"She"s a lady that knows what she wants and how to get it," pursued Mrs.
Evans, unheeding. "She understands men-"
"I"ve buried two "usbands," murmured Mrs. Gorman, nodding.
"And how to manage them," continued Mrs. Evans. "I move that Mrs. Gorman takes the chair. Those in favour-"
Mr. Todd, leaning back in his chair and gripping the arms, gazed defiantly at a row of palms.
"Carried unanimously!" snapped Mrs. Evans.
Mrs. Gorman, tall and bony, advanced and stood over Mr. Todd. Strong men held their breath.
"It"s my chair," she said, gruffly. "I"ve been moved into it."
"Possession," said Mr. Todd, in as firm a voice as he could manage, "is nine points of the law. I"m here and-"
Mrs. Gorman turned, and, without the slightest warning, sat down suddenly and heavily in his lap. A hum of admiration greeted the achievement.
"Get up!" shouted the horrified Mr. Todd. "Get up!"
Mrs. Gorman settled herself more firmly.
"Let me get up," said Mr. Todd, panting.
Mrs. Gorman rose, but remained in a hovering position, between which and the chair Mr. Todd, flushed and dishevelled, extricated himself in all haste. A shrill t.i.tter of laughter and a clapping of hands greeted his appearance. He turned furiously on the pallid Mr. Porter.
"What d"you mean by it?" he demanded. "Are you the master, or ain"t you?
A man what can"t keep order in his own house ain"t fit to be called a man. If my wife was carrying on like this--"
"I wish I was your wife," said Mrs. Gorman, moistening her lips.
Mr. Todd turned slowly and surveyed her.
"I don"t," he said, simply, and, being by this time near the door, faded gently from the room.
"Order!" cried Mrs. Gorman, thumping the arm of her chair with a large, hard-working fist. "Take your seats, ladies."
A strange thrill pa.s.sed through the bodies of her companions and communicated itself to the men in the chairs. There was a moment"s tense pause, and then the end man, muttering something about "going to see what had happened to poor old Ben Todd," rose slowly and went out. His companions, with heads erect and a look of cold disdain upon their faces, followed him.
It was Mr. Porter"s last meeting, but his wife had several more. They lasted, in fact, until the day, a fortnight later, when he came in with flushed face and sparkling eyes to announce that the strike was over and the men victorious.
"Six bob a week more!" he said, with enthusiasm. "You see, I was right to strike, after all."
Mrs. Porter eyed him. "I am out for four bob a week more," she said, calmly.
Her husband swallowed. "You-you don"t understand "ow these things are done," he said, at last. "It takes time. We ought to ne-negotiate."
"All right," said Mrs. Porter, readily. "Seven shillings a week, then."
"Let"s say four and have done with it," exclaimed the other, hastily.
And Mrs. Porter said it.
DIRTY WORK
It was nearly high-water, and the night-watchman, who had stepped aboard a lighter lying alongside the wharf to smoke a pipe, sat with half-closed eyes enjoying the summer evening. The bustle of the day was over, the wharves were deserted, and hardly a craft moved on the river.
Perfumed clouds of s.h.a.g, hovering for a time over the lighter, floated lazily towards the Surrey sh.o.r.e.
"There"s one thing about my job," said the night-watchman, slowly, "it"s done all alone by yourself. There"s no foreman a-hollering at you and offering you a penny for your thoughts, and no mates to run into you from behind with a loaded truck and then ask you why you didn"t look where you"re going to. From six o"clock in the evening to six o"clock next morning I"m my own master."
He rammed down the tobacco with an experienced forefinger and puffed contentedly.
People like you "ud find it lonely (he continued, after a pause); I did at fust. I used to let people come and sit "ere with me of an evening talking, but I got tired of it arter a time, and when one chap fell overboard while "e was showing me "ow he put his wife"s mother in "er place, I gave it up altogether. There was three foot o" mud in the dock at the time, and arter I "ad got "im out, he fainted in my arms.
Arter that I kept myself to myself. Say wot you like, a man"s best friend is "imself. There"s n.o.body else"ll do as much for "im, or let "im off easier when he makes a mistake. If I felt a bit lonely I used to open the wicket in the gate and sit there watching the road, and p"r"aps pa.s.s a word or two with the policeman. Then something "appened one night that made me take quite a dislike to it for a time.
I was sitting there with my feet outside, smoking a quiet pipe, when I "eard a bit of a noise in the distance. Then I "eard people running and shouts of "Stop, thief!" A man came along round the corner full pelt, and, just as I got up, dashed through the wicket and ran on to the wharf. I was arter "im like a shot and got up to "im just in time to see him throw something into the dock. And at the same moment I "eard the other people run past the gate.
"Wot"s up?" I ses, collaring "im.
"Nothing," he ses, breathing "ard and struggling. "Let me go."
He was a little wisp of a man, and I shook "im like a dog shakes a rat.
I remembered my own pocket being picked, and I nearly shook the breath out of "im.
"And now I"m going to give you in charge," I ses, pushing "im along towards the gate.
"Wot for?" he ses, purtending to be surprised.
"Stealing," I ses.
"You"ve made a mistake," he ses; "you can search me if you like."
"More use to search the dock," I ses. "I see you throw it in. Now you keep quiet, else you"ll get "urt. If you get five years I shall be all the more pleased."
I don"t know "ow he did it, but "e did. He seemed to sink away between my legs, and afore I knew wot was "appening, I was standing upside down with all the blood rushing to my "ead. As I rolled over he bolted through the wicket, and was off like a flash of lightning.
A couple o" minutes arterwards the people wot I "ad "eard run past came back agin. There was a big fat policeman with "em-a man I"d seen afore on the beat-and, when they "ad gorn on, he stopped to "ave a word with me.
""Ot work," he ses, taking off his "elmet and wiping his bald "ead with a large red handkerchief. "I"ve lost all my puff."
"Been running?" I ses, very perlite.