"I knew it the moment I set eyes on yer.Yer've been bettin'again,an'lost all yer money.Yer've got nothing left for the markets,an'the landlord'll turn us out,"she cried,seeing herself already in the gutter.
"Yes,I lost a bit,but I pulled up,an'I'm a couple of dollars to the good,"said Chook,feeling in his pocket for some half-crowns.
"Well,give it to me,"said Pinkey,"an'I'll go straight termorrer and pay ten shillings on a machine.""Wot would yer 'ave said if I'd won ten or fifteen quid?"asked Chook.
"I should 'ave said 'Buy Jack Ryan's 'orse an'cart,an'never go near a two-up school again',"said Pinkey,thinking of the impossible.
"Well,I won the dollars,an'I'll do as yer say,"cried Chook emptying his pockets on the counterpane.
As Chook poured the heap of gold and silver on to the bed,Pinkey gasped,and turned deadly white.Chook thought she was going to faint.
"It's all right,Liz,"he cried."I've 'ad a good win,an'we're set up fer life."He was busy sorting the gold and silver into heaps,first putting aside his stake,two pounds ten.There were fifteen pounds twelve shillings and sixpence left.Pinkey stared in amazement.It seemed incredible that so much money could belong to them.And suddenly she thought,with a pang of joy,that no longer would she need to nerve herself for the cruel journey to the markets in the morning.Chook would drive down in his own cart,and she would be waiting on his return with a good breakfast.They had gone up in the world like a rocket.
The marriage of Pinkey,three years ago,had affected Mrs Partridge like the loss of a limb.For over two years she had been chained to the same house,in the same street,with the desire but not the power to move.
Only once had she managed to change her quarters with the aid of William,and the result had been disastrous.For the first time in his life William had lost a day at Grimshaw's to move the furniture,and for six months he had brooded over the lost time.This last move had planted them in Botany Street,five minutes'walk from Chook's shop.At first Mrs Partridge had fretted,finding little consolation in the new ham-and-beef shop on Botany Road;and then,little by little,she had become attached to the neighbourhood.She had been surprised to find that entertainment came to her door unsought,in the form of constant arrivals and departures among the neighbours.And each of them was the beginning or the end of a mystery,which she probed to the bottom with the aid of the postman,the baker,the butcher,and the tradesmen who were left lamenting with their bills unpaid.Never before in her wanderings had she got so completely in touch with her surroundings.
But from habit she always talked of moving.She could never pass an empty house without going through it,sniffing the drains,and requesting the landlord to make certain improvements,with the mania of women who haunt the shops with empty purses,pricing expensive materials.Every week she announced to Chook and Pinkey that she had found the very house,if William would take a day off to move.But in her heart she had no desire to leave the neighbourhood.It was an agreeable and daily diversion for her to run up to the shop,and prophesy ruin and disaster to Chook and Pinkey for taking a shop that had beggared the last tenant,ignoring the fact that Jack Ryan had converted his profits into beer.
Chook's rough tongue made her wince at times,but she refused to take offence for more than a day.She had taken a fancy to Chook the moment she had set eyes on him,and was sure Pinkey was responsible for his sudden bursts of temper.She thought to do him a service by dwelling on Pinkey's weak points,and Chook showed his gratitude by scowling.Pinkey,who had been a machinist in the factory,was no hand with a needle,and Mrs Partridge commented on this in Chook's hearing.
"An'fancy 'er 'ardly able to sew on a button,which is very dangerous lyin'about on the floor,as children will eat anythin',not knowin'the consequences,"she cried.
Chook pointed out that there were no children in the house to eat stray buttons.
"An'thankful you ought to be for that,"she cried."There's Mrs Brown's baby expectin'to be waited on 'and an'foot,an'thinks nothin'of wakin''er up in the night,cryin'its heart out one minute,an'cooin'like a dove the next,though I don't 'old with keepin'birds in the 'ouse as makes an awful mess,an'always the fear of a nasty nip through the bars of the cage,which means a piece of rag tied round your finger."Here she stopped for breath,and Chook turned aside the torrent of words by offering her some vegetables,riddled with grubs,for the trouble of carrying them home.She considered herself one of Chook's best customers,having dealt off him since their first meeting.Every market-day she came to the shop,picked out everything that was damaged or bruised,and bought it at her own price.She often wished that Pinkey had married a grocer.
Chook had said nothing to her of his win at the two-up school,and she only heard of it at the last moment through a neighbour.She put on her hat,and just reached the shop in time to see Chook drive up to the door in his own horse and cart.Pinkey was standing there,radiant,her dreams come true,already feeling that their fortunes were made.Mrs Partridge looked on with a choking sensation in her throat,desiring nothing for herself,but angry with Fortune for showering her gifts on others.Then she stepped up briskly,and cried out:
"I 'eard all about yer luck,an'I sez to myself,'it couldn't 'ave 'appened to a more deservin'young feller.'You'll ride in yer carriage yet,mark my words."She came nearer and stared at the mare,anxious to find fault,but knowing nothing of the points of a horse.She decided to make friends with it,and rubbed its nose.The animal,giving her an affectionate look,furtively tried to bite her arm,and then threw back its head,expecting the rap on the nose that always followed this attempt.
Mrs Partridge trembled with fear and rage.
