The Story Of The Treasure Seekers Chapter 9: Bedtime Story

Hello,

Dear ones,

And welcome to today's reading,

The Story of the Treasure-Seekers by Edith Nesbitt.

Chapter Nine The G.

B.

Being editors is not the best way to wealth.

We all feel this now,

And highwaymen are not respected any more like they used to be.

I am sure we had tried our best to restore our fallen fortunes.

We felt their fall very much,

Because we knew the Bastables had been rich once.

Dora and Oswald can remember when father was always bringing nice things home from London,

And they used to be turkeys and geese and wine and cigars come by the carrier at Christmas time,

And boxes of candied fruit and French plums in ornamental boxes with silk and velvet and gliding on them.

They were called prunes,

But the prunes you buy at the grocers are quite different.

But now there is seldom anything nice brought from London,

And the turkey and the prune people have forgotten father's address.

How can we restore these beastly fallen fortunes?

Said Oswald.

We've tried digging and writing and princesses and being editors and being bandits,

Said H.

O.

When did you try that?

Asked Dora quickly.

You know I told you it was wrong.

It wasn't wrong the way we did it,

Said Alice,

Quicker still,

Before Oswald could say.

Who asked you to tell us anything about it?

Which would have been rude,

And he is glad he didn't.

We only caught Albert next door.

Dickie looked up from the paper he was reading and said,

This sounds likely,

And he read out.

L100 secures partnership in lucrative business for sale of useful patent.

L10 weekly.

No personal attendance necessary.

Jobbins,

300 Old Street Road.

I wish we could secure that partnership,

Said Oswald.

He is twelve and a very thoughtful boy for his age.

Alice looked up from her painting.

She was trying to paint a fairy queen's frock with green bise and it wouldn't rub.

There is something funny about green bise.

It never will rub off,

No matter how expensive your paintbox is,

And even boiling water is of very little use.

She said,

Oh,

Bother the bise.

And Oswald,

It's no use thinking about that.

Where are we to get a hundred pounds?

Ten pounds a week is five pounds to us,

Oswald went on.

He had done the sum in his head while Alice was talking.

Because partnership means halves,

It would be A1.

Noel sat sucking his pencil.

He had been writing poetry,

As usual.

I saw the first two lines.

I wonder why green bise is never very nice.

Suddenly,

He said,

I wish a fairy would come down the chimney and drop a jewel on the table.

A jewel worth just a hundred pounds.

Well,

She might as well just give you the hundred pounds while she was about it,

Said Dora.

Or,

While she was about it,

She might as well give us five pounds a week,

Said Alice.

Or fifty,

Said I.

Or five hundred,

Said Dickie.

I saw H.

O.

Open his mouth,

And I knew he was going to say,

Or five thousand.

So I said,

Well,

She won't give us five pence,

But if you'd only do as I'm always saying and rescue a wealthy old gentleman from deadly peril,

He would give us a pot of money and we could have the partnership and five pounds a week.

Then Dickie said,

I think we should borrow it.

So we said,

Borrow it from whom?

And then he read this out of the paper.

Money privately without fees.

The Bond Street Bank.

Manager Z.

Rosenbaum.

Advance cash from L20 to L10,

000 on ladies or gentlemen's.

Note of hand alone,

Without security.

No fees,

No inquiries.

Absolute privacy guaranteed.

What does it all mean?

Asked H.

O.

It means that there is a kind gentleman who has a lot of money and he doesn't know enough poor people to help.

So he puts it in the paper that he will help them by lending them his money.

That's it,

Isn't it,

Dickie?

Dora had explained this,

And Dickie said,

Yes.

And H.

O.

Said he was a generous benefactor,

Like in Miss Edgeworth.

Then Noel wanted to know what a note of hand was,

And Dickie knew that because he had read it in a book,

And it was just a letter saying that you will pay the money back when you can,

And signed with your name.

And no inquiries,

Said Alice.

Oh,

Dickie,

Do you think he would?

Yes,

I think so,

Said Dickie.

I wonder Father doesn't go to this kind gentleman.

I've seen his name before on a circular in Father's Study.

Perhaps he already has,

Said Dora.

But the rest of us were sure that he hadn't,

Because,

Of course,

If he had,

There would have been more money to buy nice things.

Just then Pincher jumped up and knocked over the painting water.

He's a very careless dog.

I wonder why painting water is always such an ugly colour.

Dora ran for a duster to wipe it up,

And H.

O.

Dropped drops of the water on his hands and said he had got the plague.

After dinner,

We talked it all over and settled that we would go and see the generous benefactor the very next day.

But we thought perhaps the GB,

That's short for generous benefactor,

Would not like it if there were so many of us.

I have often noticed that it is the worst,

Our being six.

People think six a great many when it's children.

That sentence looks wrong somehow.

I mean,

They don't mind six pairs of boots,

Or six pounds of apples,

Or six oranges,

Especially in equations.

But they seem to think you ought not to have five brothers and sisters.

Of course,

Dickie was to go,

Because it was his idea.

Dora had to go to Blackheath to see an old lady,

A friend of father's,

So she couldn't go.

Alice said she ought to go,

Because it had said ladies and gentlemen,

And perhaps the GB wouldn't let us have the money unless they were both kinds of us.

H.

O.

Said Alice wasn't a lady,

And she said he wasn't going anyway.

Then he called her a disagreeable cat,

And she began to cry.

But Oswald always tries to make up quarrels,

So he said,

You two are little sillies,

Both of you.

And Dora said,

Don't cry Alice,

He only meant you weren't a grown-up lady.

And then H.

O.

Said,

What else did you think I mean?

So Dickie said,

Oh don't be disagreeable H.

O.

,

Let her alone,

And say you're sorry,

Or I'll jolly well make you.

So H.

O.

Said he was sorry,

And then Alice kissed him,

And said that she was sorry too,

And after that H.

O.

Gave her a hug,

And said,

Now I'm really and truly sorry,

And so it was all alright in the end.

Noel went the last time any of us went to London,

So he was out of it,

And Dora said she would take him to Blackheath,

If we'd take H.

O.

So,

As there'd been a little disagreement,

We thought it was better to take him,

And so we did.

Everyone who reads this book knows what it's like to go in the train,

So I shall not tell about it,

Though it was rather fun,

Especially the part where the guard came for the tickets at Waterloo,

And H.

O.

Was under the seat and pretended to be a dog without a ticket.

We went to Charing Cross,

And we just went round to Whitehall to see the soldiers,

And then by St.

James's,

For the same reason,

And when we'd looked in the shops for a bit,

We got to Brook Street,

Bond Street.

It was a brass plate on a door next to a shop,

A very grand place,

Where they sold bonnets and hats,

All very bright and smart,

And no tickets on them to tell you the price.

We rang a bell and a boy opened the door,

And we asked for Mr.

Rosenbaum.

The boy was not polite,

He did not ask us in,

So then Dickie gave him his visiting card.

It was one of father's,

Really,

But the name is the same,

Mr.

Richard Bastable,

And we,

Others,

Wrote our names underneath.

I happened to have a piece of pink chalk in my pocket,

And we wrote them with that.

Then the boy shut the door in our faces,

And we waited on the step,

But presently he came down and asked our business,

So Dickie sent.

Money advanced,

Young shaver,

And don't be all day about it.

And then he made us wait again,

Until I was quite stiff in my legs,

But Alice liked it because of looking at the hats and the bonnets,

And at last the door opened,

And the boy said,

Mr.

Rosenbaum will see you.

So we wiped our feet on the mat as we went in,

Just like the sign said,

And then we went upstairs with soft carpets and into a room.

It was a beautiful room.

I wished then that we had put on our best things,

Or at least washed a little bit,

But it was too late now.

The room had velvet curtains and a soft,

Soft carpet,

And it was full of the most splendid things.

Black and gold cabinets and china and statues and pictures.

There was a picture of a cabbage and a pheasant and a dead hare that was just lifelike,

And I would have given worlds to have it for my own.

The fur was so natural,

I should never have been tired of looking at it,

But Alice liked the one of the girl with the broken jug the best.

Then,

Beside the pictures,

There were clocks and candlesticks and vases and gilt-looking glasses and boxes of cigars and scent and things littered all over the chairs and the tables.

It was a wonderful place,

And in the middle of all the splendour was a little old gentleman with a very long black coat and a very long white beard and a hooky nose,

Like a falcon's.

He put on a pair of gold spectacles and looked at us as if he knew exactly how much our clothes were worth.

And then,

While we elder ones were thinking how to begin,

For we had all said good morning,

H.

O.

Began,

Before we could stop him.

He said,

Are you the G.

B.

?

The what?

Said the little old gentleman.

The G.

B.

,

Said H.

O.

,

And I winked at him to shut him up,

But he didn't see me,

But the G.

B.

Did.

He waved his hand at me to shut up,

So I had to,

And H.

O.

Went on,

It stands for Generous Benefactor.

The old gentleman frowned,

And then he said,

Your father sent you here,

I suppose?

No,

He didn't,

Said Dickie.

Why do you think so?

The old gentleman held out the card,

And I explained that we took that because father's name happens to be the same as Dickie's.

And he doesn't know you've come?

No,

Said Alice,

And we shan't tell him until we've got the partnership,

Because his own business worries him a great deal,

And we don't want to bother him without us until it's settled,

And then we shall give him half of our share.

The old gentleman took off his spectacles and rumpled his hair with his hands,

And then he said,

Then what did you come for?

Well,

We saw your advertisement,

Dickie said,

And we want a hundred pounds on our note of hand,

And my sister came so that there should be both kinds of us,

And we want it to buy a partnership with in the lucrative business for sale of useful patent,

No personal attendance necessary.

I don't think I quite follow you,

Said the GB,

But one thing I should like settled before entering more fully into the matter.

Why did you call me Generous Benefactor?

Well,

You see,

Said Alice,

Smiling at him to show she wasn't frightened,

Although I know she really was,

Awfully so,

We thought it was so very kind of you to try to find out the poor people who want money and to help them and lend them your money.

Hmm,

Said the GB,

Sit down.

He cleared the clocks and vases and candlesticks off the chairs,

And we sat down,

The chairs were velvety,

With gilt legs,

It was like a king's palace.

Now,

You ought to be in school instead of thinking about money,

Why aren't you?

We told him that we should go to school again when father could manage it,

But meantime we wanted to do something to restore the fallen fortunes of the house of Bastable,

And we said we thought the lucrative patent would be a very good thing.

He asked a lot of questions,

And we told him everything,

We didn't think father would mind our telling,

And at last he said,

So you wish to borrow money,

And when will you repay it?

As soon as we've got it,

Of course,

Said Dickie.

Then the GB said to Oswald,

You seem to be the eldest,

That I explained to him that it was Dickie's idea,

So my being the eldest didn't matter.

Then he said to Dickie,

You are a miner,

I presume.

Dickie said he wasn't,

But he had thought of being a mining engineer someday,

And going to Klondike.

Miner,

Not miner,

Said the GB,

I mean,

You're not of age.

I shall be,

In ten years though.

Then the GB said,

I don't advise you to enter into that partnership,

It's a swindle,

Many advertisements are,

And I have not a hundred pounds by me to lend you today,

But I will lend you a pound,

And you can spend it as you like,

And when you are twenty-one,

You shall pay me back.

I shall pay you back long before that,

Said Dickie.

I'll thank you awfully,

And what about the note of hand?

Oh,

Said the GB,

I'll trust to your honour,

Between gentlemen,

You know,

And ladies,

And he made a beautiful bow to Alice.

A word is as good as a bond.

Then he took out a sovereign and held it in his hand while he talked to us.

He gave us a lot of good advice about not going into business too young,

And about doing our lessons,

Just swatting a bit,

On our own hook,

So as not to be put in a low form when we do go back to school,

And all the time he was stroking the sovereign and looking at it as if he thought it was very,

Very beautiful,

And so it was,

For it was a new one.

Then,

At last,

He held it out to Dickie,

And when Dickie put out his hand for it,

The GB suddenly put the sovereign back in his pocket.

No,

He said,

I won't give you the sovereign.

I'll give you fifteen shillings and this nice bottle of scent.

It's worth far more than the five shillings I'm charging you for it,

And,

When you can,

You shall pay me back the pound and sixty per cent interest.

What's that?

Asked HO.

The GB said he'd tell us that when we paid back the sovereign,

But sixty per cent was nothing to be afraid of.

He gave Dickie the money,

And the boy was made to call a cab,

And the GB put us in it and shook hands with all of us and asked Alice to give him a kiss,

So she did,

And HO would do it too,

Although his face was dirtier than ever.

The GB paid the cabman and told him what station to go to,

And so we went home.

That evening,

Father had a letter by the seven o'clock post,

And when he had read it,

He came up to the nursery.

He did not look quite so unhappy as usual,

But he looked grave.

You've been to Mr Rosenbaum's,

He said.

So we told him all about it.

It took a long time,

And Father sat in the armchair.

It was jolly.

He doesn't often come and talk to us now.

He has to spend all his time thinking about his business,

And when we told him all about it,

He said,

You haven't done any harm this time,

Children.

Rather good than harm,

Indeed.

Mr Rosenbaum has written me a very kind letter.

Is he a friend of yours,

Father?

Oswald asked.

He's an acquaintance,

Said my father,

Frowning a little.

We have done some business together in the past.

And this letter?

He stopped and then said,

No,

You didn't do any harm today,

But I want you,

For the future,

Not to do anything so serious as to try to buy a partnership without consulting me.

That's all.

I don't want to interfere with your plays and your pleasures,

But you will consult me about business matters,

Won't you?

Of course,

We said we should be delighted,

But then Alice,

Who was sitting on his knee,

Said,

We didn't like to bother you,

Father.

Father said,

I haven't much time to be with you,

For my business takes most of my time.

It is an anxious business,

But I can't bear to think of you being left alone,

All like this.

He looked so sad.

We all said that we liked being alone.

And then he looked even sadder than ever.

Then Alice said,

We don't mean that exactly,

Father.

It is rather lonely sometimes,

Since Mother died.

Then we were all quiet a little while.

Father stayed with us till we went to bed,

And when he said goodnight,

He looked quite cheerful.

So we told him that,

And he said,

Well,

The fact is,

That letter took a weight off my mind.

I can't think what he meant,

But I am sure the GB would be pleased if he could know he had taken a weight off somebody's mind.

He is that sort of man,

I think.

We gave the scent to Dora.

It is not quite such a good scent as we thought it would be,

But we had fifteen shillings,

And they were all good.

So is the GB.

And until those fifteen shillings were spent,

We felt almost as jolly as though our fortunes had been properly restored.

You do not notice your general fortune as much,

As long as you have money in your pocket.

This is why so many children with regular pocket money have never felt it in their duty to seek for treasure.

So perhaps our not having pocket money was a blessing in disguise.