CHANGE OF OCCUPATION
The next day but one, while Brownie was trying her utmost to do her
allotted task and get out of the factory an hour earlier, that she might
slip down to the reading-room and finish that little French romance in
which she had been so deeply interested, Miss Walton came to her and
told her, in her grim, curt way, that she was wanted in the office.
Somewhat disturbed by this unexpected summons, she laid aside her work,
removed her dainty white apron, then, with heightened color, but a
dignified mien, she bent her steps toward the room where she had been
received upon her arrival, and which she had not entered since.
Upon opening the door, she was surprised to find sitting, in
confidential communication with Mr. Coolidge, Mr. Alcott, the gentleman
whose acquaintance she had made in the reading-room two evenings
previous.
She bowed slightly to him, and then turned to Mr. Coolidge, who had
arisen as she entered, and now greeted her in courteous tones.
“My father-in-law, Mr. Alcott, Miss Douglas,” he said, by way of
introduction, and Brownie now understood his start of surprise when she
gave him her address.
“Be seated, Miss Douglas, if you please,” her employer continued,
placing a chair for her.
She sat down and folded her little hands in her lap. Both gentlemen
noticed her ladylike and self-possessed demeanor, and inwardly commented
upon it.
“Miss Douglas, Mr. Alcott has done nothing but rehearse your
accomplishments since his meeting with you night before last,” said Mr.
Coolidge, with an affable smile.
“If what he says is true,” the gentleman continued, “and I have no doubt
it is, since he is amply qualified to judge, this factory is no place
for you.”
Was she to be turned away on account of her little knowledge?
“One cannot always control one’s circumstances, sir,” she said, quietly.
“True; I understand you, Miss Douglas. But it may be in the power of
others to control them for you in a measure. Now, I have a proposal to
make to you. If I understood Mr. Alcott correctly, you would like to
teach?”
“Indeed, I should like it very much, sir.”
“Very well. My family contemplate going abroad in about one week; the
steamer sails the tenth, I believe. We have been trying for several
weeks to find some person competent to superintend the education of my
two younger daughters, and act as a sort of companion and interpreter
for them during their travels. Now, will you accept this position and
accompany us to Europe?”
“How long do you contemplate remaining abroad?” Brownie asked, after a
few moments spent in thought, and greatly surprised at this offer.
“A year, at least; probably longer, if the girls and their mother enjoy
it.”
“How old are your daughters, Mr. Coolidge?”
“Viola is sixteen, Alma is fourteen. I have another who is twenty, but I
believe she considers her education completed, although I think she said
something about studying the languages a little more while she is
abroad.”
“Have the young ladies completed any course as yet?” Brownie asked,
wishing to know something of their attainments before deciding.
“No; I regret to say, they have not. Their mother was unwilling they
should attend any public institution, so they have had private teachers,
and I am afraid they have not improved their advantages as they should
have done.”
“Indeed, they have not!” exclaimed Mr. Alcott, excitedly. “They have
behaved shamefully about it, and are a couple of ignoramuses.”
Brownie laughed as he said this, then asked:
“And do you think, sir, that I am capable of instructing them, if older
and wiser teachers have failed?”
“Young lady, when you were reading French to me the other evening, I was
not impressed wholly by your pronunciation. No; there was a ring of
decision in your tones, there was a look of character and firmness in
your face, that told me you would not fail to make a first-class
teacher,” said the old gentleman, with emphasis.
“Your very youthfulness may help you to win where the others have
failed. And, as I told you, it is not altogether an instructress that we
want, but a refined and genial companion, and an interpreter also, for
none of the family are able to converse fluently in foreign languages,”
said Mr. Coolidge.
Sixteen and fourteen!
They were trying ages—just the time when girls loved fun and frolic
better than anything else in the world.
Was she competent to take charge of them and direct their studies?
She longed to accept the position, she longed to go abroad and visit
those old countries so fraught with interest, poetry, and romance, and
where her aunt had lived and suffered so much. But the responsibility!
Would it be right for her to assume it? Would she be able to influence
these young girls aright?
“Mr. Coolidge,” she said, when she had thought of all these things, “I
will tell you frankly that I would like this position which you are so
kind to offer me, more than I can express, but I am only eighteen years
of age myself, and I do not really feel like deciding whether I am
competent to direct the education of your daughters or not. The other
duties, I think, I could fulfill satisfactorily.”
“Have you ever completed a regular course of study?” asked Mr. Alcott.
“Yes, sir; a thorough course. I graduated from the high school before I
was sixteen, and I have since taken a two years’ classical course,”
replied Brownie.
“You’ll do, then,” said the old man, with a contented nod of his head.
He was very much interested in the beautiful girl.
“My principal reason for hesitating is, that I have never had any
experience in teaching, and could only follow the example of my own
teachers, as far as I can remember it.”
“You are very truthful and frank, at all events,” remarked Mr. Coolidge,
smilingly.
“I should not presume to accept this position, sir, by placing myself in
a false position,” replied Brownie, gravely.
“I think with my father-in-law, that you will do, and I feel confident
that you will prove faithful to your trust. Shall we consider the
bargain closed?” asked her employer, giving her a glance of admiration.
“Mr. Coolidge—I—really——” stammered the young girl.
She was astonished that he should desire to close the bargain, without
making any inquiries regarding her character or antecedents, and yet she
did not know how to broach the subject.
“Ah, I beg your pardon, Miss Douglas,” and the man of business looked
utterly confused for a moment, “it was an oversight entirely that I did
not mention what salary you would receive. Would four hundred a year and
expenses meet your acceptance?”
“Make it five, William,” interrupted Mr. Alcott, adding: “With those
harum-scarum girls it will be none too much; there will be plenty of
little knickknacks that she will want to bring away from the old
country, and an extra hundred will be none too much.”
“Well, call it five hundred and expenses, then,” said Mr. Coolidge.
“Excuse me, gentlemen, but I had not thought of the salary which I
should receive. I was upon the point of saying that—you know nothing
about me personally—whether I am, morally, one whom you would wish to
receive into your family. I expected you would require references,”
Brownie said, with dignity.
“Really, Miss Douglas,” said the former, “you have shown yourself wiser
than I in this matter. That is a question which ought, according to the
etiquette of the nineteenth century, to have been settled in the first
place.”
“The very fact of her speaking of the matter herself is reference enough
for me,” said Mr. Alcott, _sotto voce_.
“However,” continued her employer, “I suppose Mrs. Coolidge would be
better pleased to have that matter satisfactorily settled. What
reference can you give us, Miss Douglas?”
“That is where I feared there might arise an objection,” replied
Brownie, with a sad smile, then added: “I have only one friend in the
world to whom I feel at liberty just now to refer you; he is in
Philadelphia—Mr. Arthur Conrad.”
“What! Arthur Conrad, Esq., the noted lawyer of that city?” exclaimed
Mr. Alcott, with great interest.
“Yes, sir. He has known me all my life, and I think I may trust him to
speak a good word for me to you.”
“That will be sufficient, Miss Douglas,” said the old man, with a smile.
“Arthur Conrad was a classmate of mine years and years ago; he was a
splendid fellow, too. I know all about him, and if he knows all about
you, we shall not quarrel over further references.”
“I will write to him this afternoon,” said Mr. Coolidge, “and we shall
probably hear in a day or two from him. Then, as this is a mere matter
of form, shall we consider that you are engaged to us, and for the
salary I named?”
“Yes, sir; and I thank you for your courtesy, and for the confidence
which you have shown to me, an utter stranger. I assure you, I will do
my utmost to prove myself worthy of the trust you have placed in my
hands.”
Brownie arose as she spoke, and he saw that tears stood in her grave,
beautiful eyes.
Then, bowing to both gentlemen, she returned to her work.
Two, three, four, five days slipped rapidly by, and Brownie heard
nothing more from Mr. Coolidge.
On the sixth day, as she was removing her apron and putting her table in
order, she saw Miss Walton hastening toward her, a smile of satisfaction
gleaming upon her face.
“Miss Douglas,” she said, loud enough for several of the other girls to
hear, “Mr. Coolidge wishes you to come to the office again; he wishes to
settle with you.”
Now, it was considered quite a disgrace for any one to be called upon to
“settle” before the season was over, and Brownie became at once the
cynosure of all eyes in her neighborhood.
Brownie saw that several of the girls were regarding her suspiciously,
and listening eagerly to the conversation.
“Yes, Miss Walton,” she said, in her clear, sweet tones, “I have been
expecting some such message as this for several days. I sail for Europe
with Mr. Coolidge and his family on Monday.”