“Yes,” he replied, “I guess so.”
“Well, now, I’ll go and look,” she replied. Taking the lamp, they went out into the woodshed where the coal was deposited.
“Oh, my!” she exclaimed when she saw it; “why, that isn’t near enough. You must go right off and get some more.”
“Oh,” said George, pouting his lips, “I don’t want to go. Let Bass go.”
Bass, who had returned promptly at a quarter-past six, was already busy in the back bedroom washing and dressing preparatory to going down-town.
“No,” said Mrs. Gerhardt. “Bass has worked hard all day. You must go.”
“I don’t want to,” pouted George.
“All right,” said Mrs. Gerhardt, “maybe to-morrow you’ll be without a fire, and then what?”
They went back to the house, but George’s conscience was too troubled to allow him to consider the case as closed.
“Bass, you come, too,” he called to his elder brother when he was inside.