It was just after lunch when the two Aldens met the man who had scowled at them earlier that day.
“This is Mr. Fogg,” Mr. Furman said. “Henry, you will be working with Mr. Fogg. He is the manager of the first floor. You can learn a lot from him.”
Henry said, “How do you do, Mr. Fogg?” And Benny said, “Hi.”
But there was no reply from Mr. Fogg.
Mr. Furman seemed not to notice. He went on, “Mr. Fogg is in charge of the small electrical appliances, such as steam irons and electric frypans. When we don’t need you behind a counter, Henry, you will help Mr. Fogg stock the first floor.”
“Stock the first floor?” asked Henry. He wanted to be sure he understood his job.
Mr. Furman said, “Yes, you will bring goods up from the basement. If Mrs. Lester wants boxes for jewelry, you will find them and take them up to her.”
Henry nodded.
Mr. Fogg frowned and leaned forward. “I just don’t approve of this at all,” he said. “These two boys have no experience. They will be more trouble to me than they are worth. I don’t need help like this.”
The Alden boys could not believe their ears.
Mr. Furman tried to laugh. “Oh, come on, Mr. Fogg, give them a chance! I remember when you started your first day here. You had a lot to learn, too. When something wrong comes up, we can look into the matter. But I’m sure nothing will go wrong.”
Mr. Fogg still did not smile.
Benny looked away from Mr. Fogg. He saw counters filled with things to sell. There were shoppers coming and going.
Benny said, “It must be wonderful to own a big store like this, Mr. Furman.”
Mr. Furman glanced at Mr. Fogg and then shook his head. “I guess you boys don’t know that I have sold the store. It was too much for me to handle, and I had a good offer. Of course, it’s still called Furman’s Department Store. And so far there haven’t been any big changes.”
Mr. Fogg was looking more and more gloomy. He muttered, “I suppose the new owner won’t want me with my bad back. But I know the work.”
Henry looked at Mr. Furman and asked, “But you’re still in charge of the store, aren’t you?”
“I’m just the store manager for the new owner, M.D. Squires. So far, I haven’t met the new owner because he lives in New York. I’ve only met his lawyer. I’ll say this, though, Mr. Squires has a good head for business.”
“Oh?” Henry asked, wondering how this new owner could know about his store in Greenfield when he lived in New York.
“Yes, he’s done a lot for the store already. When some new product appears, Mr. Squires knows if our store should carry it. Sometimes I’ve wanted to get something, but Mr. Squires writes and tells me to wait. More than once, I’ve learned that the product doesn’t work well, or other stores in town couldn’t sell the item at all.”
“Mr. Squires must own other stores,” guessed Benny.
“That may be it,” said Mr. Furman. “It’s hard to explain. But I have never known Mr. Squires to be wrong.”
“I don’t think it’s so strange,” Mr. Fogg put in. “But no one listens to me.”
“The new owner must be a fine person to work for,” said Henry.
“Yes, indeed,” said Mr. Furman. “Still, it isn’t like the old days.” Then he turned away from Mr. Fogg and led the boys down to the store basement. A man was unpacking goods to go on the counters upstairs.
Benny said, “I thought I knew this store very well, but I’m surprised. I was never down here before.”
“You’ll do a lot of your work here,” Mr. Furman said. “There’s always something to get or to take somewhere. Mr. Fogg can keep you busy all by himself.”
Benny didn’t like to hear this, but he said, “I never thought I would deliver things to the Greenfield people. This will be fun.” Just then he saw Mr. Fogg on the stairs. His face was angry. Benny smiled, but Mr. Fogg did not return the smile. Instead, he turned to talk to the workman.
Mr. Furman led the boys up to the first floor again. Benny felt that Mr. Fogg was following them.
As they turned around a counter and headed toward the gift and glassware department, Benny heard Mr. Fogg’s voice. He was speaking to someone Benny couldn’t see.
“I don’t know if those boys are good workers,” Mr. Fogg was grumbling. “I just know that they’re old man Alden’s grandchildren. It would be nice to have someone like that in your family to help you get a job. Just like that, with no trouble at all.”
Then Benny and Henry knew that they had an enemy. They had to pretend that they had not heard Mr. Fogg’s words. But they were sure that he had meant them to hear.
Well, Benny thought, Grandfather had not helped them get their jobs. They had done it on their own. He followed Henry and Mr. Furman to another part of the store. The boys and Mr. Furman went from one counter to another. Each department had interesting people to meet, and there was so much for sale.
Mr. Furman introduced the boys to the head cashier, Mrs. Lippmann. “Just call me Toni,” she said pleasantly. “Everyone calls me that.”
Toni worked in a place where she had a fine view of the front door. She kept an eye on everything that was going on.
“I’ll let Toni show you the rest of the store. Let me know if you need anything.” Mr. Furman waved as he went back to his office.
Toni introduced the boys to Mrs. Lester, who was in charge of jewelry and glassware.
“You mustn’t drop or lose anything here,” Mrs. Lester explained. “Everything is so expensive.” Then she showed the boys how much some small china figures and delicate teacups cost.
“I remember when Mr. Fogg began to work here,” Mrs. Lester said softly. “He dropped a small vase. It chipped and we had to sell it at a special price. Of course, that was a long time ago. He won’t tell you about that, though.”
Toni continued the tour. Benny and Henry went past the shiny toasters and coffeemakers in Mr. Fogg’s department, but Mr. Fogg paid no attention to Toni or the Aldens.
There were counters where things for sewing were sold and counters where combs and hairpins were on display. And there were socks for men and stockings for women—there was so much to see on the first floor alone.
Upstairs there were clothing departments for men, women, and children.
Toni led the boys back to the basement for the end of their tour. She said, “Now you know most of the store and this will mean more to you. Benny, you will pick up your orders here. Sometimes you will go out with the regular delivery man. But we give special service to a lot of our customers. You may have to deliver small purchases by yourself.”
“That won’t be hard. I can use my bike,” said Benny.
Toni smiled. She showed the boys how the merchandise was arranged. There were aisles of boxes.
“Henry, the important thing for you to remember is that when you take stock upstairs, your list must match the list the department manager takes.”
“I’ll remember that. If the list says twelve boxes of candles, I’ll be sure there are twelve.”
“You won’t get in trouble that way,” Toni said. “But sometimes if a stockboy is in a hurry, he may think he has taken, say, six boxes of socks up to the boys’ department. But there are only five. We have to account for every box.”
“Thanks for warning me,” Henry said.
“And don’t leave things around,” Toni went on. “I hate to say it, but every store has trouble with people who take things.”
“You mean shoplifters?” Benny asked.
“Yes, even here in Greenfield. Of course, some people pick things up by mistake and just honestly forget to pay for them. A woman came in yesterday and paid for a box of notepaper she had taken by accident. She felt bad about it.”
“There’s a lot to think about in a store,” Benny said thoughtfully.
“Well, boys, that’s it,” Toni said. “Mr. Furman has some papers for you to fill out. Come in by nine-thirty tomorrow morning. The store opens a half hour later, but you’ll both have things to do.”
At dinnertime at home, Henry told his sisters and his grandfather what had happened.
“Why are you so quiet, Ben?” asked Violet.
“It’s just—just old man Fogg,” Benny exploded. “Everything is fine except for him.”
“Why, Benny, that doesn’t sound like you at all,” exclaimed Jessie.
“I can’t help it. That man is going to make it hard for Henry and me. For some reason he doesn’t like us, and he’s not keeping that a secret.”
Mr. Alden put down his coffee cup. “Well, Benny,” he began, “you and Henry must do the best work you can. That is all anyone can ask of you. You will meet many people in the store, and it is your job to be as pleasant as possible.”
“I’ll try, but it won’t be easy,” Benny said. “Grandfather, Mr. Fogg didn’t even give us a chance. He said right away that we had our jobs because we’re Aldens.”
“I see,” said Grandfather. “I think you boys will learn a lot before your summer jobs are over.” |