Elizabeth M. Duffield

“ Lucile threw him a merry glance as the rest came up. “I suppose you may,” she mimicked.
A few minutes later they stepped out of the cab and onto a sun-flooded wharf, where confusion reigned supreme. An immense crowd of people stood upon the dock, talking, laughing and gesticulating excitedly, and every one seemed in the highest of spirits. And, indeed, how could they be anything else, thought Lucile, as she looked about her with dancing eyes; the world had never seemed so essentially a place to laugh in as it did on this glorious morning. ”

“ From anybody’s point of view, Lucile was good to look upon. Mischief sparkled in her eyes and bubbled over from lips always curved in a merry smile. “Just to look at Lucile is enough to chase away the blues,” Jessie had once declared in a loving eulogy on her friend. “But when you need sympathy, there is no one quicker to give it than Lucy.” From her mass of wind-blown curls to the tips of her neat little tennis shoes she was the spirit incarnate of the sport-loving, fun-seeking summer girl. ”

“ She seated herself on the stairs and waited.
To Lucile’s tingling consciousness that short wait seemed an eternity. Her head ached with the flood of imagination that besieged it, her two hands grasped the banister to keep her rooted to the spot, while her feet tapped an impatient tattoo on the floor.
At last the longed-for summons came.
“Lucile,” called a low, unsteady voice, “will you come to me?”
Would she come? Lucile flew up the winding stairs and came to a standstill before Jeanette a trifle uncertainly, not quite sure what was expected of her. ”

“ Phil volunteered. “Is that so, Dad?”
“Yes; three hundred, I think it was,” his father answered. “And now here we are, before the famous Hyde Park itself!”
As they entered the park through a most imposing gateway the girls uttered a little cry of admiration.
“The lawns are like velvet!” cried Lucile. “And those exquisite flowering shrubs! What do you call them, Mother?”
“I think they are hawthorne bushes,” Mrs. Payton answered, absently.
“And the flowers! Did you ever see such gorgeous tints?” said Jessie. “And the splendid old trees! Why, they look as if they might be a million years old!” ”

“ Payton’s gruff, hearty voice from just behind them, “how do you like your first glimpse of the Old World, eh? It won’t be any time at all before you set foot upon it.”
“Oh, Daddy, isn’t it magnificent?” said Lucile, drawing a long breath. “It all looks just exactly the way I dreamed it would, though. Oh, I can’t wait!” and she leaned far over the rail, as if by that means to bring it so much the nearer.
Her father’s strong hand drew her back to safety, and he said, reprovingly, “Don’t do that again, Lucy. Accidents will happen, you know.” ”

“ You never did that at camp.”
“At camp I never remembered anybody at Burleigh except Mother and Dad and Phil,” said Lucile. “It seemed like a different world.”
“A rather nice kind of world it was, too, wasn’t it?” said her guardian, with a reminiscent smile.
“Nice?” cried Lucile. “It was glorious! I only wish we could do it all over again. It does seem as if one good thing comes crowding right on the heels of another ever since we decided to form a camp-fire.”
“It has meant happiness for all of us,” said Mrs. Wescott, with a far-away look that Lucile knew how to interpret. ”

“ Mr. Payton was saying. “That tiny speck—that’s America.”
The word sped like magic through the crowd, breaking the tension. They all went mad with joy. Men shook hands with perfect strangers; women hugged each other, murmuring incoherently, and mothers gathered their little ones to them, weeping openly.
“Hello, Lucy; that you? Where did you go, anyway?” said Jessie, surreptitiously wiping her eyes. “I was looking for you all over.”
“Oh, just around,” Lucile answered, waving her hand vaguely, “congratulating everybody. Did you ever see such a wonderful time in all your life, Jessie? ”

“ I was just thinking of what Lucy said when she first came in, before Dorothy jumped all over her,” said Margaret, with a twinkle in her eye that had only found its way there of late.
“Jumped all over her? What kind of language do you call that, Margaret Pratt Stillman?” reproved Marjorie, with her best grandmother air. “If you are not careful, the habit of using slang will grow upon you.”
“Oh, do keep still, Marj, for half a minute, can’t you?” cried Jessie. “I suppose you can’t,” she added, “but you might try, anyway. A great many impossible things come with time.” ”

“ Five days later I found myself again before the city, infinitely more dusty, infinitely more hungry, infinitely more footsore and more weary than when I had encountered Madame Vidaud at the chateau.
“As I turned a corner, a great, whirling streak rushed by me, so close as to make me jump quickly to the side of the road. To my great surprise, the automobile stopped a few yards from where I was standing and two men, one tall, one short, jumped out and hurried toward me.
“‘Hello!’ cried the tall one, in a big, rumbling voice. ‘Aren’t you the son of Charloix?’ he said. ”

“ They were still finding it rather hard to recover their former hilarious spirits when, fifteen minutes later the sky opened as if by magic, letting forth a burst of golden sunshine that flooded the river and danced on the water so gladly and joyously that the girls and boys shouted with delight.
“You wonderful old sun!” cried Lucile. “Why, it makes the world a different place to live in!” ”

“ The three girls made a pretty picture as they stood there gazing eagerly down the slope, Lucile with her vivid gypsy coloring and fair-haired, blue-eyed Jessie, exactly her opposite, yet, withal, her dearest and most loyal friend; and last, but not least, Evelyn, short and round and polly, with a happy disposition that won her friends wherever she went.
Although it is generally conceded that “three make a crowd,” the rule was certainly wide of the mark in this case. The girls were bound by a tie even stronger than friendship, and that tie was the law of the camp-fire. ”

“ Lucile confided to Jack in a lull. “Those I don’t know to speak to, I’ve seen over and over again on the street.”
“That’s not strange,” said Jack. “There’s a great big crowd and it’s growing every minute. Here are some new arrivals!”
“Oh, it’s Marjorie and Dot, with the boys,” she cried, jumping up. “Will you excuse me a minute? I’ll be right back,” and she threw him a glance so full of sparkling mischief that his heart leaped suddenly and unaccountably, and Phil had to speak to him twice before he could make himself heard. ”

“ The little packet steamed away from the dock and the girls waved to the group on the wharf and the group on the wharf waved to them until they were out of sight.
“Wasn’t that lovely of them?” fairly beamed Lucile, as she turned from the last wave at the little dots that had been people. “I think they are the jolliest crowd I’ve ever met. Jessie, your bow is crooked; hold still a minute. There, it’s all right now. Oh, girls, I’m so happy that, if some one doesn’t hold me down, I’ll go up in the air like a balloon and sit on that fluffy white cloud. ”

“ You can be the most exasperating thing at times!” cried Jessie excitedly, and Evelyn, with an inelegance that was none the less forceful, “If you have anything up your sleeve, let’s have it!”
Lucile’s gaze came down to earth abruptly.
“You seem to be in a great hurry,” she protested. “You haven’t given me time yet, you know.”
“Oh, we’ll hunt him up for you some other time,” Evelyn wheedled, and Jessie added, sagely, “We’re only losing him this way, you know;” then added, in desperation, “If you don’t explain right away, you’ll have a corpse on your hands, Lucy.” ”

“ Thus does fortune, in the very hour of our despair, place in our hands the thing for which we have been so hopelessly searching. Even as her elbow touched the panel behind her there came a sharp click and before Lucile’s startled gaze a small, square door opened slowly and deliberately, trembled, seemed to hesitate, and then came to a full stop, leaving its shallow interior exposed to view. ”

“ Lucile thrilled with a new, strange emotion that she could not analyze; she only knew it was absurdly hard to look at Jack, and that she was immensely relieved when Evelyn greeted her with a merry, “Don’t you wish it were beginning all over again, Lucy? I don’t feel a bit like going home.”
“That seems to be the general cry,” broke in Marjorie. “And to think that you girls are going away to-morrow!” she added. “You’ll be tired out after to-night.”
“Oh, we’re not going till late in the afternoon, so we can sleep all we want to in the morning. All the packing is done,” said Jessie, reassuringly. ”

“ The girls’ eyes were large and dark with wonder and excitement as they lowered their glasses and looked at each other.
“Yes, you are awake,” said Mrs. Payton, with a laugh, interpreting the look.
“Jessie looks as though she had just seen a ghost,” said Phil.
A few minutes later the great liner was warped securely alongside the great landing stage, while the whistle shrieked a noisy greeting. Passengers hurried from one group to another, shaking hands in a final farewell with shipboard acquaintances whom they had come to know so well in so short a time. ”

“ Can’t you let a fellow sleep?” she began, but the laughter in her eyes belied the sleepy tone, and Lucile hugged her and pulled her out of bed. “I’ll admit you’re a dabster, Evelyn, dear,” she cried, “but you will have to get up early in the morning to get the best of your little friend.”
Evelyn laughed merrily. “You whirlwind!” she cried. “Nobody has a chance to sleep when you’re around.”
“Don’t be too sure of that; look at Jessie. She is still sleeping the sleep of the just.”
“All right; let’s make her get up, then. Even if she does want to sleep, why should we worry?” ”

“ Jessie adjusted her hat soberly and thoughtfully before she spoke. “Yes,” she said, at last, “one day it’s all sunshine and happiness, and the next—oh, girls, I’m absolutely miserable!”
“What good does that do?” queried Evelyn, snapping her bag shut with an air of finality. “Besides, you’re only breaking one of the camp-fire’s strictest laws, you know.”
“Yes; that sounds all right, but it’s pretty hard to be cheerful when everything’s going wrong,” said Jessie, pessimistically. “I don’t notice that anybody looks particularly happy these days, anyway.” ”

“ Good-by till then, dear girls. Your own loving guardian.”
“That’s all,” Lucile finished. “Now we know when she’s coming.”
“Isn’t she dear, and didn’t the whole thing sound just like her?” cried Jessie.
“Exactly,” agreed Evelyn, and then added, “If she is counting the hours till she sees us, I wonder what we’ll be doing.” 28
“We’ll be making the hours count,” said Lucile.
“Good for you, Lucy; that’s what I call efficiency,” cried Marjorie. “Make time work for us.”
“Yes, but how are we going to do it?” said Ruth, distrustfully.
“I’ll tell you,” Lucile answered. ”

“ It was not long before they were joined by other excited fellow-passengers, all talking at once about what they intended to do upon reaching land, and in the babble it was impossible to carry on any but a disjointed conversation, so the girls wisely gave up trying.
Nevertheless, Lucile had been more deeply impressed than any of the rest by the recital of Monsieur’s tragic romance. It seemed, somehow, like the plays their guardian had described to them. ”

“ They were pictures of youthful loveliness as they began to descend the stairs—Evelyn, in her snowy white, looking for all the world like a plump and mischievous little cherub, and Jessie in the palest pink, which set off and enhanced her fairness. But it was to Lucile that all eyes instinctively clung. The soft curls framing the lovely, eager face ”

“ At first you have only a confused impression that the world is on fire with electric lights. To ride through the crowded theater district at night, with the great electric signs blinking at you from all sides—with the honking of the motor horns making a very Babel—with the crowds on the sidewalk, still hurrying, but for such a different reason—men and women in evening dress, all bound for one or other of the gay restaurants or theaters close by. ”

“ Oh, girls, if you could only have been there—if you only could!”
“Don’t rub it in,” cried Evelyn, clapping her hands to her ears. “You have me fairly jumping with envy now.”
“Do you think you could find Henri Charloix for Jeanette, Dad?” said Lucile, turning eagerly to her father and ignoring the interruption. “You see, there’s nothing to stand between them now.”
“I think so,” said Mr. Payton, his eyes kindling with an interest almost as great as his daughter’s. “I’ll spare no trouble to bring those poor harassed young people together. ”