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"A penny for 'em."

"I was thinking about Sandlake. How did you get there last night?"

"The lot of us went and we hired a taxi. But I'm going there again this evening. Like to come with me?"

"No, thanks. I can't possibly leave Miss Bullen. I've only just arrived."

"Oh, it's like that, is it? Never mind, we'll go another day. I'm here for a whole week more, you know, to teach you your job."

"Surely it won't take as long as that."

"I think it will. Anyhow, I'll see that it does."

"You might begin," she said icily, "by telling me what it's all in aid of."

"What? The job?"

"Yes, the Waters Farm Settlement. What's the big idea behind it all?"

"Don't you know?"

"No, I don't, and I don't think you do, either."

He laughed. "You're right there. I don't know. Nor does anybody, least of all her nibs herself. It may be a charitable or a political scheme. All I know is that she doesn't. As for the other side, the Turners and the Bensons, their big idea is to live here at her expense and do as little work as possible until the housing shortage ends. The secretary's job is to keep her from knowing what really goes on."