MR. RIBBLE'S LUCK

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 12, 25 March 1909, Page 447

MR. RIBBLE'S LUCK

Mrs. Ribble was brushing her husband's hat in theroom which, except for an additional cupboard where the - two slept, was their whole house. Ever since he had lost his scholarship at the age of thirty-five, owing to the arrival of a head master with-ntow views and a belief in the younger men, he had been unsuccessful. He had taken to commercial, travelling. ' I wish it were any other kind of work' he bitterly. < Not because it makes me lose my self-esteem. I'm past that. But people don't seem to want fire extinguishers. And there are 'the girls.' ' They're very well,' said Mrs. Ribble, cheerfully. 'And you're getting so thin,' he said, pausing on the threshold. ' Not a bit of it,' said Mrs. Ribble, and she spoko stoutly enough. But when Augustus had vanished down the steep stairs, with his black bag in his hand, she wept a little from sheer weakness. ' It does seem hopeless,' she whispered to herself, and sat down to paint away delicately at the fans by which she made a few pence now and then to supplement Mr. ' Ribble's diminutive income. It may have been the fortitude of despair that took hold of Mr. Ribble as he tramped westward, but it certainly seemed to him that morning that he had never felt more resolute and composed. A square of handsome houses, in an old-fashioned, but elegeant, style of architecture that Mr. Ribble knew . from experience to indicate wealthy occupants, distracted his attention from his reckoning, and he eyed then} with the eye. of a business man. ■ ' -^ Some kind of luck was certainly with him, for, in spite of the bitter cold of the weather, which varied between wind and sleet, the' door was opened in less than a minute in answer to his ring of the bell. ""* ' Er — er ' — Mr. Ribble pulled himself together smartly — ' may I see the lady of the house for a moment ?' *

' Is it important?' asked the maid. 'Very,' said Mr. Ribble. it ilf U wil - 1 Btep this wa^ P^ase, I'll ask the mistress ir she will see you.' . - He employed Jiis time in unpacking the- contents of his black, bag. '■ . * 'Good morning. lam afraid that my - father is too busy to see any one. Can I—?I — ? Oh!' ' - A radiant lady, young, with a scarlet, dress that was .. the very color to keep cold away, had flashed into tho , room, suddenly encountering the row of Jubkin's infallible , fire extinguisher (in flasks) that Mr.' Ribble had Tieaped upon the floor. - - 'Oh,' shesaid, 'have you — dropped them?' " Confusion took hold of Mr. Rifcble by the throat. Ma-madam — I— they— apologise. Being anxious to— cr — dispose -' - - • _ 'What are they?' the girl asked, curiously. Fire-extinguishers/ said Mr. Ribble. 'Would it be possible to sell you any? They are useful.' 'I expect they are,' said the- girl, kindly: 'but. as you see, we have another kind already.' 'I see. I'm very sorry- for intruding. I ' ± Mr. Ribble back to the door. V Something in Mr. Ribble's broken pleadings must have given the girl a glimpse of his desperate anxiety, for she smiled again,", and said- this time : ' Well, I know that my father is always a little anxious . about his library, and if your flasks really do extinguish—' - _ 'Permit me to show you,' Mr. Rflbble held out a sample - flask in trembling hand. . 'If you would be kind enough to break it "over a fire?' . „ 'Like this?' - :'Slie had taken the flask and had bent,-, over the grate. Next- moment, and before the flask had been shattered, a tongue of flame from the log fire had leaped up unaccountably and set her dress in- a flame, V . She* started back with a little cry of - dismay, . and Ribble-, to his oAvn astonishment, heard himself saying in a calm and rather stern voice: 1 Stand still, please. It will be out in" v a minute.' ~ And he poured the contents of a flask on the dress. To his horror the flame shot up through the inflammable material of the dress more as if oil than anything else had been poiired upon it. ~ Jubkin's infallible fire extinguisher had failed, and Mr. Ribble's ieart beat on his ribs. Never had" he supposed that he was travelling for a deceiver and trying to sell a fraud. «~- And as the girl almost wrested herself from Mr. Ribble's grasp, shrieking with fear, he collected himself. Another moment, and he " had wrapped one of the rugs about her and was stifling the flame. ' Thank you.' A rather suffocating voice came out of the "rug in heartfelt gratitude. ' I hope you are_ not greatly hurt,' he stammered. ' I should never forgive "myself. I never knew ' ■-- ' You saved me,' she said, and just then the door opened, and a tall, grey-headed old man entered a vast flurry. 'Betty!' he said, and stopped in dismay. * It's all right, father,' said the girl: ' This gentleman has just saved my life, I think. I caught fire.' And Mr. Ribble found himself a hero. At the end of a half houf^ when his Trnrned hands had been bandaged, he discovered tliat Mr. Essington, owner of the magnificent library, -was gratefully wondering what in the world he could do for liim (Mr. Ribble) to show his gratitude for saving his daughter so" gallantly and with such presence of mind. ' But it was my fault,! >Mr.~ Ribble protested.- ' Nonsense ,sir; not a bit of -it. Now, tell me somo- • thing — anything I can do for you?' Mr. Ribble modesty thought that, perhaps, the old gentleman would allow him to look around the library. ' My dear sir, you may look around it" for ever,' said Mr. Essington. 'By jove!'— he paused and looked at Mr. Ribble doubtfully; it may be that his daughter had given him a hint. ' I wonder . . . I suppose you could not recommend me a librarian" by any chance?. I'm getting overflowed and am having a new library built at the back of the house. And I'm looking for a librarian. I thought of offering £250 as • a start. Of course," it would not mean the whole day.' « If— if ' » - . c You don't mean to tell me you'd take it yourself ?' said Mr. Essington, apparently delighted. 'My dear sir, I'd make it £300 if- you^would. I knew you were a scholar from "the first glance at you, 'pon my word.' ' Arid 1 so Mr. Ribble entered upon the kingdom of his heart's content. As he told. Mary, when he got back in the afternoon, it was like Dickens and a fairy tale mixed in one. .