ODOUR OF CHRYSANTHEMUMS
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down at them, at the brown silken bush of inter-
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twining curls in the nape of the girl's neck, at the
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little black head of the lad, and her heart burst with
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anger at their father who caused all three such
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distress. The children hid their faces in her skirts
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for comfort. 7
When Mrs. Bates came down, the room was
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strangely empty, with a tension of expectancy.
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She took up her sewing and stitched for some time
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without raising her head. Meantime her anger was
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tinged with fear. II
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The clock struck eight and she rose suddenly,
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dropping her sewing on her chair. She went to the
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stairfoot door, opened it, listening. Then she went
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out, locking the door behind her. 17
Something scuffled in the yard, and she started,
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though she knew it was only the rats with which
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the place was overrun. The night was very dark.
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In the great bay of railway lines, bulked with
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trucks, there was no trace of light, only away back
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she could see a few yellow lamps at the pit-top, and
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the red smear of the burning pit-bank
on the night.
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She hurried along the edge of the track, then,
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crossing the converging lines, came to the stile by
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the white gates, whence she emerged on the road.
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Then the fear which had led her shrank. People
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were walking up to New Brinsley
; she saw the
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lights in the houses ; twenty yards further on were
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the broad windows of the " Prince of Wales,"
very
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warm and bright, and the loud voices of men could
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be heard distinctly. What a fool she had been to
