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Phoebe Daring
Phoebe Daring / A Story for Young Folk
CHAPTER I
HOW TOBY CLARK LOST HIS JOB
“It’s a shame!” cried Becky Daring, indignantly shaking her scraggly red locks for emphasis.
“So say we all of us,” observed her brother Don in matter-of-fact tones. “But that won’t help it, Beck.”
“Wasn’t it all Judge Ferguson’s fault?” asked little Sue, listening with round, solemn eyes.
“Why, the poor old judge couldn’t help dying, you know,” said Don, judicially. “And he hadn’t an idea his candle would flicker out so soon. Old Mr. Ferguson liked Toby Clark and I’m sure, if he’d thought his own end was so near, he’d have fixed it so his clerk wouldn’t be left out in the cold.”
“And now Toby hasn’t any job, or any money, or any friends,” remarked Sue, sighing deeply.
“Yes, he has!” declared Becky. “He has me for a friend, for one, and all the village to back me up. But friends ain’t bread-an’-butter and I guess a poor cripple out of work is as bad off as if he hadn’t a friend in the world. That’s why I say it’s a shame Judge Ferguson didn’t leave him any money. It’s worse than a common shame – it’s just a howling shame!”
“Dear me,” said Phoebe, entering the room with a smiling glance at her younger sisters and brother, “what’s wrong now? What’s a howling shame, Becky?”
“The way Judge Ferguson treated Toby Clark.”
Phoebe’s smile vanished. She went to the window and stood looking out for a moment. Then she turned and seated herself among the group.
“You’ve heard the news, then?” she asked.