Page:London - The People of the Abyss.djvu/219

Rh As the afternoon wore along, we realized that living wages could not be made—by men. Women could pick as much as men, and children could do almost as well as women; so it was impossible for a man to compete with a woman and half a dozen children. For it is the woman and the half-dozen children who count as a unit and by their combined capacity determine the unit’s pay.

&quot;I say, matey, I’m beastly hungry,&quot; said I to Bert. We had not had any dinner.

&quot;Blimey, but I could eat the ’ops,&quot; he replied.

Whereupon we both lamented our negligence in not rearing up a numerous progeny to help us in