"But I can't," said Fanny, almost in tears now. "My mistress makes me pay for all I break, and will have me wear—"
"I have nothing to do with your mistress and what she does," interrupted the man. "You have bought a watch, and you must pay for it, and our collector will call in the course of the week; or, if it will be more convenient, I will tell him to postpone calling until next week, but it must not go beyond that time," he added.
"I can't pay it," said Fanny, with a gasp, picking up her watch as she spoke, and fairly bursting into tears as she went out of the shop.
As she expected, she met her friend Miriam outside, and one glance at Fanny's tearful face was enough to tell her that her errand had failed. But she was not to be daunted.
"I'll give him a piece of my mind if he doesn't take my watch back," she exclaimed. "Wait for me, Fanny," she added, and she walked into the shop.
"This watch isn't a good one," she said, laying it down on the counter as Fanny had done.
"Why, what's the matter with it?" asked the man. "It keeps good time, don't it?"
"No, it doesn't; and it isn't worth the money you ask for it," added Miriam, boldly.
"But you saw it before you signed the agreement to pay the price we asked?" said the man. "We instruct our agents to let every lady examine the watches before she is asked to buy."
He spoke quite calmly, while his very coolness seemed to make Miriam more angry.