V
They had a delightful dinner at the Waloo. Granny gazed around the bigroom rather awed by the ornate display of rose velvet and gold, thecrystal electroliers, and the army of waiters.
"I suppose this is what you'll have all the time in the SunshineIslands," she said with pride. "Just think of your Uncle Pete, Tessie,sitting down to dinner every day in a room like this and to a dinnerlike this. I don't wonder he never came home. The good Lord has surebeen kind to the Gilfoolys!"
Tessie did not eat much, and she did not talk much. She was still toodazed at what had happened. She could not believe that it was true. Itcouldn't be true that she was in the dining room of the Waloo Hotel,with Mr. Bill as the host of a family party--a family party ofGilfoolys! Such things never happened to poor working girls. But Mr.Bill's radiant smile and eager attention convinced her that at least hewas real.
Gilbert Douglas was with a party of young people at the other end of theroom. He came over to speak to Tessie, and tell her that he would callfor her the next morning about ten. Mr. Bill yearned to stab him withhis dinner knife. When Bert went back to his friends and told them whoTessie was, there were many curious and admiring, and almost as manyenvious, glances sent toward her. Altogether it was a very pleasantdinner. But Tessie would not loiter over the coffee--not even to listento the orchestra nor to dance once with Mr. Bill.
"I'd faint," she declared. "I feel all wobbly sitting down. And I wantto stop at the library. It closes at nine. And anyway it wouldn't beright to Uncle Pete. We had to have something to eat, but we don't haveto dance."
Every one in the big dining room seemed to know who Tessie was when sheleft, and there was much craning of necks and whispering. The headwaiter bowed them out with much ceremony and hoped that Tessie wouldcome again. Tessie was pink to her little ears, and she shyly murmuredthat she would like to come again.
They reached the library barely in time. The librarian was just lockingthe door of the branch station when Mr. Bill and Tessie ran up to her.She obligingly unlocked the door and went back with them.
"The Sunshine Islands," she repeated, when she heard Tessie breathlesslyexplain what she wanted. "I never heard of them."
"They're in the Pacific Ocean." Tessie told her with much importance.
"We have several books that speak of the islands in the Pacific Ocean,"the librarian remembered. "But why on earth do you come running in hereat this time of night to ask for books on the Sunshine Islands?" And shelooked from pink-cheeked Tessie to grinning Mr. Bill, as if she wouldnot produce one of her books until that question was answered.
"Because," dimpled Tessie, who saw no reason why she should not tell--itwas nothing to be ashamed of, and she felt that she had to give somereason for taking the librarian back to her library after the door hadbeen locked for the night--"because I've just heard that I'm the Queenof the Sunshine Islands!"
"My goodness!" exclaimed the surprised librarian, and she found Tessieall the books which mentioned the islands in the Pacific Ocean. "There!"she said. "If you read all these you'll learn something about yourkingdom. The best book," she remembered with a frown, "the one thattells all about the Pacific islands is out. A man came in after dinnerand took it."
"What kind of a man?" asked Mr. Bill, not because he cared but becausethe librarian seemed to expect something to be said.
"A tall man, young and thin, with rough brown hair and brown eyes andrather shabby clothes." The librarian appeared to describe her client bylooking at Mr. Bill and seeing his opposite.
"It must have been Joe Cary!" exclaimed Tessie. "It would be just likeJoe to learn everything about my kingdom before I can read a word!" Shelooked vexed.
"Save you a lot of trouble," suggested Mr. Bill. "He can tell you whathe learns, and you won't have much time for reading now."
"That's true!" Tessie stopped frowning to smile. "I'll let Joe do myreading for me. That's the way queens do, isn't it?--have some one dothings for them? Thank you for the books." She turned politely to thelibrarian, who was staring at her with unbelieving amazement.
"My goodness! I'm much obliged to you for coming in for those books evenif you never read them. I've been librarian at this branch station forthree years now, and nothing as interesting as this ever happened. Ihope you'll be a very happy queen!" And the librarian drew a longbreath. She had never supposed that she would ever tell a queen to herface that she hoped she would be happy. Such things might happen inbooks, but surely they had never happened before in a real library.
"Thank you," said Tessie, putting out her hand to shake the librarian'slean fingers. "I'm going to try to be a good queen."
"My goodness!" repeated the librarian, as Tessie, Mr. Bill and the bookswent to join Granny and Johnny. "My goodness, but I'm glad I didn'tclose up a minute earlier than I did!"
There were no lights in the narrow street when Mr. Bill turned his caraway from the avenue. In contrast to the brilliantly lightedthoroughfare, the street seemed darker than a pocket. The city fathersdepended on the moon for illumination on certain nights designated bythe almanac, and if the moon was dilatory or negligent, that was nottheir fault. The lights on Mr. Bill's car were all he had to show himthe way, but with their aid, he found the shabby little cottage withoutany trouble at all.
"It's been a very pleasant evening," Granny said politely, as shestepped from the car. "I'm sure we've all enjoyed it, and we have theliver and onions for to-morrow night when we've had time to calm down abit. Good night, Mr----" She discovered she had forgotten Mr. Bill'sname. She was horrified.
"Call me Bill!" begged Mr. Bill in the friendliest way. "I'm such afriend of your granddaughter's--at least I'm going to be such afriend--we belonged to the same family, you know, the Evergreen--that Iwant to be a friend of yours, too."
"You've proved yourself a friend," beamed Granny. "I declare I'm thattired I'll be glad to go to bed. I'm not as young as I was, and it's agood deal of a strain for an old woman to hear all in one day that herson was a king and that her granddaughter is a queen. Come, Johnny,we'll go right to bed. Good night, Bill, and thank you kindly."
She was tired, and her step was heavy as she went along the walk and upthe steps. On the narrow porch her foot touched something that gavebeneath her weight. It was soft, and yet it wasn't. Granny drew back herfoot, stood still and screamed. There was--yes, there was something onher nice clean porch that did not belong there!
"I'll make a light," offered the resourceful Scout.
"Not with two sticks of wood," objected Tessie, who had run to hergrandmother and was staring at the black shadow on the porch floor. "Ittakes too long!"
"I got a match, silly!" retorted her brother. "We can use matches whenwe got 'em!"
But Mr. Bill had struck a match, and by its feeble light they could seethat the black shadow was the body of a man, huddled on Granny's niceclean porch. Granny shrieked again.
"My soul and body!" she cried. "This is too much!" And she sat heavilydown on the step. "I don't like men murdered on my front porch!" shewailed.
"Murdered!" Tessie shrieked, too.
"He isn't murdered," declared Mr. Bill, who had been bending over thebody. "At least I don't think he is. Darn it!" For the match flickeredand went out.
"Who--who is it?" whispered Tessie, and she trembled so that Mr. Billhad to put his arm around her. "Who is it?"
"I don't know. He looks like a black man--at least he isn't a white man.And I caught a glimpse of an earring as the match went out. We must getsome light!" He looked about for some light, but the resourceful Scouthad taken the key from Granny's limp fingers, thrown the door open andturned on the light in the hall. There was a white stream through thedoorway, and as it fell on the dark face of the man on the porch, hemoved slightly and moaned.
"Thank the good Lord he isn't dead!" Granny stumbled to her feet. "Whoare you and what do you want?" she asked the stranger sharply. "I'll bethe was after that Tear of God, Tessie," she said, as the dark head movedaway from her, and she, like
Mr. Bill, caught a glimpse of an earring.
"Oh!" Tessie's fingers felt for the royal jewel. It was there in herpocket, and she grasped it eagerly. Just suppose she had lost it!
"I'll take him away," offered Mr. Bill. "You don't want him here. I'lltake him away."
"Hello! What's up here, Mrs. Gilfooly?" And there was Officer Clancypeering at them. "What's the matter here?"
"Well, Mr. Clancy!" Granny turned eagerly around. "I'm sure glad to seeyou to-night. We go out for a pleasant dinner with a friend of mygranddaughter, who's just learned that her Uncle Pete, my eldest, hasmade her Queen of the Sunshine Islands, and we come home to find thisdark-complected gentleman on my nice clean front porch. I almost steppedon him." She shuddered as she recalled her sensations when she put herfoot on the dark-complexioned gentleman. "I couldn't think what it was,but it was him!" And she waved her hand toward the stranger who hadmanaged to sit up, and was staring around with dull eyes.
It was no wonder that Officer Clancy was dazed and bewildered to hearGranny talk so glibly of queens and porches, but he stooped over thestranger, who curled up like a snail.
"Now then, my man, what are you doing here, frightening the ladies outof their wits?" asked Clancy sharply.
The stranger shrank away and muttered something. The words sounded like"The Shark! The Shark!" but Granny thought that her ears must havedeceived her. A shark was a fish that lived in the ocean. There were nosharks in her neighborhood.
"The shark! The shark!" was all the stranger would say that any onecould understand, although he stammered a lot of words that soundedlike anything but language to the little group gathered around him.
"I can't make head nor tail of what he says!" Officer Clancy exclaimedhelplessly. "I'll try him again. Now then, my man, what were you doinghere?"
"On my nice clean porch!" added Granny shrilly.
But the man only muttered some more of the unintelligible gibberishjumbled around the word "Shark." Officer Clancy jerked him to his feet,and he stood leaning weakly against the policeman.
"I better take him along to the station," the latter suggested. "Hehasn't done any harm, has he? Maybe he was taken sick as he was passingby, and came in to get help," he suggested eagerly.
"He's got a lump as big as an egg on the back of his head," declared Mr.Bill. "Looks to me as if somebody had blackjacked him!"
"That so?" Officer Clancy looked at the head whose black thatch wasunlike any hair he had ever seen before. "There is a lump there! Iexpect that was it, Mrs. Gilfooly. Somebody slugged him, and he crawledup on your porch and fainted. And I bet I saw the guy that did it! Ipassed a queer-looking chap not ten minutes ago. He was dark like thisfellow, and his hair was frizzed for fair, and he was in his bare feet.He was walking fast and looking straight ahead of him. I remember Ithought he was a fine figure of fun. I never saw anybody just like him."
"Could it have been Ka-kee-ta?" Tessie asked Mr. Bill in a frightenedwhisper. "He was in his bare feet." She shivered.
"Ka--oh, the chap Mr. Marvin spoke about. I wonder!" And Mr. Bill lookedat Tessie.
Clancy's sharp ears heard their whispers. "Friend of yours?" he askedquickly.
"No, not a friend," Mr. Bill answered just as quickly. "Just a messengerof some sort. I think you're right, Officer, you better take this manaway."
"I'll take him to the station until his mind clears up and he can tellus how it was. You can drive us over." He nodded to Mr. Bill.
"I would be glad to." But Mr. Bill sounded anything but glad. "Only Ihate to leave Mrs. Gilfooly and Miss Gilfooly here alone."
"I guess I'm here!" shouted the insulted Boy Scout. "I guess I know whatto do if anything happens!"
"There won't anything happen," promised Clancy. "It's happened. And I'llhave the sergeant send a man right over to keep an eye out. I'm sureglad to hear of your luck, Miss Gilfooly." He turned to Tessie andsolemnly shook her hand. "You'll make a fine queen!"
"I don't know as I want to be a queen if it means finding strange menfainting on our front porch," Tessie murmured almost tearfully.
"Perhaps I'd better stay," suggested Mr. Bill, as he saw how shetrembled. "I can sit downstairs and read your books."
"You need your rest as well as we do if you're going to be any help toyour pa to-morrow," objected Granny. "We'll be all right with Johnny andthe man Officer Clancy sends up. You take that stranger to the station,Mr. Clancy, and lock him up tight. I'll bet he knows more than he'sletting on." She peered into the dark face. "Thank the good Lordtattooed noses ain't fashionable in Waloo," she murmured. "Tessie, youought to go to bed. There's Joe Cary!" She stopped as she heard awhistle up the street. "Joe! Joe Cary!" she called.
"Here!" answered Joe. "What's up?" he demanded as he came up the walk."You can run along," he told Mr. Bill and Officer Clancy, when he heardthe story. "I'll look after things here." When Mr. Bill had reluctantlysaid good night, holding Tessie's fingers until Joe took them from him,and gone away with Clancy and the stranger, Joe turned to Tessie.
"You'd better go to bed, Tess. You must be all tired out!"
"She is!" Granny answered for her. "We're all tired. I declare it doestake it out of a body to have such wonderful things happen. Can youbelieve it, Joe? We had a nice dinner at the Waloo," she said, followinghim into the house. "And that Mr. Bill is a real pleasant young fellow.My soul and body!" she exclaimed, staring around in amazement, for thehouse which she had left as neat as wax was now in disorder. Drawers hadbeen pulled out and their contents dumped on the floor, closets emptiedin a way that startled and angered Granny. "Somebody's been here, Joe!Somebody has been all over this house!" She stared at Joe. "I expectthey came to get that jewel of yours, Tessie," she guessed loudly. "ThatTear of God! Thank goodness I didn't put it in the baking-powder can.Thank goodness you got it in your pocket! Well, this is too much!"
"There, there, Granny!" soothed Joe. "They didn't get anything. You trotup to bed, and Tess and I'll straighten things out."
It took some time before Granny could be persuaded to leave them andmore time before the drawers were pushed into place and doors shut onthe disordered closets. Joe looked at Tessie. Her face was milk-whiteand her eyes were heavy and tired.
"Well, Tess!" He put his hands on her shoulders so that she would lookinto his face. "What do you think about queens now? Are you still gladthat you are such an old-fashioned, wornout thing as a queen?" He bentto peer into her eyes.
"I don't know," she faltered. She put up her hands to clasp his strongfingers. "It isn't what I thought it would be, if things like this aregoing to happen."
"All sorts of things happen to queens," prophesied Joe. "You have onlyto read the papers to know that. The world doesn't need queens any more.I'm sorry, Tessie," his hands slipped from her shoulders to her waistand he drew her to him. "I'm sorry you're one!" His voice was soft asvelvet and honey-sweet.
But Tessie pushed him away. "Why, Joe Cary!" she exclaimed indignantly."If that isn't just like you! You never want me to have any fun! Youonly want me to go to the Y. W. C. A. gymnasium, and to studyshorthand!"
"I don't want you to be a queen!" he insisted stubbornly, his faceflushed, his eyes snapping.
"Why not?" she asked defiantly, and when he did not answer her at once,she asked him again, more softly this time. "Why not, Joe Cary?"
"Because," he said, and he folded his arms across his chest and lookedat her scornfully, "queens always think they are a darned sight betterthan other people. I'm one of the other people, but you needn't thinkyou are any better than I am, Tessie Gilfooly, even if you are queen ofa lot of cannibals. Queen!" He had nothing but hot scorn for the word.
She turned away from him impatiently. "You never want me to do anythingbut work," she pouted. "The idea of talking to me like that, as if aqueen wasn't any more than a scrubwoman. I shan't listen to you anotherminute. I'm going to bed. But before I go, I'll tell you one thing, JoeCary: if I had heard you were a king, I wouldn't have been so nasty. Iwould have been proud and glad for y
ou!"
"Tessie!" he cried. But she tossed her head and ran up the steep stairs.
She would not look back at him even if he did stand at the foot of thestairs and call to her. He had hurt her when he had said that queenswere no better than other people. The very idea! Mr. Bill never talkedthat way. Indeed, he never did! Tessie stopped thinking aboutdisgruntled Joe Cary so that she could think of the wonderful Mr. Bill.Oh, wasn't he the most wonderful!