FREE COBBLERY.
"I suppose you'll be looking out for a tenant for this house, when you've
found somewhere for us to go?" queried Miss Jemima, at breakfast the next
morning.
"Well, no," replied her brother, "I think not." "Why," cried Miss Jemima,
"I hope we are not to go on living in this poky little place!"
"No, that is not exactly my intention, either," said "Cobbler" Horn. "We
must, I suppose, remove to another house. But I wish this one to remain
very much as it is; I shall want to use it sometimes."
"Want to use it sometimes!" echoed Miss Jemima, in a mystified tone.
"Yes; you see I don't feel that I can give up my lifelong employment all
at once. So I've been thinking that I'll come to the old workshop, now and
then, and do a bit of cobbling just for a change."
Here he paused, and moved uneasily in his chair.
"It wouldn't do to charge anything for my work now, of course," he
continued; "so I've made up my mind to do little bits of jobs, now and
again, without any pay, for some of the poor people round about, just for
the sake of old times, you know."
Miss Jemima's hands went up with their accustomed movement of dismay.
"Why, that will never do," she cried. "You'll have all the thriftless
loons in the town bringing you their boots and shoes to mend."
"I must guard against that," was the quiet reply.
"Well," continued Miss Jemima, in an aggrieved tone, "I altogether
disapprove of your continuing to work as if you were a poor man. But you
ought, at least, to make a small charge. Otherwise you will be imposed
upon all round."
Finding, however, that she could not move her brother from his purpose,
Miss Jemima relinquished the attempt.
"Well, Thomas," she concluded, "you can never have been intended for this
world and its ways. There is probably a vacancy in some quite different
one which you ought to have filled."
The next few days were largely spent in house hunting; and, after careful
investigation, and much discussion, they decided to take, for the present,
a pleasantly situated detached villa, which stood on the road leading out
past the field where, so many years ago, "Cobbler" Horn had found his
little lost Marian's shoe. The nearness of the house to this spot had
induced him, in spite of his sister's protest, to prefer it to several
otherwise more eligible residences; and he was confirmed in his decision
by the fact that the villa was no great distance from the humble dwelling
he was so reluctant to leave. They were to have possession at once; and
Miss Jemima was permitted to plunge without delay into the delights of
buying furniture, engaging servants, and such like fascinating concerns.
During these busy days, "Cobbler" Horn himself was absorbed in the
arrangements for the rehabilitation of his old workshop. He subjected it
to a complete renovation, in keeping with its character and use. A new
tile floor, a better window, a fresh covering of whitewash on the walls,
and a new coat of paint for the wood-work, effected a transformation as
agreeable as it was complete. He kept the old stool; but procured a new
and modern set of tools, and furnished himself with a stock of the best
leather the market could supply.
He had no difficulty in letting his poor customers know of his charitable
designs, and he soon had as much work as he could do. As his sister had
warned him, he had many applications from those who were unworthy of his
help. He did not like to turn any of the applicants away; but he did so
remorselessly in every instance in which, after careful investigation, the
case broke down, his chief regret being that his gratuitous services were
rarely sought by those who needed them most. But this is to anticipate.
It was in connection with what was regarded as the _quixotic_ undertaking
of Miss Jemima's brother to mend, free of charge, the boots and shoes of
his poor neighbours, that he soon became generally known as "Cobbler"
Horn.