The girl was staring at the address on the envelope. Doubt, wonder, incredulity filled her eyes.
"Why,--why, Auntie,--it"s David"s writing! David"s!" she cried.
"See! Isn"t it? I would recognize it--"
"Bless my soul, so it is!" exclaimed David"s mother.
"Oh,--what does it mean? Boy, where did you get this letter?" Her voice trembled with excitement, her eyes were gleaming.
"Never mind," put in Mrs. Strong, turning her head to hide a smile.
"You run upstairs and read it, Alix, and I--"
"Auntie Strong, do you know anything about this?" demanded Alix suspiciously. The colour was flowing back into her cheeks. "Have you been keeping something--"
"--and I will entertain this young gentleman during your absence,"
went on the other serenely,--but there was a flush in her cheeks and her eyes were very bright and happy. "You go and read your letter and,--did you say there was to be an answer, boy?"
"Yes"m."
"And write your answer," concluded Mrs. Strong. "Come along, my lad, and have a nice hot cup of coffee and some toast. I hope you take sugar. There are two lumps in it already."
Alix fairly ran from the room. They heard her racing up the stairs.
"Will you have cream, my boy?" asked Mrs. Strong, steadying her voice with an effort. He had shuffled along behind her to the fireplace.
"Yes"m," and then as an afterthought: "if you please, ma"am." He looked up and saw that his hostess"s eyes were swimming in tears.
"I--I hope it ain"t bad news," he stammered uncomfortably.
"Don"t you know there are such things as tears of joy?" inquired the lady.
He looked very doubtful. "No ma"am," he solemnly confessed. The tears he knew about were not joyous.
"Wasn"t it just like David to hire an automobile to send you out here to deliver the letter to her? I suppose it must have cost him a pretty penny. Most men would have put a two cent stamp on it. But my son is not like other men. He is always doing the most unexpected things,--and the very nicest things. Now, who else in the world would have thought of hiring an automobile to send a message by?"
"Is he your son, ma"am?"
"Yes. My son David. Did you see him?"
"Sure I did."
"How was he looking?"
"Fine," said the lad. "Gee, but he"s tall."
"Six feet three, my boy," said David"s mother. "That"s very hot. Be careful not to scald your mouth. Shall I put in another lump,--or two?"
"Will it cool it off any?"
"I am sure it will."
Meanwhile, Alix was greedily devouring the contents of the letter.
She stood beside the light over her dressing-table; her heart was pounding furiously, her eyes were radiantly bright.
DEAR ALIX:
I have just this instant arrived in town, and I am scribbling this in the hotel writing-room, with my overcoat still on my back. I shall not go to sleep tonight until I have had your reply. Somehow I will find a way to get this letter to you tonight, I don"t know how at present, but where there"s a will there"s a way. If mother and Charlie Webster are mistaken, or if they have a.s.sumed something that is not true, I shall go away again without bothering you. But if you want me, I will come straight out to you. You are in trouble.
I am not asking anything for myself, dear,--you know me well enough to understand that,--I am only asking you to let me do anything in the world I can for you. That is why I dropped everything to come. I am happy, you don"t know how happy, to be even this close to you. I have always wanted to hang out my shingle in this dear old town. I do not like the East. I am a Westerner and I can"t seem to make myself fit in with the East. I shall always be a Hoosier, I fear,--and hope. Just the few minutes I have been here in this familiar old hotel, and the ride through the quiet streets, and getting off the train at the insignificant little depot, and having the hackman,--they are taxi-drivers now,--yell out,--"h.e.l.lo, Davy,"
and run up to shake hands with me,--well, I am so homesick I could cry. But you know why I cannot come here to live and practise. If I can"t be very, very near to you, Alix darling, I must keep myself as far away as possible. It is the only way. But if I keep on at this rate, you will think I am writing a love letter to you, when, as a matter of fact, I am only asking you if you care to see me and tell me what I can do to help you now,--if you need the help of your
Always devoted
DAVID.
P.S.--If you would rather not see me, don"t hesitate to say so. I will understand. And please do not blame mother and Charlie. They would both die for you, dear.
P.S.S.--You will be pleased to know, I am sure, that I have the five hundred I still owe you in my pocket, all in brand new bills, and I think you might give me the happiness of quarrelling face to face with you about the matter instead of under the protection of a two-cent stamp.
D.
She read the letter aloud. When she came to the end she kissed the sheet of paper rapturously and then pressed it to her breast. For a few moments she stood there with her eyes closed, a little smile on her lips, the blush of roses deepening in her cheeks.
Suddenly she roused herself. Hurrying to the desk across the room, she s.n.a.t.c.hed a sheet of note paper from the rack, seated herself, and began to write.
DEAREST DAVID:
THIS is a love letter. I love you. I have always loved you, ever since I can remember, only I did not realize how much until you wouldn"t let me have my own way about the money. Then I tried to hate you.
The best thing I can say for the experiment was that it kept me thinking about you all the time. You were never out of my thoughts, David dear. Oh, how many nights have I laid awake inventing reasons for hating you, and how many, many times have I ended up by hating myself. I am a very mean, despicable creature. I am a loathsome, poisonous reptile, and you ought to put your foot on my neck and keep it there forever and ever. Now I know why I have been so mean to you. It is because I love you so much. You cannot grasp that, can you? You could if you were a woman.
The boy is waiting for this. How wonderful of you to send him out here in a taxi!!! I shall tell him to go back to town as fast as the car can travel. I hope it is a fast one, because I want you to get in it and come to me at once. I shall wait up for you, David.
Please come tonight. You don"t know how badly I need you. You must stay here with your mother and me, and I don"t want you ever to go away again,--unless you take me with you.
Your humble sweetheart,
ALIX.
P.S.--I wouldn"t quarrel with you for five hundred million dollars.
P.S.S.--Oh, how I wish some kind genie could transport you to me INSTANTLY! A.
Sealing the envelope, she sprang to her feet and started for the door. She stopped halfway, dashed back and fished in a drawer of her desk, found her purse and extracted a crumbling bank-note.
Without so much as a glance to ascertain its denomination, she turned and sped downstairs.
Her eyes were aglow with excitement, her lips were parted in a divine smile. She was a little out of breath. The boy gazed upon her spellbound. In that brief, transcendent moment he fell deeply, hopelessly in love,--and that is why, a moment later, he manfully endeavoured to refuse the prodigious tip she was offering him. Only when she stuffed it, with her own fingers, into the depths of his breast pocket, directly over his heart, was he able to persuade himself that he ought to accept it if for no other reason than it would hurt her feelings if he didn"t.
"You must go straight back just as fast as you can," she was saying,--and what a sweet, wonderful voice she had, just like some kind of a song he thought,--"and see that Mr. Strong has this letter at once. He is waiting for it, you know. You WILL hurry, won"t you,--that"s a good boy."
"Yes"m," gulped the lad, and then, realizing he had not quite come up to expectations, amplified his promise with a stirring: "You bet your life I will."
She went to the door with him, and said good night so sweetly, and with such a thrill in her voice, that he experienced the amazing sensation of having wings on his feet as he sped down to the gate.