‘Will you go and sit with Alice in the front room? I’ll have a talk with him.’
‘Arry came whistling at the summons. There was a nasty look on his face, the look which in his character corresponded to Richard’s resoluteness. His brother eyed him.
‘Look here, ‘Arry,’ the elder began, ‘I want this explaining. What do you mean by shirking your work?’
There was no reply. ‘Arry strode to the window and leaned against the side of it, in the attitude of a Sunday loafer waiting for the dram-shop to open.
‘If this goes on,’ Richard pursued, ‘you’ll find yourself in your old position again. I’ve gone to a good deal of trouble to give you a start, and it seems to me you ought to show a better spirit. We’d better have an understanding; do you mean to learn engineering, or don’t you?’
‘I don’t see the use of it,’ said the other.
‘What do you mean? I suppose you must make your living somehow?’
‘Arry laughed, and in such a way that Richard looked at him keenly, his brow gathering darkness.
‘What are you laughing at?’
‘Why, at you. There’s no more need for me to work for a living than there is for you. As if I didn’t know that!’