SPENDING THE PRIZE MONEY
"Hoo--hoo!" called a gay voice, and Tod and Dotty turned to see Dolly
Fayre flying toward them. She was alone and out of breath from running,
but laughing gaily as she joined them.
"I ran away from Tad," she cried. "He went to get some candy, and just
for fun, I scooted off. And somebody had said you came this way, Dot, so
I followed just for fun. Why, what's the matter?"
Dolly looked in amazement at the group of angry men and at the
half-frightened, half-indignant faces of Dotty and Tod.
"Matter enough," Tod said; "you keep out of it, Dolly. In fact, you
girls go back to the hotel and leave me to fix things up with these
men." Then he suddenly remembered his desire for an amicable settlement,
and he said pleasantly, "I guess we can come to terms after the ladies
have gone."
"I guess we can't!" said the black-browed man, in a surly tone. "You go
back to the hotel, young man, and get that ten dollars, and I'll keep
the young ladies here safe until you come back."
"Not much I won't!" cried Tod angrily. "Run on back, girls. Go on--beat
it!"
"No, you don't!" and the big man stepped forward and laid his hand on
Dotty's shoulder.
"Take your hand off that lady! Don't you dare to touch her," and Tod's
eyes blazed as he flung himself toward the big man.
"What is it all about? What is the matter?" exclaimed Dolly, who
couldn't understand what she had supposed was a good-natured chat with
the fishermen.
"They want us to pay ten dollars," said Dotty, indignantly, "and unless
we do, they're going to lock us up."
"Lock us up nothing!" shouted Tod, who was unable to decide himself what
was the best thing to do. The arrival of Dolly had complicated his
dilemma, for now he had two girls to protect instead of one. He wished
Tad had come with her, for the twins were big and brawny for their years
and could have made a fair showing of rebellion against the injustice of
the fishermen.
Dolly considered the matter gravely. She looked from Dotty and Tod to
the rude, unkempt men, and after a few moments' thought she made up her
mind. Deliberately she opened a little chatelaine bag that hung at her
belt and took from it a ten dollar gold piece. It was her share of the
cake prize, for Mr. Rose had changed the twenty dollar gold piece into
two tens for the girls.
She looked at the big man with scorn, and holding out the gold piece,
she said in cool, haughty tones, "Here is your money; please do not
detain my friends any longer."
"Don't you do it, Dolly," cried Tod; "it's an outrage!"
"I know it's an outrage," Dolly said, calmly, "but I prefer to pay the
money rather than parley with these people."
Dolly's air of superiority would have been funny, had not all concerned
been so deeply in earnest.
"Hoity-Toity!" said the big, ugly man, "you're a fine young miss, you
are! You treat us like the dirt under your feet, do you? Well, if so
be's you pay our claim, we ain't objectin' to your manner. Be as high
and mighty as you like, but give us that there coin."
Without a further word, Dolly dropped the gold piece into the man's
grimy, outstretched hand, and the three turned and walked away back to
civilisation.
"I'm up and down sorry that I couldn't get you out of that mess better,"
said Tod, as they went along the boardwalk. "Of course, I'll pay you
back the money, Dolly, only I felt mighty cheap to have you advance it.
But I had only three or four dollars with me, not expecting a hold-up
this morning."
"I don't think you ought to have paid it, Doll," said Dotty.
"'Tisn't a question of ought to," said Tod, seriously. "That's a rough,
bad gang. I've heard of them before. I don't know what's the matter with
them, but they're grouchy. All the other fishermen around here are
fairly good-natured, but this lot is noted for ugly temper and they
especially dislike and resent the summer people. I forgot all this, and
of course Dotty didn't know it. But I didn't think, and when they
supposed the baby was alive, I went ahead with the game without
realising it meant trouble."
"Well, it's all right now," said Dolly, "and I was glad enough to give
up my ten to ransom you two captives. Of course you won't pay it back to
me, Tod, but you can each pay me a third of it and that'll square us all
up."
"We'll each pay half," said Dotty, "there's no reason you should pay
anything, Doll. You weren't in on this game. And here's another thing,
I'm going to buy a new doll for that little girl. You see it's the same
as if I stole hers."
"Not at all," said Tod. "She had lost her doll, anyhow. She must have
left it there on the bench, and if we hadn't picked it up, somebody
would have stolen it sooner or later."
"We can't be sure of that," said Dotty. "And anyway I took her doll, and
I lost it for her, and it's up to me to get her another. And that's all
there is about that. I've got my gold piece with me, too, and I'm going
straight down to the shop and get the doll now."
Dotty was determined, and so the three went to the shop. There was only
one place in Surfwood where toys and fancy goods were sold. But this
shop was stocked with a high grade of goods and Dotty had no trouble in
finding a doll nearly like the one which was now doubtless afloat on the
wide ocean. The doll cost five dollars, but Dotty persisted in buying
it, as she declared her conscience would never be easy unless she did.
"Now let's settle this thing up," said Tod, as they emerged from the
store. "I find I have as much as five dollars with me, counting chicken
feed, and I'll pay this to you, Dolly, as my half of the ransom you put
up."
"And here's my five," said Dotty, handing over the bill she had received
in change for the doll.
Dolly looked dismayed. "Why, good gracious, Dot, then here am I with ten
dollars, and you with nothing of our prize money! I won't stand that for
a minute, you take this five back, and then we'll be even all round. I
rather guess if you get in a scrape like that, I've got a right to help
you out."
"Well, I rather guess," said Tod, "that when we tell our folks about
this matter there'll be something doing. I think those men ought to be
shown up and punished."
"Oh, no," said Dolly. "They're an awful gang. I've heard Father say so,
and I'm sure it's better to let them alone than to stir up any further
trouble."
And as it turned out the elders concerned in the matter shared Dolly's
opinion.
The story was told and Mr. Fayre and Mr. Brown talked over the matter
and said they would take it in charge and the children need think no
more about it, but they were directed to keep away from that locality in
the future and confine their escapades to such portions of the beach
and the boardwalk as were inhabited by civilised crowds.
Money matters were straightened out in a way acceptable to all
concerned, by the simple method of the two fathers' remuneration of all
that had been paid out, and so Dolly, Dotty and Tod found themselves
possessed of the same finances they had before the unfortunate episode
occurred.
"Dat not my dolly," declared the Chrysanthemum-headed baby, shaking her
yellow curls as Dotty offered her the new doll.
"I know it," Dotty said, smiling as she knelt beside the child; "but let
me tell you. I found your dolly sitting all alone on a bench, and I was
going to bring her home to you. And then,--well, and then, do you know
that dolly went out to sea, way out to sea--and I think she's going to
Europe as fast as she can get there. And so, I've brought you this other
dolly, which is just as pretty."
Goldenhead looked up into the smiling black eyes, and after a moment's
hesitation agreed that the new dolly was just as pretty as the departed
one, and graciously accepted it.
Goldenhead's mother demurred at the whole transaction, but Mrs. Fayre
insisted that the child accept the new dolly and so the matter was
settled.
"Tell me everything all about it!" cried Pauline Clifton, rushing to
meet the two D's on the hotel veranda. "Wasn't it thrilling? Such an
experience! My, I wish I had been with you! And Tod Brown was perfectly
fine, a real hero!"
"Didn't do a thing," growled Tod, and Tad who was beside him, said,
"Wish I'd been there! then we could have sent the girls flying home and
stood up to those toughs!"
"Aren't you splendid!" cried Pauline, but Dolly said, in her practical
way, "It wouldn't have been splendid at all, it would have been very
foolish for you two boys to think of fighting that crowd of great ugly
men! It was a case, where the only thing to do, was to submit to their
demand and come away. My father says we did just right."
"Of course, it was the only thing to do," said Tod, "but to me it seemed
awful galling."
"Well, we'll never go there again," said Dotty; "and it ought to be a
lesson to us not to play jokes on people."
"A lesson that _you'll_ never learn," said Dolly, laughing; "you'll have
to have worse experiences than that, Dotty Rose, before you stop playing
jokes on people."
"Is that so?" cried Carroll Clifton; "then you're a girl after my own
heart. I love to play jokes. Let's put our heads together and work up a
good one on somebody."
"Well, this joke isn't on us, anyway," said Dotty, laughing. "We have
our ten dollars back again, Dolly, and I say we spend them before we get
a chance to lose them again."
"But we're going to spend those for something special. You know they are
our cake prizes."
"Oho!" cried Carroll, "did you girls take a prize at a cake walk?"
"Not a cake walk, but we took a prize for making cake," Dotty exclaimed;
"and I say, Dolly, let's buy something in that shop where we bought the
doll. They have beautiful things there of all sorts."
"Come on," said Pauline, "let's all go, and we'll help you pick out
things."
So the two Cliftons and the two Browns and the two D's all started for
the shop. It was that sort of summer resort bazaar that holds all kinds
of fancy knick-knacks for frivolous purchasers.
"Going to get things alike or different?" asked Tod Brown, as they went
in.
"Different, of course," said Tad, "Dot and Dolly never like things
alike."
"Don't you really?" said Pauline; "how funny! I thought you were such
great friends you always had everything just alike."
"No," said Dolly, "we have everything just different. You see our tastes
are just about opposite, I expect that's why we're such friends."
Dotty and Carroll were already studying the things at the jewellery
counter, while Dolly was slowly but surely making toward the book
department.
"Get a picture," suggested Tad, "here are some good water colours of the
sea."
"And here's a coloured photograph of that very fishing place where you
were at," said Pauline.
All sorts of ridiculous suggestions were made, and the boys offered
jumping-jacks and comical toys to the two spenders.
"Why don't you get a lot of little things, instead of one big thing?"
said Pauline; "here are some darling slipper buckles, and I think these
little flower vases are lovely."
"No," said Dotty, decidedly, "we're each going to get one thing and
spend the whole ten dollars for it. And it must be something that we can
keep and use."
"I've made up my mind," said Dolly, calmly; "I'm just looking around for
fun, but I know perfectly well what I'm going to get. Do you, Dotty?"
"Yes, of course. I decided before I was in the store a minute."
"What?" chorused the others.
"This is mine," and Dotty went back to the jewellery counter and pointed
out a silver-gilt vanity-case.
"Well, of all ridiculous things!" cried Tod; "you might as well have let
the fishermen keep your money!"
"'Tisn't ridiculous at all!" Dotty retorted. "Mother told me I could get
exactly what I wanted, and I want this dreadfully. I've wanted one for a
long time. Don't you think it's pretty, Pauline?"
"Yes," returned Pauline, carelessly. "I have two of them, one real gold
and one silver. But I hardly ever carry them."
"Oh, well, you can have whatever you want," said Dotty, good-naturedly;
"but this is a treat to me, and I think it's lovely, though of course
not grand like yours."
So Dotty bought the vanity-case, and then the crowd followed Dolly to
see what might be her choice.
Straight to the bookshelves she went, and pointed to a set of fairy
stories. They were half a dozen or more volumes bound in various colours
and the set was ten dollars.
"I've been just crazy for these books," she said, with a sigh of
satisfaction. "I would have had them for my birthday, only we had our
rooms fixed up; and the minute I spotted them I knew I should buy them."
"What a foolishness!" exclaimed Carroll; "how can you read fairy tales?"
"She loves them," said Dotty; "she'd rather read a fairy story than go
to a party, any day."
Dolly laughed and dimpled, but stuck to her decision and soon the crowd
left the shop, carrying the important purchases with them.
Back at the hotel, they were exhibited, and Mrs. Fayre and Trudy smiled
a little at the selection, but said they were glad that the girls had
bought what they wanted.