"Not any today, thank you, Art! All I want is a pair of juicy lamb
chops--a dish of onions--a dish of squash--a dish of carrots--a
pint of milk--potato-chips--hot biscuits--cold slaw--custard
pudding--nuts--raisins----"
"_Whoa_, Priscilla! Hop right up on this box! I know that word-slinging
ability of old" and as that crowd was fading away, Priscilla said:--
"This is odd work for you, Arthur; _you_ so good a draughtsman. What's
up?"
And Arthur, a happy, rollicking boy, having always had all such things
as most boys had, with a Dad making good pay as a railroad conductor,
told sadly of an awful railway smash-up which took "Dad" away from four
small Rankin orphans, whom Arthur was now supporting; and a scarcity of
jobs in Branton Hills and of trips to surrounding towns, always finding
that old sign out: "No Work Today." Of this soap box opportunity
bobbing up, which was now bringing in good cash. So our girls found
that our Branton Hills boys didn't shirk work of any kind, if brought
right up against want.