CHAPTER XVIII

A SKIRMISH A few days later Ernie came home immediately after work instead of repairing to the _Star_. As he entered the room Ruth saw there was something up. He was sober--terribly so. "I done it, Ruth, old lass," he said. She knew at once. "Got the sack?" she asked. He nodded. "I've no one to blame only meself," he said, disarming her, as he disarmed everyone by his Christian quality. Ruth did not reproach him: that was not her way. Nor did she sit down and cry: she had expected the catastrophe too long. She …