"Why not?"
"There are so few left," was the reply, "and I do not see how we shall be able to get any more before Saturday."
"Then we must wait till Saturday."
"One begins to feel the cold towards evening in this large room," said his wife, shivering as she spoke.
"I don't mind it."
"But the children, Matthew."
"I had forgotten them. Won't the man let us have more if we promise to pay for them on Saturday?"
"We promised last week, Matthew."
"It was not our fault," said her husband, gloomily. "If we had been paid, we should have paid him. It is a shame to keep a man out of his hardly-earned wages."
"Never mind," said his wife, soothingly, "there will be all the more to receive when Mr. Heighington returns. He never disappointed you before, you know. We must try and make the coals last out. May I put away your papers? I am sure you must be tired." She never remembered her own aching eyes and weary fingers.