The Sixty-Five
dresses, petticoats and underclothing, greasy, mildewed and malodorous. As he crept along, with his eyes on the ground, he uttered at intervals uncouth, inarticulate sounds.
'That's another way of gettin' a livin',' said Sawkins, with a laugh as the miserable creature slunk by. The others laughed, and Harlow was about to make some reply but at that moment a cyclist appeared coming down the hill from the direction of the job. It was Nimrod, so they resumed their journey once more, and presently Hunter shot past on his machine without taking any notice of them.
When they arrived at their destination they found that Rushton had not been there at all, but Nimrod had. Crass said that he had kicked up no end of a row because they had not called at the yard at six o'clock that morning for the ladder instead of after breakfast, and also because the big gable had not been started the first thing that morning.
They carried the ladder into the garden and laid it on the ground by the gable in a passage about six feet wide between the side of the house and the garden wall.
Next, it was necessary that two men should go up into the attic, the window of which was just under the point of the gable, and drop the end of a long rope down to the others who would tie it to the top of the ladder. Then two men would stand on the bottom rung so as to keep the 'foot' down, and three others would have to raise the ladder while the two men up in the attic hauled on the rope.
They called Bundy and his mate Ned Dawson to help, and it was arranged that Harlow and Crass should stand on the foot because they were the heaviest. Philpot, Bundy, and Easton were to 'raise,' and Dawson and Sawkins were to go up to the attic and haul on the rope.
'Where's the rope?' asked Crass.
The others looked blankly at him. None of them had thought of bringing one from the yard.
'Why, ain't there one 'ere?' said Philpot, feebly.
'One 'ere? Of course there ain't one 'ere!' snarled Crass. 'Do you mean to say as you ain't brought one, then?'
Philpot stammered out something about having thought there was one at the house already.
'Well, what the bloody hell are we to do now?' cried Crass angrily. ''Ere it's nearly ten o'clock and we 'aven't begun the
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