_The Iron Rod_
There were more reasons than one for the first gush of customers to
Jeckie Farnish's smart new shop. One of them George Grice had foreseen
as soon as his eyes fell on the golden teapot and the new sign novelty.
Folk would always go to whatever was fresh, he said; only time would
tell if the influx of trade to the new-comer would be kept up. But of
other reasons he knew little. One was that he himself was unpopular in
the village; he had abused his monopoly; more than once he had refused
temporary credit to old customers who wanted it for a week or a
fortnight until funds came in; he had a bad reputation for over-ready
recourse to the County Court; he had sold up one man for a debt which
might have been paid by instalments; he charged top prices for
everything, and was not overscrupulous as to weights and measures. At
least two-thirds of the village population found it a thing of joy to
turn cold shoulders to the old firm and walk defiantly into the
opposition establishment.
But there was another reason for Jeckie's popularity of which Grice knew
less than he guessed at the second of the causes of his sudden loss of
trade. Jeckie was becoming a strategist; quick to see and realise the
possibilities of her campaign, and astute in looking ahead. And two days
before the formal opening of her shop she marched up the village in her
best clothes, her cheque-book in one pocket, and well-filled purse in
the other, bent on doing something which, in her well-grounded opinion,
would establish her in high favour. Farnish owed money in Savilestowe;
she was going to pay his debts. Not the big ones, to be sure, she said
to herself with emphasis; they could go by the board. The money-lender
and the landlord and such-like could whistle for their money as far as
she was concerned. But the debts in the village were small things--a few
pounds here, a few there; a few shillings in one case, a few more in
others. Thirty pounds, she had ascertained, would cover the lot. The
blacksmith wanted something, and the miller, and the landlord of the
"Coach-and-Four"; two or three people wanted the reimbursement of money
lent; there were even labourers to whom Farnish was in debt for small
amounts. All this she was going to clear off; otherwise, as she well
knew, she would have had the various creditors coming to her shop and
suggesting that they should take out the amount of their debts in tea
and sugar, bread and bacon.
She turned in first at the blacksmith's, who, it being Saturday
afternoon, was smoking his pipe at the door of his house and enjoying
the cool breezes which swept over the meadows in front. Under the
impression that Jeckie had come touting for custom, he received her
grumpishly, and eyed her with anything but favour.
"Now then, Stubbs!" said Jeckie, in her sharpest manner. "My father owes
you some money, doesn't he?"
"Aye, he does!" growled the blacksmith. "Nine pound odd it is, and been
owin' a long time. An' I would like to see t'colour on it, or some on
it; it's hard on a man to tew and slave and loise his brass at t'end o'
his labours!"
"You're going to lose naught," retorted Jeckie. "Get inside and write me
a receipt. I'll pay you. And you'll understand 'at it's me 'at's payin'
you--not him! He's naught to pay you with, as you very well know. But I
reckon it'll none matter to you who pays, as long as you get it!"
"Aw, why, now then!" said the mollified creditor. "That's talkin', that
is! No, it none matters to me. An' I tak' it very handsome o' you; and I
wish yer well wi' t'shop, and I shall tell my missus to go theer."
"You'll find I can do better for you than Grice ever did," said Jeckie,
as she followed him into his cottage and drew out her cheque-book.
"You'll save money by coming to me. There's a price-list. You look it
over and you'll see 'at I'm charging considerably less nor Grice does,
and for better quality goods, too."
"Now, then, ye shall have my custom!" said the blacksmith. "I'm stalled
o' George Grice. He's nowt but a skinflint, and we had some bacon thro'
him none so long sin' at wor fair reisty."
Jeckie handed over her cheque and took her receipt, and went on her way.
It was a way of triumph, for not one of Farnish's Savilestowe creditors
had ever expected to get a penny of what was owing, and unexpected
payments, however much they may be overdue, are always more welcome than
the settlement of a debt which is certain. Jeckie went away from each
satisfied creditor conscious that she had made a friend and a regular
customer; she had laid out twenty-eight pounds and some shillings by the
time she returned home. Never mind, she said to herself, she would soon
have it back in profits. And Farnish would now be able to walk abroad in
the village, knowing that he owed nothing to any fellow-villager. As to
his bigger creditors, let them go hang!
During the week, furniture, just sufficient to satisfy mere necessities,
had arrived at the house, and had been disposed in certain rooms by
Jeckie and Rushie, and on the Saturday night, acting on his daughter's
orders, Farnish, having finished his week's work at the Sicaster
greengrocer's, came creeping into the village after dark, cast a longing
eye on the red-curtained windows of the "Coach-and-Four," and slunk into
his daughter's back premises. His spirits had been very low during this
home-coming; they rose somewhat on seeing that a thirteen-gallon cask of
ale stood in the pantry adjoining the kitchen in which his supper was
set for him, but became anxious and depressed again when he also saw
that the key had been carefully removed from the brass tap. He foresaw
the beginning of strict allowance, and of ceaseless scheming on his part
occasionally to gain possession of that key. Now and then, he thought,
Jeckie would surely forget it, and go out without it. It was painful, in
Farnish's opinion, to ask a man to live in the house with a locked beer
barrel and led to exacerbation of proper feelings.
Jeckie gave him a pint of ale and a hot supper that night, and presented
him with a two-ounce packet of tobacco. And, when Rushie had gone into
the scullery to wash up the supper things, she marshalled Farnish into a
certain easy chair by the corner of the hearth, and proceeded to lay
down the law to him in no purposeless fashion.
"Now then, I want to have some talk to you," she said, sitting down
opposite him and folding her hands in her apron. "We're going to start
out in a new way, and everybody about me's going to hear what I've got
to say about it. You'll understand that this is my house, and my shop,
and my business--all mine! I'm master!--and there'll nobody have any say
in matters but me. Do you understand that?"
"Oh, aye, I understand that, reight enough, Jecholiah, mi lass,"
answered Farnish. "Of course I never expected no other, considerin' how
things is. And I'm sure I wish you well in t'venture!"
"I shall do well enough as long as I'm boss!" said Jeckie in her most
matter-of-fact manner. "And that I will be! I'll have no interference,
either from you or Rushie. As long as you're both under my roof, you'll
just do my bidding. And now I tell you what you'll do. You may as well
know your position first as last. And to start with, I've paid off
every penny 'at you owed i' this place--nearly thirty pounds good money
I've laid down in that way this very afternoon!--so you can walk up
t'street and down t'street and feel 'at you owe naught to nobody. And
you'll have a deal o' walking to do, for you can't expect me to throw my
money away on your behalf wit'out doin' something for me i' return, so
there!"
"I'm sure it were very considerate on yer, Jecholiah," said Farnish
humbly. "An' I tak' it as very thoughtful an' all. Willn't deny 'at it
were a sore trouble to me 'at I owed brass i' t'place. An' what might
you be thinkin' o' puttin' me to, now 'at I am here, like?"
"I'm going to tell you," answered Jeckie. "All's ready to open on Monday
morning. Me and Rushie'll attend to the shop; Bartle'll go out with the
horse and cart; I've got a strong lass coming in that'll see to the
house and the cooking. You'll help wi' odd jobs in the shop, and you'll
carry out light goods and parcels in t'village. It'll none be such heavy
work, but it must be done punctual and reg'lar--no hangin' about and
talkin' at corners, and such like--we've all got to work, and to work
hard, too!"
"I'm to be fetcher and carrier, like," said Farnish. "Aye, well, mi
lass, it's not t'sort o' conclusion to a career 'at I aimed at, but I
mun bow down to Providence, as they call it. Beggars can't be choosers,
no how!"
"Who's talkin' about beggars!" retorted Jeckie impatiently. "There's no
beggars i' this house, anyway. Beggars, indeed! You'll never ha' been
so well off in your life as you will be wi' me!"
"Do you say so, Jecholiah?" asked Farnish timidly. "I'm very glad to
hear it, I'm sure. How shall I stand, like, then?"
"You'll stand like this," replied Jeckie. "There's a good and
comfortable bedroom all ready upstairs; this place'll be more
comfortable nor aught we had at Applecroft when all's put to rights in
it; there'll always be plenty to eat, and good quality, too; I shall let
you have two pints of beer a day, and give you two ounces of tobacco
every Saturday. And once a year you shall have a new suit of good
clothes, and your underwear as it wants replacing. I'll see 'at you want
for naught to fill your belly and cover your back. If that isn't doing
well by you, then I don't know what is!"
"Well, I'm sure it's very handsome, is that, Jecholiah," said Farnish.
"It's seems as if I were to be well provided for i' t'way o' food and
raiment. But how will it be now"--he paused, and looked at his
daughter's erect and rigid figure with a furtive depreciating
glance--"how will it be now, mi lass, about a bit o' money? Ye wouldn't
hev your poor father walkin' t'street wi'out one penny to rub agen
another, I'm sure? A man, ye see, Jecholiah, has feelin's!"
Jeckie's lips tightened. It had been her intention, in laying down a
code of rules to Farnish, to tell him that he was not going to have
money. But as he spoke, a thought came into her mind--if she kept him
penniless, he would certainly do one of two things, possibly both;
either he would borrow small sums here or there, or he would pilfer from
the till and pocket payments from chance customers. Once more she must
look ahead.
"I'll tell you what I'll do," she said suddenly. "I'll give you--" then
she paused, made some more reflections and calculations, and reckoned up
to herself what precise amount of mischief Farnish could do with the
amount she was thinking of--"I'll give you seven shilling a week for
spending money--I know well enough there's naught on earth'll stop you
from dropping in at t' 'Coach-and-Four,' and a shilling a day's enough,
and more than enough, for you to waste there. But I'll give you fair
warning--if I hear o' you borrowing any money, or running into debt, at
t' 'Coach-and-Four,' or elsewhere, or hanging about publics when you
ought to be at your job, I shall stop your allowance--and so there you
are!" Farnish, on his part, made a swift calculation. A shilling a day
meant three pints of ale at fourpence a pint. He was to have two pints
at home--very well, five pints would do nicely. He waved a magisterial
hand.
"Now, then, ye shall have no cause to complain, Jecholiah," he said.
"It's as well to know how we stand, d'ye see, mi lass? It's none so much
t'bit o' money," he continued, still more magisterially, "it's what you
may term t'principle o' t'thing. A man mun stand by his principles, and
it's agen mine to walk about t'world wi' nowt i' my pocket! It's agen
t'Bible, an' all, Jecholiah, as you may ha' noticed i' readin' that good
owd Book--there's two passages i' that there 'at comes to my reflection
at once. 'Put money in thy purse,' it says i' one place, and 'The
labourer is worthy of his hire' it remarks in another. An' I wor browt
up to Bible principles--mi mother were a very religious woman--she were
a chappiler!"
"I don't believe it says aught at all i' t'Bible about puttin' money i'
your purse," said Jeckie contemptuously, "and if your mother was as
religious as you make out, she should ha' taught you something 'at is
there--'Owe no man anything!' Happen you never heard o' that?"
"Now, then, now then!" answered Farnish. "Let's be friendly! There's a
deal said i' t'Bible 'at hes dark meanin's--I've no doubt 'at t'real
significance o' that passage is summat 'at ye don't understand, mi
lass."
"I understand 'at nobody's going to run up debts while they're under my
roof," declared Jeckie. "You get that into your head!"
Farnish retired to his comfortable bedroom that evening apparently well
satisfied with his position, and when he had left them Jeckie turned to
her sister; it was as necessary to have a proper understanding with
Rushie as with their father. And Rushie was amenable enough; the
prospect of selling things in the smart new shop, and of conversations
with customers, and of all the varying incidents in a day's retail
trading, appealed to her love of life and change. Jeckie's proposals as
to finding her with board, lodging, and all she wanted in the way of
clothes and shoe-leather, and giving her a small but sufficient salary,
satisfied her well. But at the end of their talk they hit on a
difference of opinion.
"And now about that Herbert Binks," said Jeckie suddenly. "He's after
you, Rushie, and you're a fool. He's naught but a draper's assistant,
when all's said and done. I'll none have him coming here. What do you
want wi' young men?"
Rushie began to pout and to look resentful.
"He's a very nice, quiet, respectable young man, is Herbert," she said,
half angrily. "And if he is a draper's assistant, do you think he's
always going to be one? He has ambitions, has Herbert, and he aims at
having a shop of his own."
"Let him get one, then, before he comes running after you!" retorted
Jeckie. "Young men of his age has no business to think about girls--what
they want to think about is making money."
"Money isn't everything!" said Rushie.
"Isn't it?" sneered Jeckie. "You'll sing another tune, my lass, when
you've seen as much as I have! I know what money's meant to me, and what
it's going to mean, and I'll take good care none goes by me so long as
I've ten fingers to lay hold of it with!"
It needed no observation on the part of Rushie or of Farnish to see that
Jeckie had made up her mind to seek the riches of this world. She was up
with the sun, and still out of her bed long after the others had sought
theirs; she did the work of three people, and never allowed herself to
flag. She taught herself book-keeping, and practised correspondence till
she could write smart business letters; before long she purchased a
typewriter and mastered its intricacies; she had no time to read the
local newspaper any longer, but she read the "Grocer" with eagerness and
avidity, and became as glibly conversant with prices as any of the
travellers who called on her for orders. A sharp, shrewd woman she was
to deal with, said the gentlemen amongst themselves; sharper, far, than
old Grice across the way, and certain to rob him of most of his trade.
And some of them, who did little business with him, and could well
afford to be shyly mutinous at his expense, were not slow to poke fun at
George about his rival and her capabilities.
"Sad thing for you, Mr. Grice," they would say, with a wink at the
golden teapot on which the sun contrived to focus its rays all day long.
"Smart woman across there, sir!--ah, great pity you couldn't amalgamate
the two businesses, Mr. Grice. Doing well over there, sir, I
believe--knows what she's about! Place too small to carry two good
businesses like yours and hers, Mr. Grice--ought to come to some
arrangement, sir--limited liability company now, Mr. Grice, what?"
All this was so much gall and wormwood to George Grice, who had an
additional cause of intense and mortifying annoyance in a certain habit
of Jeckie's which, he said, could only have been developed by a woman
who was both a Jezebel and a devil. Every now and then, in the full
light of day, Miss Farnish would leave her own shop, stroll calmly
across the street, and insolently and leisurely inspect George Grice &
Son's newly-dressed windows. She would note down all their prices on a
scrap of paper--and then she would go back. And within half-an-hour the
same goods which Grice's were offering would be in the Farnish
windows--with all the prices cut down to figures which made George
despairing and furious.