Jonah

ther that had gathered through the week. Then he set the heavy iron lasts on their shelves, where they looked like a row of amputated feet. The shining knives and irons lay in order, ready to ha

were swept clean, he looked

n work began, everything fell into disorder, and he wasted hours peering over the ben

shoes of the poor, who must wear them while upper and sole hang together. They betrayed the age and sex of the wearer as clearly as a photograph. The shoddy slipper, with the high, French heels, of the smart shop-gi

orning; but when he walked in, Paasch met him with a look of surprise, thinking he h

on. Dere is not a stitch of work t

at half price when the leather had perished. In his eagerness for work, he had forgotten that Paasch's business was so small. He looked round with annoyance, realizing that he would never earn the wages here that he needed for h

y. The sight of the old man, bending over the last, with his simple, placid face, annoyed him. And he fe

w shelves up, run a partition across, and dress the windows like the shops down town. In his eager thoughts he saw the dingy shop transformed u

e into his head, and he stared at Paasch with a hard, calculating look in his eyes. Then he got up, and walked abruptly out of the sho

years that Jonah had worked for him. And he had decided to leave him, if a job could be found. He stood on the footpath and surveyed the Road with some anxiety. There were plenty of shops, but few of them in whi

ing else. Paasch had taught him the trade thoroughly, from cutting out the insoles to running the bead-iron round the finished boot. As a forlorn hope, he resolved to call on Bob Watkins. Bob, who always passe

le cold all the winter, an' at last 'e got so bad we 'ad to call the doctor in, an' 'e to

n' fer a job, the

I was a dressmaker before I got married, and my sister's 'ad more work than she could do ever since I left 'er. And Bob wrote down last week to say that I was to sell the lasts and tools for what they

'em, but gimme a piece of paper,

inventory based on the cost and

nk yer'll git it," he said at last. "Seven

to get that," s

round Paasch and the others. But seven pounds! He had never handled so much money in his life, and there was no one to lend it to him. Mrs Yabsley was as poor as a crow. Well

out ceremony on her wedding-day, and was spending her honeymoon on the back veranda. Her tastes were very simple. Give her nothing to do, a novelet

fiddle!" cried Mrs Yabsley, cheerful

sday. I might 'ave known that. An' anyhow, if I

a wife an' family," replied the old

s being put to the test, and she remar

aid Jonah. "I went round ter Bob Watkins, but 'e's

'em?" asked Mrs Yabsl

ey'd set a man up f

aking the ashes from under the copper. "Wait til

th pleasure to see his father. Jonah tilted him on his back, and tickled his f

o' peace!" cried Ada, a

'elp Mum wi' the cl

rin. "I didn't knock off work to carry brick

at he had married her for the child's sake alone. A sava

oiling. Many's the weary night I've spent in bed thinkin' about you w'en I might 'ave bin snorin'. That reminds me. Did y'ever notice yer can niver tell exactly w'en yer drop off? I've tried all I know, but ye're awake one minit, an' chasin' a butterfly wi' a cow's 'ead the next. But that ain't wot I'm a-ta

hed Jonah, feeling his nose wit

e yer got pluck enough ter start o

en I've got no bea

an' buy Bob Watkins's shop out as i

" cried Jonah

us habits. Suppose she were like the misers she had read of in books, who lived in the gutter, and owned terraces of houses? For a moment Ada sa

yphics like Chinese, pencilled on the cupboard. S

" she announced. She spoke as if it were a million.

um? In the bank

oney in the bank. I know all about them. Yer put yer money in fer years, an' then, w'en they've got enough, they

When the coins mounted to a sovereign, she had changed them into a gold piece. Then, her mind disturbed by visions of thieves bent on plunder, she had hit on a plan. A floorboard was loose in the kitchen. She had levered this up, and probed with a stick till she touched solid earth. Then t

hen he thrust his arm down till he touched the soft earth. He seemed a long time gro

" he said. "Are yez su

, sharply. "I dropped them down rig

d again wit

try," said Mum

and then plunged her arm into the gap. Jona

f despair, Mrs Yabsle

sery as the tears rolled down her face. Jonah and Ada stared at one another in dismay, each wondering if this story of a hidden treasure was a delusion of the old woman's

e, too, had been robbed. "If it's gone, somebody took it. Are yer sure yer n

a livin' soul till this day," wailed Mrs

es! I'll find it, if the blimey

rambled with desperate haste into safety. A faint, earthy smell rose from the foundations. Suddenly, with a ye

of discoloured paper. One side had been chewed to a pulp b

make their nests. Every dol

, heaving a tremendous sigh. "

fternoon Jonah, who looked like a sweep, gave up the search. The kitchen was a wreck. Mrs Yabsley sat with the coins in her lap, feasting her eyes on this heap of glitteri