A City Schoolgirl and Her Friends

  CHAPTER XXVI.

  MORE CLOUDS.

  Vava meanwhile went to Stella's new office, and found her sister, withhat and jacket on, waiting for her. 'You have got done? I suppose theydon't bring you tea here?' said Vava.

  'No, we must wait until we get home. We shall enjoy a cup of tea withdinner all the more,' said Stella.

  However, when they arrived at No. 2 Heather Road, the housekeeper, whohad evidently been on the watch for them, came into the hall to welcomethem, and, taking their umbrellas, said, 'It's cold, this nasty wet day,my bairns; come into the sitting-room and warm yourselves by the fire.I've the kettle boiling and some hot scones, if you'd care to have sometea.'

  'Oh nursie, you just are the dearest darling in the world; we haven'thad any afternoon tea. These new people are not as thoughtful as Mr.James Jones was!' exclaimed Vava.

  'It is not really a necessity; we could very well wait tilldinner-time,' observed Stella. 'But I must say I shall be very glad of acup to-day; it has been such a long day.'

  Mrs. Morrison looked at the weary young face from under her glasses withher shrewd eyes, but said nothing, and only drew the little table nearthe fire, took away the wet shoes, and went off to get tea.

  'Nursie is a very comforting person, Stella, isn't she?' said Vava, asshe held out her cold hands to the cheerful blaze.

  'She spoils us all. By the way, I wonder where Amy and Eva are; it istime for them to be home, and nursie has only brought in two cups,'replied her sister.

  The housekeeper coming in with the teapot at that instant overheard thelast few words. 'The other two young leddies will be having their teaupstairs,' she remarked in answer to Stella.

  'Are they in?' asked Vava, helping herself to a hot buttered scone.

  'Yes, they are in,' replied Mrs. Morrison.

  'What's the matter? Did they get drenched? Why are they having teaupstairs?' the girl continued.

  'They wished to have it there, so I took it up,' observed thehousekeeper.

  'But I don't think you ought to spoil them like that. Why could they notcome down and have tea with us here, instead of giving you the troubleof carrying it up to them?' remonstrated Stella, who resented the twoEnglish girls making the housekeeper run up and down stairs for them.

  'I'm none so old as all that, and I have not much to do while you areout all day,' declared Mrs. Morrison, putting down the scones on thetripod in front of the fire and going out of the room.

  'All the same, I call it rather cool of them making nursie run up anddown stairs for them,' objected Vava.

  'I expect they were wet through and had to change, and that nursie tookthe tea up without being asked,' suggested Stella.

  'They'd be much more comfortable down here by the fire, I should think,than in their cold rooms,' observed Vava.

  'Perhaps they have gone to bed,' said Stella.

  Vava listened for a moment. 'No, they haven't; I can hear them movingabove us, and--they have a fire in Amy's room; I can hear them pokingit! What extravagance!' she continued.

  Stella was privately of the same opinion, and she wondered at thehousekeeper encouraging it. Moreover, it meant more work; but she wouldnot criticise their house-mates any more, and changed the conversation.Soon after, Vava set to work at her books, reading over the term's workfor the examination on the following day, and Stella decided to go upand see if Amy had caught a chill, or had any such reason for stayingupstairs, or whether it was only laziness.

  There was dead silence when she knocked at the door, and then a murmuredconversation before Amy unlocked the door, and said, 'Come in, Stella.Eva has a headache, so Mrs. Morrison very kindly insisted on her lyingdown on my bed and having a fire.'

  It did occur to Stella as strange that Eva should lie upon Amy's bed andhave the fire in her room; but as Eva had her back turned to her shethought the kindest thing she could do would be to leave her alone, soshe said, 'I am so sorry Eva is ill. Mrs. Morrison did not tell me that,or I would not have come and disturbed you.'

  'I'm not ill.--You'd better tell her about it, Amy; she'll have to knowsooner or later,' said Eva from the bed in a muffled voice.

  Stella looked with concern from one to the other. 'I hope there isnothing wrong?' she asked.

  Amy made a sign to her to come out of the room, and they went downstairsto the little sitting-room before the former said anything, and evenwhen they were sitting down in the two easy-chairs, which the good oldhousekeeper had drawn up to the fire, she did not seem inclined tobegin.

  At last Stella said, 'Tell me what is wrong, Amy--a trouble shared is atrouble halved. I suppose it has something to do with that wretchedfurniture?'

  Amy gave a great sigh, and said, 'Yes. Oh if only she had consulted us!But it was only--thanks to Mrs. Morrison, who got the truth out ofher--that she told me to-night; though, I am afraid, it is too late forus to do anything to help her.'

  'I suppose the man is worrying her for the payments? Has she let themfall into arrears?' inquired Stella, to help her friend, who seemed tofind a difficulty in continuing.

  'It's worse than that; it's a dreadful business, and not a nice story;but it is that friend of hers who is at the bottom of it. The furniturehas been bought in a false name, and Eva represented herself as overtwenty-one, and signed a paper making herself liable for the wholeamount if the payments fell into arrears, and of course they have, andit appears the man came down and interviewed Mrs. Morrison, and wouldhave made himself very unpleasant if she had not overawed him. Of courseshe denied there being any one here of the name Eva gave.'

  Stella was, as Amy had expected, very much shocked at this tale, but allshe said was, 'I cannot understand the man's believing that Eva wastwenty-one; she does not look more than eighteen at the most.'

  'That was just what we said, Mrs. Morrison and I; but--and this is theworst part of it--she took the name of her friend and used her birthcertificate, which this girl happened to have for some examination, andthe girl actually went with Eva and identified her as being the personin the certificate.'

  'Disgraceful!' burst out involuntarily from Stella.

  'It is disgraceful, and now the man threatens her with exposure if shedoes not pay down the whole amount.'

  'How much is it?' inquired Stella.

  'Thirty-five pounds,' said Amy.

  'That seems to me a good deal, even for that suite,' observed Stella.

  'So it is; but he said it was credit price.'

  'And how much has she paid?' asked Stella.

  'Only five pounds, and she had to sell her watch and a gold bracelet anda silk dress to pay that, she says. She never could save out of herweekly salary,' explained Amy.

  Stella remembered poor Eva's motto made out of their four names, andthought how very inappropriate a one it had proved in her case. 'PoorEva!' she exclaimed.

  'Yes, indeed it is "poor Eva!" and I don't see how we are to help her;we cannot give her the thirty pounds, and the man demands it withineight days.'

  'I don't believe he can; besides, if she has not got it, it is not anygood his demanding it; he must take his furniture back,' declaredStella, who, though she did not know much of such business, had a goodbusiness head.

  'He declares the furniture is not worth the half now, and threatens totake the matter into court, and put Eva in prison for getting goodsunder false pretences.'

  'Has she no relations to whom she could go for advice? Surely she cannotbe alone in the world?' Stella asked anxiously.

  'I don't think she has any near relations; her father was a verypeculiar man, and, I fancy, had quarrelled with all his relations, andhis wife's as well. I know none ever came to visit them,' said Amy.

  'She must have friends,' said Stella.

  'She says she would rather be put in prison than tell any of them,'declared Amy.

  'Then we must consult a lawyer. I wish Mr. Stacey were nearer; but hemay know some one in London who would advise us, though I don't knowwhat is to be done about the money. I have not thirty pounds at
thisminute,' said Stella.

  'Nor have I, or I would give it willingly; it is dreadful to see her.She may say she is not ill, but she looks ill, and she will be if thisgoes on,' said Amy.

  Stella was very sorry for Eva; but she felt rather angry with her too,though her hard-heartedness would have melted if she could have seenEva, who lay upon her bed looking the picture of woe.

  When Vava came back, the three of them sat down to dinner, an especiallynice and tempting dinner made by the old housekeeper, who managed tomake tasty dishes, in spite of being economical; and her young charges,for such they may truly be called, made a very good meal.

  'I'll take some up to Eva; I 'm sure this will tempt her!' cried Vavawhen she had finished her dinner.

  Amy had already taken her tray up, and brought it back untouched; butVava would not be gainsaid, and carried up some soup, which she declaredEva was very fond of.

  'Perhaps she will take it from Vava, as she does not know anything aboutit,' suggested Stella, who thought that Eva might be ashamed, under thecircumstances, of having any appetite.

  Vava did not come down for more than half-an-hour, and when she did theysaw that she had been crying.

  Stella gave an exclamation of vexation. 'I did not want you to be toldall this; you are too young to be mixed up with such disreputabledoings. Don't bother your head about it any more,' said Stella.

  'But I must, because I feel that it was partly my fault,' declared Vava.

  'Your fault!' cried Stella, horrified.

  'Yes, because Eva would not have been such friends with this horrid girlif I had not been so unfriendly with her. She says she was sodisappointed when she saw I did not care for her, and it made her taketo this other girl,' said Vava.

  'Eva ought not to put the blame on to you; no one need do wrong unlessthey choose, and it is very weak to be led away so easily. And what weare going to do about it I don't know; she has got herself into aterrible mess.'

  'Poor Eva, she can't bear the sight of the furniture, so she is going tosleep in Amy's room,' announced Vava.

  'I should not think Amy would care to see it either,' observed Stelladryly.

  Vava saw that her sister had not much sympathy with Eva, and she hadcertainly brought trouble upon the whole household at No. 2 HeatherRoad, where they might all have been so happy if they had all done whatwas right.

  As it was, Stella and Amy sat up till midnight, talking the matter overand wondering what could be done for Eva, and ending up after eachsuggestion by deciding that they could do nothing.

  Amy crept up to her room to get out some things she wanted, and Stellastood upon the stairs to wait for her and hear how Eva was. Amy was somelittle time, and presently she came on tiptoe to the door, a smile uponher face. 'Just come and look at her, she is sleeping so peacefully,'she said in a whisper.

  There was a bright fire burning, and it passed through Stella's mindthat Eva's sorrow did not prevent her from making herself comfortable.As the firelight fell upon the sleeping girl's face she could not helpthinking to herself that the miserable business did not seem to havemade a very deep impression upon the culprit, for she was, as Amy hadsaid, sleeping quite peacefully, as if she had not a care in the world,with a smile upon her lips; and that smile hardened Stella's heartagainst Eva.

  'It's all very well, Amy, but she has upset us all dreadfully; and whilewe have been cudgelling our brains downstairs to try and find a way tohelp her, she goes happily to sleep and does not worry at all,' saidStella, as she accompanied her friend to her bedroom.

  'I suppose she had worn herself out,' said Amy, trying to be loyal toher friend, though in her heart she had been rather surprised herself tofind Eva asleep.

  Stella did not say any more; but any idea she had had of asking Mr.Stacey to let her have a little money to help Eva was given up, and shewent to bed, pondering upon the easy conscience that some people had.

  Vava had learnt her lesson from Eva's trouble, but Stella was tooshocked with Eva to be as sympathetic with the poor girl as she mighthave been; and Vava, who thought her hard, remarked with her usualcandour, 'The fact is, Stella, you are a regular Pharisee, and you'llhave a nice tumble one of these days if you walk like that, with yourhead in the air, looking over the heads of everybody.' And then Vavaturned over and went to sleep.