"He"s well enough. I never seen anybody better. You"d think," said Mrs.
Meecher, bearing up with difficulty under her grievance, "you"d think this here new Spanish influenza was a sort of a tonic or somep"n, the way he looks now. Of course," she added, trying to find justification for a respected lodger, "he"s had good news. His brother"s dead."
"What!"
"Not, I don"t mean, that that was good news, far from it, though, come to think of it, all flesh is as gra.s.s and we all got to be prepared for somep"n of the sort breaking loose...but it seems this here new brother of his--I didn"t know he"d a brother, and I don"t suppose you knew he had a brother. Men are secretive, ain"t they!--this brother of his has left him a parcel of money, and Mr. Faucitt he had to get on the Wednesday boat quick as he could and go right over to the other side to look after things. Wind up the estate, I believe they call it. Left in a awful hurry, he did. Sent his love to you and said he"d write. Funny him having a brother, now, wasn"t it? Not," said Mrs. Meecher, at heart a reasonable woman, "that folks don"t have brothers. I got two myself, one in Portland, Oregon, and the other goodness knows where he is. But what I"m trying to say..."
Sally disengaged herself, and went up to her room. For a brief while the excitement which comes of hearing good news about those of whom we are fond acted as a stimulant, and she felt almost cheerful. Dear old Mr.
Faucitt. She was sorry for his brother, of course, though she had never had the pleasure of his acquaintance and had only just heard that he had ever existed; but it was nice to think that her old friend"s remaining years would be years of affluence.
Presently, however, she found her thoughts wandering back into their melancholy groove. She threw herself wearily on the bed. She was tired after her bad night.
But she could not sleep. Remorse kept her awake. Besides, she could hear Mrs. Meecher prowling disturbingly about the house, apparently in search of someone, her progress indicated by creaking boards and the strenuous yapping of Toto.
Sally turned restlessly, and, having turned remained for a long instant transfixed and rigid. She had seen something, and what she had seen was enough to surprise any girl in the privacy of her bedroom. From underneath the bed there peeped coyly forth an undeniably masculine shoe and six inches of a grey trouser-leg.
Sally bounded to the floor. She was a girl of courage, and she meant to probe this matter thoroughly.
"What are you doing under my bed?"
The question was a reasonable one, and evidently seemed to the intruder to deserve an answer. There was a m.u.f.fled sneeze, and he began to crawl out.
The shoe came first. Then the legs. Then a st.u.r.dy body in a dusty coat.
And finally there flashed on Sally"s fascinated gaze a head of so nearly the maximum redness that it could only belong to one person in the world.
"Ginger!"
Mr. Lancelot Kemp, on all fours, blinked up at her.
"Oh, hullo!" he said.
CHAPTER IX. GINGER BECOMES A RIGHT-HAND MAN
It was not till she saw him actually standing there before her with his hair rumpled and a large s.m.u.t on the tip of his nose, that Sally really understood how profoundly troubled she had been about this young man, and how vivid had been that vision of him bobbing about on the waters of the Thames, a cold and unappreciated corpse. She was a girl of keen imagination, and she had allowed her imagination to riot unchecked.
Astonishment, therefore, at the extraordinary fact of his being there was for the moment thrust aside by relief. Never before in her life had she experienced such an overwhelming rush of exhilaration. She flung herself into a chair and burst into a screech of laughter which even to her own ears sounded strange. It struck Ginger as hysterical.
"I say, you know!" said Ginger, as the merriment showed no signs of abating. Ginger was concerned. Nasty shock for a girl, finding blighters under her bed.
Sally sat up, gurgling, and wiped her eyes.
"Oh, I am glad to see you," she gasped.
"No, really?" said Ginger, gratified. "That"s fine." It occurred to him that some sort of apology would be a graceful act. "I say, you know, awfully sorry. About barging in here, I mean. Never dreamed it was your room. Unoccupied, I thought."
"Don"t mention it. I ought not to have disturbed you. You were having a nice sleep, of course. Do you always sleep on the floor?"
"It was like this..."
"Of course, if you"re wearing it for ornament, as a sort of beauty-spot," said Sally, "all right. But in case you don"t know, you"ve a s.m.u.t on your nose."
"Oh, my aunt! Not really?"
"Now would I deceive you on an important point like that?"
"Do you mind if I have a look in the gla.s.s?"
"Certainly, if you can stand it."
Ginger moved hurriedly to the dressing-table.
"You"re perfectly right," he announced, applying his handkerchief.
"I thought I was. I"m very quick at noticing things."
"My hair"s a bit rumpled, too."
"Very much so."
"You take my tip," said Ginger, earnestly, "and never lie about under beds. There"s nothing in it."
"That reminds me. You won"t be offended if I asked you something?"
"No, no. Go ahead."
"It"s rather an impertinent question. You may resent it."
"No, no."
"Well, then, what were you doing under my bed?"
"Oh, under your bed?"
"Yes. Under my bed. This. It"s a bed, you know. Mine. My bed. You were under it. Why? Or putting it another way, why were you under my bed?"
"I was hiding."
"Playing hide-and-seek? That explains it."
"Mrs. What"s-her-name--Beecher--Meecher--was after me."
Sally shook her head disapprovingly.
"You mustn"t encourage Mrs. Meecher in these childish pastimes. It unsettles her."
Ginger pa.s.sed an agitated hand over his forehead.