THE first use to which the great handsome room with its beamed ceiling,
great chimney, deep fire-place, and handsome solid furnishings was put
was social, however, rather than educational. On Sunday, Meadowcroft
showed Betty the draught of an invitation he was preparing to send out
to the Appletons and to the members of the fourth-year class of the
Paulding High School.
“Mr. Humphrey Meadowcroft requests the honor of your company at
20, West Main Street, South Paulding, on Saturday, April 17th, at
half-past three o’clock. At four, Mr. Thomas Finnemore, assisted by
Miss Pogany, will give an exhibition of magic and Miss Harrow will
play selections on the pianoforte. Supper will be served at half-past
six and carriages to take the guests home will be at the door at
half-past eight.
R.S.V.P.”
“Can you suggest any changes?” he asked gravely.
Overjoyed as she was with the thought of the happiness in store for
Rose and Tommy, on a sudden a sense of her own unworthiness swept over
Betty Pogany.
“I wish you would put me down as Bouncing Bet,” she said almost
fiercely.
“I am sorry to disappoint you, but it wouldn’t be true. It would be an
out-and-out whopper,” he asseverated.
She looked rather pleadingly into his eyes.
“I’ll tell you why I’d like to have it so,” she said seriously. “It
would be like wearing mourning. If you do that, people know you have
lost friends. I’d like always to go by the name of Bouncing Bet, so
that everyone would understand----”
[Illustration: The famous trick of making an omelet in a gentleman’s
silk hat was heartily applauded]
“You would like to be branded? An outward and visible sign?” he
rejoined. “I know what you mean, Betty, and no doubt many of us would
like now and again to don actual sack-cloth. But I can’t allow you to
speak nor to feel that way. The past is past and you have promised
to try to forget it. And now, unless you agree to forgive yourself
absolutely and unconditionally, I shall countermand this order and call
off the party. That would be hard on Tommy, for he’s quite mad over his
part of the program, one trick in particular, which consists of making
an omelet in a silk hat--my silk hat, mind you--being worth a day’s
journey in itself. And it would be hard on me, for I got a special
dispensation from Tommy’s father allowing him to practise magic for a
fortnight. And it would be hard on Rose because she has her pieces at
her fingers’ ends and happens to have a new gown into the bargain.”
* * * * *
Betty had a new gown, too, a gift from her father. It was a charming
gown, as pretty as had ever been seen in South Paulding, and so
becoming that George Pogany was not the only one who thought the girl
rarely lovely on the night of the party. Mr. Meadowcroft had gone to
Betty’s and Tommy’s fathers and to Rose’s mother and explained the
circumstances that had caused so much trouble. No other could have
done it so sympathetically and in such a manner as to touch even Mr.
Finnemore. Pogany warmed more than ever to Betty, and Tommy’s father
not only removed the ban temporarily upon his son’s favorite diversion,
but planned to make it permanent after the party, and to give the boy
his railroad fares again the next term towards the purchase of supplies.
Some of the guests at the party declared that Tommy Finnemore should
have had a new suit, for he was a perfect sight. Perhaps he was.
Certainly his trousers and jacket sleeves had been much too short at
Christmas, and he had grown nearly three inches since. But Tommy never
thought of his clothes, though he looked with great admiration upon his
assistant and was very careful of her gown. The boy was in his element,
perfectly happy during the progress of the performance, and also for
weeks afterwards in dwelling upon it--in speech when he could get a
friendly ear, otherwise in dreams. Out of nine tricks, four worked
perfectly, two of them being the second and third best of the nine; and
the other five were so interesting to watch that the majority of the
spectators didn’t know and the rest didn’t care that they did not come
out exactly as they should have done.
The famous trick of making an omelet in a gentleman’s silk hat
was heartily applauded. A successful magician mixes the eggs with
a flourish and presently brings out, not an omelet but a garland
of flowers. The flash of red fire which was supposed to cook the
ingredients was a great surprise, and Tommy drew forth a handsome
wreath of flowers with an impressive gesture. Traces of the egg, which
should have disappeared, being transformed into flowers, were, however,
visible, and Mr. Meadowcroft’s hat was considerably damaged. He
declared that he didn’t care, as he disliked to wear it, and presented
it to Tommy for future use. And Tommy’s last waking thought that night
was that when summer should come and restore to him the opportunity
to practise magic, he would devote all his leisure and all the eggs
he could collect to perfecting this most alluring example of the
conjurer’s art.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.
Chapter numbers have been corrected to be consecutive numbers.