CHAPTER VIII
THE CALLER
The four girls, in the reception room, waited the coming of theirguest. To their surprise, Mr. Forbes came in, and looked them over witha chuckle.
"Well, you ARE ready for the fray, aren't you?" he said, taking intheir dressy finery and their important, self-conscious airs.
"Yes, Uncle Jeff," responded Alicia; "will you stay and see our youngman?"
For some unexplained reason, Uncle Jeff laughed heartily. But hechecked his merriment, and said, "No, Alicia, I fear I might intrude; Iknow you want to flirt with this young actor, and I'd be a spoilsport.But let me warn you to be very gentle with him. You see, he may be soovercome by this galaxy of youth and beauty that he'll be embarrassedand run away!"
"Nonsense, uncle," said Bernice, "actors are not easily embarrassed.More likely we girls will be struck dumb at his splendour andimportance."
"Well, tell me all about it afterward," and still chuckling, Mr. Forbeswent off.
"What ails Uncle?" said Alicia, pettishly. "Anybody'd think he had ajoke on us."
"No," Dotty rejoined, "only he's sort of old, you know, and he doesn'tsee the fun in this, as we do."
"Well, I wish the fun would hurry up! It's after four now."
"Such people are never on time," said Alicia, with a great air ofexperience. "He's sure to be late. Oh, there's the bell now!"
The girls, with hearts beating high, grouped themselves in apicturesque pose, which they had practised beforehand, and breathlesslywatched the doorway.
Through it came, in a moment, a jolly-faced man, with an informalmanner and pleasant smile.
"Hullo, girlies," he said, "what's up? Expecting a party? Well, I won'tkeep you a minute. Where's Mr. Forbes?"
"Why, you're the party, Mr. Coriell," said Alicia, stepping forward togreet him, and looking very coquettish as she smiled up into his face.
"Oh, am I! all right, have it your own way, kiddies. But I can't giveyou more than ten minutes of my valuable time. What do you want?Autographs? Or tickets for a box? Speak up, now."
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Bernice, for Alicia was speechless withdisappointment at this prosaic attitude on the part of the visitor. "Wejust want to--to talk to you."
"You see," said Dolly, frankly, "we thought you'd be--different."
"Oh, of course you did! They always do! You wanted to see the Lascar,not plain James Brown!"
"What!" cried Alicia, hope rising in her breast that this was not thegreat actor after all, "aren't you Bayne Coriell?"
"Sure! That's my stage name, but in private life I'm James Brown, atyour service."
"You don't even look like the Lascar!" wailed Dotty, dismayed at theturn things had taken.
"Of course, I don't, little one. Actors on and off, are two differentpersons. Oh, I begin to see through this performance. Your uncle didn'ttell you anything about me! Eh?"
"No, sir," said Dolly, as the others were silent. "We saw you in yourplay, and we admired your work so much, that we--we--"
"Oh, the matinee idol business! Well, well! I didn't expect that. Why,kiddies, outside the theatre, I'm just a plain United States citizen. Ihave a daughter about the age of you girls. My Muriel is fourteen,nearly fifteen, but she's taller than any of you. Your uncle is a greatfriend of mine. He was my father's chum, and he has been more than kindto me all my life. I supposed he knew all about the letter from MissAlicia, and ran around here expecting to see you and him both."
"That's why he chuckled at us!" and Dolly's eyes twinkled at the joke.Somehow, she seemed more at ease with the actor than the other girls."You see, Mr. Brown, we thought you'd be more like you are on thestage. Of course we didn't expect you'd be dressed like the Lascar,or--or--made up,--isn't that what you call it? but we thought you'd bestagy and actory--"
James Brown laughed. "Everybody thinks that, or something like it," hesaid. "Few people realise that an actor's profession is MERELY aprofession,--a business; and that we discard it out of business hours."
"But don't you get lots of notes from--from your audiences?" askedDotty.
"Indeed I do. My wife looks after 'em, and most of 'em go into thetrash basket. But of course a note from Jefferson Forbes' home waswelcome, and I was glad to call on his nieces. Are you all his nieces?"
"No," said Alicia, who had recovered her poise, and she introduced theother girls by name. "I wrote the note, because I thought you were--"
"Because you thought I was a gay young sport," laughed James Brown;"well, I'm sorry, for your sake, that I'm merely an uninteresting,middle-aged man, but, I doubt if your uncle would have let you sendthat note, if I had been a stranger to him. Take my advice, girls, forI know what I'm talking about, never write to an actor with whom youare not acquainted. It can never lead to any good result and might leadto great harm."
"Are they all bad?" asked Dolly, innocently.
"No, indeed, far from it. But many of them are thoughtless; and, too,if a girl so far forgets the conventions as to write to a stranger, anactor often thinks he is justified in meeting her half way. And nicegirls don't write to men they don't know. The fact that a man is anactor, is no more reason to treat him informally than if he were abroker or a merchant. It is the glamour of the stage that blinds you tothe proprieties. That's only natural, I know, and that's why I'mpresuming to give you this little talk for your own good. If ever youfeel moved to make advances to a matinee idol,--don't do it!"
Alicia looked decidedly chagrined and a little angry, but Mr. Brownproceeded to talk of other matters, and though it was plain to be seenhe meant the advice he had given them, all unpleasant effect wasforgotten as he began to tell them some funny anecdotes.
And then tea was brought in, and they all grouped round the teatable,still listening to his entertaining chat.
The actor was a good-looking man, but far from being as handsome as heappeared on the stage. His fascination and charm were evidently as muchput on as his swarthy complexion and long black hair, which so becamehim as an East Indian. Really, his hair was ash-coloured, and he wasrather bald.
"I expect to go on the stage," observed Dolly, as they ate the cakesand bon-bons that accompanied the elaborate tea service.
"You do!" exclaimed the guest. "Why?"
"Because I feel I have talent for it. Not so much as an actress,perhaps, but as a singer. What shall I do first, Mr. Brown, to preparefor the light opera stage?"
James Brown looked at her kindly. "I see you are in earnest," he said,in a serious tone, "and so, I will treat your question practically. Thefirst thing to do, is to finish your education, and then start on acourse of voice training. By the time you have done these things, cometo me again, and I will advise you further. Do you think me flippant?"he continued, as Dolly looked decidedly disappointed. "I am telling youjust the line to follow that I expect my own daughter to pursue. Murielhas promise of a good singing voice. I assume you have that hope also,otherwise you wouldn't think of a stage career. Tell your parents whatI have told you, and if they care to consult me on the subject I shallbe more than glad to meet them."
"Good gracious! What a come down!" cried Dotty. "We thought of courseDoll could start in in the chorus at most any time, and work up."
"That has been done successfully," and Mr. Brown smiled, "about onetime in ten thousand. My plan is surer and better in every way."
"Is that the way Miss Marie Desmond learned?" asked Dolly, wistfully.
"Yes, my child. Miss Desmond worked long and faithfully before sheattained her present position. If you'd care to meet her and have alittle talk with her, I can arrange it. Suppose you all come to myhouse some afternoon, and Muriel will make a little party for you, andI'm sure I can persuade Miss Desmond to meet you for a few minutes atleast. She is not a lady easy of access, I can tell you, but she willmeet friends of mine."
"Well, well, Jim, hobnobbing with young people, are you?" sang out ahearty voice from the hall, and Uncle Jeff came stalking into the room."Glad to see you, my boy. You seem to be gett
ing on famously."
"Yes, indeed. Your nieces and their friends are the most charming bunchof young people I've seen in a long time. We're discussing all sorts ofmatters of interest. Join us in a cup of tea, won't you?"
"That's what I'm here for," and Uncle Jeff took a seat among the group."Yes, thank you, Alicia, fix me up a cup. Sugar, please, but no lemon.How's your wife, Jim? Muriel all right?"
"Yes, thank you. I'm just asking these girls to come round, sayto-morrow, for a little party. Or would you rather have a box party atthe theatre?"
The girls decided in favour of the afternoon party at Mr. Brown's home,and the matter was settled. And then, somehow, the two men fell intoconversation, which in no way interested the girls, being aboutpolitical matters and business affairs. Indeed, their very presenceseemed to be forgotten by the gentlemen. Absent-mindedly Uncle Jeffaccepted a second cup of tea, and then a third, still arguing a pointof finance with his guest.
Alicia, in high dudgeon, made a motion to the others that they leavethe room, and Dolly nodded assent.
So, noiselessly, the four rose from their seats, and stole out into thehall. Mr. Brown looked up, saw them go, and waved his hand with a smileof farewell, but Uncle Jeff paid no attention, if indeed, he noticedtheir departure.
"Well! of all things!" exclaimed Alicia, as they sought refuge in thelibrary, which was in the rear of the house. "I call that positivelyinsulting!"
"Now, 'Licia," and Dotty laughed, "you know the man said he could onlygive us ten minutes of his time, and he gave us more than a half hour.I don't think we've any reason to complain."
"Well, I do! It was a perfect fizzle, the whole thing! I'm utterlydisgusted! Matinee idol! Pooh, he's just an every-day man!"
"Well, that's just what he said he was," rejoined Bernice, who wasalmost as much disappointed as Alicia. "But he was very kind andpleasant, I think."
"Oh, kind enough," and Alicia still pouted; "but I thought he would beyoung and--and sporty, you know."
"He certainly isn't sporty! whatever he is," said Dolly. "I think he'sawfully nice. I'm glad we're going to his daughter's party. It's fineto go to a place like that."
"She's just a little girl," complained Alicia. "Fourteen years old! Idon't want to go to an infant class!"
"All right," put in Bernice, "you can stay home, then. I'm delighted togo. To think of telling the girls at home that we went to BayneCoriell's daughter's party! My, won't they think we're grand!"
"That's so," agreed Alicia. "Not everybody could get such aninvitation. We couldn't, only that he's Uncle Jeff's friend. But I cantell you, girls, if I hadn't got up this whole scheme we wouldn't havebeen asked there. You can thank me for it."
"Dolly, too," said Dotty. "If she hadn't asked Mrs. Berry, he wouldn'thave come at all."
"Yes, he would; why wouldn't he?"
"Oh, pshaw! It was all made up by Uncle Jeff. You could see that. Mrs.Berry told him, and he let us go ahead, just to have a joke on us. Mr.Brown came mostly to see Mr. Forbes,--not us."
"You're right, you little smarty-cat," and Alicia smiled at the astuteDotty. "And I do believe Uncle Jeff meant to give us a lesson aboutwriting to actors. I thought it was queer he took it so easily,--andMrs. Berry too. They played right into our hands. They wouldn't havedone that if the actor person had been a stranger."
"Of course they wouldn't," and Dotty wagged her head. "I felt surethere was some reason why Mrs. Berry said yes to Doll so easily. But Ididn't think Coriell Bayne, or whatever his name is, was old enough tobe Uncle Forbes' chum."
"He isn't exactly," said Dolly; "that is, he said his father and Mr.Forbes were friends. I suppose the son carried on the friendship."
"He looks as old as my father,--off the stage," said Bernice; "but onit, he might be my father's son!"
"You can't tell a thing about actors!" declared Alicia. "If ever Ithink another one is handsome and fascinating, I'll remember JamesBayne, and know he's nothing but an old fogy!"
"Oh, I don't call Mr. Brown an old fogy," defended Dotty. "I think he'sinteresting and pleasant; just about like my father, or yours, Doll."
"He's not a bit like our fathers, though he doesn't look much younger.Anyway, I'm glad I've met him, but he did give me a setback about mycareer."
"Is that a real stunt, Dolly?" and Alicia looked at her curiously. "Doyou really want to go on the stage? It doesn't seem like you."
"Yes, I do, or at least, I did, until Mr. Brown said what he did. Idon't know as I want to devote my whole life to getting ready for astage career. I'm going to think it over and see about it."
"You funny little thing! I hope you'll decide to do it, and in aboutten or twenty years, when I'm an old married woman, I'll come to yourfirst performance."
"Whose performance? Who's stage struck?" asked Uncle Jeff, walking inat the door. He had a way of appearing unexpectedly.
"Dolly," answered Alicia. "She wants to be a prima donna."
"Bless my soul!" exclaimed the old man, "why, one reason I had JimBrown here to-day, was to knock such foolishness out of your heads."
"And he did his part all right, Uncle Forbes," said Dolly, lookingserious, "but I don't quite take the knocking. At least, I haven'tdecided what I'll do about it."
"Oho, you haven't, haven't you?" and the old man raised his shaggyeyebrows. "Well, Alicia, how did you like your handsome, fascinating,young man?"
Alicia had quite recovered her good humour, and she replied,laughingly, "Oh, except that he isn't very young or handsome orfascinating, I liked him pretty well."
"You're a good girl," pronounced her uncle. "I thought maybe you'dresent the little trick I played on you. But when you raved over thehandsome hero, and the Greek god effects of him, I couldn't refrainfrom showing you how deceitful appearances may be. Jim's a fine chap,not at all a silly flirt, and his daughter is a lovely young girl, alittle older than you girls--"
"Why, Uncle Jeff, Mr. Brown says she's younger, he said Muriel is notyet fifteen."
"Bless me! is that so? Well, he must know. But I can tell you, sheseems as old or older than any of you. I suppose because she's beenbrought up among stage people. But a mighty nice girl, all the same.And Mrs. Brown is a delightful woman. All nice people. I'm glad heasked you to his home. It'll be a rare treat for you."
"When is it to be, to-morrow?" asked Dotty.
"We don't know yet. When Brown went away he said he'd consult his wifeand daughter and telephone us about it. I fancy they'll make quite anaffair of it. See here, have you all proper frocks to wear? I don'twant my girls less well dressed than the others there. And I have asneaking notion these are your best clothes." Uncle Jeff's eyestwinkled as he glanced at their dresses. "Anyway, I'd like to give eachof you a new frock. Go to-morrow morning and get them."
And having given the order, Uncle Jeff stalked away.