Short Stories, vol 11 | Page 6

but can you tell me where I must apply for payment for anything that has been accidentally burned?"
He replied in a sonorous voice:
"The first door on the left; that is the department you want."
This frightened her still more, and she felt inclined to run away, to put in no claim, to sacrifice her eighteen francs. But the idea of that sum revived her courage, and she went upstairs, out of breath, stopping at almost every other step.
She knocked at a door which she saw on the first landing, and a clear voice said, in answer:
"Come in!"
She obeyed mechanically, and found herself in a large room where three solemn gentlemen, all with a decoration in their buttonholes, were standing talking.
One of them asked her: "What do you want, madame?"
She could hardly get out her words, but stammered: "I have come--I have come on account of an accident, something--".
He very politely pointed out a seat to her,
"If you will kindly sit down I will attend to you in a moment."
And, returning to the other two, he went on with the conversation.
"The company, gentlemen, does not consider that it is under any obligation to you for more than four hundred thousand francs, and we can pay no attention to your claim to the further sum of a hundred thousand, which you wish to make us pay. Besides that, the surveyor's valuation--"
One of the others interrupted him:
"That is quite enough, monsieur; the law courts will decide between us, and we have nothing further to do than to take our leave." And they went out after mutual ceremonious bows.
Oh! if she could only have gone away with them, how gladly she would have done it; she would have run away and given up everything. But it was too late, for the gentleman came back, and said, bowing:
"What can I do for you, madame?"
She could scarcely speak, but at last she managed to say:
"I have come-for this."
The manager looked at the object which she held out to him in mute astonishment.
With trembling fingers she tried to undo the elastic, and succeeding, after several attempts, she hastily opened the damaged remains of the umbrella.
"It looks to me to be in a very bad state of health," he said compassionately.
"It cost me twenty francs," she said, with some hesitation.
He seemed astonished. "Really! As much as that?"
"Yes, it was a capital article, and I wanted you to see the condition it is in."
"Yes, yes, I see; very well. But I really do not understand what it can have to do with me."
She began to feel uncomfortable; perhaps this company did not pay for such small articles, and she said:
"But--it is burned."
He could not deny it.
"I see that very well," he replied.
She remained open-mouthed, not knowing what to say next; then, suddenly recollecting that she had left out the main thing, she said hastily:
"I am Mme. Oreille; we are assured in La Maternelle, and I have come to claim the value of this damage."
"I only want you to have it re-covered," she added quickly, fearing a positive refusal.
The manager was rather embarrassed, and said: "But, really, madame, we do not sell umbrellas; we cannot undertake such kinds of repairs."
The little woman felt her courage reviving; she was not going to give up without a struggle; she was not even afraid any more, and said:
"I only want you to pay me the cost of repairing it; I can quite well get it done myself."
The gentleman seemed rather confused.
"Really, madame, it is such a very small matter! We are never asked to give compensation for such trivial losses. You must allow that we cannot make good pocket-handkerchiefs, gloves, brooms, slippers, all the small articles which are every day exposed to the chances of being burned."
She got red in the face, and felt inclined to fly into a rage.
"But, monsieur, last December one of our chimneys caught fire, and caused at least five hundred francs' damage; M. Oreille made no claim on the company, and so it is only just that it should pay for my umbrella now."
The manager, guessing that she was telling a lie, said, with a smile:
"You must acknowledge, madame, that it is very surprising that M. Oreille should have asked no compensation for damages amounting to five hundred francs, and should now claim five or six francs for mending an umbrella."
She was not the least put out, and replied:
"I beg your pardon, monsieur, the five hundred francs affected M. Oreille's pocket, whereas this damage, amounting to eighteen francs, concerns Mme. Oreille's pocket only, which is a totally different matter."
As he saw that he had no chance of getting rid of her, and that he would only be wasting his time, he said resignedly:
"Will you kindly tell me how the damage was done?"
She felt that she had won the victory,