during the latter part of their sojourn in the city, willy went about a good deal with miss barbara because she thought this quiet, soft-spoken lady was not happy and did not take the interest in handsome and costly articles which was shown by her sister. she had been afraid that this noisy bustling place would be too much for miss barbara, and now she was sure she had been right.
the younger miss thorpedyke was unhappy, and with reason. for some months a little house in boston which had been their principal source of income had not been rented. it needed repairs, and there was no money with which to repair it. the agent had written that some one might appear who would be willing to take it as it stood, but that this was doubtful, and the heart of miss barbara sank very low. she was the business woman of the[pg 115] family. she it was who had always balanced the income and the expenditures. this adjustment had now become very difficult indeed, and was only accomplished by adding a little debt to the weight on the income scale.
she had said nothing to her sister about this sad change in their affairs because she hoped against hope that soon they might have a tenant, and she knew that her sister eleanor was a woman of such strict and punctilious honor that she would insist upon living upon plain bread, if their supply of ready money was insufficient to buy anything else. to see this sister insufficiently nourished was something which miss barbara could not endure, and so, sorely against her disposition and her conscience, she made some little debts; and these grew and grew until at last they weighed her down until she felt as if she must always look upon the earth and could never raise her head to the sky. and she was so plump, and so white, and gentle, and quiet, and peaceful looking that no one thought she had a care in the world until willy croup began to suspect in new york that something was the matter with her, but did not in the least attribute her friend's low spirits to the proper cause.
when miss barbara had favored so willingly and promptly the invitation of mrs. cliff, she had done so because she saw in the new york visit a temporary abolition of expense, and a consequent opportunity to lay up a little money by which she might be able to satisfy for a time one of her creditors who was beginning to suspect that she was not able to pay his bill, and was therefore pressing her very hard. even while she had been in[pg 116] new york, this many-times rendered bill had been forwarded to her with an urgent request that it be settled.
it was not strange, therefore, that a tear should sometimes come to the eye of miss barbara when she stood by the side of her sister and mrs. cliff and listened to them discussing the merits of some rich rugs or pieces of furniture, and when she reflected that the difference in price between two articles, one apparently as desirable as the other, which was discussed so lightly by mrs. cliff and eleanor, would pay that bill which was eating into her soul, and settle, moreover, every other claim against herself and her sister. but the tears were always wiped away very quickly, and neither mrs. cliff nor the elder miss thorpedyke ever noticed them.
but although willy croup was not at all a woman of acute perceptions, she began to think that perhaps it was something more than the bustle and noise of new york which was troubling miss barbara. and once, when she saw her gazing with an earnest eager glare—and whoever would have thought of any sort of a glare in miss barbara's eyes—upon some bank-notes which mrs. cliff was paying out for a carved cabinet for which it was a little doubtful if a suitable place could be found, but which was bought because miss eleanor thought it would give an air of distinction in whatever room it might be placed, willy began to suspect the meaning of that unusual exhibition of emotion.
"she's money hungry," she said to herself, "that's what's the matter with her!" willy had seen the signs[pg 117] of such hunger before, and she understood what they meant.
that night willy lay in her bed, having the very unusual experience of thinking so much that she could not sleep. her room adjoined miss barbara's, and the door between them was partly open, for the latter lady was timid. perhaps it was because this door was not closed that willy was so wakeful and thoughtful, for there was a bright light in the other room, and she could not imagine why miss barbara should be sitting up so late. it was a proceeding entirely at variance with her usual habits. she was in some sort of trouble, it was easy to see that, but it would be a great deal better to go to sleep and try to forget it.
so after a time willy rose, and, softly stepping over the thick carpet, looked into the other room. there was miss barbara in her day dress, sitting at a table, her arms upon the table, her head upon her arms, fast asleep. upon her pale face there were a great many tear marks, and willy knew that she must have cried herself to sleep. a paper was spread out near her.
willy was sure that it would be a very mean and contemptible thing for her to go and look at that paper, and so, perhaps, find out what was troubling miss barbara, but, without the slightest hesitation, she did it. her bare feet made no sound upon the carpet, and as she had very good eyes, it was not necessary for her to approach close to the sleeper.
it was a bill from william bullock, a grocer and provision dealer of plainton. it contained but one item,[pg 118]—'to bill rendered,' and at the bottom was a statement in mr. bullock's own handwriting to the effect that if the bill was not immediately paid he would be obliged to put it into the hands of a collector.
willy turned and slipped back into her room. then, after sitting down upon her bed and getting up again, she stepped boldly to the door and knocked upon it. instantly she heard miss barbara start and push back her chair.
"what are you doing up so late?" cried willy, cheerfully. "don't you feel well?"
"oh, yes," replied the other, "i accidentally fell asleep while reading, but i will go to bed instantly."
the mind of willy croup was a very small one and had room in it for but one idea at a time. for a good while she lay putting ideas into this mind, and then taking them out again. having given place to the conviction that the thorpedykes were in a very bad way indeed,—for if that bill should be collected, they would not have much left but themselves, and mr. bullock was a man who did collect when he said he would,—she was obliged to remove this conviction, which made her cry, in order to consider plans of relief; and while she was considering these plans, one at a time, she dropped asleep.
the first thing she thought of when she opened her eyes in the morning was poor miss barbara in the next room, and that dreadful bill; and then, like a flash of lightning, she thought of a good thing to do for the thorpedykes. the project which now laid itself out,[pg 119] detail after detail, before her seemed so simple, so sensible, so absolutely wise and desirable in every way, that she got up, dressed herself with great rapidity, and went in to see mrs. cliff.
that lady was still asleep, but willy awakened her, and sat on the side of the bed. "do you know what i think?" said willy.
"how in the world should i!" said mrs. cliff. "is it after breakfast-time?"
"no," said willy; "but it's this! what are you going to do in that big house, with all the bedrooms, parlor, library, and so forth? you say that you are going to have one room, and that i'm to have another, and that we'll go into the old house to feel at home whenever we want to; but i believe we'll be like a couple of flies in a barrel! you're going to furnish your new house with everything but people! you ought to have more people! you ought to have a family! that house will look funny without people! you can't ask mr. burke, because it would be too queer to have him come and live with us, and besides, he'll want a house of his own. why don't you ask the thorpedykes to come and live with us? their roof is dreadfully out of repairs. i know to my certain knowledge that they have to put tin wash-basins on every bed in the second story when it rains, on account of the holes in the shingles! if they had money to mend those holes, they'd mend them, but as they don't mend them, of course they haven't the money. and it strikes me that they aren't as well off as they used to be, and they'll[pg 120] have a hard time gettin' through this winter. now, there isn't any piece of furniture that you can put in your house that will give it 'such an air of distinction,' as miss eleanor calls it, as she herself will give it if you put her there! if you could persuade miss eleanor to come and sit in your parlor when you are having company to see you, it would set you up in plainton a good deal higher than any money can set you up."
"they would never agree to anything of the kind," said mrs. cliff, "and you know it, willy!"
"i don't believe it," said willy. "i believe they'd come! just see how willing they were to come here with you! i tell you, sarah, that the older and older those thorpedyke ladies get, the more timid they get, and the more unwilling to live by themselves!
"if you make miss eleanor understand that it would be the greatest comfort and happiness to both of us if she would come and spend the winter with you, and so help you to get used to your great big new house; and more than that, if they'd bring with them some of their candle-sticks and pictures on ivory and that sort of thing, which everybody knows can't be bought for money, it would be the great accommodation to you and make your house look something like what you would like to have it. i believe that old-family lady would come and stay with you this winter, and think all the time that she was giving you something that you ought to have and which nobody in plainton could give you but herself. and as to miss barbara, she'd come along as quick as lightning!"[pg 121]
"willy," said mrs. cliff, very earnestly, "have you any good reason to believe that the thorpedykes are in money trouble?"
"yes, i have," said willy, "i'm positive of it, and what's more, it's only miss barbara who knows it!"
mrs. cliff sat for some minutes without answering, and then she said, "willy, you do sometimes get into your head an idea that absolutely sparkles!"
