"No! No! I don't want father to be a foreman," hastily interrupted her sister. "What we've got to wish and pray for is that things may be altered, that the men may be able to do their work as father says they ought—taking an interest in it, so as to do it carefully and well. And that the foremen may not merely think of making them work as hard as possible for as little as possible, just as though they were horses and not men at all. The foremen might not make so much money then, but they will be happier and better with a little."
"I hope it will be a little more than father has, then," interrupted Letty with a shrug of the shoulders. For the idea of people not being happy when they have plenty to eat, warm clothes to wear, and no rent to worry about, was something too wonderful for her to comprehend. "Do you think we should be better as we are, mother?" she asked incredulously.
"But, don't you see, Letty, that if things were altered the way father was talking about last night, it would be better for us, and we should be a little better off, and father would be able to do his work better too. It would be fairer altogether, for now as it is, the foremen complain of the labourers and they complain of the foremen, and nobody is satisfied. Of course God could not let people be happy and content if they got their money unfairly, as it seems to me some do now, and I am sure He will have it altered somehow, now that men have begun to think how wrong it is. Nobody thought much about it till lately, but now He has begun to speak to men's hearts about it, He will soon teach them how to make things better. Of course if this could be done, I should be glad enough for father to be made a foreman, for then he would have regular wages, and then we might have a front room to live in, and I could look out of the window sometimes."
Mrs. Chaplin sighed. "We would have a front room if father could only earn a shilling or two more a week," she said looking at the white face before her, and thinking what a long time it was since she had seen anything beyond those four walls. Little wonder was it that she longed for their removal to a front room, where a peep into the street might be had sometimes to break the monotony of her life.
If Winny had any such longing herself, she carefully put it aside, lest it should be a source of trouble to her mother. And for that afternoon at least, they were as happy as though they possessed as good an income as the Rutters. For Winny read the story-book lent her by her teacher, and in this second perusal, enjoyed it almost more than the first time, for she had her mother's sympathy in her pleasure, and the afternoon passed all too quickly for both of them.
If only the sacks were nearer completion, Mrs. Chaplin would have felt almost merry, so much had her heart been lightened by the reading and talk she had had with Winny.
But the exertion had been almost too much for the poor girl; her strength was not equal to such a long spell of reading, although she had been almost unaware of her weakness until Letty came in, and it grew too dark for her to read any longer. Then she fell back on her pillow, feeling as though she would like to slip out of the body that was so full of aches and pains, and leave it there like a worn-out garment for which she had no further use.
But when her father came in, and she saw his sad eyes turned eagerly towards her corner, she knew that for him it would be very bitter to miss meeting her smile when he came home from work, and so she put away the wish as something not to be thought of just now.
By and by, perhaps, when somebody had found out a way of helping dockers and foremen both, she could better be spared, but not just now. So, conquering her faintness, she said in a cheerful tone: "See how busy mother is; we shall have the rent ready now, father."
"Sacks!" remarked Chaplin in a little surprise, looking down at the heap he had almost stumbled over.