CHAPTER VII
A CLEVER PLAN
Patty waited, thinking over the coming performance and mentallyrehearsing her part. It was not really difficult, but it was tricky,for unless she sprang through the paper-covered hoops at just the rightmoment, it would be an awkward blunder. However, after manyrehearsals, she felt pretty sure of herself, and looked forward withpleasure to the fun.
She glanced round Ray's room. It was full of attractive odds and endsin addition to its furniture and regular appointments, which were ofthe most elaborate description. Rising, Patty examined some of thepictures and ornaments, and became so engrossed, that the minutes flewby unnoticed. On the dressing-table was a silver-framed clock, and atinkling chime rang out from it, before Patty had given a thought tothe hour. Quarter-past seven! And the performance was scheduled forhalf-past eight. She had waited there for Ray nearly fifteen minutes.It was very queer. What could have detained her?
Patty waited restlessly for five minutes longer, and then determined togo in search of Ray. She turned the doorknob, but the door would notopen! Like a flash the explanation came to her. She was locked in!Ray had done it, in fulfilment of her threat to "get even" with Patty.
The summons over there had been a blind, to trick her into the room,and now she was locked in!
Patty smiled at the silly ruse. The matter couldn't be serious,--shecould certainly get out some way, and get home in time to don hercostume and get to the circus, even if a little late. Unwilling tocause unnecessary disturbance, she looked round the room to note theexits. There was but one other door and that led to a dressing-room,which in turn had a door opening into a bathroom. That was all. Nomore doors were to be seen. The windows had no balconies, and being onthe second floor, there was no chance of escape thereby.
Patty looked around for a telephone, but saw none. She thought such anelaborate household would have many of them, but realised that Rayprobably had a sitting-room or boudoir in addition to these rooms andher telephone would be there. Patty knew the girl was an only child ofdoting parents, and that she was spoiled and pampered to an inordinatedegree.
Patty considered. Doubtless Mr. and Mrs. Rose were not at home, or, ifthey were, they would not answer a call, for Ray would have lookedafter that. The servants, likewise, must have been ordered not torelease Patty, for Ray Rose was not one to do anything by halves, andif she had planned to get Patty over there, she had also planned tokeep her there.
It was ridiculous, it was maddening,--but it was true. Patty waslocked in a room and could not get out. She hadn't heard a key turn,but it must have done so. Peeping in the keyhole, she could see thatthe key was in the lock, from the hall side.
Endeavouring to use her ingenuity, Patty tried to turn the key from herside by means of a button-hook, a nail file, a hairpin, and a glovestretcher. Needless to say her attempts were unsuccessful.
"I've heard of turning a key in its own lock," she mused, but she foundthe feat impossible of achievement.
Again the chiming little timepiece reminded her that another quarterhour had flown.
"Half-past seven!" she thought. "My dear Miss Fairfield, you have gotto do something pretty quick! Get busy! What would your favouriteheroes of wild romance do to get out of such a fix as this?"
When Patty was baffled, she always talked to herself. But her appealsto herself or her ingenuity did no good, and after a thorough searchfor a means of exit, she concluded to call out. She felt it was anundignified thing to do, and, too, she felt it would do no good, butthere was no other course to pursue, that she could see.
So she called, gently at first, and then more loudly, but, as she hadanticipated, there was no response. Going close to the door, shecalled again and again, and then concluded it was useless.
She threw herself into an easy chair, thoroughly angry with Ray Rose,and chagrined at herself for being led into such a trap.
"I might have known there was some trickery," she thought, "when thatgirl called me over here at the last minute. And she was so sweet andfriendly today, it should have put me on my guard. Elise warned me,but I never dreamed of anything like this. However, now is no time toworry over that, I must get out,--that's what I must do, get out!"
But it seemed hopeless. The case was so simple, that there was noopportunity for ingenious schemes. There she was, in the beautifulroom, with the only exit to the house, the hall door, securely locked.The door was of solid mahogany, the knob and lock of a most securefirmness. Had it been a light or flimsy door, Patty would have rattledand shaken it, but this door was solid as a rock. Either, she wouldhave to think up some clever plan, and that quickly, or spend theentire evening there in solitude. Her quick mind took in thesealternatives, and she thought that if no idea presented itself soon,she would succumb to the inevitable, and quietly settle down for theevening. There were pleasant-looking books about, soft couches andpillows, convenient reading-lamps, and even a box of chocolates on atable. Matters might be worse, thought philosophical Patty. But shehated to give up,--to acknowledge herself beaten.
Once again she opened a window, and looked out. It was on the side ofthe house, and toward the rear.
The house was not set back far from the street; indeed, the sidewalkwas not more than forty feet from the window out of which Patty leaned.An idea came to her, and going quickly to the table she found a sheetof paper and a pencil. There was no desk in the room, and she feltherself lucky to find these things at all. She hastily scribbled anote, but she made it urgent and definite. Then she looked around fora missile which she could throw to the street. There were few thingsthat were available, and she finally selected a heavy hairbrush as thebest. It was of ivory and bore a bold monogram, as did the rest ofRay's toilet appointments, but Patty took it unhesitatingly, as she hadreached the limit of her patience and consideration.
She tied the note firmly to the brush, and leaning far out of thewindow, waited for a promising passer-by. At last, a young man camealong, and Patty deftly threw the brush so that it landed at his veryfeet. Practice at basketball and other such sports had made heraccurate of aim and as the astonished man saw the brush, he naturallypicked it up.
Patty watched him take off the note and read it, by the light of thestreet electric, and after a swift gaze at the house, he started off ata brisk pace.
"H'm," said Patty to herself, "not so worse, Miss Fairfield, not soworse! The axe is laid at the root of the tree!"
Glancing at the clock, she sat down to wait. It was twenty minutes toeight, but her heart beat high with hope. If she could outwit Ray Roseit would be great fun, and she would "pay back" the mischievous girl inher own coin.
At ten minutes to eight, the door of the room opened a little way. Aservant of the Rose household put her head in, and said, "This womanwishes to see you, Miss Fairfield," and Sarah, a maid from theFarringtons', stood in the doorway.
"Come in, Sarah," said Patty. "Close that door!" she said to the Roseservant, so peremptorily, that the order was obeyed at once.
"Quick!" whispered Patty, and Sarah tore off her long cloak and bonnetand veil, and Patty as quickly put them on. Then she took the smallbasket Sarah had brought, and standing near the door, said, in a clearvoice: "You may go now, Sarah. Tell Miss Elise not to look for me thisevening."
"Yes, Miss Patty," Sarah responded, and then, as the servant outsideopened the door, Patty slipped through, turning her face so that itmight not be seen. The Rose servant, thinking Sarah had come out,relocked the door quickly, that the prisoner might not escape, andPatty went demurely downstairs, and out at the back door, without letor hindrance. Once in the street, she fairly flew to the hall wherethe circus performance was to be given, for she well knew that Ray Rosehad probably already secured her dancing costume from Elise by someplausible bit of trickery.
It was but a few moments after eight when Patty walked into thedressing-room of the amateur performers.
"For gracious' sake, Patty, where _have_ y
ou been?" cried Elise, whowas sitting before a mirror, making up her face. "Nobody could findyou anywhere!"
"Here I am, all right," said Patty, blithely. "Where's Ray Rose?"
"In the next room. Where's your costume? Ray came over and got itfrom the house."
"Oh, she did, did she? All right."
Patty went into the next room, where several girls sat in their stagecostumes, and all with warm wraps around them. Ray Rose was completelyenveloped in a long cloak that covered her from neck to feet.
"Hello, Ray," said Patty, pleasantly; "I'll take my costume now, as Iwant to get dressed in it."
If ever there was a surprised looking girl it was Ray at that moment.She stared at Patty as at an apparition.
"Where--where did you come from?" she stammered.
"Oh, I ran over from your house. Your room is lovely, Ray, but I gotawfully tired of it. Now, you get yourself out of my skirts, and handthem over to me. But first, you go and telephone to your household tolet Sarah, the Farringtons' maid, out of your room, where she may yetbe locked in, for all I know."
Ray looked bewildered, and Patty, whose eyes were shining withrighteous indignation, took her by the arm, and marched her to thetelephone. Patty herself called up the Rose house, and then, thrustingthe receiver into Ray's hand, said, "Give your order, and be quickabout it."
"Let the girl out of my room," said Ray, through the transmitter. "Itisn't Miss Fairfield in there now, it's one of the Farrington maids.Let her go home."
Patty took the receiver from Ray and hung it up, and then marched herto the dressing-room, and divested her of her long cloak.
"Why, Ray Rose!" cried Elise, "if you haven't got Patty's dress on,yourself! What are you up to?"
"Never mind, Elise," said Patty, "help us change, there isn't muchtime. Ray made a mistake."
Without a word, Ray took off Patty's voluminous tulle skirts in whichshe was arrayed, and handed them over to their rightful owner. As fastas she received them, Patty put them on, and in ten minutes, washerself clothed in her rightful property.
Meantime Ray had no costume to wear.
"Where's your Pierrette rig?" asked Patty.
"Over home," said Ray, disconsolately.
"Go and telephone for them to send it over, if you want it," saidPatty. "Put on your long cloak, and telephone."
Ray looked at her dubiously for a moment, and then said, "No, I won't.I'll go home and stay home,--that's what I'll do!"
"Go ahead," said Patty, blithely, who didn't feel she really owed thegirl any further consideration. "And next time you try to get evenwith anybody, pick out some one who'll let you _stay_ even!"
"You're a hummer!" said Ray, in unwilling admiration. "How did you doit?"
"I'll tell you some other time," and Patty laughed in spite of herselfat the admiration on Ray's countenance. "If you're going to get yourcostume over here and get into it, you want to hustle."
"Time enough," returned Ray, carelessly. "My stunt is the sixth on theprogram, so there's lots of time."
This was true, so Patty turned all her attention to reddening her pinkcheeks, while the other girls gathered around in desperate curiosity.
"What does it all mean?" asked Ethel Merritt. "Do tell us, MissFairfield. Why did Ray wear your dress?"
"Ask her," said Patty, smiling. "It was a whim of hers, I guess. Itmade me a little bother, but all's well that ends well."
"You are the good-naturedest old goose!" cried Elise, who had aninkling of what was inexplicable to the others.
"Might as well," said Patty, serenely. "She's a hummer, Ray Rose is.She sure is a hummer!"
And then Patty pronounced herself finished and turned from the mirrorfor inspection.
"Lovely!" approved Elise, "if you admire strongly-marked features!"
Patty's cheeks and lips were very red, her eyebrows greatly darkened,and her face thickly coated with powdered chalk.
"It's awful, I know," she agreed, "but in the strong lights of thestage and the footlights too, you have to pile it on like that."
"Of course you do," said Ethel. "Mine looks the same."
Laughingly gaily, the girls went to take their places on the stage.Bob Riggs, the ringmaster, was there and assigned them their places.
Patty's performance was near the beginning of the program. She did asolo dance, first, a lovely fancy dance that she had learned in NewYork, and then she did the grotesque and humorous dances called for bythe occasion. The one that necessitated springing, head first, throughhoops covered with light, thin paper, she did very prettily, strikingthe taut paper with just the right force to snap it into a thousandshreds.
Her act was wildly applauded by the enthusiastic audience, and wouldhave been several times repeated but for the scarcity of hoops.
Later came her grotesque dance with Bruin Boru, the wonderful dancingbear. Jack Fenn was very funny in his bear-skin costume, and he pawedand scraped as he ambled ludicrously about, and kept time to the musicwith mincing steps or sprawling strides.
This number was the hit of the evening, and Ray Rose had longed toperform it herself. But her plan fell through, and in her prettyPierrette costume she did a very pleasing song and dance, but her eyesrested longingly on Patty's frilly skirts.
The last number was a chariot race. The chariots were of the low,backless variety, peculiar to circus performances, indeed they had beenprocured from a real circus.
Patty and Ethel Merritt drove two of these, and Bob Riggs and Jack Fennthe other two.
But there was no such mad race as is sometimes seen at the realcircuses. The two men drove faster, but Patty and Ethel were contentto fall behind and bring up the rear. In fact, it was in no sense ofthe word a race, but merely a picturesque drive of the gorgeouschariots by the gay drivers.
As Patty swept round the small arena for the last time, she beckoned toRay Rose, who sat, a little disconsolately, near the edge of the stageplatform.
"Get in!" Patty whispered, as she slowed down, and, obeying withoutquestion, Ray jumped from the stage, right into the chariot, which waslarge enough to hold both girls.
"Grab the reins with me!" Patty cried, and Ray did, and the finaltriumphant circuit was made with two laughing drivers holding theribbons, to the deafening applause of the hilarious audience.
Bob Riggs, from his own chariot, pronounced the entertainment over, andthen the performers and audience mingled in a gay crowd, dancing andfeasting till the small hours.
"I'm sorry," said Ray, penitently, to Patty, as soon as she had a goodchance. "I was a wretch, and you're an angel to speak to me at all."
"I am," agreed Patty, calmly. "Not one girl in a dozen would forgiveyou. It was a horrid thing to do, and you ought to be ashamed ofyourself and you are. I know that. But I choose to forget the wholeaffair, and I only ask you never to treat anybody else so meanly."
"I never will," promised Ray Rose. "I think you have cured me of thatchildish trick of 'getting even.'"
"Yes, till next time," said Patty, laughing.