UNCLE JEFF'S FOUR FRIENDS
Still uncertain what she'd do, Dolly went home with the rest of the
quartette.
Alicia was in high spirits, constantly exclaiming, "Oh, if you only
knew what I know!" or "I'm terribly excited over my secret! Just you
wait till to-morrow!" or some such speech.
And as they entered the Forbes house she flew to Mrs. Berry demanding
to know if a telephone message had arrived for her.
"Yes," replied the good-natured housekeeper. "Marly Turner called up,
and he asked me to tell you that everything was all right, and he'd
pull it off to-night, sure."
"Oh, goody!" cried Alicia, "are you sure that's just what he said?"
"Yes," asseverated Mrs. Berry, "see, I wrote it down, so I shouldn't
forget."
Dolly had to eavesdrop a little to overhear this conversation, as
Alicia had drawn Mrs. Berry aside, to make her inquiries. And it was
with a heavy heart that Dolly went upstairs to lay off her wraps.
"Oh, girls, I'm so happy!" cried Alicia, as she flung herself into a
chair. "But don't ask me why, for I refuse to tell you. Now, do we
dress for to-night's party before dinner or after?"
"Before, please," said Mrs. Berry, who had followed the girls to their
rooms. "Mr. Forbes asked me to tell you that he wants an interview in
the drawing-room before you go to Muriel's, and so you'd better be
dressed."
"Ah, those drawing-room interviews!" exclaimed Bernice. "How they
frightened me at first; then they rather bored me; but in the last few
days I've come to like them!"
"So have I," said Dotty. "I like Mr. Forbes himself a whole lot better
than I did at first. He's so much more get-at-able."
"He ought to be," laughed Alicia, "with four girls to train him up in
the way he should go! What frocks, ladies? Our very bestest?"
"Yes, indeed," said Bernice. "This is our last night, and we must 'go
out in a blaze of glory'! And scoot, you two D's. We've none too much
time to dress."
Dolly and Dotty went to their room, and it was rather a silent Dolly
who sat down to the dressing-table to brush her golden locks.
"Whatamatter, Dollums?" said her chum. "Sad at thoughts of going home?"
"Oh, no; really, Dot, I'm glad to go home. We've had a magnificent time
here, but I'm--well, I s'pect I'm homesick."
"So'm I, a little, now that you mention it. But we've enough to
remember and think over for a long time, haven't we?"
"Of course. My but I'm glad that earring was found! Oh, Dot, wouldn't
it have been awful if we had gone home with that doubt hanging over us?"
"It would, indeed, old girl. And, now if you'll proceed to do up that
taffy-coloured mass on top of your head, I'll accept the dressing
mirror for a while."
Dolly twisted up her golden mop, and decorated it with a ribbon band,
and then gave over her place to Dotty.
And, shortly, four very much dressed-up girls went down to the extra
elaborate dinner that was served in honour of the last night of their
visit.
The chat at table was far more gay and spontaneous than it had been on
the night of their arrival, for all had become used to each other's
ways, and had grown to like each other very much. Mr. Forbes, too, had
changed from a stiff, somewhat embarrassed host to a genial, even gay
comrade. He asked all about their doings of the day, and they told him,
with gay stories of funny episodes.
Dolly watched Alicia, but except that her eyes were unusually bright
and her laughter very frequent, the Western girl showed no especial
excitement.
After dinner they all went to the drawing-room, and it was with a
feeling of real sadness that Dolly realised it was for the last time.
Mr. Forbes walked up and down the room as he often did, and then paused
in front of the group of girls who were standing by the piano.
"Sit down, girlies," he said; "Alicia and Bernice, sit on that sofa,
please,--you two D's on that one."
Uncle Jeff was smiling, but still, there seemed to be an undercurrent
of seriousness in his tone, that implied a special talk.
"Did it ever occur to any of you," he began, "that I invited you here
for something beside a mere desire to give you young people some
pleasure?"
"Why, you've practically said so to us, Uncle Jeff," laughed Alicia;
"are you going to tell us your reason?"
"Yes, I am. And I'm going to tell you now."
Mr. Forbes sat down in an easy chair, in such a position that he could
look straight at all the girls, but his gaze rested on his two nieces.
"My reason," he said, slowly, "is, I admit, a selfish one. If you girls
have enjoyed your visit, I'm very glad, but what I wanted, was to study
you."
"I knew it!" exclaimed Bernice. "I thought you were studying us--our
characters."
"Yes, just that. And I wanted to study the characters of my two nieces.
Now you know you can't judge much of girls, unless you see them with
their comrades, their chums; or at least with other girls of their own
age. So I asked you each to bring a girl friend with you. As it
happened, Bernie brought two, and Alicia none, but that didn't matter.
And I'm exceedingly glad to have met and known the two D's."
The courteous old gentleman bowed to Dotty and Dolly who smiled and
bowed in return.
"Well," Uncle Jeff went on, "here's the reason I wanted to study my two
nieces. Because I want to take one of them to live with me, and to
inherit, eventually, my house and the greater part of my fortune."
There was a silence, as each of his hearers thought over what this
would mean.
Either Bernice or Alicia was to be chosen to live in that big city
house, practically to be mistress of it, to have a life of wealth and
luxury and at last to inherit Mr. Forbes' great fortune, and all his
valuable collections and belongings.
Dotty broke the silence. "It's great!" she exclaimed, "just great! And
which one are you going to choose?"
"I have chosen," said Mr. Forbes, slowly, "it remains to be seen
whether the one I have selected will accept. But now, you all can see
why I was so alarmed and anxious over the episode of the lost earring.
I HAD to find out if any of you girls had yielded to temptation. And if
so, if it was one of my nieces, or one of their friends."
"And if it had been one of your nieces, you would have chosen the
other!" cried Bernice.
"No, my child," returned her uncle. "Quite the contrary. If either you
or Alicia had taken that gem, with a wrong intent, I should have asked
the wrong-doer to come and live with me, hoping I could teach her the
error of her ways. But that's neither here nor there. For none of you
DID take the jewel, nor indeed, ever thought of such a thing. But my
decision, which I have made, is not entirely based on worthiness, or
even on desirability. And I'll tell you frankly, had I tried to choose
my favourite between Bernie and 'Licia, I should have had a hard time!
For I have come to love both girls very dearly, and would have not the
slightest objection to adopting them both."
"And us two also?" asked Dotty, mischievously.
"Yes, and you two also! Bless my soul! From a lonely, somewhat
misanthropic old man, you young people have turned me into a real human
being! I like young voices round me, and young folks's pleasures going
on in my house. Well, my dears, are you interested to know my choice?"
"ARE we?" cried Dotty, while Dolly fairly held her breath.
"I have chosen Alicia," Mr. Forbes announced, and there was a deep
silence.
Bernice looked a little bewildered, but not at all disappointed. Alicia
looked simply stunned, and the two D's just listened for further
developments.
"But don't you for one minute think," said Mr. Forbes, "that I consider
Alicia in any way superior to Bernice; nor, on the other hand, do I
think Bernie better than Alicia. I love my nieces equally, and the
thing that settled the question in my mind was a letter I received
to-day from Alicia's father."
"I know!" cried Alicia, "I had one, too. I didn't say anything about
it, because Dad asked me not to. You tell, Uncle Jeff."
"It's this," said Mr. Forbes. "Alicia's father is to be married soon.
As you know, Alicia's mother, my dear sister died many years ago, and I
know Mr. Steele but slightly. However, now that he is about to remarry,
I hope that it will please both him and his new wife if Alicia comes to
live with me. Also, I hope it will please Alicia."
"Oh, Uncle Jeff!" and Alicia flew over to him, and flung her arms round
his neck, "indeed it does please me! Why, only to-day I was saying how
I'd LOVE to live in New York, and how I HATED to go back to that old
school! But I never dreamed of such a thing as this!"
"Oh, it's just fine!" exclaimed Bernice. "I couldn't think of leaving
father, and I'd rather live in the country anyhow--"
"I discovered that, Bernie, girl," said her uncle, seriously. "That's
why I had you girls here, so I could see for myself what your tastes
and traits really are. I've learned that Bernice prefers her own home
and too that she doesn't want to leave her father alone though my plan
would have been if I asked Bernice to come here to have her father live
here, too. However, I also discovered that Alicia is unhappy in her
school life, that she does not care much about returning to her Western
home to live with a stepmother, and that she adores New York City! So,
I wrote to her father asking his opinion, and he leaves the settlement
of the question to Alicia, herself."
"And I settle it! Yes! oh, I certainly DO!" and the girl gave her kind
uncle another big embrace.
"Isn't it funny you should have been saying to-day that perhaps you
might live in New York?" said Bernice.
"Yes," replied Alicia, and her face changed, "but I didn't mean THIS!"
Dolly spoke impulsively. In fact, it seemed as if she couldn't keep
still.
"Suppose you tell your uncle just what you DID mean," she said, looking
straight at Alicia with an unmistakably meaning gaze.
Alicia turned on her with a sudden expression of anger.
"You DID read that note in my coat pocket!" she cried, "you DID read
it, Dolly Fayre! and you pretended you were too honourable to do such a
thing!"
"Why, Alicia, I did not! You take that back!"
"Bless my soul! Are you two quarrelling? What IS the matter?"
"Dolly read my note!" cried Alicia, "she--"
"I did not!" interrupted Dolly, her blue eyes blazing. "Alicia has a
secret, and I think she ought to tell it!"
"I've got a right to have a secret if I like,--Dolly Fayre!"
"But it isn't a nice secret! You wouldn't want Uncle Forbes to know it!
It's--it's shocking!"
"How do YOU know?"
"I know all about it,--at least I know something about it. I heard you
and Marly Turner--"
"Oh, pshaw! you little blue-eyed goose! You only think it's shocking,
because you're so prim and straight-laced! I'll tell Uncle Jeff,
myself, and I'll tell him right now!"
"All right, Alicia," and Dolly drew a big sigh of relief. If Alicia
would tell her own secret, it would take all responsibility from her
shoulders.
But Alicia hesitated. She began to speak once or twice, and stammered
and paused.
At last she said, "I hate to tell, it sounds so--so grown-up and
ambitious."
"I should think it DID!" cried Dolly, who began to wonder if Alicia
were crazy.
"You tell him, Dolly," and Alicia suddenly looked very shy and
embarrassed.
"Do you MEAN it? Do you want ME to tell him?"
"Yes, I honestly wish you would. Though how you found out about it, I
don't see!"
"We weren't intending to listen, Alicia, but Geordie Knapp and I heard
you and Marly Turner, in the little reception-room last night."
"Oh, that explains it! Yes, we did talk pretty loud. Well, what did you
think of it, Dolly?"
"If you say so, I'll tell the rest, and see what they think of it."
"All right, go ahead! Spare my blushes, good people, but I am fearfully
embarrassed!"
Everybody looked uncomprehending, and Dolly began.
She couldn't see how Alicia could treat the matter so lightly, but was
fervently thankful that she did so.
"It's this," said Dolly, solemnly, "Alicia is planning to elope with
Marly Turner."
There were four astonished faces that greeted this announcement, but
none showed such blank amazement as Alicia's own.
"Oh, Dolly!" she cried. "Oh, Dolly Fayre! You will be the death of me
yet! Go on, tell them more!"
"That's about all I know. They planned it last night and it just
happened that Geordie and I heard them. Marly coaxed her, and Alicia
hesitated and then consented. She said her mother eloped, and she would
do the same. They were going to have a rope ladder."
"Oh, Dolly! Oh, Uncle Jeff! Oh, Dollyrinda!"
"Well, Alicia, suppose you stop yelling, oh, and tell me about this
interesting performance," Mr. Forbes spoke, severely.
But Alicia had thrown herself into a big chair and was screaming with
laughter. Every time she essayed to speak, she went off in
uncontrollable spasms of mirth and when she wiped her eyes and
endeavoured to speak, she giggled again.
Dolly realised there was some misunderstanding somewhere and waited for
the explanation.
At last it came.
"No, Uncle Jeff," and Alicia managed to speak intelligibly, "I'm not
going to elope with Marly or anybody else. I'm going to live here with
you."
"But you were!" said Dolly. "You planned to!"
"No, my child," and Alicia laughed again. "I'll have to tell my story
myself. I've written a play, Uncle, and in it, the heroine elopes with
the handsome hero. I was awfully shy about showing it to anybody, but
Marly said he'd try to persuade his father to read it over and see if
it showed any promise. You know it's a great thing to have Mr. Turner
read your play, and I was delighted. Well, last night, Marly and I went
over the elopement scene, that's the strong act of the play, and that's
what Dolly heard, and she thought we were talking ourselves! Oh, Dolly,
if people plan to elope they don't do it at the top of their lungs!
Marly and I read the various character parts to see how it would sound
in different voices. Well, then, he said he'd try to get his father to
read it to-night, so I'd know before I went away to-morrow. And he
telephoned that he'd pull it off,--he meant he'd get his father to read
it. That's my secret. And, you know, Uncle Jeff, my mother DID elope,
because her father didn't want her to marry Jim Steele. And I'd heard
the story of her elopement so often, and it was so dramatic, that I put
it in my play. Oh, Dolly, what a little innocent you are!"
"I don't care if I am," returned Dolly, and her pretty face beamed with
smiles. "I think your secret is lovely, Alicia, and I think Uncle
Forbes' secret is too."
"So do I," said Dotty, "and I'm glad and proud that Dollyrinda and I
are chums of two such talented and distinguished girls."
"And _I_'m glad, Alicia," said her uncle, "that you have a taste for
writing. I shall be glad to help you cultivate it and I've no doubt
that Mr. Turner can give you valuable advice. Of course your early
efforts can't amount to much, but if you care to keep at it, you may
yet do good work. Well, then, do I understand, that you accept my
invitation to live with me?"
"Yes, indeed, you dear, darling old uncle! I'll live with thee, and be
thy love! as the poet sings."
"Then run away to your party now, and we'll settle all further details
to-morrow."
"And you'll forgive me, Alicia, for misjudging you?" said Dolly, still
smiling at her funny mistake.
"Yes, indeed, you blue-eyed angel! And you'll forgive me for thinking
you read my note. In it, Marly said he thought he could get his father
to read my manuscript and I was SO excited over it. But of course I
know you wouldn't touch my letter only I was so upset over it, I hardly
knew what I said."
"Oh, that's all right. And, girls, won't we have the great times having
Alicia come to Berwick to see us all?"
"Yes, and having you all come here to visit me!" returned Alicia.
"We'll always be chums," said Dotty. "These days together have made us
inseparable friends."
"The Forbes quartette," said Dolly. "Only Bernice is named Forbes, but
I mean Uncle Forbes' quartette."
"Yes," said Jefferson Forbes, "my four friends, my Rosebud Garland of
Girls."
THE END
End of Project Gutenberg's Two Little Women on a Holiday, by Carolyn Wells