Page:A Child of the Jago - Arthur Morrison.djvu/223

 now leave—having been ejected again and again because of unpaid rent. Nevertheless, they clamoured for redress, as they might have clamoured had they never changed dwellings in their lives.

Nobody resisted the police; for there were too many of them. Moreover, Father Sturt was there and few had hardihood for any but their best behaviour in his presence. Still, there were disputes among the Jagos themselves, that sometimes came very near to fights. Ginger Stagg's missis professed to recognize a long-lost property in a tin kettle brought into the outer air among the belongings of Mrs. Walsh. The miscellaneous rags and sticks that were Cocko Harnwell's household goods got mingled in the roadway with those appertaining to the Fishers; and their assortment without a turn of family combat was a task which tried the vicar's influence to the utmost. Mrs. Rafferty, too, was suspected of undue pride in a cranky deal wash-stand, and