'SAVE.'
'I have made such a wonderful discovery,' observed Eva to Stella
Wharton, as she sat with the Wharton sisters and Amy Overall at the
little table which was now left by common consent for these four friends
at the Enterprise Club.
Miss Wharton rather liked Eva, who was bright and amusing, and her frank
liking for the sisters flattered the lonely Scotch girl. Moreover,
Stella was not so good a judge of character as her younger sister, and
did not notice a want of candour in the girl. So she smiled and said
pleasantly, 'Well, what is this wonderful discovery?'
'It is a motto. Vava says they have a special motto each term at her
school, and I found a motto for our new house, and it is formed by our
four names,' explained Eva.
The other three all looked interested, and Vava asked, 'How do you mean?
By jumbling all the letters up? Because "Wharton, Overall, Barnes" does
not make much sense.'
'No, but we might get something out of those names, such as "Union over
all ills," or something of that kind. Let's try and work it out!'
exclaimed Eva, whose mind turned easily from one subject to another. In
a moment she had her note-book open, and was setting down all the
letters of Wharton and Barnes to try and make suitable words out of
them.
But the other stopped her, and Amy said, 'Let us hear your motto first,
Eva; we have not too much time to waste, and, after all, a motto is not
a very important thing.'
'Oh my motto--I forgot; _it_ is a very important thing--it is "Save,"'
she answered.
This remark was received with silence, and then the elder Miss Wharton
said, with hesitation, 'I don't quite understand. Save whom or what?'
'Save money,' replied Eva.
'That's all very well as a precept; but what has that to do with our
names, and how did you make that out of them?' demanded Amy.
'It's a very good motto; but never mind about it. I have got a better
one; it is "Live and let live,"' put in Vava hastily.
Stella looked reprovingly at her sister, and said with grave politeness,
'I don't know that it is better; but Miss Barnes was going to explain to
us how she got our names down to make "Save." That is a result of a
mathematical mind; perhaps she can reduce even names to their lowest
common denominator.' Stella's strong point was not mathematics, nor
indeed was she very quick at any subject; though her knowledge was solid
and reliable on the subjects she had studied.
'It's easy enough--S A V E, the initials of Stella, Amy, Vava, Eva,'
said Eva airily.
Stella coloured, but said nothing. Amy, after looking at her, said, 'How
absurd you are, Eva! Besides, you should not take liberties with other
people's names.'
Then, seeing that Eva looked very crestfallen, Stella repented her of
the proud reserve which had made her resent this same liberty, and said,
'It may be a good omen; and, after all, it is my motto for the present.'
Vava looked relieved, and remarked, 'It's funny that you are the first
to "save" or in "Save."'
'I wish you would all begin to save time,' remonstrated Amy. 'We have so
much to talk over and arrange, and we have only these meetings at the
club for the purpose.'
So the four young heads drew closer together as they talked over ways
and means, and argued and calculated, till a hasty movement by Eva, who
was the most enthusiastic of the four, was followed by a loud clatter on
the floor, which made them all start.
'I'm sorry; it's only my frying-pan,' she said, as she dived under the
table and brought out a parcel, off which the brown paper had fallen,
disclosing to view a large iron frying-pan.
Stella opened her beautiful eyes wide as she looked at it in wonder. Amy
only smiled; but Vava, impulsive as usual, exclaimed, 'What are you
doing with that old frying-pan? Do you have to cook your own dinner in
your office?'
'I should think not, indeed! I should like to see our boss's face if we
started making smells like that; besides, we don't need to; we get very
good lunches at this club,' cried Eva, trying to pack the despised
frying-pan up again in the paper; a futile attempt, as the wrapping was
all torn.
'Then what on earth are you carrying such a thing about with you for?'
demanded Amy, looking half-annoyed and half-amused.
'I brought it to show you all; it is for the new house!' she exclaimed
triumphantly.
'Which we have not got yet,' put in Amy.
'But it's old--old and dirty,' objected Vava, who had been looking at it
with disgust.
'That's only rust; it will clean off. I got it for threepence at an
East-End market; it is a tremendous bargain, and is the beginning of our
"save"--pots and pans are a most expensive item in house-furnishing; and
I am going to undertake that part of it myself, and get one article each
day. There was a splendid big iron kettle, with a hole in it, for
sixpence'----she said.
But a chorus of laughter stopped her in her list of bargains.
'I don't think I care about eating things fried in a pan coming from an
East-End market,' remarked Vava.
'And I don't see much good in a kettle with a hole in it,' said Stella;
but instead of being shocked, as Vava evidently was, she seemed rather
amused.
'It can easily be mended with solder, and sixpence is dirt-cheap for a
large iron kettle,' observed Eva.
'I should call it "cheap dirt," if you will excuse the bad joke; and,
seriously, Eva, it is very foolish spending your money on such rubbish;
shillings soon run away in that manner, and we want all our spare
shillings just now,' protested Amy Overall.
'You are an ungrateful set,' said Eva; but she put the frying-pan out of
sight, and listened seriously while the two elder girls talked over the
different houses proposed, and Miss Wharton said finally, 'The only one
that really suits is this one at Heather Road, Blackstead.'
'Then let us go there first,' agreed Amy.
'I expect the name attracted you, Miss Wharton,' said Eva, with a
twinkle in her eye.
Stella laughed. 'It is an attractive name to us; but I am not so foolish
as that, I hope; and it has fruit-trees in the garden, which do attract
me, and I thought would attract you,' she replied.
'So they do, and it sounds too good to be true. Forty pounds, and the
man would come down to thirty-eight. Let's go there on Saturday,' agreed
Eva.
'There is one thing that I wanted to say,' observed Stella, looking a
little uncomfortable, 'and that is, that I--I mean we--would rather have
a very little furniture at first, and get it by degrees. We only need a
bed and a washstand in our bedroom, and we have only enough money to
furnish a sitting-room and half what is necessary for the kitchen and
hall.'
'Oh but you need not worry about that. We can furnish on the
hire-system; they will let you have any amount!' cried Eva.
'I would rather not,' persisted Stella.
Amy looked grave. 'I don't see how we are to manage without hiring, and
I don't think our landlord would feel satisfied if we had no furniture
to speak of, and I have only ten pounds to spend, and Eva has less, I
believe.'
'I should think that the landlord would be better satisfied if we did
not run into debt,' said Stella.
'I'd sooner go to a workhouse than live in a room with only a bed and a
washstand! Where would you hang your clothes or keep your linen? Why, it
would not be a home at all,' protested Eva.
'Of course I did not mean to dictate to you,' said Stella hastily; 'but
Vava and I will be quite satisfied with a comfortable sitting-room, and
we shall receive the landlord there, not in our bedroom,' she added with
a smile.
'That is true, and as long as we have pretty curtains and blinds there
is no need to furnish completely at once; besides, we have nearly two
months to quarter-day, and we can save a few pounds if we are very
economical,' agreed Amy.
'We will save in advance,' agreed Eva; but on the way home she observed
to her friend Amy, 'Those two Wharton girls are as narrow-minded as
possible, and I am going to have a proper suite in my room, whatever
they say; I should never feel comfortable unless I had looked at myself
in a long glass before I went out.'
'I think they are right, and I shall not get anything I cannot pay for,'
announced Amy.
'Well! you are easily led; but you won't lead me, for I am not going to
be the talk of the neighbours because we have no decent furniture. I
shall get a handsome satinwood bedroom suite, and that will give a tone
to the place at any rate,' said Eva.
Amy laughed, but did not try to turn the girl, who, in spite of being
only sixteen years old, was very determined in her opinions; and as
unfortunately she was an orphan and independent of every one, it was not
easy to control her, and her friend had always found it better to leave
her alone until she had cooled down a little in her enthusiasm for
anything, and then reason with her, and this she hoped to do now. So no
more was said about buying furniture, about which it would be folly to
think until the house had been taken and they knew the size of the rooms
and other details.
The next day, when Vava left her sister at the usual point in the City,
she saw Doreen Hackney coming up out of the Metropolitan Station. She
came up by the train arriving at 9.20, and as the Whartons were very
punctual, and arrived at this time, they almost invariably met her; but
this morning, although she was almost certain Doreen had seen her, the
latter walked on without turning her head.
But Vava knew Doreen too well to believe she did not wish to see her,
and ran after her. 'Doreen! Doreen! wait a minute!' she panted. At the
sound of her voice, Doreen stopped and apologised for having made her
run. 'Are you blind? Didn't you see me when you came out of the
station?' cried Vava.
Doreen gave her a very funny look. 'Yes-s,' she said hesitatingly; and
then, seeing Vava's look of astonishment, she added lamely, 'I was in a
hurry to get to school.'
'How absurd; we have plenty of time, and I want to tell you something.
We are perhaps going to live at Blackstead, for we have heard of a
lovely little house there with a garden and fruit-trees--at least, so
the agent says, though Stella says it may only be a tiny apple-tree,
with no apples on it, because they always exaggerate in advertisements,'
observed Vava.
'Oh but there are fruit-trees--apples and pears and plums!' exclaimed
Doreen, and then stopped abruptly.
'Are there such gardens in London suburbs? But there may not be in this
one. Do you know the part--it is Heather Road, Blackstead?'
'Oh yes, I know it,' said Doreen in rather a reserved tone.
Vava had been so full of her news that she had not noticed Doreen's
manner, or rather had put it down to discomfort at having been rude in
not stopping for her; but it struck her at last that her friend was not
like herself, and she asked suddenly, 'What is the matter, Doreen?'
'Nothing--nothing,' said Doreen hastily.
'Then what do you know about the house? Isn't it in a nice part?'
inquired Vava, as a thought struck her.
'Oh yes, the part is all right; it's very open; you will like it very
much if you come, and I do hope you will,' said Doreen so cordially that
Vava was relieved.
'I hope we shall, then. Is it very far from you?' inquired Vava.
No; it's--it's quite near. But, you know, in London one need not know
one's next-door neighbour unless one likes. We never said anything more
than "Good-morning!" to the people we lived next door to for three
years. Mother is not one of those who is always talking over the wall to
her neighbour; so you need not be afraid of that,' observed Doreen.
'But we don't mind knowing our next-door neighbour; in fact, we shall
know him, because he is our landlord, and a very honest, nice man, the
agent says; not educated'----
'Vava, was that the bell?' interrupted Doreen abruptly.
Doreen's manners were certainly very bad, and Vava said severely, 'You
are rude, Doreen, and if I did not know you I should think you took no
interest in our new house.'
'I do, and I hope very much you will come to Heather Road; I know you
will like it and be happy there.'
'Where do you live? We may pass your house to-morrow, because we are
going to Heather Road to look at this house, and I will look out for you
in case you are at the window,' said Vava.
To Vava's astonishment, Doreen did not answer her, but appeared not to
have heard, and called out in her loud way to two girls who were on the
other side of the road. It took a good deal to offend Vava, but this
morning she felt decidedly ruffled; and as she did not particularly care
for the new-comers, she walked on alone in a slightly aggrieved mood.
But Doreen seemed quite unconscious of having given offence in the
morning, and was more attentive and friendly than usual to Vava as they
walked down the road after school. When she said good-bye to her at the
Metropolitan Station she called after her, 'I say, I do hope you'll come
to Heather Road; you'll like it awfully, I know.'
But when Vava turned round to reply, no Doreen was to be seen; she had
disappeared into the station. Vava, recounting the tale to her sister,
observed, 'She has such bad manners, but she doesn't mean it.'
'Perhaps she had to run to catch her train?' suggested Stella.
'Oh no, she hadn't; she always has ten minutes to wait. She generally
waits and tries to make me loiter and talk to her; but to-day she
didn't, and she never told me where she lives, though she knew that I
wanted to look out for her house to-morrow. I was just going to ask her
how far it was from Heather Road when off she went. I almost think she
must be ashamed of her home, and doesn't want me to know where it is,'
declared Vava.
'Then you had better not ask her again,' said Stella.
Whether this was true or not will be seen in the next chapter, when the
four young house-hunters went to look at No. 2 Heather Road.