'But the house——'
'It holds me here, and just here no work suitable for me is to be found.'
'Darn me!' said Olver, looking musingly at his hands, 'I'd not sell the house till I had torn down every stone, and had sifted every peck of dust.'
'And found nothing, and thrown away what little value the cottage possessed when standing.'
'I do not see,' said the ferryman, 'that this is a house that will fetch a price. There is no field or paddock attached to it. There are just four walls and nothing further. If you were to take to the sea and carry on your father's business, then the place is well enough. And yet, after this late affair, it is a little blown upon. And then Jane Marley's cottage has gone to pieces. These cliffs are not sure; you cannot say what may happen next. Purchasers might argue that it was an unsafe tenure, not worth much because so insecure in its foundations. It might last a hundred years, or it might go to-morrow. I am shot if I would sell.'
'I have thought it well over,' said Jack; 'no other course is open to me.'
'You may let the cottage.'
'Who would take it? It is fit only for a labourer in Bindon, and their hands are all provided for in Axminster. Besides, I am in want of money.'
'You will sell furniture and all.'