Brenda's Bargain: A Story for Girls

by Oliver Optic

  XIV

  CONCILIATION

  One day not so very long after the valentine party, when it was stillrather uncertain whether Maggie and Concetta were to be friends orenemies, the former had a chance to do Concetta a real favor. It was amorning when she had been very busy herself, as it was her week fortaking care of the large reading-room, and she had been up very early inorder to finish certain things before breakfast. First of all she hadcleaned mirrors with powdered whiting until they shone; then she hadpolished the brasses; and finally, after spreading covers overeverything that might harbor dust, she had swept the long room.

  "Don't you hate sweeping?" asked Haleema, who was to help her dust andarrange the rooms.

  "Not half as much as dusting. I really do hate that, it is so fussy,and, do you know," dropping her voice, "I heard Miss Julia the other daysaying that she didn't like dusting either."

  In spite of any dislike that she may have had for the work, Maggie was awilling worker, and soon she had the long room in perfect order.

  Soon after breakfast, passing through the back hall, they came upon anarray of lamps ranged on a long table.

  "Where's Concetta?"

  "I don't know. She was here a little while ago."

  "Well, I've looked all over the house, and I haven't seen her for anhour."

  "It's her day to do the lamps. She'll get a scolding if she doesn't fillthem."

  "Who'll scold her? I never heard any one in this house scold."

  "Well, Miss Dreen, for one, is very particular, and she said that she'dpunish the next girl who neglected the lamps."

  "Oh, well," said Maggie, "perhaps she won't be back in time to dothem,--that is, if she has gone off anywhere."

  "She hasn't any right to go off in the morning."

  "I don't mind doing the lamps," said Maggie,--"that is, I'm not so veryfond of doing them, but I'd just as lieves, and it will save Concetta ascolding. I don't mind a bit."

  So Maggie set to work with a will. She filled the lamps, trimmed one ortwo wicks, put in one or two new ones, washed and polished the chimneys,and when they were finished set them on a large tray to be ready forevening.

  "Well, that's more than I would do," said Haleema.

  "I wonder how these lamps get used," said Maggie; "except in the librarythey mostly use gas--the young ladies, I mean--and, of course, we onlyhave gas in our room."

  "Why, that's so," said Haleema, "though I never thought of it before."

  But neither of the girls put her mind sufficiently on the subject to seethat the care of the lamps was one of the devices of the two headworkers at the Mansion for getting a certain kind of exact service fromthe young girls. The lamps were not needed. Often two of them were setin a little-used room where they burned just long enough to sear thewicks and cloud the shades, so that the young housekeepers could showtheir skill in cleaning them. Miss South made it her duty usually tokeep in mind the girl whose task for the week it was to attend to thelamps, and when the results were thoroughly satisfactory she was loud inher praise, just as she felt it her duty to blame when the reverse wastrue. From the lamps the two little girls went to the bathroom.

  "Oh, you oughtn't to dust without lifting down those bottles. Miss Dreensays that we ought never to leave a corner untouched."

  "But I've dusted in between; it doesn't matter what there is under thebottles."

  But Haleema was not to be rebuffed.

  "I like bottles," she added. "They almost always have things in themthat smell good," and she reached up on tiptoe toward the shelf. Thefirst bottle that she reached just came within her grasp, and she pulledit toward her. When she pulled the stopper, it proved to be a fragranttoilet water, and even Maggie, admitting that it was delightful, yieldedto the pleasure of inhaling it directly from the bottle. Emboldened byher success, Haleema drew another bottle down toward her and made afeint of drinking from it.

  "Oh, don't!" cried Maggie, in genuine alarm, "it may be poison."

  "Oh, they wouldn't leave poisons around like this. I'd just as lief asnot taste anything here. I ain't afraid."

  But although she spoke thus bravely, Haleema really did not venture toput the liquid to her mouth. Then she touched a third bottle, filledwith a colorless liquid. She tried to pull out the rubber stopper, butit would not stir. Holding the bottle under one arm, she gave a second,more vigorous pull, when the stopper not only came out, but in some waythe liquid flew out, and then--a loud scream from Maggie, who was wipingthe edge of the bathtub. Haleema herself, half suffocated by the fumesof the ammonia from the harmless-looking bottle, had enough presence ofmind to set it up on the marble washstand. But, alas! she set it down sohard that the glass broke and the ammonia trickled down, destroying theglossy surface of the hardwood floor.

  All these things, of course, had happened in a very short time; not aminute, indeed, had passed after Maggie's first shriek before Julia andMiss South and two or three girls had rushed to the room.

  The ammonia fumes at once told the story to Miss South, and withoutwaiting for an explanation she had raised Maggie from the floor.

  "Oh, dear, my eyes!" sobbed Maggie, and for a moment Miss South wasfrightened. Ammonia can work great havoc when it touches the eyes.Fortunately, however, as it happened it was not Maggie's eyes but herface that the ammonia had really hurt. Her eyes were inflamed, and shehad to be kept in a dark room for a day or two, and her face had to besalved and swathed in cloths. But in the end no great injury had beendone, and she won Haleema's everlasting gratitude by resisting thetemptation to tell enquirers that Haleema's carelessness had caused thedisaster; for great injury had been done the polished floor, and Haleemaknew that she deserved reproof and punishment. Yet such was Maggie'sreputation for destructiveness that she was supposed to have broken thebottle, and in the injury to her face she was thought to have paid asufficient penalty.

  When Concetta returned to the house an hour later, great was hersurprise to find that her lamps had been cleaned, and when Haleema toldher of Maggie's kindness she could not understand it.

  "Perhaps she's trying for a prize."

  "What prize?"

  "Why, don't you know? At the end of the year the very best girl at theMansion is to have a prize. I shouldn't wonder if it would be a goldwatch."

  "Oh, I don't believe it."

  "Then you can ask Miss Bourne."

  A few days later Concetta had a chance to put the question to Julia.

  "Yes, indeed, there are to be two prizes: one for the girl who hastried the hardest, and the other for the one who has succeeded thebest."

  "Which will get them, Miss Bourne?"

  "Ah, how can I tell?"

  "I don't see how any one can tell; no one is watching us all the time."

  "Some one does take account, Inez, of almost everything that you say anddo."

  "Oh, dear, I hate to be spied on," grumbled Concetta.

  "No one is spying, I can assure you; but there are certain things thatwe notice carefully, and you have all been here so long that we knowpretty well just what you are likely to do."

  "I expect some one marks everything down in a book, like they used to atschool?" Maggie put this as a question, but Julia did not replydirectly.

  "All the advice I can give you is to do as well as you can, and whetherthings are written in a book or not you will fare very well--at least,you will all fare alike."

  "What will the prizes be, Miss Bourne?"

  "Ah, I cannot tell exactly."

  Thereupon the girls all fell to speculating not only about the prizes,but about the kind of conduct that would win one. While they werediscussing this, Julia called to them from the floor above, "Have youforgotten that this is your shopping day?"

  Then there was a scampering, and the girls who were to go with her beganto get ready. Each girl went shopping with one of the staff every threemonths, and to-day the group was to consist of Concetta, Inez, Maggie,and Nellie. It was Julia's turn to take them, and this was not wholly tothe satisfaction of
Concetta.

  "I thought Miss Barlow said that she would go with us this time," shemurmured, as they left the house. She knew very well that if Brenda weretheir shopping guide they would be able to purchase according to theirown sweet wills. She would be likely to approve everything that theybought, provided that they had money to pay for it, and it was evenpossible that she might supplement their allowance from her evergenerous purse. Thus, indeed, had she done on the one occasion when shehad taken them out, and her liberality had been even magnified by thelively tongues of those who had described it.

  Shopping was not, of course, intended to occupy a large share of theattention of these girls; yet to buy clothing properly was thought asimportant by the elders who had them in charge, as marketing for thetable, and each girl was given a chance to market under the supervisionof Miss Dreen. They already knew the most nutritious and least expensivecuts of meat. They could tell what vegetables could be most prudentlybought at each season, and some of them had already begun to show adecided independence of judgment even in small matters relating to thetable.

  Hardly any of them, however, had the same degree of judgment in mattersof dress. On this account it had been thought wise to give each one asmall allowance, and let her spend it as she wished, with a certainamount of guidance that she need not feel to be restraint.

  "What they spend for one thing they certainly will not have for another,and there is probably no other way in which they can better learn whatto do."

  To let them use their own judgment on this particular shopping trip,Julia made few restrictions. Each had the same amount of money to spend,and out of it they were to buy spring hats, shoes and stockings, and thematerial for two dresses, one of gingham and one of a heavier material.All that they had left after making these purchases they were to spendas they wished, and the sum had been so calculated as to leave a fairmargin. There was only one restriction: to save time and energy thatmight be consumed in wandering around from one shop to another, Juliaplanned that they should do all their purchasing in one of the largerdepartment stores, and while they were busy she did a few errands of herown. At intervals she met them at certain counters by agreement, but inalmost every instance she found that they had made their purchase, sothat her advice was usually superfluous.

  "I thought that you were going to get a small sailor hat with a fewflowers at the side," she could not forbear saying to Inez, who showedher a rather flimsy imitation tuscan, with some gaudy flowers and lacefor trimming.

  "Oh, but you should have seen the perfectly elegant hats they haveupstairs, all tulle and flowers, and as big--" at a loss for an objectof comparison. Concetta concluded, "as big as a bushel basket," afterwhich Julia could not say that the hat that Inez had chosen was reallyof unreasonable size.

  Concetta looked somewhat shamefaced as she announced that she had nohat.

  "But you had the money for it."

  "Yes, but I bought this, it's for the baby; I'd rather she'd have it,"and Concetta opened a large box in which lay a pretty, pink silk coat.Closer examination showed that the silk was half cotton and the lacevery tawdry, but Julia hadn't the heart to reprove her. Concetta's lovefor her baby cousin was genuine, and the coat undoubtedly represented acertain sacrifice on her part.

  When they came to the dress materials, Maggie insisted on buying twocotton dresses instead of the woollen dress, the material for which hadbeen provided by her money.

  "Maggie's a miser," said Concetta, and Maggie reddened without makingany explanation.

  Some of the materials bought were open to more or less criticism, andlater Julia meant to make certain of these mistakes the subject of alittle talk. They had done very well, she thought, for the present, inbuying practically all the things that she had intended to have them buywith their money. Each of them, too, had a small surplus, and Inez wasthe only one who proposed to use hers up by spending it at once forcandy. A little persuasion turned her aside from this purpose, and Juliawas careful that evening to offer her and the girls some especially fineconfections when they gathered in her room after tea. They all seemedso receptive then that she thought it a good time to show them just howtheir fifteen dollars might have been spent to the best advantage,--athird for the dress materials, a third for shoes and hat, a third forstockings and the other smaller things; and comparing what they had donewith her ideal purchases, she was interested to find that Nellie, theyoung Irish girl, had really come the nearest to her standard, andaccordingly Nellie's face was wreathed in smiles as she learned that shewas thought to have been the ideal purchaser; for although Maggie hadalso done very well, Julia was not wholly satisfied with her havingsubstituted the cotton for the woollen dress.

  That evening, as it was Saturday, they all played games in the largegymnasium, where there was space enough for the exciting Frenchblindman's buff, in which, instead of having one of the players blinded,she had her hands tied behind her back, and do her best, often she couldnot catch the others.

  When they were tired of active sports, hjalma and draughts and othergames were ready for them, and occasionally they had charades orimpromptu tableaux, in which all the powers of their elders were taxed;for the girls themselves lacked originality, and Miss South or one ofthe other older members of the household had to supervise all that theydid.

  In these sports sometimes little unexpected jealousies arose, and Julia,or Pamela, or Ruth, or Anstiss, as the case might be, had her hands fulltrying to keep peace. The least desirable characteristics of the girlscame to the surface at times, and at times, too, their best qualitieswere displayed in an equally unexpected way. Phoebe alone of them alldid not care for games. While the others were playing she was apt tobury herself in a book, and often Julia and Pamela would insist that sheshould put this aside to mingle with the others.