"So that was your surprise for me," he said, taking her hand.
She smiled, a strange and, to him, an unnatural smile, made so by the
rouged lips and painted face. Had it not been for the sound of her voice
he would have doubted if the girl before him, still holding his hand
while the others scrutinized him, was Consuello.
"Speak, or I won't know it's you," he said.
"Were you really surprised?" she asked.
"Beyond words," he assured her.
She turned to the man with the horn-rim spectacles.
"That is all?" she inquired.
"All for today, Miss Carrillo, thank you," she was answered. "Tomorrow
at 2, same costume, but on the other set."
"Come," she said, turning to John. "We'll have tea and a talk as soon as
I return to--to normalcy--that was Mr. Harding's way of expressing it,
wasn't it?"
She led the way across the floor, along a twisting and turning path,
through furniture, furnishings and an accumulation of "props" to the
door. As they stepped out into the daylight again her face was more
unlike the face of the Consuello John knew than it had been in the half
gloom inside.
They crossed a narrow asphalt-paved road to a long two-story building.
"I won't be long," she said, opening the door to the section in which
her dressing room was located. "When I'm ready the maid will call you.
Will you wait here?"
"Don't hurry," he said. "I'll be right here where you left me."
While he was waiting "John J. Silence" emerged from the door of the
stage building. John frowned, pressed his forefinger to his lips in the
signal for silence that he had received inside. "John J. Silence,"
grinning, tiptoed away with ludicrous gestures.
In twenty minutes the maid called John to the door, holding it open for
him as he entered.
"This way, please," she said, taking the lead.
A dozen steps brought them to a door marked with Consuello's name. John
paused at the threshold while the maid entered, returning in a moment to
hold the door open for him again. As he stepped inside she went out into
the corridor, closing the door after her.
John found himself in a tiny room with brightly designed wallpaper,
matted rugs, a wicker chaise longue, wicker glass-topped table, wicker
tea wagon and wicker chairs, all decorated in a gay colored chintz. The
heavy curtains at one side of the room parted, and Consuello--the real
Consuello again--stood before him attired in a tailored suit gorgeous in
its simplicity, setting off a dainty real biche lace and batiste blouse.
"Well?" she said, as if she had been waiting for him to speak.
"I'll say it again--you're beautiful," he said.
The same half credulous look that she had given him when he told her she
was beautiful that day they met for the first time at the Barton
Randolph lawn fete came into her eyes.
"I did not mean to ask you that," she said.
"I know," he returned, "but you are, and I couldn't help saying so."
She took a chair near the tea-table and he seated himself in the chair
that was opposite to her.
"I meant, what do you think of me now?" she explained, pouring the tea
into absurdly small cups, one of which she handed to him.
"It was a surprise," he said. "I'll confess to you now that you puzzled
me. I could not understand why you were--well, exiled in the city during
the week. I imagined you were either with friends as a sort of a
permanent guest or studying."
"You never thought of me as working?" she asked.
"Yes," he admitted, "I have, but I could not picture you in any
employment I could think of. It was impossible to think of you as a
stenographer or a school teacher or a nurse or a shop girl."
"All because you met me at a lawn fete--a society affair," she
concluded.
"No. All because--well, all because you are you."
Was that a glint of pleasure he saw for the briefest fraction of a
second in her eyes?
"I asked you to come out here this afternoon because I knew that you
would find it out some day, probably tomorrow or the next day, or next
week, and I wanted you to know that I had not tried to keep it from
you," she said. "I want you to know, too, from me, why it is I'm here."
She paused and he waited for her to continue.
"I entered picture work because--well, frankly, we--that is, father,
mother and I--are alone in the world and poor," she said. "Really,
honestly poor. The last that we could afford to spend from the little we
have left was spent on my education. Father insisted.
"Once, and it was not so many years ago, our family was wealthy like
other California families that received land grants. But father--the
dear that he is--like so many of his friends, thought little of business
or the future and slowly our land was sold until now only a few acres
of what we once had remain--only the few acres of the home you visited.
"Of course, I was fortunate. My family name gave me entrance anywhere
and still does, although there are those who think I have desecrated
that name and who feel that because we are in reduced circumstances we
have simply ceased to be.
"So when I was old enough to realize exactly what conditions were and
what we faced I was determined to do something. It was a friend who was
kind enough to believe and tell me that I had talent for acting who
first interested me in motion picture work. And, not to tire you with
long, boresome details, I was lucky. Somehow it was not difficult and I
am now receiving enough to keep us comfortable without encroaching, as I
said, on what little father has left.
"There, you have my story," she concluded, settling back in her chair.
"And the work, do you like it?" he asked.
"I do like it," she replied. "And, besides, what else could I do? You
have said yourself that I could never be a stenographer, a school
teacher or a nurse or a shop girl."
"You could be anything," he hastened to explain, "from a shop girl to
a--to a--a queen."
"That's better," she concurred, smiling.
"Those tears you shed back there before the camera, who were they for?"
"For the man I loved--in the story," she explained. "I was 'emoting'--as
they call it--over his death. The inspiration was provided by the
orchestra you heard playing. My director thinks it's wonderful that I
can shed tears whenever he asks me to. He says it's a relief not to have
to substitute drops of glycerine or hold a raw onion under his leading
woman's nose to bring about the required lachrymal effect. To be able to
cry easily before the camera, he says, is the supreme test, because to
shed real tears you must have imagination and imagination is
everything."
"And how do you do it?"
"There are plenty of causes for tears in life, far too many, don't you
think?" she said. "When my director calls for tears I simply think of
one of the many--pictures I have seen of starving children, an empty
stocking at Christmas time, a homeless kitten, an orphan baby."
"Don't you ever think of the story and cry because you are carried away
by the imaginative sorrow of the death of the man you love?"
"No," she said, laughing. "How can I? Most of the time I'm really
glad--not in the story, of course--that he's out of the picture. The
publicity man always refers to me as a star of the emotional type and
writes yards upon yards of stuff about how I actually 'live' the part I
am playing. My imagination doesn't carry me that far, though, and if
imagination is everything, as my director says, the publicity man should
be the greatest actor living."
"I don't pay much attention to pictures, but I can't remember ever
having seen your name or photograph in the advertisements," he said.
"Have you ever noticed the name of Jean Hope?"
"Often."
"That is the name I took when I had advanced far enough to be featured.
It was suggested to me by the publicity man, who insisted upon it being
short and snappy, as he said, something that would be easy to remember
and easy to put into type. Of course, I am not obscured to my friends,
who all know that I am Jean Hope. Only once have I had to be positively
firm with the publicity man and that was when he wanted to make me the
subject of a newspaper story that society girls, as he called them, were
intent upon becoming motion picture actresses. That, for the sake of my
friends, I simply had to refuse."
"I think," he said slowly, "that the name your father calls you is the
prettiest of them all."
"Mi Primavera?"
"Yes, does anyone else call you that?"
"Only father," she said. "That is his pet name for me--'My Springtime.'"
"You know," he said, "the story you told me of the naming of Spring
street; how Ord, the surveyor, named it for his sweetheart, whom he
called 'Mi Primavera,' is incomplete. Tell me, if you know, did he
eventually marry the beautiful Senorita Trinidad de la Guerra?"
"I have often wondered that, myself," she said. "Whether they were
married or not--what a gallant, romantic thing it was for him to do."
"And how few know the story!" he added.
"What dreams he must have had for the upbuilding of that street he named
for the one he loved," she said. "I imagine he little thought it was to
become a business street, that he thought of it always as lined with
quaintly beautiful Spanish homes, shaded and quiet, with couples
strolling along it at twilight and rest and contentment everywhere."
"That was his dream," he agreed. "The dream of a practical man--a
surveyor and a soldier."
"And after all," she said, "is it as you said once that it is only in
books and plays that dreams come true?"
Her chin resting in her hand, she gazed out the small chintz bordered
window of the room, preoccupied. He noticed the daintiness of her
profile, the placid sweetness of her face in repose.
The silence was broken by a rap on the door that startled him.
"Come in," she called.
The door opened and on the threshold stood Gibson, the smile he had
meant for her fading from his face.
For a moment he paused, his hand still on the knob of the door, as if he
hesitated to disturb them. Then, with the appearance of putting whatever
thoughts he might have had from his mind, he strode in.
"Well!" he exclaimed. "This is a surprise. How are you, Gallant? Haven't
seen you since the night we had our little engagement with 'Red Mike,'
who, I have just been told, will recover."
"I'm so glad to hear that," said Consuello.
"And so was I," Gibson said. "No, no, Gallant, stay where you are. I'll
sit here."
John had risen to offer Gibson the chair opposite Consuello. He sought a
way of relieving the embarrassment he for one, felt when Gibson made his
unexpected entrance.
"Miss Carrillo has revealed herself to me as Jean Hope," he explained.
"Until this afternoon I had no idea she played in pictures."
Was it because she too, felt it necessary to make some explanation that
she said:
"You see, I realized that Mr. Gallant would eventually learn about it
and I wanted to surprise him myself."
"I'm proud of my Consuello," Gibson said, patting her hand and speaking
to John. "She is famous--really, truly famous--far more, I'm afraid than
you or I will ever be, Gallant. Still, she deserves it, and we
don't--that is, I don't, at least. She is so famous that I find it
difficult to keep myself from becoming jealous of her."
"Jealous of my good luck?" she asked, smiling.
"No, no; jealous of the admiration that is showered upon you and those
who give it. You can understand why, can't you, Gallant?"
While Gibson seemed absolutely frank and to have put the question only
incidentally, John had a feeling that it was something more than a mere
interrogation. He scanned Gibson's face for a trace of a betrayal of his
purpose in putting the question to him.
"Easily," he replied.
"You are both more than kind to me," Consuello said. "Come, now that we
three are together, let's talk of what you're doing, Reggie. It's far
more interesting. I'll call for a fresh pot of tea."
She pressed a button in the wall and a maid responded.
"There's little more that is new," Gibson said. "The mayor is still
standing pat, although I have reason to believe that he is feeling the
pressure brought on him by those that are supporting me, because he
refuses to remove Chief Sweeney. Most of the men who are his advisers
are dropping away from him. His policy in the face of my attack
apparently dissatisfies them. I am waiting for one of them to swing over
to my side and tell exactly what his position is."
John remembered the interview Brennan and he had had with the mayor, and
in his mind, as vivid as it was when it occurred, he saw the mayor
solemnly pledge himself to seek to establish what he suspected--that
Gibson was in league with "Gink" Cummings.
"What will be your next move?" he asked.
"I have promised to clean up Los Angeles and I mean to go through with
it," Gibson replied. "With the mayor taking the position he has, it's
plainly up to me to carry on despite his opposition. I'll go ahead with
my plans to drive gamblers, crooks, bandits and women of the underworld
from the city and in doing so the people will be convinced that I am in
the right and blame the mayor for his obstinacy in refusing to work with
me.
"The big difficulty will be to get men to assist me. I have the private
detectives I have employed, but I doubt if I can use them in making
raids. Of course, Sweeney will see that I don't get any police officers
to carry out my orders, which leaves only the district attorney and the
sheriff from whom I can ask assistance. I have been informed that the
sheriff is ready and willing to place a number of his deputies at my
command and they will probably be the officers who will carry out my
orders.
"The fact that I am compelled to use deputy sheriffs, who are county and
not city employes, in my crusade will have its effect, demonstrating
conclusively that the mayor does not intend to assist me in any way in
doing what is his duty to keep Los Angeles clean."
"Surely, you're not going to take your life in your hands again?" asked
Consuello. John perceived that she was sincerely concerned for Gibson's
safety.
"My dear Conny," he said patting her shoulder, "the danger will be
slight. I can't expect to have things done and only sit back in my
office letting others do it."
"But promise me that you will not take any needless chances," she
pleaded.
"You have my promise," he said. Then, turning to John, he added: "You
see, Gallant, how it is. If I ever turn and run away from danger, you
will know I am only keeping a promise."
"I don't believe there is any one who questions your courage," John
said.
"It's good of you to say that, Gallant," Gibson acknowledged. "Now,
suppose we hear what you have to say. Tell us, what are you newspaper
men saying about this rumpus between the mayor and me? What do you think
of what I'm doing? Have you any suggestions?"
John hesitated before answering. What he had heard the mayor say to
Brennan was confidential. Even had he been at liberty to tell it he
doubted if he would have disclosed it, for Consuello's sake.
"There is one thing upon which the reporters are speculating," he said.
"What's that?" asked Gibson.
"They are wondering when you will launch your attack in a new
direction."
"How?"
"By hitting at 'Gink' Cummings." As John mentioned the "Gink's" name he
watched Gibson's face closely to discover the effect it had upon the
commissioner. He thought afterward that Gibson had expected him to refer
to Cummings and that he had been, if anything, a trifle too well
prepared to answer.
"I thought so," Gibson said. "Well, let me tell you something, Gallant.
I'll make things hot for the 'Gink' mighty soon. But, you must remember,
the 'Gink' is only the effect and not the cause of the trouble. The
cause is the failure of the mayor and Sweeney to keep the lid down in
Los Angeles. Cummings is only powerful through the weakness of the mayor
and the chief. If they were on the job, Los Angeles wouldn't be big
enough for such a man as 'Gink' Cummings."
"Why don't you come out and say so?" John asked, feeling reassured,
however, by Gibson's announcement that the "Gink" was not to be
overlooked.
"It's another case of where 'actions speak louder than words,'" the
police commissioner said. "Cummings isn't afraid of what someone says is
going to happen to him. He's a veteran. He's heard that kind of talk
before. So have the people of Los Angeles. What he is afraid of and what
the people of the city want is--action."
"And who is this man, 'Gink' Cummings?" put in Consuello, who had been
listening intently to the conversation between the two men.
"'Gink' Cummings, my dear," said Gibson, "is the boss of the element I
hope to drive out of Los Angeles. He rules like a king over burglars,
gamblers, pickpockets, bandits, swindlers and crooks of every
description."
John took advantage of an opportunity.
"It's true, is it not, that the mayor and Cummings are enemies?"
"Yes, that's true, but they're political enemies," Gibson said. "The
trouble is, however, that the mayor is afraid of Cummings. And so is
Sweeney. They don't seem to have the courage to go after him."
"Why don't they take this 'Gink' person and put him in the
penitentiary?" asked Consuello.
Gibson laughed.
"That appears to be an impossibility," he said. "They have tried it time
and again, but each time he was too clever for them."
"Of course," smiled Consuello. "It was silly of me to have asked such a
question. I confess I'm a perfect ignoramus about such things."
A few minutes later they left the studio, Gibson offering to convey John
to his home in his automobile.
"As often as I can I call for Consuello and take her to her home," he
explained. "We are both so busy these days we have little other time in
which to see each other. I'm glad I saw you this afternoon, Gallant,
and you may want to know that it won't be long before I'll have some
more real news for you."
As the automobile carried them toward his home, John thanked Consuello
again for having invited him to the studio.
"I don't believe I would have discovered that you are Jean Hope for a
long time," he said. "From now on I'll never miss one of your pictures."
"I have yet to view with complacency the scenes in which she is in the
arms of another man," laughed Gibson.
After dinner that night he led his mother to the porch, telling her he
had news for her. He was glad that he was able to answer her questions
concerning Consuello, although he believed the unpleasant occurrence of
a few nights before was completely a thing of the past, to be forgotten.
"Mother," he said, smiling, "I discovered today what keeps Miss Carrillo
in the city during the week."
Mrs. Gallant regarded him expectantly.
"You did?"
"Yes, she is working."
Mrs. Gallant smiled, as though the information given her by her son
relieved a hidden anxiety.
"And what does she do?" she asked.
"She is in pictures," he answered.
The smile faded from Mrs. Gallant's face.
"In pictures!" she exclaimed. "Then she is an----"
"An actress," he supplied. "She invited me out to her studio and told me
all about how it was while we had tea in her dressing room. Why, mother!
What's the matter? Mother!"
Mrs. Gallant had risen from her chair, a strange, disconsolate
expression upon her face, and had gone back into the house.