TOM MEANS BUSINESS
Polly's friends had not completed their dressing when Tom was announced,
but she was waiting in the cozy library; so Tom crossed the long formal
parlor in a few strides, when he caught sight of her in the softly shaded
light of the floor-lamp.
"Polly! Oh, but I'm glad to see you again!" breathed he as he caught both
hands and devoured her smiles with his eyes.
"I should hope you would be glad! Isn't everyone I know glad to see me
after they have been absent a long time?" laughed Polly, in a
matter-of-fact tone.
But Tom glanced hastily about the room. Then he quite unexpectedly leaned
forward and caught her face between his palms. "Polly Brewster, I'm going
to salute you with a brotherly kiss!" whispered Tom, and immediately, he
pressed a kiss upon her red lips--but Polly felt sure it was _not_ like
John's kisses.
She tried to free her head from his powerful hands, but he laughed
masterfully and held her under the light while he gazed into her eyes.
Finally Polly felt herself growing warm and flushed, and to stop his look
she closed her eyes and began kicking at his shins.
With a happy laugh, Tom freed her face and picked her up in his arms. In
three long strides he was over at the divan where he placed her, sitting
upright. Then he sat down beside her.
"Why--Tom Latimer!" gasped Polly, angrily, trying to rearrange her hair
which had become tumbled in the fray.
"Why--Tom Latimer!" laughed he, mimicking Polly very cleverly. "You don't
know _this_ Tom, do you, girl! But this is the Tom that you'll know
hereafter. I'm through acting like a woolly lamb just because Anne says
that's the only way to get a girl! You're a Rocky Mountain girl and the
only way to make you notice, is to use ranch methods to lasso you. That's
why I'm here in New York. Catch me letting a rich society darling like
that Baxter spend the winter months making love to you, when I'm wasting
my heart away at Pebbly Pit, hoping against hope for a nice long letter
from you!"
[Illustration: TOM PICKED POLLY UP IN HIS ARMS.
Polly's Business Venture. Page 200]
Tom's frown and the tone in which he declared himself, made Polly want to
laugh albeit she shrunk away, somewhat, for fear of a plot in his mind.
Tom had, in his fervor, lost control once, but he was too wise to indulge
himself again, in such a manner. Tom had spent a great deal of time in
studying, during the past year, the psychology of love, and now he was
going to test his knowledge. He told John, just before he left the ranch,
that once a girl liked a fellow, it was easy to make her love him, by
judicious treatment. In explanation, he said:
"When Jeb wants to coax one of the burros to the barn, he doesn't give
him the measure of oats to eat out on the range--no, he leads the burro
to the barn by holding the box of feed ahead of his nose!"
The Brewsters laughed at Tom's idea, but he declared that that was the
way he was going to get Polly. And all their arguments about giving Polly
a chance to finish her studies and try out her beloved work, fell on dull
ears. Tom started East!
"Polly, let's all go to a good show, shall we?" was Tom's unexpected
invitation, just as his companion began to worry because he sat so close
beside her.
"Oh! Yes--I think that will be lovely!" said Polly.
"All right! Run up and tell the others to get their caps and jackets on.
I'll telephone an agent and see what's good."
Polly ran out of the room, glad to have the problem of the evening's
entertainment solved for her, but still she felt a little disappointed
because Tom could so eagerly suggest taking the family out when she
wanted to have a tete-a-tete with him to ask about the mines. Tom's
plan about holding the temptation before a burro instead of surfeiting
him with goodies, was evidently beginning to work.
The play was one of the most popular ones, and seats were in great
demand. But money does anything in New York, so Tom secured splendid
orchestra seats, and they reached the theatre just as the curtain went up
on the first scene. The interior was darkened when they entered, and
Polly could not tell who sat in front of her, until the first act ended
and the lights were turned on.
Tom sat beside her, and began whispering in his free western voice, when
a young man seated directly in front, turned deliberately around and
stared at him. Polly gasped, and Eleanor nudged her in the side. It was
Jack Baxter!
Without taking his eyes from Tom, Jack reached under the chair and got
his hat. Then he dragged his coat over his arm, and got up. He bowed
stiffly to the girls in Tom's party, and went out. Tom waited until he
was gone, then he looked down at Polly.
"Um! It was high time I came East, I see!"
"Why?" was Polly's smiling rejoinder.
"By next Spring it might have been Tom who sat alone and felt like the
fifth wheel in a wagon instead of Baxter. My, but I'm glad I came!"
Polly frowned, and Eleanor did her best to hear what was said between
these two _apparently_ phlegmatic companions. But Tom meant his words for
Polly's ears only.
Once during the evening, when the light was so low that the theatre was
almost dark, Tom changed his position in such a way that his arm rested
over the back of Polly's chair. In his interest in the scene on the
stage, his hand dropped carelessly upon her shoulder. And Polly was too
engaged with the play to remove it, or even change her position to allow
it to fall back again.
Then Tom moved, so that his arms touched hers, and his hand that rested
upon one knee, could cover Polly's hand while the audience was enthralled
by the burglar's escape, and no one but Eleanor had the slightest idea of
what was going on in these two orchestra chairs. But Polly grew restive
and tried to free her hand.
Then the lights went up again, and Tom moved away and said apologetically:
"These seats are so cramped for such a great fellow as I am!"
And Polly replied tartly: "Yes, they really ought to allow more room for
people's hands and arms."
Eleanor smiled wisely, and sent Tom a teasing look.
John Baxter did not come back to claim his seat that evening, and the
play ended without Polly having given him another thought. Poor Jack!
After Tom reached New York, there seemed very little time for Polly in
which to hunt up antiques in the country, or to attend sales that were
advertised at various places. Then Winter weather set in, and that gave
her the necessary excuse that the automobile could not travel in snow or
mud.
All but Tom and Polly thought that Tom's plot to win Polly from her
chosen profession seemed to be succeeding. But Tom felt that he had not
had much encouragement as yet; and Polly was having a very nice time with
an old friend she liked better than other young men, without feeling
unduly indebted for the pleasure.
Although the Latimers lived uptown in New York, they saw little of Tom
during the first weeks of his return to the City. He stopped at a hotel
not far from the Fabian's place, and made duty-calls on his father and
mother at regular intervals, but they understood what he came East for,
and they wished him all success.
Time passed quickly, with a new pastime planned by Tom, for each day. And
most of these pleasures included the other girls, as well as Polly. So
the enjoyment was general, and Polly could not say that Tom tried to get
her company for himself, by leaving her friends out of any fun.
December came in, and the Christmas season advanced, with Tom still
leading a gay life and escorting the girls to every pleasure or
entertainment they heard of; and Polly was still the kind little "sister"
to him in every way, but nothing more.
Tom had selected his Christmas gift for Polly, but no one had been told
about it. This he had kept absolutely secret. The Christmas Holidays came
and all schools closed, so that the girls had no studies to attend to,
and no art work to prepare. Jim Latimer and his chum Kenneth came home
from Yale for the two weeks' vacation, and they immediately called on
Polly and Eleanor.
Tom saw how gladly Polly welcomed Jim and Kenneth, and he began to wonder
if she really preferred a young boy's society to his. Polly and Jim were
about the same age--not quite eighteen, while he--Tom, was almost
twenty-four. Such a decrepit old age!
The evening Jim planned to visit Polly and take Kenneth along for
Eleanor, Tom, to the surprise of his parents, spent the entire evening
with them; but he was not very attentive to what his mother said, nor did
he seem over-pleased with being at home.
Jim and Kenneth were noisy, active young college boys, and they furnished
lots of fun that evening, of the energetic, "center-rush" kind. But Polly
was relieved when they had said good-night and were gone.
Eleanor laughed at the way Jim "rough-housed" both girls when he tried to
kiss them good-night, and Polly indignantly told him he would never be
invited there again! Jim laughed and caught hold of Polly to shake her
for such a threat, but he smacked her loudly on the lips, instead.
As the two girls went upstairs to retire, Polly said: "I'm sure Jim
wouldn't have acted so silly if his big brother had been here!"
Eleanor then added: "We have such lovely evenings with Tom, that this
sort of horse-play gets on my nerves!" Then she slyly watched her
friend's expression to try and read her mind.
"I wonder why Tom never came in tonight?" said Polly.
"Jack Baxter met me this afternoon, and he says Tom goes uptown
regularly, to see a girl. Jack shadowed him and knows exactly where the
girl lives. But he didn't say I must not tell you," said Eleanor,
confidentially. Neither did she add that she had heard the address of
this "girl" and knew it to be Tom's home and mother.
Polly flushed, but said nonchalantly: "Poor Tom! He feels awfully bored
with us girls, at times!"
"I should think so! especially if he came home for a visit with the idea
of finding a nice girl to propose to. Now Jack thinks that Tom, with his
good looks, his wonderful intelligence, and his family-tree, to say
nothing of the Latimer fortune, ought to be able to take his pick of any
New York girl that is looking for an ideal husband," remarked Eleanor,
guilelessly.
Polly flashed her a look. "Since when has Jack Baxter dropped his
maligning of Tom Latimer, and started to admire him?"
Eleanor bit her lips to prevent a smile, but she replied, innocently:
"Why, Jack always did admire Tom, even when he met him at Pebbly Pit. But
he is jealous of him, for all the admiration he has for him. But I'll
tell you, Polly: I wouldn't trust Jack in a case of 'love or war.' He'd
as soon make Tom believe you were in love with another man, as anything
else, if he could win a point by it."
But Eleanor over-stepped her ambition this time. Polly quickly replied:
"Then Jack must be trying to 'win a point' when he got you to tell me
that Tom was calling on another girl, uptown."
Eleanor realized her error and had common sense enough not to endeavor to
explain it away. She merely said: "Oh well, Tom is too handsome a fellow
to be wandering about New York these nights without a guardian. Some wide
awake girl is going to snap him up the first chance!"
"Seems to me, Nolla, that Tom has been wandering about since he arrived
in the City, with a whole bevy of guardians to keep him from snares and
pitfalls. With all of us girls surrounding him, a fine chance any other
girl could have found to snap him."
Eleanor was evidently getting worsted in her well-meant plan to further
Tom's case, so she wisely decided to keep still.
Nothing was heard from Tom the next day, although Polly was sure he would
call, or telephone, before evening. Then the telephone did ring, but it
was Mr. Dalken, inviting the entire family over to his apartment for a
party that evening.
"Just an impromptu affair, you know, with some of our old friends coming
in to spend the evening."
Mrs. Fabian accepted for herself and husband, and said she would see if
the girls had any engagement. She came back to the living-room where they
were waiting for dinner to be announced.
"Are you girls going out this evening, or have you any engagement at
home?" asked she.
Nancy shook her head, and Eleanor replied: "For a great wonder, we
haven't a blessed thing on for tonight! First evening free in months!"
"Mr. Dalken wants us to come over and join some old friends, just for a
nice visit," ventured Mrs. Fabian, looking from one girl to the other.
"Fine! Anything but sitting here staring at Polly's concerned face,"
retorted Eleanor.
Mrs. Fabian smiled and went to answer Mr. Dalken, but Polly sat up and
asked Eleanor what she meant by that.
"Oh, ask yourself, Polly, you've been mooning around all day looking like
'Gottschalk's Last Hope.' One speaks to you, and you never hear what's
said. The very house could burn down but you'd never know it. You'd roast
without feeling any sensation in it!" declared Eleanor, impatiently.
Nancy laughed at both girls.
After dinner, while the girls were dressing to go to Mr. Dalken's,
Eleanor went to Polly's room to be hooked up. When she saw Polly arrayed
in one of her most fetching Paris dresses she stood and stared.
"Why! we're not going to the Opera!" said she.
"We're going to Mr. Dalken's, aren't we?" asked Polly.
"Yes, but Jack won't be there--nor Tom, either," was Eleanor's smooth
reply.
"I hadn't thought of who might be there, I dressed for my old friend, Mr.
Dalken. He is so correct in these matters, so I want to do justice to his
friendship," Polly scored this time.
Eleanor did not wait to be hooked up but rushed back to her own room, and
when Polly met her again, down in the hall, she had changed her gown,
also, and looked very attractive, indeed.
Because of the delay occasioned by Eleanor, the Fabian party was late in
reaching Mr. Dalken's. The other guests were already there, and to
Polly's intense gratification, not only was Jack assisting the host for
the evening, but Tom sat in one corner of the large living room, looking
at a book of snap-shots taken by Mr. Dalken while out in the Rockies. So
engrossed was Tom in the pictures, that he did not lift his head when
new-comers were welcomed.
Polly glanced over at the corner and finding Tom so interested in
mountain charms, while female charms abounded so near him, she felt
peeved and smiled radiantly on Jack. Eleanor saw, and determined that she
would not permit matters to go astray again, as she had taken such
trouble to get Mr. Dalken to plan this impromptu gathering just to give
Polly the opportunity to see both suitors together--to the advancement of
one or the other's interest. Eleanor had no doubt that it would be Tom's
advancement.
So she flirted outrageously with Jack, to the amusement of Mr. Dalken who
understood how matters were with all the young people. Thus Eleanor was
cozily cornered with Jack in the den, doing her utmost to make him forget
Polly for the time being, when the Jap came to the living-room door and
announced a new caller.