiten a ceiling somewhere, and several times Sawkins was
sent out to assist the plumbers.

Every day some of the men who had been 'stood off' called at the yard
to ask if any other 'jobs' had 'come in'. From these callers they
heard all the news. Old Jack Linden had not succeeded in getting
anything to do at the trade since he was discharged from Rushton's, and
it was reported that he was trying to earn a little money by hawking
bloaters from house to house. As for Philpot, he said that he had been
round to nearly all the firms in the town and none of them had any work
to speak of.

Newman--the man whom the reader will remember was sacked for taking too
much pains with his work--had been arrested and sentenced to a month's
imprisonment because he had not been able to pay his poor rates, and
the Board of Guardians were allowing his wife three shillings a week to
maintain herself and the three children. Philpot had been to see them,
and she told him that the landlord was threatening to turn them into
the street; he would have seized their furniture and sold it if it had
been worth the expense of the doing.

'I feel ashamed of meself,' Philpot added in confidence to Owen, 'when
I think of all the money I chuck away on beer. If it wasn't for that,
I shouldn't be in such a hole meself now, and I might be able to lend
'em a 'elpin' 'and.'

'It ain't so much that I likes the beer, you know,' he continued; 'it's
the company. When you ain't got no 'ome, in a manner o' speakin', like
me, the pub's about the only place where you can get a little
enjoyment. But you ain't very welcome there unless you spends your
money.'

'Is the three shillings all they have to live on?'

'I think she goes out charin' when she can get it,' replied Philpot,
'but I don't see as she can do a great deal o' that with three young
'uns to look after, and from what I hear of it she's only just got over
a illness and ain't fit to do much.'

'My God!' said Owen.

'I'll tell you what,' said Philpot. 'I've been thinking we might get
up a bit of a subscription for 'em. There's several chaps in work what
knows Newman, and if they was each to give a trifle we could get enough
to pay for a Christmas dinner, anyway. I've brought a sheet of
foolscap with me, and I was goin' to ask you to write out the heading
for me.'

As th