“Yes, let him stop and hear,” said Uncle Bob.
“Very good. I’m agreeable,” said my father. “Sit down, Jacob.”
I darted a grateful look at my uncles, spreading it round so that they all had a glance, and dropped back into my seat.
“Well,” said my father, “am I to speak?”
“Yes.”
This was in chorus; and my father sat thinking for a few minutes, during which I exchanged looks and nods with my uncles, all of which was very satisfactory.
“Well,” said my father at last, “to put it in short, plain English, we four have each our little capital embarked in our works.”
Here there were three nods.
“We’ve all tried everything we knew to make the place a success, but year after year goes by and we find ourselves worse off. In three more bad years we shall be ruined.”
“And Jacob will have to set to work and keep us all,” said Uncle Dick.