"Begging of your pardon, Mr Miller," replied Harris, possibly perceiving in which direction the wind was about to blow, "but if you want any more of your dirty work done you"ll do it yourself."
Cook was horrified.
"Well, the likes of that! After all Mr Miller has done for you!"
"Done for me! He has made me do what I"m ashamed of, that"s what he"s done for me! I"ve had enough of him, and of you too, Mrs Boyes was as good a mistress as anyone need have. I know it if no one else does.
And, Miss Molly, your mother always paid my wages regular to the moment; you don"t owe me nothing. And you don"t owe cook and Betsy nothing either."
"What do you know about what is and is not owing me?" screamed cook.
"I know you were paid each month; and, what"s more, I know you gave a receipt for it. Why, you told me yourself that you took the wages"
receipt book from the little cupboard in the corner."
Cook"s virtuous indignation was beautiful to behold.
"It only shows how sensible Mary Sharp was to pack her box and take herself outside of such a place. And I"ll do the same within the hour."
"So will I," said Betsy.
"Mr Sanford," I said, "all sorts of mother"s things are missing, and I shouldn"t be at all surprised if cook and Betsy have taken some of them."
"Me taken your mother"s things!" screamed cook. I believe that if it had not been for Mr Sanford she would have scratched me.
"I think it not at all improbable," he agreed. "Is there a constable hereabouts?"
"There"s one in the village." This was Harris, who seemed to have arrived at a sudden resolution to attack his late allies at every possible point, "Name of Parker."
"If you will be so good as to request Mr Parker"s immediate attendance you shall have no reason to regret it, Mr Harris. Neither of you women will leave this house until the contents of your boxes have been examined in the presence of a policeman."
Cook looked uncomfortable as she met Mr Sanford"s stern glance. And it was stern! Betsy began to cry.
"And what"s more," added Harris, pointing at the Ogre, "I happen to know that there was money in Mrs Boyes"s desk, and he knows it too."
With that parting shot Harris hurried off down the avenue.
"Things are beginning to wear rather an ugly aspect, Mr Miller."
"Ugly aspect! What do you mean? You needn"t think I want to stop in this hugger-muggering hole! I am just as anxious to get out of it as anyone can be to get me out."
"I should hardly think that possible."
"I only regret that I ever set foot in it."
"Then the regret is general."
"As for these ungrateful little wretches, and especially you, my lad!"--this was d.i.c.k--"they shall hear of me very soon in quite another fashion, when they haven"t got a bully to back them up."
Mr Sanford laughed.
"He"s cramming mother"s things into his pocket at this very moment!"
cried Jim.
"Aren"t you making a mistake, Mr Miller?"
Mr Sanford"s politeness seemed to make the Ogre feel dreadful. He looked as if he would have liked to have killed him.
"I don"t want the miserable rubbish!"
He banged the letters and things down on the table. d.i.c.k went on,--
"I believe that what Harris says about there having been money in mother"s desk is true, and this man hasn"t accounted for a penny. And it"s my belief too that he"s been taking what he likes out of the house. He lives just up the lane--I shouldn"t be surprised to find plenty of mother"s property at his own place."
The Ogre moved towards the door, but it was too late, Mr Sanford interposed.
"Excuse me, Mr Miller, but I think that now I would rather you waited till Mr Parker arrives. We will accompany you to your own establishment. There--together--we will make certain inquiries."
He bl.u.s.tered a little, but he was a coward at heart, and he had to give in. As it chanced, Harris met Parker in the lane, so that he came back with him almost at once.
All sorts of things which did not belong to them were found in cook"s and Betsy"s boxes; and actually the book of which Harris had spoken, in which they themselves had signed receipts for their wages. There was a tremendous scene. Parker badly wanted to lock them up, but we had had trouble enough already, so we let them go.
While we were examining the servants" boxes upstairs the Ogre was offering Mr Sanford what he called an explanation. When they went round with him to his own house he handed over quite a collection of miscellaneous articles which belonged to mother. Her cheque-book, all sorts of papers, some of them representing stocks and shares, even some of her jewellery. He said he had taken them home to examine.
Which seemed a very curious thing to do. The next morning he had vanished. He had left no address, and nothing was seen or heard of him in that neighbourhood again. So we concluded that he had escaped with something much more valuable than anything which he had given up. But it was a long time before we suspected what it was.
What we should have done without Mr Sanford--if he had not come in the very nick of time--I do not dare to think. We might have been plundered of every single thing we had. It was very nice of Hetty Travers to have a big strong cousin, and it was perfectly lovely of her to send him to us.
IV
THE HANDWRITING
It was some time after mother"s death before we knew if we were or were not penniless. And as, of course, it was our duty to be prepared for the very worst, we used to discuss among ourselves how, if we were left without a farthing, we should earn one. Though I am perfectly well aware that a single farthing would not have been of much service to us. But then I suppose everybody knows what I mean.
When there are six children, and the eldest is a girl, and she is only sixteen, and they have no relatives, and not one grown-up person to advise them, it does seem strange what a very few ways there are of making a fortune. That is, within a reasonable s.p.a.ce of time. So far as I could make out, from what the others said, for every one of them you wanted money to start with. And if you had no money, it was not the slightest use your doing anything. Then the boys had such impracticable notions. d.i.c.k was full of South Africa. He declared that nothing was easier than to go to South Africa; find what he called a "claim," on which there were tons of gold, or so many pounds to the ton, I do not quite know which; turn it into a company, and there you were, a millionaire, in what he termed "a brace of shakes." But it appeared to me that that "brace of shakes" would be some time in coming. First, he would have to get to South Africa, then he would have to find his "claim,"--and there was no proof that they were found by everyone; then he would have to get his company up, which might take weeks; and, in the meantime, were we supposed to starve? I seemed to have read somewhere that a human being could not be kept alive without food for more than seven days. I doubted if there would be much left of me after four-and-twenty hours. Jack wanted to be an engine-driver on the railway line, a profession which I feel sure is not too highly paid; while Jim actually yearned to be a fireman in the fire brigade, though how he imagined that he was going to earn a fortune that way was beyond my comprehension.
Nora and I were reluctantly compelled to admit that if our means of sustenance were to depend on the efforts of the masculine portion of the family we should apparently have to go very short indeed. And the field for girls did seem to be so circ.u.mscribed. As I said to her--
"There do seem to be such a few ways in which girls can get money."
"There aren"t any."
We were in the kitchen, she and I alone together. We were supposed to be getting the tea ready. There was not a servant about the place. And the condition the house was getting into in consequence was beyond anything. She was sitting on the edge of the table, with a coal scoop in one hand and a toasting-fork in the other. Nora always was of a pessimistic description. She invariably looked on the blackest side of everything. So one got into the habit of allowing for the peculiarity of her outlook. Besides, I had in my head at that moment the glimmering of an idea of how to earn an immense amount.
"There are some ways. For instance, there"s writing. There are girls who write for papers, and all kinds of things."
"Only those who can"t write get paid anything."