“He certainly can. He certainly must!” affirmed Mother. “He must get it before he goes to that office to see them. It isn’t good policy not to be well dressed.”
“Yes, Dad!” roared Tom excitedly. “And you’re going to see Dulaneys ta-day, Dad, after you’ve got that new suit. That won’t take long. And then after that, if you wantta, you can go down to the old office and just hand in your resignation. After that, if they wantta offer you a coupla thousand a week, you can tell them you’ll think it over.”
Father looked at his son and grinned. “My son, you mustn’t count your chickens before they are hatched. If Dulaneys really want me, the lack of a new suit won’t make any difference.”
“Sure it will!” said the young man, walking up and down and gesticulating in his excitement. “Dad, I’m telling ya! You’re going ta have a new suit. If I haveta take off the tires from the car and sell ’em ta buy it for ya. You’re going ta have that new suit, and what’s more it’s going ta be bought ta-day! We aren’t going ta have our father going into any grand business place looking as if he came from Flora Street.”
But Father would only sit and laugh at them all, his eyes twinkling with a kind of peace and a rested look about his mouth. “Well, no, children,” he said at last, including his dear wife in his smiling glance. “I’ll tell you something. Last night I prayed about my job. I spent a long time putting myself into the Lord’s hands. I rather expected I was going up to the city to get politely excused from further labor in my old office, and I just told the Lord it would be all right whatever He’d planned for me, only He would have to give me grace to bear it if I had to let my children support their father and mother. And now He’s sent this. Whatever comes of it, it shows He is thinking about us, and I’m satisfied. He will never let us go hungry or needy. Suppose before we do anything else we just kneel down and thank Him for it.”
So in the quiet of the deserted seashore, with the rain falling steadily on the thin, resounding roof, the old car waiting outside to take them up to the city, and all their belongings waiting on the chairs for their departure, with the inscrutable old sea beating its time from the ages of the past, beating and doing God’s will from day to day, they knelt to praise their God “who hath done all things well.”
Tom brushed his hand across his eyes as he rose from his knees after that prayer, and his voice was husky as he turned his back upon the family for a moment and looked out to the wild gray sea. “Well, get a hustle on, it’s time we got started. We gotta lot ta do ta-day, I’ll say. All set, Mother? Here, Dad, I’ll lift that suitcase. You get yer raincoat on, and those rainboots. Yes, you will, we’re not risking anything in this outfit ta-day. Where’s that umbrella? Here, Betty Lou, doncha go out without yer umbrella. You’ll look like a little wet hen. Now, Mums, when you get ready you step right here to the end of the porch, and I’ll lift you in the old bus, so you won’t know you’re going. Hurry up there, all hands.”
They reached town at half past eleven.
There had been a great discussion on the way up about the new suit, but the majority prevailed and Mr. Arleth submitted. “Ya know the next suit ya get, you’re going ta the best tailor in town, Dad, and have it made right,” said Tom as he led his reluctant parent to the Men’s Department.
Mother and Betty Lou sat in the old car and waited, studying the window displays and speculating on what Jane would say when she got home and found out what had happened to the family.
Presently Tom came down to the car alone.
“He’s got it all right, just suits him to a T. He certainly does look great in it. Wait till you see him. He’s up in the fitting room getting a little alteration. They said they’d do it at once. He sent me down to get ya. We’re going ta have lunch here, and he’s going ta telephone right now before he eats and see if they want him at Dulaneys this afternoon. Now doncha let him weaken on that. It’s important ta get this thing going before he insists on going back to that old office. That Barney man will just get his nose ta the grindstone quicker’n a lick if he thinks some other fella wants him. Yes, get out here and go up ta the tearoom right by the elevators. I’ll take the car over and park her somewhere. We’ll get pinched if we leave her here over an hour. I’ll be with ya in three secs!”
In a daze of wonder, the mother and little girl walked into the great store and went up in the elevator to the tearoom.
“It’s almost as if we were rich people, isn’t it, Mother?” whispered Betty Lou softly.
“You dear child!” said her mother lovingly. “You haven’t had much luxury in your little life, have you? But we mustn’t rate such things too high, you know, dear.”
“I know,” said the child with an other-world look. “Still, it’s nice, Mother, when God sends it, isn’t it? He made things, and sometimes He likes us to have them. I’m glad for Father to have a nice suit. He always gives all the nice things to us instead of getting them for himself.”
“Yes, dear, he’s a wonderful father, and it will be beautiful if he can make a little more money so he will not feel so troubled about us all and not have to work quite so hard. It will be best of all if he gets with people who appreciate his work and are congenial to work with.”
Then suddenly she turned, and a light came into her eyes, a welcoming light, reminiscent of her girlhood days, to the one who was coming toward her. For there came Father in his new suit, walking as straight and strong as when she married him.
“Do you like it?” he asked, smoothing the sleeves down and looking at the material as pleased as a little boy with new trousers. “That’s a nice piece of goods! Do you like the color? And see how well it fits across the shoulders. They never had to change a thing except to take in a little bit around the waist of the trousers.”
While they talked Tom came in, his face beaming with admiration.
“You look great, Dad, simply great!” he said, banging his father on the shoulder. “Now, come on, let’s eat! Here’s a table. Now, Dad, there’s a telephone booth over there! Go make your appointment. I’ll order for you. Make it snappy, or the Dulaneys will have gone out to lunch.”
They watched him telephoning, saw him through the little glass door.
“He’s smiling,” whispered Betty Lou. “I guess they’re saying nice things to him.” Betty Lou could hardly get interested in whether she would have ice cream or cherry pie, she was so eager about her father.
“But doesn’t that dinner you’ve ordered cost a lot, Tom?” she asked, suddenly bringing her mind down to the daily things as she saw her father come out of the booth.
“This dinner is on me, Betty Lou,” said Tom loftily. “Doncha worry. The next is on Dad. I’m celebrating!”
“What’s that?” asked Father, sitting down with a radiant face.
“Father, Tom has ordered a whole big dinner for each one of us!” Betty Lou’s eyes were round and filled with delicious awe.
“That’s all right,” said Father, and his wife noticed there was a new ring to his voice. “We haven’t done this in years. Why shouldn’t we?”
“Did you get them?” Mother asked anxiously. She could see he had, but she must ask something to start him telling about his interview.
“Yes, and they were most cordial! I’m to meet the firm at half past two. What time have you, Tom? My watch seems to be slow.”
“Ten after one,” said Tom, promptly consulting his leatherbound wrist. “Plenty a time! I’ll take ya down to the place, and then I’ll take the family home and get unpacked. You take a taxi home unless John turns up with his flivver. That’s right. He’ll likely bring Jinny home and you come with them. No, you may get done sooner. You better take a taxi. That’s more businesslike.”
“Say, son, who do you think you are, anyway?” His father smiled. “You know I’ve been living in this old world a few days before you arrived.”
“Well, sir,” he answered with a new respect in his voice, “I wantta see this thing done right, and you know you take care of eve
ry little old dog but yourself always. I wantta see justice done to Dad this time.”
“All right, son!” said the father with a lingering look of fondness. “I’ll try to take your advice. I guess it’s pretty good this time anyway.”
“See?” said Tom, reaching over for a roll and another butter ball. “Gee, I’m hungry! Say, Muth, you getting tired? You look kinda tired around the mouth and eyes.”
“Oh no, I’m all right!” said Mother. “I’m enjoying everything wonderfully!”
“It’ll be Mother’s turn pretty soon, I hope, to get a new suit,” said Father with a tender look at his wife. “She’s gone a long time without, and so have all the rest of you.”
“Aw, what’s the difference?” said Tom gruffly, dipping into his chicken salad. “Gee, this is good!”
All too soon, the gala hour was over, and amid great but suppressed excitement the family finally left Father at the entrance of Dulaneys and drove off toward Flora Street.
“Oh, what will Jane think if she sees Father coming in all dressed up?” exclaimed Betty Lou. “She won’t know him! Perhaps she’ll think he is some other man.”
“Don’t be batty, Betty Lou, you don’t think Jinny would ever take Father for anyone else!” rebuked Tom loftily. “Tired, Mums? Just rest your head back and shut your eyes till we get through this traffic. Then you’ll be ready for what’s to do when we get home.”
Flora Street at last! How dismal it looked in the rain. And the air was heavy with smells from the oil cloth factory. But after all, it was home!
Betty Lou hopped out and filled her arms with coats and bags and bundles, while Tom lifted out the big suitcases and unlocked the front door.
“Open all the windows right away, Tom, and let’s get some air in the house. It feels damp here even if it was hot weather when we left,” said Mother.
Betty Lou flew here and there nimbly making beds, unpacking the bags, and putting on the meat for dinner when the grocery man brought the things. Her mother, in a sudden new lease on life, went around putting her house in order and humming a verse of a hymn:
My heart is resting, O my God,
I will give thanks and sing,
My heart is at the secret Source
Of every precious thing.
Betty Lou heard her and joined in a sweet little funny alto, her heart as light as a bird’s.
Sherwood brought them home that night, Jane’s eyes shining, her father sitting upright, no longer the cowed, relaxed invalid. He was talking quietly with a certain assurance in his voice that was new to Sherwood’s ear and sweet to Jane’s who could remember him before the shock of his losses came. George Arleth seemed to have dropped years, and come back into his own just where he left off when all his savings and his business were swept away.
They made John Sherwood come in to dinner, of course. They could not talk over the new situation without him. Tom fairly dragged him in. And he was as happy as any of them over it, studying the face of the older man, gravely considering how well he was talking, how he seemed to have taken on a new lease on life.
“But how did they know anything about you, Dad? Didn’t you ask them that?”
“Well, I didn’t have much time to ask questions of that sort, son,” said the father. “They had a good deal to tell me. But that’s a strange thing about it. They must have been doing some real detective work for months, perhaps. They seemed to know little details about my life that I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned to anyone. Why, Mary, they knew all about Mason and how we looked after his wife when he ran away. They’d even heard the story of Travis and the counterfeit check. They knew where I came from and where you came from and who our forefathers were. Once, they asked me something about the man in the drugstore where I used to run errands when I was a little chap. But it beats me how they got the stories from my boyhood. That time we boys pretended there had been a murder and smeared red paint on the doorsill of a deserted farmhouse. Well, they’re going to be wonderful people to work for, anyway! Just wonderful. I can’t believe it’s all true.”
“What did the old Hokus say at your office when you told him you were going to quit?” asked Tom.
Father suddenly looked blank. “Do you know,” he said, “Tom, I completely forgot I intended to go there! I was so interested, and it got late so suddenly, and then John here hustled me into his car and we came home. Now, that’s too bad. I meant to do that before the day was over. In fact, I rather gave them to understand that I was returning today, you know. Perhaps I’d better call up and explain.”
“Call up nothing!” said Tom. “Just write your resignation and send it by mail. They don’t deserve even that, the way they’ve ground you down all these years.”
“Oh no, Tom, I couldn’t in courtesy do that,” said George Arleth. “Besides, they’ve been fairly decent to me. Remember that check they sent me when I was sick.”
“Measly little check!” said Tom, passing his plate for more stew. “They ought to have done twice as much. Any other firm would!”
“Well, I shall return it to them, of course,” said George Arleth happily. “I couldn’t think of taking pay for work I had not done.”
“Return nothing!” said Tom. “Yer crazy! Get all you can outta the old skinflints.”
“That’s never been my way of dealing, son,” said the father kindly.
“Let your father alone, Tom,” said Sherwood quietly. “He has a way of his own that will carry him through all right. Don’t worry about him!”
“Aw well,” said Tom with a grin, “don’t I know it?” And he helped himself to another piece of Betty Lou’s gingerbread.
Altogether it was a happy household that bade a reluctant good night to Sherwood and went to bed in the little old house in Flora Street, almost too excited to go to sleep.
Just as Jane was finally dropping off to sleep, she remembered vaguely that Lauderdale was due now in a few days, and she wondered again why she dreaded his coming.
Chapter 13
Sherwood was called away to New England the next week by the sudden death of his uncle, and while he was gone Lauderdale arrived.
At once Jane was swept almost against her will into a tide of festivity. For Carol Reeves and her aunt stopped over for a week in the city and brought Gayle Gilder with them, and Rex Blodgett and Jeff Murchinson were running down from New York for the weekend. Carol at once established a little court in her suite of rooms at the hotel and demanded that every unoccupied minute of Jane’s time be surrendered. She even suggested that Jane get her extra week off at once and not be hindered at all from participating in all their frolics, both daytime and evening. But Miss Forsythe had not yet returned from the western coast, and Jane would not ask. She knew she was needed. The more so as Sherwood was absent for the week.
So Jane worked hard in the daytime and played every evening, rushing home the first minute she could get away from the office to put on a pretty something left over from the summer, for either a dinner at the hotel or a drive with the happy party.
It was surprising how quickly the whole background of life changed for Jane with the coming of these summer friends, and how before she had scarcely realized it she was involved in first one function and then another, until she felt as if she were caught on a great wheel whirling around and around.
But somehow the quiet evenings and Sundays down at the shore, listening to the plain student preacher, studying the Bible in the afternoons, getting near to the great ocean, the sky, and the stars, had given her a wider viewpoint, and the things these summer friends did seemed not so enticing as they had in the mountains. How did they get so much enjoyment out of it all?
Some memory of her ride home from the mountains and the searching questions that had thronged her mind, a memory also of the quiet fellowship down at the shore, and the deeper truths she had been studying, had somehow changed her own viewpoint, and she was beginning to be bored with the continual round of pleasure. What had she ever seen in that Gayle
Gilder beyond the fact that she wore gorgeous clothes and had traveled everywhere? She couldn’t talk about anything but a new thrill. She was learning to fly now, and she talked only about how good-looking her flying teacher was.
Jane continually had the feeling that she was trying to keep pace with a world where she did not belong. She felt almost out of breath and began to wonder why she went every time they asked her. But when she tried to get out of one of the festivities, Carol pleaded so hard and reproached her for running away from the mountains—and Carol was a dear—that Jane succumbed. They would be going back to New York in a few days, and she would rest up then and do all the neglected things when she had more time.
Then, too, Lauderdale was his old charming self, singling her out for most attentive devotion and making her again feel that she was wonderfully honored to be sought after by him.
Not once did he overstep the bounds he seemed to have set for himself, taking no liberties and ignoring utterly what had happened in the summer. It was a great relief to Jane. She began to feel she might admire him again and was even unconsciously taking measures to set him back on the pedestal he had occupied early in the summer.
Then, one night, rushing in to get dressed for dinner at the hotel and whatever afterward the crowd had planned, she met Tom coming downstairs.
“Gee! Jane!” he said caustically. “That you? Hardly knew ya. Where d’ya keep yerself lately? Haven’t that tough bunch left the city yet? You’ve got nothing on me anymore, remember! You useta make such an everlasting fuss about me running around nights, and you haven’t been in one night this week.”
“Tom!” said Jane crossly. “You have no right to call my friends tough. Carol Reeves is one of the nicest girls I ever met. I have known her a long time!”
“Aw, she ain’t the only one, and anyhow, if she’s nice, why does she play around with such a tough crowd? One o’ the fellas in our office was out to the Country Club in Suchover last night, and he was telling me about seeing my sister in the toughest bunch. He said two of the fellas were drinking like fishes and dancing with absolutely strange girls who came there without invitations or escorts. He was shooting off his mouth about it till I got sick of it and took him out in the area and gave him a good punching.”
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