ODOUR OF CHRYSANTHEMUMS

Whatever he was, I remember him when he was little, a dear
little lad as ever you could wish to set eyes on."

It was half-past ten, and the old woman was saying : "You've
nothing left -- but trouble; and you're never too old for trouble,
never too old for that ---- " when the gate banged back, and
there were heavy feet on the steps.

"I'll go, Lizzie, let me go," cried the old woman, rising.
But Elizabeth was at the door. It was a man in pit-clothes.

"They're bringin' 'im in, Missis," he said, simply.
Elizabeth's heart halted a moment. Then it surged on again,
almost suffocating her.

"Is he--is it bad ?" she asked.

The man nodded and turned away, looking at the garden :

"The doctor says 'e'd been dead hours. 'E saw 'im i' th'
lamp-cabin."

The old woman, who stood just behind Elizabeth, dropped
into a chair, and folded her hands, crying: "Oh, my boy, my boy!"

"Hush ! " said Elizabeth, with a sharp twitch of a frown.
"Be still, mother, don't waken th' children : I wouldn't have
them down for anything !"

The old woman moaned softly, rocking herself. The man
was turning away. Elizabeth took a step forward.

"How was it ?" she asked.

"Well, it wor like this," the man replied, very ill at ease.
"'E wor finishin' a stint, an' th' butties 'ad gone, an' a lot o'
stuff come down atop 'n 'im."

"And is he much -- has it made a mess of him ?" asked the
widow, with a shudder.

"No," said the man, "it fell at th' back of 'im. 'E wor
under th' face, tha sees, an' it niver touched 'im. It shut 'im
in. 'E wor smothered."

Elizabeth shrank back. She heard the old woman behind
her cry :

"What ? -- did 'e say 'e was suffocated ?"

The man replied, more loudly : "Yes -- that's 'ow it wor !"

Then the old woman wailed aloud, and this relieved
Elizabeth.

"Oh, mother," she said, putting her arms round the old
woman, "don't waken th' children, don't waken th' children."

She wept a little, while the old mother rocked herself and
moaned. Elizabeth remembered that they were bringing him
home, and she must be ready. "They'll lay him in the
parlour," she said to herself, standing a moment pale and
perplexed.

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