CHAPTER X
Readjustment
It was all over. The excitement had subsided and all that remained totell the story of the previous afternoon's commotion was afire-scorched, water-soaked dwelling with a miscellaneous collectionof articles decorating its lawn. When the early morning sunshinelooked down upon the home which for eight years had sheltered theCarruths, it beheld desolation complete. Alas for Eleanor's chemicals!Her experiments had cost the family dear.
The only living being in sight was a policeman mounting guard over theruins. A staid and stolid son of the Vatterland who had spent the weesma' hours upon the premises and now stood upon the piazza upright andrigid as the inanimate objects all about him. Beside him was a small,toy horse "saddled and bridled and ready to ride," and anything moreabsurd than the picture cut by this guardian of the law and hisminiature charger it would be hard to imagine.
Meanwhile the family was housed among friends who had been quick tooffer them shelter, Mr. Stuyvesant insisting that Mrs. Carruth andConstance accept his aunt's hospitality through him, while the nextdoor neighbor, Mr. Henry, harbored Eleanor, Jean and Mammy, whorefused point blank to go beyond sight of the premises and hercharge--Baltie.
Mammy was the heroine of the hour; for what the old woman had notthought of when everyone else's wits were scattered was hardly worththinking of. In the blanket which she had charged the girls to guardwere all of Mrs. Carruth's greatest treasures, among them a beautifulminiature of Mr. Carruth of which no one but Mammy had thought.Jewelry which had belonged to her mother was there, valuable papershastily snatched from her desk, and many of the girl's belongingswhich would never have been saved but for Mammy's forethought. Atseven o'clock, when all was over, the crowd dispersed and the familygathered together in Mr. Henry's living-room to collect their wits anddraw a long breath, Mrs. Carruth drew Mammy to one side to ask:
"Mammy, what is the meaning of this receipt? I cannot understand it.Who has paid this sum and where was it paid?"
"Baby, dere comes times when 'taint a mite er use ter tell what wegwine _do_. Dat 'surance hatter be squar'd up an' dat settled it. So_I_ squar'd it--."
"Oh, Mammy! Mammy!" broke in Mrs. Carruth, almost in tears.
"Hush, chile! Pay 'tention ter _me_. What would a come of we-all if Ihadn't paid dat bill den an' dar? Bress de Lawd I had de cash an' don'pester me wid questions. Ain' I tole yo' I'se _rich_? Well den, datsettles it. When _yo_ is, yo' kin settle wid _me_. _Dat_ don' need noargufyin' do it? Now go long wid Miss Constance an' Massa Stuyvesantlak dey say an' git yo' sef ca'med down. Yo' all a shakin' an' ashiverin' lak yo' got de ager, an' dat won' never do in de roun'worl'. Yo'll be down sick on my han's."
And that was all the old woman would ever hear about it. When thethirty dollars were returned to her in the course of a few days shetook it with a chuckle saying:
"Huh! Reckons _I_ knows wha' ter investigate _my_ money. Done git myintrus so quick it like ter scar me."
After the first excitement was over came the question of where thefamily was to live, and it was Hadyn Stuyvesant who settled itforthwith by offering the home which had been his mother's; a prettylittle dwelling in the heart of Riveredge which had been closed sincehis mother's death and his own residence with his aunt. So in thecourse of the next week the Carruths were installed therein and beganto adjust themselves to the new conditions The first question to beanswered was the one concerning their home. Should it be rebuilt withthe money to be paid by the insurance company, or should it be sold?It was hard to decide, for sentiment was strongly in favor ofreturning to the home they all loved, while sound sense dictatedselling the land and thus lessening expenses. Sound sense carried theday, and the little house on Hillside street became home, and in thecourse of a few weeks the machinery ran along with its accustomedsmoothness, although it was some time before the family recovered fromthe shock of realizing how close they had come to losing all theypossessed, and also keenly alive to the fact that what _had_ beensaved must be carefully guarded. Fifteen thousand was not an alarmingsum to fall back upon and the rent for the new home although modest,compared with what their own would have commanded, had to beconsidered.
Meanwhile the girls had returned to their school duties, the olderones working harder than ever, especially Eleanor, whose consciencetroubled her not a little at thought of her carelessness which hadcaused all the trouble, for well she realized that her failure to careproperly for the powerful acids with which she had been experimentingwhen Constance appeared upon the scene had started the fire.
Constance had immediately set to work to evolve from the apparelrescued a winter wardrobe for the family, and displayed such ingenuityin bringing about new gowns and headgear from the old ones that thefamily flourished like green bay trees. Still Constance was notsatisfied, and one afternoon said to Eleanor, who now shared her room,but who had _not_ laid in a new supply of chemicals:
"Nornie, put down that book and listen to me, for I'm simmering withwords o' wisdom and if I don't find a vent I'll boil over presently."
Eleanor laid aside the book she was poring over, laughing as sheasked:
"What is it--some new scheme for making a two-pound steak feed fivehungry mouths, or a preparation to apply to the soles of shoes to keepthem from wearing out?"
"It has more to do with the stomach than the feet, but I'm not joking.I want to take account of stock and find out just where we are _at_and just what we _can_ do. Mother has her hands and head more thanfull just now, and I think _I_ ought to give a pull at the wheel too."
"And what shall _I_ be about while you are doing the pulling? It seemsto me a span can usually pull harder than a single horse. By-the-way,apropos of horses, what _has_ Mammy done to poor old Baltie? Do yourealize that she has not yet had him two months, but no one would everrecognize the old horse for the decrepit creature Jean led home thatafternoon."
"I know it! Isn't she a marvel? I believe she is half witch. Why,blind and twenty-five years old as he is, old Baltie to-day wouldbring Jabe Raulsbury enough money to make the covetous old sinnersmile, I believe; if anything on earth could make him smile. I thoughtI should have screamed when she started off with her steed the otherday. That old phaeton and harness she found in the barn here wereespecially sent by Providence, I believe. I never expect to see afunnier sight if I live to be a hundred years old than Mammy drivingoff down the road with that great basket of apples by her side andJean perched behind in the rumble. Mammy was simply superb and proudas the African princess she insists she is," and Constance laughedheartily at the picture she made.
"What did she do with her apples? I wish I could have seen her," criedEleanor.
"She had them stored away in our cellar. She had gathered them herselffrom mother's pet tree and packed them carefully in a couple ofbarrels. How on earth she finds time to do all the things she managesto I can't understand. She took that basket out to Mrs. Fletcher. Youremember Mrs. Fletcher once said there were no apples like ours andMammy remembered it. Still, I am afraid Mrs. Fletcher would never haveseen that basket of apples if her home had not adjoined the Raulsburyplace. You know Jabe had to pay a large fine before he could get free.Such an hour of triumph rarely comes to two human beings as came toMammy and Jean when they drove that old horse past Jabe's gateway andkind fate drew him to that very spot at the moment. Mammy is stillchuckling over it, and Jean isn't to be lived with. But enough ofMammy and her charger, let's get to stock-taking."
"Yes, do," said Eleanor.
"I've been putting things down in black and white and here it is,"said practical Constance, opening a little memorandum book and seatingherself beside her sister. "You see mother has barely fifteen hundreddollars a year from father's life insurance and even _that_ issomewhat lessened by the slump in those old stocks. Now comes the fireinsurance settlement and the interest on that won't be over sevenhundred at the outside, will it?"
"I'm afraid not," said Eleanor with a doubtful shake of her head. "Butsuppose we are able to sell the old place?"
"Yes, 'suppose.' If we _do_, well and good, but supposes aren't muchaccount for immediate needs, and those are the things we've got tothink about now."
"Then let me think too," broke in Eleanor.
"You may _think_ all you've a mind to; that's exactly what your brainsare for, and some day you'll astonish us all. Meanwhile _I'll_ work."
"Now, Constance, what are you planning? You know perfectly well thatif you leave school and take up something that _I_ shall too. I_won't_ take all the advantages."
"Who said I had any notion of leaving school? Not a bit of it. My planwon't affect my school work. But of that later. Now to our capital.Mother will have at the outside nineteen hundred a year, and out ofthat she will have to pay five hundred rent for this house. Thatleaves fourteen hundred wherewith to feed and clothe five people,doesn't it? Now, she can't possibly _feed_, let alone clothe, us forless than twenty dollars a week, can she? And out of that must comefuel which is no small matter now-a-days. That leaves only threehundred and sixty dollars for all the other expenses of the year, and,Nornie, it isn't enough. We _could_ live on less in town I dare say,but town is no place for Jean while she's so little. She'd give up theghost without a place to romp in. Then, too, mother loves every stonein Riveredge, and she is going to _stay_ here if I can manage it. Solisten: You know what a fuss everybody at the fair made over mynut-fudge and pralines. Well, I'm going to make candy to sell----."
"Oh, Constance, you can't! You mustn't!" interrupted Eleanor whoseinstincts shrank from any member of her family launching upon abusiness enterprise.
"I can and I _must_," contradicted Constance positively. "And what ismore, I shall. So don't have a conniption fit right off, because I'vethought it all out and I know just exactly what I can do."
"Mother will _never consent_," said Eleanor firmly, and added, "and Ihope she won't."
"Now Nornie, see here," cried Constance with decided emphasis. "What_is_ the use of being so ridiculously high and mighty? We aren't thefirst people, by a long chalk, that have met with financial reversesand been forced to do something to earn a livelihood. The woods arefull of them and they are none the less respected either. For my part,I'd rather hustle round and earn my own duddies than settle down andwish for them, and wail because I can't have them while mother strivesand struggles to make both ends meet. I haven't _brains_ to do bigthings in the world, but I've got what Mammy calls 'de bangenesthan's' and we'll see what they'll bang out!" concluded Constanceresolutely.
"Mammy will never let you," cried Eleanor, playing what she felt to beher trump card.
"On the contrary, Mammy is going to _help_ me," announced Constancetriumphantly.
"_What_, Mammy consent to a Blairsdale going into trade?" criedEleanor, feeling very much as though the foundations of the house weresinking.
"Even so, Lady," answered Constance, laughing at her sister's look ofdismay. "Old Baltie was not rescued for naught. His days of usefulnesswere not ended as you shall see. But don't look so horrified, and,above all else, don't say one word to mother. There is no use to worryher, and remember she _is_ a Blairsdale and it won't be so easy tobring her to my way of thinking as it has been to bring _you_; you'reonly half one, like myself, and remember we've got Carruth blood togive us mercantile instincts."
"As though the Carruths were not every bit as good as theBlairsdales," brindled Eleanor indignantly.
"Cock-a-doodle! See its feathers ruffle. You are as spunky as theHenry's game cock," cried Constance laughing and gathering Eleanor'shead into her arms to maul it until her hair came down.
"Well," retorted Eleanor, struggling to free herself from thetempestuous embrace, "so they are."
"Yes, my beloved sister. I'll admit all that, but bear in mind that_their_ ancestors were born in Pennsylvania _not_ in 'ole Caroliny,and that's the difference 'twixt tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee. I don'tbelieve Mad Anthony stopped to consider whether he was a patrician ora plebeian when he was storming old Stony Point, or getting fodder forValley Forge, so I don't believe _I_ will, when I set out to hustlefor frocks and footgear for his descendants. So put your pride in yourpocket, Nornie, and watch me grow rich and the family blossom out inluxuries undreamed of. I'm going to _do_ it: you'll see," endedConstance in a tone so full of hope and courage that Eleanor then andthere resolved not to argue the point further or discourage her.
"When are you going to begin this enterprise?" she asked.
"This very day. I'm only waiting for Mammy to come back from marketwith some things I need, and there she is now. Good-bye. Go look afterthe little Mumsie, or Jean; you'd find your hands full with the lastundertaking, no doubt," and with a merry laugh Constance randown-stairs to greet Mammy who was just entering the back door.
Three Little Women: A Story for Girls Page 10