RUSS DALWOOD APOLOGIZES
The portal was closed with a bang--so closed because Alice in a mad
rush threw herself against it and turned the key in the lock. Then
she gained a place by her sister's side, and slipped an arm about her
waist.
"He--he won't come in," Alice whispered. "I saw him going down the
stairs."
"Who--who was it?" faltered Ruth. She was very pale.
"I don't know," Alice made answer. "I don't believe he meant to come
in here. It was--was just an accident. But the door is locked now.
Maybe it was some collector--like those horrid men who have been to
see us lately. The Dalwoods may be short of money, too."
"I don't think so, Alice. Russ makes good wages at the moving picture
place. Oh, are you sure the door is locked?"
"Positive. Don't worry."
"Let's slip down the back stairs to Mrs. Reilley's flat. She has a
telephone, and we can call the police," suggested the taller girl, in
a hoarse whisper, her eyes never leaving the hall door that had been
so unceremoniously thrust open.
"Silly!" returned Alice. "There's no danger now. That man has gone. I
tell you I saw him hurrying down the stairs. Russ sent him about his
business, all right--whatever his business was."
"Oh, it's terrible to live this way!" wailed Ruth. "With--with common
fighting going on in the halls! If poor mother were alive now--"
"She wouldn't be a bit afraid, if what you tell me of her is true!"
insisted Alice, stoutly. "And I'm not a bit afraid, either. Why, Russ
is just across the hall, and it was only the other day you were
saying how strong and manly he was. Have you forgotten?"
"No," answered Ruth, in a low voice, and again the blush suffused her
cheeks.
"Then don't be a silly. I'm not going down and ask Mrs. Reilley to
'phone for the police. That would cause excitement indeed. I don't
believe anyone else heard the commotion, and that was only because
our door flew open by accident."
"Oh, well, maybe it will be all right," assented the taller girl who,
in this emergency, seemed to lean on her younger sister. Perhaps it
was because Alice was so merry-hearted--even unthinking at times;
despising danger because she did not know exactly what it was--or
what it meant. Yet even now Ruth felt that she must play the part of
mother to her younger sister.
"Are you sure that door is locked?" she asked again.
"Positive! See, I'll slip on the chain, and then it would tax even a
policeman to get in. But, really, Ruth, I wouldn't go to Mrs.
Reilley's if I were you. She'll tell everyone, and there doesn't seem
to be any need. It's all over, and those below, or above us, seem to
have heard nothing of it."
"Oh, I wish daddy would come home!"
"So do I, for that matter. That's sensible. What did he say," asked
Alice, "when you went down to Mrs. Reilley's telephone to talk to
him?" For that neighbor had summoned one of the girls when she
learned, over the wire, that Mr. DeVere wished to speak with his
daughters about his good fortune.
"He didn't have time to say much," replied Ruth. "He just stole a
minute or two away from the conference to say that he had an
engagement that was very promising."
"And didn't he say when he'd be home?"
"No, only that it would be as soon as possible."
"Well, I suppose he'll come as quickly as he can. Let's see what we
can get up in the way of a lunch. We may have to resort to the
delicatessen again. I do want father to have something nice when he
comes home with his good news."
"So do I," agreed Ruth. "I'm afraid our ice box doesn't contain much
in the way of refreshments for an impromptu banquet, though, and I
positively won't go out after--after what happened. At least not
right away!"
"Pooh, I'm not afraid!" laughed Alice, having recovered her spirits.
"On the ice box--charge!" she cried gaily, waltzing about.
The girls found little enough to reward them, and it came, finally,
to the necessity of making a raid on the nearest delicatessen shop if
they were to "banquet" their father.
In fact since the DeVere family had come to make their home in the
Fenmore Apartment House, on one of the West Sixtieth streets of New
York City, there had been very little in the way of food luxuries,
and not a great deal of the necessities.
Their life had held a little more of ease and comfort when they lived
in a more fashionable quarter, but with the loss of their father's
theatrical engagement, and the long period of waiting for another,
their savings had been exhausted and they had had recourse to the
pawn shop, in addition to letting as many bills as possible go unpaid
until fortune smiled again.
Hosmer DeVere, who was a middle-aged, rather corpulent and
exceedingly kind and cultured gentleman, was the father of the two
girls. Their mother had been dead about seven years, a cold caught in
playing on a draughty stage developing into pneumonia, from which she
never rallied.
Ruth and Alice came of a theatrical family--at least, on their
father's side--for his father and grandfather before him had enviable
histrionic reputations. Mrs. DeVere had been a vivacious country
maid--or, rather, a maid in a small town that was classed as being on
the "country" circuit by the company playing it. Mr. DeVere, then
blossoming into a leading man, was in the troupe, and became
acquainted with his future wife through the medium of the theater.
She had sought an interview with the manager, seeking a chance to
"get on the boards," and Mr. DeVere admired her greatly.
Their married life was much happier than the usual theatrical union,
and under the guidance and instruction of her husband Mrs. DeVere had
become one of the leading juvenile players. Both her husband and
herself were fond of home life, and they had looked forward to the
day when they could retire and shut themselves away from the public
with their two little daughters.
But fortunes are seldom made on the stage--not half as often as is
imagined--and the time seemed farther and farther off. Then came Mrs.
DeVere's illness and death, and for a time a broken-hearted man
withdrew himself from the world to devote his life to his daughters.
But the call of the stage was imperative, not so much from choice as
necessity, for Mr. DeVere could do little to advantage save act, and
in this alone could he make a living. So he had returned to the
"boards," filling various engagements with satisfaction, and taking
his daughters about with him.
Rather strange to say, up to the present, though literally saturated
with the romance and hard work of the footlights, neither Ruth nor
Alice had shown any desire to go on the stage. Or, if they had it,
they had not spoken of it. And their father was glad.
Mr. DeVere was a clever character actor, and had created a number of
parts that had won favor. He inclined to whimsical comedy rôles,
rather than to romantic drama, and several of his old men studies are
remembered on Broadway to this day. He had acted in Shakespeare, but
he had none of that burning desire, with which many actors are
credited, to play Hamlet. Mr. DeVere was satisfied to play the
legitimate in his best manner, to look after his daughters, and to
trust that in time he might lay by enough for himself, and see them
happily married.
But the laying-aside process had been seriously interrupted several
times by lack of engagements, so that the little stock of savings
dwindled away.
Then came a panicky year. Many theaters were closed, and more actors
"walked the Rialto" looking for engagements than ever before. Mr.
DeVere was among them, and he even accepted a part in a vaudeville
sketch to eke out a scanty livelihood.
Good times came again, but did not last, and finally it looked to the
actor as though he were doomed to become a "hack," or to linger along
in some stock company. He was willing to do this, though, for the
sake of the girls.
A rather longer period of inactivity than usual made a decided change
in the DeVere fortunes, if one can call a struggle against poverty
"fortunes." They had to leave their pleasant apartment and take one
more humble. Some of their choice possessions, too, went to the sign
of the three golden balls; but, with all this, it was hard work to
set even their scanty table. And the bills!
Ruth wept in secret over them, being the house-keeper. And, of late,
some of the tradesmen were not as patient and kind as they had been
at first. Some even sent professional collectors, who used all their
various wiles to humiliate their debtors.
But now a ray of light seemed to shine through the gloom, and a
tentative promise from one theatrical manager had become a reality.
Mr. DeVere had telephoned that the contract was signed, and that he
would have a leading part at last, after many weeks of idleness.
"What is the play?" asked Alice of her sister, when they had decided
on what they might safely get from the delicatessen store. "Did dad
say?"
"Yes. It's 'A Matter of Friendship.' One of those new society
dramas."
"Oh, I do hope he gets us tickets!"
"We will need some dresses before we can use tickets," sighed Ruth.
"Positively I wouldn't go anywhere but in the gallery now."
"No, we wouldn't exactly shine in a box," agreed Alice.
"Hark!" cautioned her sister. "There's someone in the hall now. I
heard a step----"
There came a knock on the door, and in spite of themselves both girls
started nervously.
"That isn't his rap!" whispered Alice.
"No. Ask who it is," suggested Ruth. Somehow, she looked again to the
younger Alice now.
"Who--who is it?" faltered the latter. "Maybe it's one of those
horrid collectors," she went on, in her sister's ear. "I wish I'd
kept quiet."
But the voice that answered reassured them.
"Are you there, Miss DeVere? This is Russ Dalwood. I want to
apologize for that row outside your door a few minutes ago. It was an
accident. I'm sorry. May I come in?"