THORNTON'S "MASH."
Tom Thornton was alone in his room when there came a knock on the door.
"Come in," called Tom, without turning his head or taking his feet down
from the table on which they were resting.
As he had been out late the night before, he was not in a very agreeable
mood. He had sent for his tailor some time before, and he supposed it
was the tailor who had knocked and entered at his command.
"Well, here you are at last!" Tom growled. "I've waited long enough for
you, too! You are slower that molasses in midwinter! I suppose you want
to know what ails me now. Well, I'll tell you. That last pair of
trousers you made me are too short in the waist and too full around the
bottoms--that's what's the matter. I'd be mobbed if I should show myself
in them. Now, don't tell me they are all right! I'll just try them on
right before you, and let you see---- Great Jupiter! What have I been
saying!"
He had turned his head, and he saw a vision that electrified him and
brought his feet down from the table with a thump.
Just within the room a very pretty girl was standing, and she was
staring at him in a half-frightened, half-amused manner.
"I--I--I beg your pup-pup-pardon!" stammered Thornton, jumping up,
confused and flustered. "I didn't know! I--I thought it was my tailor!"
"And you nearly frightened the senses out of me by growling at me in
that way," giggled the girl. "Why, I thought you were a great horrid
bear, and you were going to eat me."
"If I were a bear, I couldn't ask for a daintier meal," said Tom,
gallantly.
"Oh, my!" laughed the girl. "What a difference!"
"I am bound to even matters if possible."
"That's it? Then you did not really mean what you just said, after all?"
The smile vanished from her face, and she seemed a bit offended.
"Oh, yes I did--I vow I did!" exclaimed Tom, hastening to repair the
"break." "You see I am all broken up by the surprise. I--I didn't think
of seeing a young lady here--alone."
"I suppose not. I am looking for my cousin, Mr. Griswold."
"Griswold? Griswold? Why, I have heard of him. Yes, he is a soph. You'll
find him over in South Middle. This is Welch Hall."
"Oh, dear! Then I was misdirected. I was told I'd find him here
somewhere. I beg your pardon, sir."
"Oh, don't mention it, Miss--er--Miss----"
"Darling. My name is Grace Darling, and I have come down to spend a week
in New Haven. You see I am from the country."
"I should say so!" thought Thornton; "and as fresh as they make 'em! But
she is pretty--yes, she is a genuine stunner! A sort of wild flower. She
is so innocent and unsophisticated!"
"I presumed you were not familiar with Yale, or you would not be in the
dormitories without a chaperon," said Thornton, aloud. "It is all right,
though," he hastened to declare, as she seemed to shrink back. "I will
escort you over to South Middle, and help you find your cousin. My name
is Thornton--Thomas Thornton."
"You are very good, Mr. Thornton, but I think I can find Danny all
right. I will not put you to the trouble."
"Oh, it will be no trouble--not the least in the world, I assure you."
"Still I don't know what Danny would think. Even though your company
would be very pleasant, I dare not accept it without a proper
introduction, Mr.--Mr. Thornton."
This was said in the most coquettish manner possible, and Tom Thornton
felt his heart beating proudly.
"I've struck her all right!" he told himself. "I mustn't let it slip.
I'll improve the opportunity."
So he talked to her in his most fascinating manner, and was bold enough
to express a hope that he might see her again, to which she replied that
he "might." And when she left Tom was in a state of delighted
satisfaction, thoroughly pleased with himself.
Thornton was inclined to boast of his conquests, and it was not long
before he had told several of his friends about the "corking pretty
girl" who had wandered into his room.
"And I caught her without a struggle," he declared repeatedly. "Country
girl and rather unsophisticated; but a regular rustic rose--no, a
regular daisy. Cousin of some fellow over in South Middle. Her name?
Never mind. I am not giving things away. She is going to stay down a
week, and gave me her promise that I should see her again. But she
intends to be strictly proper, although she does not know much of city
ways, for she declared that I must be properly introduced to her before
she would make an appointment with me. Oh, it's dead easy when you know
how!"
Tad Horner was Thornton's roommate. "Grace Darling" had chosen an
occasion when Tad was not in, and thus had found Tom alone.
Tom boasted of his conquest to Tad, who grinned and tried to chaff him
about his charming country girl.
"Did she have hayseed in her hair?" asked Tad.
"It's not that kind of a lady, Horner. They'll all be envious of me. She
is a stunning blonde, and her innocent country ways make her all the
more attractive. She has such eyes--and such teeth! Her lips are very
inviting, my dear boy. It's just the sort of a mouth a fellow longs to
kiss. And if I do not sip nectar from those ruby lips before she returns
to her country home, I'll be dead slow."
"Wow!" whooped Tad. "Sip nectar! That beats! Thornton, this rural maiden
has knocked you silly!"
"Wait till you see her, and you will not wonder, my boy."
"I'll go something you do not see her again."
"Oh, but I have her promise!"
"Ah, she was giving you a jolly!"
"You'll see!" cried Tom, piqued. "Just wait a while."
Two days passed, and Thornton began to think he would not hear anything
from his "mash." Then came an invitation to spend an evening at Winnie
Lee's, and Winnie hinted that among her guests there was to be a young
lady from the country who wished to apologize for intruding upon Mr.
Thornton in his room.
"It's Grace Darling!" thought Tom, exultantly. "She will be introduced
to me! And she must be of fine people to be accepted as a guest at Miss
Lee's, for the Lees belong to the _élite_ of the town. Oh, Gracie is all
right, if she is from the country!"
On the evening of the party Tom arrayed himself in his finest, used
perfumery liberally--too liberally--on his handkerchief and his clothes,
and set out with a light heart for Miss Lee's.
As old readers know, Winnie Lee and Frank Merriwell were very friendly.
As Winnie was of a lively disposition and enjoyed a joke thoroughly, it
was not difficult for Frank to induce her to aid him in carrying out his
plan.
Winnie was all the more ready to do so because she disliked Tom
Thornton, who had made himself offensive by having declared that he
could "catch" her without a struggle if he so desired, but she was not
his style.
This had been repeated to Winnie, and she had treated Thornton with the
utmost disdain since hearing it; but Frank had urged her to consent to
invite Tom to the party that the joke might be carried out, and she
finally had consented.
For a moment Thornton wondered when he received the invitation, and then
he decided that "Grace Darling" must have induced Miss Lee to offer it.
Tom little dreamed of the surprising events that were to take place
before the evening was passed.