Quite unabashed, and giggling at the incident, Ruth took a back seat
with Polly and Dodo. But Polly felt jealous of Jimmy’s demands on
Eleanor’s time. She felt that her chum and dear friend should divide her
thoughts and attentions with others, and not sit in front listening to a
boy’s foolishness, all day long!
The road from Dublin, northwards, was rutty, and with wild vines
over-growing the steep banks on both sides. But the blossoms seemed
paler than those in England, and their perfume much less sweet. Even in
size, they appeared poorly-nourished, when compared to their large
robust English brethren.
The cottages they passed on this ride bore all the marks of neglect,
poverty and dirt. Pigs were as much at home inside the house, as were
the tenants, while troops of dirty children rolled around in front of
the houses, mingling with the chickens, dogs, pigs and other domestic
live-stock, in cases where the owner could afford them.
“Oh, let’s get away from this part of Ireland,” cried Angela, with
disgust.
“It seems a waste of valuable time to have come here at all,” declared
Polly, holding a handkerchief to her nose as they passed a dreadful
hovel where unkempt children played and fought.
The roads were so bad, however, that the cars could not speed very fast,
so they had to stop at Belfast, that night, and resume the journey in
the morning. The second day in Ireland they managed to travel as far as
Port Rush, merely going aside before reaching that place, in order to
see the “Giant’s Causeway” and its rugged cliffs along the coast-line.
Another night was spent in Port Rush, as the boat for Scotland had left
before the tourists reached the port. Jimmy had gone headlong into the
new affair with Eleanor, and apparently had continued his love-making
where he had suddenly terminated it with Ruth. There were no romantic
beginnings for Eleanor, in his approaches to a declaration. So that when
they were crossing from Ireland to Androssan, in Scotland, the
infatuated lover managed to get Eleanor away from the others and hide
her in a steamer-chair, found in a nook, where he could give full
expression to his gift of romance.
The others in the party saw the Giant’s Causeway and the famous cliffs,
from the sea, as they passed by in the steamer, but Eleanor never saw
the least bit of them, because of Jimmy’s screening form and his refusal
to permit her to leave him.
Angela was delighted to find her brother had finally appreciated the
recklessness of his attachment to Ruth, when there were far richer girls
in the party. She would have selected Dodo or Polly, had he asked _her_
to decide for him, but Eleanor was better than Ruth. So she seconded all
her brother’s attempts to kidnap Eleanor whenever the entire party
wished to go anywhere or do a thing.
“It’s a wonder your brother did not fall in love with these four pretty
girls at one time—and save trouble,” said Nancy Fabian, laughingly to
Angela.
“Now, Nancy, don’t show your jealousy,” returned Angela.
“Me—jealous! Why, Angie, you know I refused Jimmy three or four times
before these girls ever put in an appearance. To accuse me of jealousy
when I hail the deliverance from his attentions is ridiculous of you.”
Polly overheard these remarks and determined that she would spare her
friend any further annoyances from Jimmy. “Here Nolla was losing all the
wonderful sights they came expressly to Europe to see, and a foolish boy
was using that time for a flirtation.” Polly mentioned this to Eleanor
the first time she got her away from Jimmy.
“Oh, but he heaps such good candies on one, Poll,” laughed Eleanor,
apologetically. “Let his love die a natural death, and then there will
be no danger of its ghost ever bobbing up to frighten me.”
“But you’re giving this precious time to a bally fool, and missing Mr.
Fabian’s rare lessons on information you’ll need to know,” declared
Polly, angrily.
“I can’t help it, Poll. You’ll see how it is when your turn comes with
Jimmy,” laughed Eleanor, teasingly.
Polly’s eyes snapped fire. Then she threatened something that had been
alluded to before, between Eleanor and herself. “I plan to write letters
home tonight when we stop at Glasgow. I’m going to tell Paul Stewart
what a dreadful flirt you have turned out to be!”
Eleanor gasped, but was brave. “Oh yes, and also tell him what a
wonderful girl his old playmate, Dodo Alexander, is, and how, with all
her money, he can easily win her and live in ease the rest of his life!”
Eleanor turned away shortly after that, and Polly felt like crying. This
was the first time, in years, that Eleanor and she had had words, and
that horrid little fop was the cause of it!
But Polly’s threat, although vain, served to startle Eleanor in her
passive acceptance of Jimmy’s attentions. She sat in the same seat on
the road to Edinburgh, it is true, but she was a dull companion and
never as much as glanced at her admirer.
Polly and she had not spoken to each other since the words they had had,
but both girls revenged themselves on Jimmy—the cause of their quarrel.
And he, unaware of what had caused the sudden change in Eleanor’s
feelings for him, tried all the more to win her back to that former
sweet companionship with him.
At Edinburgh, Mr. Fabian conducted his party through the fifteen famous
castles and numerous other places of interest to lovers of the antique,
and Eleanor was a member of the group in every instance. In order to be
near his heart’s desire, Jimmy had to trail along, too, sighing in
anguish and rolling his eyes in desperation, when Eleanor ignored him
completely.
“He acts and looks like a comedian in the Movies,” said Nancy,
impatiently.
Angela smiled wisely and tossed her head when she heard the remark.
Nancy cared naught for that, but turned her attention to Polly who was
flushing and fuming to herself.
“What’s the matter, Poll dear?” asked Nancy, softly.
“Oh, he makes me so mad! I could just slap his face for him! There’s
your father giving us all this wonderful information on architecture and
antiques, and poor Nolla not hearing a word of it, because of that
fortune-hunting fool!”
“S-sh! Not so loud, dear! I feel as you do about him, but I have learned
that it is best not to interfere in the matter. Let Jimmy and his sister
‘have rope enough.’ You know the rest.”
“Why, Nancy! I thought you were devoted to Angela?” gasped Polly.
“I was—once, dear, but don’t speak of it to anyone else. I thought
Angie the most wonderful girl in the world until these past few days
when I found that her entire heart and mind is set on getting wealth by
some means or other. Her art, her friends, and her very self-respect,
are being sacrificed to that one ambition. Hence I have had to crucify
my friendship, too, and try to feel indifferent to the past.”
“Dear Nancy!” condoled Polly. “I know just how I would feel if Nolla
proved to be unworthy of my love and friendship.”
“But she won’t—she is a true American, Polly, and that makes a
difference. Much depends on the way you have been trained to think, and
poor Angie thinks society and wealth mean heaven.”
Having visited the principal points of interest in Edinburgh, Mr. Fabian
took his party to Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott. Here the
collection of wonderful objects and the interest created in them by the
names of the donors to the famous novelist, gave the tourists much
pleasure.
Polly saw that Jimmy still tormented Eleanor and kept her from enjoying
the visit to Abbotsford as she should have done. So she waylaid the
young man, as he followed Eleanor from the place.
[Illustration: “I’LL TELL YOU SOMETHING THAT OUGHT TO DO YOU GOOD!”
SAID POLLY.]
“James Osgood! What do you suppose Nolla Maynard came to Europe for? To
amuse _you_ with silly-mush, or to study art and try to become
experienced against the time we go into business?” fumed Polly, striding
in front of Jimmy and facing him so that he had to stop short.
Eleanor was surprised at first, then she began to enjoy the encounter.
Jimmy was too amazed to answer, but he stared at Polly and her blazing
eyes, as if she were an apparition.
“Well, I’ll tell you something that ought to do you good!” continued
Polly, cracking her fingers under Jimmy’s nose. “There isn’t a man
outside of Colorado, who can ever touch Eleanor Maynard’s heart, because
she left it out there long ago! And what’s more—there isn’t a man like
_you_, that can get one cent of American money from any girl who has
sense to know what you’re after! Now take yourself and your love-making
off, to a girl who doesn’t know better!”
The cutting scorn and fire with which Polly drove home her speech,
caused Jimmy to shrink momentarily, but he also saw the glorious beauty
of the girl with the flushed face, blazing eyes, and quivering form, and
his impressionable heart took fire.
Polly had left him speechless, and Eleanor had hurried away to the other
girls, lest she burst out laughing in sheer enjoyment of the bout
between the two. But Jimmy stood lost in thought. He had never in his
life, had anyone speak so to him, and never had he seen such marvellous
beauty as that which Polly scintillated as she fired her sparks of fury
at him.
Then he suddenly recovered and shot ahead to reach his car. He waited at
the side, where one who would sit beside him, had to enter. He waved
Nancy, Ruth, and Eleanor on to the back, and bowed low when Polly came
up.
“Humph!” was all she granted him, and flounced along to the other seats.
Thus it happened that Angela had to sit beside her brother that day,
much to the annoyance of both of them.
“What’s the matter with Nolla?” whispered she, as the car started.
“Nothing. She’s nice enough, but I’m going to get Polly Brewster if I
have to kidnap her!” he hissed through his teeth. Meantime he made the
car tear along at such a rate that the girls could hardly breathe.
“D-o—n’t kill—us—in—the—me-an—time!” gasped Angela.
“Better all dead, than let her get away!”
“I al-wa-ys kn-ew you—had co-ot-tton wh-ere br-rains
ought—to—be-e——” Angela managed to jerk forth.
Jimmy made no reply to this stigma but tore along the road until a
constable arrested him. That calmed him somewhat, for he had to pay a
fine, and it took all the money Mrs. Alexander had recently given him.
When the second car caught up with Jimmy’s, Mr. Alexander shouted
gleefully: “That was some race, Jimmy, old boy! I used to eat up the
road that way, in Colorado, but they won’t stand for it over here, will
they?”
As Jimmy had just transferred his little roll of bills from his pocket,
to the constable’s hand, he grunted and started on slowly.
Mr. Fabian called out, however: “You rushed past all the towns I had
planned to stop at and explore. Now shall we go back!”
“No, never mind, Prof! let’s get back to London and end this awful
trip!” shouted Polly, anxiously.
Her friends laughed, but the tourists in the second car could not
understand why the drive was so awful to Polly.
At Penrith the travellers stopped, as they planned to go cross country
to visit some fine old places located at Ripon. And they also wished to
visit York, which was a few miles from Penrith.
That night, the moment Jimmy was washed and brushed, he took up his post
at the foot of the stairs where the girls would have to come down. One
after another of the party descended but Polly failed to appear. Eleanor
smiled and took his arm to lure him away, but he shook off her hand just
as a petulant child might.
Still smiling, Eleanor walked away and joined her friends in the parlor.
Soon after that, they went to the dining-room for dinner, leaving Jimmy
still on guard waiting for Polly.
It was a merry party that enjoyed dinner that evening, but Jimmy took no
interest in it, as he still watched for the coming of his lady—as he
called her to himself. During a lull in the conversation in the
dining-room, Jimmy distinctly heard a voice telling of exploits in the
Rocky Mountains, when Eleanor spent the Summer at Pebbly Pit.
Jimmy started! It was Polly’s own voice! But how did she get down while
he stood watching so carefully?
He hurried to the door of the room and looked in. There she sat,
entertaining the whole assembly, with her stories—and he had been left
out in the hall all that time! He could have wept!
When he took a seat at the table, everyone expressed the deepest concern
for him. “Was he ill?” “Did he feel badly about the fine for speeding?”
and many other questions to which he gave no reply.
When they left the room, Jimmy jumped up also, and just as Polly was
leaving, he caught her hand.
“Won’t you let me see you alone this evening—please?”
Polly lifted her head a bit higher—if that were possible—and deigned
to glance at him. “What for?” snapped she.
“I—I want to tell you—oh, just give me a moment!”
“Very well—one moment right here! Let the others leave.”
“No—no, not in this public room. Somewhere where I can speak——”
begged Jimmy.
“Here or nowhere!”
“Oh, Polly, Polly! Why are you so cruel?” began Jimmy, as he forced a
look of agony into his eyes.
“Come now—that will do from you, little boy! If that is what you have
to say, then just keep it. I’ve no time to throw away,” said Polly, in a
voice like steel, and then she drew aside her dress and walked away.
Jimmy stood disconsolate, wishing he dared commit suicide before her
eyes, and make her repent those unkind words. But he was awfully hungry,
and he thought better of suicide so he went back to finish his late
dinner.
Eleanor saw him, later, as he left the dining-room and, with the imp of
mischief uppermost in her mind, waylaid him and spent the evening
talking of nothing but Polly—her beauty, her accomplishments, and her
tremendous wealth that no one as yet, had been able to compute.
Had Jimmy any doubt of who his soul-mate was, before, that talk settled
it. He was now determined to have Polly, even if he had to steal her and
keep her locked up until she consented to his offer of marriage.
The farce now amused everyone but Angela and Mrs. Alexander. Jimmy was
so openly wild about Polly that he acted like a possessed idiot rather
than a young man with a grain of sense. If Polly had fawned upon him, he
might have wearied of her company, but because she scorned him so
heartily and showed it plainly, he felt all the more attracted to her.
Mrs. Alexander snubbed Polly whenever she scorned Jimmy; and Angela made
much of the lady because she showed her partisanship for the young man,
so openly. Thus the two, Angela and Mrs. Alexander came closer together
because of the common bond—Jimmy.
When Mr. Fabian suggested that all go to see the Minster of York, Angela
and Mrs. Alexander refused. Jimmy saw the look Polly cast at him, and
murmured something about drowning his sorrow. But he failed to say
whether it would be in the river or in home-brew.
They viewed the ancient place and Mr. Fabian remarked: “It was here that
the greatest disaster that ever befell man occurred in 306 A.D.”
“Why, I never heard of it—what was it?” asked Mr. Ashby.
“Perhaps you, like many others, never thought of it as a disaster,”
replied Mr. Fabian. “Because I speak of the proclamation issued here by
the Romans, that made Constantine an Emperor in 306. This emperor,
understanding the tremendous advantages of a political nature, if he
could gain full power and control of the religion that was gaining such
an ascendancy with the people—the Christ Truth that healed the sick,
cured sin, and raised the very dead, as it _did_ until three hundred
years after Jesus ascended—bribed a few of the disloyal Christians to
act in concord with him.
“For the reward of place and power conceded to them, the unscrupulous
Christians sold out their faith and brethren to this Emperor. He, wily
and crafty in diplomacy and politics, sent out word, far and wide, that
Christianity would thenceforth be protected by him.
“In this place, that proclamation was hailed with a great celebration,
and Christianity became the ruling religion here. But the power of the
Spirit, as used by Christ Jesus, vanished when pomp and politics
supplanted it, and soon the gift of healing was lost until recent
years.”
“That is very interesting, Fabian,” said Mr. Ashby, while the girls
listened to this unusual information, eagerly. “I have sometimes
wondered why it was that the power demonstrated by Christ Jesus could
not have been used by his followers.”
“It was, you see, until Constantine misused the gift. All such who use
it for place or power will lose it,” said Mr. Fabian, earnestly.
“How did you ever learn about it, Prof?” asked Eleanor eagerly.
“The records of the entire transaction and the courageous though fearful
stand the Early Christians took to defend their religion, can be read in
the books called ‘The Anti-Nicean Fathers.’ There one can learn how
wonderful were the cures and the over-coming of death for all who
accepted Christianity, up to the time when it became defiled by greed
and avarice and earthly taint.
“But, to me, the saddest part of all that sad event, is the fact that
mankind, today, believes it _has_ the Truth as taught and practised by
Christ Jesus. Whereas they only have the form and farce of it, as it was
changed from the pure spiritual power to that counterfeit endorsed by
Constantine. And for this subterfuge, the world honors that unscrupulous
politician!”
Mr. Fabian was so incensed at the thought of all the act meant to the
world, that he stalked out of the Minster and went on silently, followed
almost as silently by the others. They were all thinking earnestly of
what he had said, and everyone pondered on what _might have been_ had
Constantine never interfered with the Truth.
After leaving York, the cars went through Selby, and stopped at Doncast
long enough to give the tourists time to visit the gargoyled church.
Then they sped on to Sheffield where Mr. Fabian showed the girls how the
famous Sheffield Plate was made.
The next stopping place was Haddon Hall, the home and burial spot of
Dorothy Vernon. The country in this part of England is wild and ruggedly
beautiful, with good roads for automobiles. So the cars sped smoothly
along to Derby, where the collectors had dreams of old Crown Derby ware,
but found nothing to materialize those visions.
Jimmy had been so annoying with his attentions to Polly, with his
hang-dog expression, as he followed her everywhere, that the others
began to feel impatient about it, instead of laughing as at a good joke
as they had done. Finally Mr. Fabian spoke to him severely.
“See here, James, I can make allowances for a young man of your type,
naturally, but when you make a beastly nuisance of yourself, I must
interfere. Now leave Polly alone, and don’t annoy her further with your
transitory love. Throw it away on some girl who wants it.”
But Mrs. Fabian felt that a better cure might have been applied. “If
Polly would only hang on his arm and tell him how she loves him, he will
drop her like an old shoe.”
“I don’t believe it! He has a double-edged axe to grind, and there’s no
use getting Polly in wrong, in case he wanted to get her and what she
owns,” returned Mr. Fabian, wisely.
Jimmy had not the character that would give perseverance and persistence
for any problem, so he finally lost interest in the affair he had
created for himself with Polly. Mrs. Alexander felt greatly elated when
she saw him casting eyes at Dodo, oftener than he had in the past. And
to show her appreciation of this, she quietly urged another roll of
bills into his willing palm.
Perhaps it was the understanding that Polly and Dodo had had with each
other that had caught Jimmy’s attention. To spare Polly any further
annoyance, Dodo had offered to divert the silly affair to herself, if
possible. So she dressed in her finest, and flirted with Jimmy, and
tried in every way to attract his eyes to herself. And it was not
difficult to do, either.
Before they started for London, having done the points of interest at
Coventry, Kenilworth, and so on to Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon, Jimmy
was recovering from his desire to die, and was taking notice of Dodo. By
the time they reached Stratford he was able to act any lover’s part in
the Shakespearian plays, provided Dodo was the lady-love in the scene.
His companions, excepting Angela and Dodo’s mother, were out of all
patience with him. He was such a weak-hearted lover who had no idea of
the first principles of the game, that they had very little to say to
him the last days of the trip.
Dodo bravely endured his soft speeches and smilingly accepted the
bon-bons and blossoms her mother’s money enabled him to shower upon her,
but when they reached London, and the time came when the association
could be severed, she ruthlessly did so.
The Americans stopped at one of the best hotels, while Angela and Jimmy
drove to their home to get the directions left there for them by Sir
James.
Shortly after everyone had decided to rest at the hotel after the long
ride that day, Jimmy came rushing in to see the men.
“We found these letters at the house, so Angela made me come right in
with them. Of course, you will all accept!”
There was a special invitation for each family, inviting them down to
Sir James’ country place for a week or two. When Mr. Alexander read and
passed the letter on to his wife, she was so pleased that she could
hardly wait to hear what the others would say.
“Very sorry, Jimmy, but I am booked for business interviews from now on
until I sail for the States, again,” explained Mr. Ashby, answering for
his family as well as for himself.
“And we plan to leave London very shortly, Jimmy, to tour the Continent,
as you know,” added Mr. Fabian.
“But we will go down with you, Jimmy, and thank your dear father, again
and again,” exclaimed Mrs. Alexander, sweetly.
“How do you know we will?” demanded Mr. Alexander; “I don’t want to be
bothered with style and society when I can have a nice time in my car
touring over Europe.”
“We’ll have to go for a week, at least,” said Mrs. Alexander,
positively. “There are many reasons why.” Then turning to Jimmy she
added: “So tell your dear parents that we will be pleased to accept,
Jimmy.”
Dodo hurried from the parlor where this meeting took place, and Jimmy
could not find her when he tried to have a few words with her, alone.
“Never mind, now, Jimmy,” whispered Mrs. Alexander as she followed him
from the room. “You will have Dodo all to yourself when we get down to
Osgood Hall.”
Rolling his eyes dramatically and sighing with joy as he shook the plump
bejewelled hands of his expectant mother-in-law, Jimmy hurried away to
rejoin his sister Angela in the car.