“Where are the children?” he asked, after a while.
“They have gone to school.”
“They ought to be earning something at their age,” growled Barclay.
“They are very young yet, James. You wouldn’t have me take them from school?”
“School won’t do ’em much good.”
“You wouldn’t have them grow up ignorant, surely?”
“They have got to earn something. I can’t support them in idleness.”
As it was some years since he had contributed a cent to their support, his wife didn’t quite appreciate his complaint, but she knew too much of her husband’s temper to argue with him.
“Jimmy sells papers when he gets home from school,” she said.
“How much does he earn that way?”