Green.
"I'm told there's wonderful openings for carpenters in Australia," said
Mr. Green, trying to speak in level tones. "Wonderful! A good carpenter
can make a fortune there in ten years, so I'm told."
Mr. Letts, with a slight wink at Mrs. Green and a reassuring squeeze with
his left arm, turned an attentive ear.
"O' course, there's a difficulty," he said, slowly, as Mr. Green finished
a vivid picture of the joys of carpentering in Australia.
"Difficulty?" said the other.
"Money to start with," explained Mr. Letts. "It's no good starting
without money. I wonder how much this house and furniture would fetch?
Is it all mine, mother?"
"M-m-most of it," stammered Mrs. Green, gazing in a fascinated fashion at
the contorted visage of her husband.
"All except a chair in the kitchen and three stair-rods," said Betty.
"Speak when you're spoke to, miss!" snarled her stepfather. "When we
married we mixed our furniture up together--mixed it up so that it would
be impossible to tell which is which. Nobody could."
"For the matter o' that, you could have all the kitchen chairs and all
the stair-rods," said Mr. Letts, generously. "However, I don't want to
do anything in a hurry, and I shouldn't dream of going to Australia
without Betty. It rests with her."
"She's going to be married," said Mr. Green, hastily; "and if she wasn't
she wouldn't turn her poor, ailing mother out of house and home, that I`m
certain of.
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