Those Dale Girls Part 10

"How do you do?" the woman said, holding out her hand with quaint simplicity, neither face nor manner betraying any surprise at finding Julie there. "You are Miss Dale, are you not? I am Mrs. Grahame. It was kind of you to come in and see Jack."

"My little dog ran in here, and I followed in search of him and found your son," Julie explained. "I really did not intend to be intrusive."

"It is a great pleasure to see you." The older woman smiled at her. "You must pardon the seeming liberty, but Jack and I have long been acquainted with you. You see I am at work down-town most of the day, and the boy spends long hours by the window watching his neighbors go in and out, and he amuses himself by weaving little stories about them until he comes to regard them as personal friends."

Jack dropped his eyes. "You'll think I'm the one who's intrusive," he said.

"I do not think anything of the kind," replied Julie; "I think it is a very clever, happy idea." She went over to the chair and called the dog up in his lap. "Mrs. Grahame," she said, "if you are not too busy, will you come up some evening and see us? We are working girls, and we have an invalid father, and we don't expect to pay visits, but I would like to come down here again, if I may, and bring my sister. Your son would weave the most beautiful stories in the world if he really knew Hester."

"Thank you for suggesting so much happiness for my boy," said Mrs.

Grahame, earnestly. "You make me want to go to see you immediately."

Just as Hester's lively imagination was picturing all sorts of calamities which might have overtaken her sister, that individual came hurriedly in with a bottle of salad oil in her hand.

"Well, where on earth have you been?" cried Hester; "I thought you must have dropped dead or been kidnaped or something fearful."

"Was I so long? I am sorry, dear, but you see I made a call en route."

"A call! who ever heard of such a thing! Where is Peter Snooks?"

suddenly missing him.

"He is finis.h.i.+ng the visit for me." Julie laughed with a provokingly mysterious air.

Hester, who had been working on alone and diving her head into a hot oven every five minutes to anxiously watch the evolution of bothersome little dabs of thin dough into small puffy cakes, was feeling decidedly cross and resented her sister's apparent indifference to the business at hand.

"Well, I'm glad if _you_ have time to gad about," she said, witheringly.

"I _thought_ we were going to take a lesson in making mayonnaise."

"You goose!" exclaimed Julie, pus.h.i.+ng her away from the hot oven and herself kneeling down to peer in. "I'll watch these cakes-you sit down and draw a breath and the cork of the oil at the same time, while I tell you what happened."

Somewhat mollified, Hester obeyed, and even deigned to show interest when Julie graphically described their neighbors.

"Wasn't it odd, Hester, just walking right into the midst of things like that? And the boy was so pathetic, and his mother was so quaint, with such a sweet face and pretty, wavy hair, and I only stayed a moment, dear, really, for all the time I knew you'd be wondering what had become of me."

"Well, all I've got to say is," remarked Hester, with decided emphasis, "that if you were willing to leave Peter Snooks with them, they must be very remarkable people indeed."

CHAPTER IX

The weeks pa.s.sed rapidly to the young workers, who found each day full of experiments, sometimes developing into satisfactory results and again filled with bitter discouragement. There were days when the battle for existence threatened to overweigh and submerge them; days when from morning till night their work seemed possessed by evil demons, and everything went wrong; days when despair tugged at their hearts, and the old happy life forced itself in upon their thoughts with clamorous persistence. And ah! how they felt the sorrow of their father's helplessness, the loss of his companions.h.i.+p causing an ache that nothing could a.s.suage! But through it all they fought their way, upheld by the longing to show a spirit worthy of their father's daughters, sustained by the consciousness that by their own endeavor they were "making a home for Dad." This was the dominant note of the new life-like a bugle-call stirring them to action!

Julie, who had been reading aloud to her father one day, suddenly went into the next room to find Hester, and exclaimed, "Thackeray says, 'I would not curse my fortune-I'd make it!' I think that's great, Hester!

We'll take it for a motto." And by that motto ever after they abided.

Mr. Dale had not awakened to any definite consciousness of his condition, as Dr. Ware had antic.i.p.ated, but remained in a pa.s.sive, tranquil state, taking little heed and no part in any conversation, though his face brightened perceptibly whenever any one entered the room. Much of the day he slept, but during his waking hours one of the girls was constantly with him, hovering about with a tender protective air.

Dr. Ware, who devoted all his spare time to his old friend, was a frequent and most welcome visitor. He was a man of distinguished presence, tall and well-knit, with the military bearing of a soldier and some ten years younger than Mr. Dale, although they had served in the War of the Rebellion together. Streaks of gray showed plentifully in his hair and pointed beard, throwing into greater contrast his black brows and blue-black eyes, while his face was marked with strong lines indicative of character. It was an interesting face and one that inspired immediate confidence, and in addition there was about him an indefinable charm which made itself felt both professionally and socially, so that there was not a more popular man in Radnor. This was perhaps an unusual position for a man of strong convictions, expressed fearlessly and freely on all subjects. To be thoroughly popular commonly requires an adaptable temperament not compatible with strong individuality.

He watched over "his girls" as he called them, with affectionate solicitude mingled with an admiration and respect which knew no bounds.

"They are going to succeed," he would frequently say to himself after leaving them, "every failure only makes them more determined-it's fine to watch the growth of such spirit." And then he would drive off on his round of visits with a preoccupied air and vague longings would steal in upon him, softening the lines about his mouth and eyes and lingering deliciously in his mind even after he had roused himself impatiently from such day-dreams.

The girls' experiments in making mayonnaise resulted in Julie's s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up her courage one day and going to the leading grocery of Radnor. She asked for the proprietor and laid before him her scheme, at the same time showing him a sample of the mayonnaise. Poor Julie, who did not know what it meant to cry her wares in open market, felt very uncomfortable and flushed quite red as she talked; but she struggled to overcome her timidity and succeeded in interesting the man, who told her to leave her sample for him to try at home and gave her some valuable information about putting up such an article in the regulation form, suggesting that she follow his directions and bring in the mayonnaise again, bottled and labeled for his inspection.

Busy days those were indeed in "The Hustle," for in addition to trying varieties of cake, the mayonnaise suggested making salads and one thing led to another with surprising rapidity.

It gradually began to be recognized in Radnor that if one wanted any delicacy in the way of fancy cooking, one should order it from "those Dale girls," and this recognition was in no small part due to Mrs.

Lennox, the President of _the_ Sewing Cla.s.s. It was she who had sent them their first order and shown a marked interest in their work which was not without its immediate effect, for people occupied in their relation to Mrs. Lennox a position similar to that of "Mary's little lamb." Mrs. Lennox was a beautiful woman and in the fas.h.i.+onable world her word was law; but society amused rather than interested her, and her keen intellect and strong individuality led her into devious paths.

Above all she was a philanthropist in that broad and humanitarian sense which sees promise in all gradations of men and women.

She followed her first order to the girls with a second by mail; then a little correspondence ensued, in which she suggested their sending her any new thing they might be trying. A few weeks later she "blew over,"

as she expressed it, and said in her charming way to Julie, as if she had known her intimately for years:

"My dear, are you busy enough?"

"No indeed, Mrs. Lennox, we never could be busy enough-we want to do so much."

"So I thought." She threw back her furs and unclasping a big bunch of violets tossed them into the girl's lap. "You like them, don't you? So do I. I adore violets. I am raising white ones now and I will send you over some if I may."

"Oh, how good of you! Daddy loves them too. We always used to have flowers wherever we were and we do miss them so. I don't see how you suspected it, Mrs. Lennox."

"I am rather keen about human nature, my dear, and it occurs to me that even though you do cook, you may have a love and longing for the beautiful."

Julie smiled. It was so comfortable to talk with some one who understood them. "Miss Ware would not agree with you," she said. "She considers us lost to the finer things, beyond redemption. She dislikes us, you know, and we never go there; but she comes here sometimes and asks us all sorts of questions and wants to know about our recipes and things as if we could not comprehend any other subject. Hester calls it 'talking shop' and we hate it-not the work but the being excluded from other things."

"I understand perfectly. Miss Ware is a bit, well, narrow, like most Radnor people. So you are not busy enough?" eyeing her curiously; "well then, I have a suggestion. If you want to cater for the town, send out cards."

Julie gasped. "Business cards, you mean, soliciting orders?"

"Exactly. You do a variety of things already-think up and experiment with more until you get an imposing little list, have cards printed and send them about-at least five hundred, I should say. Radnor is a large place and cliquey-there must be numbers of persons unknown to me who have never heard of you girls, yet would be likely to give you their custom. If my name on the cards by way of indors.e.m.e.nt would be of any advantage, you are more than welcome to use it."

"Oh! thank you, of course it would be a great advantage, Mrs. Lennox, for no one knows us at all, you see. I'm-I'm dazed by your idea-it seems so pretentious-so bold to advertise ourselves. I don't believe we should ever have thought of it, but it _is_ the thing to do."

"Decidedly. I know something about business and you have one of the most necessary qualifications for success-indefatigable zeal-and I want to push you along. But you must not overtax your strength. I suppose you have heard that before, eh, Miss Dale?" She laughed musically. "No doubt kindly disposed persons come here to leave orders and tell you not to work too hard."

"Yes, they do," Julie earnestly replied. "I wish they would not. Just as if we did not have to work with all our might and main, and it is not easy-always."

"Easy! I should think not!" Mrs. Lennox rose and smiled into Julie's grave eyes as she held out her hand to say good-by. "I am going now, but I want to come again and meet your sister too. May I? I should so like to know you and be your friend."

Julie impulsively kissed her. "It is so good to find some one who wants to know us-in spite of everything," she faltered.

"It is because of everything, my dear," giving the girl an impetuous little hug. Which demonstration would greatly have astonished the smart set of Radnor to whom this side of their leader was unknown and unsuspected.

It was about this time that the girls got the mayonnaise put up to their satisfaction, for innumerable perplexities had arisen in the matter of suitable bottles, corks and labels. When finally Julie had submitted the result to the grocer and that all-powerful man had ordered a dozen bottles to sell on commission, the girls felt that they were working to some purpose, and a glow akin to honest pride surged in their hearts.

But the sensation swelled to overwhelming proportions when late one afternoon Julie, pa.s.sing the store, spied in the great show-window a group of their bottles standing boldly alongside the firm's best fancy articles. She gasped, scarcely daring to look at them, and rushed home to tell Hester.