Katie felt crushed. In her heart of hearts she thought even her beloved Helen a little too lenient.
“Never mind,” she said to herself, “won’t Dolly and Mabel have a fine gossip with me presently over the breakfast Polly gave us this morning.”
Meanwhile the anxious, small housekeeper was making her way as rapidly as possible in the direction of the village.
“We haven’t a minute to lose, Maggie,” she said, as they trudged along. “Can you remember the list of things I gave you to buy at the grocery shop? It is such a pity you can’t read, Maggie, for if you could I’d have written them down for you.”
“It wasn’t the Board’s fault, nor my mother’s,” answered Maggie, glibly. “It was all on account of my brain being made to fit on the top of a sixpence. Yes, Miss, I remembers the list, and I’ll go to Watson’s and the butcher’s while you runs on to the farm for the butter and eggs.”
“You have got to get ten things,” proceeded Polly; “don’t forget, ten things at the grocer’s. You had better say the list over to me.”
“All right, Miss Polly, ten; I can tick one off on each finger: white sugar, coffee, rice, marmalade, strawberry jam, apricot jam, mustard, pickles—is they mixed or plain, Miss Polly?—raisins, currants. There, Miss, I has them all as pat as possible.”
“Well, stop a minute,” said Polly. “I’m going to unlock my box now. Hold it for me, Maggie, while I open it. Here, I’m going to take half-a-sovereign out of the grocery division. You must take this half-sovereign to Watson’s, and pay for the things. I have not an idea how much they cost, but I expect you’ll have a good lot of change to give me. After that, you are to go on to the butcher’s, and buy four pounds of beef-steak. Here is another half-sovereign that you will have to pay the butcher out of. Be sure you don’t mix the change, Maggie. Pop the butcher’s change into one pocket, and the grocer’s change into another. Now, do you know what we are going to have for dinner?”
“No, Miss, I’m sure I don’t. I expect it’ll sound big to begin with, and end small, same as the breakfast did. Why, Miss Polly, you didn’t think cold bacon good enough for the servants, and yet you set it down in the end afore your pa.”
Polly looked hard at Maggie. She suddenly began to think her not at all a nice girl.