THE WARNING
"Did you hear that?" asked Ruth of Alice, in a whisper.
"Yes! Hush! Don't let them hear you!"
Ruth looked apprehensively over the back of her chair, but beheld no
one. The noise made by the men as they were going out grew fainter.
Alice rose from her chair.
"What are you going to do?" asked Ruth, laying a detaining hand on
her sister's arm.
"I'm going to see who those men are."
"Don't. They may----"
Alice made a gesture of silence.
"I'm pretty sure who one of them is," she whispered, as she bent down
close to Ruth. "But I want to make certain."
"But Alice----"
"Now, Ruth, be sensible," went on Alice, as she passed around back of
her sister's chair. "You heard what was said. I'm sure those men
have some designs on that patent Russ has worked so hard over. We
must tell him about them, and put him on his guard."
"You may get into danger."
It was curious how, in this emergency--as she had often done of
late--Alice took the lead over her older sister. And Ruth did not
object to it, but seemed to follow naturally after Alice led the way.
"Danger!" laughed Alice softly, as she came to a position behind the
screen, whence she could note who the men going out were. "There's no
danger in a public restaurant like this. And I'm only going to make
sure who that man is. Then we'll go tell Russ."
Ruth made no further objection, and turned to watch her sister. The
men had come to a halt at the desk of the cashier, to pay their
checks, and their backs were toward Alice. An instant later, however,
one of them had turned around and faced toward the rear of the
restaurant.
Alice darted behind the screen with a quick intaking of her breath.
She had recognized the man, and was fearful lest he know her.
For he was the fellow with whom Russ had been in dispute in the
hallway that day, when the DeVeres' door had flown open.
"Simp Wolley!" whispered Alice, in tense tones to Ruth. "It's that
man who was after Russ's patent."
"Then don't let him see you."
"I won't--no danger. They're going out now. Come on!"
"Where?" asked Ruth, as Alice reached for her gloves.
"We must go to warn Russ."
"But we haven't eaten what we ordered," objected Ruth, pointing to
the food, hardly touched, on the table.
"No matter, we can pay for it."
"But the cashier will think it so odd."
"What do we care. It's our food--we'll pay for it, and we can do what
we like with it then. We can eat it or not."
"But they'll think it so queer. They may think we have some prejudice
against it, and----"
Ruth was a stickler for the established order of things. Alice was
more in the habit of taking "cross-cuts."
"Don't be silly!" exclaimed the younger girl. "We've just got to get
out of here and warn Russ before those men have a chance to take his
patent. You heard what they said about doing it to-night!"
"Well, I suppose we must," assented Ruth, with a sigh. "But it seems
a shame to waste all that good food."
"It won't be wasted. We can tell them to give it to some poor
person."
"Oh, Alice! You are so--so queer."
"I'd be worse than queer if I sat here and ate while Russ was being
robbed of his patent. I should think you'd want to help him. I
thought you and he----"
"Alice!" warned Ruth, with a sudden assumption of dignity. But she
blushed prettily.
"Oh, you know what I mean. Come on. Don't sit there talking any
longer, and raising objections. We've got to hurry."
"Yes, I suppose so. Oh, Alice, I hope nothing happens!"
"So do I."
"I mean to us."
"And I mean to Russ. A distinction without a difference."
The two girls drew on their gloves and left the restaurant. As Ruth
had expected, the cashier at the desk looked at them curiously as
they paid for the meal they had not eaten. But Alice forestalled any
open criticism by saying:
"We find we have to leave sooner than we expected. If you like, give
our meal to some poor person. We haven't had time to touch it."
"Oh, all right," answered the young girl at the desk. "We often give
what is left over to charity, and I'm sure the food on your table
won't come amiss. If you like I'll speak to the manager, and see if
he'll give you a rebate----"
"No, we haven't time for that--too much of a hurry," answered Alice.
"Come along, Ruth."
They hurried outside, and Alice glanced quickly up and down the
street for a glimpse of the two men. They were not in sight.
"I wish we were rich!" suddenly exclaimed Alice, as she took her
sister's arm, and hurried in the direction of the elevated that would
take them home.
"Why?" asked Ruth.
"Because then we could afford to take a taxicab. We ought to warn
Russ as soon as possible. How much money have you, Ruth?"
"Not enough for a taxicab, I'm afraid." She hastily counted it over.
Alice did the same.
"No," decided the younger girl, with a sigh. "I guess we'd better
not. At least--not yet. We may have to--later."
"What do you mean?" asked Ruth.
"I mean we can't tell what will happen before we are able to tell
Russ. He's hardly likely to be at home now, and we may have to
search for him."
"But we can go home and tell his mother and Billy. One of them could
find him, and warn him. Billy knows New York even better than we do."
"Yes, I suppose so. Well, we'll go to the apartment and see what
happens there."
But at the Fenmore the girls had their first disappointment, for none
of the Dalwoods was at home. Nor did any of the neighbors know where
they had gone. For persons in New York, even in the same apartment
house, are not very likely to become acquainted with one another, and
often families may live in adjoining flats for a long time, without
passing beyond the bowing stage. As for keeping track of the comings
and goings of their neighbors, it is never thought of, unless
something out of the ordinary occurs.
Echoes only answered the knocking of Ruth and Alice, and the two
girls faced each other in the hallway with anxious looks on their
faces.
"What shall we do?" asked Ruth. "None of them is home. How can we
warn Russ?"
"I don't know. I've got to think!" exclaimed Alice. "Come in our
place and let's sit down a minute. We can make a cup of tea. I was so
hungry, and to leave that nice little meal--well, we just had to do
it, that's all."
Tea was soon in process of making, and while the girls set out some
cakes and a jar of jam for a hasty meal they did some rapid thinking.
"Did you ever hear Russ say where it was he was having his patent
attachment made?" asked Alice.
"I never did," confessed Ruth. "He said it was somewhere on the East
Side, but that's very indefinite."
"Then the only thing to do is to find Russ and tell him," decided
Alice, as she removed, with the tip of her tongue, a spot of jam from
a forefinger. "We've just got to find him.
"Now I'll tell you what we'll do, Ruth. You stay here and as soon as
Mrs. Dalwood, or Billy, or perhaps even Russ comes home, you tell
them all about this plot."
"But what will you do?"
"I'll go find Russ."
"What! Alone?"
"Why not? We can't both go. Oh, I see!" and a light broke over the
face of Alice. "You mean you think it's _your_ place to warn him.
Well, maybe it is. I'm sure he would like----"
"Now, Alice, I didn't mean that at all, and you know it. I meant you
oughtn't to be going about New York alone, and it's getting late. It
will soon be dark."
"Nonsense! It isn't six o'clock yet."
"I know. But I can't allow you. We'll both go."
"But someone ought to be here to tell them as soon as one comes
home."
"We can write a note and leave it under the door. Then we can leave a
note for daddy. He'll be worried when he comes back and finds us
gone. That's the best plan, Alice. Leave a note for Russ, and then
you and I will try to find him. They may know at the studio where he
has gone. Or he may be there yet."
"All right!" agreed Alice, after a moment's thought.