Part 7 (1/2)
”Have you brought the necessary papers with you? Have we a record in this office?”
”Don' know nuffin' 'tall 'bout no papers nor no records. Jist knows dat Miss Jinny's insured fer $15,000,” said Mammy, causing the youth confronting her to open his eyes. ”Dis hyer letter what she done wrote dis mawn'in tells all 'bout it I 'spec'. She tol' me pos' it ter de comp'ny an' I reckons _yo'll_ do fer de comp'ny _dis_ time when de time's pressin' an' der ain't nuffin' _better_ ter han'.”
The contempt in Mammy's tone was tangible, as she held the letter as far from her as possible. Mr. Sniffins took it, noted the address and broke the seal. When he had read the letter he said with no little triumph in his voice:
”But in this letter Mrs. Carruth says distinctly that she is not prepared to pay the sum which falls due day after to-morrow, and asks for an extension of time. I am not prepared to make this extension.
_That's_ up to the company,” and he held the letter toward Mammy as though he washed his hands of the whole affair.
Mammy did not take it. Instead she said very much as she would have spoken to a refractory child who was not quite sure of what he could or could _not_ do: ”La Honey, don' yo' 'spose I sensed _dat_ long go?
Co'se I knows _yo'_ cyant do nuffin' much; yo's only a lil' boy, an'
der cyant no boy do a man's wo'k. Yo's hyer fer ter tek in de _cash_, an' so _dat's_ what I done come ter pay. Miss Jinny she done mek up her mine dat she better pay dat policy dan use de money fer frolic'in'. I reckons yo' can tek cyer of it an' sen' it long down yonder whar de big comp'ny 's at. Dat's all I want _yo'_ ter do, so now go 'long an' git busy an' _do_ it. _Dere's_ thirty dollars; count it so's yo's suah. Den write it all out crost de back ob Miss Jinny's letter so's I have sumpin fer ter show dat it's done paid.”
”But I'll give you a regular receipt for the amount,” said the clerk, now eager to serve a customer whose premium represented so large a policy.
”Yo' kin give me dat too if yo' wantter, but I wants de sign on de letter too, an' yo' full name, Mr. Elijah Sniffins, ter boot, you knows what yo' jist done said 'bout trus'in' folks, an' _yo'_ don'
berlong ter de Rogersers, ner de Wellmans, ner de Stuyvesants, but _I_ berlongs ter de _Blairsdales_!”
Mammy grew nearly three inches taller as she made this statement, while her hearer seemed to grow visibly shorter. The receipt was duly filled out, likewise an acknowledgment written upon the blank side of Mrs. Carruth's letter and Elijah Sniffins' name signed thereto. Mammy took them scrutinized both with great care (she could not read one word) nodded and said:
”Huh, Um. Yas, sir. I reckon _dat_ all squar'. If de house burn down ter night _we_ all gwine git de 'surance sure 'nough. Yas--yas.”
”You certainly could collect whatever was comin' to you,” Mr. Sniffins a.s.sured her, his late supercilious smile replaced by a most obsequious one for this representative of the possessors of the dollars he wors.h.i.+ped. Mr. Sniffins meant to have a good many dollars himself some day and the luxuries which dollars stand for.
Mammy nodded, and placing the receipt and letter in her bag gave a slight nod and turned to leave the office. Mr. Sniffins hurried to open the door for her. As she was about to cross the threshold she paused, eyed him keenly from the crown of his smoothly brushed head to his patent-leather-shod feet and then asked:
”Hucc.u.m yo' opens de do' fer n.i.g.g.e.rs? Ef yo' b'longed ter de quality yo'd let de n.i.g.g.e.rs open de do's fer _yo_. Yo' better run 'long an'
ten' yo' ma's sody foun'in 'twell yo' learns de quality manners.”
An hour later Mammy was busy in her kitchen, the receipts safely pinned within her bodice and no one the wiser for the morning's business transaction.
CHAPTER VIII
Chemical Experiments
”Eleanor! Eleanor! where are you?” cried Constance at the foot of the third-story stairs the following day after luncheon.
Blue Monday had pa.s.sed with its dull gray clouds and chill winds to give place to one of those rare, warm days which sometimes come to us late in October, as though the glorious autumn were loath to depart and had turned back for a last smile upon the land it loved.
The great river lay like s.h.i.+mmering liquid gold, the air was filled with the warm, pungent odors of the late autumn woods, and a soft haze rested upon the opposite hills.
”Here in my room,” answered Eleanor. ”What is it? What do you want? I can't come just this minute. Come up if it's important.” The voice was somewhat m.u.f.fled as though the speaker's head were covered.
Constance bounded up the stairs, hurried across the hall and entered the large third-story front room which Eleanor occupied. There was no sign of its occupant.
”More experiments I dare say,” she murmured as she entered, crossed the room and pushed open the door leading into a small adjoining room whereupon her nostrils were a.s.sailed by odors _not_ of Araby--the blessed.
”Phew! Ugh! What an awful smell! What under the sun are you doing? If you don't blow yourself to glory some day I shall be thankful,” she ended as she pinched her nostrils together.
”Shut the door quick and don't let the smell get through the house or mother will go crazy when she gets home. Yes, it _is_ pretty bad, but tie your handkerchief over your nose and then you won't mind it so much. As for blowing myself to glory, perhaps that will be my only way of ever coming by any, so I ought to be willing to take that route.