University of Virginia Library

PERSEVERANCE:
OR PETER PUNCTUAL'S WAY TO COLLECT BILLS.

BY SEBA SMITH.

Some few years ago, Peter Punctual, an honest
and industrious young fellow from Yankee land—I
say Yankee land, but I freely confess that is merely
an inference of mine, drawn from circumstances of
this story itself; but if my readers, after perusing
it, do not come to the same conclusion, they may
set him down as coming from any other land they
please; but for myself, were I on a jury, and under
oath, I would bring him in a Yankee. This same
Peter Punctual, some few years ago, came into
New York, and attempted to turn a penny and get
an honest living by procuring subscribers to various

magazines and periodicals, on his own hook.
That is, he would receive a quantity of magazines
from a distant publisher, at a discount, and get up
his own list of subscribers about the city, and serve
them through the year at the regular subscription
price, which would leave the amount of the said
discount a clear profit in his pocket, or rather a
compensation for his time and labor. There are
many persons in this city who obtain a livelihood in
the same way.

Peter's commissions being small, and his capital
still smaller, he was obliged to transact his business
with great care and circumspection, in order to
make both ends meet. He adopted a rule therefore
to make all his subscribers pay their year's subscription
in advance. Such things could be done
in those days when business was brisk, and the people
were strangers to “hard times.” In canvassing
for subscribers, one day, through the lower part of
the city, and in the principal business streets, he observed
a store which had the air of doing a heavy
business, and read upon the sign over the door,
“Solomon Sharp, Importer” of certain wares and
merchandize. The field looked inviting, and in
Peter went with his samples under his arm, and inquired
for Mr. Sharp. The gentleman was pointed
out to him by the clerks, and Peter stepped up
and asked him if he would not like to subscribe for
some magazines.

“What sort of ones have you got there?” said
Mr. S.

“Three or four different kinds,” said Peter, laying
the specimens on the desk before him—“please to
look at them and suit yourself.”

Sharp tumbled them over and examined them
one after another, and at last took up “Buckingham's
New England Magazine,” published at Boston.

“What are your terms for this?” said he; “I
don't know but I would subscribe for this.”

“Five dollars a year in advance,” said Peter, “to
be delivered carefully every month at your store or
house.”

“But I never pay in advance for these things,”
said Sharp. “It's time enough to pay for a thing
when you get it. I'll subscribe for it, if you have a
mind to receive your pay at the end of the year,
and not otherwise.”

“That's against my rule,” said Peter; “I have
all my subscribers pay in advance.”

“Well, it's against my rule to pay for anything
before I get it,” said Sharp; “so if you haven't a
mind to take my subscription, to be paid at the end
of the year, you won't get it at all. That's the long
and the short of the matter.”

Peter paused a little, and queried with himself as
to what he had better do. The man was evidently
doing a large business, and was undoubtedly
rich—a wholesale dealer and an importer—there
could not possibly be any danger of losing the subscription
in such a case: and would it not be better
to break over his rule for once, than to lose so
good a subscriber.

“Well, what say?” said Sharp; “do as you
like; but those are my only terms. I will not pay
for a thing before I get it.”

“On the whole,” said Peter, “I have a good mind
to break over my rule this time, for I don't like to
lose a good subscriber when I can find one. I believe
I'll put your name down, sir. Where will
you have it left?”

“At my house,” said Mr. Sharp, which was
about a mile and a half from his store, away up
town.

The business being thus concluded, Peter took
up his magazines, bade Mr. Sharp good morning,

and left the store. No further personal intercourse
occurred between them during the year. But Peter,
who was his own carrier, as well as canvasser,
regularly every month delivered the New England
Magazine at Mr. Sharp's door. And in a few days
after the year expired, he made out his bill for the
five dollars, and called at Mr. Sharp's store for the
money. He entered with as much confidence that
he should receive the chink at once, as he would
have had in going with a check for the like sum into
the Bank of the United States, during that institution's
palmiest days. He found Mr. Sharp at his
desk, and presented him the bill. That gentleman
took it and looked at it, and then looked at Peter.

“Oh! ah, good morning,” said he, “you are the
young man who called here on this business nearly
a year ago. Well, the year has come round, has
it?”

“Yes, I believe it has,” said Peter.

“Well, bills of this kind,” said Mr. Sharp, “are
paid at the house. We don't attend to them here;
you just take it to the house, any time when you are
passing, and it will be settled.”

“Oh, very well, sir,” said Peter, bowing, and left
the store. “Doing too large a business at the store,
I suppose,” he continued, to himself, as he walked
up the street, “to attend to little things of this kind.
Don't like to be bothered with 'em, probably.”

But Peter thought he might as well make a finish
of the business, now he was out; so he went directly
to the house, and rung at the door. The
servant girl soon made her appearance.

“Mrs. Sharp within?” said Peter.

“Yes, sir,” said the girl.

“Jest carry this bill to her, if you please, and ask
her if she will hand you the money for it.”

The girl took the bill into the house, and presently
returned with the answer, that “Mrs. Sharp says

she doesn't pay none of these 'ere things here—you
must carry it to the store.”

“Please to carry it back to Mrs. Sharp,” said
Peter, “and tell her Mr. Sharp desired me to bring
the bill here, and said it would be paid at the
house.”

This message brought Mrs. Sharp herself to the
door, to whom Peter raised his hat and bowed very
politely.

“I haven't nothing at all to do with the bills here
at the house,” said the lady; “they must be carried
to the store—that's the place to attend to them.”

“Well, mam,” said Peter, “I carried it to the
store, and presented it to Mr. Sharp, and he told
me to bring it to the house and you would pay it
here, and that he couldn't attend to it at the store.”

“But he couldn't mean that I should pay it,” said
Mrs. Sharp, “for he knows I haven't the money.”

“But he said so,” said Peter.

“Well then there must be some mistake about
it,” said the lady.

“I beg your pardon, mam,” said Peter, “it's possible
there may be,” and he put the bill in his pocket,
bowed and left the house.

“It is very queer,” thought Peter to himself as
he walk away a little vexed. “I can't conceive
how there could be any mistake about it, though it
is possible there may be. There couldn't be any
mistake on my part, for I'm sure I understood him.
May be he thought she had money at the house
when she hadn't. I guess it will all come out right
enough in the end.”

Consoling himself with these reflections, Peter
Punctual thought he would let Mr. Sharp rest two
or three days, and not show any anxiety by calling
again in a hurry. He would not be so unwise as
to offend a good subscriber, and run the hazard of
losing him, by an appearance of too much haste in

presenting his bills. Accordingly, in about three
days, he called again at Mr. Sharp's store, and asked
him in a low voice, so that no one should overhear,
if it was convenient for him to take that little
bill for the magazine to-day.

“But I told you,” said Mr. Sharp, “to carry that
bill to the house; I can't attend to it here.”

“Yes, sir, so I understood you,” said Peter, “and
I carried it to the house, and Mrs. Sharp said she
couldn't pay it there, for she had no money, and I
must bring it to the store.”

“Oh, strange,” said Mr. Sharp; “well, she didn't
properly understand it then. But I am too much
engaged to attend to you to-day; you call again, or
call at the house sometime, when I am there.”

Upon this, he turned to his desk and began to
write with great earnestness, and Peter left the
store. The affair began to grow a little vexatious,
and Peter felt a little nettled. Still, he supposed
that people doing such very large business did find
it difficult to attend to these little matters, and
doubtless it would be set right when he should call
again.

After waiting patiently a couple of weeks, Peter
called again at Mr. Sharp's store. When he entered
the door, Mr. Sharp was looking at a newspaper;
but on glancing at Peter, he instantly dropped
the paper, and fell to writing at his desk with great
rapidity. Peter waited respectfully a few minutes,
unwilling to disturb the gentleman till he should appear
to be a little more at leisure. But after waiting
some time without seeing any prospect of Mr.
Sharp's completing the very pressing business before
him, he approached him with deference, and
asked if it would be convenient for him to take that
little bill for the magazine to-day. Sharp turned
and looked at Peter very sternly.

“I can't be bothered with these little things,” said

he, “when I am so much engaged. I am exceedingly
busy to-day—a good many heavy orders
waiting—you must call at the house, and hand the
bill to me or my wife, no matter which.” And he
turned to his desk, and continued to write, without
saying anything more.

Peter began to think he had got hold of a hard
customer: but he had no idea of giving up the
chase. He called at the house several times afterward,
but Mr. Sharp never happened to be at home.
Once he ventured to send the bill again by the girl
to Mrs. Sharp, who returned for answer, that she
had nothing to do with such bills; he must carry it
to the store.

At last, after repeated calls, he found Mr. Sharp
one day at home. He came to the door, and Peter
presented the bill. Mr. Sharp expressed some surprize
and regret that he had come away from the
store, and forgot to put any money in his pocket.
Peter would have to call some other day. Accordingly,
Peter Punctual retired, with a full determination
to call some other day, and that not very far
distant; for it had now been several months that
he had been beaten back and forth like a shuttlecock
between Mr. Sharp's store and Mr. Sharp's
house, and he was getting to be rather tired of the
game.

Having ascertained from the girl at what hour
the family dined, he called the next day precisely
at the dinner hour. He rung at the door, and when
the girl opened it, Peter stepped into the hall.

“Is Mr. Sharp in?” said Peter.

“Yes, sir,” said the girl; “he's up stairs. I'll
speak to him if you want to see him.”

“Yes,” said Peter, “and I'll take a seat in the
parlor till he comes down.”

As he said this, Peter walked into the parlor and
seated himself upon an elegant sofa. The parlor

was richly furnished with Brussels carpet, the best
of mahogany furniture, a splendid piano, &c., &c.;
and in the back parlor, to which folding doors were
open, everything appeared with corresponding elegance.
A table was there spread, upon which dinner
seemed to be nearly ready. Presently the girl
returned from the chamber, and informed Peter,
that Mr. Sharp said “it was jest the dinner hour
now, and he would have to call again.”

“Please to go and tell Mr. Sharp,” said Peter,
“that I must see him, and I'll wait till he comes
down.”

The girl carried the message, and Mr. Sharp
soon made his appearance in the parlor. A frown
passed over his brow as he looked at Peter and
saw him sitting so much at ease, and apparently so
much at home, upon the sofa. Peter rose and asked
him politely if it was convenient for him to take
that little bill to-day.

“No,” said Sharp, “it is not; and if it was, I
wouldn't take it at this hour. It's a very improper
time to call upon such an errand just as one is going
to sit down to dinner. You must call again;
but don't call at dinner time; or you may drop into
the store sometime, and perhaps I may find time
to attend to it there.”

“Well, now, Mr. Sharp,” said Peter, with rather
a determined look, “I can't stand this kind of business
any longer, that's a fact. I'm a poor man, and
I suppose you are a rich one. I can't afford to lose
five dollars, and I'm too poor to spend any more
time in running after it and trying to collect it. I
must cat, as well as other folks, and if you can't pay
me the five dollars to-day, to help me pay my board
at my regular boarding-house, I'll stay here and
board it out at your table.”

“You will, will you?” said Sharp, looking dag
gers, and stepping toward Peter. “If you give me

a word of your impudence, you may find it'll be a
long time before you collect your bill.”

“It's been a long time already,” said Peter, “and
I can't afford to wait any longer. My mind is made
up; if you don't pay me now, I'm going to stay
here and board it out.”

Sharp colored, and looked at the door, and then
at Peter.

“Come, come, young man,” said he, advancing
with rather a threatening attitude toward Peter,
“the sooner you leave the house peaceably the better.”

“Now, sir,” said Peter, fixing his black eyes upon
Sharp, with an intenseness that he could not but
feel, “I am a small man, and you are considerable
of a large one; but my mind is made up. I am
not going to starve, when there's food enough that
I have an honest claim upon.”

So saying, he took his seat again very deliberately
upon the sofa. Sharp paused; he looked agitated
and angry; and after waiting a minute, apparently
undecided what to do, he left the parlor
and went up stairs. In a few minutes, the servant
rung for dinner. Mrs. Sharp came into the dining
room and took her seat at the head of the table.
Mr. Sharp followed, and seated himself opposite his
lady; and between them, and on the right hand of
of Mrs. Sharp, sat another lady, probably some
friend or relative of the family. When they were
well seated, and Mr. Sharp was beginning to carve,
Peter walked out of the parlor, drew another chair
up to the table, and seated himself very composedly
opposite the last mentioned lady. Mr. Sharp
colored a good deal, but kept on carving. Mrs.
Sharp stared very wildly, first at Peter and then at
her husband.

“What in the world does this mean?” said she.

“Mr. Sharp I didn't know we were to have company
to dinner.”

“We are not,” said the husband. “This young
man has the impudence to take his seat at the table
unasked and says he is going to board out the
amount of the bill.”

“Well, really, this is a pretty piece of politeness,”
said Mrs. Sharp, looking very hard at Peter.

“Madam,” said Peter, “hunger will drive a man
through a stone wall. I must have my board somewhere.”

No reply was made to this, and the dinner went
on without any further reference to Peter at present.
Mr. Sharp helped his wife, and then the other
lady, and then himself, and they all fell to eating.
Peter looked around him for a plate and knife and
fork, but there wre none on the table but what
were in use. Peter, however, was not to be baffled.
He reached a plate of bread, and tipping the
bread upon the table cloth, appropriated the plate
for his own convenience. He then took possession
of the carving knife and fork, helped himself bountifully
to meat and vegetables, and commenced eating
his dinner with the greatest composure imaginable.
These operations on the part of Peter, had
the effect to suspend all operations for the time on
the part of the rest of the company. The ladies
had laid down their knives and forks, and were
staring at Peter in wild astonishment.

“For mercy's sake, Mr. Sharp,” said the lady of
the house, “can't we pick up money enough about
the house to pay this man his five dollars and send
him off? I declare this is too provoking. I'll see
what I can find.”

With that she rose and left the room. Mr. Sharp
presently followed her. They returned again in a
minute, and Mr. Sharp laid a five dollar bill before
Peter, and told him he would thank him to leave

the house. Peter examined the bill to see if it was
a good one, and very quietly folded it and put it into
his pocket. He then drew out a little pocket inkstand
and a piece of paper, laid it upon the table
before him, wrote a receipt for the money, which
he handed to Mr. Sharp, rose from the table, bowed
to the company and retired, thinking as he left
the house that he had had full enough of the custom
of Solomon Sharp, the importer.

Peter Punctual still followed his vocation of circulating
magazines. He had no intention of ever
darkening the door of Mr. Solomon Sharp's store
again, but somehow or other, two or three years
after, as he was canvasing for subscribers in the
lower part of the city, he happened to blunder into
the same store accidentally, without noticing the
name upon the door. Nor did he discover his mistake,
until he had nearly crossed the store and attracted
the attention of Mr. Sharp himself, who was
at his accustomed seat at the desk where Peter had
before so often seen him. Peter thought, as he
had got fairly into the store, he would not back out;
so he stepped up to Mr. Sharp without a look of recognition,
and asked if he would not like to subscribe
for some magazines. Mr. Sharp, who either
did not recognize Peter, or chose not to appear to
recognize him, took the magazines and looked at
them, and found a couple he said he would like to
take, and inquired the terms. They were each
three dollars a year in advance.

“But I don't pay in advance for anything,” said
Sharp. “If you have a mind to leave them at my
house, to be paid for at the end of the year, you
may put me down for these two.”

“No,” said Peter, “I don't wish to take any subscribers,
but those who pay in advance.”

Saying this, he took up his specimens, and was

going out of the door, when Mr. Sharp called him
back.

“Here young man, you may leave those two at
any rate,” said he, “and here's your advance,”
handing him the six dollars.

“Where will you have them left?” said Peter.

“At my house, up town,” said Mr. Sharp, describing
the street and number.

The business being completed, Peter retired,
much astonished at his good luck. He again became
a monthly visitor at Mr. Sharp's door, where
he regularly delivered to the servant girl the two
magazines. Two or three months after this, when
he called one day on his usual round, the girl told
him that Mr. Sharp wanted to see him, and desired
he would call at the store. Peter felt not a little
curious to know what Mr. Sharp might have to
say to him; so in the course of the same day he
called at Mr. Sharp's store.

“Good morning,” said Mr. Sharp as Peter entered;
“come, take a chair, and sit down here.”

Peter, with a “good morning, sir,” did as he was
desired.

“Ain't you the young man,” said Mr. Sharp, with
a comical kind of a look, “who set out to board
out a subscription to the New England Magazine,
at my house two or three years ago.”

“Yes,” said Peter, “I believe I'm the same person
who once had the honor of taking board at your
house.”

“Well,” said Mr. Sharp, “I want to give you a
job.”

“What is it?” said Peter.

“Here, I want you to collect these bills for me,”
said Mr. Sharp, taking a bundle from his desk, “for
I'll be hanged if I can; I've tried till I'm tired.”

Whereupon he opened the bundle and assorted

out the bills, and made a schedule of them, amounting,
in the aggregate, to about a thousand dollars.

“There,” said he, “I will give upon that list ten
per cent commission on all you collect; and on
that list I'll give you twenty-five per cent on all
you collect. What say you? will you undertake
the job?”

“Well, I'll try,” said Peter, “and see what I can
do with them. How soon must I return them?”

“Take your own time for it,” said Mr. Sharp;
“I've seen enough of you to know pretty well what
you are.”

Peter accordingly took the bills and entered on
his new task, following it up with diligence and perseverance.
In a few weeks he called again at
Sharp's store.

“Well,” said Mr. Sharp, “have you made out
to collect anything on those bills?”

“Yes,” said Peter.

“There were some of the ten per cent list that I
thought it probable you might collect,” said Mr.
Sharp. “How many have you collected?”

“All of them,” said Peter.

“All of them!” said Sharp; “well, fact, that's
much more than I expected. The twenty-five per
cent list was all dead dogs, wasn't it? You got
nothing on them, I suppose, did you?”

“Yes, I did,” said Peter.

“Did you though? How much?” said Sharp.

“I got them all,” said Peter.

“Oh, that's all a joke,” said Sharp.

“No, it isn't a joke,” said Peter. “I've collected
every dollar of them, and here's the money,” taking
out his pocket-book, and counting out the bills.

Mr. Sharp received the money with the most
perfect astonishment. He had not expected one
half of the amount would ever be collected.

He counted out the commissions on the ten per

cent list, and then the commissions on the twenty-five
per cent list, and handed the sum over to Peter.
And then he counted out fifty dollars more,
and asked Peter to accept that as a present; “partly,”
said he, “because you have accomplished this
task so very far beyond my expectations, and partly
because my acquaintance with you has taught
me one of the best lessons of my life. It has taught
me the value of perseverance and punctuality. I
have reflected upon it much ever since you undertook
to board out the bill for the magazine at my
house.”

“Why yes,” said Peter, “I think perseverance
and punctuality are great helps in the way of business.”

“If every person in the community,” said Mr.
Sharp, “would make it a point to pay all of his bills
promptly, the moment they become due, what a
vast improvement it would make in the condition
of society all round. That would put people in a
condition, at all times, to be able to pay their bills
promptly.”

We might add, that Peter Punctual afterward
opened a store in the city, in a branch of business
which brought Mr. Sharp to be a customer to him,
and he has been one of his best customers ever
since, paying all of his bills promptly, and whenever
Peter requires it, even paying in advance.