"Now, if /you/ went to her father," pursued the Shadchan, "the odds are that he would not even give you his daughter--to say nothing of the dowry. After all, it is a cheek of you to aspire so high. As you told me from the first, you haven't saved a penny. Even my commission you won't be able to pay till you get the dowry. But if /I/ go I do not despair of getting a substantial sum--to say nothing of the daughter.""Yes, I think you had better go," said Leibel, eagerly.
"But if I do this thing for you I shall want a pound more," rejoined Sugarman.
"A pound more!" echoed Leibel, in dismay. "Why?""Because Rose Green's hump is of gold," replied Sugarman, oracularly. "Also, she is fair to see, and many men desire her.""But you have always your five per cent, on the dowry.""It will be less than Volcovitch's," explained Sugarman. "You see, Green has other and less beautiful daughters.""Yes, but then it settles itself more easily. Say five shillings." "Eliphaz Green is a hard man," said the Shadchan instead. "Ten shillings is the most I will give!""Twelve and sixpence is the least I will take. Eliphaz Green haggles soterribly."
They split the difference, and so eleven and threepence represented the predominance of Eliphaz Green's stinginess over Volcovitch's.
The very next day Sugarman invaded the Green workroom. Rose bent over her seams, her heart fluttering. Leibel had duly apprised her of the roundabout manner in which she would have to be won, and she had acquiesced in the comedy. At the least it would save her the trouble of father-taming.
Sugarman's entry was brusque and breathless. He was overwhelmed with joyous emotion. His blue bandana trailed agitatedly from his coat- tail.
"At last!" he cried, addressing the little white-haired master tailor; "I have the very man for you.""Yes?" grunted Eliphaz, unimpressed. The monosyllable was packed with emotion. It said, "Have you really the face to come to me again with an ideal man?""He has all the qualities that you desire," began the Shadchan, in a tone that repudiated the implications of the monosyllable. "He is young, strong, God-fearing--""Has he any money?" grumpily interrupted Eliphaz.
"He /will/ have money," replied Sugarman, unhesitatingly, "when he marries.""Ah!" The father's voice relaxed, and his foot lay limp on the treadle. He worked one of his machines himself, and paid himself the wages so as to enjoy the profit. "How much will he have?""I think he will have fifty pounds; and the least you can do is to let him have fifty pounds," replied Sugarman, with the same happy ambiguity.
Eliphaz shook his head on principle.
"Yes, you will," said Sugarman, "when you learn how fine a man heis."
The flush of confusion and trepidation already on Leibel's countenancebecame a rosy glow of modesty, for he could not help overhearing what was being said, owing to the lull of the master tailor's machine.
"Tell me, then," rejoined Eliphaz.
"Tell me, first, if you will give fifty to a young, healthy, hard- working, God-fearing man, whose idea it is to start as a master tailor on his own account? And you know how profitable that is!""To a man like that," said Eliphaz, in a burst of enthusiasm, "I would give as much as twenty-seven pounds ten!"Sugarman groaned inwardly, but Leibel's heart leaped with joy. To get four months' wages at a stroke! With twenty-seven pounds ten he could certainly procure several machines, especially on the instalment system. Out of the corners of his eyes he shot a glance at Rose, who was beyond earshot.
"Unless you can promise thirty it is waste of time mentioning his name," said Sugarman.
"Well, well--who is he?"
Sugarman bent down, lowering his voice into the father's ear. "What! Leibel!" cried Eliphaz, outraged.
"Sh!" said Sugarman, "or he will overhear your delight, and ask more. He has his nose high enough, as it is.""B--b--b--ut," sputtered the bewildered parent, "I know Leibel myself. I see him every day. I don't want a Shadchan to find me a man I know-- a mere hand in my own workshop!""Your talk has neither face nor figure," answered Sugarman, sternly. "It is just the people one sees every day that one knows least. I warrant that if I had not put it into your head you would never have dreamt of Leibel as a son-in-law. Come now, confess."Eliphaz grunted vaguely, and the Shadchan went on triumphantly: "I thought as much. And yet where could you find a better man to keep your daughter?""He ought to be content with her alone," grumbled her father. Sugarman saw the signs of weakening, and dashed in, full strength:
"It's a question whether he will have her at all. I have not been to him about her yet. I awaited your approval of the idea." Leibel admired the verbal accuracy of these statements, which he had just caught.
"But I didn't know he would be having money," murmured Eliphaz. "Of course you didn't know. That's what the Shadchan is for--to pointout the things that are under your nose.""But where will he be getting this money from?" "From you," said Sugarman, frankly.
"From me?"
"From whom else? Are you not his employer? It has been put by for his marriage day.""He has saved it?"
"He has not /spent/ it," said Sugarman, impatiently. "But do you mean to say he has saved fifty pounds?""If he could manage to save fifty pounds out of your wages he would be indeed a treasure," said Sugarman. "Perhaps it might be thirty.""But you said fifty."
"Well, /you/ came down to thirty," retorted the Shadchan. "You cannot expect him to have more than your daughter brings.""I never said thirty," Eliphaz reminded him. "Twenty-seven ten was my last bid.""Very well; that will do as a basis of negotiations," said Sugarman, resignedly. "I will call upon him this evening. If I were to go over and speak to him now, he would perceive you were anxious, and raise his terms, and that will never do. Of course you will not mind allowing me a pound more for finding you so economical a son-in-law?""Not a penny more."