She stood hesitating on the threshold, her eyes searching the other"s face.
"Pardon me, please," the voice somewhat high-pitched, "but they told me down-stairs you were from New York."
"Yes, that is my home; won"t you come in?"
"Sure I will. Why I was so lonesome in this hole I simply couldn"t stand it any longer. Have you only one chair?" She glanced about, her eyes widening. "Heavens, what a funny room! Why, I thought mine was the limit, but it"s a palace beside this. You been here long?"
"Since yesterday; take the chair, please; I am used to the bed--no, really, I don"t mind in the least. It is rather funny, but then I haven"t always lived at the Ritz-Carlton, so I don"t mind."
"Huh! for the matter of that no more have I, but believe me, there would be some howl if they ever gave me a room like this--even in Haskell. I know your name; it"s Stella Donovan--well, mine is Celeste La Rue."
"A very pretty name; rather unusual. Are you French?"
The other laughed, crossing her feet carelessly, and extracting a cigarette case from a hand-bag.
"French? Well, I guess not. You don"t mind if I smoke, do you?
Thanks. Have one yourself--they"re imported. No? All right. I suppose it is a beastly habit, but most of the girls I know have picked it up. Seems sociable, somehow. No, I"m not French. My dad"s name was Capley, and I annexed this other when I went on the stage. It tickles the Johnnies, and sounds better than Sadie Capley. You liked it yourself."
"It is better adapted to that purpose--you are an actress then?"
"Well, n.o.body ever said so. I can dance and sing a bit, and know how to wear clothes. It"s an easier job than some others I"ve had, and gets me into a swell set. Tell me, when were you in New York?"
"About a month ago."
"Well, didn"t you see the Revue?"
"The last one? Certainly."
"That"s where I shone--second girl on the right in the chorus, and I was in the eccentric dance with Joe Steams; some hit--what?"
"Yes, I remember now; they called you the Red Fairy--because of your ruby ring. What in the world ever brought you out here?"
Celeste laughed, a cloud of smoke curling gracefully above her blonde hair.
"Some joke, isn"t it? Well, it"s no engagement at the Good Luck Dance Hall yonder, you can bet on that. The fact is I"ve quit the business, and am going to take a flier in mining."
"Mining? That sounds like money in these days. They tell me there is no placer-mining any longer, and that it requires a fortune to develop.
I wouldn"t suppose a chorus girl----"
"Oh, pshaw!" and Miss La Rue leaned forward, a bright glow on each cheek. "There are more ways of making money in New York than drawing a salary. Still, that wasn"t so bad. I pulled down fifty a week, but of course that was only a drop in the bucket. I don"t mind telling you, but all a good-looking girl needs is a chance before the public--there"s plenty of rich fools in the world yet. I"ve caught on to a few things in the last five years. It pays better to be Celeste La Rue than it ever did to be Sadie Capley. Do you get me?"
Miss Donovan nodded. Her acquaintance with New York fast life supplied all necessary details, and it was quite evident this girl had no sense of shame. Instead she was rather proud of the success she had achieved.
"I imagine you are right," she admitted pleasantly. "So you found a backer? A mining man?"
"Not on your life. None of your wild west for me. As soon as some business is straightened out here, it"s back to Broadway."
"Who is it?" ventured the other cautiously. "Mr. Beaton?"
"Ned Beaton!" Miss La Rue"s voice rose to a shriek. "Oh, Lord! I should say not! Why that fellow never had fifty dollars of his own at one time in his life. You know Beaton, don"t you?"
"Well, hardly that. We have conversed at the table down-stairs."
"I suppose any sort of a man in a decent suit of clothes looks good enough to talk to out here. But don"t let Beaton fool you. He"s only a tin-horn sport."
"Then it is the other?"
"Sure; he"s the real thing. Not much to look at, maybe, but he fairly oozes the long green. He"s a lawyer."
"Oh, indeed," and Miss Donovan"s eyes darkened. She was interested, now feeling herself on the verge of discovery. "From New York?"
"Sure, maybe you"ve heard of him? He knew you as soon as Beaton mentioned your name; he"s Patrick Enright of Enright and Dougherty."
Miss Donovan"s fingers gripped hard on the footboard of the bed, and her teeth clinched to keep back a sudden exclamation of surprise. This was more than she had bargained for, yet the other woman, coolly watching, in spite of her apparent flippancy, observed no change in the girl"s manner. Apparently the disclosure meant little.
"Enright, you say? No, I think not. He claimed to know me? That is rather strange. Who did he think I was?"
Miss La Rue bit her lip. She had found her match evidently, but would strike harder.
"A reporter on the _Star_. Naturally we couldn"t help wondering what you was doing out here. You are in the newspaper business, ain"t you?"
"Yes," realising further concealment was useless, "but on my vacation.
I thought I explained all that to Mr. Beaton. I am not exactly a reporter. I am what they call a special writer--sometimes write for magazines like _Scribbler"s_, other times for newspapers. I do feature-stuff."
"Whatever that is."
"Human-interest stories; anything unusual; strange happenings in every-day life, you know."
"Murders, and--and robberies."
"Occasionally, if they are out of the ordinary." She took a swift breath, and made the plunge. "Like the Frederick Cavendish case--do you remember that?"
Miss La Rue stared at her across the darkening room, but if she changed colour the gloom concealed it, and her voice was steady enough.
"No," she said shortly, "I never read those things. What happened?"
"Oh, nothing much. It occurred to my mind because it was about the last thing I worked on before leaving home. He was very rich, and was found dead in his apartments at the Waldron--evidently killed by a burglar."
"Did they get the fellow?"
"No, there was no clue; the case is probably forgotten by this time.
Let"s speak about something else--I hate to talk shop."
Miss La Rue stood up, and shook out her skirt.
"That"s what I say; and it seems to me it would be more social if we had something to drink. You ain"t too nice to partake of a c.o.c.ktail, are you? Good! Then we"ll have one. What"s the hotelkeeper"s name?"
"Timmons."