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  MR. ALEXANDER IS INTRODUCED TO POLLY._Frontispiece--(Page 24)_]

  POLLY AND HER FRIENDS ABROAD

  BY

  LILLIAN ELIZABETH ROY

  _Author of_ POLLY OF PEBBLY PIT, POLLY AND ELEANOR, POLLY IN NEW YORK, POLLY'S BUSINESS VENTURE

  ILLUSTRATED BY H. S. BARBOUR

  NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS

  Made in the United States of America

  COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE I The Alexanders 1 II Dodo Meets Polly's Friends 22 III The Tour Is Planned 41 IV The Tour of Great Britain 62 V Love Affairs and Antiques 84 VI Polly Takes a Hand To Cure Jimmy 106 VII Dodo's Elopement 126 VIII Dodo Meets Another "Title" 148 IX Mr. Alexander's Surprise 166 X A Dangerous Pass on the Alps 184 XI The Plot in Venice 205 XII Escaping an Earthquake 223 XIII Unexpected Vicissitudes of Travel 238 XIV A Highwayman in Disguise 255 XV Ahoy! for the Stars and Stripes Again 267

  POLLY AND HER FRIENDS ABROAD

  CHAPTER I--THE ALEXANDERS

  Eleanor Maynard left her friend, Polly Brewster, in the stateroom,cutting the stems of the gorgeous American Beauty roses, and arrangingthem anew in the tall glass of fresh water. As she was about to closethe door behind her, she turned and said:

  "Be sure and come up on deck, Polly, as soon as you are done with theroses."

  "All right, run along and I'll be with you in a jiffy," returned Polly,her thoughts engaged with the flowers.

  So Eleanor strolled to the upper deck and tried to find an interest withwhich to amuse herself until Polly joined her.

  Of course, you remember Polly Brewster of Pebbly Pit, and her chum,Eleanor Maynard, of Chicago? Mr. Fabian, their teacher in interiordecorating, and the Ashbys from New York City, were escorting the twogirls on this trip abroad, with the idea of visiting famous Europeanmuseums and places where antiques of all kinds could be seen andstudied.

  Eleanor walked part way around the promenade deck before she wasaccosted by a decidedly plump woman of about forty, with decidedlyblondine hair, and flashing--_most_ decidedly--too many large diamondsfrom ears, fingers and neck.

  "Excuse me, but aren't you one of the young ladies I met at the Denverrailway station last year when Anne Stewart and her friends were aboutto leave for New York?" questioned the lady.

  Eleanor turned, glanced at the living representative of the newly-rich,and smiled delightedly--not with recognition but at the possibility ofhaving fun with someone arrayed like a peacock.

  "Oh yes, I was there! Do you know Anne Stewart?" said she.

  "I should think I did! Didn't we live next door to the Stewarts whenAnne and Paul were little tots?"

  "How nice to meet you, now," returned Eleanor, noting the quality of theapparel and the approximate value of the gems adorning the lady.

  "But that was before Ebeneezer struck 'pay dirt' down in Cripple Creek.After that, we moved from the little house and bought a swell mansion inthe fashionable part of Denver," explained the lady, with pride.

  "Did you say you met us last summer?" ventured Eleanor.

  "Yes, don't you remember me? I got off the train coming in from ColoradoSprings, just as you-all stood waiting for the East-bound Express."

  "I have a faint recollection of Anne shaking hands with someone, andintroducing Polly and me, but there were so many in our party that youmust pardon me if I do not recall you now."

  "Oh sure! I know how it is," giggled the lady, affably. "You _did_ havea crowd waiting to see you off, I remember."

  "And now we meet again on the steamer bound for Europe! Well, it goes toshow how small a place this world is," remarked Eleanor, not knowingwhat else to say, but feeling amused at the hackneyed phrase she had tomake use of.

  "How comes it that you are sailing across? Is your Ma and family withyou?"

  "No, but Polly Brewster--she's the girl you saw that day with Anne--andI are going to tour Europe with some friends, to study more of ourprofession."

  "Profession! Good gracious--didn't that gold mine I read about pan outanything?" exclaimed the lady, astonished.

  Eleanor laughed. "Oh yes, I believe it is going to pay even richer thanwe at first thought possible; so Polly and I can use our own money toimprove our education."

  "And what are you going to take up?"

  "We have taken it up--Polly and I have been studying Interior Decoratingfor two years, now."

  "Interior Decorating! Good gracious--isn't that the sort of work theupholsterers and painters have to do for you?" gasped the lady.

  Eleanor laughed again. Here was fun indeed! So she carefully fed thefuel now beginning to take fire in her companion's brain. "I am afraidit _has_ been their work in the past. But Polly and I plan to try anduplift the work, and by investing our money in a first-rate business, wewill try to create a real profession out of what is merely a paint-brushand a tack-hammer job, nowadays."

  Eleanor glanced about to make sure her friends were not within hearingof the remarks she had just made to her new acquaintance. The expressionon the lady's face, as the young aspirant for a new ideal explained herplans, sufficed Eleanor for the story she had just told.

  "And what did you say your name was, dearie?" asked the lady, finally.

  "Eleanor Maynard--of the Chicago Maynards, you know."

  "Yes, yes, I know of them," replied the lady, glibly. "I am Mrs.Ebeneezer Alexander, of Denver. P'raps you've heard how Eben made amillion in a night?"

  Mrs. Alexander's puckered forehead led Eleanor to understand what wasexpected of her in reply, so she fibbed as glibly as her companion had."Oh yes! _who_ has not heard of the Alexanders of Denver?"

  The lady smoothed out her steamer-rug and smiled happily. Then theremembrance of this banker's daughter going into a common trade, tobetter the conditions and reputation of the work, rose uppermost in hershallow mind again.

  "I should think your Ma'd go wild to think that one of her girls wantedto work instead of getting married to a rich young man," remarked she.

  "Maybe my mother would object if I gave her time to think about it,"Eleanor said, smilingly. "But she's too busy getting my sister Bob readyto marry, to bother about me."

  "Well, by the time your sister is settled down and having a family,you'll be ready to turn your back on work and do as your Ma thinksbest," declared Mrs. Alexander, knowingly.

  The very suggestion of Barbara's having a family so amused Eleanor thatshe laughed uncontrollably, to the perplexity of her companion.

  "Don't you believe you will grow tired of work?" asked Mrs. Alexander,thinking her remarks on that subject had sounded preposterous toEleanor.

&nbs
p; "No indeed! Polly and I are tremendously interested in the study, and aswe go into it deeper, the more absorbing it grows," replied Eleanor.

  "I didn't know you had anything to study, except how to handle apaint-brush, or tuck in the furniture covering, before you tack theguimpe along the edges."

  "Oh yes, there's a little more than that to learn first, before you canhang out a sign to tell folks you are a decorator, and wish to solicittheir trade," smiled Eleanor.

  "Who are these Ashbys you spoke of? Are they New York trade people, ordo they travel in society?" now asked Mrs. Alexander, as she rememberedthe escort Eleanor had mentioned.

  "Mr. and Mrs. Ashby, and their daughter Ruth, are very nice people whoknow just the sort of folks Polly and I need to meet to help us in ourbusiness, later on. Mr. Ashby has a large upholstery and decoratingbusiness in New York City, but his wife goes into society, somewhat,"explained Eleanor, a twinkle in her eyes that would have warned one whounderstood her mischievous inclinations. But her companion did notunderstand.

  "Oh--I see! Just a tradesman who's made some money, I s'pose, and nowhis wife wants to climb. Did you ever read that novel about some'climbers'?"

  "No, but I've heard of it. The Ashbys are not that sort."

  "But not the sort that can help me with Dodo, either, I see," said Mrs.Alexander, thoughtfully for her.

  "Dodo?"

  "Yes, she's my daughter. It's because of her that I'm going over to theother side. I've heard say there are titles going begging for Americanmillionaires since the war. And Dodo isn't bad looking, even if sheisn't as prepossessing as I used to be--and am yet, I can say."

  Eleanor could hardly believe she had heard aright. An American motherfrom _Denver_ going to exchange her child for a title! And the absoluteegotism with which she mentioned her own looks and behavior!

  "Well!" thought Eleanor to herself, "I was looking for entertainment,and here I have more of it than I dreamed of."

  "Does your daughter agree with you about marrying a title?" Eleanorcould not help asking.

  "She doesn't say anything about it, one way or another. I told her whatshe had to do, and that settles it."

  "How old is she?" wondered Eleanor aloud.

  "Past sixteen, but she looks more like twenty. If it wasn't that itwould make me look so old, I'd dress her like twenty-one 'cause I hearthe Europeans prefer a woman of age, and over there she can't be her ownlawful self 'til twenty-one."

  "Sixteen! Why--she isn't much older than Polly or I!" gasped Eleanor.

  "No, but I said--she seemed older."

  "Nancy Fabian is nineteen and _she_ never thinks of getting married--notyet. Everyone thinks, nowadays, that twenty-five is plenty young enoughfor a girl to think of marriage. That gives her a chance to see theworld and men, and then make a wise choice."

  "Nancy Fabian--who is she?" asked Mrs. Alexander.

  "Nancy is the daughter of Mr. Fabian who taught Polly and me interiordecorating thus far. He is a wonderful teacher, and Nancy, his onlychild, has been studying art in Paris. Her mother went over with her tochaperone her, while there, and now we are going to meet them. Nancymanaged to have several of her watercolors exhibited at the Academy thisyear, and one of them took a prize." Eleanor's tone conveyed the delightand pride she felt in Nancy Fabian's achievement, even though she hadnot met her.

  "And this teacher is traveling with you?" was Mrs. Alexander'srejoinder.

  Eleanor felt the condescension in Mrs. Alexander's tone and resented it.So she decided to answer with a sharp thrust.

  "Yes; Mr. Fabian promised Anne and my mother to take good care of Pollyand me, until he turns us over to his wife and Nancy, who are visitingSir James Osgood, of London."

  "Visiting a Sir James!" gasped Mrs. Alexander, sitting bolt upright forthe first time since the interview began.

  "Uh-huh! The Fabians and the Osgoods are very close friends, I hear.Nancy Fabian and Angela Osgood studied in the same class, in Paris; andMrs. Fabian chaperoned Angela when her mother, Lady Osgood, had toreturn to England for the London Season." Eleanor had her revenge.

  "Mercy! Then these Fabians must _be_ somebody!"

  "Why, of course! What made you think they were not?"

  "From what you said," stammered Mrs. Alexander, humbly. "You said he wasa teacher and that he was an intimate friend of the Ashbys who werepainters and upholsterers."

  "Oh no, I didn't!" retorted Eleanor. "_You_ said that. _I_ said that Mr.Ashby was an interior decorator who helped Polly and me a lot, and thatMr. Fabian was our teacher. There is a vast difference betweendecorators and paint-slingers, you will learn, some day."

  Eleanor was about to walk away with that parting shot, when a veryattractive girl came from a side-door of the Lounge and looked around.Catching sight of Mrs. Alexander, she started for her. She wasover-dressed, and her face had been powdered and rouged as much as hermother's was; her lips were scarlet as carmine could tinge them, and herhair was waved and dressed in the latest style for adults. As Mrs.Alexander had said, her daughter looked fully ten years older than shereally was, because of her make-up.

  She glanced casually at Eleanor, without expressing any interest in her,and turned to her mother. "Oh, Ma! I've been looking for you everywhere!Pa says he _won't_ come out and sit down, just to watch who goes by."

  Eleanor was severely tailored in her appearance, but her suitrepresented the best cut and fit that the most exclusive shop in NewYork could provide, and the broad-cloth was of the finest. Dodo, (whosereal name was Dorothy but was cut to Dodo for a pet name) failed torecognize the lines and material of the gown, but she passed it overlightly because she saw no gorgeous trimmings to claim value for it.

  "Dodo, dearie, do you remember those two girls we read about, out west?The ones who discovered that gold mine just below Grizzly Slide? Well,this is Eleanor Maynard from Chicago, who was with her chum Polly, whenthey sought refuge in that cave on the mountain-top. Isn't it lovely foryou to meet her, this way?"

  At mention of the gold mine, and the unusual circumstances in connectionwith it, Dodo's expression changed. She smiled politely at Eleanor andsaid: "So glad to meet you."

  "And Dodo being my only child, Miss Maynard, she is well worth knowing.She will inherit the million her father made," added Mrs. Alexander.

  Eleanor smiled cynically. "I'm sorry for you, Dodo. It spoils one's lifeto be reminded of how much one has to live up to, when one is young andonly wants to be carefree and happy."

  "Oh, do you feel that way, too! I thought it was only me who was queer.Ma says other girls would give their heads to be in my place," exclaimedthe girl, anxiously.

  Eleanor now took a keener look at the speaker. It was evident from herwords that she was not what she was dressed up to represent. "You have achance to be yourself, in spite of every one, you know," said Eleanor.

  "Well, I wish to goodness you would show me how! I hate all thisfluffy-ruffle stuff and I wish we could get back to that time when Icould go with my hair twisted at the back of my neck; and a cold waterwash to clean my face, instead of all this cold cream business, and thenthe paint and flour afterwards!" declared Dodo, bluntly.

  "Oh deary! I beg of you--don't display your ignorance before strangerslike this!" wailed her mother, fluttering a lace handkerchief before hereyes. "Eleanor Maynard is one of _the_ Maynards of Chicago."

  "Why not! If Eleanor Maynard is half the girl I think she is--from whatI read, that time they were lost on the Flat Tops and from what she justsaid, then she'll appreciate me the more for my honesty," asserted thegirl.

  "I do, Dodo. I never had much use for make-up, but I know societycondones the use of it all. So I'm glad to find a real girl who dislikesit as much as Polly and I do."

  "There now, Ma! And I bet these girls will look at your pet hobby muchthe same as I do." Then Dodo turned to Eleanor and added: "Ma's bound topalm me off on some little stick of a nobleman in Europe, just to bragabout my name with a handle to it. But _I_ say I don't want ahusband--especially a foreign one
. If I have to marry, let me choose awesterner! The kind I'm used to."

  Eleanor could have hugged the girl for her frank honesty so differentfrom what she had looked for from the daughter of the silly woman beforeher.

  "If only we could persuade Ma to see that this going to Europe does notmean just buying Paris dresses and parading them to catch a lord, I'llbe happy," concluded Dodo.

  "Poor child! How she does find fault with her little mother!" sighedMrs. Alexander, wiping her eyes in self-pity.

  Dodo turned her entire attention to her new acquaintance, at this. "Areyou alone, or is your family with you?"

  "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Dodo dear; Miss Maynard is going to studydecorating in Europe; and her friend Polly, and their teacher, is withher. She just told me that the teacher's wife and daughter are visitinga real English peer! Think of it--a teacher's family stopping with alive lady of quality!" exclaimed Mrs. Alexander, eagerly.

  "I hope they are nice English folks," commented Dodo.

  "Naturally they would be, if they belong to the peerage, Dodo," returnedher mother, innocent of a "Burke" and the difference between a baronetand a peer. "But I was thinking, that it would be quite easy for us toget acquainted with dukes and lords, if a mere teacher got his familyinvited to one's house."

  Dodo's lip curled sarcastically, and Eleanor learned that the daughterhad nothing in common with these empty fads of her mother. Then Dodosaid: "I hope the teacher's family know enough to make the lord's familyappreciate a good old American!"

  Eleanor laughed, and said: "If Nancy Fabian and her mother are anythinglike Mr. Fabian, you can rest assured that they'll do full justice tothe United States, and the Stars and Stripes."

  To change the subject from this dangerous ground that created moreresistance for her to fight than she had to meet, recently, from Dodo,Mrs. Alexander hastily said: "Do you know, Dodo, Miss Maynard told methat Polly and she took up the study of Interior Decorating, in NewYork, in order to better the conditions of painters and upholsterers whowork at that trade. Not to make money."

  Eleanor frowned. "I think you misunderstood me, Mrs. Alexander. I saidwe were studying the profession and that it took a great deal ofapplication and perseverance to reach the high plane which was necessaryfor a good decorator to stand on. So few who call themselves interiordecorators really know much about the art. And in order to increase oureducation and understanding of the profession, Polly and I are about tovisit the great museums of Europe."

  "Well, it is the same thing, isn't it?" pouted Mrs. Alexander.

  "No, I think your idea of interior decorators is that any 'paint-slingeror tack-driver' is a professional. Whereas I see that _that_ is the veryerror necessary to be reversed by us, before the public recognises thevalue of genuine decorators. In France and other European countries, aninterior decorator has to have a certificate. And that is what we hopeto do in the United States--put the real ones through a course ofstudies and have them examined and a diploma given, before one can claimtitle to being a decorator." Eleanor spoke with emphasis and feeling.

  "Well, I don't know a fig about it, or anything else, for that matter,"laughed Dodo, cheerfully. "But I can understand how much moreinteresting it must be to trot around hunting up worm-eaten furniture,or examining ruined masonry, or admiring moth-holed fabrics, than to doas I have to--follow after Ma and sit with my hands idly folded waitingfor some old fossil to pass by and say: 'I choose her, because she's gotthe most cash.'"

  Eleanor laughed outright at the girl's statement, but Mrs. Alexandershowed her anger by twisting her shoulders and saying: "Dodo Alexander!If I didn't know better, I'd believe you were trying to make Eleanorbelieve that you detested your opportunity!"

  Dodo tossed her head and said: "Time will show!"

  At that crisis in the conversation, another girl's voice was heardacross the deck. "Nolla! Are you there?"

  Eleanor turned and called back: "No, I am not here!"

  Then all three girls laughed. The newcomer, Polly Brewster, skippedlightly across the deck, and joined the group she had spied from theopen doorway. Eleanor introduced Mrs. Alexander as an old friend ofAnne's, and Dodo her daughter, as an independent American who believedin suffrage and all the rights of American womanhood. At this latterexplanation, Dodo grinned and her mother gasped in amazement at Eleanor.

  Then Mrs. Alexander said politely: "How is Anne Stewart? I haven't seenher for some time."

  "Anne is married to my brother John, now," returned Polly. "And they aregoing to live home, with mother, while I am away. Anne's mother is tolive at the old home in Denver, and keep house for Paul."

  "It seems years and years since I lived next door to them," remarkedDodo. "I always played with Paul Stewart."

  "Deary, it can't be years and years, because I am not so old as you tryto make me appear," corrected Mrs. Alexander.

  Polly, understanding from the words, saw how vain the woman was andstood looking at her in surprise. But Eleanor heard only Dodo's speech.

  "Did you say you always played with Paul Stewart when you wereneighbors?"

  "Yes indeed!" laughed Dodo, as she remembered various incidents of thatchildhood.

  "We always played we were married, and Paul's Irish Terrier and mykitten were our children. We dressed them up in old dust-cloths andtried to make them behave, but no parents ever had such trials withtheir children as we had when Terry and Kitty got to scrapping!"

  Eleanor was deeply interested and Polly smiled at what she saw expressedin her friend's face. Dodo continued her reminiscences.

  "Paul used to draw me on his sled when we went to school, and he alwayssaved a bite of his apple for me at noon-time. I gave him half of mycake in exchange. Oh, we had such fun--we two, in those days!" the girlsighed and looked out over the billowy sea.

  "Then Pa struck that vein of gold down at Cripple Creek and everythingchanged. Ma got the social bug, so bad, we had to leave all our oldfriends, and move to a strange neighborhood where Pa never spoke to asoul and I felt out of place. But Ma said it had to be done to establishour position.

  "The Stewarts rented their house and I heard that Paul went to Chicagoto college, while Anne went to teach a school in New York. Then I neverheard again, of any of them, until Ma met you-all at the Denver railroadstation." Dodo smiled at that crumb of comfort.

  Polly and Eleanor were deeply touched at the girl's tale, for they knewhow lonely she must have been away from her old associations, in anatmosphere where she was not at home. And such a frivolous mother whocould not understand the true blue of such an honest character asDodo's!

  "Ma sent me to a swell seminary near our new house, but the girlssnubbed me, and I never had a pal all the time I was there. When Maordered me to come to Europe with her to stock up with fine dresses andthen try to make a match for me with some man with a title, I came, butgoodness knows! I just hate the idea."

  "Oh, Dodo! You'll break my heart, if you talk like that!" cried Mrs.Alexander, trying to impress the two other girls with her maternalsorrow.

  "Nolla! I almost forgot what I came for," laughed Polly, to change thesubject. "Prof. says for you to come to the salon where they have usedAdams period and Louis XIV furniture in the same room. He wants to showus a bad example of decoration."

  "May I come with you?" asked Dodo, eagerly.

  "Of course! Come right along," agreed Eleanor, thrusting her handthrough the new friend's arm and starting away with her.

  The moment they were out of hearing, Eleanor said impressively to Dodo:"Don't you ever give in to that idea of marrying a foreigner! Yourmother will soon get over it if you just keep on making her see it's nouse. If you pretend to take up some study like we are doing, she willsee you mean business."

  "That's good advice, and I sure will follow it," declared the eagergirl.

  "And Nolla and I will help along all we can," promised Polly.

  "Even if you have to make your mother believe you are in love with PaulStewart and won't marry anyone else--then do it!" de
clared Eleanor, intones of brave self-sacrifice and renunciation.

  "Oh, but I'm not! Paul is a dandy boy and we had good times when we weresmall, but I've seen other boys I like a heap better'n him, now! But Ireally don't want to marry anyone, yet!"

  "I shouldn't think you would!" breathed Eleanor, in great relief. "SoPolly and I will agree to help you out of all the plots your motherplans for you. Won't we, Polly?"

  "We sure will!" agreed Polly. And that is how Dodo came to travel aboutEurope with Polly and Eleanor. And why the two old friends felt it aduty to protect and save Dodo from the wily plans of her mother whowished to own a title in the Ebeneezer Alexander family.