CHAPTER VIIITHE RED-HEADED GIRL
Sol Jerrems the storekeeper, coming in from the back room where he hadbeen drawing molasses for Farmer Higgins, found perched on top thesugar-barrel a chunky, red-haired, freckle-faced young girl whom he hadnever seen before. She seemed perfectly at home in his store and satwith her knees drawn up to her chin and her arms encircling her legs,eyeing soberly the two or three farmers who had come to the Crossing to"trade."
"If the head o' thet bar'l busts in, you'll be a fine mess," remarkedSol.
The girl nodded but did not move from her position. Sol waited on hiscustomers, at times eyeing the strange girl curiously. When the farmershad gone with their purchases he approached the barrel and examined hisvisitor with speculative care.
"Want anything?"
"Spool o' red cotton, number thirty."
"Ain't got no red."
"Green'll do."
"Ain't got green. Only black an' white."
"All right."
"Want black or white?"
"No."
Sol leaned against the counter. He wasn't busy; the girl seemed in nohurry; it was a good time to gossip and find out all about the strangecreature perched on his sugar-barrel.
"Where'd ye come from?" he inquired.
"City," tossing her head toward the north.
"What for?"
"To do sewing for the Hathaways folks. Mary Louise, you know."
Sol pricked up his ears. The Hathaways were newcomers, about whomlittle was known. He wanted to know more, and here was a girl who couldgive him inside information.
"Knowed the Hathaways in the city?"
"Kind o'. Sewed on Mary Louise's spring dresses. How long you beenhere?"
"Me? Why, I come here more'n twenty years ago. What does the Colonel doin the city?"
"Never asked him. Why do they call this place Cragg's Crossing?"
"I didn't name it. S'pose 'cause ol' Cragg used to own all the land,an' the roads crossed in the middle o' his farm."
"What Cragg was that?"
"Eh? Why, father to Ol' Swallertail. Ever seen Ol' Swallertail?"
"No."
"Wal, he's a sight fer sore eyes. First time anybody sees him theyeither laughs er chokes. The movin'-pictur' folks would go crazy overhim. Ever seen a movin'-pictur'?"
"Yes."
"I did, too, when I was in the city las' year. Ol' Swallertail 'mindsme of 'em. Goes 'round dressed up like George Washington when hecrossed the Delaware."
"Crazy?"
"That way, yes; other ways, not a bit. Pretty foxy gent, is Ol'Swallertail."
"Why?"
Sol hesitated, reflecting. These questions were natural, in a stranger,but to explain old Hezekiah Cragg's character was not a particularlyeasy task.
"In the fust place, he drives a hard bargain. Don't spend money, butallus has it. Keeps busy, but keeps his business to himself."
"What is his business?"
"Didn't I say he kep' it to himself?"
"But he owns all the land around here."
"Not now. He owns jest a half-acre, so far's anybody knows, with alittle ol' hut on it thet a respect'ble pig wouldn't live in. It's jes'acrost the river from the place where you're workin'."
"Then what has become of his land?"
"It's stayed jes' where it allus was, I guess," with a chuckle at hisown wit, "but Ol' Swaller-tail sold it, long ago. Ol' Nick Cragg, hisfather afore him, sold a lot of it, they say, and when he died he lefthalf his ready money an' all his land to Hezekiah--thet's Ol'Swallertail--an' the other half o' his money to his second son, Peter."
"Where is Peter?" asked the girl quickly.
"Went back to Ireland, years ago, and never's be'n heard of since. TheCraggs was Irish afore they got to be Americans, but it seems Petehankered fer th' Ol' Sod an' quit this country cold."
"So the Craggs are Irish, eh?" mused the girl in a casual tone. Andthen she yawned, as if not greatly interested. But Sol was interested,so long as he was encouraged to talk.
"I be'n told, by some o' the ol' settlers," he went on, "thet ol' NickCragg were born in Ireland, was a policeman in New York--where he madehis first money--an' then come here an' bought land an' settled down.They ain't much difference 'tween a policeman an' a farmer, I guess. Ifthe story's true, it proves Ol' Swallertail has Irish blood in him yit,though fer that matter he's lived here long enough to be jes' American,like the rest of us. After he come inter the property he gradual-likesold off all the land, piece by piece, till he ain't got noth'n leftbut thet half-acre. Sold most of it afore I come here, an' I be'n atthe Crossing more'n twenty year."
"If the land brought a fair price, Old Swallowtail ought to be rich,"remarked the girl.
"Then he ain't what he orter be. Folks says he specilated, years ago,an' got stung. I know him pretty well--as well as anybody knows him--an' my opinion is he ain't got more'n enough to bury him decent."
"Thought you said he drives a hard bargain?"
"Young woman," said Sol earnestly, "the man don't live as kin makemoney specilatin'. The game's ag'in him, fust an' last, an' the morebrains he's got the harder he'll git stung."
"But I thought you said Mr. Cragg has a business."
"An' I said nobody knows what it is. When Ned Joselyn used to come herethe two was thick, an' Ned were a specilater through an' through. Somethinks it was him as got Cragg's wad, an' some says he lost it all, an'his wife's money, too. Anyhow, Joselyn lit out fer good an' when hewere gone Ann Kenton cried like a baby an' ol' Swallertail 's been dumbas a clam ever since."
"What makes you think Cragg has a business?" persisted the girl.
"He keeps an office, over the store here, an' he has a sign on the doorthet says 'Real Estate.' But he ain't got no real estate, so that ain'twhy he shuts himself in the office day after day--an' even Sundays.He's got some other business. Ev'ry night, afore he goes home, he takesa bunch o' letters to Mrs. Bennett's postoffice, an' ev'ry mornin' hegoes there an' gits another bunch o' letters that's come to him in themail. If that don't mean some sort o' business, I don't know what'nthunder it _does_ mean."
"Nor I," said the girl, yawning again. "What about Ned Joselyn? Was henice?"
"Dressed like a dandy, looked like a fool, acted like the Emp'ror o'Rooshy an' pleased ev'rybody by runnin' away. That is, ev'rybody buthis wife an' Ol' Swallertail."
"I see. Who else lives over your store?"
"I live there myself; me an' my fambly, in the back part. One o' thefront rooms I rents to Ol' Swallertail, an' he pays the rent reg'lar.The other front room Miss Huckins, the dressmaker, lives in."
"Oh. I'm a dressmaker, too. Guess I'll go up and see her. Is she in?"
"When she's out, she leaves the key with me, an' the key ain't here.Say, girl, what's yer name?"
"Josie."
"Josie what?"
"Jessup. Pa was a drayman. Ever hear of him?"
"No. But about the Hathaways; what has--"
"And you've got no red thread? Or green?"
"Only black an' white. Does the Colonel--"
"Can't use black or white," said the girl, deliberately getting off thebarrel. "Guess I'll go up and ask Miss Huckins if she has any red."
Out she walked, and old Sol rubbed his wrinkled forehead with abewildered look and muttered:
"Drat the gal! She's pumped me dry an' didn't tell me a word about themHathaway folks. She worse'n ol' Eben, the nigger help. Seems likenobody wants t' talk about the Hathaways, an' that means there'ssomethin' queer about 'em. But this red-headed sewin'-girl is a perfec'innercent an' I'll git her talkin' yet, if she stays here long."
Meantime Josie mounted the stairs, which were boarded in at one end ofthe building, being built on the outside to economize space, andentered the narrow upper hallway. A chatter of children's voices in therear proclaimed that portion to be the quarters of the Jerrems family.Toward the front was a door on which, in dim letters, was the legend:"H. Cragg. Real Estate."
Here the girl paused to listen.
No sound came from the interior of H.Cragg's apartment. Farther along she found a similar door on which wasa card reading: "Miss Huckins, Dressmaker and Milliner." Listeningagain, she heard the sound of a flatiron thumping an ironing board.
She knocked, and the door was opened by a little middle-aged woman whoheld a hot flatiron in one hand. She was thin; she was bright-eyed; herhair was elaborately dressed with little ringlets across the foreheadand around the ears, so Josie at once decided it was a wig.
Seeing a stranger before her, Miss Huckins looked her over carefullyfrom head to foot, while Josie smiled a vacuous, inconsequent smile andsaid in a perfunctory way:
"Good morning."
"Come in," returned Miss Huckins, with affable civility. "I don't thinkI know you."
"I'm Josie Jessup, from the city. I'm in your line, Miss Huckins--in away, that is. I've come here to do some sewing for Mary Louise Burrows,who is the granddaughter of Colonel Hathaway, who has rented the KentonPlace. Nice weather, isn't it?"
Miss Huckins was not enthusiastic. Her face fell. She had encouragedsundry hopes that the rich little girl would employ her to do whateversewing she might need. So she resumed the pressing of a new dress thatwas spread over her ironing-board and said rather shortly:
"Anything I can do for you?"
"I want to use some red thread and the storekeeper doesn't keep it instock. Queer old man, that storekeeper, isn't he?"
"I don't call him queer. He's honest as the day is long and makes agood landlord. Country stores don't usually keep red thread, for it isseldom used."
"He has been talking to me about old Mr. Cragg, who has an office nextdoor to you. I'm sure you'll admit that Mr. Cragg is queer, if thestorekeeper isn't."
"A man like Mr. Cragg has the right to be queer," snapped thedressmaker, who did not relish this criticism of the natives by aperfect stranger. "He is very quiet and respectable and makes a verysatisfactory neighbor."
Josie, seated in a straight, wood-bottomed chair, seemed not at allchagrined by her reception. She watched the pressing for a timesilently.
"That's a mighty pretty gown," she presently remarked, in a tone ofadmiration. "I don't suppose I shall ever be able to make anything asnice as that. I--I'm not good at planning, you know," with modestself-deprecation. "I only do plain sewing and mending."
The stern features of Miss Huckins relaxed a bit. She glanced at thegirl, then at her work, and said more pleasantly than she had beforespoken:
"This dress is for Mary Donovan, who lives two miles north of here.She's to be married next Saturday--if they get the haying over with bythat time--and this is part of her trousseau. I've made her two otherdresses and trimmed two hats for her--a straw shape and a feltGainsboro. The Donovans are pretty well-to-do."
Josie nodded with appreciation.
"It's nice she can get such elegant things so near home, isn't it? Why,she couldn't do as well in the city--not _half_ as well!"
Miss Huckins held up the gown and gazed at it with unmistakable pride."It's the best Henrietta," said she, "and I'm to get six dollars forthe making. I wanted seven, at first, and Mary only wanted to pay five,so we split the difference. With all the other things, I didn't do sobadly on this trousseau."
"You're in luck," declared Josie, "and so is Mary Donovan. Doesn't Mr.Cragg do any business except real estate?"
"I think he must," replied the dressmaker, hanging up the gown and thenseating herself opposite her visitor. "All the real estate businesshe's done in the last two years was to rent the Kenton Place to ColonelHathaway and make a sale of Higgins' cow pasture to Sam Marvin. Buthe's so quiet, all day, in the next room, that I can't figure out whathe's up to. No one goes near him, so I can't overhear any talk. Onetime, of course, Mr. Joselyn used to go there, and then they alwayswhispered, as if they were up to some deviltry. But after the quarrelJoselyn never came here again."
"Oh, did they quarrel?" asked Josie, with languid interest. She knewher praise of the dress had won the dressmaker's heart and also she wasdelighted to find Miss Huckins a more confirmed and eager gossip thaneven Sol Jerrems.
"I should say they did quarrel!" was the emphatic reply, although shesank her voice to a whisper and glanced warningly at the thinpartition. "At one time I thought there'd be murder done, for Joselynyelled: 'Take that away--take it away!' and Old Swallowtail--that's thename we call Mr. Cragg, you know--roared out: 'You deserve to die forthis cowardly act.' Well, you'd better believe my hair stood on end fora minute," Josie smiled as she thought of the wig standing on end, "butnothing happened. There was deep silence. Then the door opened and Mr.Joselyn walked out. I never interfere with other people's business, butattend strictly to my own, yet that day I was so flustered that Ipeeked through a crack of my door at Mr. Joselyn and he seemed cool asa cucumber. Then Mr. Cragg slammed the door of his room--which is zvery unusual thing for him to do--and that was all."
"When did this happen?" asked Josie.
"Last fall, just before Mrs. Joselyn and her husband went back to theircity home. Some time in the winter Mr. Joselyn ran away from her, theysay, but I guess old Cragg had nothing do with that. Around here,Joselyn wasn't liked. He put on too many airs of superiority toplease the country folks. Sol Jerrems thinks he made away with Mr.Cragg's money, in unwise speculations, but I don't believe Cragg hadany money to lose. He seems as poor as I am."
"What do you suppose drew those two men together, Miss Huckins?"inquired the girl.
"I can't say. I've tried to figure it out, but the truth is that oldCragg don't confide in anyone--not even in me, and we're closeneighbors. You couldn't find two men in all America more different thanJoselyn and Cragg, and yet they had dealings of some sort together andwere friendly, for a time."
Josie sighed regretfully.
"I like to hear about these mysterious things," said she. "It's almostas good as reading a story. Only, in this case, we will never know howthe story ends."
"Well, perhaps not," admitted the dressmaker. "Joselyn is gone and noone'll ever get the truth out of Cragg. But--I'd like to know, myself,not only how the story ends but what it was all about. Just now all weknow is that there _was_ a story, of some sort or other, and perhaps isyet."
A period of silence, while both mused.
"I don't suppose you could find a bit of red thread?" said Josie.
"No, I haven't used it for ages. Is it to mend with?"
"Yes."
"If it's a red dress, use black thread. It won't show, if you'recareful; and it won't fade away and leave a white streak, like redsometimes does."
"Thank you, Miss Huckins." She rose to go. "I'd like to drop in again,sometime, for a little visit."
"Come as often as you like," was the cordial reply.
"Cragg's Crossing people are rather interesting; they're so differentfrom city folks," said Josie.
"Yes, they really are, and I know most of them pretty well. Come inagain, Josie."
"Thank you; I will."