"I was his mother." Granny sighed as if she could remember times when
she had found her son big and strong and brutal. "But if you don't think
my granddaughter should live on her islands what do you think she
should do with them?" Granny believed in the straight line. She had
absolutely no use for that beautiful curved line we are taught to
admire. Straight lines are so much more direct. She looked at the
stranger, but she could not find any straight lines about him; he was
all curves.
"Granny!" exclaimed Tessie indignantly. The idea of Granny speaking as
if there was even a possibility that she would not go to the Sunshine
Islands. In imagination Tessie saw herself on a great white ship which
was drawing near a shore that bore a marked resemblance to the pictures
she had seen of New York harbor. And she saw great throngs of natives
clothed in queer shapeless garments--but fully clothed--and she heard
their joyous shouts of welcome. She liked the picture her imagination
showed her far better than she liked the one drawn by this white-headed
stranger. In the back of her mind there was a faint memory of something
unpleasant in connection with a fat, white-headed man with a big nose
and freckles, but she could not think what it was while this man
regarded her with such bright blue eyes. She wished she could, it might
be easier to talk to him if she could remember.
"Who are you?" she asked suddenly, oddly uncomfortable under his steady,
unblinking stare.
"My name is Pracht," he said frankly. "Frederic Pracht. I have lived in
the Sunshine Islands for months. I knew King Pete very well."
"Pracht," meditated Granny. "That sounds like a German name."
He stopped smiling at Tessie to smile at Granny, and Tessie drew a deep
breath of relief, as if at last she had more space about her.
"It is not strange that my name sounds German, because it is German,"
Mr. Pracht explained to Granny. "My great-grandfather came from
Frankfort and settled in Pennsylvania. There are many German names in
Pennsylvania."
"H-m," muttered Granny, and she regarded him gravely, as if she were not
quite satisfied with the explanation, as if she suspected that it would
not wear well--that it would shrink or fade. "My son Pete," she said
slowly, "he inherited the islands, didn't he?"
"From the old king. He cured the old king's toothache."
"Didn't the old king have any children?" Even if she suspected that his
information might not wear well, Granny thought it was just as well to
obtain as much of it as she could.
"He had twenty-three."
"Twenty-three children!" Granny gasped. She had known large families in
her day, but twenty-three children----
"Seventeen girls and six boys," was the ready response. "And thirty-one
grandchildren. I don't exactly know how many great-grandchildren there
are."
"Never mind." The old king's children interested Granny far more than
his great grandchildren. "When there were twenty-three children, why did
the old king leave his kingdom to my son Pete?" That was the question
which did interest her, and while a toothache cure should be paid for, a
kingdom did seem rather a large price.
Mr. Pracht shrugged his shoulders. "That is what the twenty-three
children would like to know. They declare that King Pete hypnotized
their father, or, as they put it, placed him under a spell. My private
opinion is that the old king quarreled with his family until he hated
every one of his twenty-three children. And they hated him. They hated
each other, too, until their father died and they came together to fight
his successor. That's why the Sons of Sunshine organized. You've heard
of them?" He turned his bright blue eyes on Tessie again.
She nodded, but did not speak. Granny did not speak either for a moment;
then she said slowly, as if she were trying to visualize her words:
"That's quite a family. Twenty-three children!"
"The old man had three wives," Mr. Pracht said with a little laugh.
"Three! Do you mean that a man can have more than one wife in my
granddaughter's kingdom?" If Granny's gray hair had not been held by a
net, it would have risen with horror at such a thought.
"A man can have as many wives as he can buy," explained Mr. Pracht. "You
remember I told you the islands were not like Minnesota and Waloo." He
laughed and showed two rows of big white teeth.
"They don't seem to be," murmured Granny, while Tessie gasped. "I must
confess I am surprised. Ain't you surprised, Tessie, to hear all this? I
had my suspicions after I got over my first surprise and had time to
remember Pete, and to look into these books. But I thought you were
going to tell us what you thought Tessie should do with these islands
which her Uncle Pete left her when he died?" she said suddenly.
"There is but one thing to do," Mr. Pracht told her so suddenly and
emphatically that she knew that he had given the question some study. He
was not offering her any made-while-you-wait opinion. She should sell
her rights in them, and sell as soon as she can. "Real estate values
vary, you know, and just at present Miss Gilfooly could obtain a very
good price. If she waits I am afraid she will lose money. If she sells
her rights at once, I am quite sure that she will obtain enough to
enable her to live like a queen wherever she pleases." He smiled
pleasantly at Tessie, but Tessie frowned.
"I wouldn't be a queen if I sold my islands," she objected. Already her
head felt bare, as if a crown had been torn from it.
"Surely you would be a queen. A queen doesn't lose her title when she
loses her kingdom," declared Mr. Pracht, quick to see that honors meant
more to Tessie just then than lands. "Look at Kaiser Bill. And the
French empress who died the other day. So long as you live, you will be
Queen Teresa of the Sunshine Islands. But take my word for it that you
will find it much pleasanter to be Queen Teresa in London or Paris, or
even in Waloo, than you would in the Sunshine Islands. I can't think of
a thing you would like there--not one thing."
"Uncle Pete liked them!" flared Tessie, indignant at such contemptuous
scorn of her kingdom. "He liked them well enough to live there years and
years."
"He probably had his reasons." There was a significance in Mr. Pracht's
smooth voice that made Granny and Tessie look at each other. "And he was
a man," went on Mr. Pracht. "He never hesitated when it was necessary to
put down rebellion."
"I bet he didn't!" agreed Granny.
"And you know there is a strong desire for a native ruler? The Sons of
Sunshine are behind it. They will never permit you to land without a
fight. And you wouldn't be able to hold your throne," he grinned,
"without bloodshed, I know!" And he told Tessie more about her
kingdom--disagreeable things. By the time he finished Tessie was almost
in tears.
"I am prepared to offer you two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for
your rights in the Sunshine Islands," he said at last.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars!" Tessie was on her feet and
staring at him indignantly.
"The lawyer said they were worth a million pounds!" Granny said sharply.
Granny had learned to bargain in the old days, and some lessons are
never forgotten.
"A million pounds!" Mr. Pracht repeated. "That sounds like King Pete. He
was not the man to put a low valuation on anything that belonged to him.
But a million pounds! That is ridiculous! Two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars is far more than they are worth, but I want Miss Gilfooly to be
comfortable and have some luxuries. I want her to have an income that
will let her live anywhere!" His face wore the kindliest, the most
benevolent of expressions as he turned it to Tessie.
Tessie did not like his benevolent expression any more than she had
liked his admiring smile. The something in the back of her head which
connected a fat, white-headed, big-nosed, freckled man with an
unpleasant experience bothered her. She wished she could remember what
it was.
"Are you the special representative my Uncle Pete said was to come for
me?" she asked suddenly.
"Special representative!" he repeated, and there was a vague uncertainty
in his voice which told Tessie at once that he knew even less of the
special representative than she did.
Granny was still considering the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
She sniffed at them.
"I never trust a man who pays more than a thing is worth," she
contemptuously told Mr. Pracht. "There's always a nigger in the
woodpile. Are you buying these islands for yourself?" she asked
pleasantly, "or for the twenty-three children? Tessie would want to know
who would look after the people if she should sell the islands."
"I sure would!" Tessie looked gratefully at Granny. Trust Granny to ask
leading questions.
Mr. Pracht hesitated before he spoke in a most confidential manner, as
if only to Granny and Tessie would he admit the truth. "I represent a
syndicate which plans to develop the natural resources of the islands.
The syndicate has no use for the title, so that Miss Gilfooly can remain
a queen in name. And I can assure her that the people will be well
looked after. I might possibly," he frowned and spoke more slowly, "be
able to offer two hundred and seventy-five thousand!" He looked at
Tessie as if he had made a wonderful offer, one that she could not
afford to refuse. Surely when she heard that sum she would jump up and
exclaim: "Yes, thank you. You may have my kingdom for two hundred and
seventy-five thousand dollars!"
"Couldn't you make it three hundred thousand?" asked Granny, quite as if
she were selling rags to the junk man and not bargaining with a
syndicate for a kingdom.
He looked at her. "I should hate to say positively, but if that is the
price Miss Gilfooly will accept, I might--yes!" He took a sudden
determination. "I will assume the responsibility and offer you three
hundred thousand dollars. It's a big price! The syndicate will lose
money, but----"
"Bosh!" exclaimed Granny, and she rose to her feet and stood beside
Tessie. "Bosh! Syndicates don't lose money! I don't know how Queen
Teresa feels, but if I were in her shoes, I'd tell your syndicate to go
to Jericho before I would sell an inch of my islands. That's what I'd
do!" And she snapped her fingers in his face.
"Madam!" He jumped back indignantly. He turned to Tessie. After all the
Sunshine Islands belonged to Tessie, not to her belligerent
grandmother.
"Of course I shan't sell my islands!" declared Tessie, flushed and
indignant, that he should really think she would. "I wouldn't sell them
for a million! I have a duty to the people! It wouldn't be right to sell
them!"
An ugly look crept into Mr. Pracht's blue eyes. "You can refuse if you
wish," he said, and there was an ugly note in his voice, far different
from his former suave, smooth manner. "I can only remind you again that
the natives have sworn that they will never have another white ruler.
And you will find that they will stop at nothing. They have several
disagreeable customs in regard to those they consider usurpers. Boiling
them in shark oil is perhaps the simplest!" He bowed triumphantly and
walked toward the door.
"Is that so," remarked Granny coldly. "And may I ask you if you were at
the Evergreen banquet for the queen the other evening?"
"Banquet?" he swung around and looked at her. There was an odd
expression in his eyes.
"Yes, there was an unexpected guest who made things very disagreeable
for a minute. You sound as if you might have been him."
He shook his head. "I have no time for social gatherings," he said
coldly. "But Miss Gilfooly had better consider my offer. As I said, the
natives will stop at nothing."
If he expected Tessie to call him back and whimper that she was afraid
of the natives, and couldn't he do something to protect her he was
sadly disappointed. He found himself on the other side of the door
without a word being spoken. As the door closed behind him Tessie turned
to her grandmother.
"Granny," she wailed, "did you hear what he said?" She caught Granny's
hand and held it tight.
"Sure, I heard what he said!" Granny put a protecting arm around her.
"But I doubt if there is enough shark oil in the United States to boil
anybody, my lamb. Don't you fret. Your Granny will take care of you!"
"I'm not fretting!" But she clung to Granny's hand. "And I'm glad he
isn't one of my people! I wouldn't trust him! I don't like him!"
"I don't trust him, either. I bet he knows more about what happened at
the Evergreen banquet than we do. You'll see. We'll know all about it
some day. Did you take a good look at him, Tessie?"
Tessie nodded tearfully. "Fat and white, like a nasty worm," she gulped.
Granny added a feature to Tessie's sketch. "And a big nose! You remember
it was a man with white hair and a big nose that stole the record of
your ma's and pa's wedding. Don't you forget that, Tessie Gilfooly! That
man tried to make us think he was honest, coming here and offering to
buy your islands. But he ain't honest. You can tell that as soon as you
look at him. There's something queer in this business, Tessie! I don't
understand it, but you look out for that man. He's got a bad eye. Dear,
dear, I wish Joe Cary was still boarding with us! I trusted Joe Cary!"
Tessie moved away impatiently, and then came back to kiss Granny's
cheek. "Don't you fret, Granny," she said in her turn. "What could that
Pracht man do to me?"
"He could kidnap you and turn you over to those cannibals!" Granny
tremulously told her of one thing that Pracht could do. "And you heard
how they treat rulers they don't like? I declare, Tessie, I wish your
Uncle Pete had left those islands to an orphan asylum instead of to you!
It ain't going to be all pleasure being a queen!"