"Well, we don"t want to be admitted, but won"t you step outside a moment?"
Farnsworth emphasised his remarks by pushing the door wide open, and, partly out of curiosity, Mrs. O"Brien stepped outside. She was a small woman, but her face wore a look of grim determination, as if she were afraid of nothing. She quieted the barking dogs, and turned to Patty.
"Don"t be afraid, Miss," she said; "they won"t hurt ye, now that they see me a-talkin" to yez. Did ye want to see Mrs. Cartwright? She ain"t home, an" won"t be till day after tomorrah."
"No," said Patty, "I don"t know Mrs. Cartwright. I want to see you.
Susan Hastings, my own cook, said your people were away, and so perhaps you would go out to cook for a couple of days to oblige a neighbour."
"Oblige a neighbour, is it? Sure no lady would come afther another lady"s cook, underhanded like, when the lady"s away!"
Patty"s face flushed with righteous indignation.
"It ISN"T underhanded!" she exclaimed, "You don"t understand! I don"t want you PERMANENTLY, but only for a day, or two days at most,--because our cook has left."
"Arrah, ma"am, you said your cook was Susan Hastings! Yer a quare leddy, I"m thinkin", an" yer husband here, is another! Sthrivin" to entice away a cook as is satisfied wid her place, and who manes honest by her employers!"
Farnsworth was grinning broadly at the a.s.sumption of his and Patty"s relationship, but Patty was enraged at the implication of underhandedness.
"He ISN"T my husband!" she cried, "and I don"t want a cook for myself, but for another lady!"
"Are ye runnin" an intilligence office, belike?"
"Here!" cried Bill, sharply. "Don"t you speak like that to that lady!
Now, you listen to me. We are both visitors at Miss Galbraith"s. Her cook left suddenly, and we want you to come and cook for us, two days if you will,--but one day ANYWAY! See? Do you understand that? You"re to go over to Miss Galbraith"s now, with us, and cook dinner tonight.
After dinner, you may do as you like about staying longer. We"ll pay you well, and there"s no reason whatever why you shouldn"t oblige us."
At first the Irishwoman looked a little intimidated at Bill"s manner and his gruff tones, but in a moment she flared up.
"I"ll do nothin" of the sort! I"m left here in charge of this place, an" here I"ll shtay!"
"Is there no one else to guard the place?"
"Yis, there"s the second gardener, an" the coachman. I cooks their meals for them. The other servants is away for two days."
"Well, the second coachman and third gardener, or whatever their numbers are, can cook for themselves to-night. You"re going with us,--see? With US,--NOW!"
"I"ll not go, sor--" began Mrs. O"Brien, but Big Bill picked the little woman up in his arms, as if she had been a child.
"This is a case of kidnapping a cook, Patty," he said. "I told you I"d do it!"
Paying no attention to his struggling burden, Farnsworth pulled shut the door of the Cartwrights" house, shook it to make sure it closed with a snap lock, and then gently but firmly carried Mrs. O"Brien to the motor-car.
"Take the driving seat, Patty," he directed, and, as she did so, he deposited the cook in the seat beside her. Then he climbed into the small seat at the rear and remarked:
"Let her go, Patty; and unless you sit still and behave yourself, Mrs.
O"Brien, you"ll fall out and get damaged. Now be a nice cook, and make the best of this. You"re kidnapped, you see,--you can"t help yourself,--and so, what are you going to do about it?"
The cook sat bolt upright, her hard, unsmiling face looking straight ahead, and she replied, between clenched teeth, "Wanst I get out, I"ll go straight back home, if it"s a hundherd miles yez do be takin" me!"
"Oh, don"t do that," and Patty"s voice was sweet and coaxing. "Let me tell you something, Mrs. O"Brien. You know Susan Hastings,--what a nice woman she is. Well, once I was in a great emergency, worse even than to-day, and knowing the warm, kind hearts of the Irish, I went to Susan and asked her to help me out. And she did,--splendidly! Now, I know you"ve got that same warm Irish heart, but for some reason you don"t WANT to help me out of my trouble. Won"t you tell me WHAT that reason is?"
Mrs. O"Brien turned and looked at her.
"Me heart"s warrum enough," she said, "an" I"d be glad to sarve the likes of such a pretty leddy as yersilf,--but, I won"t shtand bein"
carried off by kidnappers!"
"But listen," said Patty, who was beginning to hope she could cajole the woman into a good humour; "you must realise that the gentleman is a Western man. Now they do things very differently out there from what men do here. If they want anything or anybody they just TAKE them!"
"H"m, h"m," murmured Farnsworth, affirmatively over Patty"s shoulder.
She paid no attention to his interruption, and went on, "So, you see, Mrs. O"Brien, you mustn"t mind the rude and untutored manners of the savage tribes. This gentleman is a--is an INDIAN!"
"You don"t tell me, Miss!"
"Yes, he is. And though you"re perfectly safe if you do just as he tells you, if you rebel, he might--he might TOMAHAWK you!"
"Lor", Miss, is he as bad as that?"
"Oh, he"s AWFUL bad! He"s terrible! He"s--why, he"s IRRESISTIBLE!"
Big Bill was shaking with laughter, but Mrs. O"Brien couldn"t see him, and Patty herself looked half scared out of her wits.
"Now, I"ll tell you what, Mrs. O"Brien," she went on, "you let me be your friend; trust to me, and I"ll see that no harm comes to you. If you"ll cook this dinner to-night, I"ll promise to send you home safely to-morrow morning, and Miss Galbraith will pay you well beside. Susan Hastings will be with you as a helper, and--and if you only make your mind up to it, you can have a real good time!"
Patty felt that she ended her speech rather lamely, but her eloquence had given out. And the sound of Bill"s chuckles, behind her, made it difficult not to laugh herself.
But either Patty"s friendliness or fear of Bill"s ferocity seemed to conquer Mrs. O"Brien"s rebellious spirit, and she sat calmly in her place, though making no further observations.
Nor could Farnsworth and Patty converse, for as Bill sat behind, and they were flying rapidly along, speech was inconvenient if not impossible.
Farnsworth kept a sharp eye on his captive; though he knew she could not escape now, he wasn"t sure what strange turn her temper might take.
But Patty felt sure that if she could once get the cook into the kitchen at "Red Chimneys," and under the influence of Susan"s common sense and powers of persuasion, all would be well. She drove round to the kitchen entrance, and as she stopped the car, Farnsworth jumped down to a.s.sist their pa.s.senger out.
Uncertain just how to show her unwillingness to do their bidding, Mrs.
O"Brien sat still and refused to move. Whereupon, Patty jumped down and ran into the kitchen.
"Susan," she cried, "here"s the cook! Come out and make her behave herself!"
Susan followed Patty out, and saw the new arrival.
"Is it yersilf, Ann O"Brien?" she cried, joyfully. "Come on in, now."
"I"ll not come! These vilyans kidnapped me, and I"ll cook no dinner fer the likes o" thim!"
"Arrah now, it"s yersilf is the vilyan! Ye ought to be proud to be kidnapped by Miss Patty, and Misther Bill! Get down here, ye gossoon, an" behave like a dacint woman!"
Susan"s authoritative voice, and Farnsworth"s apparent readiness to a.s.sist her, if she delayed, persuaded Mrs. O"Brien to leave the car.
She went into the kitchen with Susan, and Patty turned a beaming face to Bill.