When Tessie came out of the big building which housed the offices of
Marvin, Phelps Stokes and told Johnny to run into the Bon Bon Box for
some chocolates, she saw a big blue limousine draw up to the curb beside
her. She recognized the car at once. She had driven in it too many times
not to know that it was the Kingley car. When the chauffeur jumped out
and came toward her, she did not recognize him, and she thought
carelessly that Mrs. Kingley had done what she had threatened to do,
hired a Japanese chauffeur.
"They look so smart," Mrs. Kingley had said. "And they are so clever."
"And so unreliable," Mr. Kingley had added, and he had insisted that
when all the American men were employed, it would be time enough to hire
a Jap.
But Mrs. Kingley had evidently had her way, and Tessie smiled as the
chauffeur stopped beside her, bowed humbly, and asked her if she would
please come to the car. Tessie turned at once. She naturally thought
that Ethel Kingley, or possibly Mrs. Kingley--young Mr. Bill's
mother--wanted to speak to her. And although she knew that it is not the
thing to order a queen to come here or go there, still the Kingleys
were more than queens to her, and with a thumping heart she went to the
car. She even entered it without a question, all aglow with curiosity to
hear what Ethel Kingley or Mrs. Kingley--the lordly Mr. Bill's
mother--had to say to her.
Before she really realized that there was no one in the car, the
chauffeur had sent the machine leaping forward. It rounded a corner on
two wheels, and if the traffic policeman had not been engaged in a warm
argument with two men in small cars, each of whom wanted the right of
way at the same time, it would never have gone any further, for it was
breaking the traffic laws with every revolution of its red wheels.
Tessie could have pounded on the glass which separated her from the
chauffeur, but it never occurred to her to do that. She thought she had
misunderstood the chauffeur and that Ethel Kingley or Mrs. Kingley had
asked her to come to the Kingley residence. She was sorry she had not
had time to tell Johnny where she was going, but Johnny would take the
box of chocolates home and would tell Granny that she had gone to the
Kingleys, so that Granny would not worry. If Ka-kee-ta had returned, he
would make a fuss because she had the Tear of God. She felt for it in
its safety bag around her slim waist. But if Ka-kee-ta wanted to go with
her, he should not take all day for a little errand which should have
required only half an hour.
She wondered if Ka-kee-ta had returned. Perhaps she should stop at the
Waloo and inquire. She leaned forward to speak to the chauffeur. She
never could remember to use the silken tube which hung at the side of
the car. But the limousine swerved to the left and dashed down a mean
little street, which was not on the way to the Kingleys' big
plaster-and-timbered mansion. She knew it wasn't. She had never gone
that way before. Why--Why----
Tessie did pound on the glass then, but the chauffeur never turned his
head. He just swung the car around another corner, and down another
narrow street, and stopped before a brick house. He jumped out and
opened the door and motioned to Tessie to step out. But Tessie never
moved a muscle. She sat on the broad gray seat of the limousine, as if
she never would step out.
"Suppose you take me home now," she said coldly and calmly, although
inwardly she was anything but calm and cold. "I know Mrs. Kingley isn't
here. And Miss Kingley isn't here, either. You've made a mistake. Take
me to the Waloo Hotel at once!"
She spoke like a queen, as if she were accustomed to issuing orders and
to being obeyed, and not at all like the frightened little girl she
really felt. She told herself that it was ridiculous to feel
frightened. Nothing could happen to her! Not on the street in Waloo in
broad daylight!
It made her feel safer to see a group of small boys playing ball on the
vacant lot next to the red brick house. One of the boys failed to catch
the ball, and it rolled almost under the car.
"Take me home!" ordered Tessie, in her most royal manner.
But the chauffeur only showed his teeth. They made a white streak in his
yellow face as he motioned toward the door of the red brick house.
"Ka-kee-ta," he said very slowly and distinctly. "You want Ka-kee-ta?"
"Ka-kee-ta!" That was a very different pair of shoes. So Miss Kingley,
or perhaps it was Mrs. Kingley, had found Ka-kee-ta--although what he
was doing away down here, miles from the Waloo, Tessie could not
imagine--and had sent the chauffeur to take her to him. How kind! How
very kind of the Kingleys. She jumped up, eager questions tumbling from
her lips. "Why is he here? Why didn't he come home? Is he hurt?" For she
was sure that nothing but an injury would keep Ka-kee-ta away from her
and from the Tear of God. She was glad she had the Tear of God in the
safety bag around her waist. She could show Ka-kee-ta that it was safe.
Her face whitened as she thought that Ka-kee-ta might be, must be, badly
injured. But still she hesitated to go to him. She stood on the running
board of the car and looked up and down the narrow little street.
"Ka-kee-ta, he want you!" exclaimed the chauffeur, and he would have
taken her arm to help her, but she pushed him away. She had taken a
dislike to him, she did not know why, but she did not want him to touch
her, although it was kind of him to bring her to Ka-kee-ta.
She glanced at the red brick house. Was that Ka-kee-ta's frizzled head
at an upper window? It looked like it. So he was not badly injured, or
he would not be at the window. She drew a long breath of relief. She
would go and see what was the matter with him, and if it was nothing
serious, she would give him a good big piece of her mind for worrying
her. Of course, a queen would have to look after her bodyguard even if
her bodyguard had been disobedient and careless. Indeed she would tell
Ka-kee-ta what she thought of him.
She stepped forward hurriedly, and in her eagerness to tell Ka-kee-ta
how disobedient he had been, she dropped her little beaded bag. It fell
from the big embroidered pocket of her Canton crepe frock and rolled
under the car, but Tessie never knew it. The chauffeur, who was close at
her side, never knew it, either.
The door of the red brick house opened before Tessie could ring the
bell, and she went in. The chauffeur waited until the door closed behind
her, and then ran back to his car. He jumped in and drove rapidly away.
The small boy in search of his ball had to wait a minute, until the car
had dashed away. And then he saw the beaded bag lying in the street
beside the curb and beside the ball.
"Crickey!" he exclaimed, holding it up for the other boys to see. "Look
what I found!"
There was no one in the hall as the outside door closed behind Tessie.
She stood still for a second, feeling very small and neglected. Since
she became a queen, she had been met at front doors with more or less
ceremony, and it puzzled her that no one met her now. There was a door
at her right. She walked toward it. She could not remember at just which
window she had caught that glimpse of a frizzled head. Perhaps Ka-kee-ta
was in the room at the right. But when she opened the door, she did not
see Ka-kee-ta. She saw Frederic Pracht.
He stepped forward. "Welcome!" he said pleasantly. "Welcome, Your
Majesty!"
"Why--why--" stammered Tessie, so surprised she could do nothing but
stammer. She sent a hurried glance around the room, but she could not
see a trace of her bodyguard. "I thought Ka-kee-ta was here," she
managed to say after she had swallowed twice, and impatiently tossed her
head to free the frightened lump in her throat.
Mr. Pracht laughed softly, unpleasantly. "This is the Waloo headquarters
of the Sons of Sunshine," he explained gently, and as if she should
know that Ka-kee-ta would never be found at the headquarters of that
revolutionary organization.
"The Sons of Sunshine," repeated Tessie faintly. The bright color left
her face, her bones suddenly felt starchless and limp, but she looked
bravely at Mr. Pracht. She remembered that Granny had told her that the
Gilfoolys were never afraid. She must not let Mr. Pracht think that a
Gilfooly could be afraid, but she half closed her eyes and wished with
all of her heart that Joe Cary were with her--or Mr. Bill! If only Mr.
Bill were there, she would not mind the unpleasant little smile with
which Mr. Pracht was regarding her. She would not mind anything!
"Yes. I am sure that you are going to be a most amiable and obliging
queen, and grant the Sons of Sunshine what they ask," Mr. Pracht said,
and his voice was far more pleasant than his smile. It was too pleasant,
so very pleasant that if Tessie had been any one but a valiant Gilfooly,
she would have fainted immediately. "If you refuse," went on the
unpleasantly pleasant voice, "you will have to remain here until you see
how reasonable their demands are. A strange people, Your Majesty--a
strange people! And they have strange customs in their far-away islands.
I think I told you of some of them?" And he looked at her and shook his
thatched tow-head.
Tessie straightened herself proudly. She would not let him see how
frightened she was. She would die first.
"You told me of one," she said as scornfully as she could, when she had
no starch at all left in her bones. "Something about boiling the kings
they don't like in shark oil." And she managed a contemptuous toss of
her head, as if she did not believe a word of Mr. Pracht's story.
"Yes," he agreed cheerfully. "That is one of their little customs. But I
am sure that they will not have to resort to it soon again. You cannot
blame them for wanting a native ruler. You really have no claim on them.
Just because your uncle was an unscrupulous man, and influenced the old
king to disinherit his sons, is no reason why the people should have to
accept another white ruler when they don't want one." He would have gone
on to tell Tessie other things about the islands and the rebels, but she
interrupted him.
"What do you want of me?" she asked bluntly.
"I told you. Your rights to the Sunshine Islands," he told her as
bluntly.
But Tessie, soft, little, frightened Tessie, felt the hot blood of the
Gilfoolys rush through her. It seemed to put the starch back in her
bones so that she could stand boldly before this hateful, smiling man.
Her islands! The very idea! Words Joe Cary had said rushed through her
mind. It was funny that she should remember what Joe had said about
responsibilities and duties now. But Joe was right. She did have
responsibilities and duties. So instead of telling Mr. Pracht exactly
what she thought of him, she swallowed the hot words which rushed to her
lips, tossed her head, and looked at him questioningly. She must meet
craft with craft.
"How do I know that you are what you say?" she asked doubtfully. "You
tell me that you represent the Sons of Sunshine, and that the Sons of
Sunshine want a native ruler, but I have only your word for it. You must
have some credentials or something. I can't dispose of my rights to the
islands my Uncle Pete left me and turn the people over to just any one.
That wouldn't be right! Joe Cary--" And suddenly she remembered
something else Joe Cary had told her. She stared at Mr. Pracht with big
astonished eyes. "Joe Cary told me once that there was some country that
would like to get possession of my islands so it would have a base, I
think he said, nearer the United States. He said the Japanese would give
their eyeteeth to get control of the Sunshine Islands. I remember all
about it now. How do I know you aren't acting for the Japanese, instead
of for the Sons of Sunshine?" she asked shrilly.
He jumped, and all the muscles of his face seemed to tighten as he
stared at her. "Japanese!" he repeated sharply.
"Yes. And it was a Jap who drove the car that brought me here,"
remembered Tessie, putting two and two together. "I would never sell my
islands to the Japanese!" she declared firmly. "Never! I don't trust
them! And it wouldn't be patriotic! Joe said it wouldn't! And the
Baileys, who lived next to us before I was a queen, were from
California, and they told me things about the Japanese. If you are
working for them, you can tell them I would never think of selling my
islands to them!" And she turned away as if to let him know that her
decision was made and the interview was over.
Out on the steps, a small boy with a beaded bag in his hand was ringing
the doorbell. It sent a loud peal through the house.
"Some one is at your front door," Tessie told Mr. Pracht, who stood
biting his nails, and frowning at her as though he had not heard the
bell.
"Let it ring," he muttered staring at her. Suddenly he shrugged his
shoulders. He had decided on his course of action. "You want Ka-kee-ta?"
he said curtly. "Come upstairs."
"I thought you said he wasn't here," she exclaimed. "That surprised me,
for I was sure I saw him at the window."
"Come upstairs," repeated Mr. Pracht. "Ka-kee-ta needs you."
Of course, if one of her people needed her, there was nothing for a
queen to do but follow Mr. Pracht up the stairs and down the hall.
Outside the front door, a small boy stuffed a beaded bag in his pocket
and ran down the steps and up the street.
Mr. Pracht threw open the door of a room at the end of the hall, and
stood aside for Tessie to enter. She hesitated for the room was dark. It
seemed to have no light but from the open door, and she could see
nothing in it but shadows.
"Ka-kee-ta?" she called from the threshold. "Ka-kee-ta, are you there?"
She was almost sure that Ka-kee-ta was not there, but before she could
say so, she was pushed over the threshold and into the darkened room.
The door slammed behind her.
"You will stay there until you agree to give up your rights to the
Sunshine Islands!" Mr. Pracht called through the door. "Your rights to
the islands and the Tear of God! And the sooner you agree the better.
Sharks have sharp teeth, you know!"