The Lodger In accordance with his arrangement with Hunter, Owen commenced the work in the drawing-room on the Monday morning.Harlow and Easton were distempering some of the ceilings, and about ten o'clock they went down to the scullery to get some more whitewash.Crass was there as usual, pretending to be very busy mixing colours.
`Well, wot do you think of it?' he said as he served them with what they required.
`Think of what?' asked Easton.
`Why, hour speshul hartist,' replied Crass with a sneer.'Do you think 'e's goin' to get through with it?'
`Shouldn't like to say,' replied Easton guardedly.
`You know it's one thing to draw on a bit of paper and colour it with a penny box of paints, and quite another thing to do it on a wall or ceiling,' continued Crass.'Ain't it?'
`Yes; that's true enough,' said Harlow.
`Do you believe they're 'is own designs?' Crass went on.
`Be rather 'ard to tell,' remarked Easton, embarrassed.
Neither Harlow nor Easton shared Crass's sentiments in this matter, but at the same time they could not afford to offend him by sticking up for Owen.
`If you was to ast me, quietly,' Crass added, `I should be more inclined to say as 'e copied it all out of some book.'
`That's just about the size of it, mate,' agreed Harlow.
`It would be a bit of all right if 'e was to make a bloody mess of it, wouldn't it?' Crass continued with a malignant leer.
`Not arf!' said Harlow.
When the two men regained the upper landing on which they were working they exchanged significant glances and laughed quietly.Hearing these half-suppressed sounds of merriment, Philpot, who was working alone in a room close by, put his head out of the doorway.
`Wot's the game?' he inquired in a low voice.
`Ole Crass ain't arf wild about Owen doin' that room,' replied Harlow, and repeated the substance of Crass's remarks.
`It is a bit of a take-down for the bleeder, ain't it, 'avin' to play second fiddle,' said Philpot with a delighted grin.
`'E's opin' Owen'll make a mess of it,' Easton whispered.
`Well, 'e'll be disappointed, mate,' answered Philpot.`I was workin'
along of Owen for Pushem and Sloggem about two year ago, and I seen 'im do a job down at the Royal 'Otel - the smokin'-room ceilin' it was -and I can tell you it looked a bloody treat!'
`I've heard tell of it,' said Harlow.
`There's no doubt Owen knows 'is work,' remarked Easton, 'although 'e is a bit orf is onion about Socialism.'
`I don't know so much about that, mate,' returned Philpot.`I agree with a lot that 'e ses.I've often thought the same things meself, but I can't talk like 'im, 'cause I ain't got no 'ead for it.'
`I agree with some of it too,' said Harlow with a laugh, `but all the same 'e does say some bloody silly things, you must admit.For instance, that stuff about money bein' the cause of poverty.'
`Yes.I can't exactly see that meself,' agreed Philpot.
`We must tackle 'im about that at dinner-time,' said Harlow.`Ishould rather like to 'ear 'ow 'e makes it out.'
`For Gord's sake don't go startin' no arguments at dinner-time,' said Easton.`Leave 'im alone when 'e is quiet.'
`Yes; let's 'ave our dinner in peace, if possible,' said Philpot.
`Sh!!' he added, hoarsely, suddenly holding up his hand warningly.
They listened intently.It was evident from the creaking of the stairs that someone was crawling up them.Philpot instantly disappeared.Harlow lifted up the pail of whitewash and set it down again noisily.
`I think we'd better 'ave the steps and the plank over this side, Easton,' he said in a loud voice.
`Yes.I think that'll be the best way,' replied Easton.
While they were arranging their scaffold to do the ceiling Crass arrived on the landing.He made no remark at first, but walked into the room to see how many ceilings they had done.
`You'd better look alive, you chaps, he said as he went downstairs again.`If we don't get these ceilings finished by dinner-time, Nimrod's sure to ramp.'
`All right,' said Harlow, gruffly.`We'll bloody soon slosh 'em over.'
`Slosh' was a very suitable word; very descriptive of the manner in which the work was done.The cornices of the staircase ceilings were enriched with plaster ornaments.These ceilings were supposed to have been washed off, but as the men who were put to do that work had not been allowed sufficient time to do it properly, the crevices of the ornaments were still filled up with old whitewash, and by the time Harlow and Easton had `sloshed' a lot more whitewash on to them they were mere formless unsightly lumps of plaster.The `hands' who did the `washing off' were not to blame.They had been hunted away from the work before it was half done.
While Harlow and Easton were distempering these ceiling, Philpot and the other hands were proceeding with the painting in different parts of the inside of the house, and Owen, assisted by Bert, was getting on with the work in the drawing-room, striking chalk lines and measuring and setting out the different panels.