The Widow's Son
whatever the consequences might be, she was glad that he had acted as he did.
'We'll get through somehow, I suppose,' said Owen, wearily. 'There's not much chance of getting a job anywhere else just now, but I shall try to get some work on my own account. I shall do some samples of show cards the same as I did last winter and try to get orders from some of the shops—they usually want something extra at this time. But I'm afraid it is rather too late: most of them already have all they want.'
'I shouldn't go out again to-day if I were you,' said Nora, noticing how ill he looked, 'You should stay at home and read, or write up those minutes.'
The minutes referred to were those of the last meeting of the local branch of the Painters' Society of which Owen was the secretary, and as the snow continued to fall, he occupied himself after dinner in the manner his wife suggested, until four o'clock, when Frankie returned from school bringing with him a large snowball, and crying out as a piece of good news that the snow was still falling heavily, and that he believed it was freezing!
They went to bed very early that night for it was necessary to economise the coal, and because, as the rooms were so near the roof, it was not possible to keep the place warm however much coal was used. The fire seemed, if anything, to make the place colder, for it caused the outer air to pour in through the joints of the ill fitting doors and windows.
Owen lay awake for the greater part of the night. The terror of the future made rest or sleep impossible. He got up very early the next morning, long before it was light, and after lighting the fire, set about preparing the samples he had mentioned to Nora, but found that it would not be possible to do much in this direction without buying more cardboard.
They breakfasted on bread and butter and tea. Frankie had his in bed, and it was decided to keep him away from school until after dinner because the weather was so very cold and his only pair of boots were so saturated from having been out in the snow the previous day.
'I shall make a few enquiries to see if there's any other work to be had before I buy the cardboard,' said Owen, 'although I'm afraid it's not much use.'
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