"And I dealt off the grocer for fifteen years, and the wood-and-coal man for ten, and I lived in that house nine years last Easter Monday and never owed a penny before," she repeated for the tenth time.
"Well, that"s a mistake," reflected Bill. "I never dealt off n.o.body more"n twice in my life.... I heerd you was married again, Mrs Aspinall--if it"s a right thing to ask?"
"Wherever did you hear that? I did get married again--to my sorrow."
"Then you ain"t Mrs Aspinall--if it"s a fair thing to ask?"
"Oh, yes! I"m known as Mrs Aspinall. They all call me Mrs Aspinall."
"I understand. He cleared, didn"t he? Run away?"
"Well, yes--no---he---"
"I understand. He"s s"posed to be dead?"
"Yes."
"Well, that"s red-hot! So"s my old man, and I hope he don"t resurrect again."
"You see, I married my second for the sake of my children."
"That"s a great mistake," reflected Bill. "My mother married my step-father for the sake of me, and she"s never been done telling me about it."
"Indeed! Did _your_ mother get married again?"
"Yes. And he left me with a batch of step-sisters and step-brothers to look after, as well as mother; as if things wasn"t bad enough before. We didn"t want no help to be pinched, and poor, and half-starved. I don"t see where my sake comes in at all."
"And how"s your mother now?"
"Oh, she"s all right, thank you. She"s got a hard time of it, but she"s pretty well used to it."
"And are you still working at Grinder Brothers"?"
"No. I got tired of slavin" there for next to nothing. I got sick of my step-father waitin" outside for me on pay-day, with a dirty, drunken, spieler pal of his waitin" round the corner for him. There wasn"t nothin" in it. It got to be too rough altogether.... Blast Grinders!"
"And what are you doing now?"
"Sellin" papers. I"m always tryin" to get a start in somethin" else, but I ain"t got no luck. I always come back to, sellin" papers."
Then, after a thought, he added reflectively: "Blast papers!"
His present ambition was to drive a cart.
"I drove a cart twice, and once I rode a butcher"s horse. A bloke worked me out of one billet, and I worked myself out of the other. I didn"t know when I was well off. Then the banks went bust, and my last boss went insolvent, and one of his partners went into Darlinghurst for suicide, and the other went into Gladesville for being mad; and one day the bailiff seized the cart and horse with me in it and a load of timber. So I went home and helped mother and the kids to live on one meal a day for six months, and keep the b.u.m-bailiff out. Another cove had my news-stand."
Then, after a thought "Blast reconstriction!"
"But you surely can"t make a living selling newspapers?"
"No, there"s nothin" in it. There"s too many at it. The blessed women spoil it. There"s one got a good stand down in George Street, and she"s got a dozen kids sellin"--they can"t be all hers-and then she"s got the hide to come up to my stand and sell in front of me.... What are you thinkin" about doin", Mrs Aspinall?"
"I don"t know," she wailed. "I really don"t know what to do."
And there still being some distance to go, she plunged into her tale of misery once more, not forgetting the length of time she had dealt with her creditors.
Bill pushed his hat forward and walked along on the edge of the kerb.
"Can"t you shift? Ain"t you got no people or friends that you can go to for a while?"
"Oh, yes; there"s my sister-in-law; she"s asked me times without number to come and stay with her till things got better, and she"s got a hard enough struggle herself, Lord knows. She asked me again only yesterday."
"Well, that ain"t too bad," reflected Bill. "Why don"t you go?"
"Well, you see, if I did they wouldn"t let me take my furniture, and she"s got next to none."
"Won"t the landlord let you take your furniture?"
"No, not him! He"s one of the hardest landlords in Sydney--the worst I ever had."
"That"s red-hot!... I"d take it in spite of him. He can"t do nothin"."
"But I daren"t; and even if I did I haven"t got a penny to pay for a van."
They neared the alley. Bill counted the flagstones, stepping from one to another over the joints. "Eighteen-nineteen-twenty-twenty-one!"
he counted mentally, and came to the corner kerbing. Then he turned suddenly and faced her.
"I"ll tell you what to do," he said decidedly. "Can you get your things ready by to-night? I know a cove that"s got a cart."
"But I daren"t. I"m afraid of the landlord."
"The more fool you," said Bill. "Well, I"m not afraid of him. He can"t do nothin". I"m not afraid of a landlady, and that"s worse. I know the law. He can"t do nothin". You just do as I tell you."
"I"d want to think over it first, and see my sister-in-law."
"Where does your sister-"n-law live?"
"Not far."
"Well, see her, and think over it--you"ve got plenty of time to do it in--and get your things ready by dark. Don"t be frightened. I"ve shifted mother and an aunt and two married sisters out of worse fixes than yours. I"ll be round after dark, and bring a push to lend a hand.
They"re decent coves."
"But I can"t expect your friend to shift me for nothing. I told you I haven"t got a---"
"Mrs Aspinall, I ain"t that sort of a bloke, neither is my chum, and neither is the other fellows--"relse they wouldn"t be friends of mine.
Will you promise, Mrs Aspinall?"
"I"m afraid--I--I"d like to keep my few things now. I"ve kept them so long. It"s hard to lose my few bits of things--I wouldn"t care so much if I could keep the ironin" table."
"So you could, by law--it"s necessary to your living, but it would cost more"n the table. Now, don"t be soft, Mrs Aspinall. You"ll have the bailiff in any day, and be turned out in the end without a rag. The law knows no "necessary." You want your furniture more"n the landlord does. He can"t do nothin". You can trust it all to me.... I knowed Arvie.... Will you do it?"