A RESCUE
Perhaps it was partly owing to Patty's natural sense of humour, or
perhaps her overwrought nerves made her feel a little hysterically
inclined, but somehow the situation suddenly struck her as being very
funny. To think that she, Patty Fairfield, was about to be arrested
because she couldn't pay her cab fare, truly seemed like a joke.
But though it seemed like a joke, it wasn't one. As Patty hesitated, the
cabman grew more impatient and less respectful.
Patty's feeling of amusement passed as quickly as it came, and she
realised that she must do something at once. Nan was not at home, her
father was too far away, and, curiously, the next person she thought of
as one who could help her in her trouble was Mr. Hepworth.
This thought seemed like an inspiration. Instantly assuming an air of
authority and dignity, she turned to the angry cabman and said, "You will
be the one to be arrested unless you behave yourself more properly. Come
with me to the nearest public telephone station. I have sufficient money
with me to pay for a telephone message, and I will then prove to your
satisfaction that your fare will be immediately paid."
Patty afterward wondered how she had the courage to make this speech, but
the fear of what might happen had been such a shock to her that it had
reacted upon her timidity.
And with good results, for the cabman at once became meek and even
cringing.
"There's a telephone across the street, Miss," he said.
"Very well," said Patty; "come with me."
"There's a telephone here, Miss," said the Italian woman, "if you would
like to use it."
"That's better yet," said Patty; "where's the book?"
Taking the telephone book, Patty quickly turned the leaves until she
found Mr. Hepworth's studio number.
She had an aversion to speaking her own name before her present hearers,
so when Mr. Hepworth responded she merely said, "Do you know who I am?"
Of course the others listening could not hear when Mr. Hepworth responded
that he did know her voice, and then called her by name.
"Very well," said Patty, still speaking with dignity, "I have had the
misfortune to lose my purse, and I am unable to pay my cab fare. Will you
be kind enough to answer the cabman over this telephone right now, and
inform him that it will be paid if he will drive me to your address,
which you will give him?"
"Certainly," replied Mr. Hepworth politely, though he was really very
much amazed at this message.
Patty turned to the cabman and said, somewhat sternly, "Take this
receiver and speak to the gentleman at the other end of the wire."
Sheepishly the man took the receiver and timidly remarked, "Hello."
"What is your number?" asked Mr. Hepworth, and the cabman told him.
"Where are you?" was the next question, and the cabman gave the address
of the costumer, which Patty had not remembered to do.
Mr. Hepworth's studio was not very many blocks away, and he gave the
cabman his name and address, saying, "Bring the young lady around here at
once, as quickly as you can. I will settle with you on your arrival."
Mr. Hepworth hung up his own receiver, much puzzled. His first impulse
was to go to the address where Patty was, but as it would take some time
for him to get around there by any means, he deemed it better that she
should come to him.
As Patty felt safe, now that she was so soon to meet Mr. Hepworth, she
gave her remaining change to the Italian woman, who had been kind, though
stolidly disinterested, during the whole interview.
The cabman, having given his number to Mr. Hepworth, felt a responsibility
for the safety of his passenger, and assisted her into the cab with humble
politeness.
A few moments' ride brought them to the large building in which was Mr.
Hepworth's studio, and that gentleman himself, hatted and gloved, stood
on the curb awaiting them.
"What's it all about?" he asked Patty, making no motion, however, to
assist her from the cab.
But the reaction after her fright and embarrassment had made Patty so
weak and nervous that she was on the verge of tears.
"I didn't have any money," she said; "I don't know whether I lost it or
not, and if you'll please pay him, papa will pay you afterward."
"Of course, child; that's all right," said Mr. Hepworth. "Don't get out,"
he added, as Patty started to do so. "Stay right where you are, and I'll
take you home." He gave Patty's address to the driver, swung himself into
the cab beside Patty, and off they started.
"I wasn't frightened," said Patty, though her quivering lip and trembling
hands belied her words; "but when he said he'd arrest me, I--I didn't
know what to do, and so I telephoned to you."
"Quite right," said Hepworth, in a casual tone, which gave no hint of the
joy he felt in being Patty's protector in such an emergency. "But I say,
child, you look regularly done up. What have you been doing? Have you had
your luncheon?"
"No," said Patty, faintly.
"And it's after two o'clock," said Hepworth, sympathetically. "You poor
infant, I'd like to take you somewhere for a bite, but I suppose that
wouldn't do. Well, here's the only thing we can do, and it will at least
keep you from fainting away."
He signalled the cabman to stop at a drug shop, where there was a large
soda fountain. Here he ordered for Patty a cup of hot bouillon. He made
her drink it slowly, and was rejoiced to see that it did her good. She
felt better at once, and when they returned to the cab she begged Mr.
Hepworth to let her go on home alone, and not take any more of his
valuable time.
"No, indeed," said that gentleman; "it may not be according to the
strictest rules of etiquette for me to be going around with you in a
hansom cab, but it's infinitely better than for you to be going around
alone. So I'll just take charge of you until I can put you safely inside
your father's house."
"And the girls are coming at two o'clock for a rehearsal!" said Patty.
"Oh, I shall be late."
"The girls will wait," said Mr. Hepworth, easily, and then during the
rest of the ride he entertained Patty with light, merry conversation.
He watched her closely, however, and came to the conclusion that the girl
was very nervous, and excitable to a degree that made him fear she was on
the verge of a mental illness.
"When is this play of yours to come off?" he enquired.
"Next Thursday night," said Patty, "if we can get ready for it, and we
must; but oh, there is so much to do, and now I've wasted this whole
morning and haven't accomplished a thing, and I don't know where Miss
Sinclair is, and I didn't see about the costumes, after all, and now I'll
be late for rehearsal. Oh, what shall I do?"
Mr. Hepworth had sufficient intuition to know that if he sympathised with
Patty in her troubles she was ready to break down in a fit of nervous
crying.
So he said, as if the matter were of no moment, "Oh, pshaw, those
costumes will get themselves attended to some way or another. Why, I'll
go down there this afternoon and hunt them up, if you like. Just tell me
what ones you want."
This was help, indeed. Patty well knew that Mr. Hepworth's artistic taste
could select the costumes even better than her own, and she eagerly told
him the necessary details.
Mr. Hepworth also promised to look after some other errands that were
troubling Patty's mind, so that when she finally reached home she was
calm and self-possessed once more.
Mr. Hepworth quickly settled matters with the cabman, and then escorted
Patty up the steps to her own front door, where, with a bow and a few
last kindly words, he left her and walked rapidly away.
The girls who had gathered for rehearsal greeted her with a chorus of
reproaches for being so late, but when Patty began to tell her exciting
experiences, the rehearsal was forgotten in listening to the thrilling
tale.
"Come on, now," said Patty, a little later, "we must get to work. Get
your places and begin your lines, while I finish these."
Patty had refused to go to luncheon, and the maid had brought a tray into
the library for her. So, with a sandwich in one hand and a glass of milk
in the other, she directed the rehearsal, taking her own part therein
when the time came.
So the days went on, each one becoming more and more busy as the fateful
time drew near.
Also Patty became more and more nervous. She had far more to do than any
of the other girls, for they depended on her in every emergency, referred
every decision to her, and seemed to expect her to do all the hardest of
the work.
Moreover, the long strain of overstudy she had been through had left its
effects on her system, and Patty, though she would not admit it, and no
one else realised it, was in imminent danger of an attack of nervous
prostration.
The last few days Nan had begun to suspect this, but as nothing could be
done to check Patty's mad career, or even to assist her in the many
things she had to do, Nan devoted her efforts to keeping Patty
strengthened and stimulated, and was constantly appearing to her with a
cup of hot beef tea, or of strong coffee, or a dose of some highly
recommended nerve tonic.
Although these produced good temporary effects, the continued use of
these remedies really aggravated Patty's condition, and when Thursday
came she was almost a wreck, both physically and mentally, and Nan was at
her wits' end to know how to get the girl through the day.
At the summons of her alarm clock Patty rose early in the morning, for
there was much to do by way of final preparation. Before breakfast she
had attended to many left-over odds and ends, and when she appeared at
the table she said only an absent-minded "good-morning," and then knit
her brows as if in deep and anxious thought.
Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield looked at each other. They knew that to say a word
to Patty by way of warning would be likely to precipitate the breakdown
that they feared, so they were careful to speak very casually and gently.
"Anything I can do for you to-day, Puss?" said her father, kindly.
"No," said Patty, still frowning; "but I wish the flowers would come. I
have to make twenty-four garlands before I go over to the schoolroom, and
I must be there by ten o'clock to look after the building of the
platform."
"Can't I make the garlands for you?" asked Nan.
"No," said Patty, "they have to be made a special way, and you'd only
spoil them."
"But if you showed me," urged Nan, patiently. "If you did two or three,
perhaps I could copy them exactly; at any rate, let me try."
"Very well," said Patty, dully, "I wish you could do them, I'm sure."
The flowers were delayed, as is not unusual in such cases, and it was
nearly ten when they arrived.
Patty was almost frantic by that time, and Nan, as she afterward told her
husband, had to "handle her with gloves on."
But by dint of tact and patience, Nan succeeded in persuading Patty,
after making two or three garlands, to leave the rest for her to do.
Although they were of complicated design, Nan was clever at such things,
and could easily copy Patty's work. And had she been herself, Patty would
have known this. But so upset was she that even her common sense seemed
warped.
When she reached the schoolroom there were a thousand and one things to
see to, and nearly all of them were going wrong.
Patty flew from one thing to another, straightening them out and bringing
order from confusion, and though she held herself well in hand, the
tension was growing tighter, and there was danger of her losing control
of herself at any minute.
Hilda Henderson was the only one who realised this, and, taking Patty
aside, she said to her, quietly, "Look here, girl, I'll attend to
everything else; there's not much left that needs special attention. And
I want you to go right straight home, take a hot bath, and then lie down
and rest until time to dress for the afternoon programme. Will you?"
Patty looked at Hilda with a queer, uncomprehending gaze. She seemed
scarcely to understand what was being said to her.
"Yes," she said, but as she turned she half stumbled, and would have
fallen to the floor if Hilda had not caught her strongly by the arm.
"Brace up," she said, and her voice was stern because she was thoroughly
frightened. "Patty Fairfield, don't you dare to collapse now! If you do,
I'll--I don't know _what_ I'll do to you! Come on, now, I'll go home with
you."
Hilda was really afraid to let Patty go alone, so hastily donning her hat
and coat she went with her to her very door.
"Take this girl," she said to Nan, "and put her to bed, and don't let her
see anybody or say anything until the programme begins this afternoon.
I'll look after everything that isn't finished, if you'll just keep her
quiet."
Nan was thoroughly alarmed, but she only said, "All right, Hilda, I'll
take care of her, and thank you very much for bringing her home."
Patty sank down on a couch in a limp heap, but her eyes were big and
bright as she looked at Hilda, saying, "See that the stars are put on the
gilt wands, and the green bay leaves on the white ones. Lorraine's
spangled skirt is in Miss Oliphant's room, and please be sure,--" Patty
didn't finish this sentence, but lay back among the cushions, exhausted.
"Run along, Hilda," said Nan; "do the best you can with the stars and
things, and I'll see to it that Patty's all right by afternoon."