CHAPTER XX.
ANOTHER TALK WITH JAMES DENTON.
Poor Faith was driven to desperation now. Here was a situation farbeyond her wisdom.
That the girl was a petty thief amounted to almost nothing beside herviciousness and animosity toward her fellow beings.
Faith was sorely puzzled over what to say, and while she was trying tocollect her scattered wits Miss Willis poured out a little more of hervenom.
"If there's a girl in this place I hate it's Mag Brady," she saidcandidly, "and she knows it, you bet! I haven't tried to conceal it! I'mdifferent from Mag, I hit straight out from the shoulder! She's a sneakand a coward; she'll wait till it's dark before she fights you! You seeyou haven't been out in the world long enough to read people yet, but Ihave, I'm a regular veteran in the army of evil."
She laughed loudly as she finished, as though her words were highlyamusing. To be experienced in the ways of evil seemed to her to be thehighest possible recommendation.
"I hope I shall never know any more about sin than I do now," said Faithsoberly, "but really, I seem to be learning more and more every day."
"It won't hurt you," responded her companion patronizingly. "You've gotto hold your own, you know; if you don't you go to the bottom. The worldis full of sharks and so is this store. The sooner you find it out thebetter it will be for you."
Faith saw that the girl was growing serious now. What she said wasintended to be for Faith's good; whether it was good advice or not, itwas the best she had to offer.
"Hello!" cried Miss Willis suddenly. "Do my eyes deceive me, or is thatreally a plumber that I see over in that corner?"
She raised her voice so that every one heard her, and a clerk in theopposite corner made haste to answer her:
"That's what it is all right, Lou, a real, live plumber! The Board ofHealth has come to its senses at last, and, thanks to that GovernmentInspector, we are going to have some 'modern improvements.'"
"I hope we'll have basins enough to go around," cried another voice,"and perhaps there'll be an occasional glimpse of a really clean towel."
"Oh, you mustn't expect too much," answered the plumber, laughing. "Ionly got orders to do a little puttering. It's just a bluff they arechucking; it won't cost them much if nothin'."
"Which means that you can't get rich all at once!" cried Miss Willis,grinning. "Well, I'm sorry you can't squeeze a fairly good sum out ofour nice, generous employers."
Faith went back to her counter, feeling sad at heart. She was beginningto question the wisdom of her mercy toward Miss Willis.
"I don't believe that anything would ever change her heart," shewhispered to herself, and then a great wave of shame swept over her asshe felt that she had questioned the power of the Almighty.
She stepped behind the counter just in time to see Miss Fairbankschanging the prices on a lot of special ribbons, but before she couldask any questions Miss Jones came up to her.
"There's a milliner in this block who is selling those same ribbons forfifty cents a yard," she said, "and of course, Denton, Day & Co. are notgoing to stand that; they are going to undercut her in everything untilthey break up her business. You see, if we sell them for thirty-ninecents, she'll have to come down, which will mean that she'll lose awhole lot of money."
"But won't Denton, Day & Co. be losing money, too?" asked Faith. She wasa little too green to quite see the logic of this action.
"Not a cent," was the somewhat surprising answer. "You see, they buy insuch large quantities that they get it cheaper than she does; but evenif they didn't, they could still make it up on some other goods, whileshe, poor soul, has no way of squaring her losses."
Faith's eyes opened wide as she listened to this explanation.
"That is exactly what they did with my father," she said slowly. "Theyundercut his prices so that he could not sell his books, then when hisbills came due he could not pay them. Oh, the thing is perfectlyhorrible, Miss Jones! That poor, poor milliner! Oh, how I pity her!"
Miss Jones had listened with considerable surprise. It was the first shehad heard of Faith's personal grievance against the company.
Things moved along quietly after that, and Faith was kept very busy, butthrough the whole afternoon she was thinking of that ribbon. Every timea roll of it was sold a weight seemed added to her burdens. When she wasobliged to sell it herself she felt that she was personally perpetratinga wrong on the milliner.
It was a terrible day, taken altogether, for so much misery and anxietywere crowded into it that she felt ten years older when the gong soundedfor closing.
"Can you tell me what hospital Mr. Watkins was taken to, dear?" sheasked of one of the little cash girls whom she had heard talking in themorning.
"Don't know," said the child. "I didn't hear. But he's pretty near dead,I guess, and his brother is a thief. He--"
"Hush, child!" cried Faith, quickly. "Don't talk about that, please! Itcan't do any good, and--and perhaps some one has been mistaken! It'sbetter to say nothing! until one knows for sure. Poor Mr. Watkins! He isindeed in sore trouble!"
"Mr. Watkins is resting very comfortably, Miss Marvin," said a voicejust behind her. She turned around quickly and confronted young Denton.
"Oh, have you seen him?" asked Faith, in genuine delight.
"I just dropped in at the office; they wouldn't let me see him," wasthe answer; "but I learned that there was a chance for him--he was whatthey call 'comfortable.'"
"I am glad to hear that," said Faith, moving slowly away. They had beenstanding at the head of the stairs which led down to the cloak-room, andshe expected every minute that Maggie Brady would see them.
"Don't go just yet, Miss Marvin," urged Mr. Denton, hastily. "I've justarranged about that funeral; it is to be to-morrow evening."
"Where?" asked Faith softly.
"At the undertaker's," was the answer. "He has a private room for justsuch purposes. He will bury her the next morning."
"That will be better than I thought," said Faith, very slowly. "I willtell all the girls I know and ask them to tell the others."
"Here's the programme or whatever you choose to call it," said Mr.Denton, sneering a little. "The firm got ahead of us this time, MissMarvin."
He held out an evening paper as he spoke so that Faith could see it.
With a cry of horror the young girl read the headline. It was a regular"scare head," reaching across two full columns: "Denton, Day & Co.'sGenerosity to an Employee!" "A Poor Girl's Funeral That Will Cost theFirm a Large Sum of Money!"
"How's that for hypocrisy?" asked the young man, still sneering. "I say,Miss Marvin, how would you like to be the child of such a father?"
For the first time in her life Faith could not rebuke disrespect. Inspite of herself she could not help sympathizing with the sentiments ofthe young fellow.
"Oh, it is terrible!" she whispered in a heart-broken voice. "Poor MissJennings would rather have been buried in 'Potter's Field,' I reallybelieve, than under such conditions!"
"Well, I'm mighty disgusted," said young Denton, bitterly, "although I'msure I don't know what's got into me to care about it!"
"I guess you never knew just how you felt before," said Faith sweetly."Sometimes it takes a shock of some kind to bring us to our senses."
"Well, I'm shocked all right," said young Denton, quickly. "Why, whendad told me about that dying girl saying so distinctly that she forgavehim, it went through me like a knife! Cut me up worse, I believe, thanit did the Governor!"
"Did it really disturb your father?" asked Faith, very eagerly.
"I should say it did!" remarked Mr. Denton, soberly. "Why, the man can'teat nor sleep! I believe her spirit is haunting him!"