But it was not long before they felt that it was imperatively necessary to have another drink.So they went over to the pub, and this time they had two pints each.Bill paid for the first two and then the Semi-drunk refused to return to work unless Bill would consent to have another pint with him before going back.When they had drunk the two pints, they decided - in order to save themselves the trouble and risk of coming away from the job - to take a couple of quarts back with them in two bottles, which the landlord of the pub lent them, charging twopence on each bottle, to be refunded when they were returned.
When they got back to the job they found the `coddy' in the kitchen, looking for them and he began to talk and grumble, but the Semi-drunk soon shut him up: he told him he could either have a drink out of one of the bottles or a punch in the bloody nose - whichever he liked! Or if he did not fancy either of these alternatives, he could go to hell!
As the `coddy' was a sensible man he took the beer and advised them to pull themselves together and try to get some work done before Misery came, which they promised to do.
When the `coddy' was gone they made another attempt at the work.
Misery came a little while afterwards and began shouting at them because he said he could not see what they had done.It looked as if they had been asleep all the morning: Here it was nearly ten o'clock, and as far as he could see, they had done Nothing!
When he was gone they drank the rest of the beer and then they began to feel inclined to laugh.What did they care for Hunter or Rushton either? To hell with both of 'em! They left off scraping and scrubbing, and began throwing buckets of water over the dresser and the walls, laughing uproariously all the time.
`We'll show the b--s how to wash down paintwork!' shouted the Semi-drunk, as he stood in the middle of the room and hurled a pailful of water over the door of the cupboard.`Bring us another bucket of water, Bill.'
Bill was out in the scullery filling his pail under the tap, and laughing so much that he could scarcely stand.As soon as it was full he passed it to the Semi-drunk, who threw it bodily, pail and all, on to the bench in front of the window, smashing one of the panes of glass.The water poured off the table and all over the floor.
Bill brought the next pailful in and threw it at the kitchen door, splitting one of the panels from top to bottom, and then they threw about half a dozen more pailfuls over the dresser.
`We'll show the b--rs how to clean paintwork,' they shouted, as they hurled the buckets at the walls and doors.
By this time the floor was deluged with water, which mingled with the filth and formed a sea of mud.
They left the two taps running in the scullery and as the waste pipe of the sink was choked up with dirt, the sink filled up and overflowed like a miniature Niagara.
The water ran out under the doors into the back-yard, and along the passage out to the front door.But Bill Bates and the Semi-drunk remained in the kitchen, smashing the pails at the walls and doors and the dresser, and cursing and laughing hysterically.
They had just filled the two buckets and were bringing them into the kitchen when they heard Hunter's voice in the passage, shouting out inquiries as to where all that water came from.Then they heard him advancing towards them and they stood waiting for him with the pails in their hands, and directly he opened the door and put his head into the room they let fly the two pails at him.Unfortunately, they were too drunk and excited to aim straight.One pail struck the middle rail of the door and the other the wall by the side of it.
Misery hastily shut the door again and ran upstairs, and presently the `coddy' came down and called out to them from the passage.
They went out to see what he wanted, and he told them that Misery had gone to the office to get their wages ready: they were to make out their time sheets and go for their money at once.Misery had said that if they were not there in ten minutes he would have the pair of them locked up.
The Semi-drunk said that nothing would suit them better than to have all their pieces at once - they had spent all their money and wanted another drink.Bill Bates concurred, so they borrowed a piece of blacklead pencil from the `coddy' and made out their time sheets, took off their aprons, put them into their tool bags, and went to the office for their money, which Misery passed out to them through the trap-door.
The news of this exploit spread all over the town during that day and evening, and although it was in July, the next morning at six o'clock there were half a dozen men waiting at the yard to ask Misery if there was `any chance of a job'.
Bill Bates and the Semi-drunk had had their spree and had got the sack for it and most of the chaps said it served them right.Such conduct as that was going too far.
Most of them would have said the same thing no matter what the circumstances might have been.They had very little sympathy for each other at any time.
Often, when, for instance, one man was sent away from one `job' to another, the others would go into his room and look at the work he had been doing, and pick out all the faults they could find and show them to each other, making all sorts of ill-natured remarks about the absent one meanwhile.`Jist run yer nose over that door, Jim,' one would say in a tone of disgust.`Wotcher think of it? Did yer ever see sich a mess in yer life? Calls hisself a painter!' And the other man would shake his head sadly and say that although the one who had done it had never been up to much as a workman, he could do it a bit better than that if he liked, but the fact was that he never gave himself time to do anything properly: he was always tearing his bloody guts out! Why, he'd only been in this room about four hours from start to finish! He ought to have a watering cart to follow him about, because he worked at such a hell of a rate you couldn't see him for dust! And then the first man would reply that other people could do as they liked, but for his part, HE was not going to tear his guts out for nobody!
