CHAPTER VIII
FISH HOOKS AND FLOATERS
"Mother! Are you awake?"
"Yes, dear."
"There's someone knocking--"
"I'm getting up."
The knocking continued.
"Hey there, Nan!" called out Ted. "Get up and answer that noise. Seewhat your old sale did! Wake us all up--"
"Ted, hush! Be quiet, Mother's going down--"
"You ought to go. It's your bargain day."
As usual Ted was charging Nancy with delinquency. He wasn't reallyquarreling, but just talking, as Nancy defined it. Mrs. Brandon had beendressing when the early knock first sounded, so that she was able to getdown stairs almost directly afterward.
A dread, a sort of feeling that something might happen in regard to thatexpensive outlay of goods left by the travelling salesman, seized Nancy.She crept to the top of the stairs to listen, but all she could hear wasa man's voice; his words were lost behind the closed doors.
She ventured down to the second landing. Her mother was chattingpleasantly with whoever the early visitor might be, and at the soundNancy's spirits rose.
"He's no collector," she decided, turning quickly back to her room andstarting at once to dress. She must be ready early. All signs pointed toan early patronage, and although Ted had declared he would be up atdaybreak, it was all right, Nancy concluded, for him to sleep untilseven o'clock.
Her mother was calling in a subdued voice.
"Nancy, I'll get breakfast now, as I hear you stirring," she said. "Iwant to leave things ready for your lunch today, so I came down early."
"All right, Mother," Nancy replied over the balustrade. "I'll be downsoon. Who called?"
"Is Ted awake?" Mrs. Brandon was still restraining her voice.
"He was, but he isn't," half whispered Nancy. "Wait, I'll run down andhelp, then come up and dress later--"
Curiosity was too much for Nancy's patience, so she merely tucked herhair tidily into a cap, and in slippers and robe joined her mother whowas preparing breakfast.
"Who was it?" she asked breathlessly.
"Why, your famous Mr. Sanders," replied Mrs. Brandon, indifferently. "Hewanted a little model of some sort, a windmill, it looked like. Ihappened to spy it--"
"The funny little windmill!" Nancy exclaimed. "Why, we were wonderingwhat that was. Did he say it was a model?"
"Not exactly, but I judged it was. At any rate, dear, you mustn't alwaysbe looking for mystery in Mr. Sanders' doings. I would call him a verypleasant gentleman. Here, dear, stir this cereal. I want you and Ted tomake sure you get enough proper food."
Nancy stirred the meal, which was receiving a preliminary start beforebeing put over the hot water in the double-cooker.
"But you see, Mum," she remarked very quietly, "he is queer. Whatevercould he want a thing like that for? And why did he come for it soearly?" Nancy asked.
"He wanted it because it has something to do with his line, is the wayhe expressed it, and he came early because he has been away and justheard of your sale. If he waited later, he explained, the littlewindmill might have been swept away in the tumult," Mrs. Brandonreplied. This seemed to satisfy Nancy's inquiries, but secretly Mrs.Brandon herself was just a little puzzled about Mr. Sanders. Forinstance, it had been very clear to her that he just laughed off, ratherthan explained, the purpose of the possible model. Something "in hisline," which he had forgotten to take away when the Townsends moved,seemed vague, to say the least.
Nancy was now eating her breakfast with her mother. She confessed tohaving waked more than once during the night, in anticipation of the bigday.
"And I'm going to send you a little surprise treat for lunch," hermother confided. "I want you and the girls to enjoy yourselves in spiteof your self-imposed business tasks, so I'm sending out some--icecream!"
"Oh, Mumsey--love!" exclaimed Nancy, jumping up and in giving her mothera bear hug almost spilling the last spoonful of grape fruit. "Aren't youtoo ducky! We'll have a regular party, and I'll ask--How many have youordered for?" she demanded abruptly.
"Two quart bricks. That's counted twelve servings," replied her mother."Of course, one brick is for Ted, and you must help him a little."
"Of course, Mumsey-love," promised Nancy. "We'll get every body out andclose up shop from one until two, and have a regular party!"
From that time until Nancy was almost, but not quite, ready "for thefray," as she expressed it, she kept herself in a flutter of excitement.Her mother went into town as usual on the seven forty-five trolley, andeven then there was a waiting list at the front door of the shop,children peering in the two broad windows which looked out onto theold-fashioned long porch.
"Come on, Ted, hurry-up," begged Nancy as her brother tarried over hisbreakfast. "The girls won't be here until eight, and you've got to gooutside and try to keep those boys quiet. They'll be coming through thewindow if you don't."
"Oh, that's Buster, making all that racket," declared Ted, gettinganother look at the paper which he was not supposed to read at thetable. "I'll go out and talk to them, in a minute," he promisedlaconically.
"Please do, then," begged his sister. "You take it as easy as if wedidn't have a big responsibility."
"What responsibility?" he asked, actually deciding to move his plumplittle self from the table. "I can't see what you're all so excitedabout."
"Of course you can't. But I'll tell you. Everybody, for miles and miles,knows about this sale, and we've got to get busy." Nancy was peeringanxiously out of the side window. "I do hope," she said again, "that thegirls will get here soon."
"Is that Very-scary girl coming?" asked Ted. He was trying to set hisblouse straight around his sun-burned neck.
"You mean Vera. She's gone away for a while--"
"I hope she stays away," snapped Ted. "I can't seem to like her--"
"I'm sure that's too bad," mocked Nancy. "She would feel dreadfully badto hear that."
"Oh, don't be funny. Listen! They're hammering on the door. You hadbetter open it or they'll break the glass," cautioned the boy.
"Dear me, Ted," exclaimed the excited Nancy, "I can't go; perhaps youhad better open it. Why didn't you fix up a little," she argued, lookingcritically at the usual vacation boy. "You might at least have put on awhite blouse."
"To sell fish hooks?" roared Ted. "That's a grand idea. Why, Nan, thefellows would think I was giving a party--"
The noise at the front of the store was now becoming so insistent thatboth brother and sister found it imperative to respond.
"Come on," said Nancy, sighing rather miserably. "We may as well faceit. But don't let them back of the rope. We can't wait on more than afew at a time."
At that Nancy and Ted entered the store.
"Look--at--them!" gasped Ted.
Faces were pressed against the windows, the door, against every inch ofoutside space that could command a view of inside the store, and theylooked so funny, the flat noses, the white spots on cheeks, the openedmouths, humping against the glass!
"Hello! Hello!" shouted Ted as Nancy fumbled with the door lock. "Whatdo you think this is? A circus?"
Then, as Nancy opened the door, there was the unavoidable falling in!
"Please!" she begged. But the boys seemed actually massed as for somegame.
"Hey there!" urged Ted. "Whoever doesn't behave can't get waited ona-tall!"
But his words had no effect upon the eager urchins.
"I want that rod over there!" shouted Rory Jennings. He was tall, bigand noisy.
"That's mine--that beaut in the window," insisted another. Ted calledhim Shedder, or something that sounded like that.
"Hey, please, missus please," begged a lad so freckled Nancy couldn'tsee anything else but freckles. "Please missus," he entreated, "couldn'tyou just hand me over that crab net? That's all I want."
"Hey there! Stop crowdin'," ordered a boy who was using all his strengthto make matters worse. "She can't wa
it on us if you don't give her achanst."
There were easily twenty-five or thirty youngsters in the crowd, andNancy felt quite helpless to supply all their wants at once. The factthat goods were offered at the very lowest figure possible, that atwenty-five cent ball of fish line was marked ten cents, of course,accounted for the rush. Many boys could get hold of a dime, but aquarter was not so easy to pick up, it seemed.
Then, too, the advertising, one boy telling the other, had done much tomake the sale known; hence the early morning rush.
"Now don't muss everything up!" ordered Ted, for a group of boys hadlaid hold of the fish-hook box, and it was impossible for Nancy to getit back.
"You must not take things away from the counter," she protested, for atthat moment the box of sinkers was being carted off to the door, by JudMorgan and Than Beach. They said they only wanted to pick out a couplewhere there was more room, but it was plainly a risky way to make theirselection.
"Dear me!" sighed Nancy to Ted. "Please look out and see if the girlsare coming. These boys will have everything upset--"
But the girls were coming, in fact they were just then elbowing theirway in from the front door.
"Hello--hello--hello!" called out Ruth joyfully. "Isn't this grand!Going to buy us out first thing--"
"Oh, land sakes!" wailed Nancy. "I've been in here fifteen minutes and Ihaven't sold a stick. We should have charged admission."
Isabel looked on rather importantly. Evidently she knew or thought sheknew how to handle a crowd of boys.
"You've got to get in line!" she announced.
A laugh, a whole series of laughs was her answer.
"Do you hear me?" she insisted, raising her voice to suit the occasion.
"Sure, we hear you. Want us to clap?" answered impudent Sammy Larkins.
"Now see here," Ruth attempted to order. "If you boys really want to buyanything you have got to stand back and take turns--"
No sooner had that order been given than everybody made a dash for thefirst place in line, and the tumult that followed all but drove Nancyunder the counter.
"Say, look here! Want us to put you all out?" demanded Ted, in unassumedindignation.
"Try it!" tempted Buster, pretending to roll up sleeves he didn't have.
"But don't you want to see the things?" cried out Ruth in desperation,for those boys were tumbling around the floor and actually fighting, atleast they made that kind of noise, it seemed to the girls.
"Su-ure!" came a chorus.
Then Nancy had an inspiration. She got up on the high stool that stoodby what used to be Miss Townsend's desk and she immediately commandedattention.
"I'll tell you," she began, "if you all sit down on the floor just whereyou are, the window sills or any place, I'll tell you about some of themost interesting things we've got here. They are not for sale, but theybelonged to a sea captain--"
The magic word had the desired effect. At the word "sea captain" thatcrowd of boys, dropped "in their traces," and it was then Nancy's dutyto unfold to them some wondrous tale.
For boys like a story--when it's about a sea captain even if they areout to buy bargain fishing tackle.