"Wanner be a save," he pleaded.
With a heroic gesture and lips firmly shut, William raised his hand to the bell and pulled hard. "That'll show 'em!" he said, darkly. The echoes of the bell died slowly away within the house. No sound of human habitation broke the tense silence on the front doorstop.
"Well," said William weakly, "that's shown 'em, anyway!"
Then he peered suddenly into the milk-jug.
"Crumbs!" he exclaimed. "A bob!"
Slowly he withdrew the coin, and turned his eyes towards the twins.
"It'll jus' pay for 'em," he said. "They're cheap to-day."
Ginger was taken aback.
"But—but you don't know they want 'em."
"Want 'em! Of course they want 'em," said William scornfully. "Anyone'd want 'em. Two slaves—cheap at that! I bet they'd have fetched pounds and pounds in historical times. 'S only 'cause they're a bit out of fashion that they've bin sold at sixpence-halfpenny."