Page 48 - sons-and-lovers

hands all floury, she rushed to the fence.
‘Did you knock, Mrs. Morel?’
‘If you wouldn’t mind, Mrs. Kirk.’
Mrs. Kirk climbed on to her copper, got over the wall on
to Mrs. Morel’s copper, and ran in to her neighbour.
‘Eh, dear, how are you feeling?’ she cried in concern.
‘You might fetch Mrs. Bower,’ said Mrs. Morel.
Mrs. Kirk went into the yard, lifted up her strong, shrill
voice, and called:
‘Ag-gie—Ag-gie!’
The sound was heard from one end of the Bottoms to the
other. At last Aggie came running up, and was sent for Mrs.
Bower, whilst Mrs. Kirk left her pudding and stayed with
her neighbour.
Mrs. Morel went to bed. Mrs. Kirk had Annie and Wil-
liam for dinner. Mrs. Bower, fat and waddling, bossed the
house.
‘Hash some cold meat up for the master’s dinner, and
make him an apple-charlotte pudding,’ said Mrs. Morel.
‘He may go without pudding this day,’ said Mrs. Bower.
Morel was not as a rule one of the first to appear at the
bottom of the pit, ready to come up. Some men were there
before four o’clock, when the whistle blew loose-all; but Mo-
rel, whose stall, a poor one, was at this time about a mile
and a half away from the bottom, worked usually till the
first mate stopped, then he finished also. This day, however,
the miner was sick of the work. At two o’clock he looked at
his watch, by the light of the green candle—he was in a safe
working—and again at half-past two. He was hewing at a