Chinkie's Flat Part 4

"For six months or so. A lot of people withdrew their advertis.e.m.e.nts; but they were a bit surprised when at the end of that time they came back to me, and I refused to insert their ads. at any price. I consider that you not only did wisely, but right, in employing the Chinamen. Are they going on satisfactorily?"

"Very; they do work for me at twenty-five s.h.i.+llings a week that white men would not do at all--no matter what you offered them: emptying sludge-pits, building dams, etc."

"Exactly! And now all the people who rose up and howled at you for employing Chinamen, and the _Champion_ for backing you up, are shouting themselves hoa.r.s.e in your praise. And the revival of c.h.i.n.kie's Flat, and the new rushes all round about it, have added very materially to the wealth of this town." After a little further conversation, Grainger went back to the Queen's Hotel, where Mallard was to call at three o'clock.

Myra Grainger, a small, slenderly-built girl of nineteen, looked up as he entered the sitting-room.

"Any success, Ted?"

"Here, look at this advertis.e.m.e.nt. Mallard knows the place, but not the people. He's coming here at three, and we'll all go and interview Mrs.

Trappeme--'which her real name is Trappem,' I believe."

"I shall be glad to see Mr. Mallard again. I like him--in fact, I liked him before I ever saw him for the way in which he fought for you."

"And I'm strongly of the opinion that Mr. Thomas Mallard has a very strong liking for Miss Myra Grainger."

"Then I like him still more for that."

Grainger patted his sister's cheek. "He is a good fellow, Myra. I think he will ask you to marry him."

"I certainly expect it, Ted."

CHAPTER VII ~ SHEILA CAROLAN

Although Mrs. Trappeme had been so short a time in Townsville, she had contrived to learn a very good deal, not only about people in the town itself, but in the surrounding districts, and knew that Grainger was a wealthy mine-owner, had a sister staying with him on a visit--and was a bachelor. She also knew that Mallard was the editor of the _Champion_, and was likewise a bachelor--in fact, she had acquired pretty well all the information that could be acquired; her informant being the talkative, scandal-mongering wife of the Episcopalian curate.

She was therefore highly elated when at four o'clock in the afternoon Miss Grainger and her brother, and Mallard, after a brief inspection of the rooms--which were really handsomely furnished--took three of the largest and a private sitting-room, at an exorbitant figure, for a week, and promised to be at the Villa that evening for dinner.

"He's immensely rich, Juliette," she said to her daughter (she was speaking of Grainger after he had gone), "and you must do your best, your very best. Wear something very simple, as it is the first evening; and be particularly nice to his sister--I'm sure he's very fond of her.

She'll only be here a week, but he and Mr. Mallard will probably be here a month. So now you have an excellent chance. Don't throw it away by making a fool of yourself."

Juliette (who had been christened Julia, and called "Judy" for thirty-two years of her life) set her thin lips and then replied acidly--

"It's all very well for you to talk, but whenever I did have a chance--which was not often--you spoilt it by your interference. And if you allow Jimmy to sit at the same table with us to-night he'll simply disgust these new people. When you call him 'Mordaunt' the hideous little wretch grins; and he grins too when you call me 'Juliette' and Lizzie 'Lilla.'"

Mrs. Trappeme's fat face scowled at her daughter, and she was about to make an angry retort when the frontdoor bell rang.

"A lady wants to see yez, ma'am," said the "new chum" Irish housemaid, who had answered the door.

"Did you show her into the reception room, Mary?"

"Sure, an' is it the wee room wid the sthuffed burd in the fireplace, or is it the wan beyant wid the grane carpet on de flore; becos' I'm after puttin' her in the wan wid the sthuffed burd? Anny way it's a lady she is, sure enough; an' it's little she'll moind where she do be waitin' on yez."

"Did she send in her card, Mary?"

"Did she sind in her _what_?"

"Her card, you stupid girl."

"Don't you be after miscallin' me, ma'am. Sure I can get forty s.h.i.+llings a wake annywhere an' not be insulted by anny wan, instead av thirty here, which I do be thinkin' is not the place to shuit me"--and the indignant daughter of the Emerald Isle, a fresh-complexioned, handsome young woman, tossed her pretty head and marched out.

So Mrs. Trappeme went into the room "wid the sthuffed burd in it,"

and there rose to meet her a fair-haired girl of about eighteen, with long-lashed, dark-grey eyes, and a somewhat worn and drawn expression about her small mouth, as if she were both mentally and physically tired. Her dress was of the simplest--a neatly fitting, dark-blue, tailor-made gown.

"I saw your advertis.e.m.e.nt in the _Champion_ this morning," she said, "and called to ascertain your terms." Mrs. Trappeme's big, protruding, and offensive pale-blue eyes stared at and took in the girl's modest attire and her quiet demeanour as a shark looks at an unsuspecting or disabled fish which cannot escape its maws.

"Please sit down," she said with a mingled ponderous condescension and affability. "I did not _advertise_. I merely _notified_ in the _Champion_ that I would receive paying guests. But my terms are very exclusive." "What are they?"

"Five guineas a week exclusive of extras, which, in this place, amount to quite a guinea more. You could not afford that, I suppose?"

The dark-grey eyes flashed, and then looked steadily at those of the fishy blue.

"Your terms are certainly very high, but I have no option. I find it impossible to get accommodation in Townsville. I only arrived from Sydney this morning in the _Corea_, and as I am very tired, I should like to rest in an hour or so--as soon as you can conveniently let me have my room," and taking out her purse she placed a 5 note, a sovereign, and six s.h.i.+llings on the table.

"Will you allow me to pay you in advance?" she said, with a tinge of sarcasm in her clear voice. "I will send my luggage up presently."

Mrs. Trappeme at once became most affable. She had noticed that the purse the girl had produced was literally stuffed with new 5 notes.

"May I send for it?" she said beamingly, "and will you not stay and go to your room now?"

"No, thank you," was the cold reply, "I have some business to attend to first. Can you tell me where Mr. Mallard, the editor of the _Champion_, lives? I know where the office is, but as it is a morning paper, I should not be likely to find him there at this early hour."

Mrs. Trappeme was at once devoured with curiosity. "How very extraordinary! Mr. Mallard was here only half an hour ago with a Mr.

Grainger and Miss Grainger. They are coming here to stay for a few weeks."

The girl's fair face lit up. "Oh, indeed! I am sorry I was not here, as I particularly wish to see Mr. Grainger also. I had no idea that he was in Townsville, and was calling on Mr. Mallard--who, I know, is a friend of his--to ascertain when he was likely to be in town."

"They will all be here for dinner, Miss----"

"My name is Carolan," and taking out her cardcase she handed Mrs.

Trappeme a card on which was inscribed, "Miss Sheila Carolan."

"Then Mr. Grainger is a friend of yours?" said Mrs. Trappeme inquisitively, thinking of the poor chance Juliette would have with such a Richmond in the field as Miss Sheila Carolan.

"No, I have never even seen him," said the girl stiffly, and then she rose.

"Then you will send for my luggage, Mrs. Trappeme?"

"With pleasure, Miss Carolan. But will you not look at your room, and join my daughter and myself in our afternoon tea?"

"No, thank you, I think I shall first try and see either Mr. Mallard or Mr. Grainger. Do you know where Mr. Mallard lives?"

"At the Royal Hotel in Flinders Street. My daughter Lilla will be delighted to show you the way."

But Miss Sheila Carolan was stubborn, and declined the kind offer, and Mrs. Trappeme, whose curiosity was now at such a pitch that she was beginning to perspire, saw her visitor depart, and then called for Juliette.