CHAPTER IX
THE BIG DAY
As Ted said afterwards: "It was some story!"
Nancy stood there on the stool, dangling an old rusty knife which shehad just spied among the box of unclassified articles, and she toldthose boys a yarn, a regular old salt-yarn, which she frankly admittedwas pure fiction.
But how they listened! As Ruth expressed it: "How _hard_ they listened!"
No more jostling, nor pushing nor underhand squabbling. Every boy amongthem wanted to hear all that story, and consequently he was taking nochances on missing any of it.
"And when the old sea captain looked into the poor half-frozen face ofthat baby he had picked up, lashed to an icy--an icy plank," Nancytrilled, becoming so interested in her subject she almost forgot themake up of it, "then he remembered," she went on, "the big Newfoundlanddog, Jack, who had fallen back into the sea exhausted from his longswim."
She stopped. The boys said "Gosh," and "Gee Whiz." Buster said "Jingo!"and there were probably many other subdued and impulsive exclamations ofthe crisp boyish variety.
One little fellow who was sniffing audibly, piped up a question overThan's shoulder.
"Say miss," he said. "Say Miss--Nancy," he corrected himself, "could afeller buy that there knife?"
"Why," flushed Nancy, "the knife hasn't anything to do with the story--"
"Naw!" came a chorus. "'Course not!"
"It was a corkin' good story," applauded Nort Duncan, clapping grimyhands.
"But you said the ole captain cut the ropes with a rusty knife--" thelittle fellow insisted.
"Now look here, boys," called out Ruth suddenly. "You are all settleddown, nice, quiet and orderly. Suppose we begin to see what you want tobuy. There are three of us to serve you, and if we divide you up inthree groups, I'm sure we can give every single one of you the biggestbargain you ever got in fishing tackle."
After that, something like order prevailed, for most boys are not devoidof a sense of honor, not by any means, and surely after Nancy's storythey owed her attention and politeness.
Ted helped. He was able to hand out the poles and took pride in doingso. They were, most of them, nice shiny, new bamboo canes, and it didn'tmatter how long it took him to please a customer. In one hour, however,he had sold ten at fifty cents, five at seventy-five cents and two at adollar each. Ted was delighted, and secretly agreed with Nancy that"business was the thing."
Meanwhile the girls were busy, and happy. Ruth had taken charge of thesinkers and hooks. Isabel was having a fine time with the crab nets andfancy reels, the nickel kind with the stem winders, while Nancy acted asgeneral supervisor and director of the entire stock.
Things were going merrily and few disagreements marred the proceedings(not to count the scooping up of fellows' caps in trying out crab nets,or the occasional protest from someone who would resent being poked withnew fish poles), when there appeared at the door a very pleasantlooking, in fact a very "good-looking" young girl.
"That's Sanders' girl," said a boy into Nancy's ear. "You know thefeller that--disappears," he hurried to explain.
Nancy had neither time nor opportunity to ask questions so she turned tomeet the very blue eyes of the young girl in question.
"Don't let me interrupt you," said the stranger. "I can wait," and shestepped aside to let Tom Preston get change from a precious one dollarbill.
Nancy noticed that the young lady had all the known signs of collegelife. She wore a worsted tam o' shanter (in summer), she also wore asweater to match, with a tan golf skirt and--heavy stockings, ending ingood, strong, walking Oxfords. If these signs were not collegian,thought Nancy, then the girl must be an actress which she obviously wasnot.
But she had so much personality, that was it, Nancy promptly decidedwhile still counting out change for eager boys. Also, Nancy reasoned,she had such pronounced individuality, that one did not observeseparately her brown hair, her blue eyes and her lustrous, fine healthyskin. She just looked perfect, at least to Nancy, who always loved theathletic type.
"Sanders' girl!" Nancy was thinking. She didn't know he had a daughter,but the girl looked like him, especially around her firm, determinedmouth.
Ruth left her boys and was now offering to wait on Miss Sanders.
"I'm Sibyl Sanders, you know," she told Ruth, "and I just dropped in tosee if I couldn't pick up something for dad."
"We're having quite a sale," replied Ruth pleasantly. "When things thinout a little I should like to introduce you to Nancy Brandon. This isher idea of a vacation," Ruth added quizzically.
"Isn't it splendid?" replied Sibyl, brightening with enthusiasm. "I justran up to Long Leigh to see dad. He insists upon spending a lot of timeup here," she continued, "and I feel I must look after him a little. Iwonder if you have any pieces of wire or light springs, around? He hasuse for that sort of material."
"Wire, springs!" Nancy heard the request and a joke, that thedisappearing man might slide away on wires and springs, flashedhumorously through her mind. But again she found no chance even towhisper the joke to Isabel, for there were still boys demanding change.
In the course of an hour, however, the youngsters were all "clearedout." Their wants had been supplied, and the girls, with Sibyl, werechatting away about the first results of the sale.
"If they don't go trying things out and then want us to change them,"worried Nancy. "I told them positively we would exchange just absolutelynot--a--thing," she declared, most emphatically.
"Let's see how much we took in," suggested Isabel. "I had no idea that alot of small money could be so fascinating."
"Indeed it is," Sibyl rejoined. "I've had experience at college sales,and it always seemed to me the peanut money was the most interesting tohandle."
This brought on some talk of her college, for just as Nancy had guessed,she was a college girl. Finally, when the receipts were all counted andit was found that the boys, they who came in the first squad, hadactually bought seventeen dollars worth of goods.
"It doesn't seem possible!" Ruth exclaimed, "and just look at thebushels of pennies!"
"And we had better prepare for the next arrivals," suggested Isabel."The lake folks will be along presently on their morning drives."
"And the early golfers returning from the links," added Ruth. "Guess webetter tidy things up a little. Those boys certainly can upset a place."
Isabel had found a roll of picture wire and three small screen doorsprings. These Sibyl bought without giving the slightest hint of thepossible use her father was apt to put them to. Neither Isabel nor Ruth,however, paid as much attention to the odd purchase as did Nancy.
"I do wonder," Nancy remarked as Isabel tied up the goods for Sibyl,"what has become of Miss Townsend?"
"Oh, haven't you heard?" exclaimed Sibyl. "She's been quite ill."
"No, I hadn't," said Nancy, considerately. "I'm so sorry. What has beenthe trouble?"
"Worry, chiefly, I guess," and a sort of sigh seemed to accompanySibyl's words. "It was too bad she had such a dispute with her brother,"she continued, "and yet, they really didn't seem to dispute, just todisagree, but they have both such old-fashioned, gentle natures thatthey consider it disgraceful to dissent from the views of loved ones.Oh, well!" this time the sigh was unmistakable, "I suppose even the mostgentle can hardly expect to go through life without differences. I onlyhope they do not hold my daddy in any way responsible," she saidseriously.
"Why, how could they?" faltered Nancy, in honest bewilderment.
"Oh, of course they couldn't," replied Sibyl hastily, as if regrettingher remark. "But you see, daddy and the old gentleman have been suchclose friends that Miss Townsend might fancy daddy influenced herbrother. But I must be running along," she added a little hurriedly."I'm so glad to have met you, Nancy, and I hope your sale will be atremendous success."
"It surely will be," chimed in Ruth, while Isabel and Nancy joined inthe good-byes.
"Hasn't she won
derful eyes!" was Nancy's first remark following Sibyl'sdeparture.
"I got the surprise of my life," declared Ruth, "when I saw SibylSanders saunter in. There, that sounds like a new song, doesn't it? Butyou know, girls, she is almost as mysterious as her dad, the way shecomes and goes--"
"But doesn't anyone up and ask them where they live?" asked Nancy inevident astonishment.
"Never get a chance," chimed in Isabel. "If we were to go out now andfollow her up the hill, I'll venture to say we would get a good sampleof the disappearing stunt--"
"But we haven't time, dears," chirped Nancy. "Look! Here come threeautos. Now, ladies, step lively," and the way they stepped was livelyenough to be called trotting.
"Yes, sure enough," Ruth agreed, "they _are_ coming here, and they'rehere!"