Then he raced home and re-entered the kitchen.
It was after ten, but his mother was still up, and apparently unconscious of the lateness of the hour.
Ern, panting from the speed at which he had travelled, paid nine shillings and four pence into his mother's lap.
Tram and bus had cost him sixpence, and the redemption money the rest.
"Eightpence all told," he gasped, "what I wanted. Only a little something for dad. I'll send you the odd money when I draw me first pay." He put the little packet on the mantel-piece. "Will you give that to dad, please, when I'm gone, mum?"
His mother looked at him, a rare sweetness in her eyes.
"You may keep the change, Ern," she said gently.
Collecting the money from her lap, she handed it back to him.
A moment he demurred, taken aback; then slipped the cash into his trouser pocket, mumbling and deeply moved.
"Thank you kindly, mum," he muttered.