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Think Twice

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International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 6, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 10.

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Think Twice.

"Did Horner pay the bill?" inquired Mr. Gilbert of his clerk, who had just come in.
"Didn't pay it?"
"No, sir."
"What answer did he give?"
"He was angry, and said that he wished you wouldn't send him the bill any more; that when he was ready, he would bring you the money, and not before."
"He said that, did he?" Mr. Gilbert spoke with considerable excitement of manner.
"Yes, sir. I have never called on him that he didn't get out of patience, and say something unpleasant."
"Very well," replied Mr. Gilbert, in a menacing tone; "give me the bill. I'll collect it."
And, taking up his hat, he left the store. Within two or three blocks was the office of an alderman, and thither his steps were turned.
"Thank fortune! there's a short way to deal with men in these cases." Thus Mr. Gilbert talked to himself as he moved rapidly along.
"Not send my bill, indeed! Why doesn't he come and pay it, if he is so nice in these matters? He doesn't mean to pay; that's the true reason. But he is dealing with the wrong man, and he will find this out before he is twenty-four hours older. He can bluff off a clerk, but will find a city bailiff a different sort of a customer."
Such was the state of Mr. Gilbert's mind as he hurried on his way to the alderman's office.
Horner, the offender in this case, was a poor tailor, who had become indebted to Gilbert for groceries. The amount of his bill was sixty-six dollars; a very large sum for him, and far exceeding what he had supposed it would be. Sickness, and the loss of a child, had, some months previously, lessened his income, and also burdened him with unusual expenses. But for this, he would not have become indebted. Honest and sensitive, the debt worried him. Instead however, of going to Mr. Gilbert and asking him to let the obligation stand for a short time until he could pay it off gradually, he kept away from him, and fretted himself with thinking over the unpleasant relation he bore to the grocer. As was to have been expected, the bill came in. The clerk, by whose hands it was sent, made his demand in a style that Horner thought rude, if not insulting. This was more in imagination than reality.
"I can't pay this now," was the tailor's brief answer. He spoke with a troubled voice and countenance. The clerk interpreted his manner by the word "anger."
"When will you settle it?" he inquired, with something peremptory in voice.
"I can't tell," said Horner, in a short, quick tone of voice.
The clerk bowed and went away. His report did not please the grocer, who, in a few days, sent again for the money. The second demand came upon Horner while he was thinking of the bill, and hopelessly casting about in his mind for some means of paying it. Not possessing a great deal of self-control, he unwisely uttered an expression of impatience the moment he saw the clerk of Mr. Gilbert.
"Well, sir; what about that bill?" said the clerk.
"It's no use to keep calling on me," replied Horner. "As soon as I have the money I will see Mr. Gilbert."
A third time the clerk called. Poor Horner was in a very unhappy state of mind. He had been thinking of little else besides the grocer's bill all the morning; while in his mind was a nervous presentiment that he should have a visit that day from the collector. He was not in error. Even as the thought troubled him, open swung his door, and the messenger of Gilbert entered.
"See here, young man!" exclaimed Horner, before the other had time to speak; "just tell Gilbert not to send that bill here again. It won't bring the money an hour sooner. When I am ready, I will pay it, and not before."
The clerk turned off and left the shop without a word of reply.
"That wasn't right, John," said the tailor's wife, in a tone of gentle reproof, after the lapse of five minutes. She wisely forbore to speak until time enough had elapsed for her irritable husband to regain a degree of self-composure.
"I know it wasn't," answered Horner, pausing in his work and giving vent to his feelings in a heavy sigh. "I know it wasn't. But this constant dunning is hard to bear. He knows, as well as I do, that he will get his money as soon as I can possibly earn it."
"No, John; not as well as you do," said the wife, mildly. "He cannot see your thoughts."
There was a brief silence.
"Have you ever seen Mr. Gilbert, John?" inquired Mrs. Horner.
"No. But—"
The tailor hesitated. He saw what was in the mind of his wife, and felt its force.
"Don't you think it would be better to see him, and explain just how it is with you? I don't believe he would give you any trouble, if you were to do so. There is no telling what kind of messages his clerk takes to him. If he gives simply your words to-day, Mr. Gilbert will be angry; and there is no knowing what he might be tempted to do."
"I don't want to see him," replied Horner. "I can't bear to look into a man's face if I owe him money."
The wife sighed, but did not answer. Both remained silent for some time. Horner's own mind soon suggested all that his wife wished, but hesitated, to say. It was but right for him to see the grocer, explain to him fully his position, and, after assuring him of his intention to pay every dollar of the debt, ask of him a liberal extension of time.
"I'll see him," said he, at length, pausing suddenly in his work, and getting down from his shop-board. In a little while he was ready to go out, when he started forth to see his creditor.
In the meantime, Gilbert had kept on his way toward the alderman's, fully resolved to hand his debtor over to the tender mercies of the law. He was within a few doors of the office when he met a friend.
"What's the matter?" inquired this individual. "You look as if you were going to sue somebody."
"Just what I am about doing," replied the grocer.
"Ah, indeed! Who is the hard case that requires such a stringent measure?"
"Horner, the tailor. You know him, I believe?"
"Yes; very well. But you are not going to sue him?"
"Indeed I am."
"How much does he owe you?"
"Sixty odd dollars."
"I'd think twice before I troubled poor Horner," said the other, shaking his head.
"He sends me only insulting answers," replied Gilbert. "I've dunned him until I'm tired."
"Perhaps you've dunned him too hard. He is sensitive and irritable."
"No; I've only sent three or four times. This morning he returned for answer that he would pay when he was ready, and not before."
"And, on the spur of the moment, you have determined to put the account into an alderman's hands."
"I have."
"Too hasty, friend Gilbert. In all matters of this kind it is better to think twice. Remember that Horner has had sickness and death in his family. These, I know, have thrown him back. Here lies the cause of his slowness in paying. But, surely, these things entitle him to consideration. He is honest. I am certain of that."
"I didn't think about his sickness and the loss of his child," said Gilbert, in a modified tone. "But this is no justification for the rude, unsatisfactory answers he sent to my applications for money."
"Of course not. But every man cannot, at all times, control his feelings. An honest mind often feels a quick sense of indignation when a demand is made for a debt where a present inability to pay exists. This is, no doubt, the case with Horner. Honest in his intentions, he felt your repeated applications as questioning that honesty; and he could not bear the imputation with becoming patience."
The two men separated. Gilbert had thought twice; and, instead of going to the magistrate's office, returned to his store. There, a little to his surprise, he found the tailor awaiting him. They met with some reserve and embarrassment. But Horner said, in a moment or two, and in a subdued voice:—
"I am sorry, Mr. Gilbert, to have kept you out of your money so long; nothing has prevented my paying you but inability. I have had sickness and trouble, or it would not now be with me as it is. I felt worried when your clerk called to-day, and sent you an improper message. Let me recall that. And, now, I will tell you the best I can do. If you will take from me five dollars a month, until the whole bill is settled, I will faithfully pay you that much, and more if it is possible."
"Perfectly satisfactory," replied Gilbert, in a voice so cordial that it sent the blood bounding through the veins of the unhappy tailor. If you had only made this proposition before, it would have been cheerfully accepted."
When the two men separated each was wiser and each felt happier. The tailor kept his engagement, and the grocer not only received his money but retained a good customer. So much for sober second thoughts.—Arthur's Home Magazine.