WHO IS WHO IN A MEDLEY.
"What a moving sea of faces!" exclaimed Miss Crew.
"Yes, quite a few, and look as if they required laundrying--bodies,
bones, and all."
"Here, Garfield, though you are 'very old' as you say, you had better
take my hand," said Miss Crew, nervously, as Mr. Buckingham set him down
on the wharf.
"Oh, no, he must go with his father," cried Mrs. Dale.
"Oh, I reckon a New York boy can elbow his way through that mean crowd."
And darting through the mass of people, causing the collapse of not a
few tournures, and with the aid of one of his mother's bonnet pins
giving many a woman cause to scream as she unconsciously cleared his
path by getting out of his way, he is on the outskirts of the crowd.
"Say, hackman, drive me off right smart to the Queen's!"
"Is it all square, young gent?"
"Yes; dimes sure as Vanderbilt money."
"Oh, I mean you are but a kid to go it alone."
"Chestnuts!"
And taking another hack, "Pooh, Bah!" quieting his scruples by pocketing
a double insult they are off.
"I feel sure Garfield is quite safe, Ella, and probably choosing a cab
for us; here, take my arm dear, and don't be nervous, Buckingham is
looking after Miss Crew."
But he is on ahead making inquiries.
"Yes, sir, the young gent is all right, if you take my hack we'll catch
him, I lost him by being too careful like."
"Your boy is all right, Mrs. Dale, if you jump in quick we'll overtake
him; allow me, Miss Crew."
"Thank heaven," said his mother fervently, "tell the man to go as quick
as he can through this crowd; there he is, the young scamp, waving to
us, there, on ahead, a pair of light greys."
"And here we are, and your boy of the period waiting to welcome us."
"Welcome to the Queen City," he said, pulling off his skull cap.
"You frightened your mother, my boy; see that you don't repeat this;
remember she is nervous."
"Glad I ain't a woman, they are all nerves and bustles; here, give us a
kiss, mamma, I only wanted to show you I aint a baby."
"There! there! that will do, my bonnet! my bangs! such a bustle as I've
been in about you, I wish you were in long clothes."
"Then I'd have to wear a bustle too!"
"Ella you look tired, we had best let them show us our rooms at once;
Buckingham, we shall have some dinner together, I hope."
"Yes, I shall meet you here, and go in with you."
"This is pleasant, rooms _en suite_, and you beside us, Miss Crew," said
Mrs. Dale.
And now, while they refresh themselves by bath and toilette, a word of
them: Mr. Dale, like his friend Buckingham, has reached fifty, is grey,
also wearing short side whiskers and moustache. He is a man of sterling
worth of character, honest as the day; a man whose word was never
doubted, who, having seen much of life, was apt to be a trifle cynical;
but withal, so generous that his criticisms on men and things are more
on the surface than even he imagines. A good friend, a kind husband to
the pretty, penniless girl, Ella Swift, whom he had married in New York
eleven years ago, and though unlike in character, there is so much love
between them that their wedded happiness flows on with never a rift in
the rill; and though she does not look into life and its many vexed
questions with his depth of thought, still, in other ways her brain is
quite as active--a kindly, social astronomer, she loves to unravel
mysteries in the lives about her, to set love affairs going to her
liking, she not caring to soar above the drawing-room, leaving Wall
Street, the Corn Exchange, and railway stocks to her astute husband, who
has inherited English gold, to which he is adding or losing in
speculations the American eagle. With some thought of changing their
residence to fair Toronto, they had a year ago given up house, and have
been residing at the Hoffman House, New York City; then engaging Miss
Crew, as governess to their only child of nine years. Mr. Dale had been
somewhat doubtful as to the advisability of giving the position to Miss
Crew, who merely answering their advertisement in the New York _Herald_,
stating nervously that she was without references, as the people she had
been with had gone West; but she was a fair, delicate, lady-like,
religious girl, interesting Mrs. Dale at once by her loneliness and
reticence; above all, Garfield took to her, and she gained an influence
for good over him at once; and by this time both Mr. and Mrs. Dale have
come to consider her as one of themselves, though having decided to
place their son at boarding-school until such time as they take up
house.
Mr. Buckingham is, as we know, an eligible bachelor, fine-looking, tall,
as we have heard, and a man of many dollars; a calmly quiet man (a trait
from his German mother), who has lost two fortunes, but who will not
play for high stakes again, as he does not care to begin over again at
fifty, with nearly all he craves in his grasp; two women jilted him when
fortune frowned, but taking it coolly, he merely told himself it was the
dollar they had cared for, not he. Passionately fond of music, a skilled
performer, the piano has been mistress and wife to him; if he marries he
will be a good husband, but if he does not, he will be almost as happy
in the best musical circle wherever his home may be.
Having dined, our friends gathered for a few moments' social chat before
retiring, when Mrs. Dale said, "I expect, Mr. Buckingham, you feel as
important as one of Barnum's show-men in your role, for you are aware
you and Mrs. Gower must trot us round to see the lions."
"Any man, Mrs. Dale, would feel important as your cicerone, and in
company with Mrs. Gower."
"How polite you are. Oh, Henry, I see by the _News_, "Fantasma" is on at
the Grand Opera House; even if it is late, let us go."
"Nonsense, dear, we have seen it often enough."
"If you are tired, very well; but I wanted to make a spectacle of myself
this time, and the ladies green with envy over my new heliotrope satin."
"Well, if that isn't self-abnegation," laughed Buckingham.
"Oh, you needn't sympathize, I only feel as the peacock when he spreads
his tail."
"How many churches did Mrs. Gower say there are here?" asked Miss Crew.
"One hundred and twenty; so you will have a choice of roads heavenward,
Miss Crew," answered Buckingham.
"Yes, there are a number of roads, and only one guide-book," she
answered, thoughtfully.
"Mrs. Gower will put you on the right track," he said quietly.
Here Mr. Dale returned, saying in pleased tones, "Well, Ella, I have
telephoned Mrs. Gower of our arrival, and she says she will call at 11
a.m., then do the Exhibition, where we are to remain until we see Pekin
bombarded."
"That is in the evening, and the best part of it this perfect weather;
may I come?" said Buckingham.
"Assuredly."
"Thanks, and au revoir."
"Good night."