CHAPTER XXIV THREE QUESTIONS
"He's coming round all right." It was the house doctor of the hotel whospoke. Lucile was still bending over Patrick O'Hara. "He's regainingconsciousness. It's only a scalp wound. A narrow squeak. An inch to theright, and it would have got him. He'd better go to the hospital for alittle extra petting and patching, but he's in no danger--not the least.And as for your friend Laurie--he's got a bump on his head that'll do tohang his hat on for a day or two. But outside of perhaps a bit of aheadache, he's O. K. Your friends are riding under a lucky star, I'dsay."
"A lucky star," thought Lucile. Again she was free. Had the Lady of theSpirit of Christmas vanished? No. For once fortune was with her. As iffascinated by the scene, the lady still stood there, looking down atPatrick O'Hara.
Twenty seconds later this lady felt a tug at her arm as a girl in a lowbut excited whisper said: "You are the Spirit of Christmas."
"What?" the lady stared at her for a second, then a smile lighted herface. "Oh yes, why to be sure! So I am. In the excitement of the moment Ihad quite forgotten. Surely I am. So it is you who win? I am glad, sovery, very glad! I do believe you recognized me five minutes ago, andthat you've been working over that brave young policeman ever since, whenI might easily have slipped away. What wonderful unselfishness! Here isthe gold!"
Lucile felt a hard lump of something pressed into her hand and withoutlooking down knew that it was ten double eagles. A warm glow crept overher.
"I did see you," she said, after murmuring her thanks, "but you seePatrick O'Hara was wounded trying to rescue a friend of mine. So howcould I desert him for gold?"
"Yes, yes, how could you? Who was your friend?"
"Cordie."
"Oh! Cordie? Was she in danger?" the lady exclaimed excitedly. "Where isshe? I must go to her at once!"
"Here! Here I am, Auntie!" cried an excited and tremulous young voice.The next moment little Cordie was enfolded in the arms of the MysteryLady, Spirit of Christmas. And this lady was also Miss Diurno, the greatvirtuoso, and Cordie had called her Auntie!
* * * * * * * *
At exactly a half hour before midnight on this most exciting ChristmasEve, four people sat at a round table in the Butler House. There was adistinguished looking lady, a young man with a bump on his head that madehis hair stand up in a circle, a young lady of college age, and a girl inher teens. They were the Mystery Lady, Laurie Seymour, Lucile and Cordie.
Ice cream and cakes had been served; coffee was on the way. Laurie hadfinished explaining to Miss Diurno the ancient custom of some longforgotten land, that of answering, truthfully, three questions round.
"But Laurie, old dear," she protested, "why should I ask three questionsof you? I already know far too much about you for my own good peace ofmind; and as for Cordie, I fancy I know more about her than she knowsabout herself. I move we amend the custom a little. How would it do toallow our friend Lucile to ask all the questions--three around for eachof us?"
"Oh! That would be darling!" exclaimed Lucile, fairly leaping from herchair. "You are all so very, very mysterious. There are so many, manythings I'd like to know."
"Agreed!" exclaimed Laurie.
"I don't mind," smiled Cordie.
"Good. That's settled," said Miss Diurno, whose very greatness as amusician so affected Lucile that she found it very difficult to be herusual frank and friendly self. "Miss Lucile, you may have ten minutes forthinking up questions. Then, over our coffee, we will answer them. Butremember, only three questions, three around."
"Only three," Lucile whispered to herself. "And there is so much I wantto know! So much I just _must_ know!"
As she sat there, with her head all in a whirl, trying in vain to formthe questions she wished to ask, one conviction was borne in upon her.She had been the center of a plot, a very friendly plot, she was sure ofthat, and one that had been entered into the truest of Christmas spirit.Cordie had known Miss Diurno all the time, in fact had only a short timeago called her Auntie. Miss Diurno had called Laurie by a familiarname--she had said "Old dear." She must have known him a long time. Thensurely, to be a friend to such an one, he must be something rather greathimself. And Cordie? She could scarcely be the simple little country girlshe had thought her. Lucile's mind was in such a daze that when the greatpianist tapped her wrist watch and said: "Time's up. Who's the first?"she had not formed one question.
"Age before beauty," laughed Cordie.
"Well, that's me?" smiled Miss Diurno. "I am ready to be questioned."
"Why--er--" stammered Lucile. "Why did you, who are such a very greatmusician, undertake the humble task of assisting in a newspaper stunt?"
"Dear little girl," said Miss Diurno, a very mellow note of kindnesscreeping into her voice, "there are no great people in the world, andthere are no truly humble tasks. All people who are truly great are alsovery humble. Tasks called humble by men may be truly great.
"But you have asked me a question. The reason I accepted that newspapertask was this: Marie Caruthers, my very best school chum and lifetimefriend, went in for newspaper work. She was to have done the stunt, butjust when the time came she was taken to the hospital. So I volunteeredto take her place. And it was fun, heaps of it! Just imagine having thewhole city looking for you and yet to be walking in and out among thepeople every day and not a single one of them recognizing you at all.
"But there were times enough when I got into plenty of trouble. Thatnight in the department store was a scream!"
"Not so much of a scream for me," grumbled Laurie. "I gave you mypass-out. Then after knocking nearly all the skin off my hand going downthe bundle chute, I had to sleep in the basement, with corrugated paperfor mattress and covers."
"Poor old Laurie!" smiled Miss Diurno. "But you deserved all you got.Think of the role you have been playing! Think! Just think!" laughed thepianist.
"You see," she said, turning to Lucile to explain her presence in thestore that night, "I had promised to be in the store six hours that day.Then I allowed myself to become absorbed in some new music, and the firstthing I knew it was getting late in the afternoon and my six hours notyet begun. Of course there was nothing for it but to remain in the storeafter closing hours. I hid in that long narrow place, wedged myselfbetween book shelves and stands, then stuck there until the clock struckten.
"I hadn't realized that it would be hard to get out. When I did think ofit I was terror-stricken. To think of remaining in that great vault of astore all night! Ugh! It gives me the shivers to think of it, even now. Ihaven't the least notion what I would have done if I hadn't come upongood old Laurie. He gave me his pass-out. You saw him do it. I knew thisat the time, and I think you were a great little sport not to raise a bigrumpus, especially after I took your coat."
"Why did you take my coat?" asked Lucile.
"I was afraid I couldn't get out in that fur cape. And besides, I wantedjust such a coat as yours for the next day's stunt. So I traded with you.That was fair enough, wasn't it?"
"Traded? What do you mean?"
"Just what I said, just traded, and thanked you for the opportunity. Andnow, my dear, that makes three questions."
"Three," Lucile cried excitedly. "Why no, I've only asked one."
"Leave it to the crowd," beamed the great little lady.
"Three! Three!" agreed Laurie and Cordie with one voice.
"Why--why then I shall be obliged to take up someone else."
"Heads I'm next, tails I'm not," said Laurie, tossing a coin in air."Heads! I'm it. Do your worst."
"Who is Jefrey Farnsworth?" Lucile asked.
"See!" exclaimed Laurie. "See what I get into right away! Well, since itis Christmas Eve, I dare not tell a lie. I am forced to inform you thatthe only gentleman at this table was given that name at his birth."
"You--you are Jefrey Farnsworth?"
"Quite right."
"Be careful," warned Cordie, "You've used up
two questions already."
Lucile was silent for a moment, then with a smile she said:
"Why did you take an assumed name, and who was Sam, and did he haveanything to do with your selling books, and why were you afraid of him?"
"That business of hanging your question on a string is great stuff,"laughed Laurie. "I recommend that you try it out on Cordie."
Then in a more sober tone, he said:
"You see it was this way: My publishers saw that my book was going to goacross rather big and, since I was to benefit financially in its success,they thought it would be nice for me to have a part in making it a stillgreater--um--um, triumph. So they cooked up that idea about my speakingto ladies' clubs. I knew I couldn't do it, but I knew also that Sam wouldmake me do it if I stuck around. Everyone does what Sam wants them to do;that is, they do if they stay where he is.
"So I said to myself, 'If I must help sell my books, I'll do it in astraightforward way right over the counter. I'll get a job.' I did. Andjust so Sam couldn't find me and drag me away, I came to this city andtook an assumed name.
"Sam's a sort of salesman for my publishers; that is, he sells books whenhe isn't promoting authors. When I saw him in the store that time I justnaturally had to disappear.
"I think, though," he added, "that even Sam is satisfied. We sold twothousand copies of 'Blue Flames,' you and Donnie and Rennie and all therest.
"As for my knowing the lady of the hour," he smiled, touching the arm ofMiss Diurno, "I've known her for some time. And on some future lovely dayin June, when my income has come to be half as much as hers, we're goingto move into a certain lovely little vine covered cottage I know aboutand set up a nest all for ourselves."
"Good!" exclaimed Lucile. "Can't I come to see you?"
"My dear," said the great musician, "you may come and live with us, bothyou and Cordie, live with us forever."
"Cordie, your turn to be questioned," said Laurie.
"Oh!" exclaimed Cordie, throwing her arms about Lucile and hiding herface in the folds of her dress. "I don't want you to ask me questions. Idon't! I don't! I just want to confess how mean I have been and what anunkind trick I have played on you."
"Why Cordie!" Lucile consoled her. "You've not been mean to me at all.You--you've been the dearest kind of a little pal!"
"Oh, yes I have! I let you think I was a poor little girl from thecountry, when I wasn't at all. I allowed you to spend money on me and payall the room rent when I just knew you thought you were going to have tolive on milk toast all next term of school. And I never even offered todo my share at all.
"But if you only knew," she raced on, "how good it seemed to have onefriend who wasn't one bit selfish, who didn't want a lot of things forherself and who was willing to do things for other people when she reallyneeded just plain ordinary things for herself. If you only knew! If youonly did!" Cordie's voice rose shrill and high. She seemed about to burstinto tears.
"There, there, dear little pal!" whispered Lucile. "I think I understand.But tell me, why did you take a job as wrapper when you really wasn'tpoor and didn't need the money?"
"Money!" laughed Cordie, now quite herself again. "I've never had to askfor any in my whole life! My father owns a third of that big store weworked in, and a lot besides."
"But Dick?" said Lucile.
"I rode Dick on my father's estate. It nearly broke my heart when theysold him. My father gave up his stables."
"But you haven't told me why you wanted to work in the store."
"Well, you see that day, the first day you ever saw me, just for fun Ihad dressed up in plain old fashioned clothes and had gone downtown for alark. Then I did that foolish fainting stunt. I really, truly fainted.And that man, that hawk-eyed man--" she shuddered, "must have recognizedme. He must have known he could get a lot of money from father if only hecould carry me away. Anyway he tried it and you--saved me!" She paused togive Lucile another hug.
"You are coming to my house for Christmas dinner, and I've kept track ofeverything in a little book and I'm going to pay you every cent, truly Iam, and we'll have the best time.
"But I was going to tell you," she paused in her mad ramble, "I was----"
"Listen!" Miss Diurno held up a hand for silence, "Cordie, someone ispaging your name. Here! Over here!" she called to the bell boy.
"Telephone," said the boy.
The three sat in silence until Cordie returned.
"What do you think!" she exclaimed as she came bounding toward them. "Itwas James, my friend the bundle carrier at the phone. They've workedfast. They raided the room of--of the hawk-eyed man and they found James'silver fox skins. And Auntie, I'm going to have father buy them as apresent for you. Won't that be g-grand!"
"I should think it might," smiled her aunt, giving her arm anaffectionate squeeze. "But, my dear, you hadn't finished telling Lucile."
"Oh! That's a short story now. When I saw how good and kind you were,"Cordie said, turning to Lucile, "when I saw the work there was to do andeverything, I was fascinated. I just wanted to play I was just what youthought me to be. So I called up my father and made him let me do it.That was all there was to it.
"But Auntie!" she exclaimed, turning to Miss Diurno. "Why did you stealmy badge of serfdom?"
"Your what?"
"My badge of serfdom, the iron ring. In olden days serfs wore ironcollars; now it's an iron ring."
"Oh, your iron ring!" laughed her aunt. "I needed it for my stunt. Buthere it is; you may have it and welcome, diamond and all."
"I shall keep you ever and always," murmured the girl, pressing the ringto her lips. "I shall cherish you in memory of a grand and gloriousadventure."
"Of course you understood," said Miss Diurno, turning to Lucile, "thatyou are to keep the fur lined cape."
"No, I----"
"Oh yes, you must! It was the one extravagance that I made the paper payfor. I traded with you, and have lost yours, so there is really no otherway out. Besides," her voice softened, "I want you to accept it as a giftfrom me, a little token of appreciation for your many kindnesses to mylittle niece."
Lucile's head was in a whirl. She found herself unable to think clearlyof all her good fortune. A great musician, an author, and a very richgirl for her friends; a magnificent cape of midnight blue and fox skin,and two hundred dollars in gold! Merry Christmas! What a Christmas itwould be indeed!
"Listen," whispered Miss Diurno. From some distant room there came theslow, sweet chimes of a clock.
"Striking midnight," she whispered. Then from far and near there came theclanging of church bells.
"Christmas morning!" exclaimed Miss Diurno, springing to her feet."Merry, Merry Christmas to all!"
"Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!" they chorused in return.