ANNETTE'S INVESTIGATION

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 18, 2 May 1907, Page 7

ANNETTE'S INVESTIGATION

It was just an American village such as. you see-in-pictures. • A background of superb bold mountain, all. . clothed in , blue-green cedars, with a torrent thundering down a 'deep gorge and falling in billows of foam ; a river reflecting the azure' of the sky, and a knot of houses* with a churoh spiie at one end "cind a thicket of factory chimneys at the other, whose black: smoke ' wrote everohanging hieroglyphics against the brilliancy of the sky. This was Dapplevale. And in the rosy sunset of this blosspmy June day, the girls, were all pouring 1 out of the : broad doorway, while Gerald Blake, the foreman, sat behind the desk, a pen behind his ear and his small, 'beady-black eyes drawn back, as it -were, in the shelter of a precipice of shaggy eyebrows. One by one the girls stopped and received their \/ay for one week's wort, for this was Saturday night; , One by one they filed out, with fretf 1, discontented faces, until the last oni passed in front" Si the high-railed desk. , > She was slight and ta'l, with laKge-vel\ r ety-blue eyes, : a complexion as delicately grained and transparent as rose-colored wax, arod an abundance of glossy hair of so dark a brown that the casual observer would have pronounced it ( black ; and there" was something in the way the ' ribbon at her throat was tied and the manner in • which the simple- details of her dress were arranged that 'bespoke her of foreign birth. \ 'Well, Mile. Annette,' said- Mr. Blake, 'and how do. you like factory life ?' • It is not ' she .answered, a .slight - accent clinging to her tones, like fragrance to a flower, as she extended her hand for the money the foreman was counting out. " ~ 'You have eiven me but four dollars,' she said. 'It was to he eight dollars by tne contract.' * Humph!' he grunted; 'you ain't much accus--. tomed to our wav of doing things, are you mademois- . elle ? Eight— of course ; but we deduct two for a fee—'

' A fee ! For what ?' Annette demanded/ with flushed cheeks anl sparkling eyes-. %t% t ' For getting you the situation, mademoiselle, to .be sure,' said Mr. Blake, in ■- a, superior sort of way. ' Such places don't grow every bush. And folks naturally expect to pay something" for "the privilege.' • ' I did not ! ' flashed out, Annette Duvelle. ' Oh— well— all right;, .Because you know, you a,n't obliged to stay unless you choose.-' ?£ - 'Do you mean,' hesitated Annette, ' that if laon't pay you this money—' » . 4 You can't expect to stay in- the works,' said' Mr. Blake, hatching up has collar. ' But the other two dollars ?' ' Oh,' said Mr. Blake, 1 ' that's a percentage the girls all pay.' . ' But what is it for V / Mr. Blake laughed. , ' Well, it helps <6ut my salary. Of course, you know, the girl's all expect to ' p J ay something every week for keeping their situations in- a place w/here there's so. many anxious to get in.' 'And Mr. Elderslie?' - - - 'Oh, Mr. 'Elderslie,' repeated. Blake?. ' Tie hasn't much to do with it. I am master of the Dapplevale Calico Works. 1 ,".. - ,„ - - ' Mr-. Elderslie owns it, I lielieye,?^ - . ... v "' Well, yes, he owns it. -But .£l- rodfoage everything., Mr. Elderslie reposes the utmost confidence in my capacity, ability, ■ and— and responsibility. Mr. Elderslie is a good business- man: - : And nojy,if you've: any more questions to ask—' ' I have none,' said Annette" quietly. ■• ' But— l want this money myself. I work bard for it.. I* earn it righteousily. How. can I. and how can the others among these poor "laboring girls afford, to- "pay it to your greed"? ' .... 4Eh ? ' ejaculated Mr. jumping Jrom his seat as if some insert >had stung him, '"I will not pay it,' calmly concluded Mile " Annette. ' Very well— very well. Just as you like, mademoiselle,' cried the foreman,, turning red in the face. 'Only _ if you won't conform "to; th-e rules of the Dapplevale works—' ' -' Are these the rules ? ' scornfully demanded Annette. 4 Pray consider your ' "name" crossed off the books,' went on Mr. Blake. ' You are no longer in my em>ploy. Good evening, Mademoiselle W>hatever-yo r d-imay-call-yourself.' • ■ ' And Mr. Blake slammed dow.n the- cover of his desk as if it were a patent guillotine and .poor Annette Duvelle' s neck were under it. ' " ' You've lost your . place, -ma'amselle,' whispered Jenny Pu~ton, a pale, dark-eyed little thing who supported a .crippkd mother and V.vo little sisters out 'of her mulcted earnings. ':t;: t ; ' And 'he'll never let you in- again, '" added Mary Rice. 4lt matters^ not,' .said Annette;. 44 He is a rogue, and rogues' sometimes out-'geueraji /themselves.' Tihe petals »of the June roses had fallen, a pink carpet all ajfong. 'the' edge of the woods, an)d' > the Dapplevale works wore , their holiday guise, even, down to Simon Pettengill's newly" brightened engine, for Mr. Elderslie and his bride .were to visit the works" on their wedding tour. ' • " , ' ' Mr. Gerald Blake, in his best..broaJ:lcloth suit, >and: - moustache newly dyed, stooHT'smiUngTh the broad doorway as the carriage drove up, to ,t'be entrance, '^and Mi-. Elderslie, a handsome, blonde-baired man, sprang out and assisted a young lady in a 'dove-colored travelling suit t<o alight. ' Bliake, how arejyo'u ? ' 'he said, wi-iih the carelessness! of conscious superiority. ' Annette,^iny love, this is Blfl l^, my fomiian.' ~ ' Mademoiselle Annette ' ' ' Ard Mr. Gfrald Bla-e. found himself cringinec before *'h^ slfpht French girl ■whom he had turned from the factory door ~a month before. .4. 4 I must bes to :ook at the boolcs, Blake t ' said EldersXe authoritatively. 4My wife tells me some strangle, stories about the way things are managed- here. It. beotynrne so_- notorious that the rumors reached her even at Blythesdale Springs, and she chose to come and -see" for .herself. Annette, my darling, the best wedding gift we— can make to these poor working .-eirls is a new foreman. Blake, you' may consider yourself dismissed.' But, sir— ' 4 Not aniother ward, ' ckd Mr. EMerslia, with a lowering brow. - Elderslie turned to his wife. 1 You were right, my love,' said he.. * The man's face is svljncierit evidence against him.' And a new reign began for poor Jenny Purton and the working girls;- as well as for Simon -Pettensi'll. Annette never regretted her week's apprenticeship at» the Dapplevale Calico "Works.— Exchange.