Three Little Women Part 6

"No so'les? Huh, _I'se_ seen many a corpo'ration dat hatter have good thick _leather_ soles fer ter tote 'em round. Well, well, times is sho' 'nough changed an' dese hyer Norf ways don't set well on my bile; dey rises it, fer sure. So dey ain't gwine _trus'_ you, Baby? Where dey live at who has de sesso 'bout it all?"

"The main office is in the city, Mammy, but they have, of course, a local agent here."

"Wha' yo' mean by a loc.u.m agen', honey?"

"A clerk who has an office at 60 State street, and who attends to any business the firm may have in Riveredge."

"Is yo' writ yo' letter ter him? Who _is_ he?"

"No, I have written to the New York office, because Mr. Carruth always transacted his business there. I thought it wiser to, for this Mr.

Sniffins is a very young man, and would probably not be prepared to answer my question."

"Wha' yo' call him? Yo' don' mean dat little swimbly, red-headed, white-eyed sumpin' nu'er what sets down in dat bas.e.m.e.n' office wid his foots c.o.c.ked up on de rail-fence in front ob him, an' a segyar mos' as big as his laig stuck in he's mouf all de time? I sees _him_ eve'y time I goes ter market, an' he lak' ter mek me sick. Is _he_ de agen'?"

"Yes, Mammy, and I dare say he is capable enough, although I do not care to come in contact with him if I can avoid it."

"If I ketches yo' in dat 'tater sprout's office I gwine smack yo'

sure's yo' bo'n. Yo' heah _me_? Why _his_ ma keeps the _sody_-fountain on Main street. Wha-fo you gotter do wid such folks, Baby?"

"But, Mammy, they are worthy, respectable people,"--protested Mrs.

Carruth.

"Hush yo' talk, chile. _I_ reckon I knows de diff'rence twixt quality an' de _yether_ kind. Dat's no place fer yo' to go at," cried Mammy, all her instincts rebelling against the experiences her baby was forced to meet in her altered circ.u.mstances. "Gimme dat letter. I'se gwine straight off ter markit dis minit and I'll see dat it get sont off ter de right pusson 'for I'se done anudder ting."

"But what did you wish to ask me, Mammy?"

"Nuffin'. 'Taint no 'count 'tall. I'll ax it when I comes back. Go 'long up-stairs and mek yo' bed if yo pinin' for occerpation," and away Mammy flounced from the room, leaving Mrs. Carruth more or less bewildered. She would have been completely so could she have followed the old woman.

CHAPTER VII

Mammy Generalissimo

Half an hour later a short, stout colored woman in neat, print gown, immaculate white ap.r.o.n, gorgeous headkerchief and gray plaid shawl, entered the office of the Red Star Fire Insurance Company, at No. 60 State street, and walking up to the little railing which divided from the vulgar herd the sacred precincts of Mr. Elijah Sniffins, representative, rested her hand upon the small swinging gate as she nodded her head slightly and asked:

"Is yo' Mister Sniffins, de loc.u.m agen' fer de Fire Insur'nce Comp'ny?"

"I am," replied that gentleman,--without removing from between his teeth the huge cigar upon which he was puffing until he resembled a small-sized locomotive, or changing his position--"Mr. Elijah Sniffins, representative of the Red Star Insurance Company. Are you thinkin' of taking out a policy?" concluded that gentleman with a supercilious smirk.

Mammy's eyes narrowed slightly and her lips were compressed for a moment.

"No, sir, I don' reckon I is studyin' 'bout takin' out no pol'cy. I jist done come hyer on a little private bisness wid yo'."

Mammy paused, somewhat at a loss how to proceed, for business affairs seemed very complicated to her. Mr. Elijah Sniffins was greatly amused and continued to eye her and smile. He was a dapper youth of probably twenty summers, with scant blond hair, pale blue, shifty eyes, a weak mouth surmounted by a cherished mustache of numerable hairs and a chin which stamped him the toy of stronger wills. Mammy knew the type and loathed it. His smirk enraged her, and rage restored her self-possession. Raising her head with a little sidewise jerk as befitted the a.s.surance of a Blairsdale, she cried:

"Yas--sir, I done come to ax yo' a question 'bout de 'surance on a place in Riveredge. I hears de time fer settlin' up gwine come day atter to-morrer an' if 'taint settled up de 'surance boun' ter collapse. Is dat so?"

"Unless the policy is renewed it certainly _will_ 'collapse,'" replied Mr. Sniffins breaking into an amused laugh.

"Huh! 'Pears like yo' find it mighty 'musin'," was Mammy's next remark and had Mr. Elijah Sniffins been a little better acquainted with his patron he would have been wise enough to take warning from her tone.

"Well, you see I am not often favored with visits from ladies of your color who carry fire insurance policies. A good many carry _life_ insurance, but as a rule they don't insure their estates against _fire_, an' the situation was so novel that it amused me a little. No offense meant."

"An' none teken--from _your_ sort," retorted Mammy. "But how 'bout dis hyer pol'cy? What I gotter do fer ter keep it f'om collapsin' ef it aint paid by day atter to-morrer?"

"Pay it _to-day, or_ to-morrow," was the suave reply accompanied by a wave of the hand to indicate the ultimatum.

"'Spose dey ain't got de money fer ter pay right plank down, but kin pay de week atter? Could'n' de collapse be hild up twell den?"

"Ha! Ha!" laughed Mr. Elijah. "I'm 'fraid not; I've heard of those 'next week' settlements before, and experience tells me that 'next week' aint never arrived yet. Ha! Ha!"

"Den yo' won't trus' de Ca-- de fambly?" Mammy had very nearly betrayed herself.

"Well, if it was the Rogers, or the Wellmans, or the Stuyvesants, or some of them big bugs up yonder on the hill, that everybody knows has got piles of money, and that everybody knows might let the policy lapse just because it had slipped their memory--why, that 'd be a different matter. We'd know down in this here office that it was just an oversight, yer see; not a busted bank account. So, of course, we'd make concessions; just jog 'em up a little and a check 'd come 'long all O.K. and no fuss. But these small policies--why--well, I've got ter be more careful of the company's interests; I hold a responsible position here."

"De good Lawd, yo' don' sesso!" exclaimed Mammy, turning around and around to scrutinize every corner of the tiny office, and then letting her eyes rest upon the being whose sense of responsibility was apparently crushing him down upon his chair, if one could judge from his semi-rec.u.mbent position. "Dat's sh.o.r.e 'nough a pity. Look lak it mought be mos' too much fer yo'. Don' seem right fer a comp'ny ter put sich a boy as yo' is in sich a 'sponsible 'sition, do it now?"

Mammy's expression was solicitude personified. Mr. Elijah Sniffins'

face became a delicate rose color, and his feet landed upon the floor with emphasis as he straightened in his chair, and dragged nervously at the infinitesimal mustache, meanwhile eying Mammy with some misgivings.

Mammy continued to smile upon him benignly, and her smile proved as disconcerting as she meant it should. She resolved to have her innings with the smug youth who had begun by slighting her race and ended by doing far worse; failing to cla.s.s the Carruths among those whom everyone trusted as a matter of course. The former slight might have been disregarded; the latter? _Never._ Consequently Mammy had instantly decided "ter mak' dat little no'count sumpin 'er ner'er squirm jist fer ter te'ch him what's due de quality," and the process had begun.

Poor Mammy! She would never learn that in the northern world where her lot was now cast the almighty dollar was king, queen and court combined. That its possession could carry into high places bad manners, low birth, aye actual rascality and hold them up to the shallow as enviable things when veneered with golden l.u.s.ter. That "de quality" without that dazzling reflector were very liable to be cast aside as of no value, as the nugget of virgin gold might be tramped upon and its worth never suspected by the unenlightened in their eagerness to reach a shining bit of polished bra.s.s farther along the path.

But Mammy's traditions were deeply rooted.

"I think I can take care of the position. What can I do for you? My time is valuable," snapped Mr. Elijah Sniffins, rising from his chair and coming close to the dividing railing, as a hint to Mammy to conclude her business.

"De Lawd er ma.s.sy! Is dat so? Now I ain't never is 'spitioned dat f'om de looks ob t'ings. 'Pears lak yo' got a sight o' time on han'. Wal I 'clar fo' it I do'n un'nerstan' dese hyer bisness places no how. Well!

Well! So yo' want me fer ter state mine an' cl'ar long out, does yo'

Mr. 'Lijah? 'Lijah; _'Lijah_. Was yo' ma a studyin' 'bout yo' doin's when she done giv' yo' dat name? Sort o' fits yo' pine blank, don' it now? Like 'nuf de cha'iot 'll come kitin' 'long one o' dese hyer days an' hike yo' inter de high places. Yah! Yah!" and Mammy's mellow laugh filled the office.

"See here, old woman, if you've got some little picayune payment to make, _make_ it and clear out. I ain't got time ter stand here talkin'

ter n.i.g.g.e.rs," cried the agent, his temper taking final flight.

Mammy eyed him steadily as she said:

"Wall _dis yere_ time yo's gwine deal wid a n.i.g.g.e.r, an' yo's gwine do lak _she say_. Dis yere comp'ny 'sures de Carruth house an' eve'y last t'ing what's inside it, an' de policy yo' say 's gotter be settled up when it's gotter be, or de hul t'ing 'll collapse? Now Miss Jinny ain't never _is_ had no dealin's wid _yo'_, case I don' _let_ her have dealin's wid no white trash--_I_ handles _dat_ sort when it has ter be handled--an' I keeps jist as far f'om it as ever I kin _while_ I handles it. But I'se gotter settle up dis policy fer de fambly so what is it? How much is I gotter pay yo'?"

The varying expressions pa.s.sing over Mr. Sniffins' countenance during Mammy's speech would have delighted an artist.

"What er? What er? What er you telling me?" he stammered.

"De ain't no 'watter' 'bout it; it's _fire_, an' I done come ter settle up," a.s.serted Mammy.