{"product_id":"2940013708693","title":"Sorrell and Son","description":"Sorrell was trying to fasten the straps of the little brown\u003cbr\u003eportmanteau, but since the portmanteau was old and also very full,\u003cbr\u003ehe had to deal with it tenderly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Come and sit on this thing, Kit.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe boy had been straddling a chair by the window, his interest\u003cbr\u003edivided between his father's operations upon the portmanteau and a\u003cbr\u003egame of football that was being played in Lavender Street by a\u003cbr\u003enumber of very dirty and very noisy small boys.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChristopher went and sat.  He was a brown child of eleven, with a\u003cbr\u003egrave face and a sudden pleasant smile.  His bent knees showed the\u003cbr\u003eshininess of his trousers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Have to be careful, you know,\" said Sorrell.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe father's dark head was close to the boy's brown one.  He too\u003cbr\u003ewas shiny in a suit of blue serge.  His long figure seemed to curve\u003cbr\u003eover the portmanteau with anxiously rounded shoulders and sallow\u003cbr\u003eand intent face.  The child beside him made him look dusty and\u003cbr\u003efrail.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Now, the other one, old chap.  Can't afford to be rough.  Gently\u003cbr\u003edoes it.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe was a little out of breath, and he talked in short jerky\u003cbr\u003esentences as he pulled carefully at the straps.  A broken strap\u003cbr\u003ewould be a disaster, for the clasp of the lock did not function,\u003cbr\u003eand this dread of a trivial disaster seemed to show in the\u003cbr\u003ecarefulness of the man's long and intelligent hands.  They were\u003cbr\u003ecautious yet flurried.  His breathing was audible in the room.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"That's it.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe words expressed relief.  He was kneeling, and as he looked up\u003cbr\u003etowards the window and saw the strip of sky and the grimy cornice\u003cbr\u003eof grey slates of the house across the way, his poise suggested the\u003cbr\u003ecrouch of a creature escaping from under some huge upraised foot.\u003cbr\u003eFor the last three years, ever since his demobilization, life had\u003cbr\u003ebeen to Sorrell like some huge trampling beast, and he--a furtive\u003cbr\u003ething down in the mud, panting, dodging, bewildered, resentful and\u003cbr\u003eafraid.  Now he had succeeded in strapping that portmanteau.  They\u003cbr\u003ewere slipping away from under the shadow of the great beast.\u003cbr\u003eSomething had turned up to help the man to save his last made-to-\u003cbr\u003emeasure suit, his boy, and the remnant of his gentility.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHorrible word!  He stroked his little black moustache, and\u003cbr\u003econsidered the portmanteau.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well,--that's that, son.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe smiled faintly, and Kit's more radiant smile broke out in\u003cbr\u003eresponse.  To the boy the leaving of this beastly room in a beastly\u003cbr\u003estreet was a glorious adventure, for they were going into the\u003cbr\u003ecountry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It will want a label, pater.\"","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47068915794160,"sku":"2940013708693","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013708693_p0.jpg?v=1763584238","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013708693","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}