“Come to see your brother, perhaps,” suggested Jean Roland.
“Ah, be a sister to me,” sighed the fat boy, “please be a sister to me, Mildred.” 115
Judith faltered not a moment, but marched straight up the steps. The young men all jumped from their seats and Jeff came forward with outstretched hand, but the girl pretended not to see the gesture. With a businesslike “Good-morning,” she proceeded to open up her sample case and begin her salesman’s patter: “I have here—” She was determined that the call should be purely a commercial one and that the Bucknors could none of them think for a moment that she sought or even desired any social dealings with them.
“Perhaps you had better take your wares to the back door. The servants may want to buy some,” suggested Mildred, with more insolence than her family dreamed she was capable of showing.
“Thank you. A little later on I shall take advantage of your kind suggestion. I have a line of wares especially put up for back doors. These things I have been telling you about are intended for front doors. Unlike most of the companies who have similar goods on the market, this one allows the agent to deliver the article the moment the sale is made,” Judith continued in her salesman’s manner. “I have a complete stock of goods in my car and while I sell by sample you do not have to wait for days 116 and weeks to enjoy the really excellent bargains I am enabled to offer you. This now is a cleansing cream. No matter how clean you may think your face is, you will find after applying this you are vastly mistaken. Yes, disconcerting for the moment but comforting when you realize how much cleaner you are to be than your neighbor.”
The young people had gathered around her and even Miss Ann Peyton and Mrs. Bucknor put down their work and came to see what Judith had to sell.
“Will any one of you young ladies let me prove the value of this cream by applying it to the countenance?”
“Anoint me,” suggested the fat boy.
“Oh, no, this is intended solely for ladies. I have a masculine brand to which I am coming later. I will give a sample jar to any one who will let me demonstrate on her.”
Judith’s manner was businesslike and impersonal, but her color was heightened by excitement that she was determined not to show.