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[Illustration: ELEANOR HELD OUT THE SEAL, BUT JIM LOOKED FORLORN.
(_Page 77_)]

                                 POLLY
                              IN NEW YORK

                                   BY
                         LILLIAN ELIZABETH ROY

                              _Author of_

                POLLY OF PEBBLY PIT, POLLY IN NEW YORK,
                 POLLY AND HER FRIENDS ABROAD, POLLY’S
                           BUSINESS VENTURE.

                             ILLUSTRATED BY
                             H. S. BARBOUR

                                NEW YORK
                            GROSSET & DUNLAP
                               PUBLISHERS

                  Made in the United States of America

POLLY IN NEW YORK

CHAPTER I—IN THE BIG CITY

The long Pullman train, that left Denver behind and carried Polly
Brewster away on her first venture from the ranch-home, was fitted up as
luxuriously as capital could do it. Eleanor Maynard, Polly’s bosom
friend, enjoyed her companion’s awe and wonderment—that a mere _car_
should be so furnished.

“Nolla,” whispered Polly, furtively glancing about, “how different are
these cars from the ones that come in and go out at Oak Creek!”

Eleanor, whose pet name was Nolla, laughed. “I should think they would
be, Polly. Why, those ‘ancients’ that rock back and forth between Denver
and Oak Creek, are the ‘only originals’ now in existence. They’ll be in
Barnum’s Show next Season as curios.”

Polly seemed to fully appreciate the comfort of her traveling carriage,
and remarked, “One would hardly believe these cars are going at all!
They run so smoothly and without any awful screeching of the joints.”

Anne Stewart, the teacher to whose charge these two girls had been
committed, had been studying the time-table, but she smiled at Polly’s
words. Then she turned to her mother, a sweet-faced woman who was
enjoying the trip almost as much as the young girls were, and said:
“Mother, we’ll have at least seven hours in Chicago before we have to
take the New York train. We can visit Paul all that time.”

“Goody! Then Poll can visit John and I can see Daddy,” exclaimed
Eleanor, eagerly. “But we must first charter the wash-room to turn
ourselves from dusty travelers into respectable citizens.”

“There isn’t a fleck of dust to be seen, Anne,” objected Polly, glancing
around the tidy interior, then at herself and friends.

“Wait till after we have crossed the plains and passed through all kinds
of towns—we won’t look like the same people.”

To Polly, that journey was a source of great interest and fun. The
dining-car, the folding tables for games or work, the sleeping
arrangements—all were so strangely different from the vast open-air
life of the ranch.

Then the express train reached Chicago and the recess hours were filled
with greetings, visits and then good-bys, before the little party of
four was on its last lap of the journey.

After leaving Chicago, Eleanor asked curiously: “What did you think of
our city, Polly?”

“I never saw such crowds of troubled people! Everyone looked as if the
worries of the universe rested upon his mind. And not one soul walked or
acted as if there was a moment to spare before the end of the world
would throw everything into chaos!”

Polly’s graphic description caused her companions to laugh, and Eleanor
added: “If that is what you think of Chicago, just wait until you reach
New York. The folks, there, are simply wild! Now Chicago is considered
quite slow, in comparison.”

Polly stared unbelievingly at Eleanor, and Anne Stewart laughed. But
Mrs. Stewart placed a calm hand over the amazed girl’s throbbing wrist,
and said sweetly: “Nolla is joking as usual.”

The four members which composed this little group of travelers arrived
at Grand Central just before noon. Polly gazed in consternation at the
vast station where the constant going and coming of trains and people
made a most interesting sight for her.

“We’ll stop at the Commodore for a few days, girls, as it is so
convenient for us,” remarked Anne, telling a porter to conduct them to
the hotel mentioned.

Placed in a comfortable suite, Anne remarked: “I think we will call up
the Evans or the Latimers, next. You remember, we were told to let them
know the moment we arrived.”

The others agreed to this suggestion, so Anne telephoned the two
families. Mrs. Latimer was out, but Mrs. Evans said she would come right
down town to meet the new-comers.

“Well, we can unpack our bags while we are waiting for her,” suggested
Anne. “But we must manage to get to a store this afternoon, and do some
shopping for Polly.”

“Dear me! I was hoping you would show us all the sky-scrapers I’ve read
about,” said Polly, eagerly.

“I planned to let the sight-seeing wait for a few days, as we _must_
secure a place to live in, first of all. Here it is the middle of
September, and I have to start school work the first of October, you
know. In a great city like New York, the desirable apartments are
generally taken as early as July and August. So we are up against it, in
beginning to seek so late in the season.”

“But we can’t hunt at night, Anne, and you might take us out to show us
the Great White Way—as the boys call it,” urged Eleanor.

Mrs. Evans came down in time to have luncheon with the Westerners, and
in the hour she visited with them, it was learned that Mrs. Latimer and
she had scoured the uptown west-side for suitable apartments for Mrs.
Stewart, but everything had been leased long before. She concluded with:

“So I really do not see what you are going to do, unless you just happen
to stumble over a place which has recently been resigned. There is
absolutely no use in doing any place above Ninety-sixth street, as we
sought diligently from that street up as far as One Hundred and
Sixty-eighth street, and not a decent thing to be seen or had!”

“But Ninety-sixth street is awfully far uptown, isn’t it?” asked Anne,
to whom the city was as yet a small middle-west town.

“Oh, dear, no! It is about the center of the city, between North and
South, these days.”

“I’m sure we will find just what we want, dear Mrs. Evans, but we are
grateful to you for being so kind to us,” said Polly.

“My dear child, I feel that I have done _nothing_ in comparison to all
you have done for me and mine. To know that my dear brother had friends
during the last days of his life, means so much to me. I always had a
horrible feeling that he died in the Klondike without money or friends;”
and Mrs. Evans hurriedly dried the tears welling up in her eyes.

Of course, that launched the conversation about Old Man Montresor, and
so interested were all concerned, that Mrs. Evans started when she heard
the mantel clock chime the hour.

“Merciful goodness! Here am I—my first call, and staying all day!” she
laughed.

“It’s not late, Mrs. Evans. We were only going to look up a first-class
shop where Polly can buy a few things,” replied Anne.

“Perhaps I can be of service in recommending a place?”

Several shops of quality were spoken of, and as these were located on
Fifth avenue, not far from Forty-second street, everyone felt relieved.
It would not take much time to do this necessary shopping, but Mrs.
Stewart preferred to remain at the hotel.

Mrs. Evans said good-by and the three young folks walked to Fifth
avenue. It was about four o’clock and the avenue presented an endless
stream of automobiles—one line going down, and the other line going
uptown. The crowds of people hurrying to and fro made Polly tremble.

“For goodness’ sake, Anne, where _do_ all these folks come from, and
where are they rushing to?”

Anne and Eleanor laughed.

“Well! If this is your wonderful Fifth avenue, I don’t think much of
it,” declared Polly, a few moments later.

“Why—it’s simply great!” exclaimed Eleanor, having a far different
view-point of the city.

“Great! Why, just look how narrow the street is? Main street, in Oak
Creek, is twice as wide. And Denver has nicer streets than this famous
alley you hear so much about,” scorned Polly.

Again her companions laughed merrily. At this moment a traffic policeman
sounded a shrill whistle. Instantly the mass of pedestrians, backed up
on the curbs, started to cross. Or to use Polly’s own description in the
letter she wrote home that night: “Really, dearies, they catapulted back
and forth like rockets! We had to rush with them, or be trampled upon.
It is just awful!

“And such freaks, mother! Nolla says it is style. Well, all I can say
is, spare me from such outrageous styles! Most every woman and girl I
met had faces covered thick with layers of white chalk, with a daub of
red on each cheek, and lips as scarlet as a clown’s. In fact, I had to
stand stock-still and look at one queer creature—she looked exactly as
if she was made up for a circus. Anne and Nolla laugh at me, all the
time. But I don’t care, so! These horrid painted things are not _nice_!

“If I hadn’t set my heart on being an interior decorator, I’d take up
lecturing, and teach these crazy New Yorkers how to look and enjoy a
simple life.”

From the above account you can see how one day’s experience in New York
impressed the girl of the Mountain Ranges in the West.

Polly, accustomed as she was to the overstocked store in Oak Creek,
where shelves were stacked high with all sorts of merchandise, opened
her eyes as Anne led her into a quiet parlor-like room that opened
directly from Fifth avenue. She stared around for a glimpse of the gowns
she expected to see; but nothing like one was to be seen. The dignified
lady who met Anne, and a few other well-dressed women who conversed in
low tones with each other, did not look like Polly’s idea of shop-girls.

Anne’s lady conducted them to a lift, and they shot up two stories.
Again they came out into a lovely lounging-room, but still no sign of
dresses. The lady pushed a button, and another woman hurried in.

“Measurements of this young lady. She will need several gowns for
afternoon and street wear; possibly, an evening dress.”

Then Polly was scientifically measured, and in a short time a number of
models were brought for her inspection and approval. These were placed
upon forms, and every desirable detail of the gowns was pointed out to
Anne and the girls.

“Oh, I just love that one, Poll!” cried Eleanor, gazing with rapt eyes
at an imported model.

“Isn’t it clumsy at the back? And see how narrow the bottom of the skirt
is. Maybe they didn’t have enough goods to make it any wider?” commented
Polly.

Eleanor giggled but Anne explained to Polly. The saleslady seemed not to
have heard the western girl’s objection to the gown.

Then it was tried on Polly, and she saw how very becoming it was. But
when she endeavored to walk over to the full-length mirror, she almost
fell down upon the rug.

“Mercy, Anne! I never can amble about in this binder! Get me something
sensible,” complained Polly.

But Eleanor liked the dress and as it fitted her, also, she said she
would take it as long as Polly didn’t.

“Take it and welcome, Nolla! but I pity _you_ if you try to scoot over
the crossings of Fifth avenue in _that_ skirt,” laughed Polly.

Other gowns were brought and Polly finally found several that she liked,
with wide enough skirts to suit her comfort. Then Anne asked for the
bills. The list was added up and when the total was mentioned Polly
almost fainted. If she had not been seated, she might have crumpled to
the floor.

“We’ll take that gown with us, the others you may send,” said Anne,
taking up the one to be wrapped. Then she gave the name and address
where the other dresses were to be sent. A fat roll of yellow bills now
came from Anne’s hand-bag, and she paid the enormous sum—or, at least,
Polly thought it was enormous for so few dresses.

Safely out of hearing of the fashionable sales-ladies, Polly whispered:
“Anne, you paid _hundreds_ of dollars for those things!”

Anne nodded, smilingly. Eleanor said: “Why, that wasn’t much for what we
got, Poll. The dress I bought is _imported_! And a model, at that. It
was a bargain at that price.”

Polly sighed. Would she ever be able to accommodate herself to such a
changed life as this one now seemed to be? Her friends laughed at the
sigh and expression of doubt on her face.

As Anne led her protegées past the hotel desk, a very polite clerk said:
“A ’phone call for you, Miss Stewart, at five-ten P. M.”

Anne was handed the slip and read: “Mr. Latimer called up. Said he would
call again at six-thirty.”

“Maybe he wants us to go somewhere, to-night!” suggested Eleanor,
eagerly.

“Well, you won’t go to-night, if he does ask you. It’s bed at nine, for
everyone of us, because we have a hard day of house-hunting before us,
to-morrow,” decreed Anne, courageously.

But Eleanor was given no cause to argue that evening, for Mr. Latimer
called up to invite them all to go to the Mardi Gras at Coney Island the
following evening. He said the Evans and Latimers would call at the
hotel, in two cars, about six o’clock and take them to supper at the
Island.

“Oh, goody! I never saw Coney Island but I’ve heard so much about it!”
cried Eleanor, dancing about the room.

“I have read how dreadful a place it is,” ventured Polly.

“That’s another point of view, Polly. If you go down there to enjoy the
fun and games, and see the ocean, then you will have nothing but frolic
and sea. But if one is in quest of crime, then it can be found festering
there, just as it is in every other section of a large city,” explained
Anne.

“But we are only going for a frolic,” added Eleanor.

“I should hope so!” Polly said, so fervently, that Anne had to laugh
heartily.

After dinner that night, Anne said: “I think Polly ought to see a sight
that no other city can offer—that is the wondrous advertising signs on
Broadway about Times Square, at night.”

“I am too weary to go out, daughter, but you take the girls,” Mrs.
Stewart remarked, so they hurriedly donned their hats and gloves.

When they reached the famous corner of Forty-second street and Broadway,
and stood at the uptown side of Times Square Triangle to look at the
lights, Polly was speechless.

“Why, it’s as bright as day, everywhere,” whispered she.

“And just see the moving ads. up on the roofs!” cried Eleanor,
delighting in the scene.

“I thought there were hordes of mad folks on the streets this afternoon,
but this beats everything!” exclaimed Polly, watching both sides of
Broadway from her vantage ground. “Honestly, Anne, do they not act
obsessed, jostling and rushing as if Death drove them? They never seem
to mind trolleys, autos, or policemen. They swirl and fly every which
way, regardless of everyone and everything.”

“I just love this excitement!” sighed Eleanor, smiling.

“Well, I hope to goodness we will live far enough away from all this to
let me forget it once in a while,” said Polly.

“Oh, you’ll love it, too, pretty soon,” Eleanor said, confidently.

“Never! This is Bedlam to me. When I write home about it, I shall tell
father that it reminds me of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah when fire
and brimstone fell and destroyed those cities. I bet the folks never
acted any wilder, there, than these New Yorkers do, here.”

Anne laughed at Polly’s vivid disgust, and suggested that they return to
the hotel.

“Oh, no, Anne! It is only eight-thirty. And for New York that only
begins an evening, you know. Let’s get up on top of one of the buses on
Fifth avenue and take the round trip. That ride will show Polly lots of
sights: the Flat Iron Building, Riverside Drive and the Hudson, and
heaps of things.”

Eleanor prevailed, and after a delightful drive of an hour, the little
party was glad to get to the hotel and drop into bed.

CHAPTER II—HOUSE HUNTING IN NEW YORK

Before the westerners awake to the new day, let us renew our
acquaintance with them.

Polly Brewster, of Pebbly Pit, born and reared on that wonderful ranch
in Colorado where the lava-jewels were found, is for the first time in
her fourteen years, away from home. As she is at the most impressionable
age, her wise mother authorized Anne Stewart, the young teacher who had
spent the summer with the Brewsters and who was engaged to John
Brewster, to spare no money when fitting Polly out for her life in New
York. Mrs. Brewster wished Polly to feel herself the equal of anyone she
met, if it pertained to dress. And style was about the only thing that
Polly lacked, having all fine qualities in her character.

Eleanor Maynard, of Chicago, now Polly’s dearest friend, never had to
count the cost of anything, as her father was the best known and richest
banker of that great city. But because of her ill health, being a
protegée of Anne Stewart for the past two years, this association had
taught Eleanor to think twice before she wasted her allowance.

And Anne Stewart, just past twenty-one, was experienced for her age,
because of her mother’s dependence on her for most things, since the
father died many years before this story opens. And Paul, her younger
brother now at college in Chicago (where the other boys also studied),
was there because his sister earned the money with which to pay his
expenses. Now that Anne would participate in the shares of the gold mine
that had been discovered the day of the escape on Grizzly Slide, the
Stewarts had no need to practise such strict economy as hitherto.

In the morning Polly was awakened by a knock at her door. “Poll, someone
wants to speak to you over the ’phone,” said Anne.

“Me? Why, who can it be? I never talked into one of those funny little
black horns in my life, Anne. Wait, and help me.”

In another moment Polly, in a pretty negligée—one of the purchases of
the previous afternoon—ran out of her room. Anne sat her upon a stool
before the small stand and showed her how to hold the instrument.

“Hello!” whispered Polly, half afraid that something would pop out at
her.

Eleanor had crept out of her room by this time, and stood back of Polly,
grinning at her friend’s nervousness.

“Speak louder,” admonished Anne in Polly’s ear.

“Hello!” shouted Polly, trying to adjust her senses to the unfamiliar
method of conversing with an unseen individual.

Then a merry laugh and a familiar voice sounded in her ear. Her face
expressed amazement, then pleased surprise, and then excitement. She
glanced up at Eleanor as the voice continued speaking.

“Oh, we’re _so_ glad to hear you are in the city. Now we shall have
_lovely_ times!” exclaimed Polly, finally.

A joyous boy’s voice continued talking but suddenly it ceased, and Polly
looked at Anne for an explanation. The telephone receiver began clicking
strangely in her ear, and she held it at arm’s length in fear of what
might be going to explode inside that queer tube.

Eleanor laughed and said, “Let me do the talking—it sounds like Jim
Latimer—is it?”

“Yes, Ken and he landed from the West at midnight, and they are going to
the Mardi Gras with us to-night.”

Eleanor now took the telephone, and by the time the operator managed to
connect the interrupted wires, she was ready to chat as if she had
nothing else to do. After ten minutes of silly boy and girl talk, Anne
whispered: “Oh, do stop, Nolla! It is eight o’clock and we want to fill
a good day with work.”

“I’ve got to ring off, now, Jim, but we’ll see you to-night. Good-by!”
Then Eleanor turned to her companions, and said:

“Well, that’s good news, Polly! To have the boys in the city to show us
a good time before we start school.”

Without saying anything to cause the girls to object because this “good
time” with the boys might be indefinitely postponed, Anne made up her
mind that a home would and _must_ be secured before anyone planned for
pleasure or fun.

That day, they sought in buildings on every block uptown that had been
left uninspected by Mrs. Latimer and Mrs. Evans, but with no success. If
an apartment of five to seven rooms was found, it would be found to be
dark, dirty, or in an objectionable neighborhood. They were ready to pay
a high rent for six or seven rooms, but nothing suitable could be found.

When they returned to the hotel, at five o’clock, to wash and dress for
the outing that evening, everyone felt discouraged. “And these poor
deluded New Yorkers call the band-boxes we saw to-day, apartment rooms?”
said Polly, sneering at the homes but not at the poor inmates.

“Owners dare not build the rooms larger, Polly, because real estate in
this city is so valuable and taxable. Every inch of property has to be
made the most of. You know, that is why a builder, in large cities, runs
his structures up in the sky—the sky doesn’t charge taxes on so much
per foot, but the ground the building stands on does.”

“Oh, I never thought of that! So that is why New York houses go up
twenty and thirty stories, eh? The owner has to get his rents out of the
air and sky, and pay it over to the land-assessor,” Polly exclaimed, in
a tone of understanding.

Her friends laughed. “You are an apt pupil, Poll,” said Anne.

When their hosts for the evening called for Anne and her party, they
were all ready and eager to start. So they were soon seated in the two
cars; Jim driving one, with Polly seated beside him, and Ken, Eleanor
and Anne in the back seat. Mrs. Stewart was welcomed with the two ladies
and the two men in the other car.

“Now, Jim,” called Mr. Latimer, “you be sure and trail me. I’ll go
first, as I know every foot of the road to Coney Island.”

Polly had never been in an automobile before, and at first she felt
frightened; but Jim chatted as he drove, and seemed to take it all so
naturally, that she soon overcame the desire to clutch hold on the side
of the car.

There were hundreds of other automobiles all going in the same
direction, and when our two cars reached the Boulevard, there was such a
gay stream of machines and people as the girls never dreamed of before.
Confetti, paper ribbons, horns and what-not, were used by the passengers
on trolleys and in automobiles along the road until the lighted spires
of The Park, and other pleasure-giving resorts of Coney Island were
seen.

Polly looked so different in her smart clothes that Jim Latimer wondered
what had happened to turn this pretty ranch girl into such a stunning
city girl in so short a time.

He kept glancing at her oval face, rounded with health and vigor; at her
straight little nose, her wide-open, deep, soulful eyes that seemed to
weigh all things wisely; the heavy wavy hair that was becomingly looped
back from her face, and above all, the rich glow in her cheeks, and the
creamy complexion and fine texture of her skin. “Nothing made-up there!”
thought Jim.

But Polly was happily unaware of Jim’s wondering approval, for she was
too completely absorbed in the sights about her. She could not have told
anyone what Jim looked like in his city clothes. In fact, after the
first hasty glance at Ken and him, and the realization that they had
doffed their mountain outfits, she gave no second thought to their
clothes.

At Coney Island, that night, the girls enjoyed one continual lark. Even
Mrs. Stewart was urged to go with the elder Latimers and the Evans upon
the chutes, the merry-go-rounds, the Twister, the Winsome Waves, and
what-not. Such a reckless spirit of fun seemed to possess everyone in
the place, that it was contagious.

When the evening was almost over, and Polly sighed with very surfeit of
so much fun, the boys managed to “lose” the elders and took the two
girls to the beach.

“Oh, how wonderful! I never thought of the ocean. There was so much to
see and to do that I forgot Coney Island was right on the sea,”
exclaimed Eleanor.

But Polly said not a word. She was suddenly confronted with the restless
mighty ocean that she had always longed to see. The sense of frivolity
that had filled her for the last few hours vanished, and she gave
herself up to the power of that calm, never-ceasing roll of water. A few
minutes before and she had been weary from so much laughter and sport,
but now a wonderful peace and rest pervaded her being.

The boys understood this unusual effect of the ocean upon one who had
never seen anything like it, and finally Polly heaved a sigh.

“Well, this is better than all else. It’s worth coming so far east to
see. It’s the only decent thing of which New York can boast.”

Her companions laughed; after digging in the soft sand for a short time,
and exchanging youthful view-points about everything in the universe,
they all sauntered back to the place where the two cars had been parked.

A shout greeted them. “There, I _knew_ you boys had dodged us on
purpose. But Miss Stewart thought you were lost in this crowd.”

As everyone felt tired before the cars reached New York City again, the
conversation was intermittent. But just before Mr. Latimer drove his car
up to the hotel, Mrs. Stewart learned how Dr. and Mrs. Evans, Mrs.
Latimer, and the two boys, Jim and Ken, had spent that entire day
home-hunting for the westerners with no success.

“It seems very strange that in such a vast city one is not able to find
a decent apartment,” complained Mrs. Stewart.

“We are told ‘because of the war.’ The war is blamed for everything
these days, but the real excuse for owners not building now is because
of the high cost of material and labor. They are all waiting for better
times; meantime people must take what can be had, or go without,” said
Mr. Latimer.

“After hunting the way we have for more than a week, and not having
found a suitable place, Mrs. Stewart, I would suggest your finding a
nice boarding-house for the winter. If you put it off too long, even
those places will be filled,” advised Mrs. Latimer.

“Dear me!” sighed Mrs. Stewart. “That was suggested this morning, but I
said it seemed dreadful, when I came East just to make a home and keep
house for the three girls.”

“Yes, it would be much pleasanter for everyone to have a home, but in
cases like this Fall’s shortage of apartments, one must do what is most
expedient,” returned Mrs. Latimer.

Mrs. Stewart told the girls, that night, what had been said, but they
all felt sure something _must_ turn up in the next day or two. So the
next morning before starting out, they laid out a regular plan of work.

“Mother and Eleanor will start where we left off, yesterday, and weave a
search back and forth downtown until they reach the hotel. I will take
Polly and, beginning at Washington Square, work uptown until we finish.
If either of us find anything at all decent, and in an agreeable
neighborhood, pay down a deposit to hold it and be sure to get a receipt
as a binder—Mr. Latimer told me that much. Then we will all go for the
second inspection and decide. Dr. Evans said we’d better pay down
several deposits rather than lose a place, as we can quickly sell out
any option we have for more than we paid down.”

Having instructed her friends, Anne added one last bit of advice: “We
will go as high as $3,000 a year for seven rooms, or $1,500 for four to
five rooms—no more, as that is all shelter is worth. If we can’t find a
place at that price, we’ll stay in a hotel!”

So the second day of house-hunting went forward by two divisions instead
of one, and all that day Mrs. Stewart and Eleanor experienced the same
snubs, weariness, and failures, as thousands of other home-hunters in
New York had. And at evening they returned wearily to the hotel to hear
what Anne had accomplished.

“Polly and she have not yet arrived,” announced Eleanor, as Mrs. Stewart
and she entered their suite.

“I hope she has had better luck than we can brag about,” added Mrs.
Stewart, dropping into an easy chair.

A long time after the “first division” had returned, baffled, to the
hotel, Anne and Polly burst into the room with happy faces.

“Oh, we just found the most wonderful place! Polly and I actually
_discovered_ it. We were giving up all hope of ever finding a decent
apartment at any reasonable figure, and had started for the subway when
we saw this one. The flower-boxes caught Polly’s eye, so we are really
indebted to her for having secured our home.”

Anne’s enthusiasm was contagious, and instantly Mrs. Stewart and Eleanor
wanted to know where it was located.

Anne and Polly exchanged smiling glances, as if the secret was too
precious to impart to others.

“I suppose you two did up the entire upper sections, to-day, eh?” asked
Anne, countering their eager queries.

“Did we? I should say we did! I got a taxi for the day and we flew from
one pile of stone and marble to the next, and so many rides up and down
in gorgeous elevators all day has kept my head still spinning. But we
had the same results as yesterday. When you inspect one of these modern
honey-combs you see them all. The only difference being that a few
owners manage to retain the elevator and telephone operators, while the
majority of superintendents apologise by saying, ‘My help went on a
strike, to-day.’

“It really looks, Anne, as if these poor New Yorkers will have to move
out to the country if they want to live this year,” remarked Mrs.
Stewart, earnestly.

Her companions laughed and Anne said: “Mother, you are too precocious.
But now listen to our ‘find’!

“As I planned, you two went uptown while Polly and I went downtown from
here. We covered all the lower sections by criss-crossing back and
forth, but we came away from the Gramercy Park section, late this
afternoon, with an utter sense of failure. In fact, I was silently
planning to inquire about good boarding-houses, when we hailed a
Lexington avenue car, going north.

“Being woolly westerners, we failed to ascertain how far northwards the
car went, and having paid our fares, sat down. I remember turning to
Polly and saying, ‘This is actually the first car in New York that I
have been on that wasn’t crowded to the platforms.’”

Polly laughed at the remembrance, and Anne smiled. “But it was our
salvation, Anne,” ventured the former.

Anne nodded and continued her story. “Then we soon learned why there
were vacant seats on that car. A pleasant-faced, grey-haired man of
about fifty, must have overheard my comment because he spoke to us after
we were seated.

“‘Perhaps you did not know that this car goes no farther north than the
next block? It is switched back downtown, from that point. Did not the
conductor mention it to you?’

“I was furious, and I replied: ‘No! he never said a word when I paid the
fares.’

“By this time the car stopped and the conductor called out: ‘All
out—dis car goes no furder. We switch back next corner!’

“So Polly and I had to get off with the others. When we stepped down
from the car, the nice man lifted his hat to us and said: ‘I judge you
are strangers in the city. Can I direct you anywhere?’

“I thanked him and told him we were only going as far as Forty-second
street to the hotel. Then I added, sarcastically: ‘But there may be no
cars which run as far north as that street!’

“He laughed and said: ‘You had better walk over to Fourth avenue and get
the car there. It takes you through the tunnel much quicker than the
Lexington avenue car runs to Forty-second street. But be careful and do
not board a car that stops at the car-house on Thirty-second street.’

“We all laughed at that, as it would have been just like me to do so;
then we thanked him and started along Thirty-first street to reach the
car. And there we found our Haven of Hope!”

“Where? Not on Thirty-first street, I trust!” exclaimed Mrs. Stewart.
“Isn’t that section of the city dreadful?”

“Not the block where we found a home,” explained Anne. “It has several
remodeled houses and several other flat houses on it.”

“But just wait until you see our house—it’s fine!” said Polly, eagerly.

“Polly caught hold of my arm and exclaimed: ‘Oh, Anne! see the lovely
flower-boxes in that cute little house!’

“I saw three narrow windows on the second floor with green flower-boxes
on the outside sills, but then my eyes dropped lower and I spied a
swinging sign at a side-door. It merely said: ‘To Let’ inquire, etc.
Polly saw it at the same moment, so we stood and gazed at each other.

“‘Let’s try and peep in at this window,’ suggested Polly.

“I agreed, and we did our best to see what was within; but the long
iron-lattice that covered the four slits in the wide front doors, were
covered from the inside. So we went to hunt up the agent.

“His office was only a few blocks down Fourth avenue, so Polly and I
hurried there before it should be closed for the day. A boy was told to
accompany us and we were soon inspecting the premises. Our escort
offered all the information he had heard in the real estate office.

“‘This hain’t been on our books more’n a day. I just hung out the sign
this morning. The last man what lived here was an artist and he fixed up
everything like you see it now. But he wanted the owner to take out the
stable doors and put in a studio-winder, and when the owner wouldn’t
spend a cent, the artist up and moved. My boss said the next tenant
would insist on having the doors taken out, so you might as well kick
about them being here, and see if you’se kin get the winder in.’”

Anne’s mimicry of the office-boy was perfect and her hearers laughed,
but Mrs. Stewart had caught the significant words: “Stable doors,” and
now she looked deeply concerned. Anne hastened to end her narrative when
she saw her mother’s expression.

“So Polly and I went back to the agent’s, heard the price of the place,
and paid down half a month’s rent to hold it until you all can go with
us to-morrow morning to approve of our selection.”

“Oh, Anne! how much was it a month?” exclaimed Eleanor, eagerly, while
Mrs. Stewart looked dubious over such recklessness.

“One-fifty a month, and we can have a straight lease—no humbugging
about clauses.”

“And how many rooms, did you say, dear?” gasped Mrs. Stewart.

“I didn’t say, mother, and I told Poll not to say more until after you
see it in the morning.”

“But I like it, and it really does seem as if Providence sent us through
that street,” added Polly, sighing with content.

“Eleanor, did you hear Anne say it had stable-doors?” now ventured Mrs.
Stewart, fearfully.

“No! did you, Anne? Why would it have stable-doors?”

“Because in the days of horses and carriages, it was some rich man’s
private stable,” laughed Anne, enjoying the horror on her mother’s face.

“A stable! Ha, ha, ha—for a Maynard of Chicago! Oh—ha, ha, ha!”
laughed Eleanor, rocking back and forth.

Even Mrs. Stewart had to laugh at the picture Eleanor’s exclamation
suggested—Mrs. Maynard and Barbara calling upon a member of their
family who was living in an East Side stable!

Any doubt of this being just the place they wanted vanished in the
morning when Anne and Polly proudly escorted Mrs. Stewart and Eleanor
about their future domicile. True, it had all the ear-marks of a stable
from the _outside_, but once you were within, there was only an artistic
home to be seen. The ground-floor which had once held four stalls and a
harness-room, with space for two carriages, was now partitioned off in a
manner that made the most of the space. A large living-room across the
front acted as entrance-hall and passageway to the rear rooms and second
floor. In the corner of the living-room, where the small brick chimney
had served as smoke-vent for the stove of former days, there now was a
wide tiled fire-place which would hold great logs.

Double glass-paneled doors led from the front room to the dining-room
with its two high-set square windows opening to the sunlight in the
rear. Also a single door went to the kitchen, which also had two high
windows like those in the adjoining room. From the kitchen, a back door
opened upon a tiny grass-platted garden of about twenty feet square. A
fine locust tree grew in one corner of the plot and gave shade in the
afternoon.

Anne explained certain peculiar features regarding the windows of the
back-rooms. “Don’t you see why they are so high? It is because they were
once the ventilators to the stalls. Each horse had his own window for
air. But I think they now make the rooms look quaint, don’t you?”

The others agreed with her, and Eleanor said: “If we had a shelf running
along under the windows, it would look better.”

“And we can use it for china,” added Polly.

Anne now started to go upstairs, followed by the other three; they all
examined the bedrooms and were delighted with them. There were two large
front and two smaller rear rooms, with a fine tiled bathroom between the
back rooms. Not one of the rooms was as small as the largest chambers
seen in the modern apartments.

“And all for a hundred and fifty a month!” exclaimed Eleanor, joyously.

“I reckon we’d better take it at once, children,” said Mrs. Stewart,
approvingly.

“But remember,” said Anne, on the way to the agent’s office, “we have to
make all inside repairs, or redecorate as we want. There is no steam
heat or hot water supplied, either, like the swell apartment houses,
uptown, offer us.”

“I’d rather have it so, Anne dear,” replied Mrs. Stewart. “I’ve always
been used to a coal range and those fandangled gas ideas worried me, but
I didn’t say anything to you-all. I noticed what a fine little kitchen
stove this one has, so you’ll always have hot water—never fear. As for
heat! Well, a great open fire-place in the front room will help heat
upstairs, and there is a register in the bathroom that comes from the
kitchen stove-pipe.”

“We can use electric or gas radiators, Anne,” added Eleanor, eagerly,
“in very cold weather.”

“I never knew what heated bedrooms were like, in Pebbly Pit, Anne,”
Polly said, anxious to have a word.

“Besides we may have a very mild winter,” remarked Anne.

So the lease was signed and the first month’s rent paid. “We’ll give you
any assistance you may need in getting the place in order, Mrs.
Stewart,” said the agent, as he handed the papers to his new tenant.

“That will be very nice, and we will take advantage of your offer, at
once. I want the kitchen range and stove pipe put in perfect working
order, and please see that the radiator in the bathroom is not
obstructed in any way,” said the lady.

Anne and the agent exchanged looks and laughed. “I can see where Mrs.
Stewart expects to enjoy herself this winter. Well, I told my wife the
other day, we were more comfortable when we had an old-fashioned flat
with a kitchen range, than we now are with all the latest modern
improvements,” returned the agent.

“Anne, Polly and I want our rooms repapered and painted,” whispered
Eleanor, tugging at Anne’s sleeve.

“I was about to suggest that you have all the woodwork given one coat of
nice fresh paint, but the paper now on the walls is very expensive and
artistic, so I wouldn’t be in too great a hurry to have it done over.
The last tenant imported his own paper at a great expense for that
place,” explained the agent.

“I think you are very kind and sensible to advise us in this way. So
we’ll have the men do the paint but not touch the paper until we have
had time to look it over again,” said Anne.

“When can we move in?” questioned Polly.

“Any time you like; but I would advise having the painters out first. I
will send two men to begin work in there to-morrow.”

Then the four delighted tenants left the office, and on the walk back to
the corner where they wished to board the car they eagerly planned how
they would furnish their home.

CHAPTER III—FURNISHING THE STABLE

“Anne, if we hurry and get the furniture, we can settle our home before
school starts,” suggested Eleanor, eagerly.

“If you-all had only let me ship my stuff from Denver you wouldn’t have
to buy a stick!” declared Mrs. Stewart.

They were standing on the corner waiting for an uptown car but not one
was in sight. Anne showed signs of impatience but exclaimed at her
mother’s remark:

“Mother, you know very well what the crating and freight would have
cost, and you sold your stuff for more than it was worth. I think you
are most fortunate to have that little roll of money on hand, when you
consider the wear and tear your furniture has had in the last thirty
years.”

“Anyway, Mrs. Stewart, I don’t want Victorian period in our house. Polly
and I want to furnish and decorate our own rooms as we like. This is to
be our first experiment in real artistic work,” said Eleanor,
comfortingly.

Polly nodded her head at these words; but standing with her back to the
curb, her face was opposite a large show-window in the corner building.
Now, as if by some magnet, her eyes were attracted to what that window
contained.

“Why, just see there! Right near our street is a furniture shop!” With
this exclamation, Polly ran over to inspect the objects displayed in the
window. A carved four-poster, and other rare antiques, drew the
attention of the little group.

Polly glanced around to see what furniture shop it was that was so near
their new home.

“Why! It’s an auction place. Surely, it cannot be that such wonderful
things are sold in a junk room,” exclaimed Mrs. Stewart.

That made the other three look also, and Eleanor added: “It doesn’t
follow that just because this is an auction house, that it must be a
junk room.”

“Well, I never saw anything but awful junk in the second-hand place in
Oak Creek,” explained Polly.

“Even the Denver dealers sell only junk, Nolla. But it may be different
in New York. Everything seems to be different,” said Anne.

“Of course it is! Why wouldn’t it be when you stop to think of it. In
the first place, no one in Oak Creek ever had anything but junk to sell.
And in Denver, where everyone hangs on to every stick they have, simply
because it is so difficult to get anything worth while, the poor
second-hand dealer starves for want of trade. But here, as well as in
Chicago, folks send stuff to places like this for sale, when they can’t
find a place to move into. I just bet there will be thousands of
families that will have to sell out this year just because there are not
enough homes for all of them.” Eleanor’s logic was sound, and Polly
ventured a suggestion.

“I’d love to go in there and see what they do with such pieces. There
are lots of well-dressed people going in—come on.”

Nothing loath to see the interior of a New York second-hand shop, the
westerners went to the front door. There a colored porter stood and
bowed politely.

“Sale goin’ on in third room, right, ladies; have a catalogue?”

As the uniformed attendant offered Anne a pamphlet of about twenty
pages, he waved them inside out of the doorway. Then he repeated his
directions to the next couple who followed directly after Mrs. Stewart’s
party.

To say the four friends were astonished at the size and quality of the
auction-rooms is speaking mildly. Not a piece of furniture but looked
rare and expensive. It seemed improbable that it all was for sale.

A second attendant now came up and said: “Sale now going on in south
gallery, ladies.”

Then Anne took her courage in her hands. “We have never visited a sale
before, so you will confer a favor by showing us where to go, or what to
do. We are about to furnish a house.”

The man sensed a good customer, and gallantly showed them through
several well-stocked rooms until they reached the last, where a smiling
smooth-tongued individual sat behind a raised desk and spoke
conversationally to the crowd which sat in rows before him.

“Jake, find me four chairs, in a hurry,” whispered the man who was
conducting Anne’s party.

Without confusion and in a moment’s time, Jake carried over four
wonderful Jacobean chairs, two in each hand, their backs to each other,
and handled as recklessly as if the fine carving was made of unbreakable
metal.

“Now, ladies, enjoy yourselves,” the smiling attendant said; then he
stopped for a moment at the desk to say a word to the auctioneer who
continued his selling as if no new victims had been introduced.

One marvelous article after another was brought forth and placed for
exhibition upon the Persian rug that covered the platform in front of
the audience. And one after another, the objects of art and beauty were
sold to different buyers at a preposterously low figure.

But the wily auctioneer took notice that not a member of the newly
arrived party was bidding on anything. He decided that this must not be,
so he stood up to address the assembly.

“Friends, I know that you are here to buy and not to waste your time in
mere curiosity. If there is any particular article you need, or have
seen on the premises, speak out and I will oblige you by introducing it
in this sale.”

He glanced over the crowd and finally allowed his gaze to rest upon the
four who sat in the front row. They all felt guilty of using his time
and room when they had no idea of buying any particular thing. Mrs.
Stewart was about to whisper to Anne that they had better go when
Eleanor spoke up fearlessly.

“I saw a four-poster in the show-window before I came in. Is it for
sale?”

Her three companions felt the shock that is experienced when one does an
unusual or unexpected thing. But they each felt thrilled, too, at the
courage of that one.

“I regret exceedingly, my dear young lady, that that particular set of
antique mahogany cannot be sold until day after to-morrow. In fact, only
the contents of _this_ vast room is for sale to-day. We take them in
turn, you see. To-morrow the adjoining room goes, and the day following
that everything is sold and cleared out of the third room—where the bed
is.”

“But we have a four-poster in this sale, Mr. Winters,” quickly said one
of the floor-men.

“Ah, indeed! Perhaps the young lady will like it as well as the other
one. Bring it forward, Joe.”

Without the slightest delay, the floor-men then pulled and pushed a very
elaborately carved four-posted bed out upon the dais. It was similar to
the one in the window but it was smaller, this one being four feet wide
while the one on exhibition for Friday’s sale was full sized.

The auctioneer spoke of all the points about this particular piece of
furniture, and then began to offer it for sale. The four visitors in the
front row sat as if hypnotized at his manner.

“What, no one here to appreciate this marvelous work of other days, now
to be sold for three hundred dollars?”

Not a sound encouraged him, so he sighed and said: “Well, is there
anyone who will give two hundred for it?”

Eleanor’s heart thumped. She was willing to give it but she found her
tongue cleave to the roof of her mouth at the very idea of securing the
bed at such a price.

“Too bad! Then I shall have to ask if anyone will pay me one hundred
dollars? Is this bed not worth that to you, young lady—or perhaps you
need a full-sized bed?” The auctioneer looked at Eleanor but failed to
see the dazzling glint that shot into her eyes when he offered the bed
for one hundred. He really had no hope of starting it at that figure so
he over-did it that time.

“All right, friends, I am perfectly willing to have you set your own
price on this magnificent piece of carving that is no less than a
hundred and fifty years old. Now what is your pleasure? Fifty, forty,
thirty—what? did I hear a bargain-hunter say twenty-five? Oh,
impossible?”

Eleanor almost fainted at such a dreadful sacrifice, and would have
stood up to offer him the hundred, had not a man in the rear called out
“Fifty.”

“Ah, that is better—thank you. Now, fifty, fifty, fifty—who says
seventy-five? I want seventy-five—fifty, fifty, fifty, fif—fif-tee,
tee, t-e-e—what, no one here willing to pay more than fifty dollars for
this bee-u—utiful bit of antique mahogany? Fif-fif-fif—Ah!”

Eleanor swallowed hard, half-stood up, and the auctioneer caught her eye
at last. He smiled, acknowledged her expression, and now called:

“Seventy-five! I now have seventy-five, seven, seven,
sev-sev-seventy—seventy-fi-ifvvve! I have seventy-five dollars for this
wonderful mahogany bed that is really worth seven hundred dollars in any
store to-day. And I only have seventy-five dollars bid. Seven-tee——”

Again Eleanor half-stood up and this time she managed to say “One
hundred, please!”

“Thank you, young lady—you certainly understand fine furniture. I am
now offered one hundred dollars by one who knows the value of this
bed—one hundred, one hundred—hundred—one, h-u-ndred dollars
offered—who will give a hundred and ten—only ten more gets it?”

Polly was so amazed when Eleanor said “One hundred dollars” that she
giggled hysterically; but not wishing to have her friend brag how “she
bid at this auction and her friends were too shy,” Polly looked
anxiously at the auctioneer. He saw that look and understood.

“Don’t hesitate, young lady. You know ‘he who hesitates is lost’—in
this case, loses a great bargain. If you wish to bid, never fear
competing with a friend. In this business there are no friends—all men
are strangers. Shall I say one hundred and ten for you?”

Polly nodded eagerly and smiled broadly at Eleanor. The two girls were
so delighted with themselves at daring to speak out so bravely in a city
like _New York_ that they failed to realize the auctioneer had knocked
down the bed to Polly.

“This young lady in front. I _must_ say she appreciates fine furniture!”
declared the suave auctioneer to everyone in general.

“W-h-y, Pol—le-ee! Is that your bed?” gasped Mrs. Stewart.

“I’m sure I don’t know. Is it, Nolla?” laughed Polly.

Just then a brusque voice said: “Name and address please—and
twenty-five per cent deposit money.” The girls looked up in
bewilderment. Who was the man?

He seemed to read their thoughts, for he smiled. “I am the cashier.
Everyone has to pay down a cash deposit on their bids. Everything you
buy has to be removed by Saturday, or we are not responsible for it
after that.”

“Oh!” Polly and Eleanor looked at each other. They were trying to figure
out how much money he wanted.

“Here—I’ll pay the deposit. About thirty dollars, isn’t it?” said Anne,
in a business-like tone.

“Yes, thank you. Now name and address, please?”

“What’s the number of our stable, Anne?” laughed Eleanor.

When Anne gave the address the cashier looked surprised. “Oh, have you
rented the Studio down the street?”

The girls bowed wonderingly, and he added: “The artist who lived there
for a number of years, used to drop in here every week just for the
entertainment of picking up curios. In fact, I saw him here a few
minutes ago. He told me he would give fifty percent advance to the
tenant who leased that place. Here’s a chance for you to make money if
you want to give up the Studio.”

“We want a home more than money, mister!” declared Polly.

“You’ve said it, Poll! If we give up this studio we may have to go back
and live in our gold mine, because New York hasn’t any homes left, this
year,” laughed Eleanor.

The cashier had not missed the mention of “our gold mine” and determined
to do his utmost to please these ladies. Hence he whispered: “I’ll look
after everything you buy here, and don’t worry about moving it away on
Saturday. Next week will do, if you are not ready to get things out this
week.”

“Polly, Polly! There goes a high-boy that matches the bed you got!”
cried Eleanor, at this moment.

“They are pieces of the same set. Strange to say, they came from the
very place you rented. The artist has to sell out because he cannot find
an apartment, and there is no storage room for his furniture,” explained
the cashier.

So Polly secured the high-boy for sixty dollars and felt very proud of
her purchases. Eleanor bought a pair of brass fire-dogs and irons, and
Anne bid on a large etching. When it was knocked down to her, she turned
to her mother and said: “I really do not want it. What under the sun did
I get it for?”

And Mrs. Stewart laughed. “It’s always the way at these vendues. One
gets all kinds of things one never needs.”

“Then let’s get out. Girls, I’m going now,” whispered Anne, rising to
leave.

The cashier hurried over when he saw the four new customers about to go,
and said, “The artist would like very much to meet his successors to the
Studio.”

At the same moment, a grey-haired gentleman bowed and smiled, and the
group waited expectantly. Anne and Polly smiled also.

“You are the kind friend who advised us, yesterday, when we had to leave
the car,” Anne said, pleasantly.

“Yes, but I never dreamed I was directing you right to my front door,”
rejoined the artist.

“Well, Mr. Fabian, as long as you’ve met before, I’ll go about my
business,” and the cashier hurried away, leaving the five people in the
adjoining room.

Anne proceeded to introduce her friends and then added: “It was
providential that we went through that street. Now we have a home to our
liking.”

“I am delighted that my successors will appreciate the place, but I am
still seeking for quarters. Had I choked my anger and swallowed my
pride, when the owner refused to keep his word about the stable-doors, I
would still be enjoying my cozy Studio.”

Mr. Fabian then told the ladies how he had taken the stable in its raw
state and turned it into the lovely dwelling it now was. He had paid for
all the hardwood floors, for the partitions on the ground-floor, and for
the kitchen plumbing.

“Why, it must have cost you a small fortune,” ventured Anne. “And now it
seems too bad that you can’t enjoy it.”

“But I did enjoy it, my dear young lady—for five years. And I only paid
sixty dollars a month, during that time, too. When the owner raised me,
this year, to ninety I rebelled, because I had spent so much money on
beautifying the rooms. I thought he would really relent and say I could
have it for about seventy-five a month. I was mistaken.”

“We’re paying a hundred and fifty a month and make all repairs,
ourselves,” Anne ventured.

“He took advantage of the unusual conditions. But you have a better
bargain, even so, than if you had rented a seven-room apartment, uptown,
for two or three thousand a year.”

By this time they were standing on the corner once more, and Mr. Fabian
seemed ready to leave them. Then Polly remembered that the cashier had
said the bed and high-boy she just bought had come from the Studio.

“Oh, Mr. Fabian, excuse me for speaking of it, but did you really own
the four-poster I got at the sale just now?”

“Yes, my dear. It was in the room my little daughter occupied when she
was home. She is now in Paris taking an art course.” The girls were
deeply interested in this intimate information. “That box-spring with
the mattress on the bed was made to order of the best material I could
buy. You’ll find the silk-floss in that mattress is so soft you’ll never
care to get up, once you rest upon it.”

“But I didn’t know the spring and mattress went with the bed,” Polly
said, amazed.

“Oh, yes. That is the way they generally sell other folks’ goods. But I
wish to say, that Nancy only used the bed a few weeks, as she had a
splendid opportunity to enter a class in a friend’s school in Paris, so
we started her across without delay. My wife went, too, to look after
her; that is one reason I refused to pay the increased rent; I thought
it was too much for one lone man to pay.”

“It almost makes me feel as if we ought to take you in to live with us,”
said Mrs. Stewart, sympathetically. “If there only was one extra
bedroom, now, we could make you a member of our family just as well as
not.”

“But we haven’t that extra room!” laughed Anne, wondering what this
stranger would think of her mother’s free western hospitality.

What he thought was soon expressed. “I certainly appreciate such unusual
kindness and I see it is genuine. So I will dare to do this: I shall
love to drop in, now and then, and see how you all are doing. Perhaps I
can be of some assistance to you, in various ways.”

“I know you can!” declared Eleanor, eagerly. “Polly and I are taking up
art and interior decorating and we need lots of ideas from grown-ups who
have had experience. You can advise us that way.”

“Begin your regular home visits a week from Sunday, Mr. Fabian. We will
be settled then and ready to welcome you to our house,” added Anne.

Then they parted and Mr. Fabian went downtown, while the four companions
walked northwards to the hotel. As they walked, Anne said: “It certainly
was queer how that gentleman sent us past his own home and we saw it.
Now, he turns out to be just the kind of a friend Polly and Eleanor will
need to advise them about art school.”

“Anne, what shall we do with the rest of the afternoon? We still have
two hours before dinner-time,” said Eleanor, glancing at her wristwatch.

“We can go over to the nearest shop and get Polly an everyday hat. I
can’t bear to see this lovely one hacked out at auction rooms. She needs
complete outfits of underwear, too, but we may be too late at the shops,
for that.”

“Anne, I saw in the paper this morning, when you were looking for
apartments, that a fine Fifth avenue shop is having a sale of early fall
models. Let’s go up and get Polly’s hat there,” advised Eleanor,
eagerly.

Anne laughed. “You are willing to get one for yourself, too, eh?”

So both girls were supplied with chic hats before they returned to the
hotel. There they found an invitation from the Latimers to come,
informally, and dine with them that night. Dr. and Mrs. Evans would try
to come in later.

“It’s now five-thirty. Can we get dressed and make it, in time?” asked
Eleanor, anxiously.

“Oh, yes; we haven’t far to go, you know. A taxi will take us there in
ten minutes,” replied Anne.

All was hurry and bustle, then, and when the two girls emerged from
their rooms dressed in their new gowns, Anne felt that they did her
credit. She could not but remark at the great improvement that clothes,
well-fitting and of fine material, made in Polly’s appearance. Now the
girl looked positively beautiful.

A pleasant evening ensued, Jim and Ken insisting upon the right to
escort the ladies home after everyone had said good-night.

“You know, girls, Ken and I are going to Yale next week?” said Jim, as
they started down Broadway.

“So your father said, to-night. We will miss you, Jim,” returned Anne.

“But we’ll be home every chance we get—Thanksgiving, Christmas and
other times,” Kenneth said, hopefully.

“Nolla and I will be awfully busy in school, and in trying to get
started in the art classes,” added Polly.

“I hope you have the stable settled before we leave the city. We want to
give you-all a house-warming,” said Kenneth.

“That will be great! Let’s have it, anyway, even if everything is not in
apple-pie order in the house,” exclaimed Polly.

So before they parted, that night, it was all arranged that the
house-warming should take place the next Tuesday evening. The boys were
leaving for college on Thursday, and the last few days before starting
in the new school, would be busy ones for the girls.

“All right, we’ll tell the folks the fun is on for next Tuesday, then,”
said Jim, as they shook hands.

“And it must be a regular surprise, you know—we bring our own
refreshments and everything,” laughed Kenneth.

“Oh, no! That is the least we can do in return for all you folks have
done for us. We will furnish your refreshments!” declared Eleanor,
positively.

“As long as you furnish plenty, all right. But remember, girls, that Ken
and I still have our Rocky Mountain appetites!”

CHAPTER IV—BARGAINS, BARGAINS EVERYWHERE!

With the worry of house-hunting gone, the young friends felt at liberty
to be deliberate while apportioning their time. Anne took Polly and
Eleanor to the West End School, the morning following their meeting with
Mr. Fabian, and introduced them to the proprietress as the two young
ladies she had written about.

Polly thought the elegant mansion that looked more like a prince’s
residence than a school, would keep her from concentrating upon her
lessons. While Anne and the principal of the select school talked
business, Polly glanced about the reception room.

The rugs were beautiful, most of them having the faded soft colors of
the antique Persian and Turkish. But the furniture was too gorgeous in
upholstering for the type of room. Then there were heavy boxed oil
paintings in rich gilt frames, hanging on the walls; and teakwood
pedestals holding statuettes and busts; and onyx stands with palms. The
mantel was loaded with bric-a-brac of all sorts. Many other minor items
showed bad taste in whoever furnished the room.

Polly felt all this, but could not explain just why she resented such a
conglomeration of color and furnishings. But Eleanor, having had the
results of a decorator’s judgment displayed in her home, in Chicago,
felt inclined to smile at what she saw about her. It was sure evidence
of Polly’s improvement in artistic interiors since the day she thought
the green window-shades quite the thing, to this time when the
indiscriminate mixing of colors offended her eyes.

“I really am relieved to hear that you will not be resident here, Miss
Stewart, as I need your room for two boarders. I had planned to enlarge
the dormitory this year, but everything costs so much that I postponed
it. Now this extra room will come in very nicely for me,” Mrs.
Wellington was saying when Polly and Eleanor had finished a survey of
the room, and rejoined Anne.

“Girls, Mrs. Wellington says we may have a look at the class-rooms.
Would you like to go with me?” said Anne.

Without demur they followed the lady of the house. They passed through
the formal parlor where guests of distinction were entertained. Here the
two girls also saw the lack of taste in furnishing. Gilded furniture
with delicate satin upholstery, fought with wallpaper of heavy
Spanish-leather design. Curtains and portières were of velour, heavily
edged with fringe. Valances of velour were over the windows, and on the
mantel. Instead of having a delicate French carpet on the floor, there
were thick napped dark-toned Beloochistan rugs.

The long library opened out from the parlor, and here there was an
atmosphere of rest, because the entire wall spaces were lined with dark
cabinets whose shelves were well filled with volumes in bindings made to
harmonize with the rich paper that showed above the book-cases. The
window-seats were built in and upholstered in tapestry to match the
paper. The tables and leather armchairs were not so glaringly out of
keeping with the room as the furniture in the first two rooms had been.

Mrs. Wellington waved her hand carelessly at this room: “When I bought
this house, all the books went with it, just as you see them now. The
window-seats are still covered as they were, but I hope soon to spend
some money in making this library more cheerful for the girls. I like
bright colors, but that dun wall paper and that dull tapestry on the
window cushions gives me the blues. If the books had not been such a
bargain—the executor of the estate was most anxious to dispose of
them—I never would have taken them. Their dull green morocco bindings
make the room seem heavy, don’t you think?”

“Oh, no! I was just thinking how lovely the glint of the gold lettering
on each dark book makes the room seem. If only there was a dark polished
floor to reflect the chair and table legs, the room would be wonderful!
But this large carpet spoils that effect!” Nolla exclaimed impetuously.

Mrs. Wellington straightened her spine and looked in hurt amazement at
this inexperienced miss who babbled like an expert decorator. No one had
ever criticised that carpet rug before!

Anne saw the look and comprehended at once, so she dropped oil on the
troubled waters. “Oh, Nolla! you are so carried away with your hobby of
studying decorating that you needs must practise it and criticise
everywhere. Now, I’m sure, Mrs. Wellington never would have dreamed of
your ambition had you not showed it so plainly in your words just now.”

Eleanor understood Anne’s motive in speaking thus, and smiled benignly.
Polly was still trying to grasp the handle to Anne’s remark when the
lady of the house led them forth again.

“Here are a number of smaller rooms where girls may sit and read or
study in the evening. And now we will go up to the class rooms.”

If Eleanor and Polly had been able to find flaws with the lack of taste
shown in the furnishings of the first-floor, they could not detect the
slightest item missing in the equipment and furnishing of the different
school rooms. Every known modern device and object for the comfort,
health and help of scholars, were in evidence. Anne smiled with pleasure
as she looked around.

“It will be a delight to teach in such a room as this, Mrs. Wellington;
and I’m sure the scholars appreciate all you do for them.”

“No, that is the strange part of it, Miss Stewart. The girls who come
here seldom think of all I do for them in providing these rooms. They
take it as a matter of course that I should spend so much money in
keeping everything as I do, while my competitors ask higher rates and
spend less;” the lady looked troubled over it.

“Now I have a friend down on Seventy-second street, who has conducted a
most exclusive school for years; but she will not spend a cent in these
ideal accommodations yet she gets higher prices than I do. And her
waiting list of well-known names is endless. I only have a list of about
a dozen applicants and they are not daughters of millionaires, either.”

“Perhaps,” Anne remarked kindly, “the girls _you_ graduate make
something of themselves in life, whereas those other society girls
merely skim over lessons and never know how to spell their own names.”

“Yes, that is true; I secure the very best teachers and try to instill
knowledge wisely. And I am sure, my girls, upon leaving here, can
compete with anyone.”

“I should say that was a great comfort. To look back some day and be
able to say: ‘I taught that girl how to combat ignorance.’ And the girls
who sincerely admit what you have done, will rise up and call you
blessed—for giving them these expensive modern helps to acquire
wisdom.”

Madam seemed pleased with this point of view, and said: “You will stop
and have luncheon with me, won’t you, dears?”

“We really cannot, Mrs. Wellington. You see we have to furnish the home
that we just leased, yesterday. We are most anxious to have everything
in order before starting with our school work on the first,” Anne
explained, politely.

“Oh, of course, that is wise. Then I will look for you Monday
morning—the first of October. If there is anything you wish to know,
you can call me up any time during the mornings. And if you are in this
neighborhood before the first, do come in and have tea.”

After the girls had gone, Madam smiled and thought to herself: “I
certainly made no mistake in engaging _that_ young teacher. She seems to
be the best one I have ever interviewed. And the girls will take to her,
I’m sure.”

Anne led the way to a Broadway trolley, and soon they were at the hotel.
Mrs. Stewart was impatiently awaiting them, so they had an early
luncheon and then hurried downtown to the “Art Galleries” on Fourth
avenue.

The sale had just opened, and they were able to secure front chairs. A
list had been made of pieces of furniture they really needed to start
house-keeping with, and now they hoped to be able to find just the
things they had pictured for the Studio.

A solid mahogany gate-leg table was knocked down to Anne for fourteen
dollars and a half. Then a wing-chair with quaint lines, upholstered in
orchid blue velour, was sold to Eleanor for nineteen dollars.

“Dear me, that was a lovely chair, Nolla. I wish I had one like it,”
sighed Polly.

“Isn’t my table a dear!” whispered Anne, eagerly.

“But it has as many legs as a centipede,” replied Polly.

The others laughed gaily at her criticism but at that moment, a
comfortable Turkish arm-chair was placed upon the dais. It was
upholstered in a rich tapestry, and looked oh! so luxurious.

Polly watched the bidders anxiously. She had a sudden desire for that
chair, but she couldn’t manage to get in at the bidding, at all. But
when she saw a woman opposite, hold up a hand above her head, and so
learned that that was one way to catch the auctioneer’s attention, she,
too, followed suit.

She instantly held up her hand, and just saved the chair from being sold
to a man at the back. So it was knocked down to her at seventeen-fifty.

“There! That is Mrs. Stewart’s chair. I saw the look in her eye when it
was placed upon the dais; and I know just how she will enjoy it when she
has done preparing our dinners. That chair, out before the open
fire-place giving rest to a tired house-keeper, will make one feel like
new!” Polly said.

“But, Polly, child! you must not spend your money buying _me_ such
things!” exclaimed Mrs. Stewart.

“I will if I want to! This is the first stick you’ve got for your room.
And without you, I’d like to know what kind of a home we’d have. So
don’t you say another word if I want to buy other things for you.”

Anne objected. “Maybe this one chair is all right, Polly, but no more,
please.”

“Anne, just see all the money we’re saving on buying our furniture, this
way. Why can’t I use the surplus as I want to? I say I _will_—if I see
anything I want very much to give you or your mother.”

Anne knew when Polly was determined to have her way, and believed the
best plan now would be to buy what was needed for herself and her
mother, so as to forestall Polly or Eleanor.

So that afternoon Anne got two single brass beds with brand new springs
and mattresses. The auctioneer explained that the bedding was sent in by
the Manhattan Factory, because of an order that had been cancelled
before delivery of goods. So Anne secured the bedding at half price.

Neither of the girls suspected Anne of any secret plot when she bought
other articles at that sale for the two bedrooms she needed to furnish;
but when Eleanor eagerly bid on a Priscilla work-table of mahogany and
got it for Mrs. Stewart, Anne felt annoyed.

“My goodness, Anne, it was only five-fifty. Who ever saw a work-table as
cheap as that, before? I know your mother will love to darn stockings
for us all, now—with a nice place in which to keep her wools,” argued
Eleanor, laughingly.

“Maybe mother would rather not darn stockings but let you keep the
table, yourself,” suggested Anne.

Before they left the Art Gallery that day, they found they had really
bought enough articles to start in with if they liked. They could add
rugs, bric-a-brac, and different luxurious chairs, at any time.

“But we need dishes and utensils, girls,” said Mrs. Stewart.

“We’ll get them in a department store, and have them delivered at once,”
replied Anne.

“Let’s run over and see if the painters have done anything,” suggested
Polly.

“Might as well, Anne—we are right here, you see,” added Eleanor.

So they turned the corner and walked down the street to reach the Studio
in time to see the painters finish the work on the ground floor.

“How nice and fresh it looks. But the wallpaper looks dusty,” said Mrs.
Stewart.

“It is dusty, madam. I was just sayin’ to my friend here you ought to
have someone clean it all off with bread crumbs. It is a swell paper if
it is clean,” remarked the painter.

“Bread-crumbs?” ejaculated Anne.

“Yes’m. Best thing known to clean fine paper. I’ll get a man to do it if
you say so. He knows his job.”

“I wish you would. And ask him to supply the bread, too, as we are
stopping at a hotel where it is hard to get such things.”

“An’ I was goin’ to mention—the porcelain tubs and basins oughta be
cleaned fer you’se. When we finish painting I will scour and polish ’em,
if you say so.”

“Yes, please do! And the floors ought to be polished, too.”

“We’ll take care of all that, if you just tell us to go ahead and clean
up as we see fit,” said the painter.

“All right; but don’t make us wait too long before we can move in. We
are going to have a house-warming, here, next week,” explained Eleanor,
anxiously.

“I’ve got an extra man comin’ on to-morrow, and we’ll be out of here by
Saturday. Especially if we work Sat’aday afternoon—but that means
double pay, you know.”

“Never mind that; finish the job as soon as possible, for we will save
that much extra money in hotel bills,” said Anne.

“All right! We’ll turn it over for you Sat’aday night!”

Everything seemed to be going so well, not only with their Studio-home,
but with furnishings and decorators, that the girls felt elated.

The next day they again met Mr. Fabian at the Art Galleries, and he
proved a very welcome member to their party, as he knew all about rugs,
porcelains, and antiques. Having shown them and explained all about the
few rare pieces still for sale in the auction rooms, he said:

“Some day you must go with me to some of the other places. There are
dozens of these shops in New York, and each one seems to incline to some
particular line of furnishing. Then, too, one can see more wonderful
antiques in these shabby little shops along the avenue, than one would
believe possible.

“I often pick up rare things in these places. They are run, mostly, by
Hebrews who merely know when an object is antique, or in demand. But
they seldom can tell you the period or name of many of their most
valuable items. It was in this way that a friend of mine once discovered
a treasure.

“His wife wanted a necklace for Christmas—something odd and different
than any that her friends had. So he came to me and said: ‘Fabian, I
can’t afford Tiffany prices, but I wish I could find something unusual.
I want to please my wife, because she has been such a good sport during
the time I was hanging over the edge of bankruptcy. Now what would you
suggest?’

“I offered to go with him. So we sauntered out of the Studio and walked
over here, to Fourth avenue. We stopped in every little collector’s shop
along the street, but could not find just what appealed to him. Then we
entered that shop across the street—the one near the corner.

“I knew the old Hebrew well, having often looked over his trays filled
with every old thing conceivable. So I said upon entering: ‘Got any odd
kind of necklace or chain, Moses? Something to go around a lady’s neck,
you know?’ I had to demonstrate my words as I spoke.

“‘Ya, ya! Shure, I got a chain. I show him you?’

“It was a long antique-silver chain, the great flat links being
beautifully filigreed. But it was not what my friend wanted, so I bought
it for Nancy. Then the shop-keeper looked wistful.

“‘Ain’t I got it what you like? Tell me what for you want him?’

“My friend replied: ‘For my wife. She goes to balls and like pearls, or
other stones, in a necklace.’

“‘Ah, ha! I got yust what you like. A pearl necklace vot come in las’
veek wid a lot of odder fine tings.’ Then the old man rooted around
under the counter until he found the tray he wanted. It was coated with
dust from the floor, but he blew this off and carelessly placed the
heaped-up tray before us.

“Such a tangle of all kinds of jewelry I never _did_ see! Finally I got
the string of pearls free from the snarls of ordinary glass beads and
other trash, and handed it over to my friend. He curled a lip in scorn
at the soiled trinket.

“‘Avery, drive a bargain with him for this. I honestly think those
pearls are quite good. Let me rub one up on my sleeve, while you draw
the fellow’s attention from what I am doing,’ I whispered.

“While Avery tried to bargain, I cleaned up one of the gems and felt
sure they were unusually good even for artificial pearls.

“We actually bought the string for twelve dollars, but my friend feared
lest he had been taken in. So I smiled and said: ‘Leave them with me and
I’ll see that they are polished up like new by to-morrow night. I’ll
take them to an old jeweler down the street and have them washed and the
gold links cleaned. Your wife won’t know but that they came from
Tiffany’s.

“Avery laughed and left them with me. So I hurried down to Union Square
and showed them to the old jeweler I knew, there.

“He puckered his brow at first, then ran for his magnifying glasses.
After an unusually keen inspection he called to his associate. Both of
them then examined the string most carefully, and the old man finally
looked up.

“‘If I didn’t know you to be an honest man I should say: “Where did you
steal them?”—but I will ask: “How came you by these?”

“I was astonished, as you may know, but I tried to appear wise, so I
laughingly replied: ‘They are not mine, my dear, sir. I only wish they
were! I just got them from a friend to have someone, who is responsible,
clean them nicely. I must hand them back as soon as you have finished.’

“‘Mr. Fabian, I can’t undertake such a job. I have no bonded man to do
such work and I dare not send them out. They may be substituted, you
know.’

“Then I couldn’t help saying: ‘My good man! You don’t value them so
highly as that, do you? Why, I carried them downtown in my pocket!’

“‘Ha, ha!’ he laughed, ‘I never saw a better matched string of perfect
pearls in my life and I am nigh onto sixty. If I had to handle that
necklace, I should instantly insure it with a broker for a hundred
thousand dollars.’

“Fancy, my friends, how I felt! My knees gave way and I had to sit down.
I loosened my collar which seemed suddenly to grow too tight, but I
couldn’t say a word.”

Polly and Eleanor stood listening with eyes bulging and mouths
half-open. Anne and her mother were also deeply interested.

Mr. Fabian smiled to himself before he continued his tale, “Well, I took
the pearls and hailed a taxi. I was taken to Tiffany’s, and asked for
the manager, at once. Of course they wanted to know why I wished to see
him, and I said, courageously: ‘To turn over a valuable pearl necklace
and insure it for a hundred thousand.’

“That brought the manager running. We went to a small private room and I
placed the string of pearls before him. He took it carefully, examined
it casually, then more minutely. He seemed perturbed and got up. ‘Don’t
leave this room and do not allow anyone to come in and see it. I’ll be
back in a moment with our expert.’

“I felt sure, then, that Avery had actually found a _real_ bargain. But
I never dreamed of getting anything out of it for myself. The manager
returned with, not only the gem expert, but also with the president of
the company. He closed the door and locked it.

“The gem expert used all sorts of tests on the pearls and then said in a
trembling tone: ‘M’sieur, I see like I nevair saw in my life! A string
of perfect match pearls, each one well worth a fortune. But I see more,
M’sieu! I will bring my acid to clean the engraved clasp set with
diamonds. Maybe we find interesting fack.’

“Everyone felt nervous during the intermission granted us, but we said
not a word to each other. Then the Frenchman returned. He was so
careful, almost reverent, I should say, in touching and cleaning the
clasp, that I laughed to myself at the memory of Old Izaacs shelving the
pearls with a heap of junk, on a tray that was shoved on the floor under
a counter.

“After many minutes of impatient waiting on our side, and as long in a
most delicate cleansing process of the pearls on the part of the expert,
he said: ‘Ah! Now vee zee.’

“He adjusted his eyeglass and studied the lettering on the clasp. Then
he jerked forward and peered breathlessly at it again. Suddenly he
dropped the necklace upon the pad and leaned back in the chair. ‘Mon
Dieu!’ was all he could gasp.

“The president then caught up the pearls and adjusted the glass and
studied the clasp. He also gasped and turned pale. The manager took the
string from his superior and eagerly read the lettering aloud, ‘To my
queen from Bonaparte.’ And then followed the date and year in tiny
figures.”

Mr. Fabian smiled as he saw the impression his story had made, and
waited to be asked questions concerning the pearls.

“Oh, do finish the story!” cried Eleanor.

“Were they really that famous pearl necklace?” asked Anne.

But Polly was too amazed to ask anything.

“It was the famous necklace of purest pearls that had been lost for the
past sixty years. It was worth about two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars, at the time it disappeared. To-day it would be worth much more.
But it belonged to the French Museum, and a reward of two hundred
thousand francs had been offered for trace of it, or its return. So long
ago had that reward been recorded in every civilized land, that the
present generation had never heard of it—except in history.

“Well, I took a receipt from Tiffany for its safe-keeping, and they
assured me that they would communicate with the French Ambassador,
without delay. Meanwhile I was to communicate with my friend Avery.
Naturally I withheld all information as to the manner in which the
necklace had been discovered.

“I went to Avery’s office, immediately, and acted very sorry as I said:
‘Avery, if I were to tell you that I lost that necklace, what would you
do to me?’

“He only laughed and said: ‘I’d make you buy my wife one as good, or one
she _might_ prefer to that greasy one!’

“Then I said: ‘Avery, I never had, nor do I expect to have as much money
as that necklace is worth! Man alive, it is now in Tiffany’s safe,
insured for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, against fire or
theft!’

“I thought Avery would faint, but when he had managed to collect his
wits, he whispered hoarsely, ‘I don’t understand—were they _genuine_
pearls?’

“So I told him the story and we both rushed away to hire a taxi and then
we drove madly to Tiffany’s, again. I introduced Avery as the owner of
the pearls, and he was treated to a sight of his little twelve-dollar
bargain.

“Well, the upshot of it was, Avery received a ‘present’ of a hundred
thousand dollars from the French Government, and in return he signed a
release for himself, his wife, his heirs, friends, acquaintances, and,
in fact, every American citizen in the census. He was told that he would
be held responsible, thereafter, for all claims or lawsuits instituted
against France to recover the necklace. And he accepted the burden,
considering he had such a price paid for the job.

“One day Izaacs got a present through the mail, of a draft for a
thousand dollars and to this day he doesn’t know who the signer ‘William
Avery,’ can be.

“My old jeweler on Union Square got another thousand, and I—well, I
refused everything, and Avery called me a numb-skull and an easy mark!
So he invested half of all he received in my wife and Nancy’s name, and
that is how they went to Europe.” Mr. Fabian smiled reminiscently at the
end of the story.

CHAPTER V—FIRST DAYS AT SCHOOL

Polly and her friends had moved into the Studio and were recovering from
the orgy of the house-warming given them by the Evans and Latimers the
previous evening, when the two boys came to say good-by.

“Ah, come on, Nolla—bring Polly and see us to the train,” coaxed Jim,
watching the clock on the mantel.

“But, Jim, we honestly haven’t the time! If you _knew_ all we had to do
this week!” sighed Eleanor.

“Why, we could have _been_ there in the time you have taken to explain
how busy you are,” grumbled Jim.

“Then get out! If I have wasted so much precious time it is because you
stand there and make me. Good-by, old pal, now scat!” Eleanor held out
her hand and laughed. But Jim was not so easily daunted.

“Where’s Ken all this time? Oh, I say, Ken! Come on!”

“I think Ken and Polly went down the street while you two were out in
the garden hunting for the grass,” said Mrs. Stewart, without a smile.

Jim laughed. And Eleanor caught up her hat from the divan and ran to the
door. “If they go away like that, then you and I will, too.”

Having reached the corner, however, Jim and Eleanor saw Ken and Polly
intently studying something held in the latter’s palm.

“Come on—we will see what it is they caught?” said Eleanor.

“Oh, Nolla, see what Ken gave me for a keep-sake. We found it over at
Old Izaac’s,” exclaimed Polly, holding out the strange trinket for her
friend to admire.

“Why, it’s a real scarab. Isn’t it a beauty,” said Eleanor, then
suddenly wishing Jim had thought of giving her a keep-sake.

“That’s why I wanted you to come out with me. I told Ken you girls’d
forget about us the minute we were out of sight, unless you had
something to remind you of us,” explained Jim.

“Come on, then, and let Nolla pick out what she wants,” added Ken,
laughingly.

“I’ll take the queen’s pearl necklace!” and young hearts made merry of
the pearls that had cost so many lives and so much misery.

Eleanor selected a peculiar seal set in a strange stone. “There, I will
use it on the first letter I write you,” she said.

“Now that you are here, you may as well jump on the car and take us to
the train,” begged Jim.

And this time he had his way. But they did not catch the four o’clock
express to New Haven, as it was four-ten when they reached the gates and
found them closed.

“Now we’ll have to sit and talk until five,” laughed Jim, exultantly.

“We’ll do nothing of the sort! I told you we had no time to waste on you
boys, and we only came thus far to be polite in exchange for the
keep-sakes. But you can have them back if you think it gives you the
right to order me around.”

Eleanor held out the seal, but Jim looked forlorn. Then she laughed
because he felt bad at her teasing.

“Come now, Jimmy, say good-by like an old dear, and tell Polly and me to
run home.”

“I wish you were my sister!” sighed Jim.

“Your sister? What good would that do you?” asked Eleanor.

“Because you’d let me kiss you good-by!” retorted he.

They all laughed merrily, and Polly said: “You’d never want to kiss her
if she was a sister. You wouldn’t even have asked her to come to the
station with you.”

“You’re right, Poll! Now I’m going—good-by, boys!” and Eleanor held
forth both hands—one to each boy.

After many repeated good-bys, the girls left and slowly walked down the
avenue. When they had reached the parkway that runs over the car-tunnel,
and is known by the name of Madison avenue, Polly said: “Why wouldn’t
you wait for the train, Nolla?”

“Because, Polly, I like both those boys and I don’t want to lose them so
soon. If a male thinks we females will run at beck and call for them,
they quickly weary of such a game. It is the one who refuses to be wound
about a finger, that always keeps the beaux on a string.”

Polly laughed. “You are too worldly-wise for me. Now I never should have
dreamed of such a thing.”

“Well, I’m right! One reason Bob never has a beau is just because she
shows how anxious she is for one.”

“Oh, no, Nolla! The reason Bob hasn’t any beaux is on account of her
disposition—you know that!”

“That, too, Polly. But mostly, because she throws herself at the head of
any eligible man. I tell you, a man won’t have it so!”

“Never mind, Nolla. You and I are never going to have beaux, so we
should worry! We will marry our profession!” said Polly.

The following Monday, Anne escorted her two charges to the school on
West End avenue. It was a wonderful Autumn day and the girls pictured
how beautiful the mountains about Pebbly Pit must look on such a clear
day.

As the Fifth avenue bus was most convenient for Polly and her
companions, boarding it at Thirtieth street and leaving it at the corner
of Seventy-second street where West End avenue started northward, they
had but a short walk to reach the school.

Eleanor had been most particular with Polly’s, and her own appearance,
that morning. “For,” said she, “first impressions are lasting. We must
be sure and make a favorable dent in these girls.”

“But we don’t know one of them, Nolla,” argued Polly.

“All the more reason why we should take the head of the line!” retorted
Eleanor, tossing her head.

Anne laughed, and thought to herself, “They will surely take the head in
everything, for I never saw two such live girls.”

But to Eleanor’s chagrin the examinations classed Polly with girls of
fifteen to sixteen, while she was placed with girls of fourteen years.
This caused the temperamental girl to feel discouraged and she began to
blame her ill-health for her backwardness.

In every other way, Polly and she ranked equal; and not a girl in the
whole exclusive school could boast of better or more fashionable dresses
than these two western scholars. Eleanor was most talkative, describing
her home in Chicago and the people the Maynards knew. Then she
whispered, covertly, how rich Polly Brewster was—she owned a great gold
mine all in her own rights. She spoke thrillingly of Rainbow Cliffs and
the tons upon tons of rare stones to be found there, until every girl
sighed in envy. But Eleanor failed to mention that the stones would have
to be cut and polished before they would be of any use to anyone.

A few stray sentences of these conversations reached Anne’s ears, and
she felt puzzled to know what was best to do. Eleanor was not bragging
because she needed place or power in the group, but the teacher
understood that she was exaggerating for Polly’s sake. She wanted all
the girls to look up to Polly as a subject would to a queen. She knew
how Barbara had felt toward the simple ranch people, and these girls
were of the same ilk—society’s pets. And they could make life unhappy
for Polly, or a dream of joy.

That afternoon, as school closed, Anne overheard one of the girls
repeating Eleanor’s words, but they had not lost in the repetition. In
fact, Anne was sure Eleanor did not say quite all that she was credited
with. On the way to the Studio, therefore, she determined to speak to
Eleanor about the matter.

“Eleanor, you seemed to make a bushel of friends without any trouble,”
said Anne.

“I always do. It’s best to have done with it, and then you can sift out
those you don’t like, afterward,” laughed Eleanor.

“How about you, Polly?” questioned Anne.

“I was too busy with my lessons to bother about anyone, but I thought
the girls acted rather queer this afternoon. I caught some of them
whispering about me, and some were casting envious glances my way. I
can’t understand why they should?”

Eleanor gasped. Here was a danger she had not thought of. She wouldn’t
risk Polly’s peace or popularity for anything in the world, but she may
have unconsciously done just that very thing!

“I heard some of the girls talking of your gold mine and Rainbow Cliffs,
and I wondered if you had made such close friends, so soon,” ventured
Anne, guilefully.

“Oh, _I_ did that! Nothing like putting on a lot of ‘dog’ if you want to
make a splash in the puddle,” hastily explained Eleanor.

Anne felt like laughing but she hid her face, and Polly turned pale with
annoyance.

“Why, Nolla! How could you? You know I’d rather be considered a nobody
than stand in a false light. Now what can I do to clear this up?”

“It isn’t false light at all, Polly. You can’t do anything now without
making me out a fibber,” retorted Eleanor.

“You are acting just like your sister Bob might have done! That’s the
worst thing I can say to _you_,” scorned Polly.

“And I did it all for you, too!” whimpered Eleanor.

“Didn’t I tell you, back at Pebbly Pit, that I wanted to cut my own
cloth? For goodness’ sake, don’t interfere in my private life again!”

“But you’ve got to let folks know you’re someone, or you will never
climb to the top of the heap,” argued Eleanor, stubbornly.

“I have my own method of reaching the top, Eleanor, and it is not _that_
way. I was Polly Brewster before you ever knew me and I am that same
Polly Brewster even after having a gold mine and a mile of lava-jewels
thrust down my throat. Don’t say another word!”

Polly turned her back and went to the end seat on the bus, leaving Anne
to console poor Eleanor.

“Look’a here, Anne—did I do anything so awful?”

“You made a serious mistake, Nolla, when you talked to those strange
girls about Polly. You tried to make her appear as if she approved of
your method of bragging about the mine and money.”

“W-h-y, I never dreamed of such a thing! I only wanted these New York
girls to get it straight from the start that our Polly of Pebbly Pit was
‘some punkins’;” Eleanor tried to laugh.

“And you succeeded in not only humiliating Polly, but me also, because I
am responsible for both of you, to a certain degree.”

“Humiliate Polly and you!” gasped Eleanor.

“Exactly what you did. I have been placed in command of this little
family, and the first day at school, you deliberately thrust yourself
forward—take my place, so to speak—and tell all the strangers there
who Polly is, and who you and I are. In fact, you give out information
that should come only from me.”

“I’m sorry, but for goodness’ sake let’s drop it, now.”

“We’d better settle the matter once for all, Nolla, before we drop it.
If Polly and you are to continue the wonderful friendship begun this
Summer at the ranch, you must never again say, or do anything, that
trespasses on her rights. Remember that each one of us has an individual
right to impart what we like about our private affairs—be it family or
fortune. But the moment another speaks for us, then it becomes gossip
and scandal on the part of that impertinent one.

“I do not propose having my time and thoughts disturbed by any inharmony
rising between you two girls, and if another occasion comes up, when
Polly and you disagree as you have to-day, I’ll wire to your father to
come and take you home. If Polly is to blame, then I’ll send her home.
But, thus far, it is you who trespassed on Polly’s rights.

“If you’ll think this over quietly, and without prejudice, I’m sure
you’ll agree that I am just and right in my stand.”

That evening, Eleanor apologised to Anne and Polly for her thoughtless
impulse that day, and fervently prayed that she never be tempted to open
her lips again.

It was not Polly’s nature to sulk or remember unpleasant episodes, so
everything went along smoothly after that first day at school.

Tuesday evening Mr. Fabian called, and was welcomed to his erstwhile
fireside. During that visit, it developed that he had accepted an offer
which several of his friends had urged upon him. He was to teach, three
times a week, a class in art designing at Cooper Union Institute. And
before he said good-night to the ladies, it had been suggested and
settled, that Polly and Eleanor were to join the evening classes on the
three nights a week that their friend taught at the school.

Mrs. Stewart worried lest the girls would be wearing themselves out with
too much study. But it was found that the work in the art classes under
Mr. Fabian’s watchful eye, was a pleasure rather than a study or work.

Thus they started to build on a firm foundation, and by degrees they
mastered the rudiments of geometrical drawing, then went on to
ornamental designing, next taking up the study of architecture in so far
as it applied to interior decorating, and at the end of the year they
were drawing free hand and perspective sketches. But that was not until
the school term was almost over.

By the end of the first week at Mrs. Wellington’s school, the girls had
chosen their friends for the term. It was most interesting to Anne to
note that a certain social element looked up to Eleanor as their natural
leader, while the quiet persistent sort silently fell in line with
Polly. Both girls were admired and heartily liked, by teachers as well
as scholars, but there was one disturbing young lady who resented the
usurping of her former undisputed sway in the school by the two
new-comers.

Elizabeth Dalken was the pretty, but vain daughter of a superficial
society woman who thought of nothing but self-indulgence, leaving the
training of her child to Fate. Hence, Elizabeth was the usual product:
selfish, proud, arrogant and hypocritical. She was but fifteen, yet she
could slyly cheat at bridge, smoke her mother’s cigarettes, and flirt
with the men who frequented her home, as cleverly as her mother could.

For two previous years she had taken the reins of leadership at
Wellington’s school and she had returned the third Fall fully expecting
to resume her authority.

To learn that a western ranch-girl without a record in “Who’s Who,” and
a mere _Chicago_ Miss, governed her former subjects, turned Elizabeth
white with rage. She could say nothing about it, however, without
starting her school friends’ teasing and laughing at her downfall. And
she could not leave the school, because her mother had deserted her
husband. He was the cashier for all the luxuries Mrs. Dalken and her
daughter indulged themselves in, and he had selected Wellington’s school
for the girl, and had paid the tuition fee in advance, so it stood to
reason that he would not consent to a change, now, on account of her
jealousy.

So on that first Friday evening, upon leaving school, Elizabeth promised
herself that she would “get square” with those “two nobodys” in short
order! She would show those other girls at Mrs. Wellington’s just who
_she_ was, and why they should have kept her as their leader!

But the western girls were not shamming their lovable characters, and as
time went on, their companions appreciated, more and more, the sterling
qualities in their chosen leaders. Thus Elizabeth found it no easy task
to influence the girls against them.

October passed and November began, with the girls at Mrs. Wellington’s
planning for a Thanksgiving entertainment to close their school for the
holiday. Here Polly was discounted, as she had never taken part in
amateur theatricals, and knew nothing about them. Had anyone asked her
to differentiate between the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian or
Composite order of classic periods of architecture, she could have
described either, or all of them, almost as well as Mr. Fabian himself
could do. But the scholars at Mrs. Wellington’s never dreamed of Polly’s
ambition and knowledge along such lines of study.

So Elizabeth found herself the one to whom everyone appealed about
costumes, parts, and the general management of affairs. Eleanor resented
the obvious fact that _she_ was completely ignored when the various
important parts were distributed, but Polly never gave it a thought.

“We couldn’t accept a part, anyway, Nolla, with all the time we have
planned to give to exhibitions and lectures, this month,” Polly reminded
her.

“And your Daddy will be visiting New York that last week, Nolla, and you
must devote your spare time to his entertainment—not be fussing with a
lot of girls over a silly poem,” added Anne.

Thus the sharp sting was withdrawn and Eleanor forgot all about her
injured feelings. But Elizabeth Dalken believed she was merely
pretending that she felt no grudge against the Director of the Play. And
it gave Elizabeth great satisfaction to believe she had actually
offended the two popular western girls.

During November afternoons, and on several evenings, Mr. Fabian took the
three friends to the Metropolitan Museum where wonderful exhibits of
private collections were given. Here every New Yorker was admitted free
to see genuine antiques of furniture, paintings, tapestries and rugs,
plate and ornaments. And with such a marvelous judge to escort them
about and explain details that might have escaped other than his knowing
eye, Anne and her two charges felt well repaid for their time. It proved
not only instructive but very absorbing—these personal talks with Mr.
Fabian about the rare and ancient articles.

Valuable volumes treating on subjects which most aspirants of art are
acquainted with, began to fill the shelves in the rooms on the first
floor of the stable-studio; and quite often, Mr. Fabian brought in a
“treasure” he had picked up at a second-hand book shop. He would read
aloud in a cultivated voice, such bits as he thought would interest
young and ambitious girls. Then, after he had bid his hostesses
good-night, he generally left the volume behind.

Perhaps the very fact that Polly and Eleanor seemed to be apart from the
other school-girls and their pastimes, made them all the more desirable
to court. Not but that the two western girls liked fun and frolic as
much as anyone, but they seemed always to have engagements with people
the school-girls had never met, nor heard of.

Now and then, Mrs. Wellington took her girls to a matinee, and then
Polly and Eleanor laughed and enjoyed the play as heartily as the
others. But while other school-girls were foolishly mincing up and down
the Peacock Allies of the large hotels, and sipping tea in company with
young men, the two girl chums were eagerly listening to a lecture given
at one of the art buildings, or admiring a private collection only open
to the public for a few afternoons.

A few days before Thanksgiving, Mr. Maynard arrived and then the routine
of the girls’ daily life suddenly changed.

Eleanor insisted upon her father taking her room while she went to
Polly’s chamber to sleep upon the day-bed there. Mr. Maynard wanted to
remain at the hotel to save the girls any inconvenience, but the girls
would not hear of his being away from Eleanor.

The school play was scheduled for the Tuesday evening before
Thanksgiving Day. But all the ball-rooms and other auditoriums, had been
engaged weeks before November, so Mrs. Wellington had to take what she
could get, or postpone the date of the play. Elizabeth Dalken was
determined to have it on the evening set, and so the poor lady started
again, to seek for some available hall, with Elizabeth accompanying her.
Finally they secured a small assembly hall near Central Park West, but
it was far from being desirable for the girls.

The dirty walls had to be hidden beneath flags and bunting, and the
tarnished gas chandeliers had to be covered with crepe paper. The crude
stage was decorated with pine branches and palms, and in places where
the doors or windows were located, (minus the doors,) the girls grouped
palms and evergreens, so that the hall looked quite inviting before
evening.

A bevy of happy girls superintended the decorations while butlers,
grooms, and even the chauffeurs, did the hard work. Polly and Eleanor
joined the merry group and instantly offered to work, but Elizabeth
Dalken scorned their assistance.

“People who live in a _stable_ can know nothing about decorating!” she
said, insultingly.

Polly sent her a glance of pity, but Eleanor retorted: “Stable! Well,
the richest and most respected banker of Chicago is visiting us in that
stable! And he is my very own father, too! If you were out there, now,
I’d hate to think of what we’d do to _you_!”

Elizabeth sneered and was about to reply, but Polly dragged her friend
away, forcibly, and they were soon leaving the room.

Mrs. Wellington had been thoroughly enjoying her conversation with the
pleasant banker from Chicago, and now she smilingly said: “I can readily
see where Eleanor gets her common sense and pleasing manners.”

Mr. Maynard laughed and watched the two girls hurry over to join him. A
glance at his daughter’s face, however, told him that something had gone
wrong, but Mrs. Wellington hoped to check the complaint at that moment.
She suddenly turned her head, seemed to hear someone call, and then
spoke to Polly.

“Come with me, dears, I believe we are wanted in the dressing rooms.”

Once out of ear-shot of Mr. Maynard, she whispered: “Oh, do not allow
Eleanor to say one word to her father that will spoil everything. I will
look into this matter myself after to-night. But so much depends on this
play going smoothly, and how can it if some one causes an explosion?”

Polly felt sorry for poor Mrs. Wellington, for she really did have a
hard life of it, trying to keep peace continually where so many girls
were concerned. And she promised to try and calm Eleanor’s fury and
determination to oust Elizabeth Dalken from the Wellington School for
Young Ladies.

CHAPTER VI—THE NIGHT OF THE PLAY

Of the sixty odd pupils in Mrs. Wellington’s school, at least fifteen of
them were to participate in the play. There was to be a Chorus of six
girls, and a Ballet, besides the principals who also acted the drama to
follow. Consequently the representative scholars not appearing on the
stage, had been asked to act as ushers, and general supervisors of
harmony.

Mr. Fabian and Mr. Maynard conducted Anne and her mother to the seats
reserved for them, and soon the friends and families of the scholars
filed in and took their seats. As the hall was generally used for other
purposes, the floor was not graded, and the seats were not attached to
the floor. They were ordinary wooden folding chairs to be piled up at
the end of the performance.

The pianist and other music teachers from school formed the orchestra,
and their opening number was rendered so well that an encore followed.

[Illustration: POLLY STAGGERED OUT OF THE DOOR CARRYING ELIZABETH ON
HER SHOULDER.]

Eleanor whispered comically to Polly, as they stood in the entrance
door: “Maybe the friends hope to postpone the acting a little longer.”

When the curtain was drawn aside and the first act of the playlet began,
individuals in the audience became interested in watching their own
girls in the troupe. The Chorus did very well, and the Ballet danced as
gracefully as well-taught girls should, but once the actual acting
began, there was a slight disappointment felt by the spectators.

The leading lady (the programme said it was Miss Elizabeth Dalken) was
the whole show. She managed to keep in the lime-light even when she was
not speaking, or acting a part. And so much of one actress, whether good
or bad, was bound to pall on the audience.

“Polly, she’s spoiling the whole play! I wonder the other girls stood
for it at the rehearsals,” whispered Eleanor.

“She didn’t act that way, before, I’m sure. Marion King told me all
about it. She’s doing it now just to show off!”

“Not to her family! because not one of her folks are here. I heard her
tell Estelle that her mother was going to a fashionable ball, and, of
course, her father wouldn’t come because he had no invitation from
Elizabeth.”

“Well,” persisted Polly, feeling sorry for the girl, “she must have
uncles or aunts or cousins, here.”

“She hasn’t any in New York. Her father comes from upstate and his folks
lived there. No one knows who her mother was, so she hasn’t a soul,
here, but the chauffeur. He’s downstairs having refreshments.”

The second act ended and everyone sighed in relief because the play was
foolish and so poorly acted, even for amateurs. Mrs. Wellington felt
deeply hurt when she found how Elizabeth had chosen chums rather than
actors for the principal parts in the play.

The third act began, in which Elizabeth was dressed in a spangled green
ball-gown. It was very tight about the ankles and very low about the
neck. It was too daring, even for a young girl acting a part. The gown
had a long swishing tail at the back that could have been graceful on a
vampire, but not on this posing girl.

Mrs. Wellington shook her head disapprovingly at sight of Elizabeth, and
wished, more than once, that she had taken more time to review the
actors and their costumes, before they appeared in public.

The Assembly Hall building where the play was given, had four stories.
The first floor was used for refreshments, with a kitchen at the back.
The second was a billiard parlor for the use of private clubs. The third
floor was given over to the Hall, and the fourth floor was turned into
dressing-rooms, card-rooms, smoking-room, et cetera.

As no late arrivals were expected after the third act had opened the
ushers, placed at the doors, closed them to shut out the talking and
laughing in the billiard rooms. Then they sat down at either side of the
door, to watch the play.

The third act was progressing slowly, when the ushers heard sounds of
confusion coming from downstairs. But they merely exchanged glances and
thought some men were quarreling over a game of billiards.

Soon afterward, a faint odor and a haze of smoke penetrated through the
chinks of the doors, and Polly jumped up quickly to investigate. The
moment she opened a door, however, a thick cloud of smoke poured in. She
had to cough, but she remembered to instantly slam the door again.

The other girls saw the smoke and a panic might have followed, had not
Anne immediately jumped upon the stage and shouted:

“Remember—do not lose your heads! That is the only danger. We can all
get out safely if everyone will be calm and orderly.”

Mr. Maynard took Mrs. Stewart with one arm, and caught Eleanor in his
other, then called to Mr. Fabian to do the same with Anne and Polly. But
there was such a dense mob at the only exit doors, that it was
impossible to force a way through there, and the heavy smoke was now
rapidly filling the hall.

To add to the scene of fear and confusion, the women in the assembly
cried, some screamed, the girls ran back and forth, and the men were
venting their fears in calling upon Deity,—some scarcely audible, and
others in shrill screams of excitement.

Outside, one could hear the mingled calls and shouts of onlookers, the
clanging of bells on the engines, and the yells of the people who had
escaped and wanted to help their friends out. There were four front
windows of the hall where the school entertainment was being given, but
these were now jammed with women who sought that way to gain a breath of
air, but were too timid to jump out to the street; and there were no
fire-escapes to be found. The hallways and several doors opening to
them, were a pitiful sight. The men, women, and children were crying,
jostling, and stampeding each other in their vain efforts to get out and
find the stairway in the dense smoke that kept pouring up from below.

Mr. Fabian saw the panic and realized that his friends must seek a rear
exit, or remain until the tardy firemen brought the ladders up to the
building to help them out. So he hurried to the door back of the stage.
It had escaped the frightened eyes of others. Having learned that this
door opened upon an entry that ran to a rear window, he next discovered
the usual fire-escape that ran down to the yard, and up to the roof. It
took him but a moment to assure himself that the escape was safe, then
he rushed back.

“This way! Follow me—everyone!” he shouted to his friends.

They all hurried to the window and Mr. Fabian went first, in order to
assist the ladies out to the iron-slatted platform, and then to start
them, sure-footed, on the upward climb of the narrow iron steps.

Mrs. Stewart went first, but she was so nervous that Mr. Fabian followed
closely behind her to steady her trembling form. Anne followed after her
mother in climbing through the window, and Mr. Maynard followed her. The
two girls were about to climb out on the platform when they heard a
moan, and then a shrill cry, from the small dressing-room back of the
stage.

Anne ordered the girls to come out, but Polly turned and ran back.
Eleanor followed, and Anne, distracted, climbed back, too.

“Nolla, tie something over your mouth and nose—use your chiffon scarf,”
commanded Polly, winding a wide silk sash about her own head.

The girls groped along the entry but could not distinguish a thing in
the thick, choking haze. Then Polly came to the dressing-room back of
the stage. This was comparatively clear from smoke, and there the girls
saw Elizabeth Dalken stretched upon the floor, a cut in her forehead
attesting to the cause of her sharp scream.

“Great Scott, Polly! What can we do now?” cried Eleanor, as the idea of
trying to carry the girl up the steep ladder-way flashed across her mind
only to be spurned. She had no idea of leaving her there to her fate,
however.

“If we only had a rope!” wailed Polly.

“But we haven’t! If I only knew this house better I might find a
back-stairway. Most city houses have them and I should think this place
would have one.”

“Of course! Nolla, close this door to keep out smoke. I’ll look for the
stairs.”

The few excited sentences were muttered through the mufflers tied over
the girls’ mouths and noses. Then both girls began groping their way to
the rear, hunting for the back-stairs.

The mass of people that had surged from the Hall had made for the wide
front stairs, and but few remembered to seek for a back exit. And these
had speedily found a way down. Polly and Eleanor also found the narrow
back stairs, then Polly hastily commanded:

“Run and tell Anne—she can call to your Dad and explain. Then tell her
to come this way, with us. I’ll lift Elizabeth over my shoulders and
start down with her—Anne and you follow, at once!”

In another moment, Polly was back in the dressing-room while Eleanor was
running for the rear window to advise Anne. But she found her already
inside tying a veil over her mouth and nose.

“Nolla—where’s Polly?”

“All right—come on!”

“I told your father—they are safe on the roof—hurry now!”

Eleanor led Anne through the smoke, and just as they reached the entry,
Polly staggered out of the stage-door with the unconscious girl hanging
over her shoulder.

“Polly! Polly! You never can carry her!” cried Anne, in a smothered
voice through the veiling.

But Polly kept her mouth closed and struggled on to the back stairs.
Anne began to cough and choke as a reward for trying to speak, but she
reached the stairs first and rushed on down to see if there was a safe
passage below. Eleanor was close upon her heels, and Polly followed more
circumspectly.

They reached the kitchen of the house without trouble but the heat as
they passed by the second floor was terrific. Once down on the ground
floor they found the rear of the place quite free from smoke, but it
might only be because the fire overhead was blazing upward. At any
moment the wall or upper floors might crash down and fall upon them.

“Nolla—how can we get out of this pen?” cried Anne.

“If the house is anything like Chicago’s, I’ll show you. There must be
an area or cellar exit to the street.”

The kitchen light was still burning but it looked weird in the
smoke-laden atmosphere. Eleanor tried different doors but found that
they opened into passages leading to closets or to the front rooms.
Finally she opened one and caught a whiff of fresh uncontaminated air.

“Thank heavens! Here it is, but I don’t know where it ends.”

Anne and she pushed out, with Polly behind them. They were in a dark
alley, now, and had to trust to good fortune to come out somewhere, in
safety. Down several stone steps, and along another dark, damp area they
went, and then Eleanor stumbled against a closed door.

“Oh, mercy! Are we locked in here?” she yelled desperately, beating the
door with her clenched fists.

“Nolla—let me feel for a handle—you are hysterical!” cried Anne,
swiftly passing her hands over the rough wood.

“Hurry, hurry! I can’t carry this weight a minute longer!” breathed
Polly, hoarsely.

Just at that moment, Anne’s hand struck an iron bolt. In a second she
had shot it backwards, and the heavy door swung open to give them an
exit to the side street.

All three girls ran frantically forward and Polly dropped her heavy
burden upon a grass strip which edged the curb. Eleanor sobbed with
relief and Anne fell upon her knees in silent thanksgiving.

“I’m off, girls, to see if I can help, in front. Have a care for
Elizabeth,” cried Polly, and away she flew.

That silenced Eleanor’s hysteria quicker than anything else, and in
another moment she was gone after her friend, leaving Anne to watch the
still unconscious girl on the grass.

The scene in front of the building was one of spectacular interest.
Seeing the crowds of fashionably-dressed people grouped opposite the
flaring house, it would seem that everyone of the guests had escaped.
But there was a deafening mixture of cries and shouts from every
direction. Some were crying for lost friends, some wailed for help
because of injuries inflicted by the stampede; firemen signaled their
associates; the old proprietor of the Hall ran madly to and fro shouting
and gesticulating wildly to everyone; in fact, it was a scene that
shocked Polly to witness because she thought city people had great
presence of mind.

Streams of water were pouring upon the flames that shot from the
second-story windows, but the scaling ladders had not yet arrived, and
the firemen were striving to enter the front door in order to carry the
hose nozzle to a more effectual spot.

The Chief had sent some men through adjacent houses to reach the roofs
and work downwards from that vantage spot. But they had not yet appeared
when Polly saw how she could assist.

Acting upon an impulse, and doing exactly as she would do if she was
witnessing a fire at Oak Creek, where the ranchers turn out and try to
subdue the flames, Polly hastily dropped the clinging skirt of her
evening dress. Having already removed the silk sash while in the Hall,
she now dipped it in the flood of water that poured from the hydrant on
the curb and tied it over her mouth and nose. Then she made a dash
across the street.

She caught a coil of rope from the hook where it hung on the back of the
engine, and pushed a way through the staring men. Before anyone dreamed
of her plan, or the firemen could restrain her she had reached the
corner of the building and was agilely climbing the height by holding to
the copper leader.

A chorus of breathless gasps and frightened screams came from the crowd
but Polly heard them not. She was too intent on her work. Being nimble
and so light-weight, and thoroughly accustomed to climb up almost
perpendicular cliffs, or along dizzy peaks, this ascent seemed like play
to the mountain girl. But the onlookers were thrilled to silence as they
watched her climb to the roof, and then safely crawl over the ledge.
Instantly there was such a wild cheer from the street, that Polly
wondered if something dreadful had happened. She never thought that the
acclamation was meant for her.

Without hesitation, she ran over to a nearby chimney and wound one end
of the long rope about it, then lowered the other end to the street. The
Chief saw the purpose, at once, and signaling back to the girl who was
leaning over the edge of the roof, he had his men tie the rope ladder to
the rope. Then Polly began hoisting it slowly, until its end came over
the cornice.

Meantime, when Eleanor found her friend halfway up the building,
clinging to the leader and finding foothold in the crevices between the
bricks, or on the steel bands that held the metal pipe to its moorings,
she also ran across the street, and attempted to break through the
cordon which had been formed to permit the men to hold out a life-net in
case the daring climber should fall.

“I want to help Polly—she is my best friend!” cried Eleanor, when the
fireman made her turn back.

Then she remembered the rear entrance from which they had escaped. She
turned to the Chief and called hurriedly: “Send some men with me—I’ll
show them the cellar entrance where they can reach the roof and
different floors from the back!”

“Hallam! Colter! Take your equipment and follow this girl to a back
door. You know what to do!”

The men detailed for this duty, beckoned a few others, and all ran after
Eleanor who now made for the area door. She flew past Anne who was
holding Elizabeth’s head upon her lap, but forgot to glance that way.
Having gained the cellar door, she was about to go in but Hallam stopped
her.

“No, Miss—we dare not permit anyone to enter a burning building, you
know.”

“Oh, but I want to join Polly on the roof! The only reason I showed you
this way was to get through myself!”

“I’d lose my place in the contest for prize medals, Miss, if I broke
rules. You wouldn’t want me to lose my promotion?”

Eleanor felt that he had the best of the argument, so she very
reluctantly turned and went back to the front of the house. There she
saw that the firemen had climbed the ladder and were stationed on the
roof and on window ledges, holding the hose from which the water poured
in torrents upon the fire inside.

Then the multitude now gathered on both streets and the corners of the
Parkway, were treated to another thrill. The strand of rope Polly had
taken with her, was now used by her for descent. Down the taut rope like
a trained monkey, came she, and safely jumped to the street.

Before she reached the ground however, a chorus of wild yells and
hurrahs went forth from everyone in the crowd. The Chief called
imperative orders to his men waiting with him, and the moment he had
caught Polly, he forced his way across the street, carrying her in his
arms as if she were a babe.

His men began climbing the rope ladder taking a hose with them. From the
vantage-points gained by Polly’s courage, the firemen now kept steady
streams of water playing through the open windows upon the fire beneath,
and thus managed to subdue it before the hook-and-ladder truck wheeled
up beside the building.

The men, led by Eleanor to the back-stairs, directed their efforts from
that side, and soon the whole second and third floors became a bed of
wet smoldering embers. The rest of the structure was saved.

It was learned, later, that the club members giving the “smoker” to
friends, had been careless of butts and papers, and thus the fire must
have originated.

The family living in the beautiful house opposite the fire, took Polly
in charge, and kept away the mob of curious people who wished to see and
talk with the heroine.

Polly was all right, and wondered why she should be kept indoors when
others on the outside might need assistance. Suddenly she remembered her
discarded skirt!

“Oh, mercy me! Did I climb up that pipe looking like this?” she cried,
blushing furiously and burying her face in the cushions of the divan.

“My dear child! It was a wonderful sight! No one gave the slightest
thought to your bloomers. But now you shall have one of Ruth’s skirts,”
returned the lady of the house, fervently.

CHAPTER VII—MRS. WELLINGTON’S THANKSGIVING

The moment Polly was given a skirt, she donned it gratefully and said to
Mrs. Ashby, her hostess: “Now I must find Elizabeth and have her cared
for. I left her with Anne.”

“Where—where is she? I’ll send James for them. But I want you to keep
quiet, or you’ll be prostrated, dear child.”

Polly smiled—she prostrated! But she explained: “Anne is sitting on the
grass on the side street around the corner, taking care of the girl who
fainted in the back-room of the theatre.”

James was summoned from the front window where he had been watching the
fight against the fire, and now took his orders eagerly. Polly pointed
out the corner where she had left her friends and, in another moment,
the butler was gone.

“I s’pose I ought to go and hunt up my friends who escaped over the
roofs,” ventured Polly.

“You’ll rest here upon this divan, or your parents will sue me!”
retorted Mrs. Ashby, trying to compel, with gentle hands, obedience to
her command.

Polly laughed softly. “My parents would sue you if you prevented me from
doing my duty to others. Why, you-all make such a fuss over that
pipe-climbing, and it is next to nothing for a Rocky Mountain girl. A
day in a blizzard on the cliffs is ten times more hazardous.”

Mrs. Ashby was consumed with curiosity to ask this handsome girl who she
was, and all about herself, but she controlled herself admirably, for
she knew her guest ought to keep quiet.

The door-bell rang and its echo pealed through the house, but the
servants were out watching the exciting events of the fire, and James
had been sent for the other girls. So Mrs. Ashby opened the door.

“I just heard that Polly Brewster was here—oh! is she all right!” cried
the excited voice of Mrs. Wellington.

“Right as a trivet, dear Mrs. Wellington!” called Polly springing from
the couch to greet the lady.

“Oh—oh! Thank God! I’ve worried and cried over you three precious girls
until my eyes are blinded! They told me that everyone was out of the
place but you three!”

“Did everyone manage to escape safely?” asked Polly, anxiously.

“Everyone got out, but oh! such a panic! Some are torn, and battered
black and blue, from the stampede down through those front stairs and
hall. I don’t believe a single soul got out with a whole gown! They tell
me it was all the fault of that ‘Pool Club’ on the second floor; they
gave a ‘smoker’ to-night, and when the fire was discovered on their
floor, they caused the dreadful block in the front halls.”

“Gowns are of no account if everyone escaped with life,” said Mrs.
Ashby.

“But it is most unfortunate for me, just now. The story getting into the
newspapers, will ruin my reputation as a school principal. Folks will
ask, ‘Why did she ever choose such a place for an entertainment;’ but
they will never know that I tried everywhere else, first, and found
everything engaged for this week. I begged the girl who started the idea
to postpone the play until the week after Thanksgiving holiday, but she
stubbornly refused. So I took what I could get. I dare not tell the
reporters that it was merely to _please_ Elizabeth Dalken, and because
Elizabeth’s father pays strictly in advance and has his daughter take
all ‘extras.’

“You have no idea what it means to me. I am paying off the mortgages on
that house where the school is located, so that I might be able to take
a deep breath before I am too old to work. But this unhappy accident
will ruin my reputation as a careful superintendent.”

“Elizabeth Dalken! I know her father very well, and we think he is one
of the finest of men. We seldom meet Mrs. Dalken or the daughter, as we
do not belong to the same set. Since Mr. Dalken separated from his wife,
we have not seen her at all, but he was here and dined with us, this
very evening,” said Mrs. Ashby.

“If I could only explain to him just how this happened, he might not
blame me for his daughter’s injury.”

“Was she hurt?” exclaimed Mrs. Ashby. Then James came in, followed by
three girls, and the adults who had escaped over the roofs.

“Here we are, Polly—safe and sound,” Mr. Maynard’s cheery voice greeted
the girl who jumped up at sight of them.

Excited cries, and hugs, and happy laughs now followed as each one found
the others without a hurt, Elizabeth Dalken being the only one who had
received an injury, and that was merely a flesh-wound cut by the edge of
the door as her head struck it.

Mrs. Ashby took charge of Elizabeth, and washed her face; then placed a
strip of court plaster over the cut to keep it clean.

The fire was out and the crowd had dispersed before the firemen finished
their work in and about the house. The Chief came to Mrs. Ashby’s door
and asked for the young lady who was such a marvellous climber. So he
was invited in to see for himself.

“Young lady, I want to make a record of this deed, as I have to report
everything to the police department, you know. And I am proud to say,
our records are never kept in the dark when visitors come in to see our
engine house. It’s seldom we can talk about, or show a page, with such a
brave act as yours, written upon it.”

Polly smiled. “But it really wasn’t anything to fuss over. It wasn’t
dangerous, you know, and for anyone who can climb as well as I can, it
would have been cowardly to stand by and _not_ act. You needed a light,
agile climber whose weight would not break that leader away from the
wall; and I happened to be that one.”

The Chief and Mrs. Ashby exchanged glances, then laughed. “I guess it’s
no use trying to make a heroine of her—she won’t have it so!” said he.

Then Eleanor spoke up. “That’s because she’s accustomed to doing such
great deeds out in the mountains where she comes from—walking on the
heads of rattle-snakes, killing grizzlies and lions as if they were
rabbits, saving a lot of tenderfeet from blizzards and landslides—these
are but a few of the _little_ things she does out there!”

The New Yorkers gasped in astonishment; even James, the butler, stood
gaping with open mouth at a real live heroine—never seen before by him
except on the movie screen. So intensely interested was he, that he
failed to hear his master enter by the front door, followed by a
gentleman. They both burst into the room and stood amazed.