CHAPTER XVI
BARBABA'S UNEXPECTED GOOD LUCK
It was the second day after Mrs. Wilson's dinner when Barbara made up hermind to tell Ruth of her debt to Mrs. Wilson and to ask her friend tolend her the money to relieve her of her obligation. Bab could endure thesituation no longer. She simply determined to tell Ruth everything,except the part that poor Mollie had played in the original difficulty.She meant to explain to Ruth that she had needed fifty dollars, that shehad intended going to a pawn shop to secure the money, her interview withMrs. Wilson and her acceptance of the loan offered by the beautifulwoman. She would not tell Ruth, however, why she had suddenly requiredthis sum of money. Now, Bab knew Ruth would ask her no questions andwould grant her request without a moment's hesitation or loss of faith.The sympathy between Ruth and Barbara was very deep and real.
It was one thing for Barbara Thurston to decide to appeal to Ruth'sever-ready generosity, but another thing actually to make her demand.
The two girls lay on Ruth's bed, resting. They had been to a dance at theBritish Embassy the night before. Mollie and Grace were together in thenext room and Harriet was alone.
"Barbara!" exclaimed Ruth suddenly. "If you could have one wish, thatwould surely be granted, what would you wish?"
"I would like to have some money in a hurry," flashed through Bab's mind,but she was ashamed to make such a speech to Ruth, so she said rathersoberly. "I have so many wishes its hard to single out one."
"Well what are some of them?" persisted Ruth. "Do you wish to be rich, orfamous, or to write a great book or a play?"
"Oh, yes; I wish all those things, Ruth," Bab agreed. "But you were notthinking of such big things. What little private wish of your own did youhave in your mind? Please don't wish for things that will take you faraway from me," Bab entreated.
Ruth's blue eyes were misty when she replied: "Oh, no, Bab! I was justgoing to wish that something would happen so that you and I need never beseparated again. I love you just as though you were my sister, and I amso lonely at home without you and Mollie. Yet, as soon as our visit toHarriet is over, you must go back to school in Kingsbridge and I have togo home to Chicago. Who knows when we shall see each other again? I don'tsuppose that our motor trips can go on happening forever."
Bab pressed Ruth's hand silently, her own thoughts flying toward thefuture, when she would perhaps be working her way through college, andteaching school later on, and Ruth would be in society, a beauty and abelle in her Western home.
"Why don't you say something, Bab?" queried Ruth, feeling slightlyoffended at Bab's silence. "Can't you say you wish the same thing that Ido, and that you believe our motor trips will last forever?"
A knock at the door interrupted Bab's answer. When she went to openit a maid handed her three letters. Two of them were for Ruth and onefor Barbara.
Ruth opened her letters quickly. The handwriting on one of them was herAunt Sallie's. The other was from Ruth's father.
The postmark on Bab's letter was unfamiliar, however, so she did nottrouble to open it, until she heard what Ruth had to say.
"Oh, I am so sorry!" Ruth ejaculated. "See here, Bab, Aunt Sallie writesus that she cannot come on to Washington. She has rheumatism, orsomething, in her shoulder and does not want to make the long trip. Shesays I had better come home in a week or ten days, and that Father willprobably come for me. Of course, Aunt Sallie sends love and kisses allaround to her 'Automobile Girls.' She ends by declaring I must bring youhome with me."
Bab gave a deep sigh. "I do wish Miss Sallie had been here with us,"she murmured.
Ruth looked reflective. "Have you any special reason for needing AuntSallie, Bab? I have an idea you have something on your mind. Won't I dofor your confidant!"
"Yes, you will, Ruth!" Bab said slowly, turning her face to hide herpainful embarrassment. "Ruth will you--"
Bab had picked up her own letter. More to gain time than for any otherreason, she opened it idly. A piece of paper fluttered out on the bed,which Ruth picked up.
"Why, Bab!" she cried. "Look! Here is a check for fifty dollars! Andthere is some strange name on it that I never heard of before."
But Ruth could not speak again, for Bab had thrown her arms about her andwas embracing her excitedly.
"Oh, Ruth, I am so glad, I am so glad!" Bab exclaimed, half laughing,half crying. "Just think of it--fifty dollars! And just now of all times.I never dreamed of such luck coming to me. It is just too wonderful!"
"Barbara Thurston, will you be quiet and tell me what has happened toyou?" Ruth insisted. "You haven't lost your wits, have you, child?"
"No, I have found them," Bab declared. "More wits than I ever dreamed Ihad. Now, Ruth, don't be cross with me because I never confided this toyou before. But I have not told a single person until to-day, not evenMother or Mollie. Months before I came to Washington, just before schoolcommenced, I saw a notice in a newspaper, saying that a prize would begiven for a short story written by a schoolgirl between the ages ofsixteen and eighteen. So, up in the little attic at Laurel Cottage, Iwrote a story. I worked on it for days and days, and then I sent it offto the publisher. I was ashamed to tell any one that I had written it,and never dreamed I should hear of it again. But now I have won the prizeof fifty dollars,"
Bab stood up on the bed waving her check in one hand and, holdingthe skirt of her blue kimono in the other, executed a few jubilantdance steps.
"Oh, Barbara, I am so proud!" Ruth rejoined, looking fully as happy asBab. "Just think how clever you are! The fame of being an author is moredesirable than the money. I must tell Mollie and Grace all about it."
"Oh, Ruth, I Am So Glad!"]
But Mollie and Grace had been attracted by the excitement in the nextroom, and now rushed in to hear the news.
Mollie's eyes filled with tears as she embraced her sister. She knew howBab's fifty dollars must be used, and why her sister was so delightedwith her success.
"What are you going to do with the fifty dollars, Bab?" Grace inquired."I suppose you will put it away for your college money."
Bab did not reply. She was already longing for a little time to herself,a pen, and ink and note paper.
Harriet came in now with a message:
"Children," she said, "it is time to dress for dinner. I have just had atelephone call from Father. He is going out of town to-night, but Mrs.Wilson is to stay with us. Father is not going until after dinner, andMrs. Wilson and Elmer and Peter Dillon will be here to dine with us. Sowe shall have rather a jolly party. You girls had better dress."
Harriet's was at once informed of Bab's good luck, and in offeringBarbara her congratulations she forgot to tell the rest of her story.
Harriet had asked her father to come home half an hour before his guestsarrived. She had almost persuaded herself to make a full confession ofher fault. But the tangle of circumstance was not to be so easilyunraveled.
Before Bab went down to dinner she slipped over to her desk and indorsedthe check, put it in an envelope, and hid the envelope inside her dress.Her heart was lighter than it had been in weeks, for she believed her ownand Mollie's share in the Washington trouble was over.
Mr. William Hamlin was late to dinner and his guests were compelled tohurry through the meal on his account, as he wished to catch a specialtrain out of the city. But they had a gay dinner party nevertheless andHarriet did not know whether she was sorry or glad that her confessionhad been delayed.
After Mr. Hamlin had said good-bye to his visitors Harriet followed herfather out into the hall. She thought if she told him of her fault justbefore he went away his anger would have time to cool before he couldhave opportunity to do more than reproach her for her extravagance.
"Father," Harriet whispered timidly, "can't you wait a few minuteslonger? I told you there was something I had to tell you."
Mr. Hamlin shook his head impatiently. "No, Harriet, this is not the timenor the place for confidences. I am in far too much of a hurry. If youwant to ask me for money I positi
vely haven't any to give you. Now runon back to your guests."
Harriet turned slowly away, and so Mr. Hamlin lost his chance to setmatters straight.
Just before he went out the door, he called back to his daughter:
"Oh, Harriet, I have left the key to my strong box on my study table.Don't forget to put it away for me; it is most important that you do so,for I really have not time to turn back."
During the entire evening Peter Dillon devoted himself exclusively toHarriet, and Bab was vastly relieved that he did not approach her. Shedecided that he fully understood that she did not consider the pledge ofthe faded rose-bud, binding. Mrs. Wilson had apparently forgotten Bab'srefusal of her request. She was as cordial to Barbara as she was toHarriet, or to any of the "Automobile Girls."
It was after midnight when Mrs. Wilson told Elmer and Peter that theymust both go home. Bab's envelope was still tucked inside her dress. Shehad had no chance so far to give it to Mrs. Wilson. After Peter and Elmerhad gone, however, and the girls trooped upstairs to bed, laughing andchatting gayly, Bab found a chance to slip the troublesome envelope intoMrs. Wilson's hand. With a whispered, "In the envelope is a check for themoney I borrowed. I thank you so much for your kindness," Bab ran downthe hall to her own room, feeling more at ease in her mind than she hadsince Mollie's confession.
As for Harriet, she was so fully occupied with her guests that herfather's command to secure the key of his strong box, which he had lefton his study table, slipped from her mind and she retired without givingthe matter a second thought.