SALLY GARDNER'S PLAN
What might have happened between those two fiery natures at that
crisis will never be known, because at the moment when Duncan threw
the door ajar, and uttered his dismissal, Jack Gardner appeared
suddenly upon the scene, having just stepped from the elevator. If he
heard that expression of dismissal, he showed no evidence of it, or he
did not comprehend its significance; and, if he saw in the attitude of
the two men anything out of the ordinary, he gave no sign that he did
so. But Jack Gardner, too, was from Montana; and he had learned, long
ago, how to conduct himself in emergencies. It was a fortunate
interruption, all around. Duncan, although apparently calm, was in a
white rage. He would not have hesitated to meet Morton more than
half-way, in any manner by which the latter might choose to show his
resentment for the twisted arm. As it was, Gardner was the savior of
the situation.
"Hello, Duncan! How are you?" he exclaimed, in his usual manner.
"Why, Dick! I didn't expect to find you here; didn't know that you and
Dun were acquainted." He shook hands with both the men, one after the
other, in his accustomed hearty and irresistible manner, grinning at
them and utterly refusing to see that there was restraint in the
manner of either.
"It is my first acquaintance with Mr. Morton," replied Duncan easily,
and touched a lighted match to the cigar he had previously taken from
his case. He was, outwardly, entirely at ease. "He did me the honor to
call upon me, and we have been chatting together for more than half an
hour. Will you sit down, Jack? Mr. Morton, be seated again, won't
you?"
The ranchman looked upon his late antagonist with utter amazement. It
was an exhibition of a kind of self-control that was strange to him.
It angered him, too, because of his own inability to assume it. He was
suddenly ashamed. Patricia's reference to his "training," recurred to
him. He understood, now, exactly what she had meant--it had not been
plain to him before. Here before him was "the man of the East," at
whom he had so often scoffed, for the word "Tenderfoot" had, until
now, been synonymous with contempt. But Morton felt himself to be the
tenderfoot, in the present case. He replied, stiffly, to the
invitation to be seated.
"Thank you," he said. "I find that I am neglecting an engagement." It
was the only excuse he could think of.
"Wait just a minute, Dick, and I'll go along with you," said Gardner.
"I only stepped in a moment to give Duncan a message from my wife. She
says, Roderick, that she would like to have you drop around at the
house, for a moment, if you can make it. She is not going out. Now,
Dick, if you are ready, I'm with you. So long, Duncan; I'll see you
later, at the club."
* * * * *
Just previous to Jack Gardner's interruption of the almost tragic
scene at Duncan's rooms, he had been having what he called "a
heart-to-heart" talk with his wife, and the message he now delivered
to his friend from Sally was, in part, the outcome of that interview.
Sally Gardner had been greatly troubled since the occurrences of
Saturday night. Being herself intensely practical, she had sought
deeply, through her reasoning powers, to find a means whereby she
might be instrumental in helping out of their difficulties her
several friends whom she so dearly loved. She believed that she had
succeeded in hitting upon a scheme which would, at least, bring things
to a focus. She was sure that, if she could bring all the parties
together under one roof, matters would straighten themselves without
much outside assistance. Jack and Sally owned a beautiful country
place, within easy motoring distance of the city, and the young
matron, having decided upon what course she would adopt, had lost no
time in summoning her husband to her, taking him into her confidence,
and convincing him of the wisdom of her project.
"Jack," she told him, when he was seated opposite her, "I don't
suppose you realize into what a terrible mess and muddle you got
things last Saturday night, by reason of your fondness for a joke?"
"Oh, confound it, Sally, drop it!" he exclaimed, smiling, but annoyed
nevertheless.
"No," she said, "we can't drop it, Jack. You're responsible for the
whole affair. I have seen the necessity of finding a way out of it,
for all of us--although my heart bleeds for poor Beatrice."
Jack shrugged his shoulders, and lighted a cigar. Then, he thrust his
feet far out in front of him, and studied the toes of his tan shoes
intently.
"What's the matter with Beatrice?" he asked, presently.
"She is in love with Roderick Duncan," replied his wife, with an
emphatic nod of her blond head.
"Eh? What's that? In love with Rod? Nonsense!"
"She is, Jack; I know she is."
"Gee, little girl, but it surely is a mix up! What are you going to do
about it? Why in blazes didn't she marry him, then, when she had the
chance?"
"I've thought of a way Jack, if you will agree to it, and help me
out--a way by which things can be smoothed over. Will you help me?"
"Yes, I will. What is it?"
"Could you tear yourself away from the city for two or three days,
beginning to-morrow morning?" she asked him.
"I guess so, Sally."
"Are you willing to go out to Cedarcrest for a few days, and entertain
a select party, there?"
"Suit me to death, girl. Glad you thought of it. Whom will you ask?
And what is the game?"
"I have made out a list," replied Sally, meditatively. "I shall read
it off to you, if you will listen."
"Go ahead."
"It includes Beatrice and Patricia, of course; Dick Morton and--"
"Wait a moment, Sally. I've got a sort of a notion in my head that
neither Beatrice nor Patricia, will care to go to Cedarcrest on such
an expedition as that, under the present circumstances."
"My dear John"--she sometimes called him John when she was
particularly in earnest, and when she attempted to be especially
dignified--"you may leave all the details of this arrangement to me. I
merely wished your consent to the plan."
"Oh, well, if you can manage it, Sally, you've got my consent, all
right. What do you want me to do about it? You didn't have to consult
me, you know."
"I want you, first, to listen to the list I have made out, and, after
that, to carry out my directions in regard to it."
"Good girl; I can do that, too."
"Patricia and Beatrice, Roderick Duncan and the Houston girls, Richard
Morton, Nesbit Farnham; and, to supply the other two men who will be
necessary to make up the party, you yourself may make the selection. I
only wish them to be the right sort."
"What's the scheme, Sally?"
"I want to get these warring elements together, under one roof."
"Whew! You've got more pluck than I thought you had, Sally."
"Listen, Jack: When you go out this evening, find Roderick, and send
him here, to me. I have written him not to come here, but that won't
make any difference. He'll come if you give him my message. Afterward,
you may look up Dick Morton, and the other two men you are to ask, and
give them the invitation."
"For when?"
"For to-morrow. Tell them all to be at Cedarcrest before dark,
to-morrow. That is all. As I said before, I'll attend to the details."
Jack Gardner left his chair, and, having kissed his wife, was on the
point of departure when he paused a moment on the threshold, and,
looking back over his shoulder, said, laughingly:
"Sally, I always gave you credit for having more sand than any three
ordinary women I've ever known, but, I'll give you my word, I never
supposed you had grit enough to undertake any such thing as this one.
Talk about me getting things into a mess! Great Scott! if you don't
get into one, out at Cedarcrest, with that sort of a mix-up to take
care of, I'm a sheep-herder. Maybe you haven't got on to the fact, my
girl, but, as sure as you're the best little woman in all New York,
Dick Morton is so dead stuck on Patricia Langdon that he can't forget
it for a minute. If you bring all that bunch together, you'll have Rod
Duncan and Dick at each other's throat, before you get through with
it. And besides--"
Sally sprang to her feet, clapped her hands and laughed, to her
husband's utter amazement.
"Splendid!" she exclaimed. "No, I did not know that; but it simplifies
matters, wonderfully, Jack."
"Oh, does it?"
"Assuredly."
"Huh! I'm glad you think so. It looks to me as if it were just the
other way around. Take my word for it, my girl, there'll be a 'will'
in that drive of yours--maybe a tragedy, as well. Duncan is quite
capable of committing one, in his present mood; and Dick
Morton?--Well, you'll see."
"I'm awfully glad you told me. It's perfectly splendid," said Sally,
unmindful of, or indifferent to, the warning. "It's perfectly
splendid!"
"Oh, it is, eh? Well, I'm glad you think so. To me, it looks a good
deal like a mix-up, Sally. Rod is in love with Patricia; Beatrice is
in love with him; Nesbit Farnham is so dead stuck on Beatrice that he
doesn't know where he's at, more than half the time; and Patricia--Oh,
well, I give it up. I'll do what you told me to, and leave the rest to
you;" and Gardner laughed his way through the hall and out upon the
street; and he continued chuckling to himself, all the way to his
club. But Sally ran after him before he got quite away from her, and
called to him from the bottom of the steps.
"One thing more, Jack," she said.
"Well, my dear; what is it?"
"We will take Beatrice with us, in our car, and you may include one of
the gentlemen I have given you permission to ask. When you ask Dick
Morton, tell him that he is to bring Patricia and the two Houston
girls. That's all."
"How about the others, how are they going to get there?"
"The others may walk, for all I care," said Sally, and she returned to
the library.