One morning, as Jerry was harnessing me to the cab, a gentleman walked into the yard.
“Good morning, Mr Barker,” he said. “I would like you to take Mrs Briggs to church every Sunday morning. It is too far for her to walk.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Jerry, “but I only have a licence for six days, so I can’t take passengers in my cab on a Sunday.”
“Oh, that’s easy to change, and I would make sure you didn’t lose by it. Mrs Briggs much prefers you to drive her.”
“I would be glad to oblige the lady, sir, but I had a licence for seven days once, and the work was too hard for me and for my horses. Never a day’s rest, never a Sunday with my wife and children. God made a day of rest for men and horses, and I think He knew what was good for them. Since I stopped working on Sundays, I’m stronger, the horses stay fresh, and I’ve even saved more money than before.”
“Oh, very well,” said Mr Briggs coldly. “I will ask somewhere else.” And he walked away.
“We can’t help it, Jack, old boy,” said Jerry to me. “We must have our Sundays.” Then he called Polly and told her everything.
“They are very good customers,” he said. “Mrs Briggs pays fairly, like a lady, and it’s easy work for the horses. If I don’t oblige her in this, we’ll probably lose them altogether. What do you say, little woman?”
“I say, Jerry,” she answered slowly, “that if Mrs Briggs gave you a pound every Sunday morning, I would not have you work seven days again. We know what it was like to have no Sundays. It’s sometimes hard to pay for the oats and hay and the rent, but I would rather struggle harder than go back to those times, when you hardly had a minute to look at your own children.”
“That’s just what I told Mr Briggs,” said Jerry, “and I mean to stick to it. Don’t cry, Polly. I wouldn’t go back if I earned twice as much.”
Three weeks passed, and no order came from Mrs Briggs. Now we had only the jobs from the stand, and the work was harder for horse and man. Jerry took it to heart, but Polly always cheered him up:
“Never mind, Father, never mind.
Do your best,
And leave the rest;
It will all come right
Some day or night.”
Soon everyone on the stand knew that Jerry had lost his best customer, and why. Most of the men said he was a fool, but two or three took his side.
“If working men don’t hold on to their Sunday,” said Truman, “they’ll soon have none left. It’s every man’s right and every animal’s right.”
“That’s fine talk for you religious people,” laughed Larry, “but I’ll earn a shilling when I can.”
Jones said it was the church-goers themselves who wanted cabs on Sundays, so why should the drivers stay at home? Several men agreed with him.
“But don’t you see?” said Jerry. “While you sit on your cabs waiting, they say, ‘If we don’t take his cab, someone else will.’ If you Sunday drivers all stood together and asked for a day of rest, the thing would be done.”