The store-room was more hopeful, since its window consisted of wire gauze, through which the air came freely. They found milk in what seemed to Aileen enormous quantities, most of it sour; but a bucket held the fresh supply of the evening, and a huge parcel from the store revealed butter as well as bread and groceries. They found another lamp, and while Tom heated milk in a hurriedly-rinsed saucepan, Aileen spread their first meal in the dining-room, using old newspapers for a tablecloth. She woke Garth, and made him drink a cupful of milk, but he was too sleepy to eat.
"Never mind—the milk will do him good," Tom said, watching them. "Now come and have some yourself."
They looked at each other over the paper-spread table, and to each of them came a vision of the "House Beautiful"—was it only last night that they had been in its dainty luxury! Neither spoke of it, however. Tom poured milk into a cracked cup and gave it to her.
"Don't be afraid. I washed the cups!" he said. "There was plenty of hot water, but nothing to dry them with—at least, nothing that you'd have cared about! So they're damp, if clean."
"Bless you!" said his wife. "Did you ever wash a cup before, Tom?"
"Not that I know of," he said, laughing. "But it isn't really difficult, if you have brains! Is the house very awful, dear?"
"Well—I'm inclined to think it's as well I had no stronger light than my candle-end to inspect it," she said, forcing a laugh. "It's—well, just a bit dirty. You ordered a charwoman, didn't you, Tom?"
"Of course I did. At least, one doesn't order them in this part of the world: one begs them humbly. I arranged with a plump lady named O'Brien, and Smith was to bring her out as often as was necessary. But she sent him a message that she had a lady friend from Bairnsdale staying with her, and she wasn't going. There doesn't seem to be any one else; so, since Gordon left, the house has been at the tender mercy of Horrors, not that I think he gets much beyond the kitchen. The kitchen is eloquent of him."
"It is, indeed," said Aileen, with a shudder. "Where is he now?"
"Gone to open the gate for Smith. I told him to come back quickly, but I don't fancy he's strong on being quick. I want him to help me carry things into the lobby—it's the best place to unpack. You know where to put your hands on the things we need to-night, don't you?"