He sighed. His wife shook her head.
"Daniel," she said, "I--I declare I try not to lose patience with you, but it"s awful hard work. Mourning! Mourn for her! What did she ever do to make you sorry she was gone? Did she ever come near us when she was alive? No, indeed, she didn"t. Did she ever offer to give you, or even lend you, a cent? I guess not. And she knew you needed it, for I wrote her."
"You DID? Serena!"
"Yes, I did. Why shouldn"t I? I wrote her six months ago, telling her how bad your business was, and that Gertie was at school, and we were trying to give her a good education, and how much money it took and--oh, everything. When your Uncle Jim"s business was bad, in the hard times back in "73, who was it that helped him out and saved him from bankruptcy? Why, his brother--your own father. And he never got a cent of it back. I reminded her of that, too."
Daniel sprang out of his chair.
"You did!" he cried again. "Serena, how could you? You knew how Father felt about that money. You knew how I felt. And yet, you did that!"
"I did. Somebody in this family must be practical and worldly-minded, and I seem to be the one. YOU wouldn"t ask her for a cent. You wouldn"t ask anybody for money, even if they owed it a thousand years. You sell everybody anything they want from the store; and trust them for it. You know you do. You sold that good-for-nothing Lem Brackett a whole suit of clothes only last week, and he owes you a big bill and has owed it for a year."
Her husband looked troubled. "Well," he answered, slowly, "I suppose likely I didn"t do right there. But those Bracketts are poor, and there"s a big family of "em, and the fall"s comin" on, and--and all.
So--"
"So you thought it was your duty to help support them, I suppose. Oh, Daniel, Daniel, I don"t know what to do with you sometimes."
Captain Dan looked very grave.
"I guess you"re right, Serena," he admitted. "I ain"t much good, I"m afraid."
Mrs. Dott"s expression changed. She rose, walked over, and kissed him.
"You"re too good, that"s the main trouble with you," she said. "Well, I won"t scold any more. I"m glad we"ve got the three thousand anyway--and the tea-pot."
"It"s a lovely tea-pot, all engravin" and everything. And the sugar-bowl"s almost as pretty. You"ll like "em, Serena."
"Yes, I"ll love "em, I don"t doubt. You and I can look at them and think of that cousin of Aunt Lavinia"s spending the rest of her fortune. No wonder she didn"t leave him the tea-pot; precious little tea he drinks, if stories we hear are true. Well, there"s one good thing about it--Gertie can keep on with her college. This is her last year."
"Yes; I thought of that. I thought of a million things when I was racin"
across the yard with this letter. Say, Serena, you"ve never told Gertie anything about how trade was or how hard-up we"ve been?"
"Of course not."
"No, I knew you wouldn"t. She"s such a conscientious girl; if she thought we couldn"t afford it she wouldn"t think of keepin" on with that college, and I"ve set my heart on her havin" the best start in life we can give her."
"I know. Ah hum! I wish she could have the start some people"s daughters have. Mrs. Black was with me at the lodge room yesterday--we are decorating for the men"s evening to-morrow night, you know--and Mrs.
Black has been helping me; she"s awfully kind that way. You"d think she belonged here in Trumet, instead of being rich and living in Scarford and being way up in society there. She and her husband are just like common folks."
"Humph! Barney Black IS common folks. He was born right here in Trumet and his family was common as wharf rats. HE needn"t put on airs with me."
"He doesn"t. And yet, if he was like some people, he would. So successful in his big factory, and his wife way up in the best circles of Scarford; she"s head of the Ladies of Honor there as I am here, and means to get a national office in the order; she told me so. But there!
that reminds me that I was going to meet her at the lodge room at ten, and it"s half-past nine now. Do help me with these hooks. If I wasn"t so fleshy I could do them myself, but I almost died hooking the others."
"Why didn"t you call Zuba? She"d have hooked "em for you."
"Azuba! Heavens and earth! She"s worse than n.o.body; her fingers are all thumbs. Besides, she would talk me deaf, dumb and blind. She doesn"t know her place at all; thinks she is one of the family, I suppose."
"Well, she is, pretty nigh. Been here long enough."
"I don"t care. She isn"t one of the family; she"s a servant, or ought to be. Oh dear! when I hear Annette Black telling about her four servants and all the rest it makes me so jealous, sometimes."
"Don"t make ME jealous. I"d rather have you and Gertie and this place than all Barney Black owns--and that means his wife, too."
"Daniel, I keep telling you not to call Mr. Black "Barney." He is B. Phelps Black now. Mrs. Black always calls him "Phelps." So does everybody in Scarford, so she says."
"Want to know! He was Barney Black when he lived here regular. Havin"
a summer cottage here and a real house in Scarford must make a lot of difference. By the way, speakin" of Scarford, that"s where Aunt Laviny used to live afore she went abroad. She owned a big house there."
"Why, so she did! I wonder what will become of it. I suppose that cousin will get it, along with the rest. Oh dear! suppose--just suppose there wasn"t any cousin. Suppose you and I and Gertie had that house and the money. Wouldn"t it be splendid? WE could be in society then."
"Humph! I"d look pretty in society, wouldn"t I?"
"Of course you would. You"d look as pretty as Barney--B. Phelps Black, wouldn"t you? And I--Oh, HOW I should love it! Trumet is so out of date.
A real intelligent, ambitious woman has no chance in Trumet."
The captain shook his head. He recognized the last sentence as a quotation from the works of Mrs. Annette Black, self-confessed leader in society in the flourishing manufacturing city of Scarford, and summer resident and condescending patroness of Trumet.
"Well," he observed; "we"ve got more chance, even in Trumet, than we"ve had for the last year, thanks to Aunt Laviny"s three thousand. It gives us a breathin" spell, anyhow. If only trade in the store would pick up, I--Hey! Good heavens to Betsy! I forgot the store altogether. Sam hadn"t got back from breakfast and I left the store all alone. I must be crazy!"
He bolted from the room and down the stairs, the legacy forgotten for the moment, and in his mind pictures of rifled showcases and youthful Trumet regaling itself with chocolates at his expense. Azuba shrieked another question as her employer once more rushed through the kitchen, but again her question was unanswered. She hurried to the window and watched him running across the yard.
"Well!" she exclaimed, in alarmed soliloquy. "WELL, the next time I fetch that man a letter I"ll fetch the doctor along with it. Has the world turned upside down, or what is the matter?"
She might have made a worse guess. The Dott world was turning upside down; this was the beginning of the revolution.
CHAPTER II
Captain Dan"s fears concerning the safety of his showcases were groundless. Even as he sprang up the steps to the side door of his place of business, he heard familiar voices in the store. He recognized the voices, and, halting momentarily to wipe his forehead with his handkerchief and to regain some portion of his composure and his breath, he walked in.
Gertrude, his daughter, was seated in his chair by the desk, and John Doane was leaning upon the desk, talking with her. In the front of the store, Sam Bartlett, the boy, who had evidently returned from breakfast, was doing nothing in particular, and doing it with his usual air of enjoyment. It was only when required to work that Sam was unhappy.
Gertrude looked up as her father entered; prior to that she had been looking at the blotter on the desk. John Doane, who had been looking at Gertrude, also changed the direction of his gaze. Captain Dan struggled with the breath and the composure.
"Why, Dad!" exclaimed Gertrude. "What is it?"
"What"s the matter, Cap"n Dott?" asked Mr. Doane.
Daniel did his best to appear calm; it was a poor best. At fifty-two one cannot run impromptu hurdle races against time, and show no effects.
"Hey?" he panted. "Matter? Nothin"s the matter. I left the store alone for a minute and I was in a kind of hurry to get back to it, that"s all."
The explanation was not entirely satisfactory. Gertrude looked more puzzled than ever.
"A minute," she repeated. "Left it a minute! Why, John and I have been here fifteen minutes, and Sam was here when we came."