“In whose shop was that?”

“At Smighden’s.”

“I don’t know it. What wages were you getting there?”

“Thirty shillings a week.”

“Do you know Markham, Sarbury & Company, of Bolton?”

“Yes.”

“Would you be satisfied with thirty shillings a week there?”

“Yes; if I could be sure of getting it.”

“You can be sure of it. I will telegraph to the foreman this minute, and we’ll have an answer before we finish eating. He has promised to find me places for three men, and I haven’t sent him one yet. But don’t say a word to any one here, for I want to keep the other two places for Bolton men if they come.”

“I’ll not go back to this shop at all if I can be sure of a place in Bolton.”