THE GOODY-GOODY YOUNG MAN
"Philip Holt has come, Madge," announced Phyllis Alden a few days later.
"He is staying at one of the hotels until Mrs. Curtis and Tom arrive to
open their cottage. He has already been calling on a number of Mrs.
Curtis's friends here. Now he has condescended to come to see us. Miss
Jenny Ann says we must invite him to luncheon; so close that book, if you
please, and come help us to entertain him. I am sure you will be _so_
pleased to see him."
Madge frowned, but closed her book obediently. "What a bore, Phil! I was
just reading this fascinating book on pearl-fishing. A few valuable
pearls have been found in these waters. There was one which was sold to a
princess for twenty-five hundred dollars. Who knows but the 'Merry Maid'
may even now be reposing on a bank of pearls! Dear me, here is that
tiresome Mr. Holt! Of course, we must be nice with him on Mrs. Curtis's
account. I hope she and Tom will soon come along. Let us take Mr. Holt
with us to the golf club this afternoon. We promised Ethel Swann to come
and she won't mind our bringing him."
The girls were not altogether surprised that the young people whom they
had lately met at Cape May were divided into two sets. The one had taken
the girls under their protection and seemed to like them immensely. The
other, headed by Mabel Farrar and Roy Dennis, treated them with cool
contempt. But the girls felt able to take care of themselves. Not one of
them even inquired what story Mr. Dennis and Miss Farrar had told about
their memorable meeting on the water.
The Cape May golf course stretches over miles of beautiful downs and the
clubhouse is the gathering place for society at this summer resort.
Ethel Swann bore off Lillian and Eleanor to introduce them to some of her
friends, and the three girls followed the course of two of the players
over the links.
Philip Holt was plainly impressed by the smartly-dressed women and girls
whom he saw about him. He was a tall, thin young man with sandy hair and
he wore spectacles. He insisted that Madge and Phyllis should not forget
to introduce him as the friend of Mrs. Curtis, who expected him to be her
guest later on. Indeed, Philip Holt talked so constantly and so
intimately of Mrs. Curtis that Madge had to stifle a little pang of
jealousy. She had supposed, when she was in New York City, that Mrs.
Curtis, who was very generous, only took a friendly interest in Philip
Holt and his work among the New York poor, but to-day Philip Holt gave
her to understand that Mrs. Curtis was as kind to him as though he were a
member of her family. And Madge wondered wickedly to herself whether Tom
Curtis would be pleased to have him for a brother. She determined to
interview Tom on the subject as soon as he should return from Chicago.
Later in the afternoon Madge and Phyllis were surprised to see Roy Dennis
and Mabel Farrar come down the golf clubhouse steps and walk across the
lawn toward them, smiling with apparent friendliness. Madge's resentful
expression softened. She did not bear malice, and she felt that she had
said more to Roy Dennis about his treatment of them than she should have
done. She, therefore, bowed pleasantly. Phil followed suit. To their
amazement they were greeted with a frozen stare by the newcomers, who
walked to where the two girls were standing without paying the least
attention to the latter. Madge's color rose to the very roots of her
hair. Phil's black eyes flashed, but she kept them steadily fixed on the
girl and man.
"How do you do, Mr. Holt?" asked Mabel in bland tones, addressing the
girls' companion. "I believe I am right in calling you Mr. Holt. I have
heard that you were a friend of Mrs. Curtis and her son. This is my
friend, Roy Dennis. We are so pleased to meet any of dear Mrs. Curtis's
_real_ friends. We should like to have you take tea with us."
Philip Holt looked perplexed. He opened his mouth to introduce Madge and
Phyllis to Miss Farrar, but the girls' expressions told the story.
Miss Farrar and Mr. Dennis had purposely excluded the two girls from the
conversation.
For the fraction of a second Philip Holt wavered. Mabel Farrar was
smartly dressed. Roy Dennis looked the rich, idle society man that he
was. Moneyed friends were always the most useful in Mr. Holt's opinion,
he therefore turned to Miss Farrar with, "I shall be only too pleased to
accompany you."
"You'll excuse me," he turned condescendingly to Madge and Phil, "but
Mrs. Curtis's friends wish me to have tea with them."
Madge smiled at the young man with such frank amusement that he was
embarrassed. "Oh, yes, we will excuse you," she said lightly. "Please
don't give another thought to us. Miss Alden and I wish you to consult
your own pleasure. I am sure that you will find it in drinking tea!" She
turned away, the picture of calm indifference, although she had a wicked
twinkle in her eye.
"Well, if that wasn't the rudest behavior all around that I ever saw in
my life!" burst out Phil indignantly after the disagreeable trio had
departed. "Mrs. Curtis or no Mrs. Curtis, I don't think we should be
expected to speak to that ill-bred Mr. Holt again. The idea of his
marching off with that girl and man after the way they treated us! I
shall tell Mrs. Curtis just how he behaved as soon as I see her, then she
won't think him so delightful."
Madge put her arm inside Phil's. "You had better not mention it to Mrs.
Curtis, Phil. Mrs. Curtis is the dearest person in the world, but she is
so lovely and so rich that she is used always to having her own way. She
thinks that we girls are prejudiced against this Mr. Holt because he said
the things he did about Tania. By the way, I wonder what the little witch
has against him? I mean to ask her some day. But let's not trouble about
Philip Holt any more. He is just a toady. I don't care what he says or
does. We have done our duty by him for this afternoon at least. He won't
join us again. Let's go over to that lovely hill and have a good,
old-fashioned talk."
Phil's face cleared. After all, she and Madge could get along much,
better without troublesome outsiders.
"Isn't it a wonderful afternoon, Phil?" asked the little captain after
they had climbed the little hill and were seated on a grassy knoll. "We
can see the ocean over there! Wouldn't you like to be swimming down there
under the water, where it is so cool and lovely and there would be
nothing to trouble one?"
"What a water-baby you are," smiled Phil, giving her chum's arm a soft
pressure. "I sometimes think that you must have come out of a sea-shell.
I suppose you are thinking of the old pearl diver again."
"Phil," demanded Madge abruptly, "have you ever thought of what
profession you would have liked to follow if you had been born a boy
instead of a girl?"
"I do not have to think to answer that," replied Phyllis, "I know. If I
were a boy, I should study to become a physician, like my father; but
even though I am a girl, I am going to study medicine just the same. As
soon as we get through college I shall begin my course."
"Phil," Madge's voice sounded unusually serious, "don't set your heart
too much, dear, on my going to college with you in the fall. I don't know
it positively, but I think that Uncle is having some business trouble. He
and Aunt have been worried for the past year about some stocks they own.
I shan't feel that I have any right to let them send me to college unless
I can make up my mind that I shall be willing to teach to earn my living
afterward. And I can't teach, Phil, dear. I should never make a
successful teacher," ended Madge with a sigh.
"I can't imagine you as a teacher," smiled Phil, "but I am sure that you
will marry before you are many years older."
"Marry!" protested Madge indignantly. "Why do you think I shall marry?
Why, I was wishing this very minute that I were a man so that I could set
out on a voyage of discovery and sail around the world in a little ship
of my own. Or, think, one might be a pearl-diver, or lead some exciting
life like that. Now, Phil Alden, don't you go and arrange for me just to
marry and keep house and never have a bit of fun or any excitement in my
whole life!"
Phyllis laughed teasingly. "Oh, you will have plenty of excitement, Madge
dear, wherever you are or whatever you do. Don't you remember how Miss
Betsey used to say that she knew something was going to happen whenever
you were about? I suppose you would like to be a captain in the Navy like
your father, so that you could spend all your time on the sea."
"No," returned Madge, "I should want a ship of my own. I wouldn't like to
be a captain in the Navy. There, you always have to do just what you are
told to do, and you know, Phil, that obedience is not my strong point."
The little captain laughed and shook her russet head. "You see, Phil, I
think that if I could go around the world, perhaps in some far-away land
I would find my father waiting for me."
For several minutes the two chums were silent. At last Phil leaned
forward and gave Madge's arm a gentle pinch. "Wake up, dear," she
laughed, "perhaps some day you will own that little ship and go around
the world in it. Just now, however, we had better go on to the houseboat.
I believe Nellie and Lillian are going to wait at the golf club until the
last mail comes in, so they can bring our letters along home with them.
We must say good-bye to that nice Ethel Swann. She is a dear, in spite of
her ill-bred friends."
Phyllis and Madge found Miss Jenny Ann sitting in a steamer chair on the
houseboat deck exchanging fairy stories with Tania. The little girl knew
almost as many as did her chaperon, but Tania's stories were so full of
her own odd fancies that it was hard to tell from what source they had
come.
"Do you know the story of 'The Little Tin Soldier,' Tania?" Miss Jenny
Ann had just asked. "He was the bravest little soldier in the world,
because he bore all kinds of misfortunes and never complained."
With a whirl Tania was out of Miss Jenny Ann's lap and into Madge's arms.
The child was devoted to each member of the houseboat party, but she was
Madge's ardent adorer. She liked to play that she was the little
captain's Fairy Godmother, and that she could grant any wish that Madge
might make.
Phil, Madge and Tania sat down at Miss Jenny Ann's feet to hear more
about "The Brave Little Tin Soldier." Tania huddled close to Madge, her
black head resting against the older girl's curls, as she listened to the
harrowing adventures that befell the Tin Soldier.
The sun was sinking. Away over the water the world seemed rose colored,
but the shadows were deepening on the land. Phil espied Lillian and
Eleanor coming toward the houseboat. Lillian waved a handful of white
envelopes, but Eleanor walked more slowly and did not glance up toward
her friends.
Miss Jenny Ann rose hurriedly. "I must go in to see to our dinner," she
announced. "Phil, after you have spoken to the girls, will you come in to
help me? Madge may stay to look after Tania."
The little captain was absorbed in a quiet twilight dream, and as Tania
was in her lap she did not get up when Phil went forward to meet Lillian
and Eleanor.
Instantly Phil realized that something was the matter with Nellie.
Eleanor's face was white and drawn and there were tears in her gentle,
brown eyes. Lillian also looked worried and sympathetic, but was
evidently trying to appear cheerful.
"What is the matter, Eleanor? Has any one hurt your feelings?" asked Phil
immediately. Eleanor was the youngest of the girls and always the one to
be protected. Phyllis guessed that perhaps some one of the unpleasant
acquaintances of Roy Dennis and Mabel Farrar might have been unkind to
her.
But Eleanor shook her head dumbly.
"Nellie has had some bad news from home," answered Lillian, tenderly
putting her arm about Eleanor. "Perhaps it isn't so bad as she thinks."
Madge overheard Lillian's speech and, lifting Tania from her lap, sprang
to her feet.
"Nellie, darling, what is it? Tell me at once!" she demanded. "If Uncle
and Aunt are ill, we must go to them at once."
"It isn't so bad as that, Madge," answered Eleanor, finding her voice;
"only Mother has written to tell us that Father has lost a great deal of
money. He has had to mortgage dear old 'Forest House,' and if he doesn't
get a lot more money by fall, 'Forest House' will have to be sold."
Nellie broke down. The thought of having to give up her dear old Virginia
home, that had been in their family for five generations, was more than
she could bear.
Madge kissed Eleanor gently. In the face of great difficulties Madge was
not the harum-scarum person she seemed. "Don't worry too much, Nellie,"
she urged. "If Uncle and Aunt are well, then the loss of the money isn't
so dreadful. Somehow, I don't believe we shall have to give up 'Forest
House.' It would be too frightful! Perhaps Uncle will find the money in
time to save it, or we shall get it in some way. I am nearly grown now. I
ought to be able to help. Anyhow, I don't mean to be an expense to Uncle
and Aunt any more after this summer." Madge's face clouded, although she
tried to conceal her dismay. "Do Uncle and Aunt want us to leave the
houseboat and come home at once?"
Phil's and Lillian's faces were as long and as gloomy as their other
chums' at this suggestion.
But Eleanor shook her head firmly. "No; Father says positively that he
does not wish us to leave the houseboat until our holiday is over. It is
not costing us very much and he wishes us to have a good time this
summer, so that we can bear whatever happens next winter."
No one had noticed little Tania while the houseboat girls were talking.
Her eyes were bigger and blacker than ever, and as Madge turned to go
into the cabin she saw that there were tears in them.
"What is it, Tania?" putting her arms about the quaint child.
"Did you say that you didn't have all the money you wanted?" inquired
Tania anxiously. "I didn't know that people like you ever needed money. I
thought that all poor people lived in slums and took in washing like old
Sal."
Madge laughed. "I don't suppose the people in the tenements are as poor
as we are sometimes, Tania, because they don't need so many things. But
don't worry your head about me, little Fairy Godmother. I am sure that
you will bring me good luck."