JACK'S BICYCLE.
"WELL, boy, I've got the job," and Jack's father grinned and rubbed his
hands with supreme satisfaction, as he looked first at Jack and then at
his wife across the supper table that Saturday night.
Jack was eating his bread and cheese in a sleepy fashion, for the long
walk and ramble in the woods had tired him, and he and Annie had only
just got back; but he was alert enough when he heard his father's news.
"What job is it, dad?" he asked, eagerly.
"Oh, not a big contract; I couldn't manage that without I know a bit
more of figures, and so you must get on to them, my boy, for me. I
could tot up a little job like this—for it's just putting a shop front
into a private house—and it's a job you can help me at when you have
done at your own place. For the man wants it done quickly now he has
made up his mind about it, and I may get another when this is finished,
if it suits him. I must be up with the lark on Monday morning, and get
that workshop ready."
And then there was another rubbing of the hands, and Bond would not
have been sorry if his wife had suggested that he should commence
clearing it that very night.
But Mrs. Bond hardly knew what to think of this new departure. So long
as they lived in Sadler Street, she had been content to live like her
neighbours, in a dirty, untidy, thriftless fashion. And it was only
because Jack was always talking about the Winns and their nice house,
that she decided that she would have something like it when she moved
away from the old neighbourhood.
She had made a beginning with the kitchen, and felt very proud of what
she had done; but why her husband and Jack should also want to turn
over a new leaf us well as herself, she could not quite understand.
Though she strongly suspected that it was because there was an old
disused workshop at the bottom of the garden, and a gateway at the side
of the house leading to it, that had put the idea into their heads. And
she did not half like the notion of risking their little bit of money
in taking work, instead of keeping it in the bank, and adding to it
when he had the chance from his weekly wages.
[Illustration: Jack's father rubbed his hands with supreme
satisfaction.]
But she knew her husband too well to dispute with him over this, and
so she sat and listened while the three talked. For Annie's arithmetic
was brought into requisition in working out quantities, and it was
nearly twelve o'clock before they went to bed. And then Jack dreamed
of figures, and timber, and nails, and paint, and varnish, in such a
confused jumble, that he woke up the next morning wishing more than
ever that he had stuck to his lessons when he was at school, instead of
wasting his time, as he often had done, and turning every bit of school
work into a source of fun for the others to laugh at.
The other boys had thought it clever at the time, and so did he, but
he knew now that if he had had more sense, he would have known better
than to waste his time in such folly. For he could do nothing without
Annie's help to make sure that the simplest sum was right; and upon
the accuracy of working these out correctly, would depend whether his
father lost money, or made a profit, upon the work he undertook. But
out of this grew the steady resolution that, however distasteful it
might be for a big fellow like him to go to school again, after he had
begun working at a trade, he would go, and give all his attention to
the intricacies of arithmetic, until he had mastered it.
He would have begun working at simple sums at once, if he could, but
he was to begin helping his father with the carpentering on Monday as
soon as he got home. And so his only chance to do this was in the odd
minutes he might snatch during the dinner hour; and he resolved to keep
a pencil and paper in his pocket, that he might do this whenever he had
the chance.
As soon as day dawned, his father was up and clearing out the old shed,
repairing the broken window, and making it ready to begin work as soon
as the wood should be brought in for him to begin upon.
Jack came home at tea time with shining eyes and glowing cheeks.
"I say, dad, Jackson, my foreman, wants to sell his bicycle. It's a
good strong one, will wear for years he says."
"Then what does he want to sell it for?" asked Bond.
"Because it's a bit old-fashioned, and he's been saving up to buy a new
one; and if he can sell this soon, so as to get another, he will let it
go cheap."
"What does he call cheap? Because I happen to have a pound or two in
the bank I can't afford to waste it. And if—"
"But I don't want you to give me the money, dad!" interrupted Jack. "He
says if I can pay him ten shillings in a fortnight, and five shillings
a week afterwards until it is paid, and you will agree to see it is
paid, he can order his new machine at once, and I can have his old one
when I pay the ten shillings."
"Well, that sounds fair enough, my boy. But I tell you what, I should
like to see the machine myself, and get somebody else to look at it who
understands such things. You tell him what I say, lad, and hear what he
thinks to it. Now, make haste over your tea, for that bicycle has got
to be earned yet, you know, and I have got a bit of work ready for you."
So as soon as tea was over, Jack went to his new work in the old shed.
And although it was not very pleasant to begin again when he had
already done a fair day's work, still, he set to it with a will.
Fortunately for the two workmen, Mrs. Bond was determined to have a
share in the new departure. And, knowing that a man cannot do extra
work without extra food, instead of going out to have a gossip with a
neighbour, she and Annie busied themselves with cooking a tasty little
supper from the bones of the previous day's joint, a few scraps of
meat, and some fresh vegetables, and a little pearl barley. So when
Jack and his father came in about nine o'clock, expecting to see the
customary bread and cheese set out upon the table, they found Annie
toasting some bread, and Mrs. Bond turning out a dish of delicious stew.
Her husband looked rather alarmed at first. "I don't say I don't
like it, Mary," he said, rather solemnly, "but hot suppers is an
extravagance I can't abide."
"It won't cost above a penny more than the bread and cheese, except the
extra trouble, and that's mine and Annie's share towards the new board
that you want outside."
Jack had thought he was too tired to eat any supper until he smelt
the savoury stew. And probably if there had only been the bread and
cheese, he would have gone straight to bed without eating anything, and
been less able so do his work the next day. But this light, savoury
supper tempted him to eat, and when he went to bed, he slept soundly
all night, and was ready to get up in the morning and go to work as
usual, which could scarcely have been the case if his mother and sister
had not taken their share, by providing a savoury hot supper that was
nourishing and digestible.
"I feel as fresh as a daisy, dad. Overtime work don't hurt me," said
Jack, when his father asked if he felt tired.
"That's all right, my boy. You worked well last night, and I expect
mother's supper helped you along. I've been getting on to-day, but I
want you to help me a bit each evening this week."
"Why, of course you do. How am I to get my bike if I don't do a bit of
overtime work?" asked Jack.
"Ah, about that bicycle. Did you tell your foreman what I said?"
"Yes, and he is going to bring the machine with him to-morrow, and then
I can bring it home for you to see, and ask some other opinion about
it."
"Well, that looks straightforward, lad. If the thing is all right, you
shall have it, on the understanding that you go to the evening class
next winter, and work away at the figures, and do what you can to help
me with the job I have got, and perhaps another after it."
But Jack shook his head to this proposal. "No, dad, I'll promise about
the evening class for the winter, I've made up my mind about that, and
I'll stick to it, though you will have to trust me for it. But I'll
just take the money I can earn fair and square, and when I've earned
half, I'll have the jigger if it's all right. That's the bargain I've
made with Jackson to-day, for I'd rather earn it before I get it. He's
going to lend it to me sometimes on a Saturday to ride out a little
way, and find out about the road to Fairfield. For as soon as ever I
can, I want to go and see how Tom Winn is getting on, and—"
"And tell him about the board we are going to have outside,"
interrupted Annie.
"No, no, we'll wait a bit, and see how we get on first," said Bond, a
little anxiously.
"All right, dad, I won't say a word about the board till we find out
whether we can put it up, and keep it up," said Jack.
"That's it, my lad; I don't want to make a fool of myself to anybody,
and especially to them friends of yours that you think so much of."
"I don't see why you should think them such grand folks. Mrs. Winn was
only a dressmaker, I've heard," said Mrs. Bond, a little tartly, for
somehow she always did feel a little jealous of her son thinking so
much of these strangers.
"You don't know Mrs. Winn, mother, or you would say what everybody else
does, that she is every inch a lady."
"What is a lady, Jack?" asked his sister.
Jack scratched his head, for the question was a hard one for him to
answer, but at last he said, "Well, I suppose it is to be kind, and say
civil things, and always look nice, and have a clean, tidy room."
Jack's father laughed until the tears came into his eyes, and in the
midst of it, Jack took up his cap and went back to work. And after he
had gone, his father said, "The boy ain't so far wrong neither, for
there's many a fine madam with plenty of money, who ain't no lady, and
there's many a working lass who would put the fine madam to shame; and
so I think our Jack has hit the right nail on the head after all."
Jack brought the big bicycle home in great triumph the next day, and
was not a little proud when his mother and sister came to the street
door to see him ride it up and down the street.
His father said it looked all right, and seemed to go straight enough,
but still he meant to have the opinion of someone who understood the
things. And they would push on with the work for an hour, and then
knock off a little earlier, so as to take the machine, and have a
skilled opinion about it.
Jack was very anxious about this, for he knew some one else had offered
to buy the machine; and so if his father was not satisfied with it, the
foreman would probably sell it the next day, and all chance of being
able to ride over and see Tom Winn sometimes on a Saturday would vanish.
So when after an hour's steady sawing and planing, his father
straightened his back, and said, "Now, Jack, we will knock off for
to-night, and go and see the bicycle doctor."
Jack was not long throwing off his apron and making himself tidy, ready
to go and see the man who seemed to hold his summer happiness in his
hands.
To his intense relief, after some close examination, the man pronounced
the machine a very good one.
"It's old-fashioned, of course, but it has not been much worn. How much
is the owner asking for it; five pounds?"
"No, two," said Jack, quickly.
"Then it's a bargain," said the man; "and as you have good long legs of
your own, it will do as well for you as a more fashionable one. Where
do you think of riding it?" he asked.
"To Fairfield, as soon as I can ride well enough," said Jack.
"To Fairfield! Well, that's too long a spin for you just at first. Ride
it for a month, my lad, before you attempt that journey."
Jack looked disappointed, for he had made up his mind to set out to see
Tom the very day the bicycle became his own. But as he walked home with
his father, he promised to take the man's advice, and not attempt such
a long ride until he had perfect mastery of the machine, which he could
not expect to get until he had ridden it a few times.
But he had the satisfaction of asking the owner to call and see his
father on his way home from work the next day. And a fortnight later,
he had paid the deposit agreed upon, and took the bicycle home, and put
it where he could look at it, as he worked beside his father in their
own workshop.
Bond's first job was finished, and gave so much satisfaction, that he
soon got another from the same man, and it seemed likely that Jack's
services would be required every evening for the rest of the summer.
But his father promised that he should go to Fairfield on an early
Saturday afternoon; and in the meanwhile Jack was hunting up some
information, that he hoped would prove most welcome news to Tom when
he did go. It required a little patience and perseverance to make sure
that what he had heard was correct; but when he was sure of his facts,
he decided that he must go to Fairfield the next Saturday, even if he
had to go by train, for the news was too important to be delayed a day
longer than was necessary. And when his father knew what it was, and
why he was so anxious to see his old friend at once, he would not say
a word against him going the very next Saturday afternoon, if it was
fine. And if it should prove to be wet, then he had better go by train,
although it would be rather an expensive journey, he feared.
But the eagerly anticipated Saturday proved to be almost a perfect
summer day, and Jack set off soon after dinner, as proud as a prince,
on his bicycle, wondering what Tom and Elsie would say when they heard
the news he was taking to them.