Patience Wins | Page 7

the matter, lad."
"But there! There!" I cried, "where the sparks are roaring and rushing
out with all that flame."
"There! Oh! That's nothing, my boy. The town is always like this."
"But you don't see where I mean," I cried, still doubting, and pointing
down to our right.
"Oh, yes! I do, my dear boy. That is where they are making the
Bessemer steel."
CHAPTER THREE.
A BAD BEGINNING.
I thought when I lay down, after putting out my candle, that I should
never get a wink of sleep. There was a dull glow upon my
window-blind, and I could hear a distant clangour and a curious faint
roar; but all at once, so it seemed to me, I opened my eyes, and the dull
glow had given place to bright sunshine on my window-blind, and

jumping out of bed I found that I had slept heartily till nearly breakfast
time, for the chinking of cups in saucers fell upon my ear.
I looked out of the window, and there lay the town with the smoke
hanging over it in a dense cloud, but the banging of a wash-jug against
a basin warned me that Uncle Dick was on the move, and the next
moment tap, tap, tap, came three blows on my wall, which I knew as
well as could be were given with the edge of a hair-brush, and I replied
in the same way.
"Ha, ha!" cried Uncle Bob, "if they are going to give us fried ham like
that for breakfast--"
"And such eggs!" cried Uncle Jack.
"And such bread!" said Uncle Dick, hewing off a great slice.
"And such coffee and milk!" I said, taking up the idea that I was sure
was coming, "we won't go back to London."
"Right!" said Uncle Dick. "Bah! Just as if we were going to be
frightened away by a set of old women's tales. They've got police here,
and laws."
The matter was discussed until breakfast was over, and by that time my
three giants of uncles had decided that they would not stir for an army
of discontented workmen, but would do their duty to themselves and
their partner in London.
"But look here, boys," said Uncle Dick; "if we are going to war, we
don't want women in the way."
"No," said Uncle Jack.
"So you had better write and tell Alick to keep on the old place till the
company must have it, and by that time we shall know what we are
about."
This was done directly after breakfast, and as soon as the letter had

been despatched we went off to see the works.
"I shall never like this place," I said, as we went down towards the
town. "London was smoky enough, but this is terrible."
"Oh, wait a bit!" said Uncle Dick, and as we strode on with me trying
to take long steps to keep up with my companions, I could not help
seeing how the people kept staring at them. And though there were
plenty of big fine men in the town, I soon saw that my uncles stood out
amongst them as being remarkable for their size and frank handsome
looks. This was the more plainly to be seen, since the majority of the
work-people we passed were pale, thin, and degenerate looking little
men, with big muscular arms, and a general appearance of everything
else having been sacrificed to make those limbs strong.
The farther we went the more unsatisfactory the town looked. We were
leaving the great works to the right, and our way lay through streets
and streets of dingy-looking houses all alike, and with the open
channels in front foul with soapy water and the refuse which the people
threw out.
I looked up with disgust painted on my face so strongly that Uncle Bob
laughed.
"Here, let's get this fellow a bower somewhere by a beautiful stream,"
he cried, laughing. Then more seriously, "Never mind the dirt, Cob," he
cried. "Dirty work brings clean money."
"Oh, I don't mind," I said. "Which way now?"
"Down here," said Uncle Dick; and he led us down a nasty dirty street,
worse than any we had yet passed, and so on and on, for about half an
hour, till we were once more where wheels whirred, and we could hear
the harsh churring noise of blades being held upon rapidly revolving
stones. Now and then, too, I caught sight of water on our right, down
through lanes where houses and works were crowded together.
"Do you notice one thing, Cob?" said Uncle Dick.

"One thing!" I said; "there's so much to notice that I don't know what to
look at first."
"I'll tell you what I mean," he said. "You can hear the rush and rumble
of