THE MASQUERADE
"Aunt Jane's poll parrot, what a mob!"
The four girls, each in a domino exactly like the others, stood at the
door of the Greys' immense drawing-room and surveyed the scene before
them. It was, of course, Sally who spoke.
Phyllis laughed softly. "If you go about saying that, Sally, it won't
be hard to know who you are," she warned.
"You'll have to forget Aunt Jane and her poll parrot for to-night," a
voice soft and tinkling drawled.
This time Janet laughed. "How about your drawl, Taffy?" she inquired.
"Oh, dear, this will never do," Phyllis protested. "We will all have
to keep as quiet as possible and only answer 'yes' and 'no.'"
Sally's blue eyes opened wide behind her mask of black satin.
"Oh, but that won't be any fun at all!" she cried.
"We might mumble everything we want to say," suggested Janet; "and if
we all do it, it will be more confusing than ever."
"Good idea, 'How do you do this evening; isn't the room beautiful?'"
Daphne mumbled in a monotone.
"Oh, Taffy," Janet laughed, "even your very best friend wouldn't know
you."
"Well, then let's go in and pay our respects to Muriel; she and her
mother are over there by the other door," Sally suggested, and led the
way.
The room through which they walked was indeed beautiful. Ivory white
woodwork made a fitting frame for the pale gold brocade that hung on
the walls. Ferns and great bowls of roses filled every corner, and the
perfume of the flowers scented the warm air of the room. Two crystal
chandeliers blazed in all the glory of their rainbow colors and
reflected their brilliance in the polished floor.
Groups of girls and boys chattered and laughed and tried to guess the
identity of each other. Every hero and heroine in history was
represented, and they nodded and bowed to dainty Mother Goose folk.
The simplicity of the four dominoes made a strange spot of color as
they walked together towards their hostesses. They were all about the
same height and build, they marched in step, and their bells jingled in
unison.
"How do you do," they mumbled as they shook hands.
Muriel Grey, dressed, as Miss Pringle had suggested, in the dainty
pinks and blues of a Dresden shepherdess, stood beside her mother. She
was not masked as her guests were, and her puzzled surprise was plain
to be seen.
"Why, who can you be?" she exclaimed. "I have guessed every girl and
boy so far, but I haven't the slightest idea who you are. Please say
something," she begged.
"You look very pretty to-night."
"What a lot of people there are."
"We are all so glad to be here."
"Think hard and you will surely guess."
All four answers were mumbled at once and poor Muriel was more confused
than ever.
"I think your costumes are delightful and it is great fun to have four
unknown guests," Mrs. Grey said. "I shall be watching you all
anxiously when the gong rings to unmask. Don't run away like
Cinderella when you hear it, will you?" she added, smiling.
"No, indeed," a mumble assured her. "We will all come and say 'how do
you do' to you then in our own voices."
Another group, this time of boys, came up, and the four hurried away.
It was not long before the guests had all assembled and the music began.
"Let's go over there and watch," Phyllis suggested, pointing to a bench
under a palm in the corner. "Then we can see whom we know."
"There's John Steers, dressed as a donkey,"--Sally pointed to a tall,
ungainly boy, who presented a droll aspect as he leaned up against the
wall beside the musicians' platform. His thin body accentuated by the
large donkey's head gave him a top-heavy expression, and the forefeet
that covered his long arms hung dejectedly at his sides.
"He doesn't look as though he were having a very good time," Janet
laughed. "Why doesn't he go and talk to some one?"
"Not John; he perfectly hates and despises parties, but his mother
makes him go to them, and he always stands over by the musicians and
mopes just as he is doing now," Phyllis explained.
"There are Eleanor and Rosamond over there talking to the two boys in
armor,"--Daphne pointed.
"Of course, I'd have known them even if old Pringle had not told us
their costumes,"--Sally chuckled. "Oh, do look at that boy dressed as
Robin Hood; he is bow legged,"--she went off into convulsions of
laughter, and as the others looked at the very fat and uncomfortable
lad across the room they joined her. They had hardly time to compose
their features before three boys came up to them and bowed.
One, the tallest of the lot, wore a monk's garb of rough brown and the
big hood completely covered his head; his face was hidden by a ghostly
white mask. The one next to him was dressed exactly like the Mother
Goose pictures of Little Jack Horner and he carried a paper pie under
one arm. The last of the trio was the most amusing; his face was
blacked and a wig of kinky black hair stood out in dozens of tiny
braids, each tied with a different colored string. He wore a red and
white calico dress that was just short enough to show his big, clumsy
boots. He made a very deep bow before Sally and said in a high shrill
voice.
"May I have this dance, please, ma'am?"
"With pleasure,"--Sally for a wonder did not forget to mumble. She did
not have the slightest idea who her partner was, but then that is the
fun of a masquerade.
"And will you dance with me?" the monk asked in a very solemn tone,
bowing to Janet.
Janet got up and then sat down again very suddenly; there was an
awkward pause, and then she managed to say:
"But I don't know how to dance." Gone was the mumble, gone was every
thought except the misery of the minute.
But the monk, instead of being disappointed, gave a mighty sigh of
relief.
"Thank goodness for that," he said heartily. "I hate to dance, myself,
so let's go and see if we can't find some lemonade. This hood is so
hot I need something to cool me off."
Janet did not wait to be coaxed. She took the arm he offered her, and
they soon disappeared into the crowd.
Little Jack Horner shifted from one foot to the other in his
embarrassment at finding himself between two girls. At last he said,
"I want to dance with one of you but blest if I can tell which, you are
as alike as two peas. I wish you would stop that mumbling and let me
hear your voices. I bet I know you both."
Phyllis and Daphne looked at each other and laughed. Jack Horner had
forgotten, in his eagerness to find out who they were, to disguise his
own voice, and they both recognized him.
"No, Jerry Dodd, we won't stop mumbling; you'll just have to choose as
best you can," Daphne said.
Jerry looked at her curiously; there was something familiar in that
tinkly laugh.
"Then I'll choose you," he said promptly. "You know me, so I must know
you, and before we have danced half way round the room I bet I can tell
you your name."
"Bet you can't," Daphne teased as she got up.
Phyllis watched them whirl away and smiled to herself. Daphne was a
beautiful dancer, and if Jerry had even a grain of sense he would
recognize her light step, for he had danced with her many times at
dancing school. She watched them circle the room once and waited for
them to pass her again. As they neared her she expected to hear
Daphne's familiar drawl, but instead she heard Jerry's pleading voice
say,
"Ah, go on, give a fellow a chance."
The rest of the sentence was lost for a voice close beside her asked,
"Did you find the lemonade?"
She turned quickly to see a knight in shining armor. A golden wig fell
to his shoulders, and a blazing cross covered the front of his tunic.
He wore a small black mask that did not hide his smiling mouth. He
carried a great sword with both hands.
"No, Sir Galahad, I didn't," Phyllis answered.
"Where's your monk, Friar Tuck; I thought he was with you?" Sir Galahad
inquired.
"Did you?" Phyllis asked sweetly. She was not mumbling, but her voice
was not at all natural and she had no fear of the knight's recognizing
her for she felt quite sure she did not know him.
"But I don't understand. When I last saw you, Howard was going to take
you into the library and teach you to dance and John was going with
you." Sir Galahad was perplexed.
"Yet here I am." Phyllis was hugely enjoying herself. There was no
doubt that he took her for Janet, and she delighted in teasing him.
"Do you mean to tell me that they went off and left you?" Two dark
eyebrows that contrasted oddly with the golden wig came together in a
frown just above the black mask.
"Perhaps,"--Phyllis threw a note of sorrow into her voice, and her eyes
looked up into his without a hint of laughter.
"I never heard of such a thing," he said angrily, and something in the
way he said it brought back a sudden memory to Phyllis and made her
eyes dance. She lowered them quickly, for it was just possible that
Don's cousin might prove as clever as Don.
The knight sat down beside her on the bench and rested his sword beside
him.
"What's your name?" he asked presently.
"You'd never believe it if I told you," Phyllis replied.
"Well, tell me anyhow."
"I am Queen Mab,"--Phyllis dropped her voice to a whisper--"but I am
masquerading as Pierrette, so you mustn't tell anybody."
"Don't be silly," was the knight's ungallant reply. "I mean, who are
you really?"
"See, I told you you wouldn't believe,"--Phyllis shrugged her shoulders
daintily. "I dare say you don't believe in fairies nor brownies
either," she ventured, watching him out of the corner of her eye.
The words should have given the knight the hint he wanted, but he was
too cross to understand it just then.
"Oh, very well," he said huffily, "if you won't tell me, you won't; but
don't expect me to tell you my name either."
"I don't have to," Phyllis laughed gayly. "I know; it's Chuck."
"Well I'll be darned,"--Sir Galahad stared at her in amazement. "Then
I know you?"
"I didn't say so," Phyllis teased.
He got up and stood facing her, his arms folded.
"Come and get some lemonade," he commanded. "I am going to find out
who you are, never you fear, but I am going to do it in my own way."
They walked to the little alcove where a maid in cap and apron was
busily serving the punch. Chuck kept his eyes fastened on his
companion as if he were determined to penetrate her mask and the saucy
hood that jingled as they walked. He did not look up until they were
at the table and when he did it was to find the monk and the donkey
with--he blinked, not his partner, for she was beside him, but surely
her double.