What’s come over them all, said Mrs Bourke. I don’t know …
And Fanny said: Correll has been putting the hard word on me now, and Annie said: Bert make a grab at me in the store room, and Elly said: Gawd the things they say.
What’s come over them all, said Mrs Bourke. I don’t know …
And Bert said: Leave it out near the bench where I can pick it up without them noticing me. I’ll leave a pair of shoes out for you, and Correll said: It’s the bloody system; a man’s justified in taking these, and Ron Hughes said: We can make up a dozen pairs at home if we get a bit from each room, and Shorty said: I’ve never done this before …
What’s come over them all, said Mrs Bourke. I don’t know …
And Clarkson said: That’s thirty bob I’ve dropped this week, only one winner under system A, and Clynes said: A big win would put me right, and Martin said: I’ll give it another fly this week and then give it up, and the accountant said: I’ve a good mind to try a couple of bob myself …
What’s come over them all, said Mrs Bourke. I don’t know …
‘Hullo! Four and eightpence!’ exclaimed the carrier, looking at the coins in his hand.
Miss Trueman laughed. ‘Sorry.’ She got another shilling.
‘She makes a bit like that,’ grinned the accountant.
‘Well, if she does, she doesn’t look like it,’ said the carrier.
He looked at the docket. ‘What about this discount? I don’t know if they’ll allow it. They’re the toughest crowd I’ve ever worked for. They dock you if you are five minutes late. And we never get overtime. That’s why they are such a wealthy firm. I don’t know about this discount.’
‘Try them, anyway,’ said the accountant. ‘I’ll pay the extra if they kick.’
‘Good-o,’ said the carrier. He wrapped the coins in the docket and put them in his pocket.
‘How are you two going to get on?’ he asked. ‘Are you placed or anything after you go out here?’
‘You can’t keep us down,’ said Miss Trueman.
‘No. I’ll bet you won’t. I will miss you two. I’m sorry you’re going.’
‘We’ll miss you, too,’ said Miss Trueman.
‘We will that,’ said the accountant.
‘It’s a cow,’ said the carrier.
‘That’s praising it up,’ said the accountant.
‘Some firms make money and some don’t,’ said the carrier, opening the door. ‘Anyway, good luck to you both.’
‘Thanks,’ they replied.
‘The carriers are different to the travellers, aren’t they?’ said Miss Trueman as the door closed.
‘Why?’
‘The travellers treat us very coolly now. Even the ones we thought liked us. But the carriers haven’t let it make any difference.’
‘They have nothing to fear by us going out,’ said the accountant. ‘But the travellers are responsible, in many cases, for letting us get so deeply into their firm’s debt. They look on us as criminals. We really are. Accessories before and after the fact. We’re guilty both ways. How do you think your conscience will stand it?’ He smiled at her.
‘Mine’s all right. How’s yours?’
‘Rather shaky.’
She smiled and said, ‘Probably it is not altogether due to the sins of the firm.’
‘I’m afraid it’s not,’ he said glumly. ‘I’ll most likely be punished by being months out of work. Are you aware that tomorrow will probably be our last day here?’
‘No! Not so soon!’ She was surprised. ‘I thought we would be kept on for a week or so to clear up the books.’
‘I thought so, too, but the auditor tells me that, in the event of us going into liquidation tomorrow, he will have all the books transferred to his office — that is if he is appointed liquidator. We will both be needed in there for a few weeks, but it won’t be the same somehow. I have become fond of this office. And I have enjoyed working with you, too,’ he added sincerely.
‘We have been great friends, haven’t we?’ She made a warm, snuggling movement in her chair and smiled at him.
‘We have that. I think it will be horrible having to work together in an auditor’s office after this.’
‘It won’t be for long.’
‘Long enough.’
‘Will any of the factory hands be kept on?’
‘Different ones have been leaving every day over the last week. There are not many left. All the orders on hand have been completed. I suppose Clynes and Correll and a few others will be kept on for a week or two cleaning up and preparing for the auction sale. The others will go off tomorrow night when the liquidator takes over control. They generally place some man in charge and he acts for them, Immediately the necessary papers are signed the liquidator takes over. We will start packing the books then, and they will be taken into his office. I think we will start today. There is a lot of stuff to be burnt.’
‘Wait till I look through the mail?’ The accountant rested in his chair and gazed sadly at his table. The chewed penholder, the red pencil, the rubber with a hole through it, the ink-stains on the wood …
Miss Trueman handed him a letter. He took it in his hands and read it slowly:
Bailiff and Private Enquiry Agent
Elizabeth Street,
Melbourne
Oct. 6th, 1935.
Mr McCormack.
Dear Sir,
Re Warrant of Restraint on A. Bentley.
I beg to inform you I have seized the following goods and chatties at Richmond:
1 oak office with desk fitted in shop.
10 oak chairs.
4 large oak forms.
Carpet Runners.
Approx. 250 pairs of Men’s Women’s and
Children’s shoes and all fittings on the
premises.I will advise you later when the time expires.
Yours truly,
T. M. Card well.