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  But, sick or well, she couldn’t leave the house and all its sweet belongings to Elaine’s heartless rule. There were things so inextricably connected with her mother that she could not bear to have them mishandled by her sister, who had never cared for any of the old family furniture, and she had no other place to store them if she tried to go away. Besides, it would make endless complications. Elaine would probably sell half of her mother’s things if there was any way to get money out of them. And if she tried to take them away, there again would be trouble. Also, this continual threat of a lawsuit was something that must be settled before she dared go away anywhere. She must be there near her friends. Judge Foster and Mr. Gordon had promised to help in case Elaine really carried out her threats, but they advised her to stay by the house and try to carry on in a sane and quiet way, as if nothing of the sort was proposed.

  There had been a cessation of hostilities along these lines from Elaine for the past five or six weeks while Lexie had been studying so hard. But the real cause was that Bettinger Thomas was absent on a business trip, and he had promised to get the evidence in shape while he was gone. So Elaine had relaxed and was waiting. She had written all the suggested sentences into the little book that the lawyer had selected for her, which was a very good match in size, shape, and color to the original book belonging to Lexie’s mother. She had done her part and been highly commended for the delightful way in which she had imitated her stepmother’s handwriting. She had produced several letters written to herself during the years by her stepmother, and these had been good examples of the script. The lawyer had had an expert’s advice on the subject, or said he had. So Elaine felt she had done her part and had only to rest now and wait until her expert lawyer should arrive and produce results.

  “Lexie, can you spare ten dollars for me?” she asked one afternoon when Lexie arrived home after her final examination, tired to death, and very much in doubt as to whether she had passed the test because the ways of the university were somewhat different from her college life.

  “Ten dollars?” said Lexie, wearily lifting tired eyes to her sister’s face. “I’m afraid not. I had to use the last ten I had for college fees and I’m just about cleaned out. I didn’t know there were any big necessities ahead. We have enough in the house to eat for the rest of the week. What is the matter, Elaine? Is it anything I can do for you?”

  “No! Certainly not!” said Elaine. “I wouldn’t have asked you for ten dollars if anything else would have done. I’ve got to have ten dollars, and if you don’t fork it over, I’ll go upstairs and take some of your mother’s old rattletraps, send for a secondhand man, and sell them, for I just must have it!”

  “Elaine! What is the matter?” asked Lexie, really alarmed, and trying to think what of her mother’s precious relics would be pitched upon for this sacrifice. “Has something happened I don’t know anything about? Some bill that has to be paid at once?”

  “Don’t be absurd!” sneered Elaine wearily. “Of course not. But my lawyer is coming back early next week and I’ve got to get a permanent and a wave and a manicure, and get myself in some shape so that I won’t be a disgrace in court. Then I can sit up and feel some self-respect again. I thought I would send for a taxi and get them to take me into town and go to my old beauty parlor. They always turned me out looking like a million dollars!”

  “I see!” said Lexie sadly. “Well, I’m sorry. I really haven’t the ten dollars. You’ll have to go to some of our other friends to borrow it, for I don’t know how to get it.”

  “Oh, now, Lexie! Have a heart! You know I haven’t any friends around here now, and you needn’t pretend you haven’t any money, for I know you have. You see, we are almost to the time, and you better get over your nonsense and come across. You can have your choice. Hand me over that ten dollars, or go up in the attic and bring down that quaint little writing desk of your mother’s and take it down to Nerokian’s. I sent for him last week and told him about it; he’s very much interested in buying it. So you can run down to him with it and bring me back the ten dollars. If you can get any more out of him, you can keep the extra for yourself. You see, I’m quite generous.”

  Lexie stood still a moment looking at her sister, and her lips began to tremble. Two tears formed in her eyes, and she turned quickly away from her sister and walked out of the room with her head up. Gently she closed the door into the dining room and turned toward the stairs. She hurried up to her own room and closed and locked the door, thankful that the children were still outside playing hopscotch on the sidewalk. She dropped on her knees beside the bed and turned her heart to her Lord. It was the only source of help she knew.

  “Oh, my heavenly Father! Show me what to do! Don’t let me have to lose Mother’s dear lovely desk, the one her mother gave her when she was a girl. Please help me, dear Lord.”

  One moment she paused to get quiet, and then it came to her what to do. She had no doubt but that the Lord had put the thought in her mind.

  Quietly she got up, unlocked her door, and went up to the attic. Far over in the corner under the eaves she had hidden the desk. Now she saw it had been pulled out and the contents spread over the floor. She had locked it when she put all the things away, and taken the key downstairs with her. But the lock had been broken, smashed in with a hatchet. The hatchet lay near at hand as if in defiance of decency.

  Tenderly she picked up the desk, gathered up the papers and letters, put them safely inside, and then found an old straw suitcase, of the type that used to be called a “telescope,” put the desk inside, covered it, and fastened the leather strap firmly about it. Then she went down, stopping long enough at her room to get her hat and purse. As she passed through the kitchen she said in a low tone to Cinda: “You need not say anything about where I’ve gone, not to anybody. I probably won’t be back in time for supper, but it’s all right. Can you carry on while I’m gone?”

  “Sure thing, Miss Lexie! I’ll carry on! She been putting the screws on you again? I thought so! Okay. You can depend on me.”

  So Lexie slipped out the back door and made her way down through the meadow and off to Mr. Gordon’s house, first stopping to telephone and ask if he was at home and could see her.

  His cordial voice encouraged her, and helped to still her wildly beating heart as she hurried along to the bus that would take her within a couple of blocks of the Gordon city house.

  She would much rather have asked this favor of Judge Foster, but Judge Foster had been taken away to the mountains for a thorough change and rest before he returned to his duties at court. She would not trouble his family. They probably knew nothing of her affairs. So she went with great temerity to explain, deciding on the way that she must tell him everything that happened since she last saw him. She must tell him of that Mr. Perrine, and find out if that complicated the situation, and whether she ought to go away for a time until this was over, or what she ought to do.

  Of course if he said she ought to sell the little writing desk and give the money to Elaine, she would do it, but she sincerely hoped he would not. It didn’t seem as if even God would want her to do that. It seemed a desecration of her mother’s property, and being a Christian didn’t mean that one had to lie down on the floor and be a doormat for someone to walk over. Or did it? She was troubled about that. Of course if she was sure it was right she should give it up, if she thought God wanted to do so, she would do it. But it did not seem the right thing to do.

  It was a great relief to her to find Mr. Gordon at home ready to see her, and glad to take charge of her precious package. Moreover he told her absolutely not to give up her mother’s treasures for any such foolish reason. Also he asked some very pertinent questions concerning the man whom Elaine said was going to testify about her mother’s disposal of money that was falsely charged against her. He said he would investigate, but he was almost certain a Harry Perrine had been involved before in false witnessing.

  And when the interview was over—for Lexie had sense eno
ugh not to stay long—Mr. Gordon said: “You’ll be glad to learn, I know, that Judge Foster is much better and that a letter received from him today asked after you and made some suggestions concerning your affairs that may put a decided crimp in Bettinger Thomas’s plans.”

  So Lexie went gravely back home, just as dark was coming down, and found Cinda had fed the family, put the children to bed, and happified Elaine with a new magazine. She was keeping Lexie’s supper hot, and insisted on her eating it before she answered Elaine’s imperative demand for her presence.

  So Lexie ate a nice supper and then went quietly in to find her sister trying on some of her dresses, and deciding what alterations were necessary to bring them up to date.

  “You wanted to see me, Elaine?” she asked, coming in quietly.

  Elaine turned with a smirk on her face from the mirror, and held an artificial flower in her hair, as her eyes demanded admiration from the despised Lexie.

  “Becoming, eh, don’t you think, Lexie?”

  “Very nice,” said Lexie, trying to keep her voice from being cold and disapproving. “You wanted to see me, Elaine?” she asked again.

  For answer Elaine turned and slowly, amusedly surveyed her sister. When she spoke her voice was derisive.

  “Well, naturally I did, of course. What report have you to give me? You certainly took long enough. How much did you succeed in getting for that desk?”

  “Desk?” said Lexie slowly. “Oh, I wouldn’t care to sell the desk, it was very precious to Mother and is therefore precious to me.”

  Elaine shrugged her shoulders.

  “As you please, of course. I’m sure I don’t see what good old, outdated, worn-out rattletraps are, if that’s your idea, and you have other resources. Hand over my ten dollars, please. I want to use it in the morning. And while you’re about it, you better make it fifteen. There are one or two other items I forgot to mention.”

  “I’m sorry, Elaine. I told you I hadn’t any money. Was that all you wanted of me? If it is, I think I’ll go to bed. I’m rather tired. I had my last examination today, and it was a hard one.”

  “So silly and useless!” sneered Elaine. “But Lexie, I’ve simply got to have that money. You can get it whatever way you please, but I’ll only give you till ten o’clock tomorrow morning, and then if you don’t hand it over I’ll take some treasures of yours in the attic and sell them myself. The desk will be the best bet because I really have a buyer for that.”

  Lexie was still for a minute, and then she said sadly: “Good night, Elaine. It really seems useless for me to talk to you. Perhaps it would have been better for me to have stayed at college and the job I had. I don’t seem to be of much use to you here.”

  “No, you don’t!” said the older sister. “You certainly have changed. I used to think you were very kind and accommodating, but you have grown utterly selfish and insolent.”

  Then into the electric atmosphere of the house came Angelica’s voice, sharply like her mother’s, complaining: “Aunt Lex, I wish you would come up to bed. Bluebell is crying herself sick for you. She says you are the only one who can tell bedtime stories and get her to sleep, and she keeps getting out of bed and coming over and pulling my hair and pinching me.”

  Lexie smiled.

  “All right, I’ll come, Angel. Tell her I’ll be with her right away!”

  “Yes, go! Steal the love of my children away from me, too, with all the rest you are doing,” sneered Elaine, “but you get that money for me in the morning or you’ll wish you had.”

  But Lexie had escaped, and was rapidly preparing for bed, to nestle down beside Bluebell and comfort her baby sobs.

  After a little the house quieted down, and even Cinda could stop sniffing and get a bit of rest. And in the still night watches Lexie’s tired prayers arose. She and that soldier over on the other side of the world somewhere were both praying to a God they knew, who was close beside them all the way, and as Lexie was dropping off to sleep she wondered if ever in the years ahead she would see that soldier again, and if they could talk over these things they had passed through. Well, anyway, perhaps in heaven. Somehow there didn’t seem to be much prospect of anything pleasant happening to her on this earth.

  Chapter 16

  The university commencement was the next night and Lexie’s dress that she had ordered at the other college with the girls of her class, which was to be forwarded in plenty of time, did not arrive until the morning of the day. Lexie had been wondering what she would do if it didn’t come. Stay at home entirely, or go down in her old blue voile, which was the only dress-up garment she possessed that was at all in keeping with warm weather. And it was warm! But that last morning the big pasteboard box arrived by parcel post, and eagerly Lexie carried it up to her room, thankful that Elaine was still asleep and wouldn’t be demanding to see what had come.

  But she reckoned without knowledge, for Elaine was not so soundly asleep that she had not heard the postman come and she had been at the window looking out behind the curtain. Lexie scarcely had the box open before the stair door opened and Elaine called up the stairs, “Lexie, what was that package that came in the mail? Wasn’t that for me?”

  “No,” said Lexie pleasantly. “It was just some things that I didn’t bring from college.”

  “Oh! Things! So you have some more old togs, have you? I should have thought they wouldn’t have bothered to send any more such worn-out duds as you have.”

  Lexie made no reply, and so Elaine closed the door and went back into her room. But well did Lexie know that she hadn’t heard the last of this yet.

  However, she was soon engrossed in opening her new dress, and hanging it up where she could examine it.

  It was white organdie, sheer and fine. Those girls who did the ordering for the class were wealthy girls and they knew how to select good material. Lexie’s eyes reveled in the sheer lovely folds, the delicate lace with which the ruffles were edged, the lovely lines of the whole garment. And to think it was her very own! How nice it would have been if she might have graduated with the rest of her own class in the college where she had worked so hard, among those girls she had come to know so well and some of them to love.

  Then she began to put her fingers on the folds shyly, to smooth the skirt down softly as if it were a baby’s skin. There were a few creases in it where it had been folded too sharply, in order to get the cover of the box on. Ought she to iron it, or would just hanging up in the air take the creases out? Perhaps that would be better.

  She took one of her hangers, padded it carefully with cotton, and covered it with white cloth, and then she hung the dress on it and placed the hanger where it would get the breeze from the window. The air was a little damp from the rain last night and that would surely take the musings out!

  So, with quiet step and careful hand she went out, closing her door. There was no point in locking it of course, for that would only arouse Elaine’s suspicions and start her on the warpath again, asking uncomfortable questions.

  Lexie hurried downstairs and began dusting the living room, softly humming a happy little tune, until suddenly Elaine appeared in her bedroom doorway.

  “Mercy!” she said, scowling darkly. “Do you have to screech? I can’t imagine why. Stuck here in this horrid hole of a town, working hard to make both ends meet! But oh, I forgot, you are counting on the fortune you are saving till all suspicion blows over and you feel you dare come out in the open and flaunt your riches!”

  Suddenly Lexie felt as if she simply couldn’t bear another word.

  “Oh don’t, Elaine, please don’t talk that way! You know that isn’t any of it true, and you are just saying those things to be hateful. Isn’t it enough to make me glad and want to sing to think that after all the hindrances I’ve had I’ve really finished my college course and am getting my diploma tonight? That certainly is enough to make me feel lighthearted. But I’m sorry if I disturbed you. I didn’t know you had gone to lie down again. I thought you were dressing.�
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  “Oh, it’s of no consequence of course. But dressing? What would I dress in? I need a new dress. I haven’t a rag fit to put on my back, and today that noted financier is coming to talk with me. I’m sure I don’t know what to do.”

  Lexie was silent. There really wasn’t anything she could say to that harangue. And so Elaine was going to bring that other obnoxious man here to the house along with the disgusting lawyer! Well, perhaps she had better get out for a while. How would it be for her to run down to the store now, as soon as she had this living room dusted, and call up Mr. Gordon? He had asked to be told when either of those two came to the house, and promised if he found it out in time to do something to help her relieve the situation. Besides, he said he wanted to get a view of Perrine, and make sure he was the one they were after before he could do anything.

  So Lexie hurried through her task and started down to the store, but as she came down the stairs from her room, where she had lingered a moment to note that the air was taking the few wrinkles out of her new dress already, she heard Elaine calling.

  “Yes?” she answered, opening the dining room door a crack.

  “I wish you would scrub the front porch!” ordered the lady. “It looks as if the pigs lived here. I can’t have gentlemen coming to see me with a porch like that!”

  Lexie smothered a desire to tell her sister that the only pigs that lived there belonged to her, as her children had been eating bread and jam out there the night before and had smeared jam and an overripe banana over everything. But she took a deep breath instead and endeavored to answer steadily.

  “Sorry, Elaine, I can’t do it just now. I have to go on an errand. Perhaps when I get back there may be time. I’m rather busy this morning.” And then she went out and closed the door before Elaine could say any more, and was speeding down across the meadow before Elaine had roused to keep her from going.

  A little talk with Mr. Gordon brought calm into her troubled soul. He thanked her for letting him know, and said he might come out himself during the morning if he decided that was a wise thing to do.