NEW QUARTERS AND OLD FRIENDS
They went up in the little box of an elevator, and as they got out,
Bruce jingled his keys invitingly.
"I'll let you open the door--for luck, Judy," he said, holding out a
key. "See if you can guess which door it belongs to."
Judith scanned the doors critically, her brows puckered and her head
aslant.
"We-e-ll," she said, slowly revolving so as to see each hall in turn.
"I'll take the one just ahead there. It hasn't any card on the door
and all the others have."
"Clever child!" commended Bruce. "That escaped my notice. You're
right, of course. Go ahead. Open up."
Judith put the key in its lock, turned it easily and then swung the
door wide, but before the others could catch even a glimpse of the
interior, she gave a little squeaking cry and rushed in, leaving the
door to bang after her.
"Well, of all things!" exclaimed Patricia indignantly. "We're locked
out!"
"We can ring if Bruce has no other key," said Elinor hastily. "She'll
surely let us in."
So, as there was no other key, Patricia put her finger to the bell on
the lintel and kept it there till the knob rattled and the door was
flung open wide. Judith was standing in the middle of the big,
comfortable studio and her face was flushed, but not one word did she
say in explanation of her singular behavior.
Elinor and Patricia were so occupied with the room that she almost
escaped reproof, but Patricia, as she turned from admiring the stairway
that wound up one side of the studio to a nook in the peaked roof
above, caught a very knowing look on her little sister's face which was
meant for Bruce, and she pounced on her immediately.
"What is the matter with you today, Ju?" she asked in an undertone, "I
do wish you'd behave yourself. Bruce will be sorry he asked us if
we're going to act like wild Indians."
Judith's only reply was a giggle.
Bruce and Elinor were inspecting the rooms on the other side of the
studio, and had passed out of sight behind the second doorway.
Patricia forgot her censorship as the spirit of the explorer rose in
her.
"Let's look at these rooms, Ju," she proposed, with a hand on the heavy
curtain at her right.
Judith caught her hand with a cry of dismay.
"It's not fair, till Elinor comes, too!" she protested hotly. "Wait,
they'll be back. I'll call them."
But Patricia, with a laugh, broke from her and lifted the curtain.
"Elinor didn't wait for us," she began gayly, "and I'm not----"
She broke off with her mouth and eyes opened to their widest, for there
in the chair by the cozy grate sat Mrs. Shelly, while Miss Jinny stood
chuckling her husky chuckle and rubbing her elbows nervously with both
hands.
"They've come to stay!" shouted Judith in wild excitement. "They're
going to be here the whole month! Wasn't it lovely of Bruce to get
them, and won't it be _transcendant_, with all of us together!"
Patricia had for once no words, but she fell on Miss Jinny's willing
neck, and to Judith's great wonder and Mrs. Shelly's delight, she
kissed Miss Jinny with great vigor and despatch.
"You _duck_!" she cried, and, although Judith gasped and paled at the
audacious epithet, Miss Jinny merely chuckled and patted her tenderly
and then passed her on to the smiling, pink-cheeked little old lady in
the rocker.
Such a time as they had all together when Elinor and Bruce joined them!
And such a happy circle as they made around the studio fire, as
twilight came on and the shadows crept out from the vast corners of the
big room, and they made plans for the future and compared notes as to
the past months of separation, with the cheerful flicker leaping and
flaring on their ruddy faces, quite as it had in the old house at
Rockham.
"Do you remember how we planned for this year?" said Patricia, her chin
on her hand and her eyes on the leaping flame. "That was at Christmas
time, only three short months ago, and we've all broken our plans
already. David and Judy are the only ones who have stuck to theirs,
and that is mainly because they can't help themselves. Here am I,
studying at the Academy, after vowing I'd not waste money on myself at
all. Elinor is dropping half her studies there and starting on an
entirely new course--Interior Decoration and Stained Glass--under Mr.
Bruce Haydon's personal supervision; and as for Mrs. Shelly and Miss
Jinny--they are so far out of their plans I don't believe they'll ever
get back into them again."
Miss Jinny gave a snort of defiance. "Just you wait till this month is
over, Patricia Louise Kendall," she said belligerently. "I'll be back
in that old rut so tight you won't be able to see where I ran in again.
Not go back to housekeeping with mama, indeed! I'll bet that I put up
as many extra pickles and jams this year as I ever did, and with the
exception of having the library and you people and the Haldens again, I
don't see much change ahead of me, I can tell you!"
Patricia sighed and stretched herself luxuriantly.
"Well, I haven't any complaint to make with the new arrangements," she
said expansively. "Things keep getting deliciouser and deliciouser all
the time. I only wish we didn't have to go back to the boarding house
tonight----"
"Indeed, you're not going to budge a step!" said Miss Jinny
triumphantly. "We planned it all out. You're to stay here and begin
to be at home right off. You can go and pack tomorrow and have your
things sent over as soon as you please."
"But," insisted Elinor, "we haven't anything----"
Again Miss Jinny interrupted. "I got your negligees and all from Mrs.
Hudson this morning," she chuckled. "She knows you won't be back, and
she's just as well pleased, for she's a good chance to rent your rooms
right away, and I told her to go ahead. She'll keep your things till
tomorrow or the next day. Now, come along and choose bunks, though
there isn't much choice, for there is only one big room with three beds
in it. Mama and I are right next to you, you see."
The rooms on the right of the studio, a small one with a double bed in
it for Miss Jinny and her mother, and the enormous room with the three
beds for the girls, were separated by a tiled bath and were quite
remote from the rooms on the other side, where was a corresponding
small room to be used for a sitting-room, and a slightly larger one for
Bruce. Altogether, the arrangement was as satisfactory as could be
wished and everyone was enthusiastic over the many comforts and
conveniences that the place boasted.
"Fortunate that Symons had to hurry off to South America for that
commission, wasn't it?" said Bruce, rubbing his hands before the fire.
"We couldn't have got a snugger place, and just for the length of time
we want it. I told Miss Jinny it would be flying in the face of
Providence for her to refuse to come and occupy it."
Judith had been studying the problem of the rooms, and now put her
question. "But where are we to have our meals?" she ventured. "I
don't see any dining-room."
"They are coming in from Dufranne's and we're going to imbibe them in
that room to the left," replied Bruce with a wave toward the
sitting-room. "When we feel like it, we're going to Dufranne's for
them." He turned to Mrs. Shelly with an air of charming courtesy that
sat well on his strong face. "Are you still in the humor for dining
out, madam?" he asked, in a tone easily heard by her.
Mrs. Shelly nodded, smiled her twinkly smile and rose with alacrity.
"I'll put on my new bonnet," she promised, and trotted off to her room,
smoothing the tails of her basque with eager fingers.
"She's just as happy as a lark," said Miss Jinny to the others. "I was
so scared for fear she'd hate town life, but, lands alive, she takes to
it like a duck to water. I shouldn't wonder if it did her a lot of
good. She's been uncommonly quiet recently, and I believe she's been
missing you girls."
Mrs. Shelly in her new bonnet with a gay little pansy on it, Miss Jinny
in another bran new hat, made quite a festive appearance, and the great
humor of them both and their sincere pleasure in being so important a
part in the little home group gave an added zest to the evening's
merry-making.
"Ju hasn't let go of Mrs. Shelly's hand since we left the restaurant,"
said Patricia apart to Elinor, as they were taking off their wraps in
the studio again. "Poor little kid, she certainly does worship that
dear little old lady."
"How she'd have adored mother, if she had only lived," said Elinor
softly. "Mother was so lovely. I always feel that you two have been
cheated out of so much--not even to have a dim memory of her."
Patricia's face grew wistful. "She went away when I was so little,"
she murmured absently. "Sometimes I do fancy that I can recall how she
looked as she kissed me good-bye in the big station, but it must be
only fancy--one doesn't remember much at two years old. I can see just
how Judy looked though, when they brought her home after mother died,
and I was only three and a half then."
"What are you two conspirators hatching up over there in the corner?"
called Bruce from the fireside. "We're making out our schedule, and
you don't know what you're missing!"
Settled in their places--they already had their own selected places in
the ingle nook--with Mrs. Shelly rocking contentedly in the center of
the half circle and Bruce smoking in the deep armchair, they grew
enthusiastic again over the delightful prospect of the month that Bruce
outlined for them.
"Judy, of course, will go to school," he said, blowing a little smoke
ring at her. "Miss Pat will go to the sculpturing as usual, but may
have a hand in any game here that she is able to hold up. You'll learn
a heap, Paddy Malone, if you keep those ears of yours open, for
Grantly, the fellow who is doing the bas-reliefs for the State Capitol
building, will be about occasionally, and he's a cracker-jack in his
line."
"See here," interrupted Miss Jinny, cocking her eyes severely at Bruce.
"I'm not going to have Patricia hobnobbing with those _Bohemians_!"
Bruce roared with laughter. "My dear Dragon!" he cried, "don't you be
afraid of your precious charges. Grantly hasn't any time to waste on
young 'uns like Miss Pat. He's _working_, I tell you, and he doesn't
like young ladies, anyway. Her only chance would be to overhear him
spouting to me, which if she's discreet she may occasionally be able to
do."
"Oh, indeed!" said Miss Jinny subsiding. "Well, that's another matter.
I don't object to that."
"Hope not," retorted Bruce amiably. "Now as to Elinor." He stopped
for so many rings that Judith stirred and cleared her throat
impatiently, whereon he grinned cheerfully at her and went on. "As to
Elinor. She will keep on with the night life, but the rest of her time
will be spent in the studio here, working on studies and cartoons for a
big wall decoration for a church, and a stained glass window for the
same church--a purely mythical one, my dear Dragon, but intended to
develop our promising student more rapidly than the easygoing method of
the schools. What do you say to the program, young ladies?"
Patricia smiled at Elinor's fervid response and Judith's calm approval,
but she uttered never a word, though Bruce looked at her inquiringly.
"Well?" he said at last. "What's the verdict?"
"I think it is simply great," replied Patricia with a ripple of mirth.
"I honestly do, Bruce. I'm going to have a gorgeous time, and I'm
awfully grateful to you for it."
"Well?" he repeated. "That's not all you're thinking, Miss Pat.
You're simpering at some hidden invention of your own, and you know it.
Out with it or we'll put the X-rays on it."
Patricia flung a look at Miss Jinny. "Really and truly I haven't any
secret to confess, Bruce. I was only thinking how very nice it was for
us, Judy and me, that we had such a genius for a sister."
Miss Jinny's eyes twinkled, but Bruce flushed and flicked his cigar ash
into the fire with a dexterous finger.
"What has that to do with your meek and lowly gratitude?" he asked with
the trace of a smile.
"It has everything to do with all of us," responded Patricia promptly.
"We're just the tail of the comet, you know."
Bruce opened his eyes and sat up, piercing Patricia with a keen gaze.
Evidently he found no reserve behind her words, for he broke into a
laugh and shook his head at her.
"I'm in a regular nest of female detectives," he retaliated gayly.
"Between you and Judy I shan't have a single secret left at the end of
the month. I'll have to watch myself like thunder, Miss Jinny, or
they'll make a miserable hen-pecked man of me!"
Miss Jinny grunted amiably at him, and then rose. "I guess you know
what you're about, Bruce Haydon. Don't look to me to protect you,
though, for I'm a mighty active _feminist_, and I can't waste any of my
valuable time taking care of such a common critter as a man." With a
nod to the girls, she beckoned her mother.
"Time for bed, mama dear," she said clearly. "I've got your ginger tea
ready for you, and I guess it's the last you'll want this year." In a
lower tone she explained to the others: "Just brewed it to make her
feel more at home, you know. She doesn't need it in this fiery furnace
of a place."
Mrs. Shelly, with a kindly good-night to Bruce, trotted after them,
fumbling with her watch pocket.
"I declare, if it isn't half-past ten!" she exclaimed, as she snapped
the blue enameled lid of her little watch. "My little girl ought to
have been in bed an hour ago."
Judith twined her arms about her and kissed her fondly.
"It doesn't matter just for tonight, does it, Mama Shelly?" she asked
with pretty deference. "There are going to be such a lot of nights to
go to bed early in."
Mrs. Shelly nodded briskly. "And I'll come sit with you while you're
getting ready," she promised, patting Judith's hand. "We can have some
good talks together then, and I'll remember more stories for you, too."
Much to Judith's delight she kissed them all around, and then she
hustled off after Miss Jinny, leaving them to themselves in the big,
comfortable room.
Patricia flung herself on the fur rug that lay before the empty
fireplace.
"I don't feel as if I'd ever want to go to sleep," she said
rapturously. "It seems like a glorious dream that we're going to live
in this romantic place a whole month. Bruce is a perfect duck to fix
it up so we can all be together. I shan't study much here, I feel that
in my bones, but I'll have a gorgeous time. How do you feel about it,
Judy?"
Judith sat with one stocking in her hand, dreaming, and she awoke with
a start.
"I'm going to _write_!" she declared, dramatically waving the stocking
about. "This is truly inspiring!"
Patricia gave a short laugh. "Did it ever occur to you that our little
Judy might make a fair actress, Norn?" she asked, deftly catching the
bare foot that supported Judith and bringing her down on the rug beside
her. "Her passion for the limelight grows, I notice, and recent events
have not tended to make her unmindful of her merits."
"Oh, stop teasing, Miss Pat," cried Judith, wriggling free. "I
wouldn't be an actress if you'd hire me. I'm going to be a writer, and
now I'm going to bed. Good-night," and she made a flying leap into her
pillows and covered herself to the eyes. "Don't say another word to me
tonight," she warned, "or I'll call Miss Jinny. I'm going to sleep."
Patricia yawned and rose. "I guess I'll follow her virtuous example.
I'm really getting awfully drowsy, now it's so quiet," she confessed.
Elinor was already half asleep when Patricia suddenly sat up with a
mirthful gurgle.
"What fun it'll be to tell the gang at the Academy," she crowed.
"Won't Griffin rejoice and won't Doris Leighton wish she'd been good!
Margaret Howes will have a chance to meet Bruce, too. It'll be a
perfect lark all around!"
Elinor sighed in deep content.
"Maybe Bruce will let Margaret work with me sometimes," she murmured
joyfully. "I know he's going to like Griffin tremendously; she's just
the sort to fit in with us all. Miss Jinny's crazy over her. I don't
believe we'll see poor Doris Leighton again. Griffin told me she was
leaving."
Patricia cuddled down in the pillows again, with a chuckle.
"Miss Jinny told me that Mr. Spicer had asked us all to tea at the
Science and Arts Club," she said. "The Haldens are coming in for
Easter and all the other holidays, and we're going to simply revel in
delightful doings right here in the studio. It's a dream of goodly
revelry, Norn, isn't it?" "It means more than that to me," replied
Elinor. "It means work--glorious, big, beautiful work----"
"Do you know," interrupted Patricia, suddenly alert again, "I don't
believe I'll ever amount to a row of pins as an artist? I always
forget the work and think only of the _people_ and the fun. I wonder
if I can't brace up and do something worth while. I'll start in
tomorrow--see if I don't."