They did not speak of the closed mill and they did not
look like people who expected a hard and sorrowful time.
"They hev a bit o' money laid by for theirsens," said the selfish who
judged others out of their own hearts; but the majority answered
quickly, "Not they! Not a farthing! Hatton hes spent his last shilling
to keep Hatton mill going, and how he is going to open it when peace
comes caps everyone who can add this and that together."
The first week of idleness was not the worst. John and Greenwood found
plenty to do among the idle looms, but after all repairs and alterations
had been completed, then John felt the stress of hours that had no
regular daily task. For the first time in his life his household saw him
irritable. He spoke impatiently and did not know it until the words were
beyond recall. Jane had at such times a new feeling about her husband.
She began to wonder how she could bear it if he were always "so short
and dictatorial." She concluded that it must be his mill way. "But I am
not going to have it brought into my house," she thought.
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