She watched him with sympathy and admiration. He wasn't knocked down, he was spurred to further energy; she liked that sort, it was the breed she was used to—the thorough bred.
"Where is this place, Mrs Darwen? I'll walk over there to-day."
"It's over by the new water works. I forget the name of the place."
"Dash it! I can't go to-day, and leave the works while Charlie's away."
"Would it really matter?" she asked.
"Probably not, but you never can tell, and he asked me not to leave."
"You know, Mr Carstairs, Charlie has got a very true friend and assistant in you; he thinks a lot of you, he told me that you had done more towards making the works pay than any man."
"Charlie's a jolly good sort, Mrs Darwen! We were chums from the start. He's given me a tremendous leg up too."
She smiled with infinite pleasure; she could listen to such remarks all day long. "I don't like his being mixed up with that lodging-house girl, though. Do you know her?"
"Oh, I see her once or twice a day when she brings in the grub and that sort of thing. She seems alright. You know, Charlie's such a handsome chap that the girls won't leave him alone."