work; Miss Osborn should not have Kit.

Bell made some calculations. His money was getting short; he had bills to
pay, and his stock of coal was large. He could not hold it much longer,
and since the Askews were bringing down large quantities of peat, there
was no ground for imagining the dalesfolk would give way. It looked as if
he must meet them and he wrote a notice that coal would be delivered by
the trailer lurry at a reduction of two-and-six a ton.

When he had put this in an envelope for the printers, Bell knitted his
brows. Although his neighbors would sooner burn coal than peat, he was
not sure the reduction would stimulate the demand for the former and he
must look for relief in some other direction. He paid a high rent for
the yards and the landlord ought to help. Osborn would, no doubt, be
reluctant, but he might be forced. Bell's lease of the mill would soon
run out; nobody else could pay as much as he paid, and he would demand
certain expensive alterations. Furthermore, Osborn did not like the
Askews, and Bell imagined he saw how to strike a blow at Kit; Janet had
shown him the way. It would be some satisfaction to punish the
meddlesome fellow.

Two days afterwards the notice was fixed on the gateposts, but a week
went by without its attracting fresh customers. Then a bill from the
colliery arrived and Bell put down his price another two-and-six. For a
day or two, no orders came in, and he resolved to wait until the week was
out and then, if needful, get Hayes to arrange for a meeting with Osborn.

On the last evening of the week, a number of the co-operators met in the
kitchen at Ashness and for a time talked about the weather and the price
of sheep. Askew let them talk and Kit was too preoccupied to give them a
lead. He had been thoughtful since he met Janet Bell, for she had
banished the self-deception he had unconsciously used and thrown a new
and disturbing light on his friendship with Grace. Ridiculous as it was
in many ways, he was falling in love with Grace Osborn. Moreover, he had
met her an hour since and she had talked with a friendly confidence that
made his heart beat. The girl liked and trusted him, and although he
durst not look for more, this in itself was much. It was plain that he
ought to conquer his infatuation, but he doubted if he could.

Listening to the others mechanically, he was silent and absorbed until
one asked, "Weel, what's to be done aboot coal noo? Are we gan t' buy?"