A DESPERATE SITUATION
Left to herself, Bumble thought over the situation and laughed. As
usual, she had got into a scrape, and, also as usual, she had fared very
luckily.
Suppose instead of the kind Mrs. Lummis, she had found a disagreeable
hostess! But she had fallen on her feet, and with her care-free nature
she bothered herself not a whit about unpleasant possibilities.
She wandered about the pretty little bedroom, feeling very grateful for
the safe harbour from the stormy night. She read a little, and then sat
at the well-furnished toilet table to take down her hair.
She could hear guests arriving, and though of no mind to eavesdrop, she
could not help over-hearing their light talk and chatter.
Helen was not curious by nature, and paid no attention to the voices
until the name of Lieutenant Herron was mentioned.
But then the voices were lowered, and she caught no connected sentences.
A little ashamed of herself for listening at all to talk not meant for
her ears, Bumble went to bed and was soon sound asleep.
Next morning Mrs. Lummis tapped at the door, and entered cheerily.
"Sleep well, little girl? Yes? That's good. Now for a bath and some
breakfast, then I'm going to pack you off. Sorry to speed my parting
guest so hastily, but I have to go out of town on an early train."
Helen sprang out of bed, truly sorry to inconvenience her kind
benefactor.
She made especial haste with her dressing and soon the two were seated
at a cosy breakfast.
Mrs. Lummis asked a good many questions and out of the kindness of her
heart Helen replied in full. Suddenly she realised that she was
divulging secrets. Without thinking, she had told the story of the day
at the Country Club and the masquerading man, who, they suspected, had
surreptitiously opened the letter that was in the pocket of Patty's fur
stole.
Mrs. Lummis was greatly interested, and urged further details, and it
was not until Bumble had told of Bill's sometimes giving Patty important
letters to hide, that she bethought herself of her indiscretion.
She had even told of the secret drawer in the old desk, where Patty
concealed the papers, and the realisation of her mistake almost stunned
her.
"Don't tell, will you?" she pleaded. "I oughtn't to have told that!"
Of a sudden Mrs. Lummis' eyes gleamed brightly.
"It's all right," she said, a trifle absent-mindedly, and rising
abruptly she went to the telephone.
She called a number and presently Helen heard her talking in a foreign
language.
Helen could understand no word, but she was quick-witted and it seemed
to her that Mrs. Lummis was divulging important information to some one
exceedingly interested.
At last she caught what was, she felt sure, the house number of the
Fairfield home.
Frightened and appalled, she sat wondering what she must do.
She had heard more or less spy talk, but she knew nothing of such
matters definitely. However she felt she must warn Patty, and tell her
what she had inadvertently done. The horror and regret of her deed was
almost swallowed up in the necessity for immediate action.
Helen was at her best in an emergency, and her sometimes careless and
blundering habits didn't affect her mental efficiency. Her mind worked
rapidly and even while Mrs. Lummis was talking, she was planning a way
to circumvent her.
At last the vivacious lady returned to the table, with a murmured excuse
for her lengthy absence.
"That's all right," Bumble said, smiling, "and I'm going to ask a
similar indulgence. May I telephone, please,--as I've a bothersome
dressmaker's engagement that I want to break."
"So sorry," said Mrs. Lummis, looking at her shrewdly, "but the
telephone is out of order. The storm, you know. Just as I finished
talking, it went dead, and we can't use it till it's fixed."
Helen knew this for an untruth, and a hastily fabricated invention at
that. But she saw that Mrs. Lummis was not going to let her use the
telephone, and she felt her fears verified that there was some secret
work going on.
Mrs. Lummis then began chatting again, apparently forgetful of her
impending journey, and as she adroitly led the talk to war matters and
around to Captain Farnsworth, Helen grew more and more wary of what she
said, and also more and more determined to speak to Patty without delay.
Breakfast finished, they rose, and went back to the bedroom.
Mrs. Lummis sat in a high-backed chair, and Bumble quickly formed her
plan.
She drew from her coat pocket a long chiffon veil or scarf, that she
carried for cold weather.
"You've been so kind," she said, "I'm going to ask your acceptance of
this as a little souvenir. It's a Liberty scarf,--I bought it in
London,--but it's been little used."
"Oh, it's lovely," said Mrs. Lummis, admiring the silken fabric.
"Yes, and it's a real Liberty scarf,--to help me to my liberty!"
As Helen spoke, she quickly threw it around Mrs. Lummis' neck and then
around the high back of the chair, knotting it tightly.
"You little villain!" cried the victim, "take that off!"
"Not at all," and Bumble pulled the knot tighter. It did not hurt the
prisoner, but it made it impossible for her to rise from the heavy,
high-backed chair.
Helen quickly tied two or three more strong knots in the long ends, and
the firm silk fabric was as secure as a hempen rope would have been.
"Now, I guess that'll hold you!" she said, nodding approval at her work.
Then, oblivious to the venomous looks of the captive lady, she took up
the telephone and called Patty.
"If you're innocent of any wrong," she said to Mrs. Lummis, as she
waited for her response, "you can have no objection to my speaking to my
friends. Hello, that you?"
She mentioned no name but recognised Patty's voice.
"You know that little matter you put in the Winthrop?"
"Yes," said Patty, knowing at once Bumble meant the old Governor
Winthrop desk.
"Take it out at once,--now,--and put it somewhere else. See?"
"No, I don't see----"
"Well, you don't have to," Bumble was nervously impatient, but kept her
voice calm, "only in the name of your country, do as I say!"
"I will."
"Yes; remove that to a place of safety,--absolute safety. Will you?"
"I will, at once."
Patty's clear voice betokened her complete comprehension, and Helen said
no more.
Helen drew a sigh of relief as she hung up the receiver.
She looked calmly at Mrs. Lummis. "I suppose you're doing what you
consider your duty," she said, "as I am doing mine. There's no use of
our quarrelling, is there?"
"I've no desire to quarrel," the speaker was quite evidently holding her
temper under control with difficulty, "but I think this a most unkind
return for the hospitality I've shown you."
"So do I!" and Helen laughed. "Let's untie the baddy old scarf!"
Still smiling, she untied the hard knots behind the chair, taking her
time for it, however.
"I may misjudge you entirely," she went on, slowly, "but sumpum tells me
you've used my information to your own--or to some one's advantage."
"In-deed!" said Mrs. Lummis, looking at her curiously, "you're a clever
youngster, I see."
"Not so clever as I wish I had been," and Helen freed her captive
entirely, and then handed her the scarf, with an elaborate bow.
"As I said, I beg your acceptance of this souvenir of our little visit."
"Thank you, I accept in the spirit it is offered."
"And now, if you please, I'll get off, and you may proceed on your
interrupted journey."
"Very well, I'll call a cab for you." Mrs. Lummis sprang toward the
telephone with such alacrity, that Bumble intercepted her.
"No, I'll call one. I know the number."
She did so, and her hostess stood waiting, but with a determined
expression on her face, that, Helen knew, betokened further planning.
Meantime, Patty, greatly amazed at Bumble's telephone message, was
acting upon the instructions.
She took the packet Farnsworth had confided to her care from the old
Winthrop desk and thought deeply as to where she should hide it.
She had no idea what danger threatened, but she knew from Helen's voice
that it must be something grave, and that the packet _must_ be safely
concealed.
It was a thick parcel,--an envelope so full of folded papers that it was
too bulky to place between the leaves of a book, which was Patty's first
impulse.
She looked thoughtfully about. She mustn't stand holding it! The danger,
whatever it was, might come at any minute. Helen's tone commanded
instant action.
A photograph album lay on a side table. This was not usually in
evidence, but Patty and Helen had brought it from an old storeroom to
look at the old-fashioned portraits in it. It was a large volume,
holding pictures of "cabinet size."
In response to a sudden inspiration, Patty opened the album and
extracted six of the photographs. This left a hollow space quite big
enough to admit the insertion of the envelope.
She put it in, clasped the big brass fastenings of the old plush album,
and laid it back on the table, with two more books carelessly on top of
it.
She heard a ring at the door, and suspecting trouble, she quickly tossed
the six pictures she held in a desk drawer, under some old papers. She
heard a few words in the hall, and then Jane ushered in a man in khaki
uniform.
"Good morning," he said, pleasantly, "Miss Fairfield?"
"Yes," said Patty, with a courteously inquiring glance.
"Sorry to intrude on your time; won't detain you but a minute. I'm
Sergeant Colton, and I'm sent by Captain Farnsworth for the packet he
left with you for me."
"But Captain Farnsworth left no packet with me for you," Patty returned.
Her heart was beating wildly, lest she commit some indiscretion, and she
prayed that she might do exactly right in this emergency.
"Of course, not by name." The man spoke low, and glanced about him.
"It's a secret mission. But I've credentials and an order."
He drew from his pocket an official-looking document, and showed Patty
an order for the envelope left with her.
"This isn't signed by Captain Farnsworth," she said, examining it
carefully.
"No; he didn't dare sign it, it's a diplomatic matter. But it is signed,
as you see, by Colonel Brent, and it is authoritative."
"It would seem so,"--Patty's voice was calm, though her heart and nerves
were in commotion, "but I have no parcel such as you describe."
"Not a parcel,--a packet,--of papers."
"Just what is the difference between a parcel and a packet?"
Patty smiled at him, for a gleam of threatening intent in his eye
convinced her it was better to temporise.
"Don't trifle, Miss Fairfield, this is your country's business. I'm sent
by the administration authorities for the envelope, and it is your duty
to hand it over, otherwise there may be serious consequences--both to
and because of you."
"But this order means nothing to me." Patty stared blankly at the signed
and stamped document, that was so complicated of wording and vague of
intent.
"Good for you! I'm glad you're cautious. Now, listen; Captain Farnsworth
said you might be wary about giving it up, and he told me to tell you
that he sent you the words 'Apple Blossom' as a talisman. He said if I
told you those words, you would know he sent me. I suppose they are code
words."
Patty stared at the man. It seemed to her Bill must have sent him when
he gave her such a key word as that!
And yet, Patty was very wary of possible spies or alien influences.
Would it not be better to withhold a necessary paper, than to give it
wrongfully? Would it not be better to incur Farnsworth's displeasure for
not having done his bidding, than to do it if it were not really his?
And then she remembered Helen's frantic message. Surely that meant
something! Surely it could mean nothing but that the packet must be kept
from possible predatory hands!
She determined, rightly or wrongly, she would not believe Farnsworth had
sent this man unless she had some more indubitable proof.
She knew that an alien spy in our country's uniform was not an
impossibility, and she feared to accept this man's word.
"I'm sorry," she said, "but I must repeat that I have no such packet as
you speak of."
The untruth of this did not disturb Patty's conscience, for she knew
that aside from the accepted law that all's fair in love and
war,--military secrets must be kept inviolate even at the sacrifice of
truth.
"I'm sorry," the visitor returned, "that I must disbelieve that.
Moreover, I regret to add, I must do my best to find the packet. Captain
Farnsworth warned me that you might prove thus obdurate, and that in
that case, I must seek the papers for myself. He even went so far as to
tell me that they were in the old Winthrop desk. _Now_ do you believe in
my integrity?"
It was only the triumphant glance of the man's eye that kept Patty from
believing him. She reasoned that if he were an honest messenger he would
be earnestly anxious but not victoriously glad.
His air of having conquered gave an immediate impression of expected
opposition and she was on her guard.
If Farnsworth had really told him the papers were in that old desk he
would, she felt sure, have confided it to her, and not have announced it
with an air of braggadocio.
"It isn't a question of your integrity," she replied, "but a matter of
fact. The papers are not in this old desk."
Colton strode forward and threw the desk open.
"Where are the secret drawers?" he asked, abruptly.
"Here," and Patty showed him the small hidden springs that opened the
concealed spaces so often found in old desks.
With meticulous care, Colton went all over the desk, measuring and
calculating, in his endeavour to find the papers. But he at last turned
a baffled face to Patty.
She looked pleasantly interested, but said simply, "You are mistaken,
you see."
"As to the desk, yes, but I must find the papers. Sorry, Miss Fairfield,
but my duty must be done. I believe what I seek is in this room, and I
must make search for it. With your permission--or without----"
"Oh, go ahead," Patty laughed, for she deemed it wiser to make no
objection, "search all you like. May I stay here, or would you rather be
alone."
"Stay, please," and a shrewd glance was thrown toward her.
An indicative glance it was, too,--though it was not meant to be. But
Patty's quick wits told her that he wished her to remain, hoping she
would by some involuntary glance, disclose the hiding-place.
This gave her new courage, and she determined to look anywhere save
toward the old album that held the papers. If he should find them, she
would defend them with her life, if need be, she thought. But if they
were not discovered the victory was hers. She was convinced now that
this was no emissary of Farnsworth's. Had he been, he would have gone
back for further instructions, before he made such desperate search.
Moreover, his attitude would have been confidential and persuasive,--not
belligerent and domineering.
So she watched him, a little amused smile on her face, that gave no hint
of her perturbation of spirit.
She carefully let her eyes follow the directions taken by his own, but
never by any chance led him to a fresh field of search.
Frequently he looked up quickly, hoping to catch her gaze straying to
the real hiding-place, but Patty was too canny for that.
Once or twice she allowed him to intercept a furtive glance, carefully
turned in the wrong direction, and her look of embarrassment led him to
turn his attention that way.
But all to no purpose. He looked everywhere, as he supposed, where the
packet could have been hidden. He even moved the books on the side
table, taking up the album itself, and laying it down again, assuming
that the thick packet could not be between the leaves of any book.
And now came Patty's supreme test of nerve and poise.
"I suppose you think you're very smart," he said, irritatedly, "to have
hidden the thing so securely."
"It must be so, if that exhaustive search of yours failed to find it,"
she replied, but not triumphantly at all. "However, you must remember
that I assured you I hadn't the papers. You cannot, therefore, expect me
to be surprised that you didn't unearth them."
"I salute you, Miss Fairfield, as an exceedingly clever young woman in
more ways than one. I cannot tarry longer,----"
"Afraid you'll be caught here?" Patty couldn't resist this fling.
"No; I must report to Captain Farnsworth. He will send some one else,
doubtless, who may succeed where I have failed."
"Let us hope so," said Patty, drily.