"It"s all right, Millikins, knocked over these "ere scales I did.
Ain"t I clumsy? "Ush!"
Moans and cries could be distinctly heard from below.
""Ere, "elp me gather "em up, Millikins. I "ope I "aven"t broken the scales."
Having replaced the scales and weights on the counter, Bindle proceeded to pull up the trap-door.
"All clear!" he shouted cheerily.
There was no response, only a moaning from the extreme corner of the cellar.
""Ere, come along, "Earty. Wot d"you two mean by takin" my missis down into a cellar like that?"
"Is it gone?" quavered a voice that Bindle a.s.sumed must be that of Mr.
Gupperduck.
"Is wot gone?" he enquired.
"The bomb," whispered the voice.
"Oh, come up, Gupperduck," said Bindle. "Don"t play the giddy goat in the potato-cellar. Wot about you puttin" your trust in Gawd?"
There was a sound of movement below. A few moments later Mr.
Gupperduck"s face appeared within the radius of light. He had lost his spectacles and his upper set of false teeth. His hair was awry and his face distorted with fear. He climbed laboriously up the steps leading to the shop. He was followed by Mr. Hearty, literally yellow with terror.
"Wot "ave you done with my missis?" demanded Bindle.
"She--she--she"s down there," stuttered Mr. Gupperduck.
"Then you two jolly well go down and fetch "er up, or I"ll kick you down," cried Bindle angrily. "Nice sort of sports you are, leavin" a woman alone in an "ole like that, after takin" er down there."
Mr. Hearty and Mr. Gupperduck looked at Bindle and then at each other.
Slowly they turned and descended the ladder again. For some minutes they could be heard moving about below, then Mr. Hearty appeared with Mrs. Bindle"s limp form clasped round the waist, whilst Mr. Gupperduck pushed from behind.
For one moment a grin flitted across Bindle"s features, then, seeing Mrs. Bindle"s pathetic plight, his manner changed.
""Ere, Millikins, get some water," he cried. "Your Aunt Lizzie"s fainted."
Between them they half-carried, half-dragged Mrs. Bindle into the parlour, where she was laid upon the sofa, vacated by Mrs. Hearty. Her hands were chafed, water dabbed upon her forehead, and a piece of brown paper burned under her nose by Mrs. Hearty.
She had not lost consciousness; but stared about her in a vague, half-dazed fashion.
Mr. Hearty and Mr. Gupperduck, who had retrieved his false teeth, seemed thoroughly ashamed of themselves. It was Mr. Hearty who suggested that Mrs. Bindle should spend the night with them, as she was not in a fit condition to go home.
As he spoke, the "All Clear" signal rang out joyfully upon the stillness without, two long-drawn-out notes that told of another twenty-four hours of safety. Mr. Gupperduck straightened himself, Mr.
Hearty seemed to revive, and from Mrs. Bindle"s eyes fled the expression of fear.
"Well, I must be orf," said Bindle. "Look after my missis, "Earty. You comin" along, Mr. G.?" he enquired of Mr. Gupperduck, as, followed by Millie, he left the room.
"It was sweet of you not to laugh at them, Uncle Joe," said Millie, as they stood at the door waiting for Mr. Gupperduck.
"n.o.body didn"t ought to mind sayin" they"re afraid, Millikins," said Bindle, looking at the serious face before him; "but I don"t like a cove wot says "e"s brave, an" then turns out to "ave about as much "eart as a shillin" rabbit. Come along, Mr. G. Good night, Millikins, my dear. Are we down-"earted? No!" and Bindle went out into the night, followed by a meek and chastened Mr. Gupperduck.
CHAPTER IV
THE DUPLICATION OF MR. HEARTY
I
"You"ve never been a real husband to me," burst out Mrs. Bindle stormily.
Bindle did not even raise his eyes from his favourite dish of stewed-steak-and-onions.
"Cold mutton," he had once remarked to his friend, Ginger, "means peace, because I don"t like it--the mutton, I mean; but stewed-steak-and-onions means an "ell of a row. Mrs. B. ain"t able to see me enjoyin" myself but wot she thinks I"m bein" rude to Gawd."
Bindle continued his meal in silent expectation.
"Look at you!" continued Mrs. Bindle. "Look at you now!"
Bindle still declined to be drawn into a discussion.
"Look at Mr. Hearty." Mrs. Bindle uttered her challenge with the air of one who plays the ace of trumps.
With great deliberation Bindle wiped the last remaining vestige of gravy from his plate with a piece of bread, which he placed in his mouth. With a sigh he leaned back in his chair.
"Personally, myself," he remarked calmly, "I"d rather not."
"Rather not what?" snapped Mrs. Bindle.
"Look at "Earty," was the response.
"You might look at worse men than him," flashed Mrs. Bindle with rising wrath.
"I might," replied Bindle, "and then again I might not."
"Look how he"s got on!" challenged Mrs. Bindle.
After a few moments of silence Bindle remarked more to himself than to Mrs. Bindle:
"Gawd made me, an" Gawd made "Earty; but in one of us "E made a bloomer. If I"m right, "Earty"s wrong; if "Earty"s right, I"m wrong.
If they "ave me in "eaven, they won"t want "Earty; an" if "Earty gets in, well, they won"t look at me."
Mrs. Bindle proceeded to gather up the plates.