TAVIA IN THE SHADE
Mrs. Halbridge was slyly slipping through the crowd. She had suddenly
lost all interest in the punishment of the girl she had accused of
stealing her bag and her money.
There was something so stern about Mr. Schuman that it was not strange
that the excitable woman should fear further discussion of the matter.
The old gentleman turned at once to Dorothy Dale and Tavia Travers.
“This is an unfortunate and regrettable incident, young ladies,” he
said suavely. “I assure you that such things as this seldom occur under
our roof.”
“I am confident it is a single occurrence,” Dorothy said, with
conviction, “or my aunt, Mrs. Winthrop White, of North Birchland, would
not have traded with you for so many years.”
“One of our charge customers, Mr. Schuman,” whispered Mr. Mink,
deciding it was quite time now to come to the assistance of the girls.
“Regrettable! Regrettable!” repeated the old gentleman.
Here Tavia again entered her wailing protest:
“I did not mean to take her bag from the counter. But somebody has
taken my bag.”
“Oh, Tavia!” exclaimed her friend, now startled into noticing what
Tavia really said about it.
“It’s gone!” wailed Tavia. “And all the money father sent me. Oh,
dear, Doro Dale! I guess I _have_ thrown my money away, and, as you
prophesied, it isn’t as much fun as I thought it might be.”
“My dear young lady,” hastily inquired Mr. Schuman, “have you really
lost your purse?”
“My bag,” sobbed Tavia. “I laid it down while I examined some silk.
That clerk saw me,” she added, pointing to the man behind the counter.
“It is true, Mr. Schuman,” the silk clerk admitted, blushing painfully.
“But, of course, I did not notice what became of the lady’s bag.”
“Nor did I see the other bag until I found it in my hand,” Tavia cried.
The crowd was dissipated by this time, and all spoke in low voices.
Outside the counter was a cash-girl, a big-eyed and big-eared little
thing, who was evidently listening curiously to the conversation. Mr.
Mink said sharply to her:
“Number forty-seven! do you know anything about this bag business?”
“No—no, sir!” gasped the frightened girl.
“Then go on about your business,” the floorwalker said, waving her away
in his most lordly manner.
Meanwhile, Dorothy had obtained a word with the young Mr. Knapp who had
done her and Tavia such a kindness.
“Thank you a thousand times, Mr. Knapp,” she whispered, her eyes
shining gratefully into his. “It might have been awkward for us without
you. And,” she added, pointedly, “how fortunate you knew our names!”
He was smiling broadly, but she saw the color rise in his bronzed
cheeks at her last remark. She liked him all the better for blushing so
boyishly.
“Got me there, Miss Dale,” he blurted out. “I was curious, and I looked
on the hotel register to see your names after the clerk brought it
back from the parlor where he went to greet you yesterday. Hope you’ll
forgive me for being so—er—rubbery.”
“It proves to be a very fortunate curiosity on your part,” she told
him, smiling.
“Say!” he whispered, “your friend is all broken up over this. Has she
lost much?”
“All the money she had to pay for the clothes she wished to buy, I’m
afraid,” sighed Dorothy.
“Well, let’s get her out of here—go somewhere to recuperate. There’s a
good hotel across the street. I had my breakfast there before I began
to shop,” and he laughed. “A cup of tea will revive her, I’m sure.”
“And you are suffering for a cup, too, I am sure,” Dorothy told him,
her eyes betraying her amusement, at his rather awkward attempt to
become friendly with Tavia and herself.
But Dorothy approved of this young man. Aside from the assistance he
had undoubtedly rendered her chum and herself, G. Knapp seemed to be
far above the average young man.
She turned now quickly to Tavia. Mr. Schuman was saying very kindly:
“Search shall be made, my dear young lady. I am exceedingly sorry that
such a thing should happen in our store. Of course, somebody picked
up your bag before you inadvertently took the other lady’s. If I had
my way I would have it a law that every shopper should have her purse
riveted to her wrist with a chain.”
It was no laughing matter, however, for poor Tavia. Her family was not
in the easy circumstances that Dorothy’s was. Indeed, Mr. Travers was
only fairly well-to-do, and Tavia’s mother was exceedingly extravagant.
It was difficult sometimes for Tavia to obtain sufficient money to get
along with.
Besides, she was incautious herself. It was natural for her to be
wasteful and thoughtless. But this was the first time in her experience
that she had either wasted or lost such a sum of money.
She wiped her eyes very quickly when Dorothy whispered to her that they
were going out for a cup of tea with Mr. Knapp.
“Oh dear, that perfectly splendid cowboy person!” groaned Tavia. “And
I am in no mood to make an impression. Doro! you’ll have to do it all
yourself this time. Do keep him in play until I recover from, this
blow—if I ever do.”
The young man, who led the way to the side door of the store which was
opposite the hotel and restaurant of which he had spoken, heard the
last few words and turned to ask seriously:
“Surely Miss Travers did not lose _all_ the money she had?”
“All I had in the world!” wailed Tavia. “Except a lonely little five
dollar bill.”
“Where is that?” asked Dorothy, in surprise.
“In the First National Bank,” Tavia said demurely.
“Oh, then, _that’s_ safe enough,” said Mr. Knapp.
“I didn’t know you had even that much in the bank,” remarked Dorothy,
doubtfully. “The First National?”
“Yep!” declared Tavia promptly, but nudged her friend. “Hush!” she
hissed.
Dorothy did not understand, but she saw there was something queer
about this statement. It was news to her that her chum ever thought of
putting a penny on deposit in any bank. It was not like Tavia.
“How do you feel now, dear?” she asked the unfortunate girl, as they
stepped out into the open air behind the broad-shouldered young
Westerner, who held the door open for their passage.
“Oh, dear me!” sighed Tavia. “I’m forty degrees in the shade—and the
temperature is still going down. What ever _shall_ I do? I’ll be
positively naked before Thanksgiving!”