human
Is your mother at home, little boy?
gpt
No, ma'am, said he.
human
Amy has gone to drive.
gpt
I wanted to see your mother,
human
Amy is my mother,
gpt
Oh!
human
They have all gone,
gpt
Then I shall have to call another time,
human
Say, he said,
gpt
Yes, I be,
human
Then, said Eddy,
gpt
I can tell you one thing, there isn't any use for you to go to my house now to get any money. I suppose you haven't been paid.
human
No, I haven't, said Madame Griggs. Then she loosened the flood-gates of her grievance upon the boy.
gpt
No, I haven't been paid, said she,
human
The woman was flouncing along the street beside the boy, and she spoke in a loud, shrill voice.
gpt
It's a cruel thing, she repeated.
human
If I couldn't pay for my wedding fix I'd never get married, before I'd go and cheat a poor dress-maker. She'd ought to be ashamed of herself, and so had all your folks. I don't care if I do say it. They are nuthin' but a pack of swindlers, that's what they be.
gpt
They ain't!
human
They be.
gpt
They ain't! You can't pay folks if you 'ain't got any money.
human
You needn't have the things, then,
gpt
My sister had to have the things to get married, didn't she? A girl can't get married without the clothes.
human
Let her pay for 'em, then.
gpt
I'll tell you what to do! cried Eddy, looking at her with a sudden inspiration.
human
You are in debt, ain't you?
gpt
Yes, I be, replied Madame Griggs, hopping nervously along by the boy's side, poor little dressmaker, aping French gentility, holding her skirts high, with a disclosure of a papery silk petticoat and a meagre ankle. Even in her distress she felt of her frizzes to see if they were in order after a breeze had struck her in the sharp, eager face.
human
Yes, I be.
gpt
Well, said the boy, delightedly,
human
I can tell you just what to do, you know.
gpt
What, I'd like to know?
human
Move away from Banbridge,
gpt
What for, I'd like to know?
human
Why, then, don't you see, explained Eddy Carroll,
gpt
Well, I never! said Madame Griggs. Then she turned on him with sudden fury.
human
So that's what your folks are goin' to do, be they? said she.
gpt
Go off and leave me without payin' my bill! That's the dodge, is it?
human
I 'ain't heard them say a word about moving away from Banbridge, declared he.
gpt
What you getting so mad about, Missis?
human
I guess I've got some reason to be mad, if that's your folks' game. The way I've worked, slavin' all them hot days and nights on your sister's wedding fix. I guess--
gpt
We ain't going to move away from Banbridge as long as we live, for all I know, said Eddy, looking at the bundle of feminine nerves beside him with a mixture of terror and scorn.
human
You don't need to holler so, Missis.
gpt
I don't care how loud I holler, I can tell you that.
human
We ain't going to move; and if we did, I don't see why you couldn't. I was just telling you what you could do, if you owed folks and didn't have any money to pay 'em, and you turn on a feller that way. I'm going to tell my sister and mother, and they won't have you make any more dresses for 'em.