QUESTIONABLE CHARACTERS
The Misses Gates did not appear at luncheon but kept to their individual
rooms. Azalea sent word by Cora that she was ill with a headache and
preferred to be alone; Iris offered no excuse. Kitty and Doris knew that
they were still upset over the finding of the ruby ring.
“I almost wish Wags hadn’t dug it up,” Doris remarked dolefully. “It’s
making the poor ladies feel so unhappy.”
The girls ate a rather forlorn meal in the big dining room. Cora waited
on them in a more slipshod manner than usual and took no pains to conceal
her dislike. Shortly after luncheon, they saw her leave the premises by
the back gate.
“I’ll venture the Misses Gates don’t know she’s leaving,” Doris
commented. “Cora thinks they’ll not find out she’s gone.”
The mansion seemed very quiet and desolate to the girls, and they found
it difficult to settle down to reading.
“Why not see something of the town ourselves?” Doris suggested by way of
a question. “We’re in for a dull time here this afternoon if we don’t
bestir ourselves. Anyway, I must send Dave a message telling him we’ll go
with him tomorrow.”
“Suits me fine,” Kitty agreed, putting aside her book. “But what shall we
do about the ring? We can’t very well take it with us. We might be
robbed.”
At a loss to know what to do with the ruby, Doris had carried it around
in her pocket, but now she removed the tiny case and studied it in
perplexity.
“I wish the Gates sisters would accept it,” she murmured. “I’m scared to
death we’ll lose it.”
“They won’t take it,” Kitty returned, “and you know it will pain them to
bring up the subject again.”
“We can’t wear the ring, that’s certain, for it isn’t ours. We’ll have to
hide it somewhere.”
“But where?”
“How about our bedroom?”
“You know Cora goes snooping around there. She might find it.”
“I know!” Doris exclaimed. “We’ll hide it under the mattress. No one
would ever think of looking there!”
“Great!” her chum approved. “Let’s do it now, while the coast is clear.”
They hurried upstairs and, closing the bedroom door, secreted the tiny
jewel case beneath the mattress, taking care to rearrange the covers.
“Now we can forget about it,” Kitty declared.
However, both girls knew that as long as the ruby ring remained in their
possession, they could not forget its existence. It was certain to give
them many uneasy moments.
Satisfied that for the time being the jewel was safe, they left the
mansion by the back gate.
Locked Gates was located at the edge of Rumson but it was only a short
walk to the main part of the little city. The girls stopped first at the
post office where they dispatched an air mail letter to Dave.
Then, as time rested heavily upon them, they dropped in at a corner drug
store for an ice cream soda. Doris bought a few things she needed, and
they continued down the street with no particular destination in view.
Not being acquainted with the town, they unwittingly turned down a street
which led them toward the poorer section. They had gone a considerable
distance before they realized their error.
“Let’s turn back,” Doris suggested. “I don’t like the appearance of this
street. There are so many pool halls and gambling places.”
Abruptly they retraced their steps but, before they had gone far, Doris
caught her chum by the sleeve.
“Look!” she commanded. “Isn’t that Henry Sully just ahead of us?”
“It is!” Kitty agreed. “We’ll meet him face to face!”
The man was walking toward the girls, but his head was lowered and he had
not seen them. While he was still at least a hundred yards away, he
turned into an old tumbledown building which opened off the street.
As Kitty and Doris passed the place a few minutes later, they surveyed it
rather curiously and were not surprised to see that it was probably a
gambling house.
“So that’s the way he spends his time!” Doris commented. “I guess he knew
the Misses Gates were in their rooms and that he would have a good chance
to slip away with no questions asked.”
“Did you notice the way he walked, Dory?”
“Yes, I did. His head was down—sort of flopping all around. And he walked
with such a precise step as though he were trying not to stagger.”
“I’ll bet he’s had about one drink too many.”
“Probably six would be more like it. Do you suppose the Misses Gates know
he drinks?”
“Oh, I’m sure they don’t. You know how strict they are about such
things.”
“I think it’s time they find out about their help, then. I don’t see how
they can be so blind.”
They continued down the street and presently had forgotten about Henry
Sully. The town was soon explored and they were thinking of returning to
the mansion when Kitty suggested that they attend a moving picture show.
“All right,” Doris agreed, “if we can find anything good.”
They had noticed a number of theaters near the post office and turned
that way.
“We’re coming to one now,” Kitty observed a few minutes later. “Can you
make out the sign?”
“Oh, we don’t want to go there,” Doris said hastily. “It’s one of those
cheap places that cater to folks with perverted tastes.”
They were about to pass on without a glance at the advertisements when
they noticed a familiar figure. Of one accord they paused and pretended
to be looking at the window display of a candy shop adjoining the
theater.
“It’s Cora Sully!” Kitty whispered to her chum. “She’s buying a ticket.”
Without glancing in their direction, the woman entered the moving picture
house.
“Aren’t they a pair!” Doris exclaimed in disgust. “Henry half drunk in a
gambling place and Cora here at this cheap movie! I don’t see how Azalea
and Iris can tolerate them—they are so refined themselves.”
“Either they don’t know about it, or they must have some very special
reason for keeping them. Didn’t they say Cora was the daughter of their
former dressmaker?”
“Yes, perhaps they keep the couple out of sheer sentiment. I’m sure if I
were in their place I’d send Cora and Henry away in a hurry.”
Farther on down the street the girls found a picture house which
satisfied them and they purchased tickets. The show lasted for two hours
and when they left the theater, it was nearly supper time.
“We must be getting back to the mansion,” Doris declared. “Before we go,
though, I have a notion I ought to put in a telephone call to the bank at
Chilton and find out how much money I have there. I’d ask Uncle Ward but
he’s still out of town campaigning for that Fresh Air Fund.”
“Then you’ve decided to loan the Misses Gates the money they want?”
“Oh, I haven’t decided anything. I don’t know what to do! I thought if I
found out exactly how much money I have, it might be easier to decide.”
“It won’t take very long to put the call through,” Kitty urged. “Why
don’t you?”
Doris consulted her wrist watch.
“The bank is closed by this time, but I am sure there will be some one
there who can tell me what I want to know. We’ll try it, anyway.”
They turned in at the next drug store and, after a brief wait, Doris was
connected with her party. After a few minutes she received the
information she sought and came back to Kitty, who was waiting outside
the booth.
“Did you find out?” she demanded.
Doris nodded. Her eyes were shining.
“Why, Kit, I have a lot of money. From what Uncle Ward told me the other
day I thought I was almost poverty stricken.”
“How much?”
“Nearly six thousand dollars. Five thousand nine hundred and forty-three,
to be exact.”
“Why, you’re rich, Dory!” Kitty exclaimed in awe.
“Hardly that, but I’ll have enough to last me for a long time.”
Both girls, blissfully ignorant of how much it cost to live, considered
Doris’s little hoard a miniature fortune.
“When I have so much, it seems a shame not to make a small loan to Iris
and Azalea,” Doris said thoughtfully.
“They promised you’d get it all back,” Kitty encouraged. “In the end
you’ll come into the Trent inheritance.”
“There’s only one drawback.”
“What’s that?”
“Cousin Ronald is to handle the money.” Doris sighed as one who was
burdened with great business responsibilities. “Oh, dear, I wish I liked
him better. If I could entirely trust him, I’d offer the money in a
minute!”