“No, father,” I said quietly, as I rubbed away, feeling a refreshing glow thrill through me as the reaction set in. “I was trying to freshen myself up after lying awake all night thinking of my future.”
“Then you are still harping on that project?” he said quickly.
“Yes, sir; I have quite made up my mind to go.”
“What, and leave a quiet sensible business in search of a mare’s nest?”
“Don’t be angry with me, father,” I said. “I know all about the business, and what a struggle you have had for years just to get a bare living.”
“Well, boy, that’s true,” he said with a sigh.
“I know, too, how things are getting worse and worse, and that the large London works and competition make the business poorer every year.”
“They do, my lad, they do,” he said more quietly. “But I had hoped that you would grow into a clever industrious man, and set the poor old business on its legs again.”
“I’d try and be clever, father,” I replied, “and I know I could be industrious, but my two arms would be of no use to contend against machinery and steam.”
He shook his head.