INTO THE LION'S DEN
Janice Day was growing up.
What really ages one in this life? Emotions.
Fear--sorrow--love--hate--sympathy--jealousy--all the primal passions
wear one out and make one old. This young girl of late had suffered
from too much emotion.
Nelson Haley's trouble; her father's possible peril in Mexico; the many
in whom she was interested being so affected by the sale of liquor in
Polktown--all these things combined to make Janice feel a burden of
responsibility that should not have rested upon the shoulders of so
young a girl.
"Frank," she whispered to Bowman, there in the front of the dusky
store, "Frank, what shall we do?"
"What can we do?" he asked quite blankly.
"He--he should be brought home."
"My goodness!" Bowman stammered. "Do you suppose Mrs. Drugg would go
down there after him?"
"She mustn't," Janice hastened to reply, with decision; "but I will."
"Not you, Janice!" Bowman exclaimed, recoiling at the thought.
"Do you suppose I'd let you tell Mrs. Drugg?" demanded the girl,
fiercely, yet under her breath.
"He's her husband."
"And I'm her friend."
Bowman looked admiringly at the flushed face of the girl. "You are
fine, Janice," he said. "But you're too fine to go into that place
down there and get Drugg out of it. If you think it is your duty to go
for the man, I'll go with you. And I'll go in after him."
"Oh, Mr. Bowman! If you would!"
"Oh, I will. I only wish we had your car. He may be unable to walk
and then the neighbors will talk."
"It's got beyond worrying about what the neighbors say," said Janice
wearily. "Now, wait. I must go and excuse myself to Mrs. Drugg. She
must not suspect. Maybe it isn't as bad as you think and we'll get
Hopewell home all right."
The storekeeper's wife had carried Lottie back to the sitting room.
The child was still asleep and 'Rill was undressing her.
"What is the matter, Janice?" she asked curiously. "Has Mr. Bowman
gone? What did he want?"
"He didn't want to buy anything. He wanted to see me. I--I am going
out with him a little while, Miss 'Rill."
The latter nodded her head knowingly. "I know," she said. "You are
going across the street. I am glad Mr. Bowman feels an interest in Mr.
Haley's affairs."
"Yes!" gasped Janice, feeling that she was perilously near an untruth,
for she was allowing 'Rill to deceive herself.
"Will you put the window lamps out before you go, dear?" the
storekeeper's wife said.
"Certainly," Janice answered, and proceeded to do so before putting on
her coat and hat.
"Don't be long," 'Rill observed softly. "It's after eleven now."
Janice came and kissed her--oh, so tenderly! They stood above the
sleeping child. 'Rill had eyes only for the half naked, plump limbs
and body of the little girl, or she might have seen something in
Janice's tearful glance to make her suspicious.
Janice thought of a certain famous picture of the "Madonna and Child"
as she tiptoed softly from the room, looking back as she went 'Rill
yearned over the little one as only a childless and loving woman does.
Perhaps 'Rill had married Hopewell Drugg as much for the sake of being
able to mother little Lottie as for any other reason.
Yet, what a shock that tender, loving heart was about to receive--what
a blow! Janice shrank from the thought of being one of those to bring
this hovering trouble home to the trusting wife.
Could she not escape it? There was her handbag on the end of the
counter. She was tempted to seize it, run out of the store, and make
her way homeward as fast as possible.
She could leave Frank Bowman to settle the matter with his own
conscience. He had brought the knowledge of this trouble to the little
store on the side street. Let him solve the problem as best he might.
Then Janice gave the civil engineer a swift glance, and her heart
failed her. She could not leave that unhappy looking specimen of
helplessness to his own devices.
Frank's pompadour was ruffled, his eyes were staring, and his whole
countenance was a troubled mask. In that moment Janice Day realized
for the first time the main duty of the female in this world. That is,
she is here to pull the incompetent male out of his difficulties!
She thought of Nelson, thoughtful and sensible as he was, actually
appalled by his situation in the community. And here was Frank Bowman,
a very efficient engineer, unable to engineer this small matter of
getting Hopewell Drugg home from the dance, without her assistance.
"Oh, dear me! what would the world be without us women?" thought
Janice--and gave up all idea of running away and leaving Frank to
bungle the situation.
The two went out of the store together and closed the door softly
behind them. Janice could not help glancing across at the lighted
front windows of Mrs. Beaseley's cottage.
"There's trouble over yonder," said young Bowman gently. "I went in to
see him after supper. He said you'd been there to help him buck up,
Janice. Really, you're a wonderful girl."
"I'm sorry," sighed Janice.
"What?" cried Frank.
"Yes. I am sorry if I am wonderful. If I were not considered so, then
not so many unpleasant duties would fall my way."
Frank laughed at that. "I guess you're right," he said. "Those that
seem to be able to bear the burdens of life certainly have them to
bear. But poor Nelson needs somebody to hold up his hands, as it were.
He's up against it for fair, Janice."
"Oh! I can't believe that the committee will continue this
persecution, when they come to think it over," the girl cried.
"It doesn't matter whether they do or not, I fear," Bowman said, with
conviction. "The harm is done. He's been accused."
"Oh, dear me! I know it," groaned Janice.
"And unless he is proved innocent, Nelson Haley is bound to have
trouble here in Polktown."
"Do you believe so, Frank?"
"I hate to say it. But we--his friends--might as well face the fact
first as last," said the civil engineer, sheltering Janice beneath the
umbrella he carried. It was misting heavily and she was glad of this
shelter.
"Oh, I hope they will find the real thief very quickly!"
"So do I. But I see nothing being done toward that. The committee
seems satisfied to accuse Nelson--and let it go at that."
"It is too, too bad!"
"They are following the line of least resistance. The real thief is,
of course, well away--out of Polktown, and probably in some big city
where the coins can be disposed of to the best advantage."
"Do you really believe so?" cried the girl.
"I do. The thief was some tramp or traveling character who got into
the schoolhouse by stealth. That is the only sensible explanation of
the mystery."
"Do you really believe so?" repeated Janice.
"Yes. Think of it yourself. The committee and Benny Thread are not
guilty. Nelson is not guilty. Only two keys to the building and those
both accounted for.
"Some time--perhaps on Friday afternoon or early evening--this tramp I
speak of crept into the cellar when the basement door of the
schoolhouse was open, with the intention of sleeping beside the
furnace. In the morning he slips upstairs and hides from the janitor
and keeps in hiding when the four committeemen appear.
"He sees the trays of coins," continued Frank Bowman, waxing
enthusiastic with his own story, "and while the committeemen are
downstairs, and before Nelson comes in, he takes the coins."
"Why _before_ Nelson entered?" asked Janice sharply.
"Because Nelson tells me that he did not see the trays on the table in
the committee room when he looked in there. The thief had removed
them, and then put the trays back. Had Nelson seen them he would have
stopped to examine the coins, at least. You see, they were brought
over from Middletown and delivered to Massey, who kept them in his safe
all night. Nelson never laid eyes on them."
"I see! I see!" murmured Janice.
"So this fellow stole the coins and slipped out of the building with
them. They may even be melted down and sold for old gold by this time;
although that would scarcely be possible. At any rate, the committee
will have to satisfy the owner of the collection. That is sure."
"And that is going to make them all just as mad as they can be,"
declared the girl. "They want to blame somebody----"
"And they have blamed Nelson. It remains that he must prove himself
innocent--before public opinion, not before a court. There they have
to prove guilt. He is guilty already in the eyes of half of Polktown.
No chance of waiting to be proved guilty before he is considered so."
Janice flushed and her answer came sharply: "And how about the other
half of Polktown?"
"We may be evenly divided--fifty-fifty," and Bowman laughed grimly.
"But the ones who believe--or _say_ that they believe--Nelson Haley
guilty, will talk much louder than those who deny."
"Oh, Frank Bowman! you take all my hope away."
"I don't mean to. I want to point out to you--and myself, as
well--that to sit idle and wait for the matter to settle itself, is not
enough for us who believe Haley is guiltless. We've got to set about
disproving the accusation."
"I--I can see you are right," admitted the girl faintly.
"Yes; I am right. But being right doesn't end the matter. The
question is: How are we going about it to save Nelson?"
Janice was rather shocked by this conclusion. Frank had seemed so
clear up to this point. And then he slumped right down and practically
asked her: "What are _you_ going to do about it?"
"Oh, dear me!" cried Janice Day, faintly, "I don't know. I can't
think. We must find some way of tracing the real thief. Oh! how can I
think of that, when here poor 'Rill and Hopewell are in trouble?"
"Never mind! Never mind, Janice!" said Frank Bowman. "We'll soon get
Hopewell home. And I hope, too, that his wife will know enough to keep
him away from the hotel hereafter."
"But, suppose she can't," whispered Janice. "You know, his father was
given to drinking."
"No! Is that so?"
"Yes. Maybe it is hereditary----"
"Queer it didn't show itself before," said Bowman sensibly. "I am more
inclined to believe that Joe Bodley is playing tricks. Why! he's kept
bar in the city and I know he was telling some of the scatter-brained
young fools who hang around the Inn, that he's often seen 'peter' used
in men's drink to knock them out. 'Peter,' you know, is 'knock-out
drops!'"
"No, I don't know," said Janice, with disgust. "Or, I didn't till you
told me."
"Forgive me, Janice," the civil engineer said humbly. "I was only
explaining."
"Oh, I'm not blaming you at all," she said. "But I am angry to think
that my own mind--as well as everybody's mind in Polktown--is being
contaminated from this barroom. We are all learning saloon phrases. I
never heard so much slang from Marty and the other boys, as I have
caught the last few weeks. Having liquor sold in Polktown is giving us
a new language."
"Well," said Bowman, as the lights of the Inn came in sight, "I hadn't
thought of it that way. But I guess you are right. Now, now, Janice,
what had we better do? Hear the noise?"
"What kind of dance is it?" asked Janice, in disgust. "I should think
that it was a sailor's dance hall, or a lumber camp dance. I have
heard of such things."
"It's going a little too strong for Lem Parraday himself to-night, I
guess. Marm shuts herself in their room upstairs, I understand, and
reads her Bible and prays."
"Poor woman!"
"She's of the salt of the earth," said Bowman warmly. "But she can't
help herself. Lem would do it. The Inn did not pay. And it is paying
now. At least, he says it is."
"It won't pay them in the end if this keeps up," said Janice, listening
to the stamping and the laughter and the harsh sounds of violins and
piano. "Surely Hopewell isn't making _all_ that--that music?"
"I'll go in and see. I shouldn't wonder if he was not playing at all
now. Maybe one of the boys has got his fiddle."
"Oh, no! He'd never let that precious violin out of his own hands,
would he?" queried Janice. "Why! do you know, Frank, I believe that is
quite a valuable instrument."
"I don't know. But when I started uptown one of the visitors was
teasing to get hold of the violin. I don't know the man. He is a
stranger--a black-haired, foxy-looking chap. Although, by good rights,
I suppose a 'foxy-looking' person should be red-haired, eh?"
Janice, however, was not splitting hairs. She said quickly: "Do go in;
Frank, and see what Hopewell is about."
"How'll I get him out?"
"Tell him I want to see him. He'll think something has happened to
'Rill or Lottie. I don't care if he is scared. It may do him good."
"I'll go around by the barroom door," said the young engineer, for they
had come to the front entrance of the hotel.
Lights were blazing all over the lower floor of the sprawling building;
but from the left of the front door came the sound of dancing. Some of
the windows were open and the shades were up. Janice, standing in the
darkness of the porch, could see the dancers passing back and forth
before the windows.
By the appearance of those she saw, she judged that the girls and women
were mostly of the mill-hand class, and were from Middletown and
Millhampton. She knew the men of the party were of the same class.
The tavern yard was full of all manner of vehicles, including huge
party wagons which carried two dozen passengers or more. There was a
big crowd.
Janice felt, after all, as though she had urged Frank Bowman into the
lion's den! The dancers were a rough set. She left the front porch
after a while and stole around to the barroom door.
The door was wide open, but there was a half-screen swinging in the
opening which hid all but the legs and feet of the men standing at the
bar. Here the voices were much plainer. There were a few boys hanging
about the doorway, late as the hour was. Janice was smitten with the
thought that Marty's boys' club, the foundation society of the Public
Library and Reading Room, would better be after these youngsters.
"Why, Simeon Howell!" she exclaimed suddenly. "You ought not to be
here. I don't believe your mother knows where you are."
The other boys, who were ragamuffins, giggled at this, and one said to
young Howell:
"Aw, Sim! Yer mother don't know yer out, does she? Better run home,
Simmy, or she'll spank ye."
Simeon muttered something not very complimentary to Janice, and moved
away. The Howells lived on Hillside Avenue and he was afraid Janice
would tell his mother of this escapade.
Suddenly a burst of voices proclaimed trouble in the barroom. She
heard Frank Bowman's voice, high-pitched and angry:
"Then give him his violin! You've no right to it. I'll take him away
all right; but the violin goes, too!"
"No, we want the fiddle. He was to play for us," said a harsh voice.
"There is another feller here can play instead. But we want both
violins."
"None of that!" snapped the engineer. "Give me that!"
There was a momentary struggle near the flapping screen. Suddenly
Hopewell Drugg, very much disheveled, half reeled through the door; but
somebody pulled him back.
"Aw, don't go so early, Hopewell. You're your own man, ain't ye?
Don't let this white-haired kid boss you."
"Let him alone, Joe Bodley!" commanded Bowman again, and Janice,
shaking on the porch, knew that it must be the barkeeper who had
interfered with Hopewell Drugg's escape.
The girl was terror-stricken; but she was indignant, too. She shrank
from facing the half-intoxicated crowd in the room just as she would
have trembled at the thought of entering a cage of lions.
Nevertheless, she put her hand against the swinging screen, pushed it
open, and stepped inside the tavern door.