by Nell Speed
CHAPTER IX
MR. MACHIAVELLI TUCKER
Nan wondered what Mr. Tucker had in mind to relieve the situation whichshe had so ingenuously disclosed to him on that little walk in themoonlight. The next morning she watched him closely and there wassomething about the businesslike way in which he sought out Mrs. Carter,when that lady appeared long after breakfast, that made her divine hehad something up his sleeve.
The charming lady was looking especially lovely in a white linen morningdress. She said she had slept splendidly in spite of the fact that sherather missed the rolling of the ship. Again she had kept Susan so busywaiting on her that the labor of serving breakfast properly had fallenon Helen. A tray of breakfast had to be arranged exactly as though theywere still in the city, and Susan made many trips from the cabin to thekitchen.
Mrs. Carter was one of those persons who was always treated as more orless of an invalid because of a certain delicate look she had, but hergirls could not remember her having had a real illness. She must not beawakened in the morning and she must never be asked to go out in badweather. She must have the daintiest food; the warmest corner in winterand the coolest in summer. She had never demanded these things, but theyhad always been given her as though she had a kind of divine right tothem. Her husband had, from the moment he saw her, the belle of bellesat White Sulphur, felt that she was to be served as a little queen andthe children had slipped into their father's way.
No one would have been more astonished than Annette Carter had anyoneaccused her of selfishness. Selfishness was something ugly and greedyand no one could say that she was that. She never made demands onanyone. In fact, she quite prided herself on not making demands.Everyone was kind and thoughtful of her, but then was she not kind andthoughtful of everyone? Had she not brought a present to every one ofher girls and a great box of expensive toys for Bobby? It was not herfault that Bobby preferred currying that disgraceful-looking old muleto playing with the fine things she had purchased for him at the mostexclusive toy shop in New York. Had she not even remembered every oneof the servants, not only Susan and Oscar but the ones who had been inher service when she had left Richmond? The fact that she had chargedall of these gifts and that the money to pay for them was to be workedfor by her daughters had not for a moment entered her mind.
"And how is camp life treating you this morning?" asked Jeffry Tucker,as he led the little lady to a particularly pleasant corner of thepavilion that commanded a view of the beautiful apple orchards of thatcounty of Virginia famous for the Albemarle pippins. "Did you ever seesuch a morning? I can hardly believe that only last night we were in thethroes of the fiercest storm I have ever seen."
"Oh, I am quite in love with camp life. It is not so rough as I expectedit to be when I arrived yesterday. I have a very comfortable bed and anice bright fire cheered me up wonderfully after I left the pavilionlast night. I must confess I was scared to death during the storm,although I held on to myself wonderfully."
"Yes, wonderfully!" but Jeffry Tucker crossed his fingers and reachedout for a bit of green from the pine tree growing close to the post. Hecould not but picture the little woman of the evening before hanging onto her husband, intent on protecting her dress and shrieking at everyclose flash of lightning or loud clap of thunder.
"I am so glad you are here because I am thinking of leaving my girls atthe camp for a while, and of course I could not think of doing it unlessyou were here to chaperone them."
"Oh, I never thought of my presence being necessary as a chaperone! Youknow I am thinking of taking Douglas to the White for a fortnight."
"Oh, I am sorry. Of course I could not leave my girls unless they are tobe chaperoned."
"But Robert will be here; he is enough chaperone surely."
"Yes, enough in our eyes but not the eyes of the world. You see, I thinkone cannot be too careful about what Mrs. Grundy will say," and JeffryTucker crossed his fingers again and reached for more green, "especiallywhen girls are about the age of mine and yours, too, about to belaunched in the world, as it were."
He was devoutly thankful that his girls could not hear him indulging inthis homily. If there ever lived a person who scorned Mrs. Grundy thatwas this same Jeffry Tucker. He devoutly hoped that Mrs. Carter wouldnot hear that Page Allison was in the habit of being chaperoned by him,if one could call it being chaperoned. He well knew that as a chaperoneRobert Carter had him beat a mile but he felt that a little subterfugewas permissable in as strenuous a case as this.
"Why, Mr. Tucker, I did not dream you were such a stickler for theproprieties!"
"Ahem--I am more so than I used to be. Having these girls almost grownmakes me feel I must be more careful than--my nature--er--er--dictates."
"Exactly! I respect you for it. I, too, think it very important,especially if a girl is to make a debut as I mean that Douglas shall. Iam very sorry, though, that you could not leave Virginia and Caroline uphere in Robert's care. I am sure it will be all right for once. I havequite set my heart on White Sulphur for a few weeks. I think it gives agirl a certain poise to be introduced to society in an informal waybefore she makes her debut."
"Well, I am sorry, too, sorrier than I can say. You see, I had plannedto come up again myself next Saturday and I thought I would bring withme Hiram G. Parker. He would like this sort of thing and fit in nicelywith these young girls. You know how much he takes to the girls beforethey are quite grown."
"Ye--es!" and Mrs. Carter was lost in a revery.
She well knew that the name of Hiram G. Parker was one that controlledsociety. He was the Beau Brummel of Richmond and in some unaccountableway had become the dictator of society, that is of the debutantesociety. He passed the word about whether or not a girl was to be abelle and his judgment was seldom gainsaid. Mrs. Carter was thinkingthat no doubt the presence of Hiram G. Parker in their camp would be ofmore benefit than a trip to White Sulphur. Her position in society wasof course assured beyond a doubt but that did not mean a successfuldebut for one of her daughters, certainly not for one who was to bepersuaded if not forced to be a debutante. The business of coming outmust be taken quite seriously and the importance of it not belittled.Poor Douglas was taking it seriously enough, but not in a way hermother thought desirable for success.
"Do you know, Mr. Tucker, I have half a mind to give up the trip toWhite Sulphur.--It is so pleasant here and so delightful to be with mychildren again; and if your daughters and that sweet little friend oftheirs care to remain with us, I shall be more than pleased to chaperonethem."
"Oh, you are kind!" exclaimed the wily Zebedee. "I cannot thank youenough. If you choose to make it so, Camp Carter will vie with WhiteSulphur as a resort. I shall certainly bring Parker up next week."
Mr. Tucker grasped the first opportunity to inform the anxious Nan ofhis successfully performed mission.
"Oh, how did you do it?"
"By just a little twist of the wrist. You shall have to put up with mygirls though for another week or so. Your mother has promised tochaperone them until I fetch them away."
"Splendid! Do they want to stay?"
"They are dying to. I only hope they won't tear things wide open atcamp. They are terribly hoydenish at times."
"Mr. Tucker, tell me: did you really get mother to give up White Sulphurjust to chaperone the twins and Page?"
"You ask her! I think she thinks she did."
"I believe I'll call you Mr. Machiavelli Tucker."
"Don't flatter me so yet. Wait until I accomplish the seeminglyimpossible of making your mother decide of her own accord that yoursister had better not come out yet."
"Can you do that, too?"
"I don't want to sound conceited but I believe I can. This is oursecret, so don't tell a soul that we have any hand in this matter. Justlet Douglas think it is fortune smiling on her."
"All right, but nothing can ever make me forget your kindness!" and Nanheld his hand with both of hers with no more trace of shyness than HiramG. Parker might have shown in dancing
a german.
"What on earth have you done to make Nan so eternally grateful?"demanded Dum Tucker, coming suddenly around a spur of rock on themountain path where her father had accosted Nan.
"I am going to leave you girls up here for some days longer. Isn't thatenough for her to be grateful over?"
"We--ll, I don't know--that sounds rather fishy."
"And besides, I am going to send her up a ouija board to pass the hoursaway until I return. How about that?"
"Oh, now you are talking! That is something to be grateful about. We areall of us dying to try it," but Dum could not see why Nan was blushingso furiously and evidently trying to hold in the giggles, and sheplainly caught a wink passing between her dignified parent and thedemure Nan.
"He's up to something, but it wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me to tryto find out if he doesn't want me to know," she said to herself.
The Tucker Twins had been motherless since they were tiny babies andtheir ridiculously young father had had the rearing of them alone andunaided. Many stepmothers had been picked out for these irrepressiblegirls by well meaning friends and relatives, but Jeffry Tucker hadremained unmarried, much to the satisfaction of the said twins.
"He is much too young and inexperienced to marry," they would say whenthe matter was broached by wily mammas who hoped to settle theirdaughters. And so he did seem to be. Time had no power to age JeffryTucker. He was in reality very young to be the father of these greatgirls, as the romance of his life had occurred when he was only twenty,still in college, and the little wife had died after only a year ofhappiness.
In rearing his girls he had had only one rule to go by: they mustconduct themselves like gentlemen on all occasions. "I don't know whatladylike rules are but I do know what is expected of a gentleman, and ifmy girls come up to that standard I am sure they will pass muster," hehad declared. As a rule the twins did pass muster. They were perfectlyhonorable and upright and the mischief they got into was never anythingto be ashamed of--only something to be gotten out of, never too seriousto tell their father all about.
The fact that they were to stay longer than the week-end was greetedwith joy by the Carters. Page had already made herself popular, too.Douglas was soon informed by her mother that she had given up the tripto the White, so some of the load was lifted from the poor girl's heart.There was much more talk, however, of the proposed debut and Helenupheld her mother in thinking that since Douglas was not going tocollege she must come out.
"But, Helen, the money for a debut! And if we go into our house and turnout the desirable tenants, where are we to get an income to exist on?"
"Oh, always money, money! It can be gotten, and mother says our creditis as good as the U. S. mint. She has often heard father say so."
"Of course it was as good, but now that father is no longer able to earnmoney it would not be quite square to presume on that credit when wehave no way of paying the bills." Douglas would go over and over thesame argument and Helen would still not be convinced.
"Are we to spend the rest of our lives digging and delving for gold andthen not use the money? How does our bank account stand now?"
"I don't know, but it is not so large that we could make a debut on it,"smiled Douglas.
"But we could make a start and then earn some more."
"But why spend it on me when I don't want to go into society?"
"Why, for mother's sake, goose. She has set her heart on it and you knowwe have always let her do whatever she wanted to. It would make fathermiserable to think mother wanted something and could not have it."
"Yes, I know! He mustn't know she wants it and can't have it."
"But she must have it. She is planning all the time for your being agreat belle."
"Dr. Wright said that father----" but Helen flounced off, refusing tohear what Dr. Wright said. She had overcome all of her antipathy forthat young physician and in fact liked him rather more than anyone ofher acquaintance of the male persuasion, but she still resented anytendency on his part to dictate to her.
Mrs. Carter, having given up her trip to White Sulphur, felt that virtuemust be rewarded and so actually persuaded Douglas to protect hercomplexion. She was not allowed to go in the sun at all and in the shadeshe must wear a great hat tied under her chin, with a curtain of blueveiling draped over it. Every night she must be anointed with some kindof cucumber cream and her hair must be brushed with one hundred licksevery night and morning.
Lewis Somerville and Bill Tinsley made their sorrowful adieux. Everyonemissed them. They seemed as important to the camp as the great poplartree in the center of the pavilion was to that edifice. There was afeeling that everything might topple over now that those two young menwere gone. It didn't, however. Skeeter Halsey and Frank Maury did whatthey could to fill their places, but as they expressed it, they "sho'did rattle 'round in 'em."
Mr. Carter, too, delighted to be of use and to find something he coulddo without using his poor fagged brain too much, was busy at somethingfrom morning until night. First the reservoir must be repaired after theheavy rain had caved in part of the dam; then the roof of the cabinneeded a shingle here and there. A rustic bench must be put by thespring which formed the reservoir, and then a table was added so thatafternoon tea might be served there on occasions. He was so busy and sohappy in being busy that it was delightful to see him. Bobby was hiscompanion at all times, even deserting the beloved Josh and Josephus tobe with his father. This was a new father, one who had time to play andtalk. Together they made wonderful little water wheels and put them in atiny mountain stream where they turned continuously to the delight ofBobby. The successful architect of other days drew plans for bird housesand he and his little son whittled them out of stray bits of lumber andcigar boxes and placed them in the trees, no doubt filling a long feltwant for suburban villas in bird society.
The miracle was happening! The cure that Dr. Wright had predicted wastaking place. Robert Carter was on the high road to recovery.