Chapter XIII: 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.