第225章

When Hunter had gone, Crass drew out his watch.It was a quarter to eleven.A little way down the road the lights of a public house were gleaming through the mist.

`We shall be just in time to get a drink before closing time if we buck up,' he said.And with this object they hurried on as fast as they could.

When they reached the tavern they left the cart standing by the kerb, and went inside, where Crass ordered two pints of four-ale, which he permitted Sawkins to pay for.

`How are we going on about this job?' inquired the latter after they had each taken a long drink, for they were thirsty after their exertions.`I reckon we ought to 'ave more than a bob for it, don't you? It's not like a ordinary "lift in".'

`Of course it ain't,' replied Crass.`We ought to 'ave about, say' -reflecting - `say arf a dollar each at the very least.'

`Little enough too,' said Sawkins.`I was going to say arf a crown, myself.'

Crass agreed that even half a crown would not be too much.

`'Ow are we going' on about chargin' it on our time sheets?' asked Sawkins, after a pause.`If we just put a "lift in", they might only pay us a bob as usual.'

As a rule when they had taken a coffin home, they wrote on their time sheets, `One lift in', for which they were usually paid one shilling, unless it happened to be a very high-class funeral, when they sometimes got one and sixpence.They were never paid by the hour for these jobs.

Crass smoked reflectively.

`I think the best way will be to put it like this,' he said at length.

`"Philpot's funeral.One lift out and one lift in.Also takin'

corpse to carpenter's shop." 'Ow would that do?'

Sawkins said that would be a very good way to put it, and they finished their beer just as the landlord intimated that it was closing time.The cart was standing where they left it, the black cloth saturated with the rain, which dripped mournfully from its sable folds.

When they reached the plot of waste ground over which they had to pass in order to reach the gates of the yard, they had to proceed very cautiously, for it was very dark, and the lantern did not give much light.A number of carts and lorries were standing there, and the path wound through pools of water and heaps of refuse.After much difficulty and jolting, they reached the gate, which Crass unlocked with the key he had obtained from the office earlier in the evening.

They soon opened the door of the carpenter's shop and, after lighting the gas, they arranged the tressels and then brought in the coffin and placed it upon them.Then they locked the door and placed the key in its usual hiding-place, but the key of the outer gate they took with them and dropped into the letter-box at the office, which they had to pass on their way home.

As they turned away from the door, they were suddenly confronted by a policeman who flashed his lantern in their faces and demanded to know why they had tried the lock...

The next morning was a very busy one for Hunter, who had to see several new jobs commenced.They were all small affairs.Most of them would only take two or three days from start to finish.

Attending to this work occupied most of his morning, but all the same he managed to do the necessary business connected with the funeral, which he arranged to take place at two o'clock on Wednesday afternoon from the mortuary, where the coffin had been removed during the day, Hunter deciding that it would not look well to have the funeral start from the workshop.

Although Hunter had kept it as quiet as possible, there was a small crowd, including several old workmates of Philpot's who happened to be out of work, waiting outside the mortuary to see the funeral start, and amongst them were Bill Bates and the Semi-drunk, who were both sober.Barrington and Owen were also there, having left work for the day in order to go to the funeral.They were there too in a sense as the representatives of the other workmen, for Barrington carried a large wreath which had been subscribed for voluntarily by Rushton's men.They could not all afford to lose the time to attend the funeral, although most of them would have liked to pay that tribute of regard to their old mate, so they had done this as the next best thing.Attached to the wreath was a strip of white satin ribbon, upon which Owen had painted a suitable inscription.

Promptly at two o'clock the hearse and the mourning coach drove up with Hunter and the four bearers - Crass, Slyme, Payne and Sawkins, all dressed in black with frock coats and silk hats.Although they were nominally attired in the same way, there was a remarkable dissimilarity in their appearance.Crass's coat was of smooth, intensely black cloth, having been recently dyed, and his hat was rather low in the crown, being of that shape that curved outwards towards the top.Hunter's coat was a kind of serge with a rather rusty cast of colour and his hat was very tall and straight, slightly narrower at the crown than at the brim.As for the others, each of them had a hat of a different fashion and date, and their `black'

clothes ranged from rusty brown to dark blue.

These differences were due to the fact that most of the garments had been purchased at different times from different second-hand clothes shops, and never being used except on such occasions as the present, they lasted for an indefinite time.

When the coffin was brought out and placed in the hearse, Hunter laid upon it the wreath that Barrington gave him, together with the another he had brought himself, which had a similar ribbon with the words:

`From Rushton & Co.With deep sympathy.'

Seeing that Barrington and Owen were the only occupants of the carriage, Bill Bates and the Semi-drunk came up to the door and asked if there was any objection to their coming and as neither Owen nor Barrington objected, they did not think it necessary to ask anyone else's permission, so they got in.