Mammy Generalissimo
Half an hour later a short, stout colored woman in neat, print gown,
immaculate white apron, gorgeous headkerchief and gray plaid shawl,
entered the office of the Red Star Fire Insurance Company, at No. 60
State street, and walking up to the little railing which divided from
the vulgar herd the sacred precincts of Mr. Elijah Sniffins,
representative, rested her hand upon the small swinging gate as she
nodded her head slightly and asked:
"Is yo' Mister Sniffins, de locum agen' fer de Fire Insur'nce
Comp'ny?"
"I am," replied that gentleman,--without removing from between his
teeth the huge cigar upon which he was puffing until he resembled a
small-sized locomotive, or changing his position--"Mr. Elijah Sniffins,
representative of the Red Star Insurance Company. Are you thinkin' of
taking out a policy?" concluded that gentleman with a supercilious
smirk.
Mammy's eyes narrowed slightly and her lips were compressed for a
moment.
"No, sir, I don' reckon I is studyin' 'bout takin' out no pol'cy. I
jist done come hyer on a little private bisness wid yo'."
Mammy paused, somewhat at a loss how to proceed, for business affairs
seemed very complicated to her. Mr. Elijah Sniffins was greatly amused
and continued to eye her and smile. He was a dapper youth of probably
twenty summers, with scant blond hair, pale blue, shifty eyes, a weak
mouth surmounted by a cherished mustache of numerable hairs and a chin
which stamped him the toy of stronger wills. Mammy knew the type and
loathed it. His smirk enraged her, and rage restored her
self-possession. Raising her head with a little sidewise jerk as
befitted the assurance of a Blairsdale, she cried:
"Yas--sir, I done come to ax yo' a question 'bout de 'surance on a
place in Riveredge. I hears de time fer settlin' up gwine come day
atter to-morrer an' if 'taint settled up de 'surance boun' ter
collapse. Is dat so?"
"Unless the policy is renewed it certainly _will_ 'collapse,'" replied
Mr. Sniffins breaking into an amused laugh.
"Huh! 'Pears like yo' find it mighty 'musin'," was Mammy's next remark
and had Mr. Elijah Sniffins been a little better acquainted with his
patron he would have been wise enough to take warning from her tone.
"Well, you see I am not often favored with visits from ladies of your
color who carry fire insurance policies. A good many carry _life_
insurance, but as a rule they don't insure their estates against
_fire_, an' the situation was so novel that it amused me a little. No
offense meant."
"An' none teken--from _your_ sort," retorted Mammy. "But how 'bout dis
hyer pol'cy? What I gotter do fer ter keep it f'om collapsin' ef it
aint paid by day atter to-morrer?"
"Pay it _to-day, or_ to-morrow," was the suave reply accompanied by a
wave of the hand to indicate the ultimatum.
"'Spose dey ain't got de money fer ter pay right plank down, but kin
pay de week atter? Could'n' de collapse be hild up twell den?"
"Ha! Ha!" laughed Mr. Elijah. "I'm 'fraid not; I've heard of those
'next week' settlements before, and experience tells me that 'next
week' aint never arrived yet. Ha! Ha!"
"Den yo' won't trus' de Ca-- de fambly?" Mammy had very nearly betrayed
herself.
"Well, if it was the Rogers, or the Wellmans, or the Stuyvesants, or
some of them big bugs up yonder on the hill, that everybody knows has
got piles of money, and that everybody knows might let the policy
lapse just because it had slipped their memory--why, that 'd be a
different matter. We'd know down in this here office that it was just
an oversight, yer see; not a busted bank account. So, of course, we'd
make concessions; just jog 'em up a little and a check 'd come 'long
all O.K. and no fuss. But these small policies--why--well, I've got ter
be more careful of the company's interests; I hold a responsible
position here."
"De good Lawd, yo' don' sesso!" exclaimed Mammy, turning around and
around to scrutinize every corner of the tiny office, and then letting
her eyes rest upon the being whose sense of responsibility was
apparently crushing him down upon his chair, if one could judge from
his semi-recumbent position. "Dat's shore 'nough a pity. Look lak it
mought be mos' too much fer yo'. Don' seem right fer a comp'ny ter put
sich a boy as yo' is in sich a 'sponsible 'sition, do it now?"
Mammy's expression was solicitude personified. Mr. Elijah Sniffins'
face became a delicate rose color, and his feet landed upon the floor
with emphasis as he straightened in his chair, and dragged nervously
at the infinitesimal mustache, meanwhile eying Mammy with some
misgivings.
Mammy continued to smile upon him benignly, and her smile proved as
disconcerting as she meant it should. She resolved to have her innings
with the smug youth who had begun by slighting her race and ended by
doing far worse; failing to class the Carruths among those whom
everyone trusted as a matter of course. The former slight might have
been disregarded; the latter? _Never._ Consequently Mammy had
instantly decided "ter mak' dat little no'count sumpin 'er ner'er
squirm jist fer ter te'ch him what's due de quality," and the process
had begun.
Poor Mammy! She would never learn that in the northern world where her
lot was now cast the almighty dollar was king, queen and court
combined. That its possession could carry into high places bad
manners, low birth, aye actual rascality and hold them up to the
shallow as enviable things when veneered with golden luster. That "de
quality" without that dazzling reflector were very liable to be cast
aside as of no value, as the nugget of virgin gold might be tramped
upon and its worth never suspected by the unenlightened in their
eagerness to reach a shining bit of polished brass farther along the
path.
But Mammy's traditions were deeply rooted.
"I think I can take care of the position. What can I do for you? My
time is valuable," snapped Mr. Elijah Sniffins, rising from his chair
and coming close to the dividing railing, as a hint to Mammy to
conclude her business.
"De Lawd er massy! Is dat so? Now I ain't never is 'spitioned dat f'om
de looks ob t'ings. 'Pears lak yo' got a sight o' time on han'. Wal I
'clar fo' it I do'n un'nerstan' dese hyer bisness places no how. Well!
Well! So yo' want me fer ter state mine an' cl'ar long out, does yo'
Mr. 'Lijah? 'Lijah; _'Lijah_. Was yo' ma a studyin' 'bout yo' doin's
when she done giv' yo' dat name? Sort o' fits yo' pine blank, don' it
now? Like 'nuf de cha'iot 'll come kitin' 'long one o' dese hyer days
an' hike yo' inter de high places. Yah! Yah!" and Mammy's mellow laugh
filled the office.
"See here, old woman, if you've got some little picayune payment to
make, _make_ it and clear out. I ain't got time ter stand here talkin'
ter niggers," cried the agent, his temper taking final flight.
Mammy eyed him steadily as she said:
"Wall _dis yere_ time yo's gwine deal wid a nigger, an' yo's gwine do
lak _she say_. Dis yere comp'ny 'sures de Carruth house an' eve'y last
t'ing what's inside it, an' de policy yo' say 's gotter be settled up
when it's gotter be, or de hul t'ing 'll collapse? Now Miss Jinny
ain't never _is_ had no dealin's wid _yo'_, case I don' _let_ her have
dealin's wid no white trash--_I_ handles _dat_ sort when it has ter be
handled--an' I keeps jist as far f'om it as ever I kin _while_ I
handles it. But I'se gotter settle up dis policy fer de fambly so what
is it? How much is I gotter pay yo'?"
The varying expressions passing over Mr. Sniffins' countenance during
Mammy's speech would have delighted an artist.
"What er? What er? What er you telling me?" he stammered.
"De ain't no 'watter' 'bout it; it's _fire_, an' I done come ter
settle up," asserted Mammy.
"Have you brought the necessary papers with you? Have we a record in
this office?"
"Don' know nuffin' 'tall 'bout no papers nor no records. Jist knows
dat Miss Jinny's insured fer $15,000," said Mammy, causing the youth
confronting her to open his eyes. "Dis hyer letter what she done wrote
dis mawn'in tells all 'bout it I 'spec'. She tol' me pos' it ter de
comp'ny an' I reckons _yo'll_ do fer de comp'ny _dis_ time when de
time's pressin' an' der ain't nuffin' _better_ ter han'."
The contempt in Mammy's tone was tangible, as she held the letter as
far from her as possible. Mr. Sniffins took it, noted the address and
broke the seal. When he had read the letter he said with no little
triumph in his voice:
"But in this letter Mrs. Carruth says distinctly that she is not
prepared to pay the sum which falls due day after to-morrow, and asks
for an extension of time. I am not prepared to make this extension.
_That's_ up to the company," and he held the letter toward Mammy as
though he washed his hands of the whole affair.
Mammy did not take it. Instead she said very much as she would have
spoken to a refractory child who was not quite sure of what he could
or could _not_ do: "La Honey, don' yo' 'spose I sensed _dat_ long go?
Co'se I knows _yo'_ cyant do nuffin' much; yo's only a lil' boy, an'
der cyant no boy do a man's wo'k. Yo's hyer fer ter tek in de _cash_,
an' so _dat's_ what I done come ter pay. Miss Jinny she done mek up
her mine dat she better pay dat policy dan use de money fer
frolic'in'. I reckons yo' can tek cyer of it an' sen' it long down
yonder whar de big comp'ny 's at. Dat's all I want _yo'_ ter do, so
now go 'long an' git busy an' _do_ it. _Dere's_ thirty dollars; count
it so's yo's suah. Den write it all out crost de back ob Miss Jinny's
letter so's I have sumpin fer ter show dat it's done paid."
"But I'll give you a regular receipt for the amount," said the clerk,
now eager to serve a customer whose premium represented so large a
policy.
"Yo' kin give me dat too if yo' wantter, but I wants de sign on de
letter too, an' yo' full name, Mr. Elijah Sniffins, ter boot, you
knows what yo' jist done said 'bout trus'in' folks, an' _yo'_ don'
berlong ter de Rogersers, ner de Wellmans, ner de Stuyvesants, but _I_
berlongs ter de _Blairsdales_!"
Mammy grew nearly three inches taller as she made this statement,
while her hearer seemed to grow visibly shorter. The receipt was duly
filled out, likewise an acknowledgment written upon the blank side of
Mrs. Carruth's letter and Elijah Sniffins' name signed thereto. Mammy
took them scrutinized both with great care (she could not read one
word) nodded and said:
"Huh, Um. Yas, sir. I reckon _dat_ all squar'. If de house burn down
ter night _we_ all gwine git de 'surance sure 'nough. Yas--yas."
"You certainly could collect whatever was comin' to you," Mr. Sniffins
assured her, his late supercilious smile replaced by a most obsequious
one for this representative of the possessors of the dollars he
worshiped. Mr. Sniffins meant to have a good many dollars himself some
day and the luxuries which dollars stand for.
Mammy nodded, and placing the receipt and letter in her bag gave a
slight nod and turned to leave the office. Mr. Sniffins hurried to
open the door for her. As she was about to cross the threshold she
paused, eyed him keenly from the crown of his smoothly brushed head to
his patent-leather-shod feet and then asked:
"Huccum yo' opens de do' fer niggers? Ef yo' b'longed ter de quality
yo'd let de niggers open de do's fer _yo_. Yo' better run 'long an'
ten' yo' ma's sody foun'in 'twell yo' learns de quality manners."
An hour later Mammy was busy in her kitchen, the receipts safely
pinned within her bodice and no one the wiser for the morning's
business transaction.