CHAPTER VIII.--NANCY'S HOME.
Nancy's home was a favorite meeting place of the four friends. There wassomething very inviting about the old red brick house, with itslow-ceiled, cheerful rooms and deep-silled windows.
Nancy's family had been seafaring people for many generations, and theplace was filled with curios from foreign countries: carved chests,swords with curved blades, ivory elephants, funny little cross-leggedgrinning gods, beautiful Japanese vases and Oriental rugs.
In cool weather there seemed to be a perpetual piece of old driftwoodcrackling on the hearth, and there was nothing the girls enjoyed morethan sitting in a row on the floor in front of that cheerful blaze whilethey drank tea from curious Japanese cups and nibbled some of Mrs.Brown's delicate cookies.
Nancy's father was the very picture of a sea captain, sunburned, ruddy,eyes very blue and little side whiskers like an English Squire's. He hada hundred stories to tell of the sea, and Billie could have listened tohim all day without tiring. Nancy's mother was a gay, cheerful littlebody who kept her house polished like a ship's cabin, and Nancy'sbrother, Merry, was the image of his father. He felt the call of thesea, too, as his father and grandfather had before him, but he was notto be the captain of a merchant ship. He intended to go to Annapolis.
Three weeks had passed since the great fire at Shell Island, when, oneSaturday afternoon, a red motor car wound its way in and out of thecountry vehicles on Main Street, stopped at the express office, wherethe young mistress of the car alighted for a moment, returning with apackage, and then, with a reckless flourish, turned into lower CliffStreet and presently stopped in front of Nancy's house.
Billie entered without ceremony, so intimate had she now become with theBrown household. Concealing the package in her gray ulster, she left itin the hall. Then, with the boyish freedom which seemed to characterizeall her ways, pulling off her gray hat and gloves, she marched into theparlor.
Nancy was huddled up on the settle doing the family darning, a Saturdaytask she loathed. Elinor was playing softly on the square piano betweenthe front windows and Mary Price was reading a book.
"I hope I don't disturb any one," said Billie, laughing as she burstinto the room. "Everybody seems to be so busy here. I'm the only idlecreature living to-day. Even Cousin Helen is at work."
"I hope she is doing something more to her taste than this," said Nancymournfully. "I'd rather dig for clams any day. Merry would wear out asock made of steel chains."
"Hark, a doleful voice from the tombs," cried Merry, who always made itan excuse to hunt for something in the parlor when Billie appeared.
"It's the truth," complained Nancy. "If you would just keep still twominutes at a time, I wouldn't have to give up my Saturdays slaving foryou."
"'When I hear the music play, I can't keep right still,'" sang Merry,executing a double shuffle on the floor to a jig tune Elinor had struckup.
"You'll have to dance to a different tune when you go to Annapolis,"cried Nancy. "And who'll do your darning there?"
"Don't borrow trouble, Nancy," answered her brother. "Perform your dailytask and cease to murmur. You'll be a professional grumbler like BelleRogers if you keep on."
"Do you know that she and her whole family are denouncing me as a sortof would-be murderer?" put in Billie. "All because I lost Ben and therest of you at the Shell Island fire and took her into the wrong room."
"I heard that she was an early Christian martyr who had come near tobeing burned at the stake," said Merry.
"Yes," continued Billie, "she tells how I enticed her into the room, andthen climbed up onto the roof and left her, so that she had to followand she even blames me because she would slide down the rope first andcut her hands so that she will never be able to play the piano. I amvery sorry for that, because she liked music, but it was her own fault."
"It's really making a sort of split-up in the town," observed Elinor."Mrs. Rogers and mamma almost had words on the subject the other day. Asmuch as mamma will ever have words with any one. Mrs. Rogers tried totell her that Belle was going one way and you made her go another, andall mamma said was, 'My dear Julia, I have heard the correct version ofthe story,' and swept away."
"Exactly as you will do, Elinor, when you begin to wear long dresses,"said Nancy.
"Oh, she can sweep without a train," cried Merry, giving a very goodimitation of Elinor as he made for the door with his baseball bat andglove.
"Now, don't be silly, Americus Brown," called Elinor after him."Remember that you are to be a soldier of the nation some day, andyou'll have to stop walking pigeon-toed, then, and keep your bow-legsstraight and stop grinning. It will be very difficult, I fear."
Merry shot a coffee bean at her with his thumb and forefinger as he leftthe room.
"That boy will be the death of me," exclaimed Nancy. "He reminds me ofour sailor weather-cock in the garden that waves his arms and legs andturns every time there is the slightest breeze."
"He's a nice boy," said Billie, who always took Merry's side in thearguments. "But I am here this morning, as the preacher says, to askyour advice in a grave matter. Several grave matters, in fact."
"Have you heard from Mr. Lafitte?" demanded the three girls in unison.
"No," said Billie, "and it's been nearly three weeks since we sent myname and address. Perhaps there hasn't been time, but I should thinkthey might have cabled, or something."
"It only postpones the evil day of telling them the jewels were lost inthe fire," observed Mary.
Billie disappeared in the hall for a moment and returned with thepackage she had hidden in her ulster.
"The jewels came back by express this morning," she said.
"For heaven's sake!" cried the others.
"I don't know whether to be glad or sorry," said Billie. "I am surePandora's box didn't have any more troubles locked inside of it thanthis one has. What shall I do with it now?"
"Why don't you tell Miss Campbell all about it?" suggested Elinor, forthe second time.
"But, Elinor, it wouldn't be right," answered Billie. "Didn't we givethe woman our word of honor, Nancy, that we would keep the box for heruntil she sent for it, and tell no one? Even you and Mary would not haveknown about it if you hadn't attacked Nancy like two wild ComancheIndians and knocked the box open."
"Don't you think the woman was crazy, honestly now?" Elinor asked forthe hundredth time. This was an old argument between the girls.
"No, I don't," answered Billie emphatically.
"She was much too beautiful and fascinating to be crazy," put in Nancy.
"They are the craziest of all sometimes," said Elinor.
"But to return to the jewels," interrupted Mary, the peacemaker. "Didthe hotel people send them back?"
"No, that's the queerest thing of all, and that's what I'm here for totell you now. The hotel people wrote me a letter which came thismorning, saying that it was believed that the fire had been started bythieves who robbed the safe and that they, therefore, were notresponsible for things lost.
"In the same mail came another very nice letter from a strange man namedJohnston. He said the night of the fire he saw a man who was carryingthis package faint dead away on the bridge. He believes now the man wasone of the thieves. Anyway, he took him into his automobile and thethief must have come to and not known where he was, because he escapedsomehow, probably to go back and look for the package, which Mr.Johnston has expressed to me."
"Well, of all the strange stories!"
"But the question is now, what to do with the thing?" continued Billie.
If Billie had been a few years older, she would probably have gonestraight to Miss Campbell, or to Miss Campbell's lawyer, Mr. RichardButler, Elinor's uncle, for advice. The jewels would then have beenstored in the bank for safe-keeping and proper means taken to find theowner. But it seemed to her that having given her word she must keep it,and hide the jewels herself in some safe place until she heard from Mr.Lafitte. After all, he might be on a journey somewhere, and they c
ouldonly wait patiently.
"Let's go and consult our guide, counsellor, and friend," suggestedMary.
"Who?" asked the other girls, in some doubt.
"Why, the motor car, of course. Isn't he the cheerfullest, finest friendin the world; always ready to give pleasure; always smiling and ruddy,and ready to come and go, stay still or move on--bless him?"
"He is a dear," said Billie, pleased with this extravagant praise of herbeloved car.
The girls had come to consider "The Comet" almost as a living thing,like a pet horse or a favorite dog. They loved it as ardently aschildren love a pony which has borne them all on his back at one timearound the garden.
It was decided then to take a spin in the car and the four friends weresoon in their accustomed places on the red leather seats.
The scarlet car, full of young girls, was no longer an unusual sight inthe town of West Haven, and people had ceased now to turn and stare atthe "Motor Maids," as Captain Brown had christened them one morning whenthey had taken him for a drive in the automobile.
Through the town they sped and out to the open road. The crisp autumnair nipped their cheeks and brought the color to their faces. As theypassed Boulder Lane they looked curiously at the fisherman's house inthe distance.
"I am certain those men who took your car were smugglers," announcedNancy. "Father says there are lots of them."
"Perhaps," said Billie, "and I am certain of another thing: that it wasthe same one-armed man who was on the roof of the hotel the night of thefire."
"But there are lots of one-armed men in the world, child," repliedNancy.
"Perhaps, but there was something familiar about him. And, besides, whydid he ask me those questions about the girls at the hotel in the redautomobile?"
"And, 'curiser and curiser,' what did he want with the box of jewels?And how did he know we had them?" said Elinor.
"I really couldn't say," answered Nancy. "Ask me something easier."
Seeing nothing ahead of them in the road, Billie had let the car go fullspeed. It was what they all loved, even Mary Price, who had graduallygot over a certain timidity she used to feel when the car shot throughthe air like a sky-rocket, and it was Mary Price now, grown unusuallybold from familiarity with speeding, who suddenly jumped up and cried inher high, sweet voice:
"I've got it! I've got it!"
"Got what?" demanded the others.
"Why, a place to put the jewels in, of course. Mother's safe."
"But would she like us to use her safe?" asked Billie.
"She won't mind. I'll tell her it's something of yours. She never usesit. We haven't anything to keep in it now," Mary added simply. "Fatherused it in his life time and Mother has just kept it since because weare always expecting to make lots of money, you know, and then we mightneed it. I know the combination, and we can go straight home and putthem in. No one would ever think of looking for jewels in our littlehouse, and they ought to be as safe there as any place in the world."
"Mary, dear, you are a trump," exclaimed Billie. "It's a perfect idea."
In another moment, they had faced about and were on their way back totown.
"Dear old car," ejaculated Elinor, patting the red leather tenderly."Mary's right, we couldn't get on without you. We consult you exactly asthe ancients consulted oracles. I think all your cushions must bestuffed with good advice, instead of horse hair, and your big all-seeingeye is always on the lookout for danger----"
"And his heart is true to his jolly crew," sang Nancy.
"He is better than a horse," put in Mary, "because he never gets tired."
"And when he's empty we fill him with gasoline, and he'll go ahead asfresh as ever," went on Billie.
"And he always avoids broken glass and tacks in the road," Elinor wassaying, when "bang!" went one of the rear tires with a report as loud asa pistol shot.
The "jolly crew" could not restrain their ever-ready laughter at thisdisconcerting behavior on the part of "The Comet" just at the verymoment when their boasts were loudest.
"Oh, well," said Billie apologetically, "it's time we had a puncture.We've never had one yet. We'll take him to the garage and have himmended properly."
"Chocolates, marshmallows, peanut brittle, and other candies, fresh anddee-lishus!" called a voice from behind the motor as they pulled intothe garage.
It was Percival Algernon St. Clair, wearing a most engaging smile on hisrosy, good-natured face, as he tipped his boyish cap at Nancy inparticular in the most approved grown-up fashion.
"Have you any ice cream sodas, Percy-Algy?" demanded Nancy impudently.
"I don't think the fountain's dry yet, Nancy, and we'll have a party, ifyou say so. The gang is close by. Shall I give the signal?"
"I have no objections," said Nancy, "if the girls haven't."
"Why should we?" answered Billie. "Isn't pineapple soda water myfavorite beverage?"
Percy put two fingers to his lips and gave three whistles, and, as if bymagic, Ben Austen, Charlie Clay, and Merry Brown emerged from the shadowof a neighboring doorway.
In spite of his theatrical name, his girlish complexion, and blond hair,Percy was a great favorite with his friends. He had received a spoilingfrom his doting and indulgent mother that would have turned many anotherboy into a selfish, vain egoist. But Percy had been saved from thiswretched fate partly by his own frank and engaging disposition andpartly by association with his three chums, Charlie, Ben, and Merry,wholesome, manly boys, who had never been mollycoddled in their lives.
"Will some one carry this parcel then?" asked Billie, pulling the box ofjewels from under the seat, and tearing the wrapping paper off of acorner as she did so.
"I will," said Merry promptly, taking charge of the box. "Why, it'srather heavy," he observed, weighing it in his hand. "It must be full ofgold nuggets."
Billie was silent. She was beginning to be a little superstitious aboutthat box, and she could have wished that the punctured tire and the sodawater party, pleasant as was this last diversion, had not interruptedtheir plan to store the box in Mrs. Price's safe.
But Billie enjoyed being with girls and boys of her own age so much thatshe soon forgot her doubts and joined in the gay conversation of thelittle company.
On Saturday afternoons a crowd of High School boys and girls was alwayscongregated around the soda water fountain in the West Haven Pharmacy,as it was called, and the place was filled with gay talk and laughter,when the Motor Maids and their friends pushed their way up to the marblecounter, while Percy, who had more pocket money in a week than some ofthe others had in a year, paid for the checks.
As luck would have it, Billie and Americus Brown had found places nextto Belle Rogers, who, very daintily and delicately, though with somethoroughness, was consuming a maple-nut sundae.
Merry pushed the box onto the counter while he plunged into a glass ofchocolate soda water without even noticing that Belle had turned ascornful glance, first at him and then at the much soiled andtravel-stained wrapper on the package. Then, suddenly, something veryparticular claimed her attention. Mary Price, who was standing aroundthe curve of the counter, saw the whole thing and reported it later tothe girls. Where Billie had torn the paper, the polished rosewoodsurface of the box, with its silver mounting, was plainly visible. Bellegave one long, astonished stare of recognition.
"After we leave this package at Mary's, I invite all of you to take aride in the motor," Billie was saying to Merry Brown. "Do you thinkeight can sit where five are in the habit of sitting?"
"One seat will be big enough for the midgets,"--a nickname given to Maryand Charlie,--Merry answered. "One of us can sit on the floor and theother four can squeeze onto the back seat. The chauffeur is the onlyperson who must have plenty of room."
"Can't you move up and give us a little room?" interrupted Nancy,pushing her way between her brother and his neighbor, while Percy stoodpatiently by with two glasses of soda water.
Without meaning it, she had jostled Belle Rogers. The two gi
rls turnedand faced each other.
"How do you do, Belle? Are you quite well again?" asked Nancy politely,but with a look in her eyes which meant mischief.
Belle had not been back to school since the fire.
"Miss Brown," said Belle, bowing stiffly.
"How well your hair stays in curl this foggy weather, Belle," continuedNancy, in a high, pleasant voice, which could be heard by all the boysand girls at the counter. "You must put it up almost every night now,don't you?"
"Nancy!" expostulated Billie, as Belle sailed from the drug store,followed by several of her loyal friends.