For the first time in the history of my ancient and honorable family, a
female Talbot was seeking remunerative employment. Terrible as I knew
this act to be I was unalterably resolved upon it, and was keeping my
secret from my dear sister only until armed with actual employment, for
I was but too well aware of what her attitude would be, and determined
to waste no time in disputing a theoretical situation, but once
strengthened by actually being engaged in some capacity I would face her
wrath. Besides, were she to learn prematurely of my plan, she was quite
capable of attempting to lock me in my chamber as a preventive measure.
But though so long recreant in my decision to take what after mature
consideration I deemed the right and proper course, it was not for
nothing that my parents, despairing of ever being blessed with a son,
had bestowed upon me the family name of Freedom. There had always been a
male Freedom Talbot, and his tradition had ever justified his name; and
at length I was determined to live up to it.
My desperate decision had, of course, a pecuniary basis. We were poor;
there is no denying it. Our parents had left us the house and an income
of seven hundred a year, which for two maidens who would presumably
marry was not insufficient in the day of our inheritance. But no mate
ever having chosen either of us, or been chosen by either of us, and the
cost of living having risen so inexplicably, our situation had gradually
become greatly altered. Euphemia steadily opposed the idea of any
remunerative work, no matter how genteel, and so far I had unwillingly
submitted, the more readily because we were utterly without training or
equipment. But when in a single week the tax on the house was increased
simultaneously with the price of butter, my resolve took shape, and my
perusal of the advertising sheets began.
On this fateful evening the "Wanted" column at first appeared to be more
than usually devoid of possibilities. There were the usual "Perfect
36-38" for Jewish concerns that apparently manufactured clothing.
Shopgirls were needed, and houseworkers, but I could not bring myself to
either of these occupations except as a last resort. Typists were also
desired, and bookkeepers; but I feared my lack of practical education
would count against me. A traveling saleslady was wanted, and a book
agent; and as I was pondering the possibilities set forth by these my
eye fell upon the fateful notice which led to all my strange adventures.
It was printed rather larger than its fellows, and set forth an
extraordinary request.
WANTED: An indigent old lady of impeccable social standing, to act
as chaperon to a common young girl who is motherless. Must be
dowdy, incompetent, financially embarrassed, snobbish, and never
employed before. No pretenders will be considered. Excellent salary
and a chance to see the world. Apply Apartment --, Plaza Hotel,
between five and seven P.M.
Conceive, if you can, the astonishment with which I perused this
advertisement. Had I inserted it myself, stating the sort of position
for which I was best fitted, I could in all candor have stated my case
and situation no better. Indeed I was obliged to reread the notice
several times before feeling able to credit my own senses. Then I tore
the corner containing it from the paper, hastily concealed it in my
reticule, refolded the remaining sheets in such a fashion as to conceal
the damage done, and laid it, as was our custom, upon the files under
the china closet.
Then with quickly beating heart I got the porcelain tub and suds, spread
the oilcloth upon the side table and completed my daily task of washing
and putting away the tea china with fingers which trembled so that they
were scarcely equal to the task.
Then, when Galadia, who refused to dwell with us continuously, had been
sent home to her parents, and Euphemia had settled herself to her
crochet work in the drawing-room I stole upstairs, upon the pretext of a
slight headache, and in the privacy of my chamber again perused that
amazing scrap of paper.
Could it by chance be the expression of some dull person's humor? Was it
possibly a snare of some kind? But no, the last seemed improbable
inasmuch as the requirements were a direct negation of anything which
would appear desirable to the kidnapper or any such vicious character.
Moreover, the address given inspired a degree of confidence, because,
though I was under the impression that all expensive and fashionable
hotels must be--well, not suitable for the conservative female element
of our dear city to frequent, still there could be no real danger
incident to a visit to them by a person like myself, who sought no evil.
Considering this point I looked at my dear father's watch, which I
always carried--Euphemia very properly having pre-empted mother's--and
discovered that the hour was but six.
Then my resolution took firm hold upon me, and without more ado I got
out my bonnet and pinned it on with resolute fingers, found my best silk
gloves, and taking my dolman and reticule crept softly down the stairs,
excitement high within my breast.
At the door of the once-elegant, now shabby reception room I paused to
peek at Euphemia's unconscious back which was just visible, very stiff
and correct, in the lonely drawing-room beyond. Fortunately she did not
hear me, and having thus, as it were, silently saluted her, and feeling
uncommonly like an errant daughter about to consummate an elopement, I
shut the front door behind me with care and stepped forth into the
roseate late afternoon sunlight and my desperate adventure.
I find it difficult indeed to express the mixture of trepidation and
elation which possessed me upon this occasion. The very streets,
familiar since childhood, took on a strange aspect, and the walk to the
hotel was magically shortened by my excitement, though on its threshold
I hesitated and might have turned back at the last moment had it not
been for the inquiring gaze of the large uniformed colored person who
stood at the doorway. Fearful that he would address me if I delayed
longer I gathered courage anew and entered through a most alarming
revolving door.
I had never been in this hotel before, and neither had any of the ladies
of my acquaintance, with the exception of Annie Tresdale, whose cousin
from Chicago stayed there overnight and had Annie to luncheon; and she,
I was aware, had felt the most severe criticism of the place owing to
the fact that a female had smoked a cigarette in the dining room. I
afterward ascertained that it was Annie's cousin who had done this, and
so, of course, we never discussed the subject further. But I will
confess the place bore no aspect of viciousness beyond a good many
electric fixtures, and the young man at the desk was exceedingly polite
and helpful, considering the number of persons who were simultaneously
trying to engage his attention.
"Apartment B? Oh, yes; for Mr. Pegg!" said he in reply to my query.
"There is one lady up there already! Boy! Show madam up to Mr. Pegg!"
And at this a youth appareled as a page took me in charge and led me to
what I at once perceived to be an elevator. At the door I balked.
"I prefer to walk if there are stairs," said I.
The page looked as if he thought I had gone suddenly mad.
"It's six flights!" he said. And so I, realizing that the building was
indeed a tall one, followed him into the trap, in which were several
other persons, who appeared to me to be uncannily nonchalant.
Maintaining as dignified an exterior as I could I concealed my alarm at
what was a wholly novel experience to me, and was presently disgorged,
quite unharmed, upon what the page assured me was the seventh story. He
then preceded me down an interminable blue-carpeted hallway and paused
before a door upon which he tapped.
After a moment it was opened by a manservant of extremely respectable
appearance.
"Mr. Pegg?" I inquired.
"From the advertisement, madam?" said the servant.
"Yes," I replied with dignity.
"Is that all?" said the page.
"That is all, thank you, little boy," I replied, at which the child
departed with an air of disappointment.
And then the manservant ushered me into a magnificent anteroom done in
gold paneling and mauve velvet upholstery, most beautiful and in the
best of taste. I subsequently ascertained that I was in the royal suite
of the hotel, and that it occupied the entire floor.
"Will you be seated, please?" said the servant, handing me to a golden
armchair. I dropped his arm, which I had taken upon entering, as is the
custom in my circle where a butler is still maintained. "Mr. Pegg is
interviewing another applicant in the drawing-room, but I believe he
will shortly be at liberty." And with that he left me.
I took a tentative perch on the very edge of my magnificent seat,
clasping my reticule firmly and feeling as though I had suddenly
discovered myself in the midst of a dream which refused the
half-conscious mind the acknowledgment of unreality. It was
extraordinary, really, and I wondered who and what the unseen applicant
might be, and if the position might not already be filled. I almost
hoped it was, so overpowering was the room in which I sat, and yet it
was patent that the advertiser must truly be a person of means and that
the emolument would be considerable--certainly not less than four or
five hundred a year--and I trembled at the thought that perhaps fortune
had already dedicated this to another.
But before many moments had passed the door into the adjoining room was
opened and two persons entered--a man and a woman--the later
unquestionably my predecessor.
She was a vulgar overdressed person much younger than myself, and at the
moment her attractions were not enhanced by a fit of anger. Her language
was wholly unintelligible to me.
"Of course I thought you was a motion-picture bird!" she snapped, "and
character parts is my middle name. Me a governess? My Lord--not for a
gift!"
"Don't trouble yourself; nobody'll try and force it on you," said the
man. "Good day, ma'am!"
And he opened the outer door for her impudent departure. Upon closing it
after her he caught sight of me and stared. I confess I returned the
favor quite involuntarily, for Mr. Pegg was certainly the most
extraordinary man I had ever seen. He was about six feet four inches in
height, and so heavy that at first his tallness was hardly remarkable.
He was perhaps sixty years of age, though magnificently preserved, and
his ruddy clean-shaven face had a jaw which my dear father would have
described as "iron." His expensive clothing was worn with a negligent
air, and his voice was like the roar of a lion.
"Jumping--er--grasshoppers!" he exclaimed, his eyes riveted upon me.
"Are you made up for the part?"
At once I rose to my feet in proper indignation.
"I never paint!" I exclaimed angrily. "My color is natural, though
perhaps unusual at my age. If it is your intention to get gentlewomen
here merely to insult them, Mr. Pegg, I have no further occasion for
remaining!"
To my surprise Mr. Pegg merely chuckled at this, and then assuming a
more composed manner held open the door to the inner room, making a deep
and courteous bow as he did so.
"My dear madam--a thousand pardons!" he said. "You seemed too real to be
anything genuine. Please walk in."
And so, wondering if perhaps the poor man was insane, and far from
feeling at ease, I complied, entering an enormous drawing-room and
accepting the seat on the far side of an incongruously littered
table--filled with papers, notes, and so on, and all the paraphernalia
of a business man's desk. Mr. Pegg took the armchair behind it and
settled to a critical inspection of me, though he did not look at me
continuously. I faced the sunset, but as my face was clean, and as at my
age I had got past attempting concealment of my crow's feet, I was quite
composed--outwardly. Yet I could feel that his glance rested upon my
hat, my hair, my silk gloves, my walkrite boots, even--though they were
discreetly covered by my dress. And all at once my terror of him
diminished. It would be difficult to say just why, but very possibly it
was the tone of his voice when he spoke again, for though his diction
was shockingly incorrect there was a certain kindliness, a gentleness to
it which was unmistakably genuine.
"You ain't a Winthrop by any chance, are you, madam?" he asked.
"No my name is Talbot," said I.
And then as he appeared a trifle disappointed I elaborated, for his
ignorance was patent. "My ancestors came over a generation before
Winthrop," I said gently, for, of course, I would not like that family
to hear that I had in any way classified them as _nouveaux_.
"Ah!" said Mr. Pegg, brightening again. "That's fine! That's fine, Madam
Talbot--a real aristocrat!"
"I am Miss Talbot," I again corrected him.
"Well," said he doubtfully, "of course, that's not quite as desirable as
a widow would be, is it now? To take care of my daughter, I mean. Still,
in some ways an old maid is better. More particular, you'd be. And
what's more, you are born blue-blooded, not just married to it!"
"Mr. Pegg," said I, "will you not set forth the exact nature of the
occupation you propose for me?"
"That's it!" he cried, thumping the table. "That's the stuff exactly.
"I beg pardon?" said I.
"Talk like that!" he shouted. "And learn her to talk the same--give her
some class!"
"You expect me to teach your daughter grammar?"
"Teach her everything!" said the giant. "Polish her up; finish her
off--but not by instructin' her. My Lord, no! She'd never stand for it!
Just stick round--be with her--let a little Boston rub off on her, and
set her right when she makes a break."
"A sort of governess?" I ventured.
"Companion, chaperon--you get me!" said her parent, and leaned back in
his chair beaming satisfaction. "Now look-a-here, Miss Talbot, I'll put
the matter straight to you. I am a rich man, but I'm a roughneck and I
know it. There is a few things I ain't been able to buy for myself, and
refinement is one of them. But I calculate to pry off a little for my
Peaches--no culls on this family tree if a little pruning and grafting
can turn it into a perfect Seedless Apperson. Does that mean anything to
you?"
I reflected a moment, and though the man's actual terminology was
unintelligible to me the sense of his imagery was somehow perfectly
clear.
"You speak of her as a young tree!" said I. "I think I do understand.
'Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined.'"
This plainly interested him.
"True!" he exclaimed. "Just that. Well, as I was saying, I've just
cleaned up the biggest deal the California fruit growers ever heard
of--and I started out as a picker with a bunch of Hindus, getting four
cents a lug for oranges! To-day I've got--well, it don't matter how many
millions; and a daughter that's never been let off the home ranch until
three weeks ago. Her mother died when she come. Well--never mind that
either! And now I've made my haul and I've got a little time to give
her--and to living generally. I'm a practical man, Miss Talbot. When I
commence grafting a new orchard of Golden Americans on a twenty-acre
stretch of old wild stock I cut, splice and bind it right, and I don't
hurry myself until I get the grafts I want and the proper season and
everything. And the same with the culture of my American Beauty. I've
left her grow strong and wild for twenty years now, and she's about
ready for cultivation. And I feel you are the right one for the job.
You are hired!"
"But my dear Mr. Pegg!" I protested. "You really are not in the least
informed as to my qualifications."
"You don't imagine that a feller that's been picking men for thirty
years--Dagos, Greasers, Japs, Hindus, everything that could strip fruit
or thought they could--needs much wising up about a mere female woman,
do you?" he demanded. "I advertised for exactly what I wanted, and you
are it! You are hired."
"But, Mr. Pegg----" I vainly endeavored to interrupt.
"Your salary will be five thousand dollars a year, your keep and all
expenses," he went on as if I had not spoken. "You will commence work
to-morrow morning at nine o'clock and the next day we sail for Italy and
a course in how to be refined though American."
I assure you that my senses staggered beneath the force of his
announcement. Five thousand dollars a year! Italy! Incredible! Like a
dream come true.
"My Eastern bank is the Guarantee," said he. "Look me up if you like. I
have the money and a honest name. Nobody in the world's got a thing on
me. And as the notice is kind of short, and you might like a little
advance to buy some knitting or something to take with you, here is a
hundred to bind the bargain. And now good night, Miss Talbot--I got the
Eastern Apple Growers coming in ten minutes. See you to-morrow at nine!
Good night, good night!"
And almost immediately I found myself edged into the anteroom, where
already several persons--fruit venders, I presume--were in waiting.
"But, Mr. Pegg," I managed to ejaculate, "your daughter may not like me.
Am I not to meet her before I leave?"
"I should say not!" exclaimed her father. "She doesn't know anything
about this. I am leaving the breaking of the whole idea to you! Good
night!"
With these alarming words the door shut behind me; and presently, I
scarcely knew how, I found myself once more upon the solid reality of
the Boston street, with only the hundred-dollar bill as evidence that
the whole experience had been other than a dream.