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of the College Rector was a misfortune that might have occurred to anyone who had commenced the evening on champagne and finished it on whisky. Young Grindley, having been warned already twice before, was sent down. And then, of course, the whole history of the three wasted years came out. Old Grindley in his study chair having talked for half an hour at the top of his voice, chose, partly by reason of physical necessity, partly by reason of dormant dramatic instinct, to speak quietly and slowly. Ill give you one chance more, my boy, and one only. Ive tried you as a gentlemanperhaps that was my mistake. Now Ill try you as a grocer. As a what? As a grocer, sirg-r-o-c-e-rgrocer, a man who stands behind a counter in a white apron and his shirt- sleeves; who sells tea and sugar and candied peel and such-like things to customersold ladies, little girls; who rises at six in the morning, takes down the shutters, sweeps out the shop, cleans the windows; who has half an hour for his dinner of corned beef and bread; who puts up the shutters at ten oclock at night, tidies up the shop, has his supper, and goes to bed, feeling his day has not been wasted. I meant to spare you. I was wrong. You shall go through the mill as I went through it. If at the end of two years youve done well with your time, learned somethinglearned to be a man, at all eventsyou can come to me and thank me. Im afraid, sir, suggested Grindley junior, whose handsome face during the last few minutes had grown very white, I might not make a very satisfactory grocer. You see, sir, Ive had no experience. I am glad you have some sense, returned his father drily. You are quite right. Even a grocers business requires learning. It will cost me a little money; but it will be the last I shall ever spend upon you. For the first year you will have to be apprenticed, and I shall allow you something to live on. It shall be more than I had at your agewell say a pound a week. After that I shall expect you to keep yourself. Grindley senior rose. You need not give me your answer till the evening. You are of age. I have no control over you unless you are willing to agree. You can go my way, or you can go your own. Young Grindley, who had inherited a good deal of his fathers grit, felt very much inclined to go his own; but, hampered on the other hand by the sweetness of disposition he had inherited from his mother, was unable to withstand the argument of that ladys tears, so that evening accepted old Grindleys terms, asking only as a favour that the scene of his probation might be in some out-of-the-way neighbourhood where there would be little chance of his being met by old friends. I have thought of all that, answered his father. My object isnt to humiliate you more than is necessary for your good. The shop I have already selected, on the assumption that you would submit, is as quiet and out-of-the-way as you could wish. It is in a turning off Fetter Lane, where youll see few other people than printers and caretakers. Youll lodge with a woman, a Mrs. Postwhistle, who seems a very sensible person. Shell board you and lodge you, and every Saturday youll receive a postoffice order for six shillings, out of which youll find yourself in clothes. You can take with you sufficient to last you for the first six months, but no more. At the end of the year you can change if you like and go to another shop, or make your own arrangements with Mrs. Postwhistle. If all is settled, you go there to-morrow. You go out of this house to-morrow in any event. Mrs. Postwhistle was a large, placid lady of philosophic temperament. Hitherto the little grocers shop in Rolls Court, Fetter Lane, had been easy of management by her own unaided efforts; but the neighbourhood was rapidly changing. Other grocers shops were disappearing one by one, making way for huge blocks of buildings, where hundreds of iron presses, singing day and night, spread to the earth the song of the Mighty Pen. There were hours when the little shop could hardly accommodate its crowd of customers. Mrs. Postwhistle, of a bulk not to be moved quickly, had, after mature consideration, conquering a natural disinclination to change, decided to seek assistance. |
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