Page:Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.djvu/340

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists o'clock and git yer money. We can't afford to pay you for playing the fool.'

Leaving the man dumbfounded and without waiting for a reply, Misery went downstairs, and after bellowing at the foreman for the lack of discipline on the job, he rode away, having come in so stealthily that none of the men knew of his arrival until they heard him shouting at Smith, who did not wait to have his breakfast but went off at once. When he had gone his mates agreed that it served him right; he ought to have had more sense. Most of them realised that this was the beginning of another slaughter; it would only be a matter of a week or two before all the jobs were finished up. They were working at a large house called 'The Refuge,' nicknamed 'The Hospital' by the men because as the other jobs were completed they were all sent on here, so that there were quite a crowd of them at work. All the inside was finished except the kitchen and scullery, and everyone was busy on the outside. Poor old Joe Philpot, whose rheumatism had been very bad lately, was doing a very rough job, painting the gables from a long ladder. But though there were plenty of younger men more suitable he did not like to complain for fear Crass or Misery should think he was not up to his work. At dinner time all the old hands assembled in the kitchen, including Crass, Easton, Harlow, Bundy and Dick Wantley, who still sat on a pail behind his usual moat. Philpot and Harlow were absent and everybody wondered what had become of them. Several times during the morning they had been seen whispering together and comparing scraps of paper, and various theories were put forward to account for their disappearance.

'Looks to me as if they'll stand a very good chance of gettin' drowned if they've gone very far,' remarked Easton, for the weather had been threatening all the morning and within the last few minutes the sky had become so dark that Crass lit the gas so that they could see the way to their mouths. The wind grew more boisterous every moment; the darkness increased; and presently a torrential downfall of rain beat fiercely against the windows, and poured down the glass. The men glanced gloomily at each other. No more work could be done outside that day, and there was nothing left to do inside. As they were all paid by the hour this meant the loss of half a day's pay. 328