Brenda, Her School and Her Club Read online

  VII

  VISITING MANUEL

  Two or three weeks after their adventure with Manuel passed beforeBrenda and Nora were able to visit him. They talked several times ofgoing, but something always interfered. Sometimes it was the weather,sometimes it was another engagement, more often they could not gobecause they had no one to accompany them. For it was evident that twoyoung girls could not go alone to the North End. At length one morningone of the under teachers in the school offered to go with them thatvery afternoon. She had overheard them at recess expressing their sorrowthat they could not go alone.

  "Really," pouted Brenda, "I think that mamma is very mean. We could goas well as not by ourselves, and why we should have to wait for her orsome older person to go with us I cannot see."

  "Don't call your mother mean," Miss South said laughingly in passing,and then as Brenda explained the cause of her rather undutifulexpression, she had added, "Your mother is perfectly right. It wouldnever do for you to go alone. But I have an errand down near PrinceStreet this very day. If you get Mrs. Barlow's permission I shall behappy to have you go with me." So it happened that one warm, sunny dayin early November, the girls and Miss South exchanged their Back Bay carat Scollay Square for a Hanover Street electric car. It whizzed swiftlydown a street which neither Brenda nor Nora had ever seen before, filledwith gay shops whose windows were bright with millinery or jewelry--or,I am sorry to say it--bottles of liquor, amber and red. There was moredisplay here than in the streets up town.

  "Sometimes," said Miss South, "I call this the Bowery of Boston. It isthe chief shopping street of the North End, and on Saturday nights thepoor people do most of their buying. I came here one evening with mybrother. It was really very amusing."

  They had been in the car but a few minutes when Miss South gave thesignal for the car to stop.

  "It will interest you," she said, "to see this quaint old street. It hasan old-time name, too--'Salem Street.'"

  Brenda and Nora glanced around them in surprise. It was a narrow street,winding along almost in a curve. Though most of the houses were brick, anumber were of wood. Some of them had gable-roofs, and nearly all ofthem looked old. Shops occupied the lower part of most of these houses,and many of them were pawn-shops. As they entered the street it seemedas if they could hardly pass through. Hooks and poles laden with oldclothes projected from many of these shops, and the sidewalks themselvesheld numerous loungers and children. Nora looked interested, Brenda, atrifle disgusted, as they saw a woman chattering with a hand-cart manwho sold fish.

  "Ugh, I wouldn't want to eat it," said the latter.

  "Oh, it's probably perfectly good fish," responded Miss South with asmile. "Only it does not look quite as inviting as it would if shown ona marble slab in an up-town fish market."

  "Are these people _dreadfully_ poor?" asked Nora.

  "No," replied Miss South. "This is the Jewish section, and most of themen here make a pretty good living. They are peddlers, and go out intothe country selling tins or fruit, or they have little shops."

  "But these children look so poor!"

  "If you will notice more carefully you will see that their clothes aredingy rather than poor. Nearly all wear good shoes, and there are notmany rags. Many of these Russian and Polish Jews when they first come toBoston have very little money, and are supported by their friends. Butthey soon find a chance to earn their living, and a man coming herewithout a cent, in five years sometimes owns a house. I speak of this,girls, because I have known people to think that dirt and dinginess meangreat poverty."

  Nora and Brenda made many exclamations of surprise as they looked downsome of the narrow lanes leading from Salem Street.

  "It's just like pictures of Europe, isn't it?" cried Nora; "and thenthese people--and the queer signs--Oh! really I think it's _too_interesting for anything."

  The signboards of which Nora spoke certainly did look strange.

  Some of them had Russian names, others were in odd Hebrew characters.Those which were English were peculiarly worded. The owner of a tinyshop with one little window described himself as a "Wholesale and retaildealer in dry goods," a corner groceryman called himself an "importer."The English spelling was not always correct, and the names of theshop-people were long and odd.

  Miss South's errand took her to a large building occupied as anindustrial school. On their way upstairs they saw some boys at work at aprinting press, and Miss South told the girls a little about the boys'and girls' clubs, which met in this building certain evenings in theweek. Miss South wished to speak to the kindergarten teacher whoseschool was on the top floor. Most of the little children had gone homefor the day, and only a few remained whose mothers were out working andhad no one with whom to leave the children. Nora and Brenda exclaimedwith delight at sight of five or six little boys and girls seated insmall chairs around a low table. Nearly all had dark hair and eyes,although there was one little blonde girl with long, light curls. Theylooked at the visitors with small wonder, for they were used to seeingstrangers. Nora at once began to play with the light-haired girl, butBrenda, after a glance or two, preferred to look out of the window.Unlike Nora, she was not very fond of children. They did not remain longin the building, and were soon in the street again.

  "Just one block below," said Miss South, "is Prince Street, but beforewe go there let us look at Christ Church. Do you realize that you areunder the very shadow of the spire where Paul Revere hung his lantern?"

  The girls fairly jumped with surprise.

  "Of course I knew it was somewhere down here, but I hadn't an idea itwas so near," said Brenda, while Nora began to recite,

  "Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere."

  They had turned the corner again into Salem Street, and following MissSouth, had crossed the street. There before them loomed the gray frontof the old church with its tall spire on which they could read theinscription:

  "The signal lanterns of Paul Revere displayed in the steeple of thischurch April 18, 1775, warned the country of the march of the Britishtroops to Concord and Lexington."

  "This is the oldest church building in the city," said Miss South, "andsome Sunday you would find it worth while to come down here to aservice, for the interior has been restored to look just as it did inits earliest days."

  "Oh, how Julia would enjoy that!" exclaimed Nora. "You know that shejust loves old things."

  "Yes," continued Miss South, "you must take her, too, to see Copp's HillBurying Ground, up this street. We haven't time to go to-day, but if youdo not make other arrangements I shall be very glad to come with yousome Sunday."

  "You're awfully good, Miss South," said Brenda. "I don't care so muchfor old things myself, but still I'd like to come again."

  "I know, Brenda, you like new things--Manuel for instance. Well, youshall see him in less than five minutes--that is, if he is at home."

  They had reached the corner of Prince Street. Like Salem Street thistoo, was narrow with quaint old houses. One wooden house which looked asif it might fall down at any minute bore a placard which warnedpassers-by of possible danger. The placard stated that it had been builtin 1723.

  "In the time of George II.,--just think of it!" exclaimed Brenda, whowhen she wished, could remember dates.

  "Rear of No. 11," said Miss South, and they turned down a short alley.They had not to ask the way, however, for there, in front of the secondhouse, stood Manuel himself. He looked at them at first withoutrecognizing them, but when Nora called his name, he took his finger fromhis mouth, and in a moment began to smile very broadly. But instead ofrunning to the girls he turned toward the house.

  "Come, come," he said, and almost at the same moment Mrs. Rosa appearedat the door. She looked very pale and thin and she had an old blackshawl drawn over her head. Nora and Brenda now found that they had losttheir tongues. They really did not know what to say, and they were veryglad that Miss South had come with them. The alley, too, was so dirty,so different from any pl
ace they had ever seen, that they willinglyfollowed Mrs. Rosa into the house when she asked them to do so.

  Mrs. Rosa talked very poor English, but Miss South was able to gatherfrom what she said that she had been ill for two or three weeks. She hadnot been able to go to her fruit stand. Her eldest daughter had beenattending to it for her, a girl twelve years old.

  "But why isn't Manuel at school?" asked Miss South.

  "Him home for company," smiled Mrs. Rosa, showing both rows of whiteteeth.

  Miss South shook her head. "He ought to go every day to thekindergarten."

  "His shoes so bad," apologized Mrs. Rosa, and as they all looked at thelittle boy they saw a red toe peeping out from one shoe. Nora nudgedBrenda--Brenda smiled assent. The nudge and the smile meant that inManuel they were surely going to have a field for their charitableefforts.

  The little room in which they sat looked very poor and bare. It had nocarpet, and the table and the two or three chairs were of unpaintedwood. The most important piece of furniture was the large cook-stove. Onthe mantelpiece were various dishes, several of which were broken, andthere were the remains of a meal on the table. Altogether the room didnot look very neat. Although it was not a cold day there was a largefire burning in the stove where something rather savory was boiling in apot.

  While Miss South was talking the two girls realized that they had comerather aimlessly to Mrs. Rosa's. They managed to ask her if Manuel hadrun away again, and she smiled as she answered, "Every day," and shookher head at the little boy.

  "Well, he must be careful not to run under the horses' feet," said Nora.

  "He won't find some one ready to pull him back every day," chimed inBrenda, while Manuel and his mother both smiled, though I am sure thatthe little boy hardly understood a word of what was said.

  "Oh, them 'lectrics," said Mrs. Rosa, "they're awful bad. I whip Manuelall the time so he won't run in front of them 'lectrics."

  "Aren't you afraid whipping will make him run away more often?" askedMiss South. But Mrs. Rosa looked as if she did not quite understand themeaning of this question, and after a few more inquiries about the otherchildren who were still in school, Miss South said it was time to returnhome. Before going, Nora gave Manuel a picture-book, and Brenda gave hima top which they had bought for him.

  "Come again," called Mrs. Rosa, waving an end of her shawl at them, and"Come again" shouted Manuel as they turned from the narrow alley intothe broader street.

  "Isn't it perfectly dreadful," exclaimed Nora, "for people to be sopoor."

  Miss South was silent for a moment. Then she responded, "There aredifferent kinds of poverty. Mrs. Rosa seems very poor to you, and it istrue that she has not much money, but if you were to ask her I dare saythat she would tell you that she is better off than when she lived inthe Azores," and then, as she saw that the girls were interested, MissSouth continued, "in Boston she can send her children to good schools,knowing that when they are old enough, they will find a way to earn aliving. When she herself is out of work, or ill, she is not likely tosuffer, for there are many people and institutions in Boston looking outfor the poor."

  "But they look so awfully poor now," said Brenda. Miss South smiled. "Iwould not try to make you less sympathetic, Brenda, but you mustremember that a plain uncarpeted room when properly warmed is not souncomfortable as it looks. The worst thing about Mrs. Rosa's way ofliving is the fact that she and her children are crowded into two smallrooms. At night they bring a mattress from the little bedroom and spreadon the kitchen floor. Three of the children sleep there, while Mrs. Rosaand the others sleep in the bedroom."

  "How can they possibly live that way!" said Nora, who, as a doctor'sdaughter, had pretty definite ideas on the subject of ventilation andhygiene.

  "It is indeed a very bad way of doing," said Miss South. "The best wayto help Mrs. Rosa would be to persuade her to take her family to somecountry town where they could have plenty of light and air."