Jack went home that Sat.u.r.day feeling rather discouraged. He little knew what his accidental interview with Hannah, the housemaid, would result in.
He was flinging his own and Trevelyan"s muddy boots into the big basket which stood in the scullery, on Monday evening, when a low voice close at hand startled him.
"Please, Master Brady, if you have a minute to spare, I should like to speak to you."
Jack turned round in surprise, to face his friend of Sat.u.r.day, the housemaid.
"Why, certainly. Fire away! I"m all attention."
"I hope you won"t think me foolish, sir, but you--you do seem sympithetic like, though you can"t help me, I know; and yet you told me to come to you, and it"s a relief to out with one"s trouble; and Emma, she don"t understand, because she"s going to be married, and she don"t think of nothin" else; and Cook, she says she"s never "ad nothin" to do with plants, not excep" the eatin" sorts, like cabbages and turnips--"
"But, Hannah, you haven"t given me a chance yet. Plants?" said Jack.
"Yes, sir; I"ll tell you all about it if I may. You see, my "ome"s at Brickland--that"s a matter of four miles from Elmridge,--and my father, he"s steadily wastin", and doctor says there"s no chance for him, not unless he gets to one of the hopen-air "ospitals, and he"s not to doddle about the green-"ouse any more."
"That"s a bad business," said Jack, looking grave. "Then your father has been a gardener?"
"Yes, and a salesman in a small way, sir. But now he"s to give up, and sell all the plants. Doctor says he"ll never again be fit for that work.
It"s goin" in and out of the cold and the heat and the damp that"s so tryin". He"s been holdin" on as long as he could, but now he"s ready enough to part with "em, and if only he could get a good price it"d maybe take "im to the hopen-air, and help to keep the "ome together till he"s well."
"That sounds the wisest plan," observed Jack thoughtfully.
"Yes, sir, but the point is the sellin" of "em. They ought to go into a good big sale, where there"ll be plenty of biddin"; they aren"t enough in themselves to draw buyers. And Mother says in her letter this mornin"
they"ve heard of one that"s bein" held in Elmridge on Sat.u.r.day, a big one, in the Rookwood grounds. They call it a "Nurserymen"s Combine"; there"s a many of them joining, and they"re willin" to take in Father"s little lot."
[Ill.u.s.tration]
"Surely the very thing!" said Jack.
"It seems so, doesn"t it, sir? Father he sent round at once to make arrangements. But what do you think? he can"t get the carting of "em done under three-and-six a load; and, as he says, he hasn"t got half a guinea to lay out that way. Why, it"d pay his train to the hopen-air! So "e"ll have to let it slide, and not get such a chance again in a hurry."
"I"m sure I"m awfully sorry about it," responded Jack feelingly.
"But--but--but keep up your spirits, and who knows what may turn up?"
And with this consoling advice, he turned on his heel.
CHAPTER VIII
JACK"S MAIDEN SPEECH
"You really wish me to understand, Brady, that not you alone, but all the elder boys--day-pupils and boarders alike--desire of your own free-will to devote your next Sat.u.r.day"s half-holiday to conveying this poor man"s plants from his house at Brickland to the Rookwood sale?"
"Yes, sir, that"s what we want to do."
"H"m! Well, the proposal does you credit, and you certainly might employ your time much worse than in carrying it out. I don"t think it would be right for me to refuse your request. Mr. Anderson, I feel sure, will be ready to help and advise you, if necessary, but as the idea is your own I should like you, as far as possible, to carry it out by yourselves."
"Thank you, sir!" said Jack, and withdrew.
It was evening when this dialogue took place. The day-boys had departed in an irritable frame of mind, on account of various annoyances of which they had been the victims during the past two days. Bacon had been tripped up twice by a piece of string, Hughes had found his coat-sleeves tightly sewn up with packing-thread, and Simmons"s pockets had been crammed with moist, wriggling earthworms.
Knowing this, it may be wondered that they were prevailed on to agree to Jack"s scheme for the coming Sat.u.r.day. But our hero was wily, and he worded his suggestion so carefully that they did not for a moment imagine that their enemies the boarders were at all connected with the plan, which seemed to offer scope for fun and adventure of a new description. Was not Sat.u.r.day Jack"s regular day of release? Of course this was to be an "out-of-school" affair altogether. So they imagined.
"Now then, you fellows!" cried Jack, bursting into the school-room like a frolicsome whirlwind, "who said I wouldn"t get leave? West and I have settled it all most comfortably, patted each other on the head, and so forth. Let you go? Why, he"d like nothing better than to let you go for good and all!"
"So you"ve let the whole lot of us in for it, young man?" said Trevelyan, looking amused.
"Why, n.o.body asked to be left out," returned Jack.
This was quite true, and there was no more to be said. Hallett had taken kindly to the idea to begin with, and set the fashion by doing so. One or two lazy lads would not have been sorry in their hearts if Mr. West had vetoed the scheme, but they had not the courage to refuse to join in it.
"Now to business!" Jack continued. "We must send Mr. Thompson himself word of our intentions; let"s write a proper, tradesman-like letter!
Vickers, you"re the fluent, flowery one. Bottle up your metaphors and give us a page of business-like fluency! Here"s some paper."
After a good deal of discussion the following letter was composed:--
_To Mr J. Thompson Nurseryman._
_Dr Sir/_
_Having heard of yr intention to dispose of yr stock-in-hand (Plants) we have pleasure in proposing to undertake transport of same (carriage free) on Saty next ensuing between 2 and 4 p.m. from yr house to Rookwood Elmridge Middleshire for sale advd to be held there at 6 p.m. Safety of goods guarantd. Unless we hear to contry we shall presume this meets yr views and take action accordly._
_Yrs etc._
_(Signed) T. Vickers_ _N. Hallett_ _J. Brady &c._ _pro) Students of Brincliffe Elmridge._
"If that isn"t business-like, I don"t know what is!" exclaimed Cadbury, when it was read through. "If ink was a shilling a drop, you couldn"t have been more chary of it. There"s not an "a", "an", or "the"
throughout, nor a comma, nor an adjective, and the contractions are masterly. We"re all born commercial clerks, that"s what we are!"
"Ethel and Lucy have undertaken the necessary barrow-borrowing,"
remarked Jack, casually. "We sha"n"t want more than six or eight wheel-barrows, and that pair can get anything if it goes together. Lucy represents the dauntless cheek, and Ethel the irresistible charm. What more is required?"
"What do you mean, Brady? We won"t have the day-boys sticking their fingers into this pie!" cried Es...o...b.. Trevelyan.
"We couldn"t do the job alone," said Jack quietly. "It would take us twice as long."
A loud murmur of disapprobation ran through the room.
Jack turned rather pale, and pinched the edge of the table nervously.
His eyes wandered from face to face. All were vexed, all displeased.
Then, with a sudden impulse he sprang to his feet, and spoke his mind--rapidly, earnestly.
"Look here, I can"t understand it! What makes you all so beastly to the day-boys--to my pals? You began it, not they! They came to Brincliffe without the least idea of any unfriendly feeling, and you hated them before you"d seen them or heard their names. Is that fair--straight--English? If it were, I"d wish to be French or German.
Where"s the fun in this constant worrying of each other? As boarders, it"s your place to put out a hand first, and I think I can promise that the day-boys will shake it. Bah! I know I can never talk you round; it"s no good attempting to. I"m not in a comic mood, and can"t make you laugh, like Cadbury, and I haven"t Vickers"s gift of the gab. But wasn"t last Friday"s lesson enough? Wasn"t the sight of that knife--"