should do better ashore. Besides, I don't want to lose mother and Betty
again."

He placed his arm round the girl's waist, and, drawing her head on to his
shoulder, met with a blank stare the troubled gaze of Mrs. Green.

"I'm told there's wonderful openings for carpenters in Australia," said
Mr. Green, trying to speak in level tones. "Wonderful! A good carpenter
can make a fortune there in ten years, so I'm told."

Mr. Letts, with a slight wink at Mrs. Green and a reassuring squeeze with
his left arm, turned an attentive ear.

"O' course, there's a difficulty," he said, slowly, as Mr. Green finished
a vivid picture of the joys of carpentering in Australia.

"Difficulty?" said the other.

"Money to start with," explained Mr. Letts. "It's no good starting
without money. I wonder how much this house and furniture would fetch?
Is it all mine, mother?"

"M-m-most of it," stammered Mrs. Green, gazing in a fascinated fashion at
the contorted visage of her husband.

"All except a chair in the kitchen and three stair-rods," said Betty.

"Speak when you're spoke to, miss!" snarled her stepfather. "When we
married we mixed our furniture up together--mixed it up so that it would
be impossible to tell which is which. Nobody could."