THE TWO FRIENDS
"WELL, I declare! Who'd have thought of seeing you here?"
"I didn't expect to see you," replied Fanny to her new friend, Miriam
Jarvis. They had stepped from different train-cars at the terminus a
mile or two from where they lived, and came face to face with each
other as they were crossing the road. Neither looked very pleased to
see the other, and they strolled along side by side in an aimless
fashion, until Fanny suddenly said, "Can you tell me where Spring Grove
is?"
"Spring Grove?" repeated her friend, looking hard at Fanny. "It is the
place I have come to find. Have you come about a watch?" she added
quickly.
Both girls reddened as the question was asked.
"Yes, I have," said Fanny. "I believe they have cheated me, and am
going to take my watch back."
"They won't give you the money back," interrupted Miriam. "I tried it
when the man came for the last month's money, but I am going to tell
them that I can't pay any more, and see what Judds himself says about
it."
"I can't pay either, and get other things that I want. It don't sound
much, perhaps, but three shillings off of every month's money isn't
so little as it seems when you have to buy shoes and stockings and
caps and aprons, and a new dress every now and then," said Fanny, in a
complaining tone.
"That's just it," answered the other. "You and I both want new Sunday
frocks, and I mean to have one, too, for my cousin, where we went to
tea last Sunday, says mine is getting very shabby."
"And I know mine is," answered Fanny, in an aggrieved tone, "for my
mother gave the frock my aunt sent for me to my little sister."
"What a shame!" exclaimed Miriam. "I do call that mean."
"Yes. Mother seems to think I have more money than I can spend because
I get ten shillings a month."
"Does she know about your watch?" asked her friend.
"She knows I have got it, for I wore it the first holiday I went home
after I had it; but she doesn't know I have got to pay such a lot for
it. She thinks the first ten shillings bought it, and she made a fine
fuss about that, I can tell you. Said I knew nothing about buying a
watch."
"Well, I suppose we don't, and Judds know it," admitted Miriam.
"Well, that may be; but we don't like to be told of it as if we were
babies, and that's what my mother did, and I shan't forget it either,"
exclaimed Fanny, in an angry tone.
They walked and talked over their grievance concerning the watches
until they saw the name of the road they were in search of, and then it
was arranged between them that Fanny should go first, as they thought
it might not be wise for them to go together on this errand.
She found that "Judds" was a small shop, but it seemed to be well
stocked with very glittering jewellery besides watches, and she marched
boldly up to the counter and laid her watch down before a little man,
who was looking over some watches he had just unpacked.
"If you please, sir, I find I cannot afford to pay for my watch, and so
I have brought it back, and—"
"You should have thought of that before you bought the watch. We never
take them back," said the man, curtly; and he went on with his work at
the little box before him.
"But I tell you I cannot afford to pay for it," said Fanny, pushing the
watch a little further across the counter. He took no notice, but went
on with his work as though he had the shop to himself.
After waiting a minute or two, Fanny said, "You must take the watch
back and give me the money I have paid for it. I gave the woman ten
shillings when she brought it, and I have paid two months since, which
makes sixteen shillings."
Fanny stopped talking, hoping the man would lay the money on the
counter when he had done with the box he was busy over. But he seemed
wholly absorbed in his task for some minutes, and when at last he did
look up and saw Fanny, he immediately pushed her watch towards her
again and said—
"It is of no use standing there. I tell you we don't do business in
that fashion. You have got a good watch, and you must pay the price
agreed upon for it."
"But I can't," said Fanny, almost in tears now. "My mistress makes me
pay for all I break, and will have me wear—"
"I have nothing to do with your mistress and what she does,"
interrupted the man. "You have bought a watch, and you must pay for
it, and our collector will call in the course of the week; or, if it
will be more convenient, I will tell him to postpone calling until next
week, but it must not go beyond that time," he added.
"I can't pay it," said Fanny, with a gasp, picking up her watch as she
spoke, and fairly bursting into tears as she went out of the shop.
As she expected, she met her friend Miriam outside, and one glance at
Fanny's tearful face was enough to tell her that her errand had failed.
But she was not to be daunted.
"I'll give him a piece of my mind if he doesn't take my watch back,"
she exclaimed. "Wait for me, Fanny," she added, and she walked into the
shop.
"This watch isn't a good one," she said, laying it down on the counter
as Fanny had done.
"Why, what's the matter with it?" asked the man. "It keeps good time,
don't it?"
"No, it doesn't; and it isn't worth the money you ask for it," added
Miriam, boldly.
"But you saw it before you signed the agreement to pay the price we
asked?" said the man. "We instruct our agents to let every lady examine
the watches before she is asked to buy."
He spoke quite calmly, while his very coolness seemed to make Miriam
more angry.
"Oh yes. The woman puts a watch into our hands and tells all sorts of
lies about it being a better watch than any other that could be bought,
and that she only asks us to pay ten shillings down and we can have the
watch to wear at once. I wish I had never seen her or the watch either."
"But you saw it and signed the agreement at the same time," said the
man, mildly.
"Yes, I did; but, of course, I thought the ten shillings I had paid
would be taken off the price of the watch—the two pounds—and weeks
after that has been paid, you send a notice to tell us we are not to
pay any money to the agent who delivers the watch. What do you call
that but cheating?"
"There is nothing in the agreement about the fee paid to the first
agent being taken off the price of the watch. It is a very carefully
drawn agreement," added the man.
"I dare say it is," retorted Miriam. "You've had it made so as to
squeeze money out of poor servant girls; but you won't get any more out
of me, I can tell you. If you don't take this watch back, and hand me
the money I have paid for it, I shall keep it, but not another farthing
will I pay for it."
"Oh, we have means to enforce our rights!" said the man, calmly. "One
visit from our inspector will be sufficient, he will let you know what
to expect if the money is not paid at once to him: however, we are not
in the habit of unduly pressing our customers, and so I will tell our
collector to defer his visit for a week, so as to give you a little
more time," said the man, soothingly.
"Then you won't take the watch back and give me the money I have paid
for it?" said Miriam, sharply.
"No, indeed, we cannot do that, miss," replied the man. "You have had
the watch three months now—"
"But I have only worn it twice," said the girl. "It has been locked up
in my box all the time, and is as good as if it had been in your shop,"
she added.
But the man still shook his head. "We cannot do business that way," he
said.
"Give me back the ten shillings I paid the woman, and keep the watch,"
she said, pushing it towards him.
But he was not to be moved. "We never return money under any
circumstances," he said.
"Very well, you'll never have a farthing more of mine. You may send the
police as much as you like, and I'll tell the magistrate how you cheat
poor servant girls;" and snatching up her watch, Miriam walked out of
the shop, not tearful, like Fanny was, but angry and defiant.
"What have they told you?" asked Fanny, anxiously.
"Just what they told you, I suppose." Miriam could scarcely speak
civilly even to her friend, she was so angry.
"It is a shame," said Fanny, the tears filling her eyes again.
"They are cheats and swindlers, and they shan't have another farthing
of me. No, not even if they send a policeman, as the fellow says he
will," declared Miriam.
At the sound of the word "policeman" Fanny shivered.
"Do you think he would do that?" she asked.
"Oh, there's no telling—he might; but if he does he must. I won't pay
him any more money, I know," said Miriam.
The two girls walked on together in silence for a few minutes, and then
Miriam said—
"Have you thought of what you would like for a new frock? The summer is
getting on now, so it won't do to have anything too light."
"I'm not likely to get a new frock of any sort, light or dark," replied
Fanny, in a grumbling tone.
"But you must," said her friend. "The one you wore on Sunday is getting
too short for you, and the body is too tight. Oh, you must have a new
one," concluded Miriam, in a decided tone.
"Mother ought to have let me have the one auntie sent," grumbled Fanny.
"It's no good crying over spilt milk," said Miriam. "The thing is just
this. I want a new frock, and so do you, and if we could make up our
minds to have them alike, my cousin could let us have them cheap."
"Your cousin?" repeated Fanny, with widely opened eyes.
"La, how you look!" laughed Miriam. She had forgotten all her anger and
anxiety about the watch now, and was only anxious to arrange matters
with Fanny so that she might call upon her cousin as she went home and
ask her to get some patterns of dresses before the next Sunday, that
she and Fanny might choose one.
"How is it your cousin can buy dresses so cheap?" asked Fanny.
"Because her husband is in the trade. He is at one of the biggest shops
in the town. And my cousin being a dressmaker, she can get lining and
everything cheap, so that she could make up your dress for very little
more than it would cost you to buy the stuff."
"Would she do it for me as well as for you?" asked Fanny.
"I dare say she would, as you are my friend. And if we could settle
between ourselves what we would like, she could, perhaps, get it cheap,
if we had them both alike."
"Oh, I should like that," said Fanny, "if you would."
"Yes, I should, if we could think alike about it. We should not be able
to have light dresses now, because the summer will soon be over; so I
will tell her to get some patterns of dark stuff, that we could wear in
the winter, perhaps, as well as just now."
"Yes, that would do," said Fanny, approvingly. "But the dress must not
cost too much, because of that watch. Oh, I do wish they would take it
back," she added, with a sigh.
"Oh, bother the watch! Do let us forget it for a little while; we have
had enough of it for one day."
"I wish I could forget it altogether, for I have had very little
pleasure out of it," said Fanny.
"Don't go talking to my cousin like that about it. I have never told
her a word about mine; and I don't want her to know of it just now, so
mind you don't say a word," added Miriam.
"Have you told your mother and father?" asked Fanny.
"Oh no! How could I? They live fifty miles away in the country. My
cousin got me my place, and the Vicar wrote to recommend me; and I
should not like to let them know at home that I have been cheated over
this watch. But I feel sure Judds have cheated us both," she added in a
more serious tone.
"Do you really think they have?" asked Fanny. "The woman told me when I
bought mine that the price of watches was going up through so many men
going to the war that very soon there would not be a good watch left,
they were being sold so fast."
"I don't believe it," said Miriam, laughing. "They'll say anything to
get you to buy their watches. But, now, mind, not a word to my cousin
about this, or it's very likely my father will say I am not fit to be
away from home by myself. Now, what colour do you like for a dress?"
suddenly asked Miriam, determined to forget all disagreeable subjects
if she could.
"I had a brown frock last time, and I liked that a good deal better
than the one I have got now."
"Very well, we'll ask my cousin to get a brown among the patterns,
though I am not sure that I shall like such a dull colour. What time
have you got to go in?" she suddenly asked.
"Oh, it is my afternoon out," said Fanny, "so that if I get in by six
o'clock, it will do. My mistress has her tea half an hour later when it
is my turn to go out," explained Fanny.
"I generally go in the evening; but as I wanted to go to that place
to-day, I thought I had better go while it was light. We shall have
time to call at my cousin's and tell her to get the patterns for us,"
concluded Miriam, as they reached the tram terminus where they met
earlier in the afternoon.
They would ride the next mile, and then, in the ordinary way, their
roads separated; but as they went it was arranged that they should go
together to see Miriam's cousin, and explain just what they wanted for
a new dress, and also to inquire what the probable cost would be, and
whether they would have to save up their money before buying the dress,
or whether they could order it as soon as they had chosen the pattern,
and pay for it in monthly instalments.
"We could pay four or five shillings out of our wages every month, and
not miss it," said Miriam.
Fanny had thought the same thing when the woman was persuading her to
buy the watch, but she was not so sure about it now. Still, she could
see her friend's cousin and hear what she said, and decide what she
would do afterwards.
So, as soon as they left the tramcar, they hurried to Mrs. Scott's,
and told her what they had been talking about—that they both wanted
new best dresses now; and they would like to know what it would cost
to make them each a dress that they could wear at once, or even in the
winter with an extra petticoat.
"Mother says I have not done growing yet," explained Fanny, "and so it
will not do to have a frock to put away."
"No, indeed; and there is no occasion for it," said Mrs. Scott. "You
can have a nice neat material, suitable for any season. Now, about the
price. It must, of course, depend upon what you girls can afford, in
the first place. Could you afford to pay twenty-five shillings for a
dress, both of you? Of course, it will be made and everything found for
that money."
Fanny shook her head at once, for the sum to her seemed enormous.
Miriam laid her hand on her arm. "Look here," she said, "my cousin
would not want you to pay all that at once, she told you. How much
should we have to pay a month for a dress like that?" asked Miriam.
"Well, that would depend upon the material you chose. You see, it
is all in the way of business," she said, turning and speaking more
directly to Fanny. "If I have to give credit, I have to charge for it,
and the longer I have to wait for my money, the more I must charge for
the dress. You understand what I mean," she added, looking at the two
girls.
Miriam looked vexed that her cousin spoke so plainly, for she was
afraid Fanny would not venture to order a new dress just now.
"But you could give us a little credit, Cousin Madge, without charging
for it," she said.
"Well, it would depend upon what you called a little," said Mrs. Scott.
"I suppose you have both saved something towards the new dresses, and
the next month's money, we'll say, pays a little more than half what
the dress is to cost. Now, if you can pay half when you take the dress
home, and the second half a month later, then I should charge you very
little indeed for that month's credit; but if I had to take the whole
amount in monthly instalments of a few shillings a month, then I should
have to charge a good deal more for the dresses. Now, think the matter
over between now and Sunday, and make up your mind what you can afford
to pay, and how you can pay it. John will bring me some patterns and
prices from the shop on Friday, and I shall be ready to tell you what I
can do when you get out on Sunday."
"We shan't be able to come to tea," said Miriam.
"Well, you can come in as you go to church, if you like; I don't mind,"
said Mrs. Scott.
"I wish we didn't have to go about it on Sunday," said Fanny, as they
were on their way home.
"Oh, what does it matter?" said Miriam, crossly.
"Well, my mother and father wouldn't like me to go about a new frock
on Sunday!" said Fanny. "And it will vex them, I know, when they hear
about it."
"Then they shouldn't have given the other to your sister, as you say
they did. I would do it on purpose to serve them out," concluded
Miriam, a view of the matter that seemed to commend itself to Fanny;
for she laughed, and promised to meet her friend at the corner of the
street where Mrs. Scott lived at six o'clock the following Sunday
evening.