Hands and Brains
'I'm afraid not,' replied Owen, feeling inclined to laugh at the absurdity of the question. 'It will need a little thinking about.'
'When can you have them ready then? This is Monday—Wednesday morning?'
Owen hesitated.
'We don't want to keep 'im waiting too long, you knows, or 'e may give up the idear altogether.'
'Well, say Friday morning, then,' said Owen, resolving that he would stay up all night if necessary to get it done.
Rushton shook his head.
'Can't you get it done before that? I'm afraid if we keeps 'im waiting all that time we may lose the job altogether.'
'I can't get them done any quicker in my spare time,' returned Owen, flushing; 'if you like to let me stay at home to-morrow and charge the time the same as if I had gone to work at the house, I could go to my ordinary work on Wednesday and let you have the drawings on Thursday morning.'
'Oh, all right,' said Rushton, hastily; 'but all the same, don't pile it on too thick, or we shall 'ave to charge so much for the work that 'e won't 'ave it done at all. Good-night.'
'I suppose I may take this photograph with me?'
'Yes, certainly,' said Rushton, as he returned to the perusal of his letters.
That night, long after his wife and Frankie were asleep, Owen worked in the sitting room, searching old numbers of the 'Decorator's Journal' and through the illustrations in other books of designs for examples of Moorish work, and making rough sketches in pencil.
He did not attempt to finish anything yet, but he roughed out the general plan, and when at last he went to bed he could not sleep for a long time. He almost fancied he was in the drawing room at the 'Cave'. First of all it would be necessary to take down the ugly plaster centre flower with its crevices all filled up with old whitewash. The cornice was all right; it was fortunately a very simple one, with a deep cove and without many enrichments. Then, when the walls and the ceiling had been properly prepared, the ornamentation would be proceeded with: the walls divided into panels and arches containing painted designs and lattice work, the panels of the door decorated in a similar manner; the mouldings of the door
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