9ERTRAND SMITHS 
 at. RES Oh BOOKS 
 
 4O "AriFIC AVENUB 
 BEACH. CALIF.
 
 PIPPIN
 
 "Good-by, Dad"
 
 PIPPIN 
 
 BY 
 
 EVELYN VAN BUREN 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 REGINALD B. BIRCH 
 
 NEW YORK 
 THE CENTURY CO.
 
 Copyright 1913, by 
 THE CENTURY Co. 
 
 Published, February, IQI
 
 URL' 
 
 SRLF 5141735 
 
 TO 
 MY MOTHER
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 " Good-by, Dad " Frontispiece 
 
 PAGE 
 
 "Nothink, . . . nothink at all!" . . . . 107 
 
 " 'E is a comic" 113 
 
 Pippin penitent 145 
 
 A scream and Pippin sprang 221 
 
 The photograph 227 
 
 "Dandy! ... It 's me dad!" 235 
 
 " I did n't know ! " he said 287
 
 PIPPIN 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 IPPIN was down on her luck. This 
 depressing state of affairs was hard 
 to bear, with her father and young 
 brother dependent on her ability to 
 provide. And it was not quite as 
 though she lacked the ability. She had a very 
 clever knack of getting money. But of late she 
 had turned against her method. Her conscience 
 troubled her; owing to these twinges of conscience 
 she had been in tight places several times lately but 
 never in so tight a place as now, since she first ac- 
 quired her easy knack of obtaining money. For 
 days she had done nothing in her line. 
 
 " Hal darling," she was saying coaxingly to the 
 small brother, " I 've made you this bit of toastie. 
 We '11 half it, see, and put the bits together. So ! 
 Shut your eyes, think of marmalade, take a bite 
 and what ho!" 
 
 " I 'd like to please you, Pippin dear," he looked 
 up into his sister's face, " but why not we really 
 'ave marmalade and let Dad do a bit o' f ancyin' ! " 
 
 3
 
 4 PIPPIN 
 
 Pippin stood up to take a look at the boy. She 
 opened her eyes in exaggerated astonishment. 
 
 " What '11 you 'ave Dad fancy about, old chap? " 
 
 He hunched his thin shoulders and spread out 
 his arms in their loose sleeves upon the table at 
 which he sat. 
 
 " 'Ave 'im fancy 'e 's got that new checked wais'- 
 coat, 'e 's 'oping you to buy 'im ! " He gave a 
 sadly humorous little chuckle. " I would n't mind 
 fancyin' about some things but it is 'ard doing so 
 much of it about your tea. I likes me marmalade 
 just ever so, Pippin ! " 
 
 She swooped upon him with pitying kisses. 
 
 "Dear old fellow! It ain't all Dad's fault, 
 duckie. It 's your Pippin gettin' notions in 'er 
 'ead!" 
 
 Suddenly releasing him she drew from her 
 pocket, a deep one in the folds of her full skirt, a 
 cotton bag and upon the table emptied it of cop- 
 pers and silver. Hal's dark eyes lit at the sign of 
 affluence; he eyed the money greedily. 
 
 " There y' are ! " he said, with relief. 
 
 " You shall have some marmalade, little 'un," 
 she suddenly promised, counting over the money. 
 " There 's enough to do what I 've been saving for ; 
 get Their Majesties 'ome from where Dad likes to 
 keep 'em, with his Uncle Solomon." 
 
 Little Hal chuckled again at this. His sister sel- 
 dom said such funny things of their dad.
 
 PIPPIN 5 
 
 " There, there, duckie ! " she chided gently, see- 
 ing she had encouraged the lack of parental respect 
 in her small brother. 
 
 Father and son were not chums. She sighed 
 and raised her eyes from the money to the two un- 
 faded squares of wall-paper, that indicated the ab- 
 sence of accustomed hangings. 
 
 " Mar's dying words," she recalled musingly, 
 "was about Their Majesties Dad and Their 
 Majesties. * 'E '11 put 'em in, dear,' she said to 
 me, ' and I leaves you to get 'em out.' She always 
 did! 'Ow mar loved Their Majesties Dad an' 
 Their Majesties ! * Be patient with your dad, 
 child,' she said the very last ; * I leave 'im in your 
 care!'" 
 
 Little Hal tugged at her skirt. 
 
 " You 'd best put the money back. You don't 
 want Dad to come in an' see it, I fancy ! " 
 
 She scooped the coins back into the bag and re- 
 turned it to her pocket. 
 
 " Suppose now you stop 'ere quiet, while I slips 
 round to Solomon's and fetches Their Majesties 
 'ome. They 's time to do it before Dad comes in 
 to tea, eh, old chap ! " 
 
 "If you .like," the old chap leaned back pa- 
 tiently. 
 
 His little face was very white beneath the shock 
 of red hair. 
 
 Pippin regarded him anxiously.
 
 6 PIPPIN 
 
 " You do go off without your meat puddings, my 
 word you do. Try to nibble a bit on the toastie, 
 there 's a dear." She kissed him and catching up 
 her cap hurried out. 
 
 Hal stared at the expectant squares of wall-paper. 
 
 " She '11 bring Their Tghnesses 'ome and 'ang 
 them up," he complained in his tired drone, " and 
 we '11 'ave puddings with our tea and sugar in it 
 for a bit and then Dad '11 sneak Their 'Ighnesses 
 back to Solomon's and they '11 be another spell like 
 this ; and then Pippin '11 save up to get 'em out and 
 it '11 go on forever, I dare say." 
 
 His head drooped to his arm upon the table, his 
 eyes closed. 
 
 It was the unbelievable sound of something grat- 
 ing and gritting in a cup that roused him. He 
 opened his eyes. Pippin stood near; from a spoon 
 she held sugar sifted slowly into a mug of milky 
 tea. She raised it to his lips; he drank deeply and 
 lifting his eyes discovered the return of Their 
 Majesties to their places upon the wall. Hal drew 
 breath and drank again, looking up to the framed 
 smiling face of King Edward and his beautiful 
 queen. 
 
 "Is it better with the sugar, darling? And 
 'ere 's your toastie really spread with marmalade 
 now. And," Pippin bent and whispered, " are you 
 glad to see 'em? " She pointed toward the pictures 
 over the mantelshelf.
 
 PIPPIN 7 
 
 He nodded, looking again at the dignified faces 
 of Their Majesties. 
 
 " You are good, Pippin," he sighed, " and it 's 
 rippin' to see Their Majesties 'ome again." He 
 bit at the toast. Then he added slyly, " It '11 not 
 be long till old Sol 's got 'em back ! " 
 
 Pippin sighed too. 
 
 " ' Be patient with your dad/ was Mar's last 
 words," she again recalled musingly. " My word, 
 was n't she patient with 'im ! * 'E 's got the true 
 instincts of a gentleman and can't 'elp it/ she al- 
 ways said. Mar thort Dad a gentleman." 
 
 Pippin brushed savagely at her sudden tears. 
 
 " I gave me solemn word I 'd look after 'im same 
 as she did. I gave me word I 'd keep Their Majes- 
 ties 'ome. It was n't 'ome without 'em to Mar." 
 
 The recalling of her mother's words and her 
 own promise was like a quick prayer to still the 
 inward tumult of rebellion. 
 
 " Yer does awright, Pippin. I 've even 'card 
 Dad s'y so ! " comforted little Hal. 
 
 Then at the sound of shuffling footsteps on the 
 stairs, he hunched his shoulders, his head hung sul- 
 lenly. Pippin quickly brought another chair to 
 the table. 
 
 " Evenin', children." A thin little man with 
 beady eyes came in. 
 
 Pippin's father had a manner of feeling his way 
 cautiously; he practised a turtle-like movement of
 
 8 PIPPIN 
 
 the head and neck. Upon the table he placed sev- 
 eral small packages, then drew a dark bottle from 
 his pocket. This was his evening meal purchased 
 from what Pippin gave him. He sat down, poured 
 the fluid from the bottle into a tumbler, filled it 
 with water, helped himself from the packages, and 
 ate. With audible enjoyment, his head tipped 
 backward, he drank deeply, when suddenly over the 
 rim of his glass his eye met His Majesty's. 
 
 " Ah," he said, " you 've got 'em back, Pippin ! " 
 
 Pippin nodded. 
 
 "What's 'e starin' at, Pippin? Why ain't 'e 
 a-bed ? " fretted her father. His eyes had dropped 
 angrily to his son's. Little Hal stared back boldly. 
 
 Quickly Pippin drew the offender in his chair to 
 the window. With uncanny comprehension and 
 aversion the son withdrew his somber gaze from 
 the paternal countenance. 
 
 "'Ave a sniff of the fish frying downstairs, 
 duckie," urged Pippin. 
 
 This privilege came from living on the first floor 
 over a fried-fish shop. Pippin took a sniff herself 
 and then hurried across the room to the remarkable 
 specimen of antiquity in the corner a chest of 
 drawers. 
 
 " Ah," her father smacked his lips ; " you 've got 
 me new wais'coat to-noit ? " 
 
 She frowned. Several days ago she had prom- 
 ised he should have it soon.
 
 PIPPIN 9 
 
 " I Ve not, Dad," she admitted. " The little nip- 
 per was 'ungry and Their Majesties 'ad been in ever 
 so long, as you know ! " 
 
 Her dad eyed the boy. 
 
 " 'Ungry was 'e ! 'E does n't care about 'is dad, 
 not 'im!" 
 
 He looked back at Their Majesties. He never 
 disapproved their return to the fold, because their 
 presence represented ready money as soon as he 
 needed to claim it. Suddenly he looked at his 
 daughter. 
 
 " Did n't 'ave the money for the wais'coat, eh ? 
 You must be very short then. I 've no patience 
 with you. An' you so clever too ! " He stared 
 back as she turned her eyes sharply upon him. 
 
 " Why, Dad Raymond, wotcher mean ! " 
 
 Mr. Raymond smiled faintly. 
 
 "What do I mean?" 
 
 He drank off the mixture in his glass. Ke 
 waited a moment, during which he squinted at the 
 green bottle. It gave him courage and a firm re- 
 solve. He rose. Any slight timidity he felt was 
 overcome by the bullying air he assumed. 
 
 " I could 'ave a good 'ome and a new missus if 
 it wasn't for me children, especially if it wasn't 
 for you!" 
 
 There was a moment's silence. 
 
 "Wotcher mean, Dad Raymond?" Pippin said 
 again, in astonishment.
 
 io PIPPIN 
 
 " I mean to s'y," he went on emboldened by her 
 disarmament, " that the widow Flossie Fullerton 
 down 'ere end o' the Lane would 'ave me she 
 would 'ave me if it wasn't for me children, most 
 especially if it was n't for you ! " 
 
 He retreated a step or two, placing the chair be- 
 tween them as Pippin came quickly nearer. 
 
 "Been courting, 'ave you? Courting! That's 
 what I 've kept you dossed up for of evenings. 
 That 's what the wais'coat is wanted for ! The wid- 
 ow Flossie Fullerton, too ! Another missus ! " 
 
 She came close and a sudden gesture swept the 
 tumbler over. 
 
 " Look out ! " Dad Raymond said ; " now don't 
 mike a row, or I 'm off. I am only tellin' yer, Pip- 
 pin ; I 'm only tellin' yer ! " 
 
 " She 'd 'ave yer, would she, if it was n't for 
 your children for me ! " 
 
 " That 's it," he said, bucking up again. " It 's 
 you ! She hints at things you do. It 's not very 
 pleasant for me." 
 
 " Ho ! " Pippin came nearer. " It ain't so much 
 me, as the w'y I gets me money " she blurted out 
 savagely. 
 
 " I 'm surprised at your 'arshness," Dad Ray- 
 mond whined. " What would your mar s'y ? " 
 
 " That 's it," Pippin nodded. " What would my 
 pore mar s'y ! " 
 
 She banged a solid little fist on the table.
 
 PIPPIN ii 
 
 He turned, opened the door, and was gone! 
 
 Pippin stood for a moment staring at the wooden 
 panels of the door, which had banged in her face. 
 She turned slowly. Little Hal drowsing, in spite 
 of the row, had scarcely taken in its meaning. She 
 went to the window and stood looking out. 
 
 The Raymonds had lived in Thistledown Lane 
 for three years. There, frail Mrs. Raymond, hav- 
 ing got her family moved in and settled, was sud- 
 denly seized with an ailment that had no name. 
 She said she was just fagged. The struggle was 
 short. She turned over the care of the ornamental 
 but highly improvident Mr. Raymond to her young 
 daughter, and having received Pippin's tearful 
 promise to keep him a gentleman, her tired body 
 relaxed and her overfond heart ceased to beat. 
 
 Pippin was very young then. Her effort to fill 
 her mother's engagements at charing were unsuc- 
 cessful. Her lack of strength and speed met with 
 complaints, and her pay, scarcely sufficient at best 
 for the needs of a family with a gentleman at the 
 head, dwindled cruelly to almost nothing. Mr. 
 Raymond complained bitterly then and took the 
 pictures of Their Majesties from their places over 
 the mantleshelf and left them with old Solomon. 
 Little Pippin cried bitterly. 
 
 "That's enough o' that," her father stated 
 sternly. " Look sharp an' earn the money an' 
 you 've got 'em back ! "
 
 12 PIPPIN 
 
 The first thing she saw while " looking sharp " 
 was a young woman managing a very clever thing 
 in the Fulham Road, not far from the Lane. The 
 young woman was in a purple velvet gown, and she 
 wore the highest of heels and her stockings matched 
 her gown. She was standing outside a green- 
 grocer's, eyeing some bananas and suddenly an 
 elderly lady, carrying a black leather bag, pushed 
 past her and stopped to examine some luscious 
 fresh figs through her lorgnon. 
 
 The purple velvet one turned her attention from 
 the bananas to the black leather bag of the elderly 
 lady. She rubbed up against her, wedging the bag 
 between them, and while eagerly manifesting mu- 
 tual interest in the figs, the hand nearest her victim 
 stole out, deftly opened the black bag, extracted a 
 coin-purse, and noiselessly reclosed the bag. She 
 looked covertly round as she backed off. The dark- 
 eyed, wondering and even admiring gaze of little 
 Pippin on the curb met hers. The young woman 
 hovered for an instant in alarm, on the verge of 
 flight, but no one else had seen. The elderly lady 
 decided against the figs and hurried away ; the shop- 
 keeper returned within; the purple one giggled. 
 Then Pippin laughed. The girl walked away and 
 Pippin followed when she was beckoned; that was 
 the beginning of her friendship with Doll. 
 
 It was not long before she surpassed Doll in the 
 art of picking a pocket, and soon thereafter Mr.
 
 PIPPIN 13 
 
 Raymond complained less and for some time Their 
 Majesties remained in their places over the mantel. 
 Pippin had learned to " look sharp." 
 
 At first she played the game with roguish de- 
 light. She enjoyed her friend's flattering praise. 
 There was Doll and Doll's Harry and Harry's sis- 
 ter, Kitty. Pippin had for a while shared spoil 
 with them. But she grew older. Doll was with- 
 out honor; she did not play fair and got herself dis- 
 liked by little Pippin for her sly tricks upon her. 
 She longed for other companionship. Distaste of 
 her shady methods gradually grew upon her. She 
 was frequently unable to do anything. And then 
 very lately too, she had made another acquaintance 
 a tall, slender young man of pleasant, persuasive 
 manner and honest face. She had declined Dan- 
 dy's attentions with the awful fear that he might 
 find out the kind she was. She was not fit to as- 
 sociate with him ! And so her moral standard sud- 
 denly distorted, had become more normal again 
 and Pippin suffered. 
 
 She stood looking down at Hal, then moved un- 
 easily. It was very warm to-night and though she 
 liked the fragrance from the shop below, of fish 
 frying in oil, just now it seemed a little heavy; 
 indeed it hung over the street like a cloud. 
 
 Slowly the idea of her future without Dad Ray- 
 mond spread out before her. 
 
 Her mind traveled to the house at the end of
 
 14 PIPPIN 
 
 Thistledown Lane. She recalled the widow Fuller- 
 ton's windows. There were none cleaner in Lon- 
 don! The luxury of her little sitting-room could 
 be viewed any evening in its glowing comfort from 
 the street This was a privilege the widow enjoyed 
 affording the Lane. 
 
 " Perhaps it would be a good thing for 'im to 
 'ave the widow Floss ! " 
 
 She looked round in the darkness; the bare little 
 room needed no light to recall its familiar dingi- 
 ness. A contrasting picture came to her mind. 
 Dad Raymond neatly attired, taking tea in the little 
 sitting-room with the handsome Flossie, seated there 
 comfortably, happily at home with her. And Pip- 
 pin free! She gave a little joyous gasp. What a 
 release it would mean to her and little Hal 
 she could easily provide for. 
 
 " Dad 'd be looked out for, and I 'd be on me own 
 and able to go str'ight." 
 
 She spoke the word whisperingly, hopefully. 
 She thought of different occupations she would like. 
 A lady's maid seemed most respectable and of a 
 high order of domesticity. There might be need 
 of some other arrangement for little Hal, but never 
 mind. It was a good idea anyway. 
 
 First and foremost her dad must be helped along 
 in the courtship. She went to the ancient chest of 
 drawers that toppled drunkenly in the corner. 
 From it she took a coat and trousers of wonderful
 
 PIPPIN 15 
 
 zebra design, shaking and examining them care- 
 fully. Not a button was missing, every sign of 
 wear was neatly darned. 
 
 She placed them on a chair-back, adding a scarlet 
 waistcoat, brave in brass buttons if a little frayed 
 and faded, a high collar and cravat of green. She 
 inspected each article closely and with pride. 
 From her pocket she drew a small box and, opening 
 it, looked over the contents, a stick-pin, a fob and a 
 tooth in gold setting. These ornaments when not 
 aiding her father's dignity she kept upon her to 
 prevent them from going in at Solomon's. Hold- 
 ing them, she sat down to wait. Her father she 
 knew would soon return. His tempers seldom 
 lasted long. 
 
 The clock beneath the pictures of Their Majes- 
 ties struck. It was getting late. But a cautious 
 shuffling sounded on the landing! The door 
 opened slowly and Mr. Raymond peered in. Pippin 
 jumped up. 
 
 " Come along, Dad," she urged reassuringly. 
 " It 's awright. You 've no call to be afeared of 
 me. Come in ! " 
 
 " Oh, very well," he acquiesced amiably. 
 
 " Dad," she began, " I dare s'y I was 'arsh " 
 
 " That 's awright," he said. " But yer know I 
 can't stand rows ! " 
 
 " It 's your daughter's place to help, not 'inder, 
 and I means to. Flossie can make you 'appier than
 
 16 PIPPIN 
 
 what I can, so go ahead, I s'y! I won't stand in 
 yourw'y. I '11 be off!" 
 
 Dad Raymond stared. 
 
 " I Ve been wanting to take a berth as as 
 lady's maid an' now I '11 'ave a go at it. Me an' 
 the little fellow will be off." 
 
 Dad Raymond looked at his son. 
 
 " Flossie would tike 'im," he admitted reluc- 
 tantly. 
 
 " Not it ! " cried Pippin. " No woman 's got to 
 take care of Mar's children. I 've looked after Hal 
 for three years and I want to keep on." 
 
 " You 're a good gal, Pippin ; you always was ! " 
 the father admitted, brightening. 
 
 His face suddenly broke into smiles. " Ever 
 seen Flossie ? " he asked. 
 
 Pippin nodded. 
 
 She recalled the plump widow's prosperity as well 
 as her rather florid beauty, the cause of such vigor- 
 ous discussion among Mrs. Fullerton's feminine 
 neighbors. 
 
 " From what I hear said 'ere about the Lane, 
 Dad, they 's them besides you likes 'er. There 's 
 the tobacconist next door 'ere " 
 
 " She can't 'elp that" said Mr. Raymond. " You 
 need n't s'y so either, but 'e 's no chance." 
 
 " Certainly not," agreed Pippin ; " an' ain't she 
 got the cleanest windows, an' such window-boxes ! " 
 
 "Many's the butting-'ole I've" Mr. Ray-
 
 PIPPIN 17 
 
 mond broke off confusedly. It would not do to let 
 on about the boutonnieres made and presented to 
 him by Flossie's own fair hand, for he had promptly 
 sold them. They brought a penny each. Mr. 
 Raymond had a keener appreciation of money-value 
 than of sentiment. 
 
 Pippin indicated his clothes on the chair-back. 
 
 " Dad," she said, " I 've kept me promise to Mar. 
 I 've done me best for you. I 've kept Their Majes- 
 ties 'ome as much as possible. Perhaps I ain't been 
 to you what Mar would 'ave been but you've not 
 seemed to me quite what you did to pore Mar, 
 most particular of lite. But I fancy I 'd stuck to 
 you and we 'd gone on deceivin' each other if it 
 'ad n't 'appened as it 'as." 
 
 She stepped a little nearer him. 
 
 " Now I will go aw'y. You can tell Flossie I 've 
 mide off run aw'y. I 'd like runnin' aw'y from 
 you, Dad," she admitted brutally, " but there was 
 the promise to Mar and and," her voice softened 
 then ; " well, a gal's dad is 'er dad and I 'd 'ave 
 worrited about you ; but now I 'm going to run 
 aw'y. You '11 not know where, so it 's truth yer 
 can tell Flossie." 
 
 A smile ventured still further to soften his face, 
 but Pippin went on severely. 
 
 " You 're to give me a promise, Dad Raymond ! " 
 
 He stared back at her. 
 
 " You 're never to look me up, never to see me if
 
 18 PIPPIN 
 
 we meets unless I seem to see you. I 've me rea- 
 sons, I '11 know what 's best for us both ; do yer 
 promise ? " 
 
 His shaking hands pressed his collar down, his 
 head jerked upward. 
 
 " Anythink you like," he said. 
 
 " Then s'y yer promises ; s'y, * I promises ' ! " 
 
 " Lummy," he fretted, " I promises right enough. 
 You'll tike the boy?" 
 
 " Rather ! " agreed Pippin. " Yer can go to 'er 
 and s'y, ' Flossie, I 've got no children now, I 've 
 got nothink ; will yer be mine ? ' and she '11 tike 
 you." Looking him over, she added warningly, 
 " Don't 'ave 'er see you without your tooth, Dad. 
 You seemed a gentleman to pore Mar and Flossie 
 might like to fancy the same." 
 
 She held out her hand. 
 
 " We '11 be gone before yer up in the mornin'." 
 
 Mr. Raymond gave his hand weakly, his eyes 
 resting upon his daughter. He appeared suddenly 
 reluctant to lose her. 
 
 " Buck up, Dad, and I wish yer 'appiness. Now 
 get into your clothes ! " 
 
 Mr. Raymond gathered them up and retired to 
 the privacy afforded by the two threadbare skirts 
 joined together and hung from the ceiling, in the 
 corner opposite the chest. 
 
 Very soon he emerged, a good imitation of a 
 zebra in a scarlet waistcoat. Pippin hurried to tie
 
 PIPPIN 19 
 
 his green cravat. She added the dog's-head stick- 
 pin, and handed him the fob. 
 
 " An' 'ere 's your tooth ; make it fast so it can't 
 drop out when you 're talkin' to 'er." 
 
 Mr. Raymond took it and, grimacing horribly, 
 replaced a missing upper front tooth. 
 
 " Now, then," Pippin handed him his cap and 
 walking-stick. He took them and walked slowly 
 to the door. 
 
 " Good luck," Pippin called. 
 
 She went to the window and saw him go. Deb- 
 onair and care-free he took his way to woo and 
 win the belle of the Lane. Pippin sank upon her 
 knees, looking across at the high board wall oppo- 
 site, and, leaning farther out, she got a glimpse of 
 the King's Road, out of which Thistledown Lane 
 jutted. In the King's Road couples arm in arm, 
 red-coated Tommys with their sweethearts, passed, 
 sauntering homeward after a pleasant evening in 
 the street. She thought eagerly of another little 
 street not so far away and not much larger, to be 
 sure, than the little Lane, but oh how different. 
 She thought happily, too, of the tall slender youth 
 of pleasing, persuasive manner! A belated street- 
 organ suddenly started a popular number over in 
 the King's Road. Pippin sprang up, giving exu- 
 berant vent to her hopes by executing a few dancing 
 steps over the creaky floor. She was eager for to- 
 morrow !
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 AILY ablutions were as important to 
 Pippin's comfort as her early morn- 
 ing cup of tea. Her face had the 
 glow, contour, and splendid color of 
 a firm red apple; christened Victoria, 
 as she had been for the gracious queen who reigned 
 over England at her birth, and Alexandra for the 
 charming woman then princess of Wales, Pippin's 
 resentment of the obvious cause of her nickname 
 was not unjust though unavailing. Soap and water 
 and hard scrubbing failed to remove the deep red 
 of her cheek; trouble and hardship left its curve 
 unbroken. Hers was not the style of beauty she 
 most admired. 
 
 " To be pale and sweet, I 'd give su'think," she 
 often sighed. 
 
 Her hair was black. Upon her forehead a row 
 of curls stuck into place by a forefinger moistened 
 at the tip of the tongue, and a bun prominent at 
 the back of her head, was her customary coiffure. 
 Her eyes, which were nearsighted, had usually a 
 deeply wondering gaze and the pupils dissolved 
 softly into the dark background, giving an owlish 
 
 20
 
 PIPPIN 21 
 
 look when she was not scheming. She was short- 
 limbed and plump. Buttoned tightly within a plain 
 bodice attached to a full skirt, she hardly achieved 
 the effect of slenderness to which she aspired. 
 
 Pippin made her toilet with care, early the morn- 
 ing after her determination to free Dad Raymond 
 of the burden of his children. 
 
 Little Hal sat at the window watching her. His 
 white face was bright, his joy restrained with diffi- 
 culty. The sound of Dad Raymond's regular 
 breathing from the unbeauti fully curtained interior 
 increased his anxiety to hurry flight before the 
 parental awakening. 
 
 Pippin dragged the blanket from her bed, and 
 spreading it upon the floor, neatly placed upon it 
 such articles of wearing apparel as were theirs. 
 From an old box that propped up the head of her 
 legless bed, she took a secret possession some bed 
 linen! Between folds of newspaper, fragrant with 
 the dried flower of sweet lavender, it was as her 
 mother had left it her wedding gift when a kind 
 employer had parted with the faithful woman who 
 became Mr. Raymond's bride. Pippin laid it with 
 the rest and upon this pile, face to face, she placed 
 the pictures of the King and Queen. Other cher- 
 ished belongings; a gilt-rimmed cup, the mantel- 
 clock, a knife, a two-pronged fork and a wooden 
 spoon of carved ornamentation, she was careful to 
 add.
 
 22 PIPPIN 
 
 " All these things pore Mar loved an' had give 
 'er," she said. 
 
 " Fancy," chuckled little Hal, " only fancy run- 
 nin' aw'y from Dad ! " 
 
 He slipped from his chair, caught up his tattered 
 cap, a cast-off, checked affair of his father's, and 
 put it on peak to left that he might avoid total 
 eclipse beneath it. His little body, tense with eager- 
 ness, was but a rack for the ill-fitting garments. 
 
 " Buck up, Pippin, do ; let 's be off ! " he whis- 
 pered, missing the heavy breathing, suddenly. 
 
 Pippin was at a drawer of the old chest that 
 treasured her father's splendor. With usual care 
 she brought out the zebra suit, scarlet waistcoat and 
 other accessories to his adornment. She threw 
 some sticks on the fire, left the teapot handy 
 and took up her bundle. Her cotton dress was of 
 clean and starchy coolness, piquantly set off by a 
 small fur cap worn at so jaunty an angle as to ap- 
 pear glued to her head. The cap had long stuck 
 to Pippin and, worn through all the changing sea- 
 sons since her mother's death, it had seemed to de- 
 crease in size as Pippin's countenance filled out and 
 broadened beneath it. She struck at it, gripped her 
 bundle tighter, and motioned to little Hal. As 
 they moved to the door the head of Dad Raymond 
 popped from his apartment. Pippin halted. 
 
 " Good-by, Dad. Good luck ! Shake 'ands with 
 Dad. love!"
 
 PIPPIN 23 
 
 Father and son hurried the ceremony. Then Pip- 
 pin moved with her long stride, leading Hal. They 
 left the room and descended the narrow stairway. 
 
 Pippin had never mixed with others in the Lane. 
 Consciousness of her method of livelihood had kept 
 her fearfully aloof. Now she hurried along and 
 hardly any one but the fried-fish man sweeping out 
 his shop, witnessed the eager departure. 
 
 " Now," she said, as they came to a dairy in the 
 King's Road, " 'ere 's where you 're to 'ave a treat, 
 duckie. Jubilee Court, the street where there 's that 
 room to let, I 'm keen on, is just beyond and you '11 
 stop 'ere with the bundle and tike your milk till 
 Pippin goes about the room." 
 
 " We '11 'ave plenty of money now we 're quit o' 
 Dad, eh, Pip ? " wisely observed Hal. 
 
 He climbed up on the high stool before the coun- 
 ter and as Pippin deposited the bundle on the floor 
 beside him, he piped out his order for " a glass of 
 milk and a bun with seeds in it, please 'm ! " 
 
 " Bless the little man," remarked the pleasant 
 woman behind the counter, while Pippin regarded 
 with open admiration this sudden development of 
 manliness. 
 
 Little Hal had always been fretful and dependent. 
 She pushed back his cap, smoothed his hair and 
 smiling, spoke indulgently. 
 
 " 'E '11 stop 'ere for a bit, if you don't mind. 
 I 've an errand down the street."
 
 24 PIPPIN 
 
 ' 'E '11 stop 'ere and tike time to eat 'is bun, not 
 to 'ave it a lump in 'is tummy," was the reply and 
 his sister hurried away, nodding her thanks. 
 
 Pippin knew her London. It was vast. It 
 was full of sudden congested little byways 
 that led quickly from poverty to wealth. Ju- 
 bilee Court had twin rows of five little houses, 
 spick and span in fresh white paint with green trim. 
 The end house in each row soared boastingly half a 
 story higher than the others and like proud sisters 
 looked down upon the little ones. Pippin loved 
 Jubilee Court, yet it was not really unlike many 
 another little street she might have chosen. She 
 might have gone further away from the old one 
 since she was to start a new life. But in the Court, 
 which she had first discovered in seeking a short 
 cut to the West End, she had lately loitered fre- 
 quently. It had been for some time steadily grow- 
 ing upon her. It seemed such a friendly street, 
 and the symbol of respectability. She glanced 
 ahead and saw where the prim little court that led 
 in narrow unpretention from Kings Road, burst 
 suddenly into an array of fashionable private resi- 
 dences, that linked circling round a private impaled 
 square. There the soft gleam of green met the 
 eye soothingly. The great old trees fanned back 
 a breeze ; fenced in by the rich gentry, they yet re- 
 membered charitably, with dignified and cooling 
 nods, the neighboring little court.
 
 PIPPIN 25 
 
 Pippin drew another quick breath. After all 
 maybe it was too presuming to be trying for this. 
 Then boldly she swung ahead. Again she marked 
 the rows of white door-stones, the freshly painted 
 doors and brass knockers, the line of clean, white- 
 curtained .windows. The flowering brilliance of 
 the window-boxes almost surpassed those of Flossie 
 Fullerton in beauty. 
 
 Between the curtains, every window displayed an 
 ornament, a sacred sign of respectability. Here a 
 small table with a vase of artificial flowers, there a 
 lifelike exhibition of fruit. Tantalizingly real to 
 Pippin, the purple plums or the blue grapes, and it 
 seemed well indeed that a glass covered them. In 
 one window there was a cage of love-birds. This 
 display was exactly opposite the room to which 
 Pippin aspired. But as she looked, she missed the 
 sign that had been in the top-floor front window; 
 a woman was there shaking a dust-cloth. Pippin 
 stood staring up at her, black eyes narrowed in her 
 nearsighted way. 
 
 " Well, miss ? " inquired the woman eagerly, 
 thrusting out her head, to gaze back at Pippin. 
 
 " Good morning," Pippin called out. " I came 
 about the room you 're doing now ; I was 'oping to 
 tike it!" 
 
 " Stop a bit," the woman answered and drawing 
 in disappeared from view. She came down quickly 
 to Pippin in the street.
 
 26 PIPPIN 
 
 "So it's let?" Pippin said. "I'm that disap- 
 pointed you can't think ; I 'd got me 'eart set on this 
 street ! " There was a break in her voice. The 
 woman eyed her. 
 
 " You 'ad, had you ? " She looked the would-be 
 tenant over. " Well, I 've not let the room. I was 
 only washin' the window. I am the caretaker, 
 Mrs. Crimmins by nime, and I live in the back 'ere 
 and I Ve the letting of the street ! " 
 
 " Oh, that 's it," said Pippin. 
 
 " You see," explained Mrs. Crimmins, continu- 
 ing to examine the applicant critically, " they 's all 
 families in this street. One or two to a 'ouse. 
 Just 'ere at the end," she nodded first at the room 
 above, then to the little window opposite where the 
 love-birds hung, " I let these top-floor odd rooms 
 each to single lodgers being first certain they Ve 
 got a character ; in other words the rent fortnightly 
 in advance." 
 
 She looked but detected no change in the girl's 
 countenance. From the open window where the 
 love-birds hung, there piped the sound of a flute. 
 Mrs. Crimmins began to beat time. 
 
 " I Ve a flutist up there. Flutist in the Earl's- 
 Court-Exhibition-Ladies'-Band ! " 
 
 Pippin grinned in accompaniment, while her 
 mind yearned eagerly to claim some equally becom- 
 ing and alluring occupation for her own. 
 
 " 'Ow much is the rent of the room ? " she asked.
 
 PIPPIN 27 
 
 The caretaker ceased humming to look her over 
 again. 
 
 " Why not 'ave a look at it ; it 's better to know 
 what you 're bargaining for." 
 
 Pippin nodded to this quickly. 
 
 Within, the hall and stairs were laid with clean 
 linoleum, the woodwork smelled of the fresh, green 
 paint that matched the doors and window-boxes 
 without. They passed a pretty girl on the stairs 
 and Mrs. Crimmins paused and as Pippin came 
 along, nudged her, whispering: 
 
 " A bride. Not long married an' 'e gives 'er 
 three rooms the whole floor, you may s'y ! " 
 She stooped to pluck up some of the feathers the 
 bride's boa had shed upon the clean stairs. " You 
 see I 've tip-top 'uns and I 'm obliged to 'ave me 
 eyes open to keep the street up to what it is ! Why 
 I 'ave had gentle folks, ladies stopping in the Court ! 
 Out o' luck for the time, y' know or su' think " 
 
 They came to the room and Mrs. Crimmins threw 
 open the door. Pippin drew a quick fluttering sigh 
 of delight. 
 
 " All furnished, not a stick needed ; the very 
 thing ! " she cried. 
 
 She tripped round the room, observing the chest 
 of drawers that stood so erect and brightly ve- 
 neered, peering into the little wardrobe, patting the 
 bed and leaning from the window to gaze across at 
 the love-birds and into the Court below. She
 
 28 PIPPIN 
 
 swept back to the firepla.ce to admire the bric-a- 
 brac of the mantelshelf, plucked aside the flowered 
 curtains at hand and revealed the little cupboard. 
 Her owlish eyes softened and glowed, her apple 
 cheeks flushed and paled, the downward lines of 
 her mouth curved pleasurably upward. It was a 
 room for the person she was going to be. She saw 
 herself in it, changed, industrious, proud, honest. 
 Half -consciously she felt the power of environ- 
 ment. She faced Mrs. Crimmins with a little 
 hopeful smile. 
 
 " It 's fit for a lady," she said. 
 
 " Then you 're lookin' out lodgings for an- 
 other ? " Mrs. Crimmins turned her head for the 
 answer to be spoken in her right ear. 
 
 For another ! It was an inspiration ; for another 
 she could talk freely, drive a bargain and plan. 
 She stood briefly hesitating. Then a slow smile 
 overspread her round face. 
 
 " The room is for a lady ! " 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins dropped her cloak of aloofness. 
 
 " I wondered to meself when I see you come sail- 
 ing down the street. I thort too, now there 's mys- 
 tery!" 
 
 " She 's not a lady of wealth," Pippin said. 
 
 She had a clear plan now and glowed with impa- 
 tience to clinch the bargain. 
 
 "What's the best, ma'am, you can let me the 
 room for ? "
 
 PIPPIN 29 
 
 " Five bob ! " Mrs. Crimmins tapped familiarly 
 at Pippin's tightly buttoned little bodice. 
 
 Pippin pursed her lips. 
 
 "Of course you know your price, Mrs. Crim- 
 mins. I don't want to 'aggie! Still I really can't 
 manage above four bob ! " she said. 
 
 " Very well," agreed the caretaker reluctantly ; 
 " four bob does it." 
 
 She wadded her window-cloth into one hand and 
 held out the other. Pippin's impulse was to shake 
 it, but instead she dipped into her pocket and be- 
 sides a half crown (the price of Dad Raymond's 
 check waistcoat, that it would now be another's 
 pleasure to buy) she produced one shilling and six- 
 pence. She dropped the money into Mrs. Crim- 
 mins's hand. 
 
 " Four shilling that 's only one week ! A 
 fortnight in advance is the regular custom," re- 
 minded Mrs. Crimmins, her hand remaining ex- 
 tended, jingling the coins. 
 
 " Funny thing," mused Pippin ; " she thort one 
 week 'd do it." 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins looked thoughtful. 
 
 " I 've not got any more on me just now," Pip- 
 pin added, " or I 'd make it a fortnight." 
 
 She dropped her frock over the pocket of her 
 underskirt with businesslike finality and went on 
 quickly. 
 
 " I 'm to tike possession till she comes. You '11
 
 30 PIPPIN 
 
 like 'er, ma'am, a lady, but not too much side or 
 snubbin' superior w'ys." 
 
 She broke off. There was a new gleam in Mrs. 
 Crimmins's eyes; was it doubt, suspicion or what? 
 
 " I does for 'er," Pippin added eagerly ; " sews, 
 and she likes me about. I '11 need to be 'ere close 
 till she comes." 
 
 "When is she coming?" asked Mrs. Crimmins. 
 
 Pippin struck at her cap. 
 
 " Not to-d'y ; pre'aps not to-morrow." Then 
 slyly, " She is watching 'er chance to get aw'y." 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins pocketed the single week's rent. 
 
 " What 's the lady getting aw'y from ? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " No doubt she 'II tell you, ma'am, she 's that 
 open an' honest, but it wouldn't be quite right for 
 me to." 
 
 "Young?" persisted the caretaker. 
 
 Pippin nodded. 
 
 " Young and beautiful! " she stated firmly. 
 
 " 'Ere," said Mrs. Crimmins, seizing the arm of 
 her visitor; she waved a hand over the room. 
 " The lodger before the last in this room was a 
 young woman that told 'ow she was a workiri' gal 
 " Mrs. Crimmins closed one eye with her little 
 finger. " She was a lady born and bred as ever I 
 see. Trouble, love or su'think was upon her and 
 it was plain she 'd set 'erself to earn her own w'y. 
 She was out all d'y an' every d'y up to the one that
 
 PIPPIN 31 
 
 she comes rushing down to me with a letter and a 
 look on 'er face, so different from what she 'd been 
 wearin' of; and what was it but that some one 'ad 
 died out in India and fixed 'er for life with thou- 
 sands o' pounds, I forget now 'ow many ! " 
 
 " My word ! " breathed Pippin. 
 
 " They 's some things here," Mrs. Crimmins 
 wafted the window-cloth over the household lux- 
 uries, " which she left for me, and though leavin' 
 'em in the room, I charges only sixpence extra and 
 'ope they '11 bring luck to the next lodger same as 
 to 'er that 's gone ! Five an' six is the price o' this 
 room, so you can see 'ow I'm obligin' you. Four 
 shilling it 's dirt cheap ! " 
 
 " You 're a very good woman, Mrs. Crimmins, 
 I can see that ! " enthused Pippin. 
 
 " I 'm looking for character," the lady said, 
 " but," she added, " I loves mystery ! And of 
 course it 's my business to keep the rooms let ! " 
 
 As Pippin gazed back at Mrs. Crimmins a little 
 regretful pang stirred her. A quick impulse to 
 confess, to open her heart and unburden it, moved 
 her, but it passed and left her cold. 
 
 " There 's my brother, little Hal," she began to 
 explain. " 'E '11 stop along of me till the lady 
 comes. She 'd wish it. Mar 's dead and Dad, be- 
 ing nervous, does n't like the little chap about." 
 
 At this Mrs. Crimmins snorted. " Your dad is 
 no doubt a worm ! "
 
 32 PIPPIN 
 
 " Dad 's not quite that, ma'am," Pippin said. 
 
 " Don't defend 'im ! " Mrs. Crimmins replied. 
 " It reminds me of my Sally. She always de- 
 fended her dad and look 'ow 'e treated 'er. Made 
 'er shift for 'erself at the tender age of eight." 
 
 " Cruel 'ard," murmured Pippin, tipping her 
 head suddenly to read the gold lettering round the 
 vase on the mantelshelf. 
 
 " But Sally 's the kind to take opposite sides no 
 matter what. She 's older than you and 'as got a 
 'usband of 'er own now, but no children," Mrs. 
 Crimmins went on. 
 
 She flicked at things with her duster, emphasiz- 
 ing her eager bursts of confidence. 
 
 " They 've a inn out Hornsey Rise w'y and a bit 
 of ground. / allow Sally me two youngest, Ar- 
 thur and Bertie, 'er little brothers, for company. 
 She keeps 'em in the pure air very reasonable an' 
 so gives me a free 'and 'ere." 
 
 Pippin turned from the beauties of the room to 
 regard Mrs. Crimmins with inquiry. 
 
 " 'Ow much ? " she then asked shortly. 
 
 "You could see Sally," Mrs. Crimmins re- 
 flected, approaching Pippin. "If she took a liking 
 to the boy " 
 
 "'E's a love," Pippin assured fondly. " It 'd 
 do 'im such good for a bit too, 'e 's not robust. 
 I '11 be off, ma'am, an' fetch him for you to see.
 
 PIPPIN 33 
 
 And I wants to get the room settled for the 
 lady!" 
 
 "Ah," said Mrs. Crimmins, "the room is in 
 shape for the lady an' my advice is to get the little 
 chap packed off fidgets 'is pore dad, do 'e?" 
 
 As Pippin went out the muttered words of Mrs. 
 Crimmins floated after her : 
 
 " Another Crimmins their own children makin' 
 'em nervous ! " 
 
 Pippin ran down the stairs and looked up and 
 down the little street. She turned an appreciative 
 ear to the rehearsing flutist. Her eyes devoured 
 the flowering window-boxes, the fresh paint filled 
 her nostrils. Her heart beat athrill with joy 
 and pride. She belonged already. This was her 
 new home Jubilee Court
 
 TALL young man with a kindly, hon- 
 est face paced along the Fulham 
 Road. The vividly striped pattern 
 of his clothes increased his slender 
 height and closely outlined the an- 
 gularity of his nimble limbs. He stopped fre- 
 quently with an acrobatic manoeuver that bent his 
 knees and whirled him round abruptly. Then he 
 looked eagerly back along the street, turned again 
 with a show of disappointment and resumed his 
 way. He puffed a long stemmed pipe. His man- 
 ner was partly playful; passing a fruit stand he 
 snatched a handful of gooseberries, dropped them 
 into his coat pocket and dodged into a convenient 
 doorway near by. He saw the wrathful fruiterer 
 come from the shop and after a moment of mis- 
 chievous enjoyment, he gaily confronted him. 
 
 " 'Ere you are," he said, extending some coppers. 
 " I was only larking a bit ! " 
 
 The shopkeeper laughed hugely at the joke and 
 the two enjoyed a short chat. 
 
 It was the hour for morning marketing and the 
 shops in Fulham Road were busy. Passing omni- 
 
 34
 
 PIPPIN 35 
 
 buses, too, were crowded and a-top of them para- 
 sols and gay head-gear gleamed in the June sun- 
 light. The young man moved along but finally 
 stopped on the curb where he ate the gooseberries 
 and watched the people passing. A young woman 
 sauntered past. She wore a purple hat with a 
 stringy, purple feather upon it. Her purple vel- 
 veteen skirt dragged behind and only reached her 
 ankles in front, displaying purple stockings and the 
 high heels that caused her swagger gait. At once 
 her roving glance was attracted by the somewhat 
 conspicuously attired loiterer. She turned and 
 came back slowly, gazing at the solitaire in his 
 cravat with the fascination of a connoisseur of 
 precious stones. 
 
 She passed back again more slowly and repassed, 
 her eye upon the gem. But her antics were sud- 
 denly observed by the young man. He gave her 
 a measuring glance, stared suspiciously and tucked 
 the bordered silk handkerchief into his pocket. The 
 purple one's nose went up in disgust. As she 
 walked away she muttered, " Glass ! " and turned 
 to other things. 
 
 The youth touched his scarf-pin, felt his watch, 
 and so reassured walked on in a thoughtful way. 
 He was clearly out in the hope of meeting some 
 one, very particular. He puffed at his pipe which 
 had gone out and with his head thrust forward con- 
 tinued rather dejectedly on his way.
 
 36 PIPPIN 
 
 Suddenly out of Jubilee Court swept a girl. 
 There was almost a collision. 
 
 " Dandy ! " she gasped. 
 
 " What ho ! " cried he, his face lighting as he 
 looked at her. " My eye," he added, " I 'd just 
 about give up. I was going back along the road 
 once more I am glad to see you; 'ow are you, 
 Victoria Alexandra ? " 
 
 " Awright ! " she returned shyly, and in embar- 
 rassed pleasure at her lover's use of her rightful 
 name. 
 
 The color of her apple cheeks had won him but 
 he did not call her Pippin. 
 
 She turned a shade pinker, touched at her cap 
 and row of curls and suddenly recovering her sang- 
 froid, she gave him a playful blow in the chest. 
 
 " G'on ! " she said. " Wotcher dawdlin' about 
 'ere for; tell us!" 
 
 " I Ve spent the entire morning lookin' for your 
 ladyship. I 'm on a 'oliday," he answered, beaming 
 upon her. " But 'ere ; does a cloud darken your 
 brow, Victoria Alexandra?" he asked solicitously 
 as a sober look crossed her face. " Is su' think up ? 
 Anything a cove can do ? " 
 
 " They 's nothink," she answered quickly, 
 " though you 're very kind. But it is quite a d'y 
 for me you see I 'm starting out on me own like 
 to-d'y, leavin' me dad, who 's takin' a new missus ; 
 so 'e does n't need me or little Hal, me brother, y*
 
 PIPPIN 37 
 
 know. I 've just been about a room in Jubilee 
 Court and I 'm moving there to-d'y." 
 
 " That 's the talk," Dandy said, bending his face 
 to a level with hers ; " that 's the w'y ! Now 
 there '11 be no more nonsense, I 'ope, such as ' me 
 dad wouldn't hear of it' Can you give any rea- 
 son, I ask, for not walkin' out along of me now, 
 Victoria Alexandra ? " 
 
 Pippin laughed. Dandy was such a wit she al- 
 ways laughed at him; he did everything in a hu- 
 morous way, from so swiftly conducting the ar- 
 dent courtship she had at first tried to discourage, 
 to calling her by her dear names, Victoria Alex- 
 andra. 
 
 " No, Dandy," she admitted thoughtfully, 
 " they 's nothink to stop our walkin' out now." 
 
 She looked into his eyes. There was a happy 
 light in them. 
 
 " That 's better," he smiled back ; " it 's su'think 
 like to 'ear you talk sense. I came out to-d'y, as 
 I 've said, to look yer up, old gal. I says to meself 
 when I snapped on this 'ere cravat," he tapped the 
 tie and Pippin's glance was attracted by its deli- 
 cate shade, matching perfectly the tender blue of 
 Dandy's eye, " I says it 's the last time, Dandy, old 
 cove, you're to ask the little woman if she says 
 no again, it '11 be because she fancies another " 
 
 " It 's not so," Pippin cried out sharply ; " it 's 
 been Dad needin' me ! "
 
 38 PIPPIN 
 
 " Awright then/' drawled Dandy. 
 
 A smile rippled over his face. 
 
 " Are we engiged, dear ? " 
 
 Pippin looked down at the even row of buttons 
 on her bodice. 
 
 " If you like, old chap." Then she added with 
 affected flippancy, " Anythink for a quiet life." 
 But she ran her forefinger up and down the row 
 of buttons, the blush deepening and paling upon her 
 cheek. 
 
 " An' when will you name the d'y, Victoria Alex- 
 andra?" 
 
 " Oh, that '11 be a good w'y off," she said. 
 
 Fully resuming her coquetry, she again banged 
 his chest. " Now 'ave a bit o' patience, old cove, 
 can't yer? There's lots of reason for waitin'," 
 she hurried on ; "I 've got to get used to bein' by 
 myself. I 've got to get a situation " 
 
 "There y' are," Dandy put in. "Without a 
 father now well, 'ow yer going to p'y the rent ! " 
 
 " In course," she murmured, momentarily assum- 
 ing the attitude of a dependent daughter. "Now 
 I '11 need to shift for meself, but," she added sud- 
 denly, " I can do it ! I wants to. I 've several 
 things in mind ! " 
 
 He looked admiringly at her. 
 
 "Awright, old gal! Then we'll do a bit o' 
 courtin' till yer gets sick o' work and wants a cove 
 to lift the burden, as 'e '11 be waitin' to do! "
 
 PIPPIN 39 
 
 " Till then " an upward glance eloquently fin- 
 ished her sentiment. 
 
 He pressed her arm and returned her look. Then 
 he drew her along with him. 
 
 " 'Ow about 'ouse'old furnishings ? " he thought- 
 fully inquired. 
 
 Pippin gaped at her lover's intuitive powers. 
 
 " I 'm not furnishing, old chap. The room 's 
 complete," she said, " and as comfy ! " 
 
 There was an odd, suddenly yearning look in her 
 eyes. 
 
 "What is it, then?" Dandy asked, bending to 
 read her face and receiving the loud-voiced ap- 
 proval of a passing cabby. " There 's su'think 
 you 'd like ; it 's plain in your eye." 
 
 Pippin felt that she was very weak this morn- 
 ing. The room, the charm of the quiet genteel lit- 
 tle court was upon her. 
 
 " Every window 's got an ornament in it, in the 
 Court, every one but me. Opposite mine is a cage 
 of love-birds." 
 
 " What would you like in yours, dear ? " he 
 urged. " A canary named Teddy ? " 
 
 " I 'd love a canary," she admitted it softly. 
 
 " Ah," he said, " in the Brompton Road." 
 
 He hurried her along and she clung to his arm, 
 her face lifted to his and a flush of joy tinting her 
 cheeks. 
 
 " There 's the little nipper " she began.
 
 40 PIPPIN 
 
 "Rather," agreed Dandy. "We'll start out 
 with a bit of a family, when we do get off, what? 
 To think I 've never seen 'im, too ! " 
 
 " 'E 's waitin' now five minutes' walk from 'ere 
 in a dairy," Pippin said, hurrying forward. 
 
 Suddenly from a doorway shot the purple velvet 
 creature. 
 
 " Go blimy ! " she exclaimed, facing them, " if 
 it ain't little Pippin ! " 
 
 "Doll!" Pippin said. 
 
 " My word," shrilled Doll, "am I a ghost or 
 what, to give yer such a turn ? You 've gone like 
 chalk, Pip!" 
 
 She broke into a high giggle. 
 
 " Thort you was copped, eh ? " 
 
 She seemed unable to subdue her laughter. 
 Bending nearly double in mirth, the purple feathers 
 of her hat swept the pavement, her bun of hair be- 
 came loosened and trailed down her back. 
 
 " 'Ere," she shrilled, sobering, as Pippin leading 
 Dandy moved cautiously round her ; " introduce 
 your bloke." 
 
 " Mr. Daniels," Pippin said, " this is Mrs. 
 Thorns." 
 
 Dandy stared. 
 
 " Know my 'Any ? " grinned Doll. 
 
 " 'E does not ! " Pippin replied for her young 
 man ; " an' if you don't mind, we '11 be going along 
 about an errand we 're on."
 
 PIPPIN 41 
 
 " If it 's so pressing ! " replied Doll, her merriment 
 gone. 
 
 " S'long, Doll ! " came tremulously from Pippin 
 and still clinging to Dandy, she drew him away. 
 
 Doll's jeering laughter followed them. 
 
 " Pore thing," Dandy said. " I 've noticed 'er 
 before to-d'y. She looks a bad lot ! " 
 
 His glance at Pippin was questioning. 
 
 " Noticed 'er ? " cried Pippin sharply. 
 
 " Noticed 'er 'anging about ! " he said. " You 
 know 'er, then ? " 
 
 Pippin drew her arm from his. The joy had 
 gone, anxiety shone in her face. 
 
 " Not well. In fact 'ardly at all. I don't like 
 'er!" 
 
 " Come, come ! " cheered her lover, seeing her 
 discomfort. " It 's nothink you can 'elp and there 's 
 another thing I 've not told you, dear. Besides 
 being a 'oliday, it 's likewise the anniversary of me 
 birth twenty-one years ! " 
 
 " Twenty-one years ! Why, you 're of age, old 
 chap ! " cried Pippin. She looked up into his face 
 proudly. 
 
 "Twenty-one years an orphan, too," he said. 
 " To-day I mean to be unusual ; a rare 'un ! What 
 about a bus to Kew, then a boat up the old river 
 and after that tea in the garden? Ask the little 
 chap, and see ! " 
 
 Little Hal having leisurely finished his bun and
 
 42 PIPPIN 
 
 glass of milk at the dairy, got down from his stool 
 at Pippin's introduction and gave his hand to her 
 young man with engaging friendliness. 
 
 " Now, little 'un," began Dandy at once, " it 's for 
 you to s'y whether we're off on a 'oliday or not! 
 First, we've a bird to buy and christen, then we 
 thort of going on a bus to Kew ! " 
 
 " Pippin ! " Little Hal turned to his sister. 
 "Really, oh, really?" 
 
 " It 's for you to s'y/' insisted Pippin's young 
 man. 
 
 "Me to s'y?" whispered the boy. "Yes oh, 
 yes. I want to go ever so ! " 
 
 " Bless 'is little 'eart ! " murmured the dairy- 
 keeper as Dandy settled with her for his young 
 friend's refreshment. 
 
 They emerged from the shop, a gay trio. Dandy, 
 carrying the bundle and holding a little hand 
 clasped in his, was the recipient of a steady, up- 
 ward, adoring gaze from Hal. Pippin held his 
 other hand and they walked toward Brompton 
 Road. In Brompton Road was a bird fancier's. 
 Here they entered, to be received attentively by a 
 bearded gentleman. 
 
 " Now then ! " demanded Dandy, putting down 
 the bundle ; " show us su'think up to date in ca- 
 naries ! " 
 
 The bearded one then went to the back of the 
 shop and returned with a sweet little fluff of yel-
 
 PIPPIN 43 
 
 low in a gilt cage, price ten shillings and six- 
 pence. 
 
 " Sings like a nightingale," he stated. " Sings 
 like a nightingale, an' this neat little cage " 
 
 " Never you mind about the cage," commanded 
 Pippin. 
 
 She turned upon Dandy who was already count- 
 ing out his money. 
 
 " You can't go lavishin' it about like that, old 
 cockalorum, now do stop to think ! " 
 Dandy jingled the money in his pocket. 
 " I Ve me whole month's screw, dear," he whis- 
 pered, " and you 're wanting a suitable bird while 
 you 're about it, I fancy." 
 
 And instead of stopping to think, he went look- 
 ing all about the shop at the clerk's bidding, for 
 anything he liked better, still jingling his money. 
 All unconsciously he was revealing to Pippin how 
 much he needed her. He must be continually in 
 the way of temptation; the talkative clerk's sort 
 was plentiful. A sense of protective possession 
 swelled her little bosom, but quickly followed the 
 thought of her unworthiness. How could he be- 
 come hers to save from others while her first duty 
 lay in shielding him from herself, her past and 
 such contaminating acquaintances as Doll. 
 
 She summed the matter up with the vow, " Not 
 till I 'm str'ight, a square 'un ! " 
 
 She must have been employed, have lived in a
 
 44 PIPPIN 
 
 good street. She must have walked out with 
 Dandy properly engaged and possessing a little 
 money of her own. She had a strong sense of 
 comradeship and desired to stand her lover treat 
 as well as to stand treated. Marriage to her, and 
 she had reasoned it out, was not a woman's means 
 of support ; her old man should be her pal and they 
 would share alike. 
 
 Followed by the grinning clerk and little Hal, 
 Dandy came from the back of the shop carrying 
 a bird in a modest cage in place of the fluff 
 of yellow that sang like a nightingale. With one 
 hand to his heart, bowing before her, he extended 
 the gift gallantly. 
 
 " 'E 's yours, Victoria Alexandra, christened by 
 me and little Hal Teddy! 'E didn't cost too 
 'igh an' he 's got some good notes this man assures 
 us, eh, sir ? " 
 
 " Also I Ve let it go very reasonable," said the 
 clerk, " and I believe it 's to be sent? " 
 
 Pippin gave her name and the new address with 
 an important jerk of head that nearly dislodged her 
 fur cap. 
 
 " Thank you ! " beamed the clerk. 
 
 " And," added Pippin, " you might 'ave the kind- 
 ness to deliver this bundle along o' the bird." She 
 indicated the roll containing her entire worldly pos- 
 sessions. " I 'm not going str'ight off 'ome ! " 
 
 They hailed a bus and hoisting little Hal to his
 
 PIPPIN 45 
 
 shoulder Dandy mounted to the top after Pippin. 
 Here with a rakish exchange of hats they began 
 the outing. Now and then the sallow face of Doll 
 framed by untidy hair came across Pippin's vision, 
 but quickly passed and left her happy, confident of 
 her future and Dandy. 
 
 They reached Kew and feasted on ices and seed 
 cake. Then they went on the river. It was Hal's 
 first time in a boat. His joy was also their pleas- 
 ure. The wonder in his eyes, the flush in his pale, 
 weary face, the gentleness of manner that took the 
 place of his old peevishness were marked by Pippin. 
 His affection for Dandy increased her own admira- 
 tion for her lover. 
 
 It was yet early in the evening when Dandy 
 brought them back to the little court. He viewed 
 with approval the house and the window of the 
 room that was now Pippin's. 
 
 " It 's got tone, this neighborhood 'as," he agreed, 
 " an' I like your being 'ere, dear ! " 
 
 He pressed her hand warmly and at last loped 
 away and left her as she had hardly dared hope 
 to be, a resident of Jubilee Court.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 ISS LAWRENCE sat beside the win- 
 dow in her room in Mrs. Penley's 
 lodging-house in Bloomsbury Square. 
 The letter that lay half open in her lap 
 she had read before, but now she 
 went over it again. 
 
 Dearest Girl: 
 
 You have run away from me. Honestly that is 
 all I can think of; you have put three thousand miles 
 of salt water between us, to say nothing of the land- 
 distance Goshen is from New York, where I should 
 have to go before I could begin the voyage to Eng- 
 land. You see what I mean, don't you? If you 
 want me, dear little child, send for me I will come. 
 I was expecting you when I got your letter that you 
 had sailed. Oh, Molly! Well I wish Leonora Law- 
 rence success on the stage, since that is her heart's 
 desire I wish it in spite of the knock it must give 
 my happiness. I see now how selfish I have seemed 
 in wanting you so that I have driven you away. For- 
 give me. If my arms stretch out across the sea 
 yearningly to little Molly, my admiration goes out to 
 you, courageous Miss Leonora Lawrence. 
 
 Yours always, CHARLIE. 
 
 46
 
 PIPPIN 4Jr 
 
 She finished and raised her eyes to the familiar 
 letter-head. In one corner " Pumps " flared in red 
 print, in the other " Charles Browne, Manager," 
 below and nearer the center, " Goshen, Indiana." 
 Her look drifted away over the little back garden. 
 From the tiny black chimneys smoke was beginning 
 to rise in a softly purple pall through which the sun 
 would soon burst in hot splendor to begin the day. 
 She drew back from the window and sitting down 
 by a table took up a letter she had begun. 
 
 " Dear Charlie," she had written. After a mo- 
 ment she went on. 
 
 You have probably bought the papers to read of 
 my fame, and so discovered what a fizzle " The Ten- 
 derfoot" has made here. It ran only a week! If 
 I were a manager, I 'd have known it would fail. 
 Why, just the little while I 've been here, I can see 
 what the British Public wants. It likes American 
 things, but it doesn't like just anything simply for 
 being American. I believe that some day I can write 
 a play the British Public will like some summer 
 when I 'm resting on my laurels of the season before. 
 I thank you for your good wishes, Charlie boy, but 
 I 'm not coming back for a while. I ran away from 
 not just you, but you in league with everybody at 
 home to keep me from my art. I ran away from 
 obstacles, do you see? I am looking for an engage- 
 ment here now; it is good for me. London is not a 
 bit like New York. I 'm learning lots of things,
 
 48 PIPPIN 
 
 among others not to talk through my nose ; the British 
 public hates our talking through the nose. 
 
 Little Goshen must be very pretty and green now; 
 how are pumps? I will write again, but probably I 
 shall not write too often. 
 
 L. L 
 
 The letter finished, she went back to the win- 
 dow. The sun was out; high and hot it began to 
 shine over the housetops. 
 
 " Another day ! " she said, rising and nodding. 
 " Well, I 'm glad I have thought out a plan for 
 temporary help and I know I shall get an engage-, 
 ment soon ! " 
 
 Leonora had paced the floor nearly all night, 
 thinking, thinking ! Her money was entirely gone. 
 She owed three weeks' lodging, and Mrs. Penley, 
 the landlady, had said that something must be done, 
 and at once. 
 
 She took up her letter, addressed it to Mr. 
 Charles Browne, Goshen, Indiana, and dropped it 
 into her hand-bag. From a drawer of her bureau 
 she took a small gold cross and chain and a ring. 
 She examined them critically, then they too went 
 into the bag. Pausing for a moment, she stood in 
 contemplation of a photograph upon the corner of 
 her bureau. A little tender smile lifted the cor- 
 ners of her mouth and she murmured, 
 
 " Goshen could n't hold you, dear old Charlie, if 
 you knew what a pickle I am in ! "
 
 PIPPIN 49 
 
 She laughed a little. She began slowly doing 
 her hair. Then she viewed the clothes in her closet 
 and chose a ruffled frock of pink crepe, a pink straw 
 hat and a pink parasol. 
 
 When she had dressed leisurely, she sat down at 
 the window. 
 
 " I wonder what time pawnshops open ? " she 
 said presently. 
 
 As though seeking admittance to answer, some 
 one knocked at her door. 
 
 " Come in," said Leonora. 
 
 It was Mrs. Penley, her landlady. 
 
 " I thought I heard you," she said. " What have 
 you decided to do, Miss Lawrence ? " 
 
 She entered and closed the door, then advanced 
 to the center of the room, adjusting the beribboned 
 widow's cap she wore upon her elaborate coiffure. 
 Her eyes wandered to the bed. 
 
 " Why, have n't you been to bed ? Fancy ! " 
 
 Miss Lawrence returned her searching gaze, 
 smiled cheerily and shook her head. 
 
 " No ! " she said. " I 've been thinking ; almost 
 all night I Ve been thinking. I can raise some 
 money. I 'm going out to do it now. Perhaps 
 I can't get enough to pay all I owe you, but I can 
 give you part of it. Then, of course, before very 
 much longer I '11 have an engagement. Even if it 
 should n't be just what I want, I 'd take it for a 
 while." 
 4
 
 50 PIPPIN 
 
 " Now that won't do, my dear." Mrs. Penley 
 frowned in annoyance and rested her clasped hands 
 upon the shiny buckle of her wide satin girdle. 
 " It is n't certain enough. You must write home to 
 some of your people, you must indeed, or I can't 
 keep you on. I have a guest now who would take 
 this room." 
 
 " Then I must go," Miss Lawrence said, turning 
 quickly. 
 
 " Why not write home ? " frowned her land- 
 lady. 
 
 The answer was cold and decided. " I came to 
 London independently. I do not wish to ask my 
 relatives for money. I '11 pack at once." 
 
 " Unless you pay me in full, you must leave your 
 box here, though I hate to be 'arsh." Mrs. Pen- 
 ley's voice softened a little. 
 
 " You 're not harsh." Leonora smiled at her 
 bravely. " It 's business. You 've been awfully 
 good and patient. I '11 do the best I can to settle 
 with you ; my gold cross is n't very heavy, and the 
 diamond in my ring is small." 
 
 Mrs. Penley raised her hands in protest. 
 
 " You 're going to pledge " 
 
 " Me jools ! " Miss Lawrence laughed lightly. 
 
 Mrs. Penley backed away until she bumped into 
 the door. " I do not see that it is a light matter, 
 Miss Lawrence! You Americans are never seri- 
 ous, now, are you ? "
 
 PIPPIN 51 
 
 " It 's awfully tough luck, Mrs. Penley," Leonora 
 said then, very seriously, " but while I did not 
 expect to stay and get into debtors' prison over 
 here, as I seem about to do, I did not expect to 
 find several leading parts immediately offered me 
 either, so I 'm not disappointed." 
 
 She took the photograph from the bureau and 
 after a moment of indecision, thrust it into her 
 hand-bag. 
 
 " I 'm not a bit discouraged," she announced. 
 " I Ve never yet heard of any real great emotional 
 actress, who did not go through hard luck, have 
 you? It 's the making of them." 
 
 Mrs. Penley rattled the knob to show her dis- 
 taste of the subject; also that she was going. 
 
 " It '11 do me good," Leonora added with sharp 
 emphasis. " It will bring me out. They say mis- 
 fortune does, and I know I Ve got something in 
 me." 
 
 She pressed her slim hands to her breast and 
 turned a face of glowing courage to the retreating 
 form. There came back to her the plaintive 
 words : 
 
 " I must say I hope you '11 pay me." 
 
 " Please trust me, Mrs. Penley ! " Leonora threw 
 earnestly after her creditor. 
 
 She ran to the door to make sure of being heard. 
 On the landing huddled the housemaid. Her heavy 
 face was full of sympathy and fear for this young
 
 52 PIPPIN 
 
 lady whom she liked. Leonora went back to her 
 trunk, searching among the trinkets in the top tray 
 and, seizing upon a turquoise-studded back comb, 
 rushed out and forced it into the hardened little 
 hands. 
 
 " With Miss Lawrence's best wishes, Phcebe," 
 she whispered. 
 
 " Oh, miss, must you go out in the streets ? I 'd 
 do anything for you ! " Leonora pressed the girl's 
 hands and turned away. Just now she feared sym- 
 pathy. 
 
 She quickly packed her belongings, locked the 
 trunk and snatching up parasol and gloves thrust 
 her arm through the handle of her bag, and hurried 
 from the room. As she opened the vestibule door, 
 Mrs. Penley came out of her sitting-room. 
 
 " There 's the Y. W. C. A. you can go to, Miss 
 Lawrence," she said kindly, " and do arrange to 
 settle with me soon ; I 've been very unbusinesslike 
 with you." 
 
 " You '11 never be sorry ! " Miss Lawrence called 
 earnestly. " I will bring you back something to- 
 day, whatever I can manage." 
 
 She crossed the road and stopped, looking over 
 the iron paling into the shady square. She felt 
 suddenly faint. She remembered then that except 
 for a cup of tea and a biscuit she had eaten nothing 
 at all the day before. 
 
 " I can't go in and rest," she said weakly, " for
 
 PIPPIN '53 
 
 now I 'm only Mrs. Penley's ex-lodger, and I have 
 no gate key." 
 
 She slowly moved on. It was very warm and the 
 faintness did not go away. She could not remem- 
 ber to have seen any loan-shops nearer than those 
 in the Strand, so she followed Southampton Row 
 to Bow Street and thence to a little shop the win- 
 dows of which sometimes displayed old jewels. 
 But, reaching the place, the sight of it quite sud- 
 denly and unaccountably sickened her. To enter 
 and barter away her gold cross and ring! It 
 seemed sacrilege. For the moment, she could not 
 go in. A little farther down, just off the Strand, 
 were Temple Gardens; she could go there and re- 
 cover her courage. Then she would return. 
 
 All along the busy Strand quick-lunch places ex- 
 hibited placarded invitations to hurried American 
 tourists. The small shops displayed umbrellas, 
 gloves, handkerchiefs and silk hosiery, doubtless 
 especially attractive, to Americans. Buzzing like 
 bees in clover, dipping from one shop into another, 
 they met and compared loudly, humorously their 
 purchases. It was a gaily commercial crowd. 
 Pretty women joyful at seeing and being seen 
 passed, with Baedekers under their arms. From 
 tally-hos, taxis and motors they gazed with de- 
 vouring eager eyes upon the city. None of them 
 were in Leonora's plight. But her head raised 
 quickly at the thought. She would have changed
 
 54 PIPPIN 
 
 places with none of them. Everything she suf- 
 fered now would tell in future. When her Oppor- 
 tunity came she would have lived. She welcomed 
 her suffering. She asked only that no one need 
 suffer with her. Then she thought of Charlie 
 Browne back home in Goshen. Still he loved not 
 only her, but making money as well. He was get- 
 ting rich. He would forget her. Suddenly Le- 
 onora felt that she did not want him to forget her. 
 He might remember her as a friend, as something 
 dear he had sacrificed upon the Altar of Art. This 
 would, she reflected, develop the fineness in him. 
 It would inspire her. She turned into Temple Gar- 
 dens and stumbling to a seat, dropped weakly down, 
 her strength suddenly giving out. 
 
 "When the clock strikes again," she murmured, 
 " I '11 go back. I 've got to. I 've promised Mrs. 
 Penley. Besides I Ve got to eat. I 'm I 'm 
 hungry! "
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 j] U 'LL get put out of the Court! " It 
 was a tormenting little voice thump- 
 ing away within Pippin's weary body. 
 Two days she had spent in ardent 
 search of employment, something 
 that would permit her to sleep at home, for she 
 loved the domestic privacy of her own room. She 
 had got into the Court by a misrepresentation. 
 She hoped to efface the profane memory of this, 
 remove all necessity for further misdealing by 
 proving her own character. This could only be 
 achieved by prompt payment on rent days. 
 
 She must have employment then, sufficiently re- 
 munerative to pay her rent, and Hal's moderate 
 expense in the country where he had gone with Mrs. 
 Crimmins's Sally, and also to supply herself with 
 a holiday outfit and a little spending-money. Pip- 
 pin scorned the drudgery of slavey or scullery- 
 maid; she desired something that would not take 
 away dignity or freedom, something akin to Dan- 
 dy's position of responsibility, of which he told her 
 a good deal. To x all suitable newspaper advertise- 
 
 55
 
 5 6 PIPPIN 
 
 ments she had responded diligently, and now she 
 hurried through a fashionable part in which a resi- 
 dent desired a " second help to sleep out," having 
 stated the fact in the morning Telegraph. 
 
 This had seemed acceptable as a beginning. She 
 had come to the place hopefully, only to be turned 
 sorrowfully away. 
 
 " Makin' up yer mind to go str'ight 's not all 
 there is to it," she bitterly reflected. " 'Ave you 
 got a character, gal! Where was you last em- 
 ployed ? " she mimicked. " You can't expect to be 
 engiged without a character now, can yer ! " 
 
 She laughed; it was an ugly little sneer. But 
 she had tried hard. Forces too strong to with- 
 stand seemed beating her back to old habits. It 
 might be easiest to give up! With her weakness 
 came a faintly insidious craving. She looked 
 about. But this was not a neighborhood for 
 " pubs " ! She walked on. If she did take a drop, 
 especially a drop too much, and went back to Ju- 
 bilee Court it would be the end. 
 
 She turned and shook a fist at the house that had 
 rejected her services. Savage resentment burned 
 within her. She yearned to be honest how she 
 longed for it ! 
 
 She counted off the places she had applied for. 
 Fifteen in two days. She looked down at her boot 
 that had given way from the hard wear of her long 
 walks. The possible openings had been, it seemed,
 
 PIPPIN 57 
 
 at the four corners of London. She began to sing, 
 rakishly. 
 
 " I likes society, real society, 'igh society." 
 
 She kept along without definite purpose, but 
 drifted surely toward old haunts. She would not 
 indulge the craving, but a few minutes among the 
 shoppers might be amusingly and profitably spent. 
 Pippin knew about pockets; getting at what they 
 contained was a talent. She had that talent. Yes ! 
 She excelled Doll who had taught her, and Doll's 
 Harry, and Kitty! Kitty was Harry's sister; all 
 of them were in " the profession." 
 
 Harry ran big risks, robbing houses and shops 
 and had to lie low for days and weeks, some- 
 times. Doll was lazy, besides a bad heart that flut- 
 tered, and Kitty seldom exerted herself because of 
 over fondness for gin. They had been proud of 
 Pippin. 
 
 She finally came into the Strand, where she 
 slackened her gait. It was a very warm day and 
 after her efforts for honest employment, she was 
 tired. At Temple Gardens she turned in. She 
 would wait a while and rest. 
 
 A few people were walking about, but a slim 
 form in a fluff of pink, sitting upon a bench, at 
 once caught her eye. Pippin loved pink. She 
 could not see the face that was shaded beneath the 
 drooping rose-laden hat. She made a slow detour
 
 58 PIPPIN 
 
 and brought up at the side of the occupant of the 
 seat. There she dropped on to the bench. 
 
 The lady in pink turned and looked. Then she 
 bent her cheek to her hand again. The back of 
 her head with its coils of fair hair was toward 
 Pippin, while her face was half hidden. Pippin's 
 black eyes narrowed as they traveled nearsight- 
 edly, but with admiration from the hair on down 
 to the soft stuff of the pink bodice ; she noted a tiny 
 button that had missed its loop, and she counted 
 the flounces from the waist, down to the shiny 
 patent-leather toe. The lady's gloved hand was 
 thrust languidly outward upon the seat and from 
 it trailed a hand-bag on a silken cord. 
 
 Pippin darted a quick look around. Covering 
 the bag with a corner of her own frock, her hand 
 groped and, slipping the catch of the bag, told as 
 well as her eyes could have done what it contained ; 
 letters, a photograph, toilet necessities, keys; a 
 cross and chain and a ring, but no money. Pippin 
 transferred the jewelry to her own pocket and 
 closed the bag. Obviously the pretty person in 
 pink was without money; it was possibly the rea- 
 son for her silent dejection. 
 
 After a few moments of waiting, Pippin gave a 
 loud yawn. The lady started. She rose, swayed 
 forward, rested upon her parasol. Then with a 
 quick hard breath of resolution, she walked away. 
 Her young neighbor of the bench rose also and fol-
 
 PIPPIN 59 
 
 lowed slowly. She was such a pretty young 
 woman and Pippin wished to see where she 
 went. 
 
 As she had promised herself, Leonora returned 
 to the pawnshop. She decided to save delay and 
 have the things in her hand as she entered, so she 
 stopped before the window, opened the bag and 
 slipped her hand in. Fumbling for a moment, she 
 peered into it closely; she drew out the letter and 
 photograph, and looked again. The cross and 
 chain and ring were gone! She pressed forward 
 against the window-pane, gripping her parasol for 
 support, striving not to fall in the blackness that 
 suddenly enveloped her. 
 
 A hand closed on her arm, an arm slipped round 
 her, strong and supporting. She leaned upon it 
 and opened her eyes. It was the little girl in the 
 fur cap, who had sat beside her on the bench in 
 Temple Gardens. She closed her eyes again! 
 
 "Buck up, Miss!" 
 
 She felt herself led forward. The guiding hand 
 was kind, the cheery voice friendly, urging her to 
 each step. She found herself in a bus; she felt it 
 moving with a cumbersome, jolting motion. There 
 was a soft dabbing and fanning of a handkerchief 
 upon her forehead ; it soothed her and kept her 
 dimly conscious. The jolting continued with 
 frequent short stops and a man's voice calling the 
 streets.
 
 60 PIPPIN 
 
 Then she was urged again by a kindly voice to 
 " buck up," to " take it easy." She tried bravely. 
 She groped through, out of the omnibus, walked a 
 few steps, climbed some stairs, entered a doorway 
 and knew no more. 
 
 Leonora opened her eyes under the weight of a 
 cool wet towel. She pushed the towel away. 
 There was a blur of pink walls, % and then appeared 
 a short figure, and a hat with roses a big pink 
 hat! It was her own hat, Leonora finally made 
 out, on the head of the girl, who had helped her. 
 The girl stood before a small.mirror topping a chest 
 of drawers in the corner, looking at herself. She 
 finally took the hat off carefully, and turned away 
 from the glass. 
 
 " It needs golden 'air ! " she admitted regretfully. 
 
 Her dejection in the matter caused the lady on 
 the bed to laugh weakly. 
 
 " Oh, Miss ! " gasped Pippin. 
 
 She bobbed across the room out of view, a clat- 
 tering of dishes followed and quickly the welcome 
 aroma of tea close at hand came to Leonora. Her 
 trembling hand reached for the cup. 
 
 The girl held it while Leonora sipped gratefully. 
 " A bit o' bread too," suggested Pippin. Leonora 
 ate the " bit " and lay back refreshed. 
 
 " You 're awfully good," she murmured. 
 
 Her hostess did not reply at once. 
 
 " Bit o' luck," she said, turning round to gaze at
 
 PIPPIN 61 
 
 the walls, " me getting this pretty room. Ain't the 
 pink paper fresh and sweet, Miss ; I fancy it no end 
 myself!" 
 
 " I love pink, too," said Leonora. 
 
 " It suits you with your golden 'air." Pippin 
 looked around at the " 'air," but meeting the eyes 
 of her guest turned away again shyly. 
 
 She went to the bird-cage hanging in the window 
 and poked a finger between the bars. Her man- 
 ner was not that of one given to shyness. It 
 seemed a temporary embarrassment. 
 
 " I 'm all right now," Leonora said, sitting up, 
 " and I can be going." 
 
 "Going 'ome, Miss?" Pippin asked, though she 
 felt certain the lady somehow had no home, just 
 now. 
 
 Leonora herself counted all the pink ruffles of her 
 skirt and reaching the bottom and discovering that 
 her shoes had been removed wiggled her stock- 
 inged toes thoughtfully. 
 
 " No," she said, " I have n't any home." 
 
 " Don't worrit, Miss," urged her hostess. " Stop 
 the night 'ere ; stop till you finds yerself. It 's odd 
 me f eelin' so keen about 'aving this neat room ; I 've 
 just moved in, y' know." 
 
 " Then you live alone," Miss Lawrence said. 
 
 " Oh, yes, quite! " came the answer. " Me name 
 is well, I 'm called Pippin because of these," she 
 touched at each hard red cheek, " but I was chris-
 
 62 PIPPIN 
 
 tened for Their Majesties Victoria Alexandra, 
 proper ! " 
 
 " I like Pippin," smiled the guest; " it goes with 
 your lovely complexion." 
 
 Pippin grinned and wiped a careless hand across 
 the asset, thereby proving that it was not remov- 
 able. 
 
 " You ain't London," she said. 
 
 " Goshen, Indiana, U. S. A. ! " 
 
 Pippin smiled. The American accent always 
 amused her. 
 
 " I knew you came from the States," she said. 
 " I can always tell 'em." 
 
 " My name is Lawrence ; Miss Leonora Law- 
 rence ! " 
 
 This intelligence brought a broader smile and a 
 soft sigh of satisfaction. 
 
 " I am an actress ! " 
 
 A little gasping whisper, " Oh, Miss, I s'y, not 
 reely?" 
 
 Pippin stood in a transport of joy before the 
 celebrity she had harbored unawares. 
 
 " An actress, Miss ; 'ow wonderful for me ! " 
 
 The actress, oblivious of the awe she inspired, 
 tied her shoe and observing her bag hanging upon 
 a chair-back rose and went to it and with the look 
 of one who still cannot believe what is perfectly 
 known, opened it, looked expectantly into it, then 
 exclaimed; peered closer, slipped her hand in and
 
 63 
 
 drew out the cross and chain and ring. She stood 
 staring, holding them out to her little friend. 
 
 " Ho, there you are then, Miss," Pippin said 
 brightening hopefully. " You can put in things o' 
 that sort and get a bit o' money ; you 'ad n't thought 
 of it, 'ad you?" 
 
 " Why, I was going to pawn them and then I 
 looked and they were gone " 
 
 " You came over ill, Miss," reminded Pippin ; 
 " they could n't 'a' been gone ! You did n't see 
 them is the w'y of it. I 've been took that bad of 
 a sudden " 
 
 Words ceased to flow although the agile move- 
 ment of jaw continued; her eyes became round, 
 black, sharp with sudden fear as she stared into 
 the calm gaze that fixed her. 
 
 " You sat beside me in Temple Gardens," Leo- 
 nora said. 
 
 " An' saw 'ow ill you was," added Pippin sym- 
 pathetically. " You could stop the night, Miss 
 I 'd do anythink to make you comfortable. I 've a 
 nightie to lend yer after all you 've got to stop 
 some plice, 'ave n't you, and the room is 'ere an' 
 welcome." 
 
 "Do you work?" Leonora asked. 
 
 " Profession of lady's maid." The reply came 
 breathlessly prompt. " I 'm off on a bit of a fur- 
 lough." 
 
 Leonora restrained angrily rebuking this fluency.
 
 64 PIPPIN 
 
 There was something pitiable about it. But her 
 resentment was keen. She had been the victim of 
 this girl who clearly was a thief ! Distaste, then 
 fear, crept over Leonora. 
 
 She turned quickly to the window, demanding: 
 
 " What street is this, please ? " 
 
 " Jubilee Court, Miss ; old Chelsea, S. W." 
 
 Pippin understood her position exactly. She 
 crept with her cat-like stride nearer her visitor. 
 Her look and tone were pathetic, supplicating. 
 
 " We all 'ave our bit o' trouble one time or an- 
 other; it do drive to desperation too." Then turn- 
 ing away, she whispered, " I 'd broke off from what 
 I used to do d' yer see, Miss Lawrence? But 
 then I could n't get a berth with all I tried ever so ! " 
 She wrung her hands before the silent and out- 
 raged lady. 
 
 " Anybody could slip up, and not mean to 
 couldn't they?" she pleaded; "once, like? Then 
 'ate they 'd done it and never would again what, 
 Miss? Oh," she burst out, " I 've got to be trusted 
 like, can't yer understand ? " 
 
 Leonora stood watching her, thinking. 
 
 Pippin thought too, shrewdly. Only clean 
 money paid a lady's room rent. 
 
 " Stop along o' me, Miss," she still invited. 
 " The rent is paid from a bit o' extra charing I got, 
 lucky like ! " The lie stung her a little. She 
 cried out : " Give us a chanct ! The caretaker,
 
 PIPPIN 65 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins, does n't know me ; I 've little 
 more 'n just come, I wants to stay and with 
 you 'ere ! " 
 
 Something looked from Pippin's eyes, perhaps 
 the spirit of the girl she wanted to be and Leo- 
 nora surely saw the better self. Her offer was 
 friendship that would atone for her crime. And 
 the admission that a trusting presence would aid 
 her spiritually and materially. Then too, she 
 need n't have put back the jewels in the bag and 
 when she had them she could have deserted her 
 victim there in the street. Yet for a moment 
 longer, Leonora wavered. But where could she 
 go? And if her staying helped Pippin if they 
 could help each other! 
 
 " I will stay ! " she said resolutely. 
 
 For a long time the two looked into each other's 
 eyes. 
 
 " I will trust you," she promised. 
 
 A little moan of joy escaped Pippin. 
 
 "I am in a difficulty," Miss Lawrence after a 
 moment confided solemnly. " It is only tempo- 
 rary. In. the profession," she spoke it proudly, 
 " there are many ups and downs, but nearly all 
 really great actresses have had their hardships and 
 I expect to bear mine. They will help me to my 
 goal!" 
 
 " Do they, Miss ? " eagerly asked Pippin. 
 
 " You see," Leonora explained, " there are many 
 
 5
 
 66 PIPPIN 
 
 drawbacks for an American actress in London, the 
 first being an American accent. Now my accent 
 is pronounced." 
 
 " Yes, Miss," agreed Pippin, " it is that! " 
 
 " Mercy ! even you " 
 
 " Well, Miss, I knows the accent, you see. I 've 
 been a good bit about the West End and parts 
 Americans haunts and I know 'em ! " Suddenly 
 she stopped. 
 
 Miss Lawrence thought she understood, but she 
 said simply: 
 
 " Perhaps you can help me, Pippin, to overcome 
 my difficulty." 
 
 " 'Elp yer, oh, Miss, I 'd do anythink for you ! 
 I '11 tip you off every d'y about the American talk 
 though I must s'y I loves it. It does make me 
 larf , it 's quite comic enough for the theater ! " 
 
 Miss Lawrence forgot her reserve for the mo- 
 ment in amusement. She laughed. 
 
 "What must it seem to Toby Hamilton?" 
 
 " Toby 'Amilton ? " questioned Pippin. 
 
 " Toby Hamilton," repeated Miss Lawrence rev- 
 erently ; " monarch of all he surveys." 
 
 " A king, like," murmured Pippin, with a glance 
 at her monarch hanging over the mantel beside his 
 queen. 
 
 " Yes," smiled the lady, musing ; " Mr. Hamilton 
 is quite kinglike. In his monarchy are leading 
 ladies, leading playwrights nothing but leading
 
 PIPPIN 67 
 
 things!" She was apparently started on her fa- 
 vorite subject and addressed herself to the por- 
 trait of King Edward. " He can scent out a 
 promising playwright oh, miles off. He ferrets 
 out ability in a girl that even she herself is not 
 aware of having! By a word or a look from him, 
 she becomes a leading-something, according to her 
 temperament which he always understands! He 
 likes the American temperament, but our accent! 
 He raves and tears his hair over the American 
 accent ! " 
 
 " I 'd keep aw'y from 'im, Miss ! " advised Pip- 
 pin. 
 
 " Away from him ! I 've never even seen him ! 
 I 'd give five, well one year of my life for a real 
 interview, a heart-to-heart talk with him. I 've 
 written, he does n't answer. He could place me on 
 the road to Fame, to-morrow ! " 
 
 " My word ! " Pippin remarked. 
 
 Miss Lawrence turned toward the canary's cage 
 and stood watching Teddy thoughtfully. 
 
 " I wonder if I have been too sure of myself," 
 she mused, a new view of things slowly taking 
 shape in her mind. " I should not have held out 
 for leading parts. Why did n't I take a small part ? 
 I could have had that Now I shall have to take 
 anything and lucky to get it. I will borrow what 
 money I can on my jewelry," she added. " Is there 
 any place near ? "
 
 68 PIPPIN 
 
 " Solomon's," Pippin said quickly. " Shall I 
 'ave it round to 'im ? " 
 
 Miss Lawrence looked hard at her, then took the 
 articles from her bag and wrapped them in a hand- 
 kerchief. 
 
 " I 'm back in two twos ! " Pippin promised 
 meaningly. 
 
 " If there 's anything needed for our supper," 
 added the young lady, feeling suddenly the very 
 normal pangs of hunger and looking round, 
 " please buy it out of what you get ! " 
 
 Striking at her cap Pippin departed.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 EONORA looked round the room cu- 
 riously. It was of good size, the 
 ceiling low and slanting. Between it 
 and the walls the little windows that 
 were so wedged in they seemed 
 cheated of their rights, opened outward upon 
 hinges. Along the narrow casements a bright 
 green window-box fitted, filled with blossoming 
 geraniums and a profusion of trailing green. She 
 leaned out, looking down into the prim little court. 
 The residents she judged middle-class working 
 people, but of peace and cleanliness they might 
 boast. Some children played in the narrow cement 
 space between the pavements for almost no traffic 
 came down Jubilee Court. From the King's Road 
 sounded the rumble of omnibuses, the snort of 
 motor-buses. She could catch a glimpse of them 
 passing at the corner, yet how secluded the little 
 street seemed. Looking the other way she saw 
 the private square and houses with their green 
 doors and heavy knockers, and felt suddenly glad 
 of this temporary haven. Of course something 
 better would soon turn up. Meantime she drew a 
 
 69
 
 70 PIPPIN 
 
 long breath of relief, at the prospect of light rent 
 and simple economy. And adventure still thrilled 
 her, excitingly contrasting with prosaic Goshen. 
 
 She turned back to the room. In the corner near 
 the window stood a chest of drawers. A heart- 
 shaped pincushion usefully ornamented the center. 
 Each drawer had large glass handles. Above hung 
 a small mirror. The bed was set against the wall. 
 At its head there was a wardrobe freshly varnished. 
 Three chairs, a center table with a plain white tea- 
 set, odd cups, a wooden bread-plate, emptied but 
 for crumbs and bread-knife upon it, was all of the 
 real furnishings. The floor was bare except for a 
 small square of carpet before the bed. The fire- 
 place at the end of the room was used for cooking, 
 the kettle swung from a crane. Leonora moved 
 nearer the mantelshelf to view the ornaments. A 
 jar for flowers stood at either end. Round the 
 tops of them was alliteratively inscribed, " A Me- 
 mento of Margate." 
 
 Beside the chimney, a cupboard was built, with 
 shelves; coals and kindling a nearly vanished 
 supply upon the lower one. On the next, cook- 
 ing utensils and a penny package of tea. 
 
 Their Majesties the King and Queen of England 
 hung in gilt frames over the mantelshelf. A pic- 
 ture of Lord Kitchener, cut from a newspaper, hung 
 over the bed. His mustachios had been smeared 
 with ink by some frivolous hand and this irrever-
 
 PIPPIN 71 
 
 ence remained undiscovered by the nearsighted Pip- 
 pin and Mrs. Crimmins, who had never viewed the 
 picture with glasses. 
 
 Leonora opened the door to a polite knock and 
 stood confronted by a plump face set off by a coif- 
 fure of wondrous red. 
 
 "Ah," breathed the visitor with glowing satis- 
 faction, gazing at Leonora. She brought her 
 bouncing person into the room. " You 'ave come ! 
 I 'm Mrs. Crimmins, caretaker of the street," the 
 woman went on. " Are you comfortable, do you 
 think?" 
 
 " I think the little room is just dear," Leonora 
 said honestly. 
 
 " Then that 's awright," breathed Mrs. Crimmins 
 with a smile. " Luggage comin' on? " 
 
 "Later," Leonora said. 
 
 " Later of course," Mrs. Crimmins answered 
 with a satisfied glance at Leonora and turned her 
 attention to the bed. " It 's a good bed ; the young 
 person Raymond your maid I mean tells me 
 she 'as sheets." 
 
 " The bed looks comfortable," Leonora mur- 
 mured. "Won't you sit down, Mrs. Crimmins? 
 Pippin," she suddenly recalled the name, " has gone 
 out to to market." 
 
 " That 's the w'y," cheered Mrs. Crimmins, " an' 
 I am glad you 're pleased with everythink. You '11 
 send right down to me if they 's a thing you want
 
 72 PIPPIN 
 
 after the young person goes out to-noit, won't 
 you?" 
 
 Leonora echoed. "Goes out to-night?" 
 
 " Out, yes, Miss, or is she sleeping 'ere to-noit ? " 
 
 " Oh," Leonora said firmly, " I shall have her 
 stay with me." 
 
 "Of course, as you like." 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins rose from the chair she had 
 taken. 
 
 " I 'm 'appy now I met the young person's terms 
 of four bob the week, instead of five and six for the 
 room. I likes a lady about, even at cheaper rent." 
 
 " The price is satisfactory," said Leonora. She 
 looked round her thoughtfully. "It seems about 
 right." 
 
 " Then that 's awright," Mrs. Crimmins beamed. 
 
 She raised her finger with the sudden trill of a 
 flute across the street. " She p'ys reg'lar ! " Mrs. 
 Crimmins murmured, beating time. 
 
 Leonora sat down upon the bed, smoothing the 
 ruffles of her frock. Pippin had said her rent was 
 paid. 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins came nearer and likewise smooth- 
 ing her frock and the clean apron over it, spoke 
 with confession. 
 
 " When I let this room to the young person, I 'd 
 a feeling it was awright an' two minutes arterward, 
 the money in me 'and too, I 'd another feeling, it 
 was n't. I thort she 'd deceived me."
 
 PIPPIN 73 
 
 " Oh, Pippin would n't do that," Leonora said 
 quickly. 
 
 " Why, no, 'ere you are! " 
 
 She drew away a few paces and with critical yet 
 approving stare inspected Miss Lawrence from head 
 to foot. She wheeled suddenly and pointed at a 
 wide shelf on the opposite wall. 
 
 " Nails and some thickish butter-muslin I 've got 
 a bit of, does it," she said. 
 
 " Does what ? " inquired Leonora. 
 
 " Curtaings off a place there into a bedroom for 
 your young person since she 's to stop, and I 've a 
 box' that '11 mike 'er a bed. She 's fortunite in her 
 limbs, 'er coffin won't be a big expense to her! 
 'Ad her long?" 
 
 " No," answered Leonora. 
 
 " But no doubt she does for you right as rain," 
 speculated Mrs. Crimmins. 
 
 Did for her! Leonora smiled. Certainly Pip- 
 pin had done well for Leonora Lawrence. 
 
 " Now," said Mrs. Crimmins, " with that bit 
 curtained off for a bedroom, which it '11 also make 
 a place to barth, the rest 'ere can be the droring- 
 room like, what ? " 
 
 " That will be very nice," nodded Leonora. 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins winked and nodded. 
 
 " Mystery 's always been in this room," she said, 
 " and mystery always will be. I like the feel of it 
 round me, knowing it '11 all come out right like,
 
 74 PIPPIN 
 
 when we gets four balls o' worsted for a penny, as 
 the s'ying is ! " 
 
 " Won't you sit down ? " Leonora invited again, 
 not knowing what to do with Mrs. Crimmins. She 
 hurried to remove her chamois bag which lay open 
 upon a chair; the contents slid to the floor, 
 and the visitor, flesh notwithstanding, sprang for- 
 ward, and while Leonora recovered her letters Mrs. 
 Crimmins captured the photograph. 
 
 " Ah ! " she cried, turning it over. " May I be 
 so bold as to 'ave a look ? " 
 
 Without waiting for a reply, she applied her 
 apron to an imaginary covering of dust and step- 
 ping to the window viewed the picture closely; 
 holding it off, she looked at Leonora. 
 
 " That gentleman," Leonora said finally, " is 
 away over in America." 
 
 " I thought," Mrs. Crimmins remarked, " you 
 was from America. It 's the accent." 
 
 Leonora laughed. To Mrs. Crimmins the laugh 
 seemed a little forced. Her inventive mind had 
 quickly got at the reason for the pretty young lady's 
 mysterious presence here in a secluded corner of 
 London. It was a longish way to come, she re- 
 flected, but having discovered a man's villainy you 
 could not go too far away. It was a mistake too, 
 keeping their pictures. 
 
 " I 'm quite certain, Miss," she began cheerfully, 
 " no one 's ever come 'ere but was a runaway from
 
 PIPPIN 75 
 
 su'think." After an impressive pause, she ad- 
 dressed the picture. " But we all get our just de- 
 serts good or bad. Our just deserts, that 's my 
 opinion! Tike your young person 'ere an' 'er 
 brutal drunken father. 'E '11 get 'is just deserts an' 
 no one keener on seeing it 'appen than you are your- 
 self, I '11 wager, Miss ! " 
 
 " Poor little Pippin ! " thought Leonora, more 
 tender, and glad to find excuse for her. 
 
 The door opened and Pippin, her hands full of 
 bundles, burst in. She drew up sharply, darting a 
 look from Mrs. Crimmins to the young lady. 
 
 " 'Ere we are ! " hailed Mrs. Crimmins. " 'Ome 
 from market." 
 
 Pippin sent an approving look toward Leonora. 
 
 " Yes, Mrs. Crimmins, I 've been to market an' 
 I 've found some shrimps my lady '11 go mad 
 about!" 
 
 Catching Pippin's eye, Mrs. Crimmins nodded 
 admiration of her lady. 
 
 Pippin signaled responsively, swelled with con- 
 scious pride and deposited her packages on the table, 
 while the caretaker drew a dust-cloth from her belt 
 and darting round the room flicked at everything, 
 not without a resentful glance from Pippin whose 
 habitual neatness could not be excelled. 
 
 " The soots do blow in," Mrs. Crimmins told 
 Miss Lawrence, and having arrived at the chest 
 upon which she had placed the photograph she
 
 76 PIPPIN 
 
 looked over her shoulder, her glance conveying be- 
 lief that a lady found with that in her possession 
 might be pardoned for any consequent rashness. 
 
 Suddenly she turned to Pippin. 
 
 " Tike them round you for example, young 
 woman ; let the men alone ! Your mother 'ad your 
 dad, I 'ad Crimmins and," she looked again at 
 the photograph, " they 's 'ardly any exception to 
 the rule. They spells trouble ! " Mrs. Crimmins 
 paused at the sound of a long, low whistle, stepped 
 lightly ,to the window, looked and quickly drew in 
 her head, a pleased simper dimpling her mouth. 
 
 " Till liter ! " she murmured. " I am glad you 
 'ave come," and, bowing to Leonora, she swept 
 from the room. Had Mrs. Crimmins's sentiments 
 not been made known, her manner would have indi- 
 cated that she went to a conquest. 
 
 " Pippin," Leonora whispered with a little hu- 
 morous smile. " I have been expected. And 
 you 're my maid, too ! " 
 
 A startled glance and then a low chuckle from 
 Pippin. 
 
 " She was expectin' you, or some one," said Pip- 
 pin, sobering again. " You may as well know, 
 Miss, she 's a bit balmy in the crumpet, being too 
 keen on mysteries. She fancies 'em over every- 
 think. You '11 soon get on to 'er. But she 's a 
 good 'eart, I dare say." 
 
 The caretaker's visit had reassured Leonora.
 
 PIPPIN 77 
 
 And there was humor in what must have happened. 
 Pippin having engaged the room for some highly 
 commendable, but mythical person had secured Miss 
 Leonora Lawrence to play the part. 
 
 Pippin reached into her pocket and produced two 
 sovereigns, a half sovereign and some silver. 
 
 " 'Ere it is, Miss, the very best I could manage 
 out o' the foxy old cove two quid, ten ! " 
 
 Leonora gave a little gasp and fell back, grasping 
 a chair. 
 
 " Two pounds and ten shillings ! It won't begin 
 to pay Mrs. Penley. I hoped for as much as five 
 pounds." 
 
 " I could told you not, Miss. 'Ere 's the ticket." 
 
 Leonora only stared at the money. 
 
 " Buck up, Miss," urged her new friend. " It 's 
 su'think to go on with ; the rent 's paid 'ere," 
 Pippin hardly dared think how soon it would 
 again be due though, " and you '11 be 'avin' a bit o' 
 luck soon." 
 
 This seemed to brighten Miss Lawrence. 
 
 " Yes," she said. " I shall surely get an engage- 
 ment soon. I am willing to take small parts now." 
 
 She counted the odd silver and gave some to Pip- 
 pin. 
 
 " This is for housekeeping, and I must send part 
 of the rest as something upon a debt I owe it 
 will show I mean to pay." 
 
 Pippin, engrossed with her new responsibility,
 
 78 PIPPIN 
 
 dropped the silver into her pocket and began stow- 
 ing her purchases into the cupboard. But with this 
 new-found friend she was moved to talkativeness. 
 
 "Of course what one person does not all of 'em 
 do, nor what a person does once, they '11 not do all 
 the time eh, Miss ? " She seemed in the throes 
 of a mental struggle. 
 
 "Of course I don't want to lead a dog's life for 
 twenty-odd year, but I don't believe Dandy 's a sec- 
 ond Crimmins, nor a a," others were as well left 
 unmentioned. " I 'd like you to see Dandy, I 
 would indeed. Can I tell you about 'im, Miss Law- 
 rence, if you please?" 
 
 Leonora turned from the window. " What is it, 
 Pippin? Tell me all about it." She sat down and 
 Pippin took her seat on a low stool near. 
 
 " Dandy is me bloke. This is the w'y of it, I 'd 
 like you to know. It was a six mont's back lor' 
 love us what a night ! an' I'd gone out to look for 
 Dad, 'e being aw'y from 'ome without a top-coat 
 or nothink when the rain come on. It 's turned 
 out since 'e was not far off, courtin' a 'andsome 
 widow which 'e 's goin' to wed but at that time 
 I did n't know. I fancied 'e 'd stopped in at the 
 World's End, a pub, Miss, 'e feels at 'ome in, to 
 get a drop o' su'think warmin', knowing I 'd come 
 to look out for 'im." 
 
 A reminiscent smile stole over the little face. 
 
 " I dare s'y I 'd passed from the top to the bot-
 
 PIPPIN 79 
 
 torn o' that street ten times an' with every time I 'd 
 turn to go back, there was Dandy at me 'eels. At 
 last I larfed, quite 'earty and loud; 'is lovin' looks 
 and he so dossed out in a fine checked rain-coat, 
 I 'd simply got to larf. Then what but a big gust 
 o' wind comes that suddint an' sweeps away me 
 cap," a wild wave of arms indicated the gale 
 " an' Dandy flies after it. Well, that was the be- 
 ginning of me 'aving him for a bloke. It was me 
 color 'e 'd taken the fancy to, though for my part 
 I like pale people. 'E made me go right off 'ome! 
 I let 'im walk to the top o' me street it was n't 
 Jubilee Court then, Miss, an' I said I 'd meet 'im 
 next d'y. I did that too, but afterward I done what 
 is called renouncin' of him." 
 
 "Why, Pippin?" Leonora urged. "Why did 
 you renounce him? " 
 
 " Oh, not that I did n't fancy 'im, Miss Law- 
 rence, fact, it was likin' Dandy ever so, made me 
 do it. I saw 'ow with 'aving to keep Dad a gentle- 
 man as I 'd promised Mar I 'd do, I might 'ave 
 ways different from Dandy, so grand and str'ight. 
 I wouldn't 'ave 'im think I wasn't as str'ight as 
 'im." 
 
 " Of course not," said Leonora quickly. " I 
 don't blame you, Pippin. But do you know what ? " 
 
 "What, Miss?" 
 
 " I should n't give him up at all. It 's something 
 to know a nice young man who is, as you say,
 
 80 PIPPIN 
 
 straight. I should be good friends with him, and 
 do you know one thing I should n't allow ? " 
 
 "What, Miss?" came again, faintly eager. 
 
 " I should not allow him to be any straighter 
 than I would be myself I mean, Pippin, I should 
 keep Dandy for a " 
 
 "Bloke?" 
 
 "Hero!" 
 
 " Oh, how simply sweet, Miss ! " Pippin slid 
 nearer. " Dandy makes a grand 'ero, I 've read of 
 'em lookin' a lot as 'e does, an* I 'm quite certain 
 they 's no noble thing 'e would n't do ! " 
 
 " Well, there you are," nodded Leonora ; " let 
 Dandy be your hero. Of course when one has a 
 hero, she would never do anything a hero would 
 not like." 
 
 " 'Ow beautiful ! " Pippin sighed. " You see, 
 Miss, after Dad took up with the widow an' did n't 
 need me I got engiged! But with me " she 
 looked away painfully, " making that mistake to- 
 day and then what Missus Crimmins said to-night 
 about 'em all being bounders an' trouble " 
 
 " Keep him, Pippin," Leonora urged earnestly ; 
 "you are wise in keeping Dandy for your friend 
 and hero." 
 
 "Pal an' 'ero!" mused the girl. "I likes that, 
 Miss. It's that I meant what one person does, 
 all of 'em don't do ; nor what one person has done, 
 they 're not sure to keep on with."
 
 PIPPIN Si 
 
 " If the person sees that she has been wrong, she 
 will surely want to change," gently agreed Leonora. 
 She leaned forward, her hand on Pippin's arm. 
 
 Pippin's lips moved, a solemn light shone in her 
 black eyes. " I 'm a-goin' to try for it, s' 'elp me 
 Gawd." 
 
 And Leonora knew that it was meant.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 IPPIN awoke very early next morn- 
 ing. Her first move was to open the 
 butter-muslin curtains that parti- 
 tioned her off and peer into the 
 " drawing-room." Remembrance of 
 the young lady she had left there last night seemed 
 too sweet to be true. But looking, proved it a liv- 
 ing, breathing reality ; the lady was there fast asleep. 
 " Beautiful angel ! " 
 
 Pippin sighing let the curtains drop. She had 
 slept as Mrs. Crimmins promised, " snug as a bug 
 in a rug," in a box that was a tight fit. She sat up 
 cautiously; giggling, she prodded the mattress, a 
 muslin sack filled with excelsior excelsior that 
 had come wrapped round some new things for the 
 bride below stairs this extravagant young thing 
 having put the stuff out into the hall for removal, it 
 became the caretaker's. 
 
 " Wait till the lady 's 'ad 'er second baby and see 
 if she '11 be so free," Mrs. Crimmins had warned 
 while making the mattress. 
 
 Suddenly Pippin's peace of mind was assailed by 
 the remembrance of Doll. She sharply regretted 
 
 82
 
 PIPPIN 83 
 
 now having settled so near her haunts. A horri- 
 fying vision of the creature waylaying Miss Law- 
 rence came to her. She gripped the sides of her 
 box. She decided quickly, the next time she met 
 Doll, to take the bull by the horns : " I 've turned 
 honest, Doll," she would own, and end their ac- 
 quaintance forever. 
 
 She drew up her knees and, head hunched be- 
 tween them, sat thinking. She had robbed Miss 
 Lawrence the day before. Even if she had not re- 
 formed, she would never have chosen to harm Miss 
 Lawrence. This proved that a wrong 'un never 
 knows what they are doing. But how, having 
 started in for being straight, had she, not intend- 
 ing, left it off? It showed how astonishingly 
 strong the habit was. Now she must watch out 
 for the other one. The yearning for the soothing 
 "drop" must be guarded indeed! "Shockin'!" 
 she whispered with a little shiver of fear. 
 
 She left her bed and from the hall drew in a shal- 
 low tin tub of water, to the place behind the cur- 
 tains where, as quickly and silently as possible, she 
 bathed. 
 
 She dressed, tiptoed to the little mirror, and took 
 the pins from her ringlets. Finishing touches to 
 the hair-dressing were under way when her eye 
 fell upon the photograph of the American gentle- 
 man. The name " Charles Browne " was written 
 on the back and beneath, " Goshen, Indiana."
 
 84 PIPPIN 
 
 Pippin read, then turning the photograph over, 
 viewed it closely, coming to satisfactory conclusions 
 as to the exact place the gentleman held in Miss 
 Lawrence's regard. 
 
 " She 'd 'ave 'im to be her bloke, if it was n't 
 she 's so took up with being a actress ! " 
 
 She suddenly held the picture off, her gaze nar- 
 rowed. 
 
 " A bit 'arsh-lookin'," she whispered. " I 'd not 
 like 'im to 'ave anythink on me. I 'd rather be an 
 actress meself than 'is missus, I would! " 
 
 From various angles her contemplation of the 
 picture continued. Finally she replaced it. Next 
 her attention fell to the contents of the top drawer, 
 the drawer that Miss Lawrence had been prevailed 
 upon to accept for her very own use. In frank 
 curiosity began examination of what was there. 
 
 First it was an unsealed letter. Pippin had gone 
 out after their tea the evening before to purchase 
 writing material for Miss Lawrence. The envel- 
 ope was addressed to Mrs. Emily Penley, Blooms- 
 bury Square, London, W. C. The letter read: 
 
 Dear Mrs. Penley, 
 
 Enclosed is a postal order for ten shillings. It is less 
 than I hoped to give you but I have been disappointed 
 in the amount my poor little jewelry brought. I will 
 make every effort to settle with you and I feel con- 
 fident that I shall not long be unable to do so. You 
 have been so kind that you may feel interested to
 
 PIPPIN 85 
 
 know I have found a friend who shares her com- 
 fortable quarters with me. Will you please take care 
 of my trunk, my entire wardrobe is in it I must 
 admit that I need some of the things very much. 
 Perhaps I may have some of them as soon as I can 
 pay more, if not all, of what I owe you. 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 LEONORA LAWRENCE. 
 
 And the envelope was unsealed that the postal 
 order might go in. Pippin reread the letter care- 
 fully, twice. Slowly her jaw dropped, little gasps 
 of indignation escaped her. 
 
 " So that 's the w'y of it ! A low old party in 
 Bloomsbury a-'olding of Miss's box an' all her 
 clothes ! " Her muttering finally subsided. She 
 stole a glance at the bed and returned the letter to 
 the envelope. Then she set about getting break- 
 fast. Miss Lawrence's belongings in Bloomsbury 
 Square she could not get out of her mind. 
 
 "What are you doing, Pippin?" came drowsily 
 from the bed. 
 
 Pippin hurried to the bedside, insisting : 
 
 " You 're to stay a-bed, Miss, an' 'ave break- 
 fast!" 
 
 But she was conscious of her guest's close scru- 
 tiny a glance half fearful, that with waking,; 
 thought of yesterday might have brought. Then 
 the young lady's face cleared. 
 
 The banging of a pail and swish of scrubbing
 
 86 PIPPIN 
 
 brush was heard in the hall, a sudsy fragrance per- 
 meated the top floor, and even while panting with 
 the exertion of her cleanly bent, Mrs. Crimmins 
 began to sing. 
 
 " Now we '11 'ave a bit o' music," grinned Pippin 
 and, reassured, began bustling about the room. A 
 few moments later Miss Lawrence was breakfasting 
 in luxury. A plain little board, that proved to be a 
 movable shelf belonging to her cupboard, and 
 wrapped in a clean cloth, Pippin had utilized as a 
 tray. On this a cup of fragrant tea, a rack of 
 toast, a boiled egg, and a neat dab of marmalade on 
 a saucer. 
 
 "How delicious!" marveled Leonora gratefully. 
 
 " Thank you, Miss ! " Pippin beamed gratifica- 
 tion. 
 
 She stopped expectantly for the postman's rap 
 sounded below and, still singing, the caretaker de- 
 scended to answer. With astonishing agility she 
 was back. 
 
 " Mail for Raymond ! " she announced at the 
 door. 
 
 Pippin bounded to admit her. 
 
 " Penny to collect on the letter," Mrs. Crimmins 
 said. " I 've paid it." 
 
 " The little kipper ! " exclaimed Pippin, reaching 
 into her pocket as she looked at the pencil-printed 
 scrawl on the envelope. " 'E sent it collect for 'e 
 had no penny ! "
 
 PIPPIN 87 
 
 She paid the penny, and opening her letter fell 
 into gurgles of loving merriment. 
 
 "A cat, Missus Crimmins, drored by 'im, the 
 love. I 'd p'y most any price for it. It 's 'is w'y 
 of saying 'e remembers me, in spite of the good time 
 he 's 'aving in the country ! " 
 
 She darted to the bed to exhibit the drawing to 
 Miss Lawrence. 
 
 " Hal, me brother, Miss ; the little chap, y' 
 know!" 
 
 She hurried in the midst of Leonora's appre- 
 ciation back to Mrs. Crimmins. But the caretaker 
 stood outside in very serious reflection over her 
 morning budget. 
 
 " Sally writes the boy is comin' on nicely and 
 gets along so well with my two," she said, thrusting 
 her letter into the bosom of her dress. 
 
 " 'Ow nice ! " smiled the sister. 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins reached out and closed Pippin's 
 door with a suddenness that threatened her pert 
 little nose. No doubt something in her mail had 
 bothered her. Pippin wondered, but she had also 
 received a postcard that engrossed her. Gilt let- 
 ters upon one side said, " I think of you ! " Upon 
 the back was scrawled : " Lordship fretty. Does 
 bird need seeds D." 
 
 Pippin read it over. Then more shyly, she took 
 this card to the bedside. 
 
 " From 'im me 'ero," she said softly.
 
 88 PIPPIN 
 
 Leonora observed the gilt-lettered message sol- 
 emnly. Pippin turned it over. 
 
 " That 's 'is hand," she pointed to the writing. 
 " 'E calls his master 'is lordship, which he regu- 
 larly ain't at all. 'E 's only Bertram Granville, 
 Esquire ; but Dandy s'ys 'e ort to be a lordship, he 's 
 so splendid. When he 's f retty Dandy can't get 
 off, you see, Miss ! " 
 
 Miss Lawrence showed her quick comprehension 
 of Dandy's cryptic message. 
 
 " He seems very business-like and thoughtful," 
 she said. 
 
 Pippin turned eagerly to the canary which chirped 
 in shrill rivalry of the love-birds in the opposite 
 window. 
 
 " Teddy 'as n't a note," she said, " and I don't 
 know what 'e cost ! You see, Miss, Dandy 's got a 
 way o' lavishin' it about which is certain to be 
 took advantage of as was done by that clerk in the 
 bird-shop. I 'm just as pleased little Teddy don't 
 scream 'is lungs out. I only wished to ornament 
 the window, but the beastie was supposed to sing 
 and you don't want your young man's innocence 
 and lavish w'y took advantage of ! " 
 
 Miss Lawrence emphatically shook her head. 
 
 " 'E give me the bird," Pippin said, " and would 
 'ave it he should keep it in seeds, they being, so 'e 
 reasons, part of the bird. But blimy, I can't think 
 of any sort of fowl could do with the feed Dandy
 
 PIPPIN 89 
 
 fancies this 'un can ! 'E is a silly old kipper ! " she 
 added tenderly. 
 
 She relieved Miss Lawrence of the tray and sug- 
 gested her morning toilet. 
 
 " I '11 mike your barth ready be'ind the curtains, 
 which when it ain't my bedroom, we 'd do as well to 
 call the barthroom, I think. Then, Miss then I 
 should dress an' call round to see Toby 'Amilton! " 
 
 Leonora's sudden laughter rang out in the little 
 room. 
 
 " Now what, Miss ; is it about the barthroom ? " 
 
 " It 's your advice about Mr. Toby Hamilton," 
 Leonora still laughed. 
 
 " After all," Pippin said, thoughtfully, " maybe 
 it 's part fancy about 'is bein' so great. If I wanted 
 to see 'im " 
 
 " Mr. Toby Hamilton is a great man, Pippin. 
 Others beside Mr. Hamilton himself think so. I 
 had even heard of him in America before I came 
 to London," Leonora said. " And to see him is 
 one of my dearest desires ! " The r's rolled from 
 her tongue with Western generosity. 
 
 " My eye ! " mused Pippin. " Now I 'd simply 
 drop in an' surprise 'im, Miss! And," she added, 
 " you did s'y dearest desire quite American-like." 
 
 Leonora thanked her hostess very seriously for 
 this reminder and retired to her bath. 
 
 Pippin took her new lady's pink frock from the 
 wardrobe and painstakingly smoothed out each
 
 90 PIPPIN 
 
 flounce. Her mind dwelt upon the things detained 
 at the Bloomsbury lodging-house. And when Miss 
 Lawrence had put on her gown, Pippin took fas- 
 tidious pains to fasten every button of the bodice, 
 remembering the one that had been omitted and 
 discovered by her yesterday in Temple Gardens. 
 
 " And to think I swiped from 'er, my beautiful 
 Miss!" 
 
 The recollection brought its pang while her gaze 
 admiringly beheld, now as then, the coils of fair 
 hair, gleaming beneath the pretty pink hat. 
 
 " Oh, Miss," she gasped, viewing the young lady 
 rapturously, " I wish you luck an' when Toby 'Amil- 
 ton sees yer ! " 
 
 She was glad to have Miss Lawrence go out 
 laughing and she leaned from her window to add: 
 
 " Please, Miss, you 're not to be late 'ome for 
 tea ! " and getting a nod and a smile, she added 
 pensively : " She needs lookin' arter, Miss Law- 
 rence does. I fancy the gentleman on the chest do 
 worry over 'er ! " 
 
 Pippin's maternal instinct, so early and strongly 
 developed, had been keenly roused at this evident 
 need. 
 
 " I '11 never lose sight of 'er, never give 'er up 
 except when she 's back in clover and not needing 
 me ! " she muttered. 
 
 That might be sometime hence. It might only 
 be when Miss Lawrence finally married. She
 
 PIPPIN 91 
 
 smiled. Why not an earl for Miss Lawrence! 
 Delighted at this Pippin saluted Mrs. Crimmins, 
 now doing the steps and door-stone, who had paused 
 to look, with open admiration after Miss Lawrence. 
 She glanced up and winked. Indeed she approved 
 of Pippin's lady. 
 
 Some residents of the Court were out to enjoy 
 a street organ. By them the young stranger was 
 closely observed. A leisurely butcher-boy on his 
 way to the private square beyond, noticed her too. 
 
 " There 's 'air ! " he bellowed, his red face creased 
 with grins. "There's 'air!" 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins lunged at the youth with her 
 scrubbing brush. With butcher-boy agility, he 
 leapt backward, and made the pavement opposite 
 with the saucy inquiry, " 'Ow 'd your fice get the 
 w'y it is?" 
 
 " Wait ! " she said. " I '11 be round at the butch- 
 er's before the d'y is out and then we '11 see. Mr. 
 Burns knows me! " 
 
 " Now we shan't be long," the butcher-boy 
 jibed. 
 
 But Pippin turned away from the window. 
 Arms folded across her bosom she took a few brisk 
 turns around her room. 
 
 " Charin'," she complained, " is the only thing I 
 knows of you can get without a character." 
 
 She hurriedly straightened the room, stuck on 
 her fur cap and with a last look round, sailed out.
 
 92 PIPPIN 
 
 It was a warm day and Mrs. Crimmins was dally- 
 ing over the door-stone this morning while thinking 
 pleasantly of her new lodger. 
 
 " Did yer 'ear that boy? " she asked of Pippin. 
 
 " I saw you was enough for 'im," said Pippin, 
 " or I 'd 'ave come down." 
 
 " A beautiful young woman," Mrs. Crimmins 
 said. She looked toward the King's Road down 
 which Miss Lawrence had disappeared. " Is 'er 
 luggage like to come while you 're both out ? " 
 
 Pippin gave a little start and affected an effort to 
 recall some final instructions. 
 
 " What was 'er last words about that ! I am a 
 pore 'and at remembering." 
 
 " I should never a thort that," Mrs. Crimmins 
 replied quickly and she added in a hurt voice, " I 'm 
 not one to pry into secrets. But I know when a lady 
 is in trouble. Upset, with a man at the bottom 
 of it, who would think of their luggage! Any- 
 think I can lend Miss Lawrence she 's welcome to. 
 I 've some nice fine underthings too."' Mrs. Crim- 
 mins's red head, tightly bound in curling pins, 
 tossed proudly. 
 
 " Mrs. Crimmins ! " Pippin said with sidelong re- 
 proachful glance. " I know you would never pry 
 into secrets ! " Then she rewarded her modesty 
 with : " Miss Lawrence is a n'actress ! " 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins straightened up with every sign 
 of interest.
 
 PIPPIN 93 
 
 Pippin went on. 
 
 " She 'as a number of things on hand, but is 'old- 
 ing off to be sure of taking the . right one. She 
 could n't waste 'er time at su'think like oh, s'y, 
 that gal at the Empire, as dresses in men's clothes 
 an' sings." 
 
 " Rather not ! She 's a lady, Miss Lawrence is," 
 agreed Mrs. Crimmins. 
 
 The neighbors coming near again, she gave her 
 lodger a quick sharp nudge and murmured, " We 
 understands each other. Let me know if she needs 
 anythink ! " 
 
 Pippin turned for a word with the others and 
 to notice the babies, inquiring the sex, age, weight 
 and number of teeth of each with the most enthu- 
 siastic interest. She slipped away before any 
 friendly return of questions could be put to her. 
 Pippin liked Mrs. Crimmins and believed gratefully 
 in her friendship, but she hurried toward King's 
 Road discreetly reflecting, " What Missus Crimmins 
 does n't know, won't 'arm 'er ! " 
 
 Her mind dwelt upon Miss Lawrence's box of 
 clothes in the possession of Mrs. Penley, for she 
 had decided to take it upon herself at once to see 
 what could be done about this- 
 
 She set out manfully. 
 
 It was a long walk to Bloomsbury Square but 
 Pippin strode on with steady purpose. When she 
 finally arrived at Mrs. Penley's lodging-house, she
 
 94 PIPPIN 
 
 slackened her gait and making sure of the number 
 to which Miss Lawrence's letter had been addressed, 
 she paused. 
 
 There was nothing unusual about the house. It 
 might even have been a private residence. The 
 ground-floor window was open and two voices, that 
 by tone and accent were to her enjoyably American, 
 reached her from within. Somebody raised a win- 
 dow on the floor above and Pippin sauntered away. 
 All was very quiet, no one was about. 
 
 Reaching the corner she turned and came back 
 slowly. At the window that had opened above, she 
 saw by skirting the edge of the pavement and tip- 
 ping back her head, was a lady in black silk and 
 wearing a widow's cap. She was brushing a black 
 beaded bonnet. She looked down into the street, but 
 took no notice of the loiterer. Presently she went 
 away from the window. The American ladies 
 could still be heard. How to get to Cook's was their 
 open and clarion-voiced- discussion. Pippin went 
 closer and peeked over the area railing. The base- 
 ment door was closed. She walked away slowly, 
 back to the corner, crossed leisurely and hung over 
 the paling, staring into the cool, green square. 
 
 Presently she went back to the house. A milk 
 cart was standing outside. She hurried to look 
 again over the area railing. The basement door 
 now stood partly open. She went quickly, noise- 
 lessly down the steps, dodged past the door and
 
 PIPPIN 95 
 
 huddled in the corner of the area. Within, a girl, 
 the housemaid she judged, joked the dairy-boy. 
 Pippin waited. There was subdued laughing and 
 giggling. A scuffle finally ensued, then she heard 
 the boy coming. His hand grasped the door 
 he burst out, jerked it to and without noticing Pip- 
 pin, bounded up the steps and his milk cart rattled 
 as he pushed it away. 
 
 Back and forth inside dragged the housemaid. 
 She droned out a little tune rather wearily. The 
 minutes seemed long and the danger of her posi- 
 tion imminent to the girl without. At last the 
 footsteps shuffled across the kitchen floor, ascended 
 some bare stairs, a door opened at the top and 
 banged to. Pippin listened. All was silent within. 
 She pushed open the door which she had kept un- 
 latched by her foot, and stepped into the kitchen. It 
 seemed a little dark and for a moment she blinked, 
 then she saw another door opposite the one she had 
 entered. It stood half open. She moved across to 
 it, slipped through, and found herself in a lighter 
 hall that led to the back garden. At the left was 
 the short flight of stairs up which the maid must 
 have gone. She trembled a little at her daring. 
 Inclination was leading her up the steps, hoping to 
 get access to the rooms above. She listened again, 
 and at the same time looking round, her eyes fell 
 upon a trunk projecting from behind the hall door. 
 Pippin stared, gasped, and stepped forward. The
 
 96 PIPPIN 
 
 large red letter " L." on a square of white paper 
 was stuck on top of the trunk. Near the corner 
 was pasted a larger square of paper, the red letters 
 of which spelled " Cabin." Under the lock still 
 another placard read " London." Pippin crept cau- 
 tiously round the trunk. " L. L." was painted in 
 black on the end. She reached out and touched 
 it. She passed her hand over the lock ; it was fast. 
 Above footsteps sounded, then the knocker fell upon 
 the street door. She hurried through the kitchen 
 and into the area. When the caller was admitted 
 and the door closed above, she hastened up the 
 steps and still unnoticed, fled from Bloomsbury 
 Square. 
 
 Fortune had favored her. The next move, 
 though she hardly knew what it would be, might 
 prove more difficult.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ERTRAM GRANVILLE, ESQ., 
 was a playwright. Playwriting he 
 lived for, but he did not live by it. 
 Some of his friends considered him 
 a genius and he indulged the moody 
 temperament with which genius is supposed to be 
 afflicted. 
 
 With a mood on, only Dandy, his man, could 
 manage Mr. Granville. He had just come back 
 from Bournemouth where they had tried a one- 
 act tragedy of his on the dog. It had cost the 
 entire amount of money he would have for some- 
 time, and it had not been accepted by the star who 
 was interested in the play; hence the mood. He 
 sat at the window in the front room of his cham- 
 bers in Jermyn Street, and looked out gloomily. 
 He declined his tea and toast. Dandy had made it 
 with his own hands for his master who had pre- 
 viously declined his breakfast procured at a near- 
 by caterer's. He sat in his silk dressing-gown and 
 smoked and looked out gloomily. 
 
 Mr. Granville was a tall man of large propor- 
 tions. He dressed with care and taste. He wore 
 
 7 97
 
 98 PIPPIN 
 
 a monocle and long mustachios, waxed. When he 
 laughed, as he did now and then in a great guffaw, 
 he displayed wonderful white teeth. The hair was 
 thinning out on top of his head and this annoyed 
 him greatly. While at work writing his plays he 
 massaged his head with a delicately shaped, white 
 hand. 
 
 Dandy adored his master; he considered him a 
 personage of consequence who should have been 
 born to a title. He supplied this deficiency, always 
 speaking of him as his lordship. Dandy called 
 himself a gentleman-in-waiting, the exact capacity 
 in which he served his lordship being undeter- 
 mined. 
 
 A few years before, when Dandy was a very 
 young man indeed, he had come to Mr. Granville's 
 chambers, the very same chambers he occupied now, 
 to deliver a .pair of riding boots from the firm 
 which employed him as emergency errand boy. 
 
 " Can't leave the parcel without the money, sir," 
 he had yelled out according to instructions, when 
 the door opened. 
 
 Mr. Granville himself had stood there. He was 
 in a flowered silk dressing-gown then, too, and his 
 hair was a little thin on top, though not quite so 
 thin as now, and he had a perplexed, preoccupied 
 look, a quill pen behind his ear and a cigarette in 
 his mouth. 
 
 "What nonsense," Mr. Granville had roared.
 
 PIPPIN 99 
 
 " Go back and ask Strots if they want my custom 
 hereafter or not leave me those boots, too, for I 
 want 'em ! " 
 
 He took the parcel. Dandy gave it up because 
 he admired Mr. Granville and not for his sixpence. 
 
 The next day Dandy returned early to inform 
 the gentleman he had lost his berth as Strots' emer- 
 gency errand boy. 
 
 " Gadzooks ! " cried Mr. Granville ; " you 're well 
 out of there!" 
 
 He had the boy in. He informed him of his 
 calling as a playwright. He told about his income 
 which was sufficient if he could give up trying out 
 his plays but he could n't. He told him how one 
 day, though, he 'd come out on top with a winner 
 and nothing but death could stop him. He told 
 him how he always paid his bills, eventually; how 
 everybody knew he would but they pestered him, 
 periodically. He explained how the knocker got 
 on his nerves. Its sound sometimes jolted a splen- 
 did idea out of his head completely. He asked 
 Dandy about himself then and hearing that he was 
 an honest orphan and lived with his sister, Mrs. 
 Miles, the wife of Cobbler Miles, and would be 
 glad of a berth where he could " sleep in," Mr. 
 Granville offered it at once. He offered, too, any- 
 thing in his wardrobe that he did not want and 
 a decent wage, which had since increased. Im- 
 mediately then, Dandy had the satisfaction of carry-
 
 loo PIPPIN 
 
 ing Mr. Granville's check round to his late employ- 
 ers, and of refusing to return to their service. 
 
 If Dandy was fond of his lordship, his lordship 
 loved Dandy, in his moody, temperamental way. 
 He called him Dan, short for Daniel. 
 
 While Mr. Granville smoked and stared out of 
 the window, Dandy was dusting. A woman took 
 care of the chambers, but she sometimes failed to 
 remove all the dust. His lordship could not bear 
 it; dust got on his nerves. Dandy moved about, 
 working carefully. 
 
 " Arcadians very good, sir ! " he murmured the 
 information for what it was worth. " Fit to take 
 in from first to last." 
 
 No answer. 
 
 " Su'think sober in ' Madam Nash ' at the Strand, 
 sir; if you dropped in s'y beginning of the second 
 act, you 'd get enough first act is about 'er past 
 an' not nice ! The pore gal ! " 
 
 His lordship seemed to attend and possibly made 
 a mental note of this, then turned back to his gloom. 
 Part of Dandy's duty was taking in the plays. An 
 allowance was made him for a seat in the pit at 
 everything going. His judgment was considered 
 sound by Mr. Granville, who thus saved himself 
 from things not worth his time. 
 
 " I 'm going to look in on ' The Follies,' " the 
 gentleman-in-waiting continued. " They 're cheer-
 
 PIPPIN 101 
 
 ful and I 'ear they 've new songs and their Potted 
 Pageant is rottin' good fun ! " 
 
 There was no response from his lordship. Dandy 
 stopped in front of a book-shelf ; having dusted it 
 thoroughly, he draped the duster over his arm and 
 took from an inside pocket a photograph. It was 
 a likeness of himself. It was a very good one; 
 the only fault Dandy found was the lack of serious- 
 ness. He had tried for a serious picture, for it 
 was a serious matter; the photograph was for Pip- 
 pin. 
 
 Dandy was in love; he needed no reminder of 
 Pippin but he could never be sure until she was 
 wholly his, that she did not need one of him. In 
 spite of the solemnity of the affair, he had been 
 photographed grinning. He was sorry. It ap- 
 peared undignified. He crossed his legs, leaned an 
 arm on the book-shelf, his head in his hand and re- 
 garded the picture. 
 
 A budget of papers whirred across the room, 
 glanced off at Dandy's right and startled him with 
 a spring into the air. 
 
 " Your lordship just missed me ! " he announced. 
 Quickly stowing the picture into his pocket he 
 stooped to pick up the bundle. 
 
 "Didn't you hear me speak?" the playwright 
 demanded fretfully. 
 
 " Not a word, your lordship," Dandy replied,
 
 102 PIPPIN 
 
 opening out the papers upon the table at his mas- 
 ter's side. "Did you speak, sir?" 
 
 " Gad," Mr. Granville replied, " am I going 
 balmy?" 
 
 Dandy appeared to await his master's own de- 
 cision on this, it was something he frequently 
 asked. 
 
 " That Bournemouth business was a good old 
 wipe to get without warning," Mr. Granville said, 
 self -pityingly, " and anyhow this tea is absolutely 
 cold. I don't drink cold tea, y' know." 
 
 " I would n't 'ave you, sir." Dandy took up the 
 teapot and the cup of tea his lordship had poured 
 and permitted to cool and went out of the room. 
 
 " Dan ! " called Mr. Granville. 
 
 Dandy whirled round and reappeared at once. 
 
 " Anybody call this morning ? " inquired Mr. 
 Granville. 
 
 " Now, sir, don't you bother ! " humored Dandy. 
 " They can't get blood out of a stone as I can 
 see!" 
 
 " Who tried ? " his lordship asked. 
 
 " Dobbs wanted a little on account, before 'e goes 
 on with the new riding britches, sir. I told 'im 'e 
 could go on with 'em or not, just 's 'e liked ; there 
 was no money as I could see for quite a bit a'ead. 
 Tidberry wanted to know how your 'air was comin' 
 along on top, said he 'd a new thing 'e fancied 
 would 'elp you, sir, he 'aving studied your case dili-
 
 PIPPIN 103 
 
 gent. They Ve just got another little Tidberry last 
 midnight and are a bit short there but you can't 
 'elp that, sir. I told 'im to come on with the new 
 tonic and not lose a good customer through fool- 
 ishness. The garage, sir, sent a man " 
 
 The loud falling of the door-knocker interrupted. 
 Dandy whirled round like a top and, as he started 
 out, Mr. Granville called : 
 
 " Dash the blighters ! " 
 
 " Yes, your lordship," Dandy replied, hurrying 
 along the passage. His lordship always called his 
 creditors blighters, probably to harden his heart 
 until he could manage their bills, which distressed 
 him. 
 
 " Bring me my tea," he shouted. " I 've got a 
 good idea. I can strengthen that play ; don't let 'em 
 bother me ; stop 'em knockin' ! " 
 
 " Right, your lordship ! " 
 
 The master heard the outside door opened. An 
 angry voice burst forth, but quite suddenly ceased. 
 The low, impressive tones of his gentleman-in-wait- 
 ing followed. They persisted in patient interrup- 
 tion of the indignant creditor, who finally was heard 
 to laugh. The laugh grew fainter, carried away, 
 the door closed after it. 
 
 Mr. Granville smiled and sighed. There was 
 never any fuss, any row, although there was fre- 
 quent cause, for an angry creditor within his rights 
 is not easily managed. The matter distressed Mr.
 
 io 4 PIPPIN 
 
 Granville. After every one of his ventures, he 
 vowed there would never be another but somehow 
 it went on. It had gone on disastrously for 
 years. 
 
 He paced the room. His idea for the improve- 
 ment of his play developed encouragingly. The 
 gentleman-in-waiting returned with a tray bearing 
 hot tea and more toast. He went out and came 
 back, bringing pencils and paper and a fresh jar of 
 tobacco. 
 
 " The portfolio is under my pillow," Mr. Gran- 
 ville said, observing Dandy's tactics with satisfac- 
 tion. 
 
 Dandy fetched this from the next room and 
 placed it beside the tea. Mr. Granville sank into a 
 chair. He took the sheets from the portfolio, 
 glanced over them lovingly, while sipping his tea. 
 He set the cup down and felt out for the toast 
 rack. Nibbling, sipping and finally smoking, he 
 became tranquil, absorbed. He was a perfect gen- 
 tleman when the working mood was on. 
 
 Quite suddenly he looked up at Dandy who stood 
 at hand. 
 
 "If those blighters are safe for a bit," he said, 
 " and won't keep on at the knocker, you can go off 
 a while. I shan't need you ! " 
 
 So unusual was this unselfishness, that Dandy re- 
 garded his master with sharp concern. 
 
 " You 'd better go," he advised further. " I can
 
 PIPPIN 105 
 
 swot away here until lunch " and he became lost 
 again. 
 
 Dandy stood for a moment, observing his lord- 
 Chip's perfect calm. He might not be this way 
 'again for some time. Dandy was, he reflected with 
 joyous responsibility, engaged to Pippin. There 
 was the picture and if she happened to be about 
 her street he could hand it to her and snatch a 
 glimpse of her. He loped from the room softly. 
 He was in love. 
 
 So a little later he swung along the street nattily 
 neat, twirling his slender stick. His pale blue cra- 
 vat satisfied him extremely. 
 
 Arriving at the corner of Jubilee Court and the 
 Fulham Road, Dandy leaned at ease against the 
 lamp-post. He could spare half an hour thus, 
 watching the Court for Pippin's appearance. After 
 that he would permit himself to walk through. She 
 had forbidden him to loiter near her house be- 
 sides, Dandy had his own ideas about that. 
 
 He had not been waiting long when there ap- 
 proached the young woman who seemed to haunt 
 him. 
 
 " We Ve met before," she hailed. 
 
 Dandy raised his cap this time. 
 
 " I see you remember me," she smiled. 
 
 He did not respond. 
 
 " Pippin is a pal o' mine," she went on. " She 's 
 moved from 'er old diggin's an' she lives about
 
 io6 PIPPIN 
 
 here in Jubilee Court, I believe ? " He made no 
 answer. " She 's expectin' me to call and I 've lost 
 the address." 
 
 " Oh ! " Dandy said suspiciously. 
 
 "You don't believe me," Doll sniffed. "You 
 don't want to, perhaps," she shrewdly added. " Oh, 
 very well. Wait an' see. Oh ho ! " 
 
 "Oh ho?" Dandy questioned. "What d' yer 
 mean ? " 
 
 " Nothink," Doll grinned ; " nothink at all ! " 
 
 " What d' yer mean, oh hoing then ? " Dandy's 
 color rose. 
 
 " My word, keep your 'air on," Doll said, back- 
 ing away. 
 
 Dandy eyed her, at once yearning to inquire 
 about her insinuation, and to throttle her for it. 
 
 " I was goin' to tell yer ; Pippin 's pals with a 
 young lady," the creature simpered. " I see 'em out 
 together yesterd'y." 
 
 She waited, but as he said nothing further, she 
 thrust out her tongue and walked away. 
 
 " The pore thing 's balmy," he muttered. " I '11 
 warn Victoria A. of 'er ! " Yet he could not thus 
 lightly dismiss thought of her. What was she? 
 And she had implied what ? And was that why 
 Victoria Alexandra seemed afraid of her? He 
 ought to know ! 
 
 He lit his pipe and settled back against the lamp- 
 post. From her house, Pippin presently emerged.
 
 "Nothink, . . . nothink at all !"
 
 PIPPIN 109 
 
 She was neat, the rosy contour of her face was 
 perfect as ever, the little curls in a tempting row 
 beneath her queer little cap, but Dandy saw she was 
 preoccupied. She approached with head bent, eyes 
 aground. 
 
 " 'Ere we are ! " saluted her lover. 
 
 Pippin started. 
 
 " It 's you! " she said, smiling. " 'Ow 's 'is lord- 
 ship?" 
 
 " Quiet for the time being," Dandy answered. 
 " I got 'im going on 'is pl'y for a bit. 'E 'opes to 
 bring it round an' what with his entire quarter's 
 income sunk there, I 'ope 'e may. I 'ate seein' 
 'im suffer he can't stand suffering. It tells all 
 over 'im, even affects 'is 'air which we are in for 
 it to keep from fallin' off the top of 'is 'ead ! " 
 
 " Pore thing ! " sympathized Pippin. 
 
 " An' I 've my work cut out to keep off the cred- 
 itors," Dandy went on. " They give me the sick ! 
 Know 'e 's good for it, and 'ow they go on ! " 
 
 " Pre'aps they need what 's comin' to 'em," sug- 
 gested Pippin. 
 
 " Not they ! " Dandy emptied his pipe. " I 
 knows 'em, personally ! " He winked. 
 
 ;< Tidberry the 'air-dresser is not the kind to go 
 in for a dossy wife and five children besides a 
 mother's 'elp no, dash 'im -not if 'e couldn't 
 well afford it!" 
 
 " Some does," said Pippin.
 
 no PIPPIN 
 
 " I s'y, old gal," her lover looked at her earnestly, 
 " you're out o' sorts ; you 're not yourself. What 's 
 up, Victoria Alexandra?" 
 
 The namesake of two queens smiled bravely. 
 
 " I think it 's me liver ! " she said. 
 
 She disliked to admit having searched in vain 
 all the day before for a situation not just for 
 something she fancied, but for any sort of honest 
 work. Charing! Charing even had been denied 
 her for lack of a character. People were getting 
 fussy. They were enough to drive a straight one 
 wrong, Pippin almost believed. Yet she paused in 
 justice. There was a time she could not have been 
 trusted. Was she paying for it now? 
 
 " Victoria Alexandra dear, you 're not liver- 
 ish," Dandy said. 
 
 He tapped his forehead. " It 's 'ere you 're suf- 
 ferin', I know the symptoms, they resemble 'is lord- 
 ship's! What is it? Tell it to Dandy, dear." 
 
 His tenderness moved her, a lump filled her throat 
 but she smiled. 
 
 " I 've a lady stoppin' along of me, old cocka- 
 lorum," she said brightly, " and I keep thinkin' of 
 'er and 'ow sweet an' beautiful an' good " 
 
 " Blimy ! " Dandy said ; " I Ve 'card about 'er ! " 
 
 " 'Eard ! " queried Pippin. 
 
 " She 's been about. That 's 'un you call Doll. 
 She told me about this lady of yours saw you out 
 together."
 
 PIPPIN in 
 
 " Doll told you ? " Pippin's eyes widened. " Saw 
 us out together ? " She frowned, recalling. " Once 
 Miss an' me met 'ere on this corner yesterd'y it 
 was!" 
 
 " I s'y, old gal, are yer frightened of this Doll or 
 what?" 
 
 " Frightened of 'er me ? " 
 
 Patiently Dandy saw he was not yet to know for 
 Pippin's laugh rang out loudly, and tugging at his 
 sleeve she murmured, " Come along and walk ! " 
 
 So Doll was on ! Her heart beat fearfully. She 
 had no idea Doll knew. She had not seen her since 
 the day she became installed in Jubilee Court. Doll 
 had never made a practice of going out through 
 the day, yet of late she seemed always about. Pip- 
 pin hurried her lover down the Fulham Road. 
 
 " Did she talk much ? " she asked anxiously. 
 
 Dandy shook his head. 
 
 " Not it, but she 's got an aloodin' manner I dis- 
 likes." He stole a glance at her downcast face. 
 
 " 'Ere," he urged, and to quiet his own misgiv- 
 ings as well as hers, drew her toward the edge of 
 the pavement where there was a stand with a great 
 glass jar upon it. From this a fat man was selling 
 highly colored pineapple juice. 
 
 " Cool an' sweet, cool an' sweet," the fat man 
 called. 
 
 Pippin accepted and drank off a cupful ; and, ap- 
 pearing greatly refreshed, was urged to another.
 
 112 PIPPIN 
 
 " It 's nice ! " she admitted. 
 
 Dandy then drank three cupsful, in rapid succes- 
 sion. 
 
 " I 've got a motto," Dandy sang, clearly to cheer 
 her ; " alw'ys merry an' bright I 've simp-ly got- 
 ter sing " He took a few dancing steps, just by 
 way of amusing Pippin. 
 
 " It 's done you good," beamed the fat man who 
 suddenly, agreeably, discovered himself rapidly sell- 
 ing out, for others following Dandy's lead and 
 amused by his antics were stopping too. 
 
 There was a rush to be next at the cup. 
 
 " Ladies an' children first," called the fat man in 
 the calm voice of one averting a fire panic. 
 
 He had caught the eye of a man carrying one 
 child and leading another, making for the syrupy 
 refreshment. His missus followed, but attracted 
 by Dandy's fun lagged behind. The family were 
 clearly on a holiday and in holiday mood everything 
 is pleasing. 
 
 "'E is a comic," chuckled the woman, nudging 
 her eldest boy to appreciation. 
 
 Pippin nodded to her in friendliness. " 'E is a 
 comic," she agreed, and catching Dandy's arm, 
 drew him along. 
 
 " I shall tike you to see the musical comedy 
 that bit I sang yer comes from," he said. " It 's 
 worth it." 
 
 " You will be a spend'rift," laughed Pippin.
 
 PIPPIN 
 
 In spite of her frugal mind, she admired his gen- 
 erosity. 
 
 " But I saves too, old gal," he said. " I 've 
 nothink actually put by now, but there 's two month 
 coming to me with interest ha'-penny on the 
 shillin', y' know, for every week 'is lordship is 
 be'ind. It 's his idea ; 'e is a good master and 'e 
 do get behind. If I quite run out of small change 
 'e lets me in on a bit o' his, and does n't always tike 
 it out o' me ! " 
 
 Pippin was listening and thinking and hurrying 
 her lover along. 
 
 " Now about this lady ? " he asked. 
 
 She related enthusiastically. She had found the 
 lady fainting in the street and brought her home, 
 rewarded by discovering in her an actress down 
 on her luck and about to take cheaper lodgings. 
 She would pay the rent and stay in Jubilee Court 
 temporarily. She had a little money only, but 
 would soon have plenty. She was a young and 
 lovely lady and an actress ! 
 
 "If she 's looking for a good pl'y, 'is lordship is 
 'er man," said Dandy. 
 
 " She does want a good un," Pippin replied, " but 
 you must n't forget she 's hard up ! " 
 
 " 'Is lordship's exact case," reflected Dandy. 
 " But I '11 stand by 'im ; he s'ys 'is future depends 
 on me standin' by 'im!" 
 
 Pippin reflected.
 
 n6 PIPPIN 
 
 " I Ve got to stand by Miss Lawrence, too, old 
 chap," she said soberly. " She '11 marry way up 
 too an earl maybe. Oh, I Ve such a feeling 
 about 'er. I Ve got to 'elp her! " 
 
 " 'Elp her buy a pl'y ? " he teased, " or marry " 
 
 " G 'on," she said, banging him, " you don't 
 know actresses. She does n't want a whole pl'y, 
 only a bit in a pl'y; but this I will s'y; / wants a 
 situation ! I Ve been hunting till I near dropped 
 and now I don't know where to turn ! " 
 
 There was an anxious tremor in her voice. She 
 glanced up at him desperately. The confession hurt 
 her pride; yet, she would wish him to tell her, if 
 ever she could help him. 
 
 " You 're worrited, little woman ! " he said 
 quickly. " Why 'ave n't you mentioned it before ? 
 I don't s'y su'think can be got in a minute, but I 
 s'y it can be got, an' Dandy 's the one to do it for 
 you the one to 'elp you in everything see? " 
 
 She smiled up at him, with a little sigh of relief. 
 Dandy seemed to be thoughtfully considering a 
 place of possible opening; he pulled his cap further 
 over his eyes. 
 
 " Listen," she said ; " anythink to start like, d' yer 
 see?" 
 
 " In course," he said, " when it comes to anythink 
 permanent which you '11 be wanting soon too, I 
 'ope you '11 tike me, what? " 
 
 " Yes, Dandy," she said. " I will."
 
 PIPPIN 117 
 
 Smiling, he drew something from his pocket and 
 handed it to her. 
 
 " What ho ! " she cried in delight. " I 'm glad to 
 get that ! 'Ow 'd you ever think of it ? " 
 
 " Next thing," Dandy said, " is you 're givin' me 
 a likeness of yourself ; it 's customary when a 
 couple's walkin' out, y' know ! " 
 
 Just then he caught sight of her shabby little shoe 
 which was parting company with the sole. " You '11 
 take that shoe round to Miles in Park Walk, above 
 'ere," he said. " It won't cost you a penny piece. 
 I '11 drop in there first. Miles is me brother-in- 
 lor', dear, but a widower now. He 's the one I was 
 round this w'y to see the night I come upon 
 you." 
 
 She was a little hurt that he had seen her shoe, 
 yet he made it a matter of such tenderness that she 
 accepted good-humoredly. 
 
 " Right, old chap, thank you! I '11 be in clover 
 soon and get even o' you." 
 
 " That night I 'appened round and found you," 
 he continued dreamily. 
 
 " I must be off," Pippin said, looking up and down 
 the street. " I 'm goin' to see about su'think in the 
 West End." 
 
 She dropped his likeness in her deep pocket, add- 
 ing, " I am pleased with that ; it '11 set on the chest 
 of drawers." 
 
 Dandy consulted a large watch of pinchbeck metal
 
 n8 PIPPIN 
 
 and murmuring, " I '11 be off too, dear," they shook 
 hands. 
 
 " Don't fret, old gal, you '11 'ear from Dandy 
 soon ! " he promised. 
 
 She waited until from the top of an omnibus 
 he waved farewell with the newest things in tweed 
 caps, a present from his lordship. 
 
 Then she continued her way in deep reflection. 
 She had truly reckoned without Doll, when she es- 
 tablished herself in Jubilee Court.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 RAY of sunlight came in the win- 
 dow, slanted through the canary's 
 cage and circled round a pink rose 
 of the wall-paper. Teddy hastened 
 into his bath, fluttering and chatter- 
 ing and sending out little waterfalls. 
 
 Leonora sat up in bed and looked at the tiny 
 creature. His bath finished, the canary hopped 
 upon the perch and began preening his yellow coat. 
 " You lucky little monkey," the young lady ob- 
 served enviously, " you are sure of your clothes." 
 
 With an air of satisfaction the canary chirped 
 and hopped. He picked at the seeds. He scat- 
 tered out the kind least cared for and greedily se- 
 lected his favorite brand. The love-birds across 
 the Court twittered sociably. The flutist began her 
 practice. Leonora sighed. She looked all through 
 the Westminster Gazette again. It was a day-old 
 paper Pippin had given her to read while her pink- 
 flounced frock was being pressed. Pippin had 
 taken it below to the apartments of Mrs. Crimmins 
 which, as the caretaker had said, were more con- 
 venient for working in. 
 
 119
 
 120 PIPPIN 
 
 Leonora was thinking of her clothes left at Mrs. 
 Penley's. She had told Pippin about leaving her 
 trunk there, but the news had seemed to occasion 
 no surprise or interest. Leonora put aside the Ga- 
 zette. She reached for some writing materials left 
 upon the table near by and leaned back upon her 
 pillow. She began a letter. She wrote : 
 
 London, July 2. 
 Dear Charlie: 
 
 For this note, you are indebted to the tardiness of 
 the young person who is pressing my favorite pink 
 frock, which I am waiting to put on. I have moved 
 from Bloomsbury Square. I am living in the dearest 
 little street called Jubilee Court, Chelsea. I am much 
 better suited. In the first place it is cheaper and next, 
 the quiet seclusion is ideal for study. I shall love 
 committing a part here. You will laugh. My neigh- 
 bor across the way is lady flutist in the Woman's Band 
 at a well-known place of amusement here, called the 
 Earl's Court Exhibition. She practises at intervals 
 all day long. She starts out every evening in her band 
 costume, which is a skirt and coat of mouse color 
 with red braid trimming and brass buttons, cap to 
 match. A little procession of eager children escort 
 her out of the Court. Her going is a daily spectacular 
 event. Her flute practice is music to the ears of 
 Jubilee Court. Her affections are centered round a 
 cage of love-birds that also serve as window orna- 
 ment. I have heard from the caretaker of our court 
 that the birds are all that remains of her recently
 
 PIPPIN 121 
 
 blighted dream of love. I have heard from the same 
 source that she " p'ys reg'lar ! " I quite love the little 
 street. It reminds me of what somebody wrote of 
 the " sweet security of streets ! " And the two rows 
 of little houses, with their white door-stones and 
 green doors and green window-boxes full of flowers ! 
 And the quaint small windows! Such sturdy houses 
 they are, so enduring, like the inhabitants upon whom 
 when idle, I look down from my window, for their 
 evenings are spent passing up and down, chatting and 
 visiting in the Court. Oh, yes, and last night a 
 drunken woman strayed in from the Fulham Road. 
 A young man came and got her away with the awful 
 threat that she would find herself in " Black Maria 
 in two twos " if she didn't mind his warning. I 
 am anxious to remain in London, but as I am so 
 impatient of more apprenticeship, and minor parts 
 seem to be the prevailing opportunity for a town 
 engagement, a lead would entice me en tour. 
 
 I believe I hear my pink dress returning. How 
 are the Clarks? Is Elvira still bent on a stage career? 
 Somehow, I do not think her fitted. I like to get your 
 letters. 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 L. L. 
 
 Leonora looked up as Pippin came in. Her pink 
 frock and other garments dangled over Pippin's 
 arm. Everything smelled of the fresh outdoors and 
 cleansing sunshine. 
 
 " I 'ope the flutist does n't burst before night
 
 122 PIPPIN 
 
 comes," Pippin observed. " They 's nothink but 
 what can be 'ad too much of, / s'y ! " 
 
 She looked up from the foot of the bed where 
 she was spreading out the clothes. 
 
 " What I means, Miss, is, it 's awright to 'ear a 
 nice flute part o' the time like, but with it a-goin' 
 an' Missus Crimmins goin' too, about 'ow reg'lar 
 the flutist p'ys 'er rent !" 
 
 She stopped. 
 
 " Is our rent due? " Leonora asked quickly. 
 
 "No indeed!" Pippin cried. "That's just it. 
 If ours was due, I could bear Missus Crimmins 
 goin' on." 
 
 Miss Lawrence began counting on her fingers, 
 the days she had been in Jubilee Court. Pippin hur- 
 ried to the hall to fetch the water for her lady's 
 bath. She had set Miss Lawrence to figuring and 
 worrying, the very things she had wished to spare 
 her. 
 
 " I 've got the next week's rent put by, Miss," 
 she lied serenely as she came back to the room; 
 " they 's nothink to fret about there. Missus 
 Crimmins's idea is to get it in fortnightly in advance 
 an' I don't 'old with that ! " 
 
 " Well," agreed Miss Lawrence, " not when one 
 has n't much of anything in hand ! " 
 
 She looked into Pippin's face, thinking she missed 
 some expanse of ruddy cheek. Had she not a little 
 less color, too?
 
 PIPPIN 123 
 
 Pippin had as usual fastened the pink frock for 
 Miss Lawrence, when with a final pat on the last 
 button she remarked musingly, " It is queer that 
 manager, Toby 'Amilton, does n't write ! " 
 
 Miss Lawrence took up her gloves and purse and 
 the letter she had written, before she answered. 
 
 " It is queer ! " she agreed. 
 
 As she reached the door Pippin stopped her and 
 pointed to the fireplace and the teapot. 
 
 " 'Alf a mo', Miss ! Now could you get yourself 
 a cup of tea like, s'y I wasn't here to do it when 
 you come in? I knows yer ! " she jibed, " an' I 'm 
 afraid you 'd do without it, if I was n't 'ere to see 
 to it, unless you promised me " 
 
 " I promise ! " laughed Leonora. " I '11 get my 
 own tea." 
 
 " Awright then." Pippin looked relieved. 
 " There 's su-think advertised in a paper I could 
 wish I 'd seen before, but I may be in time yet. 
 It 's off Regent's Park way, Miss, over in St. John's 
 Wood an' it '11 tike some time to get there an' 
 back." 
 
 " Promise me, Pippin, that you will not let me, 
 any thought of me, stand in the way of your tak- 
 ing any employment you can get ! " Miss Lawrence 
 insisted earnestly. 
 
 " I promises ! " It was spoken a little faintly, but 
 she said again, " In course I promises." 
 
 Leonora stood in King's Road as she had done
 
 124 PIPPIN 
 
 every morning since her arrival in the Court and 
 awaited a bus. It seemed, as Pippin had observed, 
 rather strange that Mr. Toby Hamilton did not an- 
 swer even her second letter asking for an appoint- 
 ment 
 
 A bus drew up, with the accommodating con- 
 sideration of a private equipage. The driver 
 slashed the side with his whip, thus informing the 
 conductor of a prospective passenger. The con- 
 ductor with the well-paid civility of a private foot- 
 man leaped aground, and eyeing her interrogatively 
 murmured : 
 
 " Strand, Charing Cross, Bank ! " 
 
 He took her arm, put her into the bus and bawled 
 out, "Strike!" 
 
 At this signal the omnibus started again on its 
 way. 
 
 " Strand ; Charing Cross ? " inquired the conduc- 
 tor as he took her sixpence. 
 
 She nodded absently. 
 
 He chose a little red ticket from a packet of red, 
 white and blue ones which he carried, punched it 
 and with threepence change gave it to her. 
 
 " Thank you!" Leonora murmured with the au- 
 tomatic politeness she was acquiring in London. 
 
 She gazed at the red ticket. Her preoccupation 
 this morning had cost her a penny extra. She 
 usually rode to Piccadilly Circus for twopence and 
 from there walked to the manager's offices. She
 
 PIPPIN 125 
 
 rode on to Charing Cross now and here the bus 
 stopped and the conductor beckoned her out. 
 
 " Where do you wish to go, Missy ? " he inquired 
 politely, as she paused for a moment on the walk. 
 
 " Norfolk Street, Strand," she said suddenly. 
 
 Could Pippin have seen how forlornly uncertain 
 her lovely young lady had seemed she would have 
 sworn eternal friendship to the conductor. 
 
 " You can walk it, Miss, in five minutes," he 
 told her. " Str'ight a'ead, a little turnin' to your 
 right, leads to the Embankment can't miss it. 
 It 'd be another penny to ride ! " 
 
 Leonora took this for what it was intended, well- 
 meant information. One might take a cab or taxi 
 but ride an extra penny's worth in an omnibus 
 it was almost never done. You always got out and 
 walked that much. She thanked the conductor and 
 hurried away, leaving him on the pavement crying, 
 "Benk, benk! Benk of England and St. Paul's 
 Church-yard. Liverpool Street " 
 
 The brakes fell, the bus rattled on. It suddenly 
 came to Leonora what a busy man such a great 
 personage as Mr. Toby Hamilton must be. What 
 hundreds of such letters as hers he must get! 
 Sometimes a thing is yours for the asking, but some- 
 times again a thing is only yours by the most per- 
 sistent, and ofttimes audacious endeavor to obtain 
 it. Leonora's profession was not one in which to 
 stand back and wait. A little hopeful flush tinted
 
 126 PIPPIN 
 
 her young face as she entered Mr. Hamilton's of- 
 fice building. At that moment a pretty woman in 
 huge black hat and turquoise eardrops trailed her 
 embroidery anglaise frock out of the lift. She 
 glanced at Leonora. Her happy smile, the tilt of 
 head, her little shrug of earnest importance indi- 
 cated very recently achieved good fortune. She 
 hurried out to a waiting cab, conspicuously direct- 
 ing the driver with a blue, paper-bound manu- 
 script. 
 
 " A part ! " Leonora caught the thrill of her ex- 
 citement. 
 
 Nothing in the actress's theatrical manner of- 
 fended her. It had been simply a mark of joy 
 which the little woman could not hide from a sister 
 of her profession. 
 
 Leonora stepped into the lift, hope beating high. 
 She asked the guard to put her out on Mr. Hamil- 
 ton's floor. The top of his door was glass and 
 across this in black letters the name T. H. Hamil- 
 ton and his office hours. Her first glance into the 
 main room, lit upon a printed request nailed to the 
 wall. 
 
 " Interviews not granted without 
 previous appointment." 
 
 Within a little fenced inclosure a young woman 
 wearing a heavy fringe left some papers, and with 
 an air of awful boredom confronted the caller.
 
 PIPPIN 127 
 
 Leonora lifted her glance again to the placard and 
 laughed lightly. 
 
 " I have n't an appointment," she confided in a 
 very winning manner. " I have written for one, 
 though, twice and Mr. Hamilton does n't answer ! " 
 
 The stenographer remained unmoved, lifting her 
 brows noncommittally. 
 
 " I might send in my card ? " Leonora ventured 
 to suggest. 
 
 The stenographer looked at the big clock above 
 the printed placard and compared it to the gun- 
 metal watch pinned to her blouse. Then she opened 
 the gate of her little fence and came out, threw 
 open a door at her left and as she took Leonora's 
 card, waved her into the small room. She returned 
 through the main room to one across and labeled 
 private, knocked and went in. 
 
 Leonora thought of Mahomet and the mountain; 
 would Mahomet come to her or send for her to go 
 to him? She must contrive a graceful attitude in 
 case of the former. She rose and shook out her 
 pink ruffles, pushed the chair to one side, sank back 
 in a simple sideways posture and leaned her chin 
 upon her hand, elbow gracefully propped upon the 
 chair-arm. She relaxed her features to appear 
 calm, smiled not to seem severe or depressed, but 
 kept sober enough to appear in earnest. 
 
 Suddenly something bumped into her chair from 
 behind. She jumped to her feet.
 
 128 PIPPIN 
 
 " I beg your pardon ! " some one apologized. A 
 tall man faced her through a half open door back 
 of the chair. 
 
 " It 's all my fault/' stammered Leonora. " I 
 did n't see the door." 
 
 She looked greatly discomfited. He came into 
 the room, closing the door. Then he applied a 
 monocle, looked more closely at her and smiled. 
 
 " I never come in that door never do! " He 
 pointed to the door. " I always come in the main 
 entrance." He waved his hat toward the outside 
 room. " I must have startled you ! " 
 
 " Just a little " she smiled too. 
 
 He was a broad, tall, well-dressed Englishman 
 with a beaky nose and appeared most amiable. The 
 private door opened. Leonora moved forward and 
 met the impressive countenance of the stenographer. 
 
 " Mr. Hamilton can't spare the time this morn- 
 ing," she enunciated clearly. " And he can't give 
 you a definite appointment either, but about ten one 
 morning the last of this week. If you 'd care to 
 chance it that way he might manage to see you! 
 Sorry!" 
 
 Leonora turned abruptly away. She resented 
 the " Sorry " ! that was not Mr. Hamilton's. She 
 glanced up at the Englishman. As she went out, 
 she heard him say: 
 
 " Granville, yes ! Mr. Bertram Granville ! Yes,
 
 PIPPIN 129 
 
 yes sent for me and I 'm here, tell him, please. 
 He 's got the scenario " 
 
 She returned to the lift, vaguely conscious of 
 having heard the Englishman's name before. And 
 she was not wholly downcast. One day next week. 
 Yes, she would try again and yet again. And 
 Pippin had said she could manage the rent once 
 more. They would economize on food. And she 
 must urge Pippin to keep her reminded of the 
 broad a's and delicate r's she wished to acquire. 
 She returned to the Strand and walked along in the 
 direction of Trafalgar Square. She took another 
 little turning, came to an uninviting entrance and 
 at the top of a narrow flight of stairs, paused be- 
 fore the door of a " Dramatic Agency." The 
 words were printed here, too, in black letters on the 
 glass panel with the invitation to " Walk In " : and 
 below this at either side in the lower corners the 
 names of the agency's managers, " Mr. Harvey 
 Worthington Logan " and " Mr. Martin Henry 
 Hart." Leonora walked in. 
 
 The room was full this morning. It reeked of 
 scent and tobacco smoke. In spite of her self- 
 assurance, Leonora experienced always an embar- 
 rassing shyness upon entering an agency and 
 becoming for that moment the center of attentive 
 wonder. She had never tried agencies until lately. 
 She slipped into the nearest chair.
 
 130 PIPPIN 
 
 Mounting the ladder of Fame was a difficult 
 business, she knew, but sight of this patient waiting 
 saddened her. The heavy man stalking restlessly, 
 portraying his gloom! The leading lady's emo- 
 tional dignity stirring the lace of her fichu, as she 
 sits pale, under a drooping feather. The sou- 
 brette's smile, her flashing teeth, keen eyes upon 
 the private sanctum of Messrs. Logan and Hart. 
 It was only fear of leaving a stone unturned that 
 brought Leonora to the agencies. She was sorry 
 to come, too, for the environment intimidated her 
 at a time when she needed her whole strength. It 
 made her think of Charlie Browne .and Goshen, 
 Indiana not longingly she said to herself, just 
 lovingly. Then she tried to think of her profes- 
 sional sisters less seriously, to imagine them, too, 
 with a home they had deserted for Art! She 
 began observing them more lightly. The ladies all 
 would wear huge flopping hats with feathers, some 
 more and some less ancient, but feathers, always 
 feathers. 
 
 At home she reflected, a faded hat was so neatly 
 hidden under veils. Leonora was planning a color 
 of veil for a thin little creature with a hectic spot 
 on each cheek, when a man created a commotion by 
 jumping up, his watch open in his hand and shout- 
 ing. 
 
 " There 's not a person passed in or out of that 
 room since I came here an hour ago ! " He pointed
 
 PIPPIN 131 
 
 at the manager's private office, walked across the 
 room, and threw open the door. 
 
 Everybody rose and peered after him. 
 
 A boy sat at a desk, his feet upon it, enjoying a 
 comic paper. 
 
 " What does it mean ? " demanded the man. 
 " Where is Mr. Harvey, or Mr. Logan ? " 
 
 The boy stumbled up, for an instant speechless. 
 Then he nodded at another door ; it was a convenient 
 exit. 
 
 " Mr. 'Arvey 's been called to a theater unex- 
 pectedly and Mr. Logan will be in any minute, 
 sir!" ' 
 
 " Gad ! " cried the man. 
 
 He turned and swung out through the crowd. 
 
 For a moment Leonora was sickened and dis- 
 couraged. This sort of ill luck was unusual, 
 she knew, and probably Mr. Hart and Mr. Logan 
 had nothing to offer anybody and deeming it un- 
 business-like to close their doors to the hopeful 
 comers, they had just slipped out like that. It was 
 unkind but after all they, too, were human. 
 
 Leonora went out. There were other agencies 
 she could try. But at last, very weary and yet 
 hopeful of what might come of seeing the great 
 Mr. Hamilton, she thought she would return to 
 Jubilee Court. She remembered that little Pippin 
 was out, too, seeking work and wondered about her 
 luck, anxiously, for Pippin was trying, bravely!
 
 I 3 2 PIPPIN 
 
 At least Leonora rejoiced, she had done right in 
 staying in Jubilee Court! She decided then to go 
 to the theater of The Tenderfoot's late failure 
 where the kindly old doorman at the stage-entrance 
 kept her letters. 
 
 There was one from Charlie Browne. When 
 she found herself very eager for its contents, she 
 firmly placed it in her bag, unopened. She re- 
 turned to Piccadilly Circus, and climbed to the top 
 of the bus that would take her back to Jubilee Court.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 HE flute was getting on Leonora's 
 nerves. Her dark moments of de- 
 pression were constantly being ren- 
 dered more drear by the gay notes 
 which seemed to flaunt the contrast- 
 ing circumstances of her neighbor. At times she 
 wished she owned a musical instrument, something 
 to give forth a loud noise, a trombone for instance. 
 .With that she could drown out the flute. 
 
 The flutist had a gay new cap to her uniform. 
 It was red, in place of the gray one only banded 
 with red. She wore it as jauntily as Pippin did 
 hers of fur. And another thing, the flutist's man- 
 ner had changed. 
 
 Leonora had been nine days in Jubilee Court a>nd 
 having seen her every day from the first had at 
 once noticed the change. Something decidedly 
 pleasant must have happened. She was not the 
 creature that had formerly departed, drooping, 
 from the street every evening to her task at the 
 Earl's Court Exhibition. She went now in a man- 
 ner that became the new red cap and new, high- 
 heeled, patent-leather slippers. She laughed with 
 
 9 133
 
 134 PIPPIN 
 
 the children who formed her admiring and nightly 
 escort. She walked more briskly. Probably the 
 light and life of her existence, of whose cruel treat- 
 ment Mrs. Crimmins had spoken, had come back, 
 or had she got a new one ! 
 
 At this notion Leonora gave a little sniff. Char- 
 lie Browne's last two letters were still unanswered. 
 Leonora decided now after some reflection to send 
 him a reply. This was contrary to her resolve of 
 a few minutes previous. It had seemed as well not 
 to write any more to Charlie. There was nothing 
 that thrilled of success to relate. 
 
 The first of Mr. Browne's letters began as usual 
 on the business sheet of his pump concern of Goshen, 
 Indiana. 
 
 Dear Runaway: 
 
 Why no word from you? Has old London swal- 
 lowed you up, my little Molly? There, I should not 
 have inserted that my, but if I cross it out you will 
 be more sure to see so I leave it for you to erase. 
 I have the New York papers but fail to find any ac- 
 count of " The Tenderfoot " ! The Clarks ask me 
 about you do let me hear. I should like to enlighten 
 them. Elvira is not certain which is best, a year at 
 a dramatic academy, or to plunge right in and seek 
 a beginning in the theater ! If you let me know your 
 opinion I can tell her. Funny how all the girls here 
 seem to be daffy about the stage. Sid Long does n't 
 want Elvira Clark to go on the stage. Next I sup-
 
 PIPPIN 135 
 
 pose she will take to London. But no, she 's not 
 daring enough. I beg for news of you. 
 
 Yours always, 
 
 C. 
 
 The other letter, which had quickly followed, be- 
 gan anxiously: 
 
 Dear Molly: 
 
 The Clarks tell me they have heard from somebody 
 who saw " The Tenderfoot " in London, that the play 
 was a fiasco and would only run the week out. Then 
 in that case, you are coming back aren't you, dear 
 child ? Of course not to me. I am not so presuming, 
 but you will come back to America. 
 
 The pump business is splendid. Two recent orders 
 from the East startled our little town. I am in sev- 
 eral minds as to buying a car there are so many 
 makes ! There is a great chance too, to get a fine, 
 stone house here, really a good investment. It is n't 
 quite complete but the man has gone broke. He has 
 to get the thing off his hands. I Ve about decided 
 to snap it up. Sid Long would take it and on the 
 level I believe Elvira would let him, if it was n't for 
 disappointing her mother. Mrs. Clark likes Sid all 
 right, but she wants Elvira to set the world afire and 
 let Sid go hang. He 's a nice fellow too. I 'm sorry 
 for old Sid Long. 
 
 Say, Molly, you won't stick over there now, will you ? 
 Maybe you 're already on your way back. Hurrah ! 
 I just want to feel you 're back, home again, safe, 
 that 's all. Don't be afraid to let me know. I promise
 
 136 PIPPIN 
 
 never to bother you again. I ought to hear from 
 you next English mail. A cable is quickest if every- 
 thing is n't all right. God bless you, 
 
 C. 
 
 Leonora excused her pang of tenderness upon 
 the reflection that the letter would move an ice- 
 berg. And she was not an iceberg. She was very 
 fond of Charlie Browne. She glanced at his pic- 
 ture on the chest of drawers. It was too bad. 
 But their paths lay apart. Pumps and the stage! 
 Goshen, Indiana, was a lovely spot. As she looked 
 back it seemed lovelier than ever before. The 
 people there, too, were really awfully nice. She 
 had no family of her own, just some cousins with 
 whom she could have lived and been very welcome, 
 but she had not cared to. 
 
 She felt certain now as she thought of them 
 that she could never go back to Goshen until she 
 had made a name. The cousins had not predicted 
 success for Leonora. They were very narrow, if 
 nice, cousins with a restricted appreciation of the 
 artistic temperament. 
 
 Leonora determined upon a candid letter to 
 Charlie. She would not deceive him, yet neither 
 could she write things to worry him. She began: 
 
 London, July . 
 Dear Charlie: 
 
 Before this you have got my letter about "The 
 Tenderfoot's " failure and my intention to remain in
 
 PIPPIN 137 
 
 England in search of something else. I have n't found 
 anything suitable yet, but when one is thrown out by 
 a play's failure at the height of a season it is not so 
 easy to get another engagement a part one likes. 
 " Hope deferred maketh the heart sick " but I am 
 not a bit that way. I am enjoying London and study- 
 ing the types. 
 
 I have never told you about Mr. Toby Hamilton. 
 He is the greatest man in London. He has achieved 
 it. His greatness was not thrust upon him like King 
 Edward's. Mr. Hamilton achieved greatness first, by 
 treating all in this profession with whom he came in 
 contact, like the dirt beneath his feet. To-day he did 
 that to me. Yet I am not annoyed and the hope 
 that lay with him is only deferred and my heart is 
 pounding normally. It is something to have seen him. 
 I have just come from the interview. I had called 
 six times before I went to-day ; one day I went twice. 
 He did not get up when I was shut into his lair by 
 his stenographer, or even look up until I stumbled 
 over my own parasol and trying to cover my con- 
 fusion sat down in the wrong chair. He wanted me 
 to sit in the chair beside his desk, where the light 
 glared in my eyes. Anyhow my complexion could 
 stand it ! There was a little center square of colored 
 glass in the window above him and it made the oddest 
 luster round the top of Mr. Hamilton's head, which 
 is quite bald. It had the effect of a halo and I thought 
 of Saint Anthony, whom an Irish wardrobe mistress 
 in New York told me was my patron saint. Before 
 I had given myself away by my accent, Mr. Ham-
 
 PIPPIN 
 
 ilton burst out : " What / can't understand, is how 
 you aspiring young Americans all get over here! 
 Where do you get the money ? " Now money is not 
 ever supposed to be an Englishman's concern. He 
 has it or he hasn't, but he does not talk about it. 
 He leaves it to the American, whose first inquiry 
 upon presentation to a British subject of sufficiently 
 prosperous appearance is reputed to be, " What did 
 you make your money in ? " This is the Englishman's 
 joke. If you ever come to London, do not ask it 
 do not speak of pumps! I digress. I began telling 
 Mr. Hamilton at once how I had come with " The 
 Tenderfoot " company from New York the man- 
 agement having brought us over. He was interested 
 in this. I assured him that I meant to succeed in 
 London. That was why I had stayed. I even ad- 
 mitted that I am a runaway ! A runaway from those 
 at home, whom while loving me still will not consider 
 my ambition and determination to win out in my art. 
 I said to him, " Mr. Hamilton, I am sure I have 
 something in me ! " Before he replied he considered 
 me very seriously; seriously and approvingly so that 
 I feel something will come of the interview. They 
 say he never commits himself until he actually signs 
 you. His answer to my expressed conviction of my 
 own talent was too evasive ! " My child, is it Indiana 
 or Michigan that you bring those r's from? I con- 
 fuse the two states, having stopped so briefly in each." 
 For a moment I was hurt, but only for a moment. 
 My humor stirred me from the heap of dust I had 
 been crushed to and I suddenly laughed. Then after
 
 PIPPIN 139 
 
 a long stony, staring silence Mr. Hamilton too, laughed. 
 He promised to remember me and took my address. 
 I did not make a stumbling exit. He saw me to the 
 door. He said, " Good morning, Miss Lawrence ! " 
 
 The theater of " The Tenderfoot's " late failure is 
 closed but the old door-keeper is always at the stage 
 entrance and lovely about looking after my letters, so 
 address me as before. This is wholly about myself, 
 but you asked me to write about myself. About El- 
 vira; I think her unfitted for the stage, and I 
 shouldn't be surprised if Sid Long won out, either. 
 Elvira always liked him. Let me know what kind of 
 car you buy and all about the house. It would be a 
 good investment. Will you and your mother live in 
 it? I am so glad your business is going on well. 
 Yours always sincerely, 
 
 MOLLY. 
 
 Leonora half heartedly sealed her letter. It 
 seemed a little as though she was fooling Charlie 
 Browne. It would have been honest and 
 would n't it have been courageous to admit her 
 predicament ? 
 
 Uncertain footsteps came toward the door, it 
 opened and Pippin, grinning, lurched rakishly in. 
 To Leonora her appearance betokened happy sat- 
 isfaction in achievement. 
 
 " You 've found employment, Pippin ! " she 
 cried, rising to meet the girl. 
 
 Pippin nodded, raised one eyebrow and see- 
 sawed toward the table.
 
 140 PIPPIN 
 
 "'Ave it your own w'y, Miss Lawrence! Any- 
 think you like." 
 
 She sat upon the edge of the table, eyed the .floor, 
 and mused humorously. 
 
 " I 've been engiged to teash Princess, 'igh-nobs, 
 what 's 'er name to teash 'er to pick pockets ! " 
 
 Leonora recoiled from the tipsy little creature. 
 Eyes searched for her hat, yearned toward the 
 door. Pippin shrewdly caught the meaning of the 
 measured glance. 
 
 " Don't go ! " she said convivially. " I got you 
 su'think too. You 're to dance and sing a bit by 
 command " 
 
 " Be quiet ! " commanded Leonora desperately. 
 
 " I won't," replied Pippin. " By command of 
 'Is Royal 'Ighness " she threw a heavy-eyed 
 glance at the picture of her revered king. " By 
 'is, command, you 're to caper about and sing a bit 
 at Windsor Castle " 
 
 " Pippin," Leonora urged, daring a few steps 
 nearer her. " Won't you take off your cap and lie 
 down over there on your little bed ? " 
 
 Pippin struck her cap instantly to the floor. 
 
 " But I won't go to bed ! " 
 
 She stood up defiantly. 
 
 " Yes, you will," returned Leonora quietly. 
 
 Pippin waved her arms. 
 
 " Don't try puttin' me to bed ! Me ways is not 
 lovin' when I'm "
 
 PIPPIN 141 
 
 But as Leonora backed away, Pippin laughed. 
 She lurched toward her. 
 
 " You pore gal, you are afeared o' me ! " 
 
 " Yes, Pippin ! " Leonora humored. " Yes, I 'm 
 afraid of you." She retreated to the window. 
 
 Pippin stopped, eyeing her regretfully. 
 
 " S' too bad ! Let 's sing," she suddenly in- 
 vited. " Somewhere the sun is shinnin ing. 
 You won't, eh ? Very well I '11 go to bed to please 
 yer!" 
 
 She turned toward the white muslin curtains, 
 walked forward and clutching them looked back at 
 Leonora. Some consciousness of misdemeanor, 
 of fearful awakening, broke through the cloud 
 upon her brain. 
 
 " Don' mike off now, Missy darling. I want 
 a tell yer 'ow this 'appened! Mind," she cried, 
 waving a fist, " I could n't even get a " suitable 
 adjective seemed wanting, " milk cart to push. 
 Ain't that enough to " 
 
 She swung round, threw up both arms and 
 slipped backward between the curtains, noisily, into 
 her bed. 
 
 Pallid, shocked and trembling, Leonora stood star- 
 ing at the two protruding and undignified little feet. 
 Pippin muttered unintelligibly in a sorrowing voice. 
 " Pubs " were always handy she stated thickly. 
 Too handy. Anybody could drop into a pub and 
 be comfy.
 
 142 PIPPIN 
 
 " It 's a beautiful shame too ! " she regretted. 
 
 But very quickly she subsided in sleep. Leo- 
 nora put on her hat, caught lip her bag and letters 
 and went to the door. Her hand upon the knob, 
 she halted. She looked back but the wanton- 
 ness of those protruding shoes between the cur- 
 tains! They represented a predicament sadly low 
 in life, association with which Leonora almost be- 
 lieved she never could live down. If Charlie 
 Browne knew of this. 
 
 She opened the door and walked downstairs, 
 slowly along the street. But she could not think 
 immediately for herself, only for Pippin. Left 
 like this, the child would be thrown into the street. 
 And it was not alone that. Waking, realizing her 
 slip Leonora was sure this was a backward slip 
 in her intended reformation Pippin would be 
 driven to desperation. Pity mingling with tried, 
 but truly growing, affection for this youthful des- 
 perado, moved her, turned her back. 
 
 She reached the room again, hurried to the cur- 
 tains, seized Pippin's ankles and placed her, with 
 desperate patience in a more proper, not to say 
 comfortably reclining attitude. 
 
 Leonora then bolted the door and prepared to 
 resist visitors. She sat down and with worthy ef- 
 fort fixed her mind upon the stories of a tu'penny 
 booklet recently lent by Mrs. Crimmins. 
 
 She determined not to dwell in thought upon the
 
 PIPPIN 143 
 
 sleeper. At any rate she slept on, quietly, and was 
 giving no further offense. Night came and Leo- 
 nora, dutiful to Pippin's sober memory, made her- 
 self a cup of tea and then she too went to bed. 
 
 A big clock somewhere over London struck the 
 hours, each one finding Leonora still awake. 
 Sometime past midnight she got out of bed and 
 kneeling beside it, said a little prayer of her child- 
 hood. Afterwards, she presently slept. It was 
 just before daybreak that cautious movements 
 awakened her. She listened. It was Pippin! 
 
 " Pippin ! " she called sharply. 
 
 No answer. 
 
 Leonora reached for candle and matches she had 
 placed near her bed. The light, raised high, re- 
 vealed Pippin, crouching, head hanging in all the 
 agony of debasement. 
 
 " What are you doing there ? " demanded Leo- 
 nora. 
 
 " I 'm going away." 
 
 Leonora left her bed. 
 
 " Why are you going? " 
 
 " So 's yer won't need to go yourself." 
 
 She was a trembling, pitiable little object. 
 
 " You 've no place to go," Leonora reminded, as 
 Pippin had once done with her. 
 
 Pippin raised her head. 
 
 " There 's the bottom o' the river, Miss for the 
 likes o' me ! "
 
 144 PIPPIN 
 
 Leonora smothered a cry. 
 
 " That is a coward's talk ! " she said, assuming 
 scorn. 
 
 Perhaps a little relief came into Pippin's face. 
 
 " I 've stayed with you " it was hard to taunt, 
 but Leonora knew no other way. " I stayed when 
 I was tempted to leave you yesterday. I 
 wanted you to know, that I knew, that yesterday 
 was your last slip " 
 
 The little head lifted. Hope, life came back to 
 Pippin's face. 
 
 " The last ! " nodded Leonora. 
 
 Then having adopted stern tactics, she raised a 
 commanding finger. 
 
 " Go to bed, Pippin. Undress and go to bed 
 properly ! " 
 
 Pippin shuffled across the room, seized the out- 
 stretched hand and kissed it passionately. Then 
 she went back to her bed. 
 
 Morning broke, the morning after! Pippin's 
 shame enveloped her. She was certain of nothing 
 except her past life. Very possibly it was to 
 be the same in future. She made no resolutions. 
 Only Miss Lawrence, the best and most beauti- 
 ful of beings, believed the past was passed 
 with yesterday. 
 
 And when they were up facing the new day, she 
 behaved as though what she said she believed, was 
 already true. They had just finished a meager
 
 Pippin penitent
 
 PIPPIN 147 
 
 breakfast when Mrs. Crimmins dropped in. She 
 was amiable and did not come, it seemed, to dun. 
 
 " Nothink but good luck ever fell to any one in 
 this room " she had but cheerfully begun, when 
 in the hall a deadly calm voice spoke. 
 
 " Mother, are you in that room ? " 
 
 It was Mrs. Crimmins's turn to show alarm. 
 
 " That 's my Sally, upon me word ! " she said, 
 in surprise. 
 
 She bucked up and herself opened the door to 
 her daughter. 
 
 Standing there, his hand in Sally's, a little crea- 
 ture peered out eagerly from under a peaked cap. 
 Pippin cried out and opened her arms. Into them 
 leaped the boy. 
 
 " I s'y, but I 'ave missed yer, Pip ! " 
 
 He suffered her embraces gladly, even in the 
 presence of so many, and when finally she released 
 him, tucked his hand within hers. 
 
 " Come and speak to the pretty lady," urged 
 Pippin, leading him forward. 
 
 Here again he shyly suffered a kiss with every 
 one looking on. 
 
 " We 've come part way by train an' part way 
 by bus," he said, addressing them all ; " ain't we, 
 Aunt Sally? This is me new trousers an' blouse, 
 Aunt Sally made from 'er old blue cotton skirt." 
 
 He was hardly the same boy Mrs. Crimmins's 
 Sally had taken away. He strutted toward her,
 
 148 PIPPIN 
 
 took her hand and looking up stood waiting for 
 her to speak. All waited. 
 
 Sally had maintained a stern manner, her eye 
 fixing her mother accusingly. 
 
 " You know, Mother, you 've not done right by 
 me ! " she said quietly. " I 've been imposed on." 
 
 Receiving no answer from the plainly abashed 
 Mrs. Crimmins, she turned to Pippin. 
 
 " I can't keep him for nothin' and be imposed 
 on, so I Ve come to throw him back on your 
 hands!" 
 
 " She said she should do it, Pippin," little Hal 
 added. " Ain't yer no money ? Has Dad been 
 after it ag'in?" 
 
 " Very well ! " said Pippin, eying Sally. " I 'm 
 very glad to 'ave 'im back then. Did I ask you 
 to tike 'im?" 
 
 " Indeed," Sally suddenly reversed her tactics. 
 " Glad to have him back, are you ? Well, you '11 
 pay me for his keep before you '11 have him back ! 
 I shall 'old him for board and lodging. There! 
 He can work." 
 
 She looked from Pippin to Mrs. Crimmins and 
 then at the young lady who came forward. 
 
 " Who 's going to pay ? " she inquired, nodding 
 the vivid poppy of her small black hat. 
 
 " Sally," said her mother, " what 's got into 
 
 yer? 
 
 Never you mind about that, Mother. Haven't
 
 PIPPIN 149 
 
 I been imposed on? Have you done right? You 
 got me to take this boy. It was to help yourself 
 get in a lodger too ! And what happens ? A week 
 and more passes and I gets nothin' but sauce from 
 you on a picture postcard. What about Bertie an' 
 Arthur's money, too? Now, Mother, where you 
 frittering away your wages ? " 
 
 " Come downstairs, Sally," Mrs. Crimmins said 
 coaxingly, tugging at Sally's beaded mantle. 
 
 Sally was difficult in her quiet way. 
 
 " May I suggest," interposed Miss Lawrence, 
 "that little Hal is left here. Then Pippin or I 
 will see, Miss Crimmins, that you get " 
 
 " I 'm Mrs. Taylor by name," broke in Sally. 
 
 Leonora rose. 
 
 " One of us will see to it, Mrs. Taylor, that you 
 receive the money for the little boy's " 
 
 " Look here," Sally said, moving quickly toward 
 Leonora. " Do you guarantee me the money, 
 ma'am?" 
 
 Behind Sally, Mrs. Crimmins gyrated frantic- 
 ally; wildly nodding and tugging Pippin's arm. 
 
 " You guarantee it," Sally went on, " and it 's 
 awright; I takes him back to the country." 
 
 " Yes," Leonora said, grasping what the care- 
 taker signaled. " I will promise to pay the money 
 if Pippin does n't. Of course you understand 
 she 's not able to pay you just now, but soon 
 I 'm sure "
 
 150 PIPPIN 
 
 "Awright," Sally said cheerfully. "You're a 
 lady! " Her glance round apparently met with dis- 
 appointment of finding any others. 
 
 " The boy 's better off in the country," she said 
 shortly. " If I 'm not imposed on, / 'm willing 
 enough to take 'im back ! " 
 
 " Oh, yes, Pippin. I fair loves the country," 
 Hal piped, swinging Sally's hand. 
 
 " 'E 's lookin' simply grand too," Mrs. Crimmins 
 observed hurriedly. 
 
 " I 'd never thort it," Pippin joyously agreed ; 
 " ain't 'e dossy in 'is new togs an' my eye what 
 'e 's gained in weight too ! " 
 
 He caught her round the neck as she took him 
 up and after a long embrace scrambled down and 
 went back to Sally. 
 
 " I said Pippin 'd mike it right, an' I should be 
 goin' back," he bragged. " Now we 've to get the 
 marchpane for Bertie an' Arthur." 
 
 " Come downstairs, Sally," invited Mrs. Crim- 
 mins ; " you '11 'ave tea an' I 've got su'think for 
 you, too." 
 
 " Hal could stop 'ere with his sister, till Aunt 
 Sally is ready to go," ventured Pippin, " then 
 she '11 come up for him, see ? " 
 
 Mrs. Taylor agreed with : " Mind your man- 
 ners, Hal," and bustled out 
 
 Leonora began searching in her bag for pen- 
 nies ; there were n't many there and she needed
 
 PIPPIN 151 
 
 them, but she recklessly bestowed two upon the 
 little visitor. 
 
 "Oh, thank you, Miss," he chuckled, "I jolly 
 well wanted some coppers to fetch su'think I 'd 
 promised the other chaps." 
 
 " Does Hal like Aunt Sally ? " Leonora smiled, 
 lifting him to her lap. 
 
 " Ra-ther, Miss, I like Aunt Sally most in the 
 world next old Pippin ! " 
 
 " Let 's 'ave it all," Pippin knelt on the floor be- 
 side them. " Tell us everythink ! " 
 
 " It 's the 'ugest inn ever," he related, wide-eyed. 
 " Uncle Taylor says it 's been known to accommo- 
 date six guests of a night! It seats ten to a cold 
 supper, or meat tea at eighteen pence a 'ead, beer 
 extra. The stable 's got four 'orses and two carts 
 to let out, and there 's a garden wiv things growing 
 in it!" 
 
 He smiled, showing two teeth missing. " Un- 
 cle Taylor s'ys as 'ow I 'm a 'andy little kipper and 
 can stop long as I like! Aunt Sally 'ushes 'im 
 up, but he only larf s at 'er ! " Hal looked into the 
 young lady's face and chuckled mirthfully. His 
 eyes were slyly mischievous. 
 
 " I shall tell you su'think ! " He announced. 
 " I Ve got three an' sixpence put by in a bank on the 
 shelf in the kitchen at the inn!" 
 
 " Lovely ! " Pippin cried, beaming. 
 
 " Sh ! " warned the boy, eying the door. " Tell-
 
 152 PIPPIN 
 
 ing is not mindin' me manners ! That 's what 
 Aunt Sally meant " 
 
 Pippin and Miss Lawrence exchanged glances. 
 
 " 'Ow 'd you get the money ? " Pippin asked, a 
 little anxiously. 
 
 " Tips," he said. " Everybody tips me, comes 
 to the inn. I blacks boots. I 'old a 'orse outside 
 for a gentleman, or I tikes out a mug of ale. I 've 
 enough to keep me goin', I promise yer! I gets 
 more tips 'n the other chaps. I mean to buy Pip- 
 pin a frock some d'y ! " 
 
 Pippin pressed her face against the little legs. 
 He squealed and banged her head and kicked her 
 playfully with his stout new boots. 
 
 "Ho," he laughed; "some d'y I'll be a inn- 
 keeper an' then ! " 
 
 He broke off and looked at Leonora. 
 
 "Who's 'er, Pippin?" he asked. 
 
 "The lady is Miss Lawrence, duckie," Pippin 
 said. 
 
 "Does she know Dad?" 
 
 Pippin got up uneasily. 
 
 " Now you 've been told about arskin' questions, 
 old chap," she said. 
 
 " I only 'oped Miss Lawrence did n't know 'im, 
 is all," he told her quickly. He had looked round 
 the room and discovering the pictures over the 
 mantelshelf, pointed them out to Leonora. 
 
 " 'E spent 'alf 'is time carryin' them round to
 
 PIPPIN 153 
 
 Solomon's, Pippin always 'aving to sive up an' 
 fetch 'em out. One d'y we run off " 
 
 The rustle of Sally Taylor's skirts was heard in 
 the hall. 
 
 " We 've some shoppin' to do an' to get back to 
 the inn by 'alf after six," stated Hal, slipping to 
 the floor. He chuckled again and whispered, " I 
 promised Uncle Taylor I 'd come back. Uncle 
 Taylor larfed and said, ' Rather ! 'E 'd wager 
 it!'" 
 
 Sally entered, looking brighter. 
 
 " 'E 's enjoyed visitin' 'is sister an' the lady, I 
 know," she said. " You '11 excuse me, Miss," she 
 addressed Leonora exclusively, " but Mother 's got 
 a silly streak, and I have to curb it constantly, no 
 disrespect to her ! " 
 
 The visitor's haste spared Leonora the embar- 
 rassment of reply. She followed to the door and 
 shook hands with Mrs. Taylor who, giving assur- 
 ance of the boy's welfare, led him away. His sis- 
 ter went to escort them out of the Court. 
 
 When Pippin came back, Miss Lawrence was 
 preparing to go out. 
 
 " I 'm sure Mrs. Taylor will be patient, Pip- 
 pin ! " she said. " We need not worry about that." 
 
 " Thank you, Miss," Pippin said. 
 
 " And Hal is a little man ! " 
 
 " Thank you, Miss ! " glowingly. 
 
 " And now I 'm going out, Pippin."
 
 154 PIPPIN 
 
 " Yes, Miss." 
 
 Leonora looked round. 
 
 Pippin's manner was shy, shamed. Her face 
 pale, full of remorse. She was eager with grati- 
 tude, but inarticulate, mute. 
 
 " I '11 be back for tea ! " Leonora said at the 
 door. 
 
 " Thank Gawd, Miss," said Pippin, her prayer 
 more widely meant than seemed.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 HE little bride who was starting life 
 so luxuriously with two whole rooms 
 and an extravagant disregard of the 
 usefulness of excelsior, had taken a 
 fancy to Pippin and Pippin liked the 
 little bride. 
 
 Their brief greetings as they met on the land- 
 ing had been gradually prolonged to more neigh- 
 borly chats. And Pippin had tipped the little lady 
 off about the excelsior. 
 
 " Save your excelsior, me dear," she urged. 
 " The next bit that comes wrapped round a stick 
 o* new furniture you keep to stuff a pillow, see ? " 
 " There 'II be no more new sticks," the young 
 wife answered ; " not for a good while. We 're 
 putting by now, y' know." 
 
 She looked very happy as she told Pippin. She 
 was much absorbed in herself and her husband and 
 her pretty rooms. 
 
 " I want you to come in and see me," she said. 
 " Come in any afternoon for tea." 
 
 " Some d'y," Pippin accepted politely, " I 'd be 
 pleased to call." 
 
 155
 
 156 PIPPIN 
 
 Now that she some day too might be a young 
 married lady, the happy domesticity of others was 
 beginning to interest her. She had told Leonora 
 of their neighbor. And in spare moments Pippin 
 was doing a little fine sewing, just out of friendli- 
 ness. She loved it. It soothed after a weary, 
 vain search for work. 
 
 She had not heard from Dandy since he prom- 
 ised to find her something only a few days be- 
 fore, truly, but the time seemed long. She had 
 tried everything! Sight of her started, it seemed, 
 each possibly prospective employer, in no matter 
 what line, clamoring for her character. All this, it 
 was, that had caused her downfall and betrayed her 
 to Miss Lawrence. Memory of that day could not 
 be effaced. She counted up the days she had spent 
 in search for work. They were twelve, and she 
 had earned nothing, except indeed the half-crown 
 dropped to her ready little palm, by a mighty dow- 
 ager from her fashionable equipage, for Pippin's 
 timely rescue from the curb, of a long white glove. 
 She yearned for patience and new courage. She 
 prayed for good fortune to befall Miss Lawrence. 
 Her lady's troubled face disturbed Pippin. She set 
 out each day, now, but languidly, much less hope- 
 fully. 
 
 Teddy chirped in his patch of sunshine and play- 
 fully showered his seeds on Pippin's work. 
 
 "Like the lady flutist, yer are!" she said;
 
 PIPPIN 157 
 
 " haunting folks with what you Ve got, an' they 've 
 not." 
 
 The accustomed step of Miss Lawrence was 
 heard in the hall and Pippin sprang up. 
 
 " Miss ! " she cried as the door opened. 
 
 Her gaze was unknowingly expectant. 
 
 Leonora came in. There was a flush on her pale 
 cheeks. She leaned against the door as she closed 
 it. 
 
 " You expect good news," she said, a little quiver 
 in her voice. 
 
 " Oh, not that, Miss ! " Pippin said quickly ; 
 " why should I ? or " she added, uncertain of 
 the most tactful way to put it, " or again, why 
 shouldn't you 'ave?" 
 
 "I ought to have good news," Leonora said. 
 " An offer was just made me at Hart and Logan's 
 dramatic agency. But I couldn't bring myself 
 to wear tights. I refused ! " 
 
 Pippin gaped, her mouth opened in wonder. 
 
 " The offer was to go en tour with ' The 
 Traveling Tinies Extravaganza Company.' The 
 salary was to have been four pounds a week." 
 Leonora stated it all succinctly. 
 
 She had never seemed so weary and without 
 hope. 
 
 " You s'y you give up a chanct at four quid a 
 week, Miss?" Pippin prayed to be told again. 
 
 "You see," Leonora said patiently, "you wear
 
 158 PIPPIN 
 
 tights in such plays; not dresses, tights! I 
 mean " 
 
 " I knows, Miss," Pippin said. 
 
 She had seen extravaganzas, from sixpenny 
 seats in the gallery, with Doll. 
 
 " I knows tights. They 's pink things fittin' like 
 a glove and nothink else." Her eyes glowed. 
 
 She seemed to think the costume all right. 
 
 " I could n't do it, Pippin. That is not the kind 
 of actress I am." 
 
 Miss Lawrence went to the chair near the win- 
 dow and sat down, weakly. Pippin betrayed her 
 amazement and disapproval of the enormous sum 
 of money having been allowed to escape. The ne- 
 cessity for action set her to dusting again. She 
 finally drew up beside Leonora. 
 
 " Four quid, I will s'y, do seem a lot o' money, 
 Miss, but no doubt you feels su'think about the 
 extravacancie as I do about charin'. You 'd 
 rather be dead; though I must s'y I can't get any 
 charin' to do with all I 've tried ! " 
 
 " Perhaps I 'm foolish," Miss Lawrence ad- 
 mitted. 
 
 Her pretty face looked strained and desperate. 
 
 " But," reconsidered Pippin, forgetting the 
 money, "you can't go 'opping about without a 
 frock on, like a common person " she gazed at 
 Miss Lawrence thoughtfully. " There, you 've a 
 letter in your 'and, too, you 've not even opened."
 
 PIPPIN 159 
 
 The letter was Charlie Browne's. Leonora had 
 got it from the theater but her mind would trail 
 back to the offer she had refused. Every step of 
 the return to Jubilee Court had tortured her. She 
 was no doubt flying in the face of Fate. Here 
 was another experience offered, perhaps to in- 
 crease her knowledge of life and enlarge her 
 sphere for acting, besides food and the release of 
 her clothes from Bloomsbury Square. She could 
 help Pippin, too. The girl was entitled to her con- 
 sideration. Leonora would have been Captain of 
 the Band in the Extravaganza. They wanted a 
 blonde Captain. She had admitted she danced a 
 little. They said her looks " would do ! " 
 
 After all if she was born to start her career on 
 her looks 
 
 " Read your letter, Miss ! " The voice of Pip- 
 pin came from the other end of the room. 
 
 She was sewing again. Her features were as 
 gentle as a summer sea. Leonora felt suddenly 
 comforted. The girl had understood. After all 
 the next few days must bring some kind of part. 
 Anything only not tights ! 
 
 She opened Charlie Browne's letter. She read 
 a few lines and called out sharply : 
 
 "Oh! Oh, merciful goodness, what shall I 
 do?" 
 
 In two bounds Pippin was at her side. 
 
 " What is 'urting you, Miss ? Is it your 'ead ? "
 
 160 PIPPIN 
 
 Miss Lawrence was holding her head with both 
 hands. Pippin hurried to remove the pink hat. 
 
 " Oh," Leonora cried again. 
 
 She looked up wildly. She caught the letter and 
 poured over it. 
 
 " Saturday, when is Saturday ? " 
 
 " This is a Thursday," Pippin said. " To-mor- 
 row 's Friday an' the next is Saturday. I s'y, 
 Miss, is he coming Mr. Browne ? " 
 
 " No," Miss Lawrence said. " Some people 
 from Goshen, Indiana, will be in London Saturday. 
 I can't see them ! " 
 
 " What ? " exclaimed Pippin. 
 
 " I can't see them ! " repeated Leonora. " It 's 
 impossible ! I can't see them " 
 
 She looked at the letter again. 
 
 " But they are in London now, it seems. Yes, 
 they must be. They were due yesterday, Wednes- 
 day ! I am to see them at the Savoy Hotel " she 
 dropped the letter and looked hopelessly at Pippin. 
 
 "At the Savoy? " repeated Pippin. 
 
 " Yes. They are to send me another note and 
 say what time, but they got Mr. Browne to say in 
 his letter they positively will expect me to meet 
 them at the Savoy, Saturday afternoon. They are 
 going on to Paris that night." 
 
 Pippin stood blinking and thinking. 
 
 " I can't go ! " moaned Miss Lawrence. " Why, 
 the Clarks are the very best people in Goshen."
 
 PIPPIN 161 
 
 " But, Miss," Pippin said musingly, " you Ve 
 simply got to. Would you 'ave these toffs askin' 
 of each other, 'What's Miss Lawrence 'iding 
 for?'" 
 
 She gave an imitation of a toff's manner of 
 speech. 
 
 " Toffs, Miss, always 'as their suspicions ! " 
 
 " What are toffs ? " Leonora asked impatiently. 
 
 " Swells ! " explained Pippin. " Dossy folks. 
 Them with sharp eyes as s'ys to a pore honest gal, 
 ' Where 's your character, gal ? Can you expect a 
 situation without a character ! ' 
 
 " The Clarks are n't that kind, Pippin," Leonora 
 said. 
 
 " But you are right," she admitted a moment 
 later. " They would wonder why I did not see 
 them. It would get all round Goshen, too, and 
 Mr. Browne would wonder I could cry ! " 
 
 She rose, pacing the floor, holding her head. 
 
 In her turn Pippin spoke up sharply. 
 
 " That 's no good, Miss ; only fags you out. 
 Just lie down for a bit then see ! " 
 
 More meekly, Leonora stopped beside the bed. 
 
 " I don't see how I can go in that old rag," she 
 fretted, as Pippin hung her pink dress over the back 
 of the chair. 
 
 " Now, just you lie down," Pippin urged ; 
 " things will look different when you 've rested, I 
 know!"
 
 162 PIPPIN 
 
 " I don't wish to lie down and I can't rest," re- 
 belled Leonora. 
 
 But when Pippin drew the shade and the ca- 
 nary's piping was hushed, she did lie down. Pip- 
 pin sat down again, but she did not sew. The 
 work lay in her lap. 
 
 Her eyes were narrowed, her brow drawn 
 darkly. Something that had been crowded to the 
 background of her mind came vividly before her 
 now the clothes left at Mrs. Penley's in Blooms- 
 bury Square! Presently Miss Lawrence, if not 
 asleep, was at least unaware of Pippin's move- 
 ments. Glancing at the bed, she got up noise- 
 lessly and went to the chest. Among the posses- 
 sions in the top drawer, were three small keys on 
 a ring. She slipped them into her pocket and 
 closed the drawer, put on her hat and quietly left 
 the room. 
 
 She walked slowly along the crowded streets, 
 her mind working busily. Somehow she must get 
 Miss Lawrence her clothes. One scheme after an- 
 other came to her only to be rejected. Then an 
 idea alluringly simple; the more she thought of it 
 the greater her approval. There would be some 
 risk. Yes, but not so much and she determined to 
 take it, hoping, too, that Fate might favor her in 
 this plan. She loitered along and it was nearly 
 dark, when she finally reached Bloomsbury Square. 
 Darkness was a part of the plan.
 
 PIPPIN 163 
 
 Mrs. Penley's lodging-house was alight. Fig- 
 ures appeared against the window blinds. 
 
 The ground-floor window was open to view and 
 within Pippin saw two ladies dressed to go out, no 
 doubt the Americans to whom she had listened 
 upon her previous visit here. The street door 
 opened, a white-capped housemaid came out with 
 metal whistle and blew for a four-wheeler. A cab 
 quickly clattered up and the two ladies came out. 
 The driver was directed to the Duke of York's 
 theater. 
 
 " We 're late all right," one of them said. " It 
 took you so long to make up your mind where we 'd 
 go, Elizabeth ! " 
 
 Pippin smiled. The voice was so like another, 
 now very sweetly familiar one. The women were 
 driven away. The housemaid went in and closed 
 the door. She at once appeared in the ground- 
 floor room, looked about, ate something from a 
 box on the table and finally turned out the 
 light. Then she went out and closed the door. 
 Pippin looked over the railing into the area. The 
 door there was closed. She went back into the 
 shadow. The street-door opened again and a man 
 came out, smoking. He went away out of the 
 street. Others emerged from the house, walking 
 along in the soft evening to pick up a cab at leisure. 
 At last the house seemed quiet. Lights were low- 
 ered.
 
 164 PIPPIN 
 
 Pippin again looked down into the area. The 
 housemaid's cap was reflected on the curtain. She 
 was moving round the kitchen. Presently she sat 
 down, and from her shadow Pippin saw she was 
 eating her supper. Pippin descended the steps and 
 knocked upon the basement door. It was finally 
 opened cautiously. 
 
 " Good evening," Pippin greeted brightly, but 
 not too loud. " Is Mrs. Penley at 'ome ? " 
 
 The housemaid looked hard at the visitor. 
 
 " She is." The reply was somewhat aggres- 
 sive. " But she 's lying down. She always does 
 after her after-dinner cup o' coffee." 
 
 " Pity," the caller said ; " I might 'ave come in 
 the morning, but now I 'm 'ere " 
 
 " It 'd be better to come in the morning," said 
 the housemaid. 
 
 She had been up the stairs to the rooms above a 
 great number of times that day, could Pippin but 
 have known. 
 
 " I wonder," Pippin went on thoughtfully, " if 
 you remember a young lady used to lodge 'ere 
 Miss Lawrence 'er name was." 
 
 The housemaid's face lighted up. 
 
 " 'Ow well does I remember 'er why this very 
 comb I 've got in my hair " she turned her head 
 to display it " she gave to me the day she went." 
 
 "Indeed," marveled the visitor; "it suits you 
 too."
 
 PIPPIN 165 
 
 "What about Miss Lawrence?" the housemaid 
 asked. 
 
 " Why," said Pippin, " she left 'er box an' things 
 'ere." 
 
 The housemaid winked and looked back at the 
 door, behind her. Pippin breathed quickly with 
 satisfaction. The box must still be there. 
 
 " I came on an errand. But, you s'y Mrs. Pen- 
 ley is lying down " she hesitated. 
 
 " I '11 go an' tell the missus at once," said the 
 maid. " No doubt she '11 'ave you upstairs imme- 
 jately. Come in ! " 
 
 "'Ave you to go up many flights?" inquired 
 Pippin solicitously, stepping in. 
 
 "Only two. You stop 'ere." 
 
 " Take your time about it." Pippin closely fol- 
 lowed the girl to the stairway. " Don't kill your- 
 self over the steps. I fair 'ate stairs meself. I '11 
 stop 'ere." She dropped to the lowest step, yawn- 
 ing. 
 
 The maid departed upward. 
 
 Pippin drew the keys from her pocket and partly 
 closed the door leading from the kitchen; behind 
 it here in the entry-way, had stood the precious 
 trunk. The place was dark but a glimmer of light 
 came through the crack of the partly closed door. 
 She peered through the darkness and groped about. 
 A larger trunk was there yes, and the one she 
 sought had been lifted upon it. She felt for the
 
 i66 PIPPIN 
 
 lock. The second key she tried fitted and unlocked 
 the trunk, yet some straps still held it. Her hands 
 were bungling and unsteady, but at last she had un- 
 buckled the straps, and raised the top. Her fin- 
 gers fumbled eagerly over the contents. Only the 
 lightest things seemed to be there. She gathered 
 a handful and stuffed into her spacious pocket. A 
 hat in the corner partition came under her fingers. 
 She dropped it out upon the floor. She found a 
 shoe, then another; a fan and a photograph which 
 she clutched eagerly. Her pocket could accommo- 
 date them. Pippin's pockets had not been re- 
 formed yet. She had never thought of this. It 
 came to her now, as well as the astonishing clumsi- 
 ness of her hands. She grasped the side of the top 
 tray, it lifted easily. Steps sounded. The girl 
 was coming down the stairs, briskly. Flight? 
 Not yet. She would take a chance. She opened 
 the door that led to the kitchen, and hid behind it. 
 
 The housemaid descended, stopped at the foot 
 of the stairs. 
 
 " You 're to go right up," she said, hurrying into 
 the kitchen. " Lor' bless us ! " she exclaimed. 
 
 She paused, went to the outside door, stepped 
 into the area. Then she came back. Pippin heard 
 her walking all round the kitchen. 
 
 " I was n't gone a minute," she was saying. 
 " She could 'a' waited. Very queer " 
 
 She came back and began slowly mounting the
 
 PIPPIN 167 
 
 stairs. Pippin turned swiftly to the trunk. She 
 pulled at the tray and from beneath it dragged 
 some garments, dropped them out, replaced the 
 tray, let down the lid and had secured the keys be- 
 fore the housemaid was heard returning with her 
 mistress. Pippin grasped the hat and clothes from 
 the floor, wadded them under her arm, curved into 
 the kitchen and scuttled across to the door. She 
 was too burdened to close it. Half-way up the 
 steps she stumbled over a dragging garment, clung 
 to her load and her chin collided with the pave- 
 ment, cruelly. Undaunted she rose, something fell 
 from her bulging pocket and rolled back into the 
 areaway, a shoe she realized regretfully. But ex- 
 cited voices were below her then. 
 
 " Phoebe ! " It must have been Mrs. Penley 
 speaking, " Phcebe, here 's somebody just gone out 
 of my kitchen making off up the street. Why 
 here 's a shoe fell down." 
 
 Pippin ran, swiftly, silently. 
 
 "Stop thief!" The faint cry of Phcebe the 
 housemaid was wafted upon the air. 
 
 The night was calm, there was nobody about, 
 certainly not an officer. There was no need for 
 prolonged speed. There was need to take stock of 
 her spoil and to gather it up more safely. A little 
 alley, a dark doorway was at hand. Pippin 
 slipped in. When she emerged her appearance 
 was greatly changed. The skirts she had put on
 
 168 PIPPIN 
 
 would have trailed but she gathered them up. Her 
 hat was a cornflower blue entwined in a mesh of 
 tulle. The brim flopped. Her own fur cap was 
 under her arm. Strange enlargements bulged 
 over parts of her person. Out of consideration for 
 the clothing she took her way back slowly. Her 
 appearance did not pass unnoticed and in Shafts- 
 bury Avenue she encountered three rowdy girls. 
 They broke apart shrieking with one accord and 
 leaped into a devilish dance that wedged her in and 
 impeded her progress. 
 
 " Misfits ! " shrilled one lady, holding up her own 
 skirts as she hopped about. 
 
 " 'And me downs," echoed her comrade whose 
 bun was shaken loose. 
 
 " G' on ! " branched out the third. " Don't yer 
 know a loidy when you sees one ? And did n't yer 
 know about the ball at the Palace to-noit ? " 
 
 " King Edward 's not in Lunnon! " objected the 
 other; " 'owever, she 's no doubt going to a private 
 affair in Park Lane, what?" 
 
 They felt of the stuff in her skirt. She kicked 
 at one of them. They laughed joyously. But a 
 fair, pretty young girl with a basket on her arm 
 empty of all but a few dried flowers, came along 
 and stopped. Pippin caught her eye imploringly. 
 
 " I s'y, Liz," the flower girl said to one of the 
 tormentors, "yer back 'air is all tumbling down, 
 you do look rummy? What's the row?"
 
 PIPPIN 169 
 
 Liz put her hand to her hair, turned to the new- 
 comer and in that instant Pippin skimmed along 
 the curb and was gone. Laughter and hoots of 
 derision followed her but she was lost to them. 
 
 Much later, worn and weary, she neared Jubilee 
 Court. The houses of the private square it led 
 into were many of them closed and along here she 
 could take off the extra clothes, roll them up and 
 so slip them into her room. Miss Lawrence was 
 not to know of her windfall until the moment ar- 
 rived to prepare for the occasion. 
 
 Pippin was proud of her achievement. She had 
 been daring, she had been lucky. The lady in 
 whom she centered her hopes and ambitions, who 
 had done so much for her, should not go forth in 
 shabby attire for the swells of Goshen, Indiana, to 
 behold. The square was very quiet. The shadow 
 of a tree gave friendly shelter. She paused and 
 looked all round, then slipped off the outer gar- 
 ments, folded them neatly and exchanged the blue 
 cornflower hat for her cap. She sighed. She was 
 very tired and hungry. Her head felt suddenly 
 dull. With the things tucked under her arm, she 
 was ready. But from the dark doorway of a 
 closed house across the road a figure had moved. 
 It was crossing over to her and suddenly came 
 into the ray of light from the street lamp. It was 
 Doll. 
 
 "If an officer saw what I just 'ave seen, the
 
 170 PIPPIN 
 
 magistrate would n't let you off with a caution, 
 Pip, old gal! " she laughed. 
 
 " Doll ! " gasped Pippin. 
 
 " The sime. 'Ow 's your ladyship? " 
 
 " Been on a errand," Pippin answered, draw- 
 ing back as Doll came close, peering at the bun- 
 dle. 
 
 Doll laughed! The square rang with her yells 
 of mirth and echoed into the quiet court. Pippin 
 scowled at her. 
 
 " Don't be a fool, a bally 'owling barmy idiot, 
 Doll! That's all I asks." 
 
 Doll sobered a little. 
 
 " I must n't mike a row, 's'truth," she said. 
 " My 'Arry 's about 'ere, gettin' the lay of the land. 
 'E and a pal 's got their eyes on a certain 'ouse 
 where a top window 's been left unbearded." 
 
 She chuckled and nudged Pippin. " I s'y, why 
 don't you drop in any more ? Kitty 's not well and 
 asks for yer. I 'd a bad 'eart flutter once or twice 
 lately. 'Arry near called round for you too ! " 
 
 Pippin shuddered at the thought of Harry. It 
 was not easy now that the time had come, to tell 
 Doll. 
 
 " It 's 'ere," she finally said uneasily. " I 've 
 dropped all that." 
 
 " Wotcher mean ? " Doll was dull. 
 
 " I 've turned honest," Pippin said. " I 'm go- 
 ing straight ! "
 
 PIPPIN 171 
 
 Doll laughed louder than ever. 
 
 " I 'd like to knock off your silly, noisy old nut ! " 
 Pippin growled. " What is there to larf at ? " 
 
 "Wait till I tells it to Kitty," jibed Doll. 
 "'Old Pip little old Pip/ Kitty will s'y. * The 
 cleverest young pickpocket about the West End, 
 not pinched, no, no ; but turned str'ight ! ' 
 
 Doll's laughter could not be hushed. It turned 
 Pippin cold and dizzy. Possibly her words had 
 echoed into the Court, up to the very room. 
 
 " Doll, old gal," she said, " 'ush and I '11 come 
 round to see you an' explain. There 's a dear now, 
 do 'ush!" 
 
 "Turned str'ight," Doll pointed at the bundle 
 Pippin clutched. " Well, when yer comin' ? " she 
 questioned hysterically. " Soon ? Kitty can't wait, 
 not she, after this news. I 'm like to 'ave another 
 'eart fit, too ! " 
 
 " Soon," promised Pippin. " Good-night ! " 
 
 " Not so fast," Doll waylaid her. " Who 's your 
 lady-pal?" 
 
 " When I come round to call," Pippin said, " is 
 the time for all this. Look sharp now or I smashes 
 yer one." 
 
 Doll gave way. Pippin's violence was unusual. 
 
 " We '11 look for you soon," Doll said. 
 
 As Pippin left her she called after her mirth- 
 fully. " I see 'ow it is. You was turnin' when 
 tikin' off those fine togs, 'ere in the dark."
 
 172 PIPPIN 
 
 Strange, thought Pippin, how hideous laughter 
 could sound. 
 
 Breathless and half sobbing she came to the 
 house and hurried up the stairs. She listened out- 
 side the door. It was quiet. She went in. 
 
 " Pippin? " Leonora turned from the window. 
 
 " Miss, all in darkness? " She swept to the cur- 
 tains and dropped her bundle behind them upon 
 her bunk. She emptied her pocket quickly. 
 
 " The candle is very low ; anyhow, there 's a new 
 moon to-night," Miss Lawrente said. " I saw it 
 over my right shoulder, out over the Square." 
 
 " When, Miss ? " Pippin gasped. 
 
 " Half an hour ago," was the answer. " Have 
 you had any good luck, Pippin?" 
 
 " Thank you, Miss, but nothink very certain. 
 Now for a bite to eat. I 'ave been long out." 
 
 "Pippin!" 
 
 "Miss?" 
 
 " I went back about the Traveling Tinies Ex- 
 travaganza offer. The chance was gone. Some 
 one else had just taken it ! " 
 
 " Thank 'Eaven for su'think then ! " Pippin ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 " Why, Pippin, four pounds " but Miss Law- 
 rence's voice was less troubled. 
 
 " Four pounds is not so much, Miss ! " Pippin 
 said sturdily. " I 'm parched for me tea! "
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 HERE had been rain all night, and 
 the rumble of thunder. Pippin was 
 awakened by it and sat up to peer 
 out of her own private chamber. 
 Miss Lawrence stood at the window, 
 with arms outstretched, palms upturned to the rain. 
 "If it still rains to-morrow," she answered at 
 Pippin's call, " I can't go to the Savoy. Still, that 
 is n't any comfort. When it rains people go in 
 cabs and keep their engagements. Cabs cost " 
 
 " 'S'truth! " Pippin answered, and then the thud 
 of her discouraged little body falling backward in 
 her excelsior bed. 
 
 Pippin opened her eyes after this awful realiza- 
 tion and strained them owlishly in the darkness. 
 Against the inside of the curtains that partitioned 
 her off was carefully pinned her recent plunder. 
 She could detect the outline of the blue cornflower 
 hat upon the curtain. The photograph which had 
 turned out to be that of Leonora Lawrence in cos- 
 tume, was under her pillow. After all her effort, 
 was she to be denied the satisfaction of sending 
 Miss Lawrence forth to meet this social obligation? 
 
 173
 
 174 PIPPIN 
 
 But cab-fare from Jubilee Court to the Hotel 
 Savoy ! 
 
 "Did you groan, Pippin?" inquired Miss Law- 
 rence. " You must not take my afflictions too 
 much to heart. If it comes to the worst, you may 
 wear my hat to the Savoy to tell the Clarks I never 
 go out in London when it rains." 
 
 This feeble jest greatly diverted Pippin and soon 
 after requesting Miss Lawrence to return to bed 
 before she got her death, quiet settled upon the 
 room. 
 
 And after all the morning broke auspiciously. 
 The ray of sunlight slanted over Teddy's cage and 
 the pink rose of the wall-paper. The little court 
 had been rain-washed and was fresh as a daisy. 
 Leonora dressed as usual in her pink frock to go 
 forth on her daily quest. She had become quite 
 reconciled to visiting the dramatic agencies now. 
 She even conversed with some she met there, as 
 Pippin did with the young bride below stairs. She 
 was glad of the exchange of hopeful words. She 
 had got encouragement there too. One little 
 woman had said savagely: 
 
 " Don't be an underdog ! I 've got a baby and 
 Freddie does n't have awfully good luck lately, so 
 I take just anything. I can't wait around but if I 
 were starting out again, young " 
 
 She had opened her arms and thrown back her 
 head with a little cry. Her bosom quivered, her
 
 PIPPIN 175 
 
 lowered lashes hid the glance she threw Freddy 
 it was Freddy who sat near, among the other 
 men; Freddy, a comedy man, fat, merry, pink and 
 untroubled. 
 
 " Ah," sighed Freddy's wife, " don't you be a 
 fool, child. You are made for leads. You are 
 full of temperament. You are young, beautiful 
 free, not that I 'd give up my baby I say, have 
 you seen Toby Hamilton, by any chance? " 
 
 Leonora told her of the interview with the man- 
 ager and the little woman had thought something 
 might come of it. Leonora was always encour- 
 aged by these talks. 
 
 She was pinning on her hat when Pippin spoke 
 anxiously. 
 
 " You '11 come back 'ere, in course, Miss, before 
 you goes to the tea at the Savoy ? " she urged. 
 " You '11 want to doss up a bit ! " 
 
 " Oh, yes, Pippin ! I must come back to well, 
 not change my frock or anything so fastidious," an- 
 swered Leonora bitterly, as she spread out her 
 arms and looked at herself in the mirror. " I will 
 come back though to do my hair some other way 
 and" 
 
 " I '11 give your shoes a bit o' blackin' ! " added 
 Pippin cheerily. " Mrs. Crimmins 'as plenty o' 
 that." 
 
 Leonora had just reached the door when a heavy 
 knock fell upon it. Two burly men were there.
 
 176 PIPPIN 
 
 " Come for the wardrobe ! " said one. 
 
 " Wardrobe ! " chorused Pippin and Miss Law- 
 rence. 
 
 "Wardrobe!" 
 
 Miss Lawrence and Pippin exchanged glances. 
 
 " It 's sold to me ! " one of the men explained. 
 " I was up 'ere lookin' it over three weeks ago 
 afore this room was let. I offered the Missus 
 well, a certain amount for it which she wouldn't 
 take. Now she 's glad to let it go for less. I 've 
 paid 'er, too. She 's got the money. I 'm a sec- 
 and-'and dealer ! " 
 
 He pushed into the room quite easily and looked 
 all the furniture over with a covetous eye. Then he 
 espied the article he claimed to have bought and 
 motioned to his companion. This man said : 
 
 " We '11 tike the things out of it, first. The lady 
 will want 'er clo' " 
 
 " It 's empty," Leonora murmured. 
 
 " We don't use it," added Pippin. 
 
 " That 's what I understood," the second-hand 
 dealer said. " 'Ave a 'old, Tom ! " 
 
 They shut it up and carried it out. Leonora 
 closed the door upon them. It was all done in a 
 minute. 
 
 " Funny thing," Pippin said musingly. " I quite 
 forgot Mrs. Crimmins telling me when I came in 
 'ere the sticks, being 'er own, was extra and 'ow 
 if she got 'ard pressed, she must sell 'em ! "
 
 PIPPIN 177 
 
 Miss Lawrence looked at the chest of drawers 
 and then the bed. 
 
 " Never fear ! " cheered Pippin. " She won't go 
 selling them. I 'm going down for a word with 
 'er, too ! I want to see 'er. Now we 've more 
 room to get about, Miss, what? without that bally 
 thing we 'd no use for ! " 
 
 " Yes," admitted Miss Lawrence, " there 's more 
 room." 
 
 Sfce turned and was on the point of asking a 
 question but the gayest trills of song coming un- 
 expectedly from Pippin, frustrated her completely. 
 It was factitious lightheartedness, she knew, but she 
 did not ask the question, about the rent. 
 
 The song hushed abruptly as it had begun and 
 left alone, Pippin's face quickly changed. 
 
 " A perfec' snake in the grass Mrs. Crimmins 
 is," she muttered. " It '11 be the same thing again 
 to-morrow, no doubt. Then with the furniture all 
 sold, we'll 'ave to get out." 
 
 Something must be done. She must have the 
 money for the rent and for little Hal. There came 
 remembrance of her successful coup of the day 
 before, the getting of Miss Lawrence's clothes. 
 
 Then what was that Doll had said " the clev- 
 erest little pickpocket in the West End " " never 
 been caught ! " The pride she had once felt in her 
 accomplishment glowed insidiously. This and the 
 urgent need of money shut out all else. In sudden
 
 178 PIPPIN 
 
 determination she parted the curtains that parti- 
 tioned off her private corner, unpinned the clothes 
 and brought them out. There was a frock com- 
 plete. She had found the bodice in the tray and the 
 skirt in the bottom of the trunk. She thought 
 again of her success. It had been dark and how 
 her fingers had trembled. 
 
 " 'S'truth ! " she exclaimed with a choky little 
 chuckle. 
 
 She spread the frock upon the bed. It was 
 white with a faint blue flower in it. There was 
 another garment which she took for a frock too; 
 it was blue, but very plain, except for a lace frill 
 at the bottom. She placed it beside the other. 
 The young lady could choose. There were other 
 things. She fingered the lace and fine muslin lov- 
 ingly. There was only one slipper. She laughed 
 a little as she thought of the fate of the other. 
 
 How the housemaid had yelled, " Stop thief ! " 
 
 And how she had run! Her eyes widened 
 darkly. The absolute success of the thing thrilled 
 her anew. She arranged the clothes on the bed, 
 where the first glance would show them. Miss 
 Lawrence would think Perspicaciously Pippin 
 decided Miss Lawrence would be too overwhelmed 
 to think. She would just doss out hurriedly and 
 go. Afterward Pippin did not go into the 
 matter further. She caught up her fur cap, glan- 
 cing with delight at the cornflower hat the bedpost
 
 PIPPIN 179 
 
 was wearing temporarily. It seemed to have 
 caught the sly eye of Teddy too; he was chirping 
 madly, inspired to a song of cornflowers. Pippin 
 swaggered to the door. 
 
 If she should meet Mrs. Crimmins on the 
 stairs ! 
 
 "'Old 'ard!" she said to herself, waving her 
 fist "I'll see you get your p'y, Mrs. Crimmins; 
 I 'm going for it now ! " 
 
 She banged the door and ran downstairs. She 
 walked very determinedly and her quick, easy stride 
 presently brought her to Bond Street. Bond Street 
 was very pleasant on a nice morning and there 
 were many shoppers along here to-day. Pippin 
 had in mind a certain Parisian jeweler's window 
 that usually drew a small select crowd and she 
 sauntered toward it. She had not gone far when 
 a vision in heliotrope and black lace, with a clash 
 of bangles and chatelaine, a swish of soft petti- 
 coats and the plentiful scent of violet sachet came 
 from a side street. The lady turned into Bond 
 Street and walked ahead of Pippin. She followed 
 eagerly, a little excitedly. Her footfall was 
 lighter, her eyes alert, watching for opportunity. 
 They came to the jeweler's window. There was a 
 crowd there and the lady pushed in ahead. Pip- 
 pin followed, on her face a look of fear mingled 
 with hard determination. 
 
 Of a sudden she lurched forward, her out-
 
 i8o PIPPIN 
 
 stretched hands coming in violent contact with 
 them, sent the lady's golden perquisites clashing, 
 scattering upon the pavement and Pippin with 
 them. Quickly she half rose upon hands and 
 knees, one hand deftly covered the sovereign purse, 
 all but closed upon it, then shot back, clutching at 
 her throat. Her eyes stared, fastened upon some- 
 thing pink, a woman's dress skirt it was her eyes 
 traveled up, up No ! Miss Lawrence, it was 
 not ! She cowed a moment, the terror passing, she 
 darted a fearful look at the woman who stooped 
 to help her. Then with effort she bent down. 
 
 " They 're all 'ere, ma'am," she mumbled, dry 
 mouthed; and gropingly collecting the trinkets, 
 handed them back to the owner. 
 
 " Are you hurt, child ? " inquired the lady. 
 
 " No, ma'am, not 'urt ; I 'm not 'urt ! " Pippin 
 said, and she tore from the crowd. " I 'm not 
 'urt I 'm honest, that 's all ! " she was whispering 
 to herself. 
 
 In a daze she made her way slowly. She tried 
 to realize what had happened. She had tried to 
 steal and could n't it was a miracle. 
 
 " It 's Miss ! " she said, her teeth chattering. 
 " She was n't about at all yet she was. Oh, I 
 could n't ! You see I could n't, no matter what 
 comes ! I tried and I could n't steal ! I saw 
 Miss when she was n't there ! " 
 
 She carried her cap that had fallen off and dabbed
 
 PIPPIN 181 
 
 at her face with the fur. Tears had sprung to her 
 eyes and trickled down her cheeks, tears of relief 
 they were and brought a sense of comfort. She 
 must plan differently. She must go to Mrs. Crim- 
 mins about the rent. 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins could have put them out of 
 Jubilee Court! And she had not. She had only 
 sold the useless wardrobe they had had nothing to 
 put into. 
 
 " I called 'er a snake in the grass ! " she repented, 
 "an' she so jolly decent to us all along, too! " 
 
 The sun was very hot after the rain, and black 
 spots popped in and out of the air before her. She 
 thought of the last encounter with Doll, and 
 stopped, uncertain which way to the Court would 
 be safest from another meeting. Then dully at first 
 came into her mind a new thought. It brought 
 her to a standstill. 
 
 " But Miss needed the clothes ! " she exclaimed. 
 
 But she stood quite still for it had become fear- 
 fully clear to her that in purloining the clothes from 
 Bloomsbury Square she had not done an honorable 
 thing. She would have Miss Lawrence to reckon 
 with. 
 
 " It 's all along o' me thievin' w'y," she told her- 
 self, moving on slowly, sadly. 
 
 Jubilee Court was reached at last. Ahead she 
 saw a fat man coming slowly toward her. He 
 turned abruptly and walked in the opposite direc-
 
 182 PIPPIN 
 
 tion. There was something about him that seemed 
 familiar. He walked very fast. 
 
 Pippin entered the house and hurried to Mrs. 
 Crimmins's door. She knocked softly. 
 
 " Come in," said the caretaker. She was at a 
 table, busy over a letter. 
 
 " It 's only me," Pippin said. " I 've come about 
 the rent." 
 
 Mrs Crimmins's face lighted quickly. 
 
 " I 'm sorry not to 'ave it," Pippin said, " ex- 
 pectin' it as we are " 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins frowned, and nibbling the point 
 of her pencil, looked down at her letter. 
 
 " I 'm puttin' Sally off for a few d'ys," she said ; 
 " at least I 'm 'oping to." 
 
 Pippin came closer. 
 
 " Sally might fetch my little nipper back, Mrs. 
 Crimmins." 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins mopped her face with a large 
 handkerchief. She wore a black silk dress a little 
 frayed and a coquettish touch of lavender ribbon at 
 her neck. 
 
 " The agent called to-day," she said. " It 's the 
 first time I 've ever been obliged to s'y I was behind 
 in a lodger." 
 
 " All I asks, Mrs. Crimmins, is a few more 
 days," Pippin leaned forward and touched the 
 plump shoulder earnestly. " An' I asks it for 
 Miss Lawrence."
 
 PIPPIN 183 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins shook her head, dismally. 
 
 " We all get our just deserts," she said, " an' 
 that American will get 'is ! " 
 
 " Well," Pippin answered, pondering, " it seems 
 to me, we all 'as our little lot o' trouble one way 
 and another an' so if it is in the shape of a man, 
 why we 'd do quite as well to mike the best of it ; 
 becorse 'ave it we will ! " 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins unexpectedly brightened. 
 
 " Perhaps that 's so," she said. " Or you might 
 say we all get our just deserts; and if the first 'un 
 was trouble, the second might be a comfort and 
 so a just desert, after the first what? Well," 
 the caretaker burst into confidence, " I 'm goin' to 
 'ave my just deserts. 'E 's a cobbler by trade. 
 I Ve been lending him me savings, and 'e 's in- 
 vested in a certain thing." 
 
 Pippin backed off, opened her arms and, swoop- 
 ing down upon Mrs. Crimmins, embraced her 
 heartily. 
 
 " Sally, of course, won't 'ear of it ! " the lady said 
 when she was freed. " Sally keeps such a damper 
 on me spirits. I Ve most a mind to run aw'y ! " 
 
 " Never do it ! " Pippin perched thoughtfully upon 
 the edge of the table. " Send for 'er, she can't 
 mike a row, if you mike one first." 
 
 She slid back to the floor. 
 
 " Write Sally. When she comes, begin at once
 
 184 PIPPIN 
 
 Sally's mother possibly saw the advisability of 
 this, but it hardly seemed an alluring prospect. 
 
 " I sold the wardrobe," she announced suddenly. 
 " I needed a bit of ready money." 
 
 " It was a surprise, like, but no matter we 
 did n't need it," returned Pippin. 
 
 " Now about the rent, I Ve put the agent off four 
 d'ys more. I can't give you more than that," she 
 stated sternly, " and no doubt by then " 
 
 " I '11 tell Miss Lawrence," Pippin said uncer- 
 tainly. " I '11 tell 'er you give us four d'ys." 
 
 " I can't say fairer," regretted the caretaker. 
 
 A tap, cautious and low, came to the door. 
 
 " Ah," simpered Mrs. Crimmins, " 'e 's come. 
 'E will 'ave me out to Battersea Park with 'im to- 
 d'y, Saturd'y being early closing." 
 
 She opened the door, admitting the same stout 
 person Pippin had previously noticed in the Court. 
 He started slightly upon seeing her but Mrs. Crim- 
 mins quickly reassured him. 
 
 " Miles," she said, " shake 'ands with one of me 
 lodgers ; Raymond 's the name. I '11 get my hat," 
 and she hurried into the next little room. 
 
 " Miles ! " Pippin said as they shook hands. 
 " Well, upon me word ! " 
 
 The smile faded from the beaming face of Miles. 
 But quickly the lodger put him at ease. 
 
 Don't mind me, Mr. Miles. I don't tell every- 
 
 ii
 
 PIPPIN 185 
 
 think I see, even to Dandy. When the weddin 's 
 a-coming off, is time enough to speak of it to him, an' 
 you 're the one to do it ! " 
 
 The face of Cobbler Miles slipped back into its 
 merry creases. 
 
 " I shan't split! " Pippin said. " One good turn 
 deserves another an' you did me shoe, did n't you ? 
 Though after all, why should Dandy mind your hav- 
 ing another missus? " 
 
 Mrs. Crimmins swiftly returning, Pippin wished 
 them a pleasant walk and slipped away. 
 
 She climbed to her room wearily. Four days 
 more! The pink frock and hat lay upon the bed. 
 Miss Lawrence had worn both the blue and white 
 frocks ! For a few puzzling moments her greater 
 troubles were put aside while she thought of this 
 eccentricity. Suddenly it came to her and how for- 
 tunate! The blue was a lining to the white and 
 matched the blue flower in the frock. 
 
 She turned and met the eyes of Charles Browne 
 looking at her from his photograph. 
 
 " Ho," she accused sharply. " Yer loves 'er, does 
 you ? Very good very good indeed, sir ! " 
 
 Revengefully she thought of the Earl who had 
 never turned up. 
 
 There was writing material there beside the pic- 
 ture. She took it to the table, sat down and began a 
 letter.
 
 i86 PIPPIN 
 
 "Respected Sir," she wrote. Further composi- 
 tion came slowly. She munched her penholder and 
 patiently awaited inspiration. 
 
 I am maid to Miss Leonora Lawrence the actriss. 
 Your picture is on our chest of drawers, so I fancy 
 you are a frend of hers so ought to know she 's not 
 herself looks seedy acts strang. She has not much 
 money. We are stoping in Jubilee Court. A frend 
 in need is a frend indede and so she might be glad 
 to see you if you was here. 
 
 VICTORIA ALEXANDRA RAYMOND. 
 
 Putney bus drops you off in Fulham Road near 
 Court. 
 
 She read the letter over carefully. She sighed, the 
 days ahead stretched out endlessly. The letter must 
 go to America and Mr. Browne must come if he 
 was coming. It would take, she did not know how 
 long. But she sealed and addressed the envelope to 
 Mr. Brown at " Goshen, Indiana," with careful pre- 
 cision. 
 
 She took it out, spent a precious penny for a stamp 
 and posted the letter.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 RS. CALVIN CLARK and her daugh- 
 ter, Elvira, had come to Europe from 
 Goshen, Indiana, with a great deal of 
 money to spend. In Goshen the 
 darks' wealth was estimated to be 
 nearly a million dollars, yet they had never visited 
 Europe before. 
 
 The tea-room of the Savoy was crowded. Mrs. 
 Clark looked about, her lorgnons aiding the desired 
 effect of cool haughtiness the simple unworldly 
 woman desired to affect. Elvira Clark studied the 
 tea-card. 
 
 " I 'm hungry, Mother," she finally said. 
 " Well, Elvira," the mother returned, " we 're just 
 having tea now. They don't eat a great lot of stuff 
 at tea time over here. Now don't show up countri- 
 fied when Molly comes." 
 
 " She 's late," Elvira complained. " She was to 
 come at five." 
 
 " I 'm longing to see her," Mrs. Clark said. 
 " Maybe you 'd better get up and kind of look round, 
 Elvira." 
 
 " Oh, Mother, I told her in my note just where, 
 187
 
 i88 PIPPIN 
 
 in this corner of the room. Don't you s'pose she 
 knows the Savoy ? " 
 
 " She 's probably at a rehearsal or something," 
 Mrs. Clark decided. " We must n't call her Molly, 
 either; she might get mad. Leonora will be hard, 
 but try to remember it, Elvira." 
 
 At that moment Leonora was within ten minutes 
 of her destination. It had been a long walk from 
 Jubilee Court and she had taken it slowly to pre- 
 vent an agitated or overheated appearance upon her 
 arrival. She might have ridden part way, but it 
 was hard to part with her last bit of money and 
 she chose to spend one of her pennies upon a letter 
 that she had written to Mr. Browne. It was a final 
 letter. 
 
 Her cup of bitterness was full to the brim. She 
 decided that there were to be no more compulsory 
 interviews with people from home, no further risk 
 of being discovered, a miserable failure; no more 
 trying to fool Charlie about things. She had writ- 
 ten him and arbitrarily stopped the correspondence. 
 
 She was very tired when she reached the Savoy. 
 When at first she appeared in the tea-room, she 
 stood somewhat dazed, looking round, trying to dis- 
 tinguish the faces and recall the corner Elvira had 
 especially named in the note. Then she saw little 
 Elvira Clark coming toward her. 
 
 " Darling," cried Elvira, seizing her hand, " how 
 beautiful and pale and interesting you are. Have
 
 PIPPIN 189 
 
 you just come from a rehearsal; and are you all 
 tired out?" 
 
 She drew her guest to their table where she was 
 cordially embraced by Mrs. Clark. 
 
 " You dear child ! " said the hostess. " How nice 
 of you to come ! " 
 
 " Is n't she stunning, Mother ! " enthused Elvira. 
 " We were just crazy to see you ! Were n't we, 
 Mother?" 
 
 A waiter drew a chair and Leonora sat down. 
 
 " You look tired, dear, but that interesting tired ! " 
 Elvira said, covering Leonora's hand with her own 
 little plump one. 
 
 " Elvira would never get to look that way though," 
 Mrs. Clark deplored. " She eats too much and 
 sleeps too much." 
 
 Leonora laughed. Elvira looked very plump and 
 wholesome to her. Mrs. Clark leaned embracingly 
 close. 
 
 " I wish Elvira could (Jo her hair like yours. My 
 dear, she 's worn her hair as it is now ever since 
 she first put it up, three years ago," the mother mur- 
 mured plaintively. Her daughter had become busy 
 with the waiter. 
 
 " I 'm sure she looks awfully nice," said Le- 
 onora. 
 
 " We just love this English tea-drinking busi- 
 ness," Mrs. Clark went on, and Elvira broke in. 
 
 " Mother, I 'm hungry. I 'm going to order this
 
 190 PIPPIN 
 
 queer Monte Carlo thing. The waiter says it 's 
 made of eggs and something and that it 's good." 
 
 The attendant emphasized his recommendation of 
 the delicacy, adding, 
 
 "If one is hungry ! " 
 
 " Probably Leonora 's had no lunch, rehearsing all 
 day. Sometimes they don't get any," Elvira said. 
 " Bring that, waiter." 
 
 " I 'm not really hungry," the guest murmured, 
 yet feeling most disinclined for the beverage Pippin 
 so persistently supplied her. 
 
 The words of her hostess were not unwelcome. 
 
 " Maybe you 'd better eat, dear, even if it 's not 
 the fashion. You must keep up your strength. 
 Charlie said you 'd probably be rehearsing. Too 
 bad about ' The Tenderfoot/ was n't it ? Now say, 
 dear," Mrs. Clark leaned nearer, " would you advise 
 Elvira's trying to get on the stage over here? I 
 s'pose you couldn't help her?" 
 
 " Oh, Mother, there 's time enough for me going 
 on the stage. Anyhow I 'm going to start at home." 
 Elvira sat stroking Leonora's hand. 
 
 Her mother sank back. 
 
 " She '11 never go on the stage" she said. " It 's 
 funny, out of five girls, not one of them to have my 
 ambition. I had to marry, but they, why they could 
 do anything with the money and all. Now, El- 
 vira '11 settle down there in Goshen just like the 
 others, you see ! "
 
 PIPPIN 191 
 
 Leonora smiled at Elvira. She had always 
 liked her. She was a nice girl, with the attrac- 
 tion of health, contentment and knowing her own 
 mind. 
 
 " We leave for Paris to-night," she told Leonora 
 quickly, smiling in her sunny way. " Pa 's going to 
 meet us there, and Sidney Long. Remember Sid? 
 He 's gotten awfully tall." 
 
 Leonora did remember Sid. 
 
 " How I wish we could see you act," chirped El- 
 vira. " Say, we 're coming back to London to sail 
 for home. Where '11 you be playing?" 
 
 " When are you coming? " Leonora asked. " One 
 can never be certain of anything in this profession. 
 I may, you know, go en tour for a little." 
 
 " Well, say, you drop a line here to the Savoy for 
 us about the middle of August," suggested Mrs. 
 Clark. "Will you?" 
 
 Leonora promised. The waiter came. Elvira's 
 hearty appetite was not unshared by Leonora while 
 Mrs. Clark prattled on of her ambition for her 
 daughter. 
 
 The color came back to Leonora's face. 
 
 " Where are you stopping, dear ? " Mrs. Clark 
 unexpectedly questioned. 
 
 " Oh," said Leonora, " I am stopping in a quaint 
 little street in Chelsea. It 's very quiet there and 
 nice for study. It 's not expensive and I was glad 
 to find it."
 
 192 PIPPIN 
 
 " You 're a wonderful girl," Mrs. Clark said en- 
 viously. " I think it was the most daring thing, 
 your coming over here all alone as you did. None 
 of my girls would have done it. Let 's see, you 're 
 twenty, aren't you, Molly Leonora, I mean? 
 You 're twenty and Elvira is eighteen. You 've 
 been over here how long? " 
 
 Leonora sat up stiffly, one hand grasping her tea- 
 spoon, the other clinched in her lap. She was 
 afraid if Mrs. Clark kept on she should betray her- 
 self! Then she thought weakly, after all, they 
 were only two simple women, her own townspeople, 
 good and generous; she swallowed hard; she had 
 only to hint at her plight. . . . 
 
 She believed if the words did come out, that she 
 should die. In this momentary battle between her 
 weakness and her pride, and while Mrs. Clark prat- 
 tled on, her eyes took vaguely in all the details 
 of Elvira's dress, its costliness, its lack of style; 
 she noticed the paradise feather on Mrs. Clark's 
 hat. 
 
 What if Elvira and her mother knew how she 
 was living! They would tell Mr. Clark and Sid 
 Long, who was a friend of Charlie's. It would 
 make a story worth telling. 
 
 Leonora looked down at her own dress. Pippin 
 was a wonder. She must have gone to Mrs. Penley 
 and persuaded a dull, horrifying possibility oc- 
 curred to her. She hadn't thought of it when
 
 PIPPIN 193 
 
 she put the welcome things on. But no, Pippin 
 could n't, she could n't have stolen the things ! How 
 could she? 
 
 Mrs. Clark was still speaking: 
 
 " Is n't it wonderful ! " she looked at the girl's 
 white face, "what you are doing? Oh, if I was 
 young ! " 
 
 " Oh, it 's not so wonderful, Mrs. Clark. Lots 
 of girls do it." She moved restively. " I 'm sorry 
 to run away so soon but I '11 simply have to " 
 She spoke truely. A few more minutes would have 
 meant her betrayal. " I am so glad to have seen 
 you." 
 
 " Come on up to our rooms," urged Elvira. 
 
 " I wish I could, but I can't, thank you, dear," 
 Leonora rose steadily. " I must get along now. 
 When you come back I will, if I may." 
 
 She forced an engaging smile. Elvira hugged her 
 and hanging upon her arm, with Mrs. Clark follow- 
 ing, they moved through the room. 
 
 " Now, say," Elvira gushed when they were with- 
 out, " we Ve a car hired all the time and it can take 
 you home and get back before we need it, can't it, 
 Mother!" 
 
 " Well, it must take Leonora home, Elvira ! " as- 
 sented Mrs. Clark cordially. 
 
 From one to the other Leonora went to be clasped 
 and embraced and finally the car drew up and she 
 was stowed into it.
 
 194 PIPPIN 
 
 " Take care of your pretty self," were Mrs. 
 Clark's last words. 
 
 " Thank God," Leonora murmured, as the car 
 moved away. 
 
 She sat dully wondering about such things as 
 whether Sid Long would buy that house Charlie had 
 written her about. Sid Long was to be Elvira's 
 career! Charlie Browne might marry, too. He 
 could n't go through life moping over a certain girl 
 named Mollie. She began to cry, words came from 
 her lips whisperingly : 
 
 " Charlie Browne, I wish you would come and get 
 me. I want you ! " 
 
 She must go back to Pippin. She could hardly 
 bear to face it. Pippin who stole ! Hard accusing 
 words rose righteously to Leonora's lips. She was 
 again her victim contaminated by going out in 
 stolen clothing. But suddenly she asked herself, 
 was she better or even as good as this unfortunate 
 child? She realized with pain that her own plight 
 had instigated the theft if theft it was. Eager- 
 ness to appear well to these home people had let 
 her dress herself up regardlessly only she had n't 
 thought of it at the time. Tears coursed down her 
 cheeks. She had known her weakness yet stayed 
 with Pippin. But had not the girl needed her? 
 Was this the reward for standing by her ? 
 
 "Oh, Charlie Browne!" she sobbed, as though 
 he could help. She saw clearly that her angry re-
 
 PIPPIN 195 
 
 proof was the last thing to be visited on poor Pip- 
 pin! She understood too clearly that Pippin's re- 
 covery of her clothes was intentionally a reward. 
 
 The car turned into Jubilee Court and moved 
 through the narrow passage slowly. It stopped. 
 She did not get out at once, she felt dull and queer. 
 Then the voice of Pippin and her firm, guiding little 
 hand roused Leonora. 
 
 She felt herself led as upon the first time she 
 came to Jubilee Court, up the stairs and into the 
 little room. She suffered the removal of her clothes. 
 
 " That 's over awright, and in tip-top style too," 
 she heard from Pippin. 
 
 For a moment it was gratifying that Pippin 
 should see she had friends, little Pippin who had 
 stolen the clothes for her to go pleasuring in. 
 
 Suddenly Leonora wheeled and faced her. Pip- 
 pin stood still, her black eyes met Leonora's in tragic 
 expectancy. They looked at each other. Pippin 
 backed to the chest of drawers, propping herself 
 against it. 
 
 " I went to Bloomsbury Square and your box was 
 in the entry-way, off the kitchen. I got the maid to 
 go upstairs to ask Mrs. Penley could I see 'er an' 
 then I went in an' found the box and 'aving your 
 keys along, I opened it and got the things." 
 
 " You took the keys," accused Leonora sharply. 
 
 Pippin cowered. " You did n't dream 'ow I 'd got 
 'em when you dossed up," she threw out.
 
 196 PIPPIN 
 
 Was she taunting her, wondered Leonora, 
 ashamed. 
 
 " You know I did not ! I did n't stop to think 
 I 've trusted you, you see ! And you know I would 
 never have allowed your doing such a thing ! " 
 
 " Oh, yes," but Pippin was bitter, " I know that. 
 I wanted you to 'ave the things, no matter 'ow 
 even if I went to quod. That 's 'ow I felt, when I 
 did it I wanted to do su'think for you but 
 you can't understand. It 's 'ere. I wanted you to 
 'ave the things no matter 'ow ; then, just now but 
 after I 'd done it, I saw I did n't want you to 'ave 
 them that bad, or that way, because you would n't 
 want to and so I see I was off the track and still a 
 wrong 'un " she despaired. 
 
 Leonora looked up. 
 
 But a tortured light gleamed in Pippin's eyes. A 
 light of self-inflicted punishment. 
 
 " That 's not all I done. I tried for su'think else 
 a purse ! " 
 
 Leonora started back. 
 
 Pippin opened her arms, her palms. 
 
 "I tried and I couldn't," simply. " D' yer 
 believe me oh," wildly, " do you, Miss ? " 
 
 " Yes," Leonora said bravely. " I believe you." 
 
 She sank into a chair, trying to be calm. 
 
 " Oh, Pippin, I want to help you " 
 
 " Then don't leave me yet. Believe me, Miss, 
 and stay with me a bit longer, don't leave me "
 
 PIPPIN 197 
 
 It was the postman knocking and persistently call- 
 ing " Raymond ! " that broke upon them. 
 
 " See what it is," Leonora bade her. Pippin 
 moved to the door, drying her tears. Yes, the post- 
 man called her name and she slipped out. There 
 was a postcard from Dandy. On one side a raised 
 floral design of great beauty, on the other a mes- 
 sage. 
 
 Lordship been fretty. Me on the jump, tied hand 
 and foot Got eye on tip-top thing for me Pippin. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dandy was good! The message brightened the 
 ending of a heavy day.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 HE hardy contour of her apple-cheek 
 was softened to oval. The ruddy 
 color had paled .to the delicacy of 
 rose pink. Her bodices had been al- 
 tered for she liked them snug. 
 Nothing else occurred to mark the slow passing 
 of time except the dwindling of the marmalade 
 while the contents of the tea-canister seemed fairly 
 to evaporate. 
 
 Ancient rolls were cheapest and steamed over the 
 kettle, spread lightly with that delicacy known as 
 dripping, by Pippin were esteemed most delectable. 
 But Miss Lawrence ate them in their stale crispness, 
 preferring marmalade to dripping. She left the 
 housekeeping problem entirely to Pippin ; who, striv- 
 ing to provide some delicacy at least once a day, did 
 not know that receiving anything at all to eat was 
 now a surprise to the young lady. 
 
 Past were the days of shrimps and watercress! 
 And suet puddings, steamed in a pot that hung from 
 a crane over the little grate fire, were no more. 
 Miss Lawrence, it seemed, was off puddings any- 
 
 198
 
 PIPPIN 199 
 
 how, in spite of a vow she had once made that de- 
 lighted Pippin. 
 
 " I shall never again feel properly nourished with- 
 out suet puddings, my little friend they are life 
 giving ! " were her words. 
 
 The last pudding she had managed seemed to 
 Pippin very pasty from too much water and not 
 enough flour and she had lacked heart to press Miss 
 Lawrence to finish her portion. 
 
 So she could only keep a roll on the round, clean, 
 little wooden bread-plate, and the marmalade which 
 she never touched herself, handy for Miss Lawrence 
 at any time, because of late she only nibbled, and 
 nibbling should be done often, if one can be tempted 
 to it. 
 
 Pippin for her part had a craving it seemed 
 to be for the soothing drop. In spite of every- 
 thing! But she failed to consider her craving's 
 source. This time not wholly wanton; it was ag- 
 gravated by need of wholesome food. Strange to 
 her, temptation had taken new form. Pippin's 
 eyes raised ever and again to Their Majesties. In 
 no extremity had she ever thought of them! And 
 now this morning well, how they stood out on 
 the wall. Perhaps they had done that with her 
 dad. She turned her back to the pictures and 
 thought of Dandy. He was her hero. 
 
 Having a hero and a lovely lady who expects your 
 splendid promises kept is a help a big help. Yet
 
 200 PIPPIN 
 
 could either of them know what it was to want 
 spirits ! That was it, they did n't know. She knew 
 and yes, her dad knew ! And old Kitty ! That 
 kind knew. But she was not that kind. A sure 
 alternative came to her mind. But ah Miss Law- 
 rence had said : " That is a coward's way ! " 
 
 Suddenly a whistle Dandy's, trilled summarily 
 from the street. She looked out. He beckoned 
 frantically. She understood he had come about 
 a situation. She seized her cap, but her eye caught 
 Miss Lawrence's pink hat on the bed, too. Faded 
 and partly discarded it was now, but it was better 
 than the cap and, inspired to look her best because 
 of Dandy's recommendation, she caught up the hat. 
 It suggested the pink parasol in the corner. 
 
 She descended to the Court, obscured to the eye- 
 brows, the pink hat flopping rakishly. But her face 
 below was a happy, hopeful sight the worry of 
 temptation forgotten. 
 
 " 'S'truth," Dandy greeted, " you do look nobby ! " 
 
 " Lummy, old chap, I 'm all of a-tremble between 
 fear and 'ope! What is it? " she panted. 
 
 " Barmaid, dear, at The Rose and Crown ! " 
 
 " Barmaid ? " her lips framed the words but no 
 sound came forth. 
 
 A chill crept along down her back. She leaned 
 against the lamp-post, on the corner they had 
 reached. 
 
 " Barmaid ! " she finally got it out aloud. *' You
 
 PIPPIN 201 
 
 don't mean it oh, Dandy, anythink but that. I 
 could n't, you know " 
 
 " A barmaid's berth is awright, Victoria Alex- 
 andra," he looked at her in surprise. 
 
 But he saw that her face was fearful. 
 
 " In the bar where the drink is " she mumbled 
 wildly, hardly realizing she had said it, until he 
 started back, staring. 
 
 " That 's what you 're afraid of," he accused ; 
 "the drink!" 
 
 She could not speak. 
 
 " You you 've been used to spirits ! " He drew 
 farther away, pulled his hat over his eyes and looked 
 at her from under it. 
 
 " That 's what your Doll person meant ! " he 
 fairly sneered. 
 
 He looked round as though expecting to see Doll. 
 His eyes came back to Pippin his kind eyes, cold 
 and shocked. 
 
 " What else? " he demanded. " Stealing? " 
 
 The girl stood as though rooted to the spot, the 
 wide hat almost covering her face. Yet she peered 
 out, fearfully, fascinated by Dandy's wrathful con- 
 tempt. 
 
 "Stealing!" he said. 
 
 Suddenly he leaped toward her. 
 
 "What else?" 
 
 She started, faintly comprehending yet doubting 
 his meaning.
 
 202 PIPPIN 
 
 "What else?" he thundered, arms rigid, fists 
 doubled. 
 
 " Dandy, oh, Dandy ! " She threw off the hat to 
 see him, to lift up her pleading face. " Dandy, old 
 chap nothink else ! Nothink else I swears it ! " 
 
 He grasped her folded hands, bent and peered 
 long into her eyes. Then he threw her back. His 
 head dropped forward, hands went to his pockets. 
 
 " Dandy," she begged. " Give us a chanct 
 one chanct. I '11 go and be barmaid, I '11 show you 
 I 'm str'ight ! I am str'ight, s'elp me ! I 'm str'ight 
 as you " 
 
 " You '11 go there and try ? " he looked up. 
 
 She caught up the hat. 
 
 " Come, make 'aste ! " 
 
 He looked round. 
 
 " If I could get me 'ands on that person " 
 
 " Yes," Pippin sobbed, " she learned me, but it 
 was n't all Doll ! It was Dad, it was " 
 
 "Your dad?" 
 
 " 'E was always out o' work ! " 
 
 Dandy's face worked convulsively. 
 
 " You believe me, Dandy? " she whispered, think- 
 ing back, of his fearful question. " You don't be- 
 lieve" 
 
 She failed to see the pitying tenderness of his 
 face, or to comprehend that speech would not come 
 for his suffering. 
 
 She held out her hands, pleadingly.
 
 PIPPIN 203 
 
 " Dandy," she wailed, " oh, Dandy, me 'ero " 
 
 He swung round, opened his arms and caught her 
 to him. 
 
 " Come," he said in a moment, " to The Rose and 
 Crown!" 
 
 They started, clinging closely together. She 
 talked ; from the beginning, she told him everything. 
 It was awful to hurt him so. And he was so kind 
 and so wild, looking out all the time for somebody 
 upon whom to revenge her. Then she told him, 
 almost laughing, that to show 'em was the way. To 
 go str'ight was showing 'em! And to be barmaid, 
 be actually engaged where spirits flowed free as the 
 Thames and not to even taste ! He caught her 
 hands: "Can you do it, dear?" Could she! 
 And that was not all she would be doing. Her re- 
 form was to be complete ! When they reached the 
 place he paused to instruct her : " I '11 stop outside 
 not to rattle you like, see?" he said. "The old 
 barkeep 's waiting. I 've told 'im you 're inexperi- 
 enced but sharp and learns quick. Tell 'im practice 
 makes perfect and in a little time you can mix any- 
 think 'e can ! " 
 
 He saw her enter the barroom, then lighting his 
 pipe, took up a feverish pacing before the place. At 
 last he knew. And ah, how she needed him. 
 
 She made her retreat from The Rose and Crown 
 backward, the parasol shoved out as a kind of 
 feeler.
 
 204 PIPPIN 
 
 " You 've got it, old gal ? " He caught her hand 
 and beamed upon her hat. 
 
 " I starts to-night. I 'm not afraid " she whis- 
 pered, " I starts to-night at seven." 
 
 She stood, leaning against him, and gazed over 
 the entrance of The Rose and Crown. Adjoining 
 it was The Royal Theater of Varieties, and while 
 in the barroom she had seen swinging doors leading 
 to the foyer of the Variety Emporium ; a matter of 
 great convenience to the patrons of each 'establish- 
 ment! 
 
 " Come," he said, " we '11 go along an' drop in 
 for ices some plice in the Circus, what? Look out 
 for the parasol then, parasols can do a bit o' dam- 
 age ! " He pressed her arm fondly, with the warn- 
 ing. 
 
 " These togs belongs to me young lady," she ex- 
 plained. Then suddenly, " What I 'd give to see 'er 
 and an earl " 
 
 " I 'm happy to tell you 'is lordship has had a bit 
 o' luck; a windfall!" broke in Dandy. " 'E sold 
 what 'e called a rotten sketch. It 'ad been a whole 
 melodramer, but 'e carved it down for a man not 
 wishing so much of a pl'y an' sold it to 'im, see? " 
 
 Pippin nodded, the pink brim flopped. 
 
 " It was a windfall ! It brought us in quite a 
 bit," continued Dandy, " and if it should ever make 
 a hit, 'is lordship is to 'ave some more money,
 
 PIPPIN 205 
 
 though 'e says a hit is the last thing it '11 make ! 'E 
 does laugh about it, now and then but 'e 's deep 
 in on a new 'un. A rum thing 'e says, if it works 
 out. He talks very little. Oh, 'e 's in very deep 
 indeed on the new pl'y an' it 's very seldom I leaves 
 'im!" 
 
 They moved along slowly. Suddenly Pippin's 
 glance was attracted by the posters arrayed near 
 the entrance to the Royal Theater of Varieties. 
 
 " Look ! " she cried, drawing him nearer, " only 
 look, old chap. 'Ere is a grand pl'y coming to The 
 Royal." 
 
 They drew up and looked closely, eagerly at the 
 picture-poster. It depicted a gentleman in the act 
 of counting the enormous gems of a necklace and, 
 from a window behind, a masked burglar had en- 
 tered and crept upon him. But even as the villain 
 advanced on his victim, a slender, fair-haired form, 
 in trailing white negligee came gliding behind, point- 
 ing a revolver at the robber's head. 
 
 " Go it ! " Pippin shrieked, clinging to Dandy. 
 " Pluck 'im, Miss ! Pluck 'im in the crumpet ! " 
 
 Dandy shook her. 
 
 " Only a pl'y, old gal ; keep calm ! " 
 
 " It 's coming to The Royal," she shrilled. 
 "There y' are, only read it. 'Coming! Coming! 
 This great one-act play. "Miss Nestor's Neck- 
 lace." Coming! ' "
 
 206 PIPPIN 
 
 But Dandy drew her away, because his lordship 
 would be waiting and there was just time to stop 
 for ices. 
 
 They reached a crossing, leading out of Piccadilly 
 Circus and here were halted before a parade of 
 " The Great Army of Unemployed," as the march- 
 ers' banner enlightened. 
 
 " Bally bounders," growled Dandy. " A pack of 
 bally bounders ! " 
 
 Pippin started, her arm which he affectionately 
 grasped stiffened, and peering down under the hat 
 Dandy saw how startled she looked. 
 
 He stared round, suspecting Doll's presence but 
 no sign of her! 
 
 " What is it, tell us now ! Are you 'ungry ? You 
 are!" 
 
 He was terrified. 
 
 " G' on ! " she said with attempted raillery. 
 "No, I'm not 'ungry!" 
 
 She peered after the line of unemployed and 
 looked again at the little bright-eyed man, carrying 
 the banner. Their eyes had met, he had briefly fal- 
 tered but there was no welcoming recognition in his 
 daughter's face. 
 
 " Come along o' Dandy," her lover said, drawing 
 her with him. " You 're that soft 'carted you fancy 
 they're suffering." 
 
 He nodded after the band of British working- 
 men.
 
 PIPPIN 207 
 
 " Some of 'em perhaps would turn an honest 
 penny," he added a little less harshly, " but most of 
 'em, my dear, are bally bounders. The thought o' 
 v/ork gives 'em the sick." 
 
 She did not answer and a little farther along 
 Dandy ushered her into a tea-shop where he gave an 
 order for sandwiches, boiled eggs, tea and seed- 
 cake, to be followed by ices, an order generous 
 enough to astound any young lady. Pippin fell to 
 with relish. The disappearance of sandwiches was 
 rapid and Dandy gave up counting both from won- 
 der and realizing the bad form of keeping tab on 
 your guest's appetite. And how they made up with 
 the strong hot tea for what she had wanted ! They 
 had come to the ices when Dandy, surprised by a 
 look from under the pink hat, reached out for her 
 hand so clumsily that her spoon went rattling to 
 the floor, but with a solemn handshake he said: 
 " You 're my gal. I 'm your old man, dear see 
 what I mean!" 
 
 " You fair are a 'ero! " she murmured, half sob- 
 bingly, astonished at the reality of such things. 
 " And I 'm not afraid of nothing! " 
 
 As Pippin returned to Jubilee Court she was 
 struck suddenly anew with the first force of its 
 peaceful beauty. For days her senses had been dull 
 to the clean little windows, the fragrant, flowering 
 window-boxes. To-day she saw it all with old ap- 
 preciation, even discovering the vines to have crept
 
 208 PIPPIN 
 
 farther up the house in which she dwelt and that 
 soon one little fork would reach her window. 
 
 " The pretty thing 'as been climbin' all the time," 
 she smiled, " an' I not seein' it ! I don't fancy Miss 
 'as seen it neither ! " 
 
 She bounded up the steps but entered her room 
 softly. Of late she had been more gentle in man- 
 ner, bearing a tenderly reverent attitude toward 
 Miss Lawrence whom she sometimes found sitting 
 near the window, her body very still as though she 
 had left it there and gone in mind, perhaps, back 
 over the sea to her own country. 
 
 She was there when Pippin came in. 
 
 " It 's come, Miss, the good luck ! " said Pippin 
 softly. 
 
 Miss Lawrence looked up; she stared and at last 
 smiled. 
 
 " I 've got work, Miss. I 'm took on as barmaid, 
 at The Rose and Crown! 'Alf a sovereign a week 
 is the wages an' me teas found, I bein' on duty from 
 three in the afternoon to eleven-thirty at night ! " 
 She raised her hand to straighten her cap and felt 
 the hat. 
 
 " I am just awfully glad, Pippin," Miss Lawrence 
 said, " and I see you found something to dress up a 
 little in." 
 
 " It was so important, Miss, an' I felt quite cer- 
 tain of me luck if I 'ad it on you 're not vexed, I 
 'ope!"
 
 PIPPIN 209 
 
 " I am only thinking," said Leonora, " how really 
 becoming pink is to you. I wear the hat with the 
 large roses on the side rather than in the back, but 
 anyhow you 've got the position and if you think 
 the hat helped " 
 
 Pippin flew to the glass. 
 
 " I ain't exactly suited to it," she admitted, re- 
 moving it carefully. 
 
 " Then," Miss Lawrence said decidedly, " it must 
 be made to suit you." 
 
 She took the hat and bent up a side of the brim. 
 
 " Bring me some thread and a needle," she said. 
 
 Now the only thing marring great happiness for 
 Pippin was knowledge of the letter she had posted 
 the night before and which must be then on its way 
 across the sea to the town of Goshen, Indiana.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 |R. DICKY ROGERS, acting manager 
 of The Royal Theater of Varieties, 
 found The Rose and Crown most con- 
 venient to his frequent needs. The 
 Rose and Crown no doubt looked upon 
 Mr. Rogers as a profitable patron. In his ultimate 
 capacity of patron and friend, he spoke approvingly 
 of the new barmaid to the managing bartender, who, 
 no longer a young man, desired a spry assistant. 
 
 Mr. Dicky was the first to be served by her. He 
 took his drink with her eager eyes glowing through 
 his glass. Mr. Rogers was accustomed to having 
 his approval sought but he was in an amiable mood, 
 perhaps, that night for he praised the little barmaid 
 heartily. 
 
 " Don't tell me you 're a novice," he grinned at 
 her and winked at the landlord. He smacked his 
 lips comically over the B. & S. 
 
 It made Pippin laugh. She thought Mr. Rogers 
 most awfully jolly and nice. It seemed a gentle- 
 manly thing to put himself out so for the encour- 
 agement of a poor girl. Mr. Rogers soon found 
 
 210
 
 PIPPIN 211 
 
 out, too, that the little barmaid was interested in 
 what went on in The Royal. 
 
 " I loves a good pl'y," she told him one night. 
 " There 's a young man of my acquaintance which 
 goes to all the first nights, nearly. 'E 's ever so 
 good a judge 'is master 's a pl'ymaker, writes 'em, 
 y'know!" 
 
 " Indeed! " Mr. Dicky said. 
 
 " Yes, sir," nodded Pippin, " and we 're both very 
 much interested in a pl'y we see billed outside 'ere 
 * Miss Nestor's Necklace ' ! " 
 
 " Yes, that 's coming we 're counting a lot on 
 that," said Mr. Rogers hopefully. " I 've got a new 
 card begins to-night too," he added, this so every 
 one could hear. " She 's been a great favorite in 
 the past number nine she is on the program to- 
 night ! She 's young and alluring as ever peren- 
 nial she is ! " 
 
 " Singer, comic, or what ? " The barmaid dis- 
 played most intelligent interest. 
 
 Mr. Rogers told her all about Number Nine who 
 was, he said, a chanson or singer and did imita- 
 tions. There were other drawing-cards too, he 
 said, though some of them could only draw salaries ! 
 
 Pippin laughed at this. 
 
 " I 'm always on the lookout for unrecognized 
 talent too " Dicky said, including some other 
 patrons who stood near, in this confidence. " Take 
 the boy fiddler "
 
 212 PIPPIN 
 
 Suddenly applause sounded within The Royal. 
 
 " There y' are " Dicky consulted his watch, 
 " yes, she 's on ! " 
 
 He emptied his glass at a gulp. 
 
 " She 's on ! " he cried and turned to numerous ac- 
 quaintances at the bar. " Don't miss Number Nine, 
 gentlemen. A new card. She takes the tip-top 
 macaroon for humor and pathos. Come on ! " 
 
 With a dive he was gone through the swinging 
 doors. His friends soon followed, even to the land- 
 lord. His taste, in the variety line, was a little 
 jaded. He was repeatedly urged by the friendly 
 Mr. Dicky to cater to it, standing-room gratis, 
 within the swinging doors. Presently the bar was 
 deserted. Pippin waited a second, slipped out, 
 danced across the floor and inserted her head with 
 some risk between the doors. In this way she man- 
 aged a view of the stage, at the same time a sub- 
 stantial portion of her did duty by the barroom. It 
 was not long before she withdrew her head. 
 
 " I call Number Nine an old stiff," she sniffed dis- 
 gustedly. 
 
 She did a few steps herself, a light waltz over 
 the barroom floor took her back behind the bar. 
 She was thinking of Miss Lawrence who wanted 
 an engagement so badly. She began polishing the 
 beer-pulls energetically, keeping at them until the 
 doors opened and some men straggled back. Mr. 
 Rogers came breathlessly, as though he instead of
 
 PIPPIN 213 
 
 Number Nine had done the turn. He bent to con- 
 gratulatory slaps on the back. 
 
 " She 's still pretty, if she is a back number ! " 
 
 " Why, I remember her in her prime, way 
 back oh, before she married " 
 
 Mr. Rogers interrupted the last speaker's reminis- 
 cence by calling for drinks all round. 
 
 "I s'y Dick how's the Earl of Clavering? 
 He ought to be pleased at what you 've unearthed 
 her name '11 draw " 
 
 Pippin stared over the bar. 
 
 The Earl of Clavering? Did they mean an earl 
 a real earl was about? Had they meant a real 
 earl when speaking as she had frequently heard them 
 of Clavering? Was this Clavering, with a fad for 
 the play and also for making money, who was be- 
 hind Dicky Rogers and The Royal, was he the Earl 
 of Clavering? Perhaps, by some miracle 
 
 Through the doors came another, a stranger to 
 Pippin. He wore a monocle, a blond lock curled 
 low on his white forehead. He came slowly toward 
 the bar, twirling his waxed blond mustachios 
 thoughtfully. There were two stones of magnifi- 
 cent brilliance, though they might have been even 
 larger, adorning his shirt-bosom. His gentlemanly 
 fingers scintillated from more than one gem. 
 
 Somebody murmured : 
 
 "The Earl!" 
 
 " Ah." Dicky Rogers swung round.
 
 214 PIPPIN 
 
 " I say," his lordship drawled, " she was not so 
 bad." 
 
 " Lord Clavering is pleased with Number Nine," 
 grinned Dicky. 
 
 " She '11 do better," Lord Clavering said hope- 
 fully. " Retirement is bad for an artist and she 
 was nervous ; she '11 look up ! Drinks for every- 
 body ! " His lordship's eye fell on Pippin, whom he 
 had plainly fascinated. " Oh, ho," he said, " now, 
 at last we 've a reason for calling this bally hole The 
 Rose and Crown ! " 
 
 A laugh went round. 
 
 " G' on," said Pippin, afterward sadly recalling 
 the familiarity, " but I s'y, I likes bein' a rose 
 next best to wearing a crown." 
 
 A louder laugh came from everybody, the loud- 
 est was the Earl's guffaw. He threw down the 
 money for the drinks and when she made change he 
 held up a jeweled hand, rejecting it. One shilling 
 and twopence went into Pippin's pocket, " honest," 
 her heart thumped happily, " an' it '11 go to soothe 
 old Sally." 
 
 It was a lordly tip. 
 
 But it was the Earl himself, who inspired her in- 
 terest. She watched as he took Mr. Rogers aside 
 and they leaned together over the bar, speaking in 
 low tones. Joyous, she felt she had her earl, now 
 for his knowing Miss Lawrence. He stood at the 
 end near the beer-pulls. Pippin went there to draw
 
 PIPPIN 215 
 
 a mug of it. His lordship was speaking decidedly. 
 It was not of Number Nine, the " chanson or 
 singer," but of the Httle play " Miss Nestor's 
 Necklace." 
 
 " It 's a good little play, ' Miss Nestor ' is and I 
 know it ! There 's money in it. The money 's got 
 to be got out ! Do you fancy I 'm going to lose 
 what I 've planked down ? You can't, Mr. Rog- 
 ers!" 
 
 " But, your lordship," Mr. Rogers began anx- 
 iously, " nobody short of a real American could get 
 that accent and all quite so pat as you seem to want 
 it, sir!" 
 
 Pippin rushed to her customer with the beer and 
 came back busying herself over the beer-pulls, al- 
 ready polished highly. The Earl still talked em- 
 phatically. 
 
 " Maybe she is a good actress, Dick, but she 's a 
 cockney and it 's out when she speaks ; maybe she is 
 doing her best I don't say she 's not but I do 
 say, if that 's her best I 'm glad to know it now. 
 Miss Nestor is an American girl! A slight accent 
 adds to the color, the realness of the thing. I want 
 it not overdone of course, but I want it ! " 
 
 Pippin hung over the bar. 
 
 " I say, sir," pleaded Dicky Rogers, " the thing 's 
 billed to-night week. You wouldn't oust this girl 
 at the eleventh hour and no certainty of a better one, 
 
 would you, sir ? " 
 14
 
 216 PIPPIN 
 
 " I will have a better one ! " the Earl of Clavering 
 answered and pounded the bar with his fist. 
 
 His rings gleamed. 
 
 " I will, damme, I will ! I 've put how much, 
 over a hundred and fifty pounds in this thing 
 it 's got to have a fair chance after that. It 's got 
 no chance without the right leading woman, an 
 actress that portrays the character. It wants one 
 with ginger she '11 make the play an' she 's got 
 to be found." 
 
 "She is found!" 
 
 The low eager cry of Pippin startled the gentle- 
 man. 
 
 " Ho," she went on, in a voice vibrating with emo- 
 tion, " I 've got one at 'ome, sir. Miss Leonora 
 Lawrence, a reely American, an' can't 'elp it 
 though she do try. Oh, sir, if it's American talk 
 you want oh, your lordship, sir dear, give 'er 
 the chanct ! " 
 
 " Gal ! " growled Mr. Rogers. 
 
 " Do you mean you know of an American 
 actress ? " inquired the Earl with interest. 
 
 " Do I I'm maid to one, a beautiful one, your 
 lordship ! " breathed Pippin. " Yes, yes, indeed, 
 sir, and she wants an engagement, sir " 
 
 " Fetch me a stout ! " yelled Dicky Rogers. 
 
 The Earl shrugged his shoulders in impatience. 
 Pippin did not hurry to serve Mr. Rogers. 
 
 " Now, sir," he murmured coaxingly to his lord-
 
 PIPPIN 217 
 
 ship, " this young lady is n't seen to advantage at 
 rehearsals just yet; wait till you see her play the 
 part, wait, sir ! I know her. You do not, sir, if 
 I may say so ! " 
 
 The Earl turned thoughtfully and sauntered off 
 into the theater. 
 
 " You 've got to keep your place," Mr. Rogers 
 said, observing Pippin's glance follow his lordship, 
 " else you '11 lose it." 
 
 " Thank y', sir," she replied absently with eyes 
 narrowed, and a reckless unsteadiness of hand that 
 slopped Mr. Rogers' stout wastefully about. 
 
 She was disappointed in Mr. Rogers. Certainly 
 he was not a true friend to the Earl of Clavering, 
 wanting a jolly rotter, as the Earl had called her, to 
 play Miss Nestor. 
 
 Pippin dodged back and forth behind the bar, giv- 
 ing the greatest satisfaction to everybody and sav- 
 ing the bartender many steps. She was not slow at 
 repartee and her answers to frequent sallies pro- 
 vided amusement, too, with the refreshments the 
 gentlemen required. 
 
 She was wearing black, the custom for barmaids. 
 The bodice fitted snugly. It fastened like her frocks 
 in private life, by a row of buttons straight down 
 the front. A very liberal amount of material in the 
 skirt lay in folds round her hips. Cuffs and collar 
 of white gave a neat finish to the costume. A 
 lace-edged white muslin bow was her headdress.
 
 218 PIPPIN 
 
 The dainty hands of Miss Lawrence had fashioned 
 it. 
 
 The lace-edged bow quivered, the buttons moved 
 up and down as she darted dutifully to and fro be- 
 hind the bar. Her eyes were upon the swinging 
 doors. She craved another word with the Earl of 
 Clavering. He was not only an earl but the pro- 
 ducer of " Miss Nestor's Necklace " ! It was a play 
 with an American lady in it. Miracles ! 
 
 But his lordship did not come back again and 
 neither did Mr. Rogers. The barmaid winked and 
 whispered to herself that she was " on." Dicky 
 Rogers was detaining the earl. 
 
 When at last the bar closed, Pippin set out home- 
 ward very hopefully. The Earl was one to have 
 what he wanted in spite of Dicky Rogers. She 
 swung along Southampton Row, into Leicester 
 Square, hurried to Piccadilly Circus and ran for a 
 starting motor-bus. She rode, looking down upon 
 the city; she loved it lamplit, men and women in 
 gala dress. She drew a long breath from the sweet 
 dewy freshness as they skimmed along Piccadilly, 
 past St. James' Park. She heard the bleat of a 
 lamb; here and there was a human form, stretched 
 at full length. She knew what the dark objects 
 were sometimes they lay there by day and 
 wondered about these unfortunate ones. Some of 
 them had no doubt been to jail. She had never 
 really felt in fear of prison, but now thought of it
 
 PIPPIN 219 
 
 sent a little shiver down her back. She looked 
 ahead, down the lighted road. There were bumps 
 and stops in it just as in life, but one could keep on 
 straight, with one's mind made up. And not since 
 she became barmaid had she wanted to take a drop. 
 Sometimes she held the stuff tantalizingly under 
 her nose and thought of Dandy ! First his con- 
 tempt, then his pity, tenderness, forgiveness! It 
 was enough. 
 
 She left the omnibus, hurried along the little 
 court. Outside the door of her room, Pippin 
 stopped sharply. Though it was late at night, 
 voices sounded within. One voice above the others 
 caught her ear, turning her cold. 
 
 It was the voice of Doll. 
 
 " She 's never told you of knowing me then, 
 Miss ! 'Er old friend Doll an' the w'y I Ve 
 'elped 'er out with that good-for-nothink old dad, 
 she 's got " 
 
 The voice of Kitty chimed in weakly, unintelli- 
 gibly. 
 
 " Doll, Doll ! " thumped in Pippin's brain and 
 pounded out her heart-beats. "Doll in there 
 squealin' to Miss! " 
 
 It was the realization of a long-haunting fear. 
 Flight was her first impulse, then quick fury gripped 
 her. She threw herself upon the door and into the 
 room. Trembling, she faced them. To her blurred 
 vision the lovely one she adored stood fearfully
 
 220 PIPPIN 
 
 back in the shadow, already pale from contamina- 
 tion. The purple, bedecked Doll shadowed by Kitty 
 moved forward, staring. 
 
 " Cat ! Yer narsty cat ! " It was a low growl 
 from Pippin. 
 
 " Whatever 's up, Pippin ? " Doll showed signs 
 of fright. 
 
 Kitty behind her looked at the door. They were 
 neither of them brave. 
 
 " I feared you 'd do it ! " Pippin jerked out the 
 words. " Yes, I feared you 'd come in 'ere an' 
 squeal ! " 
 
 "Why 'ow you go on, Pip, 'ark at 'er! What 
 does she mean ? " wondered Doll. 
 
 Kitty crawled a few steps nearer the door. Pip- 
 pin saw how seedy she looked, then with a horrible 
 pang of guilt recalled presenting to her the chate- 
 laine that she carried. 
 
 " What do I mean ? " Pippin cried and pointed 
 to Miss Lawrence. " I mean, you bally bounder, 
 you 've come 'ere and squealed to 'er. Squealed 
 and lost me me dear friend, the lady I loves." Her 
 voice broke. 
 
 Over Doll's blue lips flitted a smile, so goading to 
 Pippin that she lunged forward, saw Doll fall back, 
 heard Kitty scream, and at the quick cry of her name 
 from Miss Lawrence she halted, gripping her hands 
 in restraint. 
 
 " I don't care for nothink now but scratchin' yer
 
 A scream and Pippin sprang
 
 PIPPIN 223 
 
 to pieces," she gasped out. " I 'd go to quod, die 
 there an' glad to do it, though I am turned honest 
 and str'ight now an' been living along of a lady. 
 An' very well! What if I was a wrong 'un and 
 picked pockets, what about your 'Arry and you 
 who, I asks, taught me the trick, who? Why don't 
 you answer ! " 
 
 Pippin tried to laugh suddenly ; she turned to Miss 
 Lawrence and pointed the visitors out to her. 
 
 " Now then who taught me to pick a pocket ! 
 Tell the lady that ! " she urged. 
 
 " 'Ow should I know about your evil w'ys ; it 's a 
 surprise to me, Pippin." Doll's purple feather 
 shook in virtuous indignation. She turned to the 
 silent form in the shadow near the window. 
 
 " You see, Miss, she 's squealed on 'erself. I 'rn 
 innocent of such doings. I 'm sure / never could 
 show 'er 'ow to do su'think I know nothink about 
 pick a pocket! Kitty " she turned to the frail 
 clinging creature whose garments exhaled a con- 
 fused fragrance. " Kit, this is no plice for us 
 and that pore young lady to take up with the 
 like" 
 
 A scream and Pippin sprang, Doll dodged and 
 then with two hands quick, gentle and firm upon 
 her shoulders, Pippin gasped, weakened and sank 
 at Leonora's feet. 
 
 " You 'd better go now," Leonora said quietly. 
 
 " Well, rather! " agreed Doll.
 
 224 PIPPIN 
 
 Kitty had reached the door. Leonora stood wait- 
 ing. 
 
 " Pity," were Doll's last words, " but she some- 
 times takes spirits. Good-night, Miss ! " 
 
 " Good-night, Miss, an' I 'm sorry for you ! " 
 echoed Kitty. 
 
 " Good-night," returned Leonora bravely. 
 
 For a time there were only Pippin's sobs. 
 
 Out of it all, this loathsomeness and vice this lit- 
 tle creature was struggling to rise. Looking back 
 to the time of being her victim Leonora recalled it as 
 the inevitable downward slip in the hard ascent 
 the girl had courageously begun of her own voli- 
 tion. Leonora had never felt more pity and kind- 
 ness toward her. Her own fear of these creatures 
 was forgotten in resentment of their pursuit of 
 Pippin. She raised her gently. 
 
 " Just when I 'd got me 'ands on an earl and 
 everything tiptop " she wept. Suddenly she 
 looked at Leonora. " Now, you '11 leave me ! Oh, 
 very well. I quit ! I quits trying. I '11 turn a 
 trick that '11 get me took up. Then I 'm safe 
 enough " 
 
 " Hush," cried Leonora ; " as soon as possible you 
 will leave here. They followed me from the cor- 
 ner," the recollection seemed a little terrifying. " I 
 went out to post a letter. It was later than I 
 thought, but I had taken time to decide about send- 
 ing the letter and only got it off late. They did
 
 PIPPIN 225 
 
 not speak until they came up behind me here to the 
 door." 
 
 Pippin's eyes were wide with horror. 
 
 " I never like you out late alone either, 
 Miss" 
 
 " The letter I posted," Leonora went on, " was ac- 
 cepting a temporary engagement position, per- 
 haps I should say, and in a few days I shall go away 
 to take it." 
 
 " You 're never going off with another extrava- 
 cancie, to wear " 
 
 " No," Miss Lawrence said. " Not that ! " 
 
 Pippin waited but got no further explanation. 
 And for the moment, forgetting her own trouble, 
 she determined on a direct appeal to the Earl to 
 save his play! 
 
 To reassure Miss Lawrence and retract her own 
 desperate threats she began about Dandy, telling a 
 little of how he had proved a hero. 
 
 " With 'im and you, Miss," she wanted to know, 
 " ave n't I everythink to thank Gawd for? "
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 ANDY had hovered round the barroom 
 the entire evening, watching the busy 
 barmaid. She saw him, she raised 
 her dark eyes to his with a frequent 
 smile and a little toss of her head, but 
 this did not satisfy Dandy. Yet he told himself 
 he was a sensible chap. The girl had to mind her 
 duties. 
 
 Hands in his pockets, he paced the barroom to the 
 annoyance of more than one patron. Bustling in 
 for hurried refreshment, gentlemen found the slen- 
 der form an obstacle to progress. And Dandy eyed 
 them as they approached the bar with their familiar 
 greetings to Pippin. How tactful she was too; 
 friendly, yet nothing about her was more winning 
 than her reserve. 
 
 Dandy stepped up to the bar and catching her eye 
 again, ordered a lemon-squash, but the landlord 
 officiously served him. Dandy sighed and stood by 
 while Pippin served a loud Yorkshireman and an- 
 swered brightly to his sallies. Just then two men 
 stopped near, talking in low tones, and what they 
 said suddenly seemed to interest Pippin beyond the 
 point of restraint. She watched them, bending her 
 
 226
 
 The Photograph
 
 PIPPIN 229 
 
 ear to catch their words. In one Dandy recognized 
 the Earl of Clavering, in the other his manager, Dick 
 Rogers. They were talking of a play, it seemed. 
 The Earl was very earnest. Dandy wondered at 
 Pippin's staring so. But she stopped even nearer 
 them, slyly deserting the Yorkshireman. This 
 brought her closer to Dandy who tried to give her a 
 reproving look. Suddenly she leaned forward. 
 
 " I 've su'think most partic'lar to show your lord- 
 ship if you please ! " 
 
 Mr. Rogers looked up angrily, the Earl half 
 amused. 
 
 "Yes? "smiled he. 
 
 Then as Mr. Dicky turned and walked away, 
 something flashed from her pocket. The Earl of 
 Clavering fixed his monocle and Pippin eagerly, 
 earnestly whispering to him, he gazed at what she 
 held. Dandy slipped a little closer. His firm chin 
 almost brushing the Earl's shoulder, he peered over 
 it and saw that his lordship regarded a photograph, 
 of whom, Dandy did not know; a lady, it seemed, 
 and the Earl liked it too ! 
 
 A smile of surprise, of satisfaction was on his 
 face. 
 
 Pippin was talking hurriedly, it might have been a 
 plea for some one's life. His lordship listened, nod- 
 ding over the photograph. 
 
 Dandy began pacing the floor again, exasperated, 
 distressed; wild notions beset him. The Earl gave
 
 2 3 PIPPIN 
 
 back the photograph and turning away thoughtfully 
 went back into the theater; the barroom was quiet 
 now and Dandy stepped up to the bar. 
 
 " Victoria Alexandra," his voice was hoarse as he 
 leaned toward her. 
 
 " What '11 you 'ave ? " Pippin asked absently. 
 
 "What '11 I 'ave?" His slim legs doubled like 
 lemonade straws, he leaned heavily on the bar. 
 " I '11 'ave a word with you! " he said. 
 
 She stood before him but her mind, her soul, it 
 seemed, was within the swinging doors of The 
 Royal with Lord Percy, Earl of Clavering. She 
 mopped the bar vigorously. 
 
 " Victoria Alexandra," Dandy said again, " re- 
 member you 're only a pore gal in real life " 
 
 " You 've got your cuff in the damp," she pushed 
 him aside. 
 
 " I s'y, dear," he went on now patiently, " you 
 would n't want to be tossed aside like a toy. Listen 
 to old Dandy as loves you ! " 
 
 " A toy," she said, " who 's a toy ! Don't be un- 
 reasonable, old chap. I 'm thinkin' of you every 
 minute, you an' Miss. Can't you see what I 'm do- 
 ing trying to get my Miss Lawrence the engige- 
 ment of leading lady in this pl'y, ' Miss Nestor's 
 Necklace'?" 
 
 " No," cried Dandy with relief. " Is that it 
 truth now? " 
 
 " Where 's your eyes then ? " Pippin demanded.
 
 PIPPIN 231 
 
 " Did n't you see the photo 'is lordship was looking 
 at ? 'E says there 's money in the pl'y with the 
 right leading lady. Lor' love a duck, but it 'd be 
 easy sailing for Miss, if old Mr. Dicky 'ad n't so 
 much to s'y. I fair 'ates him!" 
 
 "Interferin' is he?" asked Dandy. "'E's not 
 got the say, though." 
 
 Before she could answer, the Earl of Clavering 
 came quickly back into the barroom. Dandy gladly 
 slipped a few steps away. 
 
 " I must say," exclaimed his lordship, " I 'm aw- 
 fully sorry not to have known of Miss Lawrence 
 before!" 
 
 " But it 's not too late yet, your lordship," cried 
 Pippin. " I mean it 's not too late, now, but it will 
 be, sir" 
 
 " Look here, where could I get her say, at a 
 moment's notice ? " 
 
 Pippin turned her back, struggled briefly at the 
 row of buttons on her bodice and quickly a slip of 
 paper was thrust into his lordship's hand. 
 
 " It 's put down there ! " she said. " Send to me 
 at a moment's notice, I 'm 'er maid. I does for 'er 
 at odd moments ! Oh, sir, do try to manage it 
 I 've such a feeling," the feeling nearly overcame 
 her, " if you was to 'ave Miss you 'd never regret it, 
 sir ! And if you lose time like, you '11 lose 'er, for 
 she 's half made up 'er mind now to take su'think 
 she 's been offered ! "
 
 2 3 2 PIPPIN 
 
 The Earl regarded her for a moment solemnly. 
 
 "You're a good little sort!" he said. "I'm 
 sorry I can't promise. The time is so jolly short 
 now." His lordship was harassed. 
 
 Pippin thrust her little face close. " Dare I to 
 build up 'er hopes? Yes, I've 'alf a mind to tell 
 'er, sir?" 
 
 " Tell her," said the Earl. "I advise it! Just 
 state how the matter stands and nothing more. 
 That would prepare Miss Lawrence for the unex- 
 pected, we might say." 
 
 " You means the expected, don't you, sir? " 
 
 His lordship shook his head a little regretfully. 
 
 " I don't want to fly in the face of fate. If Miss 
 Lawrence would n't do, either " 
 
 " I tells Miss Lawrence to-night," cried the little 
 barmaid, hushing the Earl's doubtful mutterings. 
 
 " Ah then, here 's your lordship ! " 
 
 It was Dicky Rodgers back again. Dandy came 
 up quickly. 
 
 " You 've got 'im ! I '11 wager a quid it 's as good 
 as done and your young lady gets the chance ! " 
 
 " Oh, Dandy, do you think so ? " she whispered 
 back. " 'E is a fretty earl an' I thought 'im so de- 
 termined too. What 's he 'olding back for ? " 
 
 Dandy nodded firmly. 
 
 "'E's afraid to take the leap, but 'e will 
 you '11 see. You keep at 'im ! And now s'long, 
 dear. I 've 'ad no luck to-night 'ardly a word
 
 PIPPIN 233 
 
 with you, but I must be off. See you to-morrow 
 night, I 'ope ! " 
 
 " Right-O ! " sang out Pippin. 
 
 She saw the Earl led away by Mr. Rogers, talk- 
 ing, gesticulating. 
 
 " I trusts you ! " whispered Dandy. 
 
 He went out and walked slowly along the street. 
 He was reluctant to leave her to-night, even at the 
 strong call of duty. He had not gone far when he 
 decided that after all he would stroll back leisurely 
 just to see if the Earl had not been already per- 
 suaded by the irresistible little barmaid. 
 
 Pippin, finding herself alone, thought of Dandy. 
 She was sorry he had gone now, there was a chance 
 for them to talk. Then the street door began to 
 open slowly by an unseen hand. 
 
 " I knows yer, old chap ! " she sang out. " I was 
 'oping " 
 
 She stopped as an insignificant little man popped 
 his head in, with a sly look round. A smile spread 
 over his crafty countenance as he saw the girl alone. 
 She stared at him hard, unsmiling. He slid along 
 close to the bar and drew up before her. 
 
 "Dad!" she gasped. 
 
 " Yes, Pippin, your pore old dad ! I Ve had a 
 long walk. Quick, give us a drop o' su' think ! " 
 
 " Dad," Pippin said, " where 's Flossie? " 
 
 " Can't you give us a drink, eh ? " he cried. " You 
 can't ? An' why not give us a drink ? "
 
 234 PIPPIN 
 
 She looked at the swinging doors apprehensively 
 as Dad Raymond became insistent. 
 
 " They 's nobody about," he said. " What 's your 
 fright over ? Ain't I your dad ? " 
 
 He slapped the counter with his palm. 
 
 " 'Ow did you find me ? You 've broke your 
 promise ! " she reminded angrily. 
 
 " Never you mind about that," he said. " And 
 I found you simple enough! There is those that 
 tells parents where their daughter is. You knows 
 your old friend Doll ! " 
 
 "Doll!" Pippin said. "Now look 'ere, Dad; 
 where 's your wife, where 's Flossie? " 
 
 " You let me in for 'er, Pippin." Dad Raymond 
 clinched his fists. " I don't s'y yer did it malicious 
 but it was your doin'. Now I wants yer to tike me 
 back or more like, I '11 tike you back. We '11 go 
 aw'y from Flossie. Ah, my dear, Flossie 's not 
 what your mar was. What 'd your mar s'y, Pippin, 
 at the w'y I'm treated?" 
 
 Seeing the look that for an instant softened her 
 face, he pressed forward. 
 
 " Think o' your mar, child, and what 'd she s'y 
 at me 'aving to work so, for another woman ! " 
 
 " She 's your wife, now, Dad, Flossie is ! " Pip- 
 pin drew away from him. " An' where 's your 
 false tooth ? " she asked sharply. " There 's a 
 narsty gap without it. Has Flossie seen you so ? " 
 
 He dropped a few emphatic oaths. " Where 's
 
 'Dandy !" . . . "It's me dad !
 
 PIPPIN 237 
 
 me tooth ? " he mocked. " Well, Solomon 's got it. 
 There!" 
 
 She leaned over the bar suddenly. 
 
 " You must get out of 'ere, but first listen ! You 
 s'y I did right by you after pore mar died, but, Dad, 
 what I was doing for you was wrong. You know 
 it none better. It will never be that way again ! " 
 
 His head sank between his shoulders, his eyes 
 snapping turtle-like ai.d angry. 
 
 " The King of England on 'is throne couldn't a 
 mide me believe me own daughter " 
 
 He dived, caught her wrists and pinning them 
 down upon the bar raised his voice. 
 
 " You 've turned against me an' I '11 not stand for 
 it. I 've been told not to stand for it. I 'm not the 
 only one you 've turned against ! " 
 
 She struggled. 
 
 "Call for 'elp," he taunted. "Call out, then, 
 we shan't be long. Ain't I your dad ? " 
 
 She saw the street door open, welcomed the quick 
 light rush of steps unheeded by Dad Raymond. 
 Long, strong fingers closed upon his throat, bent 
 him backward, down, down to a sickening heap upon 
 the floor. 
 
 " Dandy ! " Pippin breathed. " It 's me dad ! " 
 
 " Ah ! " Dandy growled with satisfaction. His 
 
 foot turned the groveling form over, he gazed upon 
 
 the face of Dad Raymond earnestly, then seized 
 
 him by the collar and another quick application of 
 
 is
 
 238 PIPPIN 
 
 boot-toe at once strengthened Dad Raymond's legs 
 and restored his vision. Gripping his neck, Dandy 
 dragged him to the street. Quickly a woman, a 
 neat, full-figured, pleasant-faced person stepped up 
 and placed her hand possessively upon the struggling 
 Mr. Raymond's shoulder. He gave a sharp, fear- 
 ful look at her and wriggled. 
 
 " It 's you, me dear ! " 
 
 " In there creatin' a disturbance I see." The lady 
 addressed Dandy. 
 
 " In there attemptin' to intimidate 'is daughter, 
 barmaid o' The Rose and Crown and engiged to 
 me ! " replied Dandy. 
 
 He raised his hat gallantly, at the same time keep- 
 ing his hold of Mr. Raymond. 
 
 " Well, I 'm 'is Missus," the woman said. 
 
 Emphasizing her right, Mrs. Raymond tugged at 
 Raymond's arm. Then she whisked off his cap and 
 ordered him to pick it up and replace it properly. 
 His daughter just then peeked from the door of The 
 Rose and Crown. 
 
 " Ah," smiled Flossie, " you pore gal, you. I 've 
 misjudged you cruel ! I 've wanted to tell you so, 
 too. I know your father better now. I 've traced 
 him in a very roundabout w'y to-night ! I told 'im 
 he 'd drive you to desperation." She spoke rapidly. 
 " I 've done my best for 'im ! All I asks is that he 
 work a part of the d'y. I can't keep 'im entire, nor
 
 PIPPIN 239 
 
 I should n't if I could, for I Ve too much self-re- 
 spect" 
 
 Dragging Dad Raymond, and thus Dandy who 
 still clutched him, she stepped nearer the doorway, 
 speaking confidentially. 
 
 " I Ve got 'im job after job an' he throws 'em up, 
 one after the other." She paused looking from the 
 girl to Dandy. " Go back to your work, gal ! 
 Odd," she mused, " 'ow a few sweet words, smiles 
 an' a fancy wais'coat can fool a silly woman." She 
 studied the object of her past infatuation. 
 
 "'Aven't you got any shame?" she inquired. 
 She seemed hoping for a glimmer of self-respect to 
 appear. " I 'd be pleased you should come to tea 
 and fetch the young man," she told Pippin and 
 smiled with her noted charm at Dandy. " I mike 
 Sund'y me day at home. I don't allow 'im to down 
 me respectable 'abits ! " 
 
 Dandy released Mr. Raymond and bowed. 
 
 "Thank you!" Pippin returned. "We will 
 come ! " 
 
 She looked with true sympathy at the late widow, 
 Flossie Fullerton, now Mrs. Ronald Raymond. 
 
 " Go back to your work, child ! " Flossie said 
 kindly. Then she turned Dad Raymond about and 
 released him. 
 
 Facing Dandy he bowed, shyly. 
 
 " Pleased to meet yer," he said.
 
 240 PIPPIN 
 
 " 'Ope to see you ag'in, Mr. R.," Dandy returned, 
 with meaning. 
 
 " Thank y', sir," Mr. Raymond replied. 
 
 He straightened to a more dignified manner, and 
 turned to Mrs. Raymond, smiling indulgently; then 
 he nodded to his daughter and moved on. A little 
 further along he had assumed an attitude of gal- 
 lantry. It gave a glimpse of what had won his 
 bride. He was guiding her rather than being 
 forced homeward by her. 
 
 " 'E 's in good 'ands ! " Pippin sighed. 
 
 " 'E 's in the best of 'ands," agreed Dandy, " an' 
 he 's off yours, dear s'long again ! " Dandy hur- 
 ried away and Pippin went quickly back to her work. 
 
 Dandy reached home with his mind made up to 
 speak to his master of Pippin. The time was not 
 now so far off he hoped, when she would become 
 Mrs. Daniel Thorns his little missus. He felt 
 she needed him.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 |OU know, Miss, the good luck might 
 come to-d'y this very mornin', 
 even," Pippin said as she broke a soft- 
 boiled egg into a glass, the way she 
 had found Americans like their eggs. 
 "You remember I told you 'is lordship said, you 
 was to be prepared for the expected like ! You '11 
 not stop out too long just in case it should come 
 it would be so unexpected to-d'y so unexpected I 
 most fancy perhaps it will come." 
 
 As she poured the tea and placed a chair for Miss 
 Lawrence, she snatched a look at her pale face. 
 Miss Lawrence was pinning on her hat. 
 
 " It would never do to stay in, hoping for what 
 you don't expect, Pippin," she said, laughing, but a 
 little anxiously. " And you see this other thing that 
 I told you about well, I 'm not terribly pleased 
 with it. Really I 'm not suited to such a position, 
 so in the next two days, before I am to go away and 
 begin it, I must look harder than ever for something 
 in my own profession." 
 
 Leonora sat down to breakfast, Pippin waiting on 
 her solicitously. 
 
 241
 
 242 PIPPIN 
 
 " Whatever is it, Miss 'as got 'erself engiged to? " 
 she pondered. 
 
 But she did not ask. 
 
 There came a diffident knock. 
 
 "It's me Sally Taylor!" 
 
 Pippin patiently admitted the caller. 
 
 " How are you, Sally ? " she greeted ; " this is 
 a surprise ! " Quickly she drew some silver from 
 her pocket, but Sally did not seem to notice. 
 
 " Mother," she said, " 'as made off. She 's run 
 away ! " 
 
 Miss Lawrence rose from her chair ; she and Pip- 
 pin exchanging glances of astonishment. 
 
 " You 're surprised ! " Sally said. " Well, who 
 would n't be ! This is what she 's done she 
 wrote me a nasty meaning letter. Still I deter- 
 mined not to get annoyed, Mother's 'ad her little 
 lot o' trouble one way and another, and so I comes 
 up to town at some expense this morning to find 
 out just what ails her an' to 'elp her out. I come 
 and find her gone. She 's got her good clothes and 
 left her old ones and gone ! Gone with a man, I 'm 
 certain of it ! " 
 
 " And what of that ? " demanded Pippin. " Why 
 should n't she go with a man ? " 
 
 Sally Taylor's cheek flushed angrily. 
 
 " Indeed ! Now look here. I come up to Lon- 
 don in good faith to change places with Mother and 
 give her a holiday in the country. I come to find
 
 PIPPIN 243 
 
 out what she 's doing with her money and to give 
 her some sensible advice." Sally paused. " I 
 come too late ! " 
 
 " Ho, s'y rather you 've come just in the nick o' 
 time," cried Pippin. "If you 'ad n't come, the plice 
 as caretaker 'ere might a-been filled by another and 
 so lorst to your family. This is a bit o' luck! " 
 
 She held out the money again. 
 
 "I'd intended sendin' it to you, Sally, just on 
 account like. 'Ow 's me little nipper? " 
 
 Sally's face softened. 
 
 " Much as ever I 'd heart to leave him," she said. 
 " He wanted to see you, but he 's half -fare and be- 
 sides he 's lessons every day with me husband and 
 the other fellows. He '11 make a man, the little 
 chap will ! " 
 
 "Oh, Sally," Pippin cried. "You 'ave been 
 good to take 'im to your 'eart so. I '11 never forget 
 you!" 
 
 " It 's awright," smiled Sally. 
 
 " I 've a berth now ; barmaid, The Rose and 
 Crown, and I '11 soon begin to pay you regular ! " 
 
 " I 'm glad of that! " Sally admitted. 
 
 " Now then, you stop 'ere like a lamb and mind 
 your mother's place since the boys are in good 'ands 
 along of your Mr. Taylor," Pippin urged. 
 
 " They 's nothing else for it," agreed Sally ; " but 
 where 's she gone ? " 
 
 "On a weddin' journey," replied Pippin. "I
 
 244 PIPPIN 
 
 can see 'er courage failed 'er about telling you and 
 she 's made off. It 's a mistake, you see, Sally, 
 keepin' your mother under so." 
 
 She took some more silver from her pocket and 
 handed it to Sally. 
 
 " It 's our week's rent," she said, glancing at Leo- 
 nora. She had been wishing for a delicate way to 
 make it known she had it. " We 're not in ad- 
 vance," she explained, " but Miss Lawrence don't 
 'old with p'ying in advance ! And it 's well to be 
 polite to the agent. You 've a very severe manner, 
 Sally/' 
 
 Sally did not answer. She seemed very much 
 downcast. 
 
 " Buck up," chirped Pippin ; " after all, it is a 
 weddin' and not a funeral. Love " she mused 
 sentimentally. 
 
 " Love ! " jeered Sally Taylor, " at Mother's time 
 of life!" 
 
 "Why not?" Pippin demanded. "I think it's 
 sweet all along o' life an' I'm sure the cobbler 'as 
 good qualities, too ! " 
 
 "Cobbler?" 
 
 Pippin ignored this to hurry on. 
 
 " My dad went up to 'is ears in love of a widow. 
 I did n't make a row. 'E married 'er too ! 'E 's in 
 very good hands ! " 
 
 The unusual sound of wheels clattering into the 
 narrow little court startled them all.
 
 PIPPIN 245 
 
 Miss Lawrence and Pippin hurried to the window. 
 
 " Lor' lummy, it 's a 'ansom-cab ! A cab in the 
 Court!" 
 
 " Might be it 's Mother and the creature she 's 
 took up with ! " Sally dashed into the hall and 
 down the stairs to receive the couple warmly. 
 
 But after her tore Pippin. The single occupant 
 of the hansom, a man, stepped to the pavement as 
 she reached the street. 
 
 " I 'm looking for a young person named Ray- 
 mond." He paused to consult a card. 
 
 " Who wants me ? " demanded Pippin with ad- 
 mirable calmness. 
 
 " The Earl of Clavering sends a message. Are 
 you the gal ? " 
 
 Without further ceremony, Pippin took the card 
 from the man's hand and read aloud the message it 
 bore. 
 
 Can you reach the young lady whom you spoke of 
 and bring 'er to me at once ? 
 
 " Wait ! " With one word she was gone. 
 
 Leonora stood, expectant, in the center of the 
 room when Pippin reached it. 
 
 " Miss, oh, Miss Lawrence, Ytruth, 'is lordship 
 wants you ! 'Eaven send us stren'th and look sharp, 
 if you please." She thrust the written message be- 
 fore Leonora. 
 
 " Pippin ... a real sure-enough call to arms ! "
 
 246 PIPPIN 
 
 They looked at each other. Leonora rushed to 
 the door and out. 
 
 " Blow-me-tight ! " cried the practical Pippin, 
 hurrying after; " you Ve not had your egg, Miss! " 
 
 The waiting messenger touched his cap, and in- 
 dicated the cab, as the eager lady rushed up to him. 
 He assisted her to enter and permitted himself to 
 be brushed aside that Pippin might do the same. 
 
 " To the Royal Theater of Varieties ! " came her 
 order in clarion tone and she added to the gaping 
 Sally, " We can't keep the Earl of Clavering wait- 
 ing, old gal ! " 
 
 They drove out of the Court to the merriest notes 
 the flutist had ever practised. A gay, glad trill fol- 
 lowed them. 
 
 Only once during the ride did Pippin speak. 
 
 " 'Ow long, Miss, do it take a letter to get to 
 America ; to Goshen where you come from ? " 
 
 " About eight days," Leonora answered. 
 
 The cab drew up at the Royal Theater of Varie- 
 ties and, closely following, drove the messenger 
 they had left behind. He sprang to the pavement, 
 entered the Royal and with marvelous promptness 
 came out again, followed by the Earl of Clavering. 
 
 " 'Im" whispered Pippin, leaping from the han- 
 som and beckoning to his lordship. " 'Ere she is, 
 sir 'ere 's Miss Lawrence, your lordship." 
 
 The Earl smiled with evident satisfaction as his 
 eager eyes lighted on Miss Lawrence. He mur-
 
 PIPPIN 247 
 
 mured her name and hurried to extend his own 
 white hand, with, Pippin saw in dismay, not a jewel 
 upon it this morning. He gravely assisted the 
 young lady to alight. 
 
 " This is very fortunate," he told her, " most for- 
 tunate indeed ! " 
 
 " Ain't it rum ? " agreed Pippin in a polite aside. 
 
 "Very unprofessional thing occurred this morn- 
 ing," he hurried on, " but maybe a good thing, 
 too, the lady rehearsing Miss Nestor, threw up 
 the part ! " He threw out his hands lightly. " You 
 see she could not get the hang of the thing no 
 idea of the character, no go nothing! No doubt 
 I kept on at her to an harassing degree, but I 'm 
 backing the play, must have it right ! Miss Nestor 
 is the whole thing are you a quick study, Miss 
 Lawrence? " 
 
 He looked at her anxiously. 
 
 "Yes," Leonora answered reassuringly. 
 
 Her look, her voice and quiet manner inspired the 
 anxious earl with confidence. His brow seemed to 
 clear. 
 
 Miss Lawrence started toward the theater in a 
 very business-like manner. His lordship hurried 
 along beside her as they went in talking, at least his 
 lordship talked. Miss Lawrence had the look of 
 one quite determined to do or die. Pippin climbed 
 into the hansom, sank back in the seat, sighing with 
 the joy of greatest achievement. The persistent
 
 248 PIPPIN 
 
 appeal of the cabby peering through the top at last 
 roused her. 
 
 " Where do you wish to go, I 'm asking you, 
 loidy? I 've just 'ad orders to tike you back to Ju- 
 bilee Court, if you s'y so! " 
 
 Pippin looked out and the man who had come 
 for her nodded, from the pavement. He then had 
 issued the orders to take her home. 
 
 " Very well ! " she answered. " I '11 simply 'ave 
 to be back 'ere soon, but I '11 go 'ome now I likes 
 a 'ansom ! " 
 
 The cab started and she gave herself up to the 
 pleasure of the drive. She thought of Dandy and 
 of little Hal and wished they were with her. It was 
 a very warm morning. She folded her arms upon 
 her breast and looked out lazily. 
 
 For a long time she thought of Miss Lawrence 
 and the play. What a wonderful thing she had ac- 
 tually done for her young lady. She had never felt 
 so happy over anything in her life. Presently she 
 began fancying herself a lady and the cab a private 
 brougham. She thought of what she would buy if 
 she had as much money as ladies sometimes have. 
 A spotted veil, she decided on at once; some long, 
 brilliant studded hat-pins and a rustling, pink silk 
 petticoat, long black glace kid gloves. But her 
 mind went back to Miss Lawrence and the Earl. It 
 lingered upon them. Finally a romantic vision of 
 the handsome couple came to her. Lilies of the
 
 PIPPIN 249 
 
 valley, white satin and lace made the background, a 
 slender circlet of diamonds rested upon the fair coils 
 of Miss Lawrence's hair. 
 
 Why had she written that letter to Goshen, Indi- 
 ana? She had acted hastily there. Still Goshen 
 was a long way off and the letter might easily be 
 lost, going so far. 
 
 The cab turned into King's Road. A little way 
 along there was a crowd on the pavement and the 
 cabby reined in, with leisurely curiosity. Pippin 
 looked. 
 
 A stocky, close-cropped young man with a bruise 
 under one eye trembled in the grip of the officer 
 who handcuffed him. It was Doll's Harry. Pip- 
 pin fell back, yet again she looked. Harry had just 
 finished quod, not a six months. This would set 
 Doll going it would mean another heart attack. 
 She cared about Harry. Pippin leaned forward, in- 
 stinctive sympathy moving her. Cringing, seeking 
 compassion from some one in the curious crowd, 
 Harry's clever, rat-like, but now terrified face 
 turned from one to another, uselessly of course, and 
 then he saw Pippin. For one fearful instant she 
 waited for him to proclaim their acquaintance. His 
 look changed from seeking to hostile hate. He 
 snarled and lurched ahead as the officer plunged 
 through the crowd. But along the pavement above 
 other heads, came bobbing a purple feather, waved 
 wildly among them, and a woman who was Doll,
 
 250 PIPPIN 
 
 screamingly calling upon the goodness of God to 
 save her Harry, fell upon him, seized at the mana- 
 cled hands, bent her face and gnashing teeth to 
 them, gasped and sank at his feet to the pavement. 
 
 The crowd fell back. 
 
 Pippin rose in the cab; her two hands gripped in 
 a sort of benediction, as she looked ; Doll's blue lips 
 were parted, her half -closed lids showed a rim of 
 staring white, her head lay still, pillowed in untidy 
 hair and dingy purple finery. Harry bent, looked, 
 drew back, shaking. 
 
 " Curse yer," he whined, savagely struggling with 
 the policeman, " now look what you Ve done by 
 your injustice ! She 's " 
 
 Pippin silently stole from the cab on the other 
 side and hurried away.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 OR several days Dandy's master, Mr. 
 Bertram Granville, had been in an 
 agreeable mood, his nerves steady, his 
 mind tranquil, though full of the new 
 play he was writing. 
 " 'Ow was your lordship's sole, this morning, if 
 you please, sir ? " Dandy asked, happily marking, as 
 he took away Mr. Granville' s breakfast tray, that 
 only the bone of the sole remained. 
 
 " Perfect, thank you, Dan," the master answered, 
 rubbing the top of his head where Dandy reported 
 new hair coming in ; " there was a touch of heaviness 
 to the toast, perhaps." 
 
 " Thank you, sir. It won't occur again, I '11 look 
 out for that ! " Dandy balanced the tray on one 
 hand and with the other pinched a piece of toast that 
 was left there. " S'truth it is ! " he said. " Jack- 
 son shall 'ear of it ! " 
 
 He took the tray out and then came back. Mov- 
 ing about very quietly and with the most lightly 
 buoyant step, he made everything ready for Mr. 
 Granville to start in at his writing. Mr. Granville 
 himself kept the key to the drawers that contained 
 
 251
 
 252 PIPPIN 
 
 his manuscripts, so he rose from the chair by the 
 window, where he liked to breakfast, unlocked the 
 top drawer of a big chest and took out the sheets of 
 his new play. He carried them to the table. 
 
 Dandy was watching his master very closely this 
 morning, awaiting opportunity. And Mr. Granville 
 showed evidence of being in one of his pleasantly 
 gossipy humors ; he did not at once begin to write, 
 this sign being the one upon which Dandy always 
 departed quickly, to keep silence without. 
 
 " How 's Tidberry's young one? " the playwright 
 asked, lighting his pipe. 
 
 " Gone, sir ! " Dandy answered. 
 
 Mr. Granville flinched slightly. 
 
 " Dead, do you say, Dan ? " 
 
 " Yes, your lordship, last midnight. Same hour 
 it came, sir, about five weeks ago it was always 
 ailing, Tidberry said.'* 
 
 Mr. Granville was very sensitive to the troubles 
 of others. He stood looking solemnly at the floor. 
 
 " I should n't 'ave told you, sir. I 'ope you 're 
 not upset. They Ve eight more, sir. Tidberry is 
 bearing up well ; they 're not really shocked, not tre- 
 mendously so, sir," Dandy said. 
 
 " We don't owe him anything, Dan ? " 
 
 " Not it ! " said Dandy. " 'E was all paid up out 
 of the windfall, sir." 
 
 Mr. Granville nodded. He rubbed the top of his 
 head.
 
 PIPPIN 253 
 
 " 'E 's that proud, too, sir, over what 'e 's done 
 for your 'air, Tidberry is there 's no joy without 
 some sorrow, in course ! " Dandy went on. 
 
 His master smiled a little as he tied tighter the 
 cord of his flowered silk dressing-gown. 
 
 " 'E 'opes to mike a Court 'air dresser of 'imself 
 as a result of your 'air's growing in so, sir ! " 
 
 Mr. Granville nodded thoughtfully and sat down 
 at the table. 
 
 " We 're hardly anything in debt, are we, Dan ? " 
 he asked, toying with a quill. 
 
 " The windfall put us on our feet, you remember, 
 sir! Anythink owing now can stand for a six 
 mont's simple enough our few debts are all big 
 'uns and understood by the creditors, they being ac- 
 customed to dealing with gentlemen." 
 
 Mr. Granville tapped the manuscript of his new 
 play with the quill pen and said calmly: 
 
 " This is as good as taken ! I 've written this 
 play to order though I never should have thought I 
 could!" 
 
 " No ! " cried the astounded gentleman-in-waiting. 
 
 " I could n't be sure when I began it. I was n't 
 even sure until last night that it was right. I 
 can't usually take other people's ideas, y' know, but 
 I have and I 've carried 'em out ! " 
 
 Dandy waited. Every now and then Mr. Gran- 
 ville explained things to him. Sometimes he told 
 him nothing for weeks and weeks. 
 
 16
 
 254 PIPPIN 
 
 " That jolly old fat-head manager, Hamilton, 
 had an idea and at first I could n't see it after- 
 ward I did. It grew on me ; it seemed good. I 've 
 swot away I 've carried it out." He waved his 
 hand lightly. " It 's all but done. The finishing is 
 that simple " he rose and blew some smoke from 
 his pipe out over the room, " it 's a cat and mouse 
 thing, the finishing, I 'm just holding off." He 
 thought a minute and put down his pipe. " I be- 
 lieve I '11 lock it up again," he said, eying the man- 
 uscript. "I'll hold off finishing till night I'll 
 dress now and go for a canter in the park, Dan ! " 
 
 "Right!" agreed Dandy; "it'll do you good, 
 sir." 
 
 Dandy opened the drawer and his master took up 
 the play and locked it lovingly away. Then he 
 walked to the window where he stood looking out. 
 A light cough from Dandy caused him to turn. 
 
 " What 's on your mind, Dan ? " 
 
 " I 've been wanting to tell you, I 'm getting mar- 
 ried soon, sir, if you please! " said the gentleman-in- 
 waiting. 
 
 Mr. Granville started. 
 
 "Dan "he said. 
 
 He stood looking at Dandy for some time. 
 There before him stood little Dan, grown into a tall 
 young man, without his master ever having realized 
 it. And he had announced that he was getting mar- 
 ried.
 
 PIPPIN 255 
 
 " I 've been waiting these several days to tell you, 
 sir," Dandy said. 
 
 " Well, well, well ! " said the playwright wonder- 
 ingly. "By gad!" 
 
 " Yes, your lordship ! " 
 
 There was another interval of silence then Mr. 
 Granville asked: 
 
 " Dan, did you pay yourself out of the wind- 
 fall?" 
 
 " Yes, your lordship ! " 
 
 " When are you to be married? " 
 
 " As soon as ever she will consent, sir. I 'ope to 
 bring it about within the month," Dandy answered 
 with a hopeful smile. 
 
 " Dan," his master said solemnly, " take a month's 
 notice ; you 're discharged " 
 
 "Your lordship!" 
 
 " My boy, you can't afford to keep on for me if 
 you 're to take a wife. Alone, we shifted, but your 
 wife would n't put up with that ! " 
 
 " I '11 not leave you, sir," said Dandy quietly. 
 "Not if that's all the reason; not so long as me 
 services is satisfactory to you. She would n't 'ear 
 of it. She knows all about you, sir understands 
 you exactly. In fact," continued the gentleman-in- 
 waiting, " she 'd 'elp us. You 'd like 'aving 'er 'ere. 
 She 's very 'andy and full of saving ideas ! She 's 
 that neat and quiet in manners, too Oh, sir, she 'd 
 never 'ave me, if she thought she 'd come between
 
 256 PIPPIN 
 
 us ! You 're putting an obstacle before me, sir 
 she 'd never come between us ! " repeated Dandy. 
 
 The playwright looked very serious, as he stood 
 thinking. 
 
 " I 'ope I 'm not vexing you, sir ! " 
 
 " You are, indeed ! But I won't think of myself; 
 I am thinking what is best for you, Dan," answered 
 his master. 
 
 He could hardly think of himself without Dandy. 
 
 " It 's 'ere, sir," continued Dandy. " She 's bar- 
 maid now at The Rose and Crown. I don't like it 
 It 's too public " 
 
 Mr. Granville looked up. 
 
 " Oh, she 's awright, sir, a sensible gal enough 
 and keeps 'er plice ! " said Dandy. 
 
 " But you want to get married," his master 
 mused. 
 
 " Yes, your lordship, if you please, sir, I think 
 it 'd be as well not to put it off as I sees no reason 
 meself for doing so, sir! " 
 
 " Are you sure she 's the right one ; sure you are 
 ready to settle down for life you are young 
 for life, Dan?" 
 
 A tender smile of certainty lit the youthful face 
 of the gentleman-in- waiting. 
 
 " I s'y, sir, would it be too much to ask your lord- 
 ship, as she 's maybe to enter your service in a way, 
 like would it be too much for you to drop in at 
 The Rose and Crown and see 'er? next door
 
 PIPPIN 257 
 
 The Royal Theater of Varieties, it is, sir High 
 Holborn?" 
 
 The playwright shook his head. " I 'm too 
 busy!" 
 
 " I very much wish you to see 'er, sir ! " begged 
 Dandy. 
 
 " Very well ! " agreed Mr. Granville. 
 
 Dandy heaved a sigh, a sigh of certainty that all 
 would be well when his master saw Pippin. 
 
 " You said you would dress for riding, did n't 
 you, sir ? " Dandy said, bringing his mind back to 
 his duties. 
 
 But his master was still thinking. 
 
 " It 's a rum way to treat me, Dan. There 's 
 nothing for it but that old house out near Waling- 
 ford, if you 've got to go and get attached. I 
 thought you considered me a little. I '11 have to 
 give up these rooms and settle down there or give 
 you up ! " he threatened savagely. 
 
 After a moment he grumbled : " I '11 start a 
 country establishment sort of thing. Good for my 
 health, I suppose." 
 
 " An' us to do for you, sir ? " inquired the eager 
 Dandy. 
 
 " Why should I keep you on ? You don't con- 
 sider me, my man," roared the playwright moodily. 
 " You with a missus ! " 
 
 The idea filled Dandy with joy in spite of his mas- 
 ter's wrath.
 
 258 PIPPIN 
 
 " I '11 get out your riding things, sir ! " he said, 
 hoping a canter in the park would brighten the pros- 
 pect for Mr. Granville. " And if you '11 just drop 
 in and look her over, sir before you send me 
 away, sir " 
 
 " Who 's sent you away ? " Mr. Granville de- 
 manded, and Dandy hurried out to fetch the riding 
 togs. 
 
 A little later his master was ready for his canter 
 in the park. 
 
 " I 've forgot to mention it, sir," Dandy said as he 
 followed to the door, " but they 's a little pl'y goes 
 on at The Royal Theater of Varieties to-night, an' 
 if I 'm not needed, I 'm dropping around to see it. 
 You might care to hear about it. ' Miss Nestor's 
 Necklace ' is the name of it " 
 
 "What?" cried Mr. Granville, "the windfall?" 
 
 "Never, sir!" 
 
 " I tell you it is ! " insisted the playwright. " A 
 little American playlet sold it to Percy Claver- 
 ing " 
 
 " You never told me, sir," reminded Dandy. " I 
 never 'card the title of the windfall from you, sir 
 nor who got it. I thought it was out of town, 
 s'truth!" 
 
 " Gad," said Mr. Granville, " so it 's on to-night. 
 Upon my word ! " he laughed. " Wonder what '11 
 come of it. I '11 go no, I Ve got something else 
 on you'll go, Dan! Don't forget; if it should
 
 PIPPIN 
 
 make a hit, we '11 get some more out of it, you 
 know!" 
 
 " The leading woman, sir, is an American. 
 She 's a personal acquaintance a friend of my 
 young woman's. I understand she 's looked to, to 
 mike the pl'y a hit ! " 
 
 " This is interesting ! " Mr. Granville said. 
 
 "No. You never told me the windfall had to 
 do with an earl, sir ! " said Dandy, a shade of re- 
 proach in his tone. 
 
 " Oh, Clavering does n't bother much about that ; 
 he 's out to make money ! " Mr. Granville hurried 
 off mumbling. 
 
 That night found Dandy at The Rose and Crown. 
 The little barmaid's eyes were round and dark with 
 excitement when her lover entered. 
 
 " You did manage to come ! " she cried happily as 
 he raised a shiny top-hat to her. 
 
 " I s'y, dear, 'ere 's a bit of news," he whispered, 
 leaning over the bar quickly. " This pl'y, ' Miss 
 Nestor's Necklace ' is the windfall the one I told 
 you of, me master wrote it! " 
 
 " Is it truth you s'y ? " she gasped. " Oh, Dandy- 
 boy why 'ave n't you told me ? " 
 
 " Never knew," he said. "Just got on to-d'y! " 
 
 Then he explained hurriedly; Pippin listened, 
 keeping alert for any one who might be needing her 
 attention. 
 
 " You 've give me a turn," she said. " I feel all
 
 260 PIPPIN 
 
 the more responsible now oh 'Eaven send us 
 stren'th " 
 
 The buttons rose and fell in the even row down 
 her snug little bodice. 
 
 " Listen, dear," Dandy went on after a quick look 
 round, " I 've come 'ere to-night first and foremost 
 to ask you to nime the day. I 've come for that 
 more than anythink else. Name it quick make it 
 soon, I '11 not be put off " 
 
 He caught the hand that mopped a cloth over the 
 bar. 
 
 " Oh, Dandy, Miss has been most ill, all d'y and 
 so in a fright I can't think to-night, old chap ! " 
 
 " You Ve got to," said Dandy. " Nime the d'y, 
 or I will!" 
 
 " I can't leave Miss Lawrence her stren'th is 
 spent," she says ; " more than she knew ! " 
 
 " I give you a month," Dandy said with finality. 
 " Then we '11 be married an' go to live in a 
 manor." 
 
 Pippin fell back, but he still held her hand. He 
 looked sharply round the room again, drew some- 
 thing from his pocket and when he released the lit- 
 tle hand, there encircled her third finger a slender 
 gold band set with a gem of heavenly blue. 
 
 "Oh!" she cried out. 
 
 The landlord passing her at that moment and be- 
 ing irritable after suddenly awaking from a nap, 
 gave her a light rap on the shoulder blade.
 
 PIPPIN 261 
 
 " Oh," she said again, but pressing the turquoise 
 to her cheek. 
 
 After this in spite of her duties she stole fre- 
 quent glances at her lover who hovered happily near. 
 She saw that he had added a monocle to his toilette ; 
 how he reflected his master's success ! The top-hat 
 was new to her, too. Mr. Granville never gave his 
 gentleman-in-waiting anything shabby. 
 
 " Blow-me-tight, if you ain't the double of a 
 lord! " she once managed to tell him proudly. 
 
 Suddenly the Earl of Clavering came into the 
 barroom. Mr. Dicky Rogers followed him closely. 
 
 " Brandies and sodas two ! " his lordship de- 
 manded. " Now, Dick," he said, turning to Mr. 
 Rogers, " are you certain of your red light and the 
 properties ? " 
 
 " Everything under my control is in shape, abso- 
 lutely," Dicky returned confidently, " absolutely! " 
 
 "Then that's all right!" but his lordship's ex- 
 citement was most apparent. " I admit I 'm anx- 
 ious," he said. He pulled at his fair mustachios. 
 He placed his monocle and regarded the barmaid. 
 
 " I say ! " Dicky Rogers with a wry face looked 
 at her too. " What filthy mess is this ? " 
 
 " What have you done, young woman ? " ques- 
 tioned Lord Percy, peering into his glass. " I said 
 brandy and soda." 
 
 Pippin stared at them. 
 
 " Lor' love us ! " she cried, coming to her senses ;
 
 262 PIPPIN 
 
 " I 've gone and put bitters in 'em, I 'm that worked 
 up, sir, thinkin' about my Miss. Oh, sir, she went 
 over it all the last thing before I left 'er and never 
 missed a word from A to Zed or a bit of that which 
 she calls business an' action. But she says to me 
 she says, ' Pippin, they 's such a thing as stige fright. 
 Oh, Gawd 'elp us, sir, what ever it is " 
 
 His lordship put down his glass and took several 
 turns about the bar. Other patrons gave some cut- 
 ting orders, which were followed by commands 
 from the landlord that brought the preoccupied 
 Pippin sharply to the peril of her position. 
 
 " Give me a stout," demanded Mr. Rogers 
 crossly. " I Ve got to be off. I never wanted this 
 American " 
 
 " The play goes on in half an hour, Pippin," 
 whispered his lordship presently, coming back to 
 the bar. " Realize that ! Do .you advise sending 
 Miss Lawrence a glass of wine and a biscuit? She 
 looked very white." 
 
 " No, your lordship, she 'd never touch it sir, I 
 know. She wants to keep 'er head, not lose it." 
 
 " Perhaps you 're right," he said. " And after 
 all she 's so determined and clever she knows 
 what she 's about ! " 
 
 But the earl was striving to reassure himself. 
 His leading lady had seemed on the point of a break- 
 down. She had closed herself in her dressing-room 
 demanding to be left alone.
 
 PIPPIN 263 
 
 " My poor Miss," Pippin whispered the Earl. 
 " You see she 'd 'ad a long worry before this and 
 it 's telling now, sir! " 
 
 But his lordship consulted his watch and hurried 
 away. 
 
 The Royal orchestra began playing " Way Down 
 South in Dixie." 
 
 "There!" cried Pippin. " 'Eaven send 'er 
 stren'th and keep off the stige fright ! " 
 
 Dandy leaned over the bar. 
 
 " Keep your eye open for a chanct to 'ave a look 
 in," he whispered and joined the others crowding 
 back into the theater. 
 
 The gruff voice of the landlord startled Pippin. 
 
 " It 's 'is lordship's wish you step in an' see a bit 
 o' this play. Everythink being quiet 'ere for the 
 moment, go along! " 
 
 Pippin did not heed the uncordial leave. Hurry- 
 ing across the barroom, she slipped into The Royal 
 lobby. It was nearly a full house. She looked 
 over the audience. She gazed at the boxes. 
 Packed, every one of them! Gentlemen filled them 
 all, except one; it was the stage-box. Here the 
 Earl of Clavering's anxious face was to be seen at 
 the back, while other men stood and ladies were 
 seated in the foreground. All leaned forward, the 
 curtain rose ! 
 
 The scene was a room. There were the long red 
 curtains through which Miss Lawrence Miss
 
 264 PIPPIN 
 
 Nestor would come. Miss Lawrence had over and 
 over rehearsed this entrance at home, slipping be- 
 hind the butter muslin curtains that partitioned off 
 Pippin's apartment and then stealing out as she 
 would now in the play. Once she had rehearsed, 
 with Pippin for the burglar. Pippin knew all of 
 Miss Nestor's lines. She trembled and clasped her 
 hands as two men came upon the stage a real 
 gentleman and a burglar disguised as a gentleman. 
 She would never have thought that one could look 
 so gentlemanly and turn out so badly as the burglar 
 was to do. Then she thought of how it was all 
 Dandy's master's play, and his doing entirely. But 
 she could not keep this in mind. It was very real. 
 It went on rapidly. Miss Nestor made her first en- 
 trance, wearing a beautiful gown of shimmering 
 satin and the necklace! She was giving a ball in 
 another part of her house. The music from the 
 ballroom could be heard. It was very real ! A lit- 
 tle applause from the boxes greeted Miss Nestor's 
 entrance. 
 
 She stopped, disconcerted, almost lost. The pit 
 hissed, "Sh! Sh!" 
 
 Pippin wrung her hands. A lump rose in her 
 throat. Miss Nestor spoke, almost inaudibly. 
 " Louder ! " was cried. The actress halted, seemed 
 to sway an instant's deathly stillness. Then with 
 a new grip on herself, she recovered her audience 
 and went on! Pippin forgot that she knew Miss
 
 PIPPIN 265 
 
 Nestor's lines, she might never have heard them, 
 now she was so carried away with the play. It went 
 on thrillingly. Pippin was so lost that she hardly 
 knew when Dandy found her and stopped close be- 
 side her, holding her hand. 
 
 They stood together, watching eagerly. 
 
 Then came the part that the poster depicted. 
 The lights were lowered and in darkness the real 
 gentleman sat looking over the necklace. It was an 
 heirloom that Miss Nestor had entrusted to him. 
 He was to sell it for her for she could have enough 
 money to save the family honor with. The gentle- 
 man regarded the precious stones of the necklace 
 lovingly. Then he spoke fondly of Miss Nestor, 
 revealing things she did not know. In the midst 
 of this the burglar thrust his masked face in at the 
 long window, and then he came in. He advanced, 
 creeping, creeping the victim, unconscious of his 
 danger, all but in the robber's clutches. The red 
 curtains parted, Miss Nestor, a vision of golden- 
 haired loveliness, in trailing negligee, stole out the 
 audience breathlessly hushed. Miss Nestor fired, 
 missed. The startled burglar turned, seized her! 
 She screamed, struggled another scream echoed 
 hers, but the firm hand of Dandy quickly stifled it. 
 
 " Stow it, dear ! " he whispered and grasped the 
 shoulders of the excited Pippin, hurrying her back 
 to the barroom. 
 
 " Blimy ! " she cried, as she stood blinking and
 
 266 PIPPIN 
 
 staring up at him, " 'ow real, 'ow grand it was ! To 
 think it was my Miss the whole time oh, Dandy ! " 
 
 " It 's a go ! " he said. " Take my word the mas- 
 ter's little pl'y's a g it is a windfall, awright, 
 thanks to " 
 
 Applause sounded loudly in the theater. 
 
 " My Miss Lawrence ! " finished Pippin. " No 
 sleep, no tea, 'ardly nothink but at it over and over, 
 since the day the Earl sent for 'er, Dandy ! " 
 
 They looked at each other. Dandy opened his 
 arms, Pippin flew to them; it was a quick, happy 
 embrace and the little barmaid slipped back to her 
 place behind the bar to await the coming of the 
 Earl of Clavering.
 
 f 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 ISS LAWRENCE was ready to go 
 home. She stepped out of her dress- 
 ing-room and found the Earl of Clav- 
 ering and his cousin, little Lady 
 Maude, just coming for her. 
 " All ready, dear ? " asked Lady Maude. " Come 
 along then. It is very black overhead and will rain 
 soon, I fear. You are to go home in the brougham 
 for we're going along in a friend's motor, we 
 must n't let you get wet." 
 
 " Rather not ! " echoed his lordship. 
 Leonora laughed. 
 
 She had gone home nearly every night since the 
 very first one of the play almost three weeks 
 ago, in the Clavering brougham, for the Claverings 
 could not be too careful of their mascot. They all 
 picked their way across the stage behind the drop- 
 curtain that quivered with the top-notes of Number 
 Nine. Lady Maude took Leonora's arm as they 
 reached the stage door, for a tall gentleman who 
 stood there, stepped forward, his eyes on Miss Law- 
 rence. 
 
 " Ah, here you are, Bertie," greeted his lordship. 
 267
 
 268 PIPPIN 
 
 " Allow me, Miss Lawrence at last, Mr. Granville 
 the playwright, author of ' Miss Nestor's ' " 
 
 But Miss Lawrence and Mr. Granville had stared 
 an instant, recognized each other, and were quickly 
 shaking hands, laughingly. 
 
 " We 've met before ! " Mr. Granville said, turn- 
 ing to the Earl. 
 
 " Yes," Leonora told Lady Maude. " Mr. Gran- 
 ville walked into the back of my chair in Mr. 
 Toby Hamilton's office one day." 
 
 They both laughed again at the recollection. 
 
 " How very funny," little Lady Maude said with 
 amusement. " And all this time Mr. Granville 
 hasn't known that he had met the leading lady of 
 his own play." 
 
 "And had treated her rudely," said Miss Law- 
 rence looking at him slyly. " But I am so relieved 
 to see you again, for I have suspected you of being 
 several people." 
 
 The playwright inclined his head. 
 
 " You 're Dandy's master ! " 
 
 The master nodded acknowledgment. 
 
 " The author of ' Miss Nestor's Necklace ' a 
 yery good little play " 
 
 The playwright modestly raised his hand. 
 
 " But you are best known to me as a fellow-suf- 
 ferer, seeking audience of His Managerial High- 
 ness, Mr. T. Hamilton " 
 
 Mr. Granville looked sympathetic.
 
 PIPPIN 269 
 
 " I heard you give your name that day and it 
 came back to me when I heard it again oft re- 
 peated " 
 
 " I say, you have been bored ! " Mr. Granville said 
 solemnly. " But," he added, " I have heard of Miss 
 Lawrence, you know not alone from my kind 
 friends here. I have heard from one with, I be- 
 lieve, the soundest judgment that you are the best 
 leading woman in London to-day ! " 
 
 Miss Lawrence looked shyly but genuinely pleased 
 as she turned to the Claverings. 
 
 " You see, Lady Maude," she said, " Pippin, the 
 little barmaid at The Rose and Crown is also, at odd 
 moments, my little maid " 
 
 " And Dan, my man," added the playwright, " is 
 getting married to the girl ! " 
 
 They all laughed as the plot unraveled. 
 
 " How sweet ! " cried Lady Maude. 
 
 " I Ve been up in Walingf ord leasing a manor 
 for them," resignedly Mr. Bertram Granville went 
 on, " that is partly why I 've not been around here. 
 I shall live with them there Dan thinks it better 
 for my health." 
 
 "Well, look here, old chap!" cried the Earl. 
 " What 's this I hear about you you 've sold a 
 play to Toby Hamilton; he's bringing it out this 
 autumn am I right ? " 
 
 Mr. Granville looked at them all with the happiest 
 smile. 
 17
 
 270 PIPPIN 
 
 " Yes," he said, " you 're right ! That 's the real 
 thing I 've been so jolly busy about too. But now 
 it 's done all settled and signed ! " 
 
 Miss Lawrence offered him her hand quickly. 
 
 " Congratulations ! " cried Lady Maude. 
 
 " I have thought disrespectfully of Mr. Hamil- 
 ton," he admitted. " I hardly deserve the good for- 
 tune. I cursed my foolishness for swotting at his 
 idea, but I worked it out! " 
 
 He stood, looking suddenly youthful, happy and 
 grateful. 
 
 " And there '11 be some money from * The Neck- 
 lace,' " recalled the Earl. 
 
 " Yes," little Lady Maude added, as she took Le- 
 onora's arm again, " you 've made us all some 
 money, my dear, out of that. Without you " 
 
 " A fizzle ! " cried the Earl decidedly. 
 
 Mr. Granville would have added more praise but 
 Leonora declared she must go, to be home before 
 Pippin, who was given to worrying about her. 
 
 So they all hurried to the brougham and at the 
 last moment, Lady Maude said: 
 
 " We want you to come with us up the river to- 
 morrow, if it 's fine. It will do you good you 're 
 looking too white, my dear. Will you ? " 
 
 " And you '11 join us, Granville, what ? " added 
 the Earl. 
 
 " Yes ! " Lady Maude insisted, " please do, Mr. 
 Granville!"
 
 PIPPIN 271 
 
 The playwright, regretful, could not, but Leonora 
 said she would go, so they arranged an early meet- 
 ing for the next day. 
 
 Leonora sat thoughtful during the ride to Jubilee 
 Court. She liked the Claverings. She was happy 
 to be so appreciated by them for she had tried 
 conscientiously in the little play. She was very 
 happy, too, in her own hardly won success. There 
 had been some nice notices about her and another 
 better engagement at a big theater in London might 
 result. She might even get to lead in one of them. 
 She recalled that soon the Clarks would be coming 
 back to London Elvira and Sid Long. She 
 would be glad to have them see her play Miss Nes- 
 tor ; even at the little old Royal it was London ! 
 Then they could tell Charlie she was playing a lead 
 in London. She had not written him about it. 
 She had not written to him at all since her letter 
 severing all ties. And there had been nothing very 
 lately from him. 
 
 Somehow, she reflected, her success was not mak- 
 ing her as happy as it should. She was happier 
 in the Claverings' happiness she believed and even 
 in little Pippin's and Dandy's; she thought a good 
 deal, too, of Elvira Clark and Sid Long, enjoying 
 the continent together! 
 
 Then she laughed ! These people were all in love 
 and had each other. They had chosen and she 
 had chosen ! Yet strangely she did not find the de-
 
 272 PIPPIN 
 
 sired consolation in this. She wondered suddenly 
 if Charlie Browne had found some one else! 
 
 She sat up sharply at the thought. The rain had 
 begun and she saw that her skirt was wet for she 
 had not noticed the rain coming in at the open win- 
 dow of the carriage. In a few minutes more she 
 was at home; she went slowly up the stairs to the 
 room, but paused as she heard some one talking. 
 It was Pippin's voice. Leonora waited a moment. 
 
 " Passed the Lizard, touched at Fishguard, 
 touched at Queenstown, due at Sou'hamton " 
 Pippin broke off the monotonous drone, crying, 
 " Strike me balmy if I can make it out! " 
 
 Leonora opened the door and went in. Pippin's 
 perturbed face appeared over a newspaper. 
 
 " I never 'card the carriage ! I was reading a bit, 
 Miss," but she crumpled her paper. " I 've been 
 looking out for any more press notices o' you ! " 
 
 She hurried to assist Miss Lawrence. 
 
 " You 've got your skirt wet ; does 'is lordship's 
 brougham let in then ? " 
 
 " It lets in when the window is open," smiled 
 Leonora, " and I neglected to close it. I was think- 
 ing of " 
 
 " I shall light a fire, Miss, you 're as wet as ever 
 you 'd a-got coming 'ome on a bus ! You '11 get 
 your death from it, then what 'd his lordship s'y 
 to me? " 
 
 In such haste was she that without her usual cere-
 
 PIPPIN 273 
 
 mony, Pippin fairly stripped Miss Lawrence of her 
 outer garments and placed them on a chair near the 
 grate where there was soon a fire crackling. 
 
 " It is chilly," admitted Leonora when Pippin had 
 her seated with a glass of hot milk to drink. 
 
 " You 're wanting your 'eavy bath-gown, Miss," 
 Pippin said and pointed to the trunk standing under 
 the window, which had come from Mrs. Penley's 
 more than a week ago. 
 
 Leonora nodded and Pippin raised the top and 
 looked through the trunk for the bath-robe. The 
 trunk was her delight. She loved the pretty things 
 it was her privilege to mend and look out for. She 
 found the gown and while wrapping Miss Lawrence 
 in it, looked very pensive. 
 
 " To think," she said a little sadly, " that Mrs. 
 Penley don't know that the gal which robbed the box 
 that night, fetched the clothes straight to you ! " 
 
 Leonora did not at once reply. There had been 
 a distressing letter from Mrs. Penley harshly ac- 
 cusing Miss Lawrence of having instigated Pippin's 
 coup. But Leonora had not told Pippin. 
 
 " Some day," she now promised, " Mrs. Penley 
 shall know ! To-morrow, Pippin, I want you to go 
 and see if our terms are to be met at the Queen 
 Anne Mansions will you? For I shall be gone 
 for the day on the river with the Claverings, 
 and" 
 
 " Lor' love a duck ! " fairly yelled Pippin.
 
 274 PIPPIN 
 
 A look from Miss Lawrence subdued her. 
 
 " Leave everything to me ! I '11 bring the Man- 
 sions to our terms ! " she said with studied quiet, 
 " I '11 see they do the rooms just as you wish. Up 
 the river, Miss, with 'is lordship ! " 
 
 " And Lady Maude ! " added Leonora. 
 
 " She 's 'is cousin," Pippin said quickly, " only 
 'is cousin. You an' the Earl of Clavering, Miss " 
 
 " And Dandy is to carry little Pippin off," Le- 
 onora said, " to a manor in Walingford ! " 
 
 Pippin's brow clouded. 
 
 " You want to go, don't you, Pippin ? " Leonora 
 asked anxiously. " You want to be married to 
 Dandy and go to live in the manor? " 
 
 " I '11 not go for a time yet, Miss," Pippin said. 
 " I would n't go an' leave you ! " 
 
 " But, Pippin " 
 
 " No, Miss ! " There was firm resolution in the 
 girl's tone and manner. " Dandy would never mike 
 me go when I 'm not ready. 'Ow do I know 
 what '11 'appen you, without me ! " But a hopeful 
 smile spread over her face slowly. " It won't be 
 so long though, I fancy, till I knows you 're in safe 
 'ands." 
 
 She looked at the toe of her new boot and dug 
 thoughtfully at a crack in the floor. Presently she 
 inquired, 
 
 " What shall you wear, Miss, going on the river 
 to-morrow with the Earl of Clavering? "
 
 PIPPIN 275 
 
 Leonora hid her smile, turning to the fireplace. 
 
 " Lady Maude likes my white serge," she said, 
 " and the white sailor hat ! " 
 
 " Lady Maude is a knowing 'un," exclaimed Pip- 
 pin. " She knows what 'er cousin, the Earl, likes." 
 She darted to the chest. " This rose is all that 's 
 left of 'is lordship's bouquet, Miss it do last quite 
 persistent ! " 
 
 " Nonsense," Miss Lawrence exclaimed. " The 
 flowers were given me by Lady Maude, Pippin. I 
 told you so. Lady Maude was very proud of them 
 for she grew them herself ! " 
 
 At that moment a diffident knock sounded on their 
 door. 
 
 " Your old friend and caretaker is come back, if 
 you please," a sepulchral voice said without. 
 
 " Mrs. Crimmins ! " chorused Leonora and Pip- 
 pin. 
 
 " I 'eard your voices ! " the caretaker whispered 
 as Pippin opened the door. 
 
 She wore a large hat with feathers and roses and 
 a black silk cape, set off by a feather boa. 
 
 " We 're back," she said, looking from Miss Law- 
 rence to Pippin. 
 
 " Back from your 'oneymoon ? An' you 're Mrs. 
 Miles now ! " Pippin rushed forward and em- 
 braced her. 
 
 Leonora rose and greeted the caretaker with a pat 
 on her shoulder and a hand-shake.
 
 276 PIPPIN 
 
 " You do look glum though," Pippin said, step- 
 ping back ; " ain't 'e awright ? " 
 
 " Oh, quite ! " the bride answered quickly. " 'E 's 
 all 'e promised me he 'd be and more. He 's down 
 stairs now waiting ! " 
 
 Leonora slipped across the room for the rose. 
 
 " We must n't keep you, if he 's waiting. Go 
 right down to him and come up in the morning ! " 
 
 " Thank you, Miss," Mrs. Miles said, managing a 
 smile over the rose. " But the fact is, I 've come 
 up on account o' Sally. She 's in the rooms 
 she 's not even a-bed. I 've seen her through the 
 keyhole." 
 
 " Well, what 's the row ? " urged Pippin. 
 
 " You know Sally," the mother said. 
 
 " Come along, I '11 see you through," cried Pip- 
 pin. 
 
 Mrs. Miles brightened. 
 
 " Miles 'oped you 'd come down, I 'ated to ask 
 it" 
 
 Pippin took her arm and hurried her to the door. 
 
 " Good night, Mrs. Miles! " called Leonora, wav- 
 ing the bride away. 
 
 They found the cobbler waiting in the lower hall. 
 He hugged a large box. In spite of the situation he 
 looked happy. He greeted Pippin as an old friend. 
 
 " I sent the boy a postal from Margate, telling 'im 
 what I 'd done," he whispered. 
 
 " 'E got it," she answered, shaking hands with
 
 PIPPIN 277 
 
 him. " 'E showed it to me, too. 'E said you was 
 a sly old dog!" 
 
 Miles laughed with pleasure and followed to the 
 door that barred the dreaded Sally. 
 
 " Wait," whispered Mrs. Miles with a hand on 
 Pippin's arm. " Shall I tell 'er at onct or put it off 
 a bit; the money me an' Miles invested in a thing 
 we thought to be a certainty is " 
 
 " Lost ! " breathed Miles hoarsely. " It was a 
 swindle. If I ever get my 'ands on the bounder " 
 
 " Don't tell 'er to-night," said Pippin. 
 
 She knocked on the caretaker's door. 
 
 " Who 's there ? " came from within. 
 
 Pippin prodded the bride and she answered 
 faintly. 
 
 " It 's your mother, my dear." 
 
 The door opened quickly. Sally in a flannelette 
 wrapper, her scant hair smoothed back in a pigtail, 
 held up a lighted candle. 
 
 "Mother!" 
 
 "Sally!" 
 
 Sally stepped back and her mother entered with 
 the aid of two pairs of unseen hands. 
 
 " Don't push so, Miles ! " 
 
 Suddenly Miles himself seemed to be hurrying in 
 faster than he desired. He struck at something be- 
 hind him. 
 
 " Don't push," he whispered in his turn. 
 
 Pippin came forward, laughing.
 
 278 PIPPIN 
 
 " Now, Sally, be a lamb ! " she whispered. 
 
 " Upon my word ! " cried Sally, " you don't mean 
 to s'y, Mother, you 're afraid of your own daugh- 
 ter?" 
 
 But alas with every indication of this, Mrs. 
 Miles hovered between her new husband and little 
 Pippin. 
 
 " Per'aps I was wrong to go off without telling 
 you, Sally but I I am very 'appy ! " and the 
 bride broke down and wept on the shoulder of the 
 bridegroom. Over the three feathers of the bridal 
 hat he looked yearningly for peace at Sally. 
 
 " Mother," Sally said, " stop that sniveling. If 
 I 'm in the way 'ere, I '11 go 'ome late as it is 
 to-night. You did do wrong to elope. I have 'ad 
 me work cut out 'ere too, to keep this berth for you ; 
 an' Taylor at me constantly to come home. You 
 ought to kiss me, I should think ! " 
 
 In a twinkling the shaking form was transferred 
 by the loving hands of husband to daughter. 
 
 " Where 's Mr. Miles to sleep to-night ? " asked 
 the practical Pippin. 
 
 "Over me shop to-night," answered he, wink- 
 ing as the bride began to revive. " Good night, my 
 dear. I '11 leave you with Sally ! " 
 
 " Miles ! " the bride said, drying her eyes to per- 
 form a belated ceremony, " this is me daughter Sally. 
 The eldest child she is Sally, Mr. Miles wishes to 
 be a good father to you ! "
 
 PIPPIN 279 
 
 Sally and the cobbler gripped hands with unex- 
 pected and heartfelt fervor. 
 
 " I'm off ! " cried Pippin, backing toward the 
 door. " Sally, you '11 tell your mother everythink ! " 
 She stepped into the hall, paused and looked back. 
 " Sally, some night very soon you 're to see the pl'y. 
 The Earl of Clavering 'as promised me a box. I 've 
 told the Earl I 've ever so many friends an' so 'e 
 s'ys the Earl says, I am to 'ave a box ! " 
 
 Pippin made an impressive pause. The bride- 
 groom stared at her, the bride's moist eyes were 
 wide with wonder. 
 
 " Good night all," said Pippin and closed the 
 door, she was certain, upon a united family.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 Y word your 'air can do a bit of 
 gleamin'," Pippin cried, standing off 
 for a less intimate view of her young 
 lady's charms. " It 's beautiful in 
 them plaits. And the Earl of Claver- 
 ing ivill be glad it 's turned out fine, after the rain ! " 
 Leonora sighed. To deny an infatuation that ex- 
 isted alone but persistently in Pippin's fond young 
 fancy would probably involve them in a trying ar- 
 gument; Pippin was set about some things. Le- 
 onora took up her gloves, resignedly. At the door 
 she met Sally Taylor. 
 
 " Good morning, Miss Lawrence. These letters 
 were just brought round from The Royal by the 
 Earl of Clavering's man special ! " 
 
 " Thank you, Sally ! " Leonora took them and saw 
 that one was for Pippin. 
 
 But she became quickly absorbed in her own. 
 The letter was addressed to her at The Royal 
 Theater of Varieties. In the upper left-hand cor- 
 ner was the name of Toby Hamilton and the ad- 
 dress of his office. She read : 
 
 280
 
 PIPPIN 281 
 
 Dear Miss Lawrence, 
 
 Will you call and see me one morning this week at 
 ten? Your performance at The Royal reveals emo- 
 tional power striking and unsuspected. 
 
 ("This admission from you, oh King!" mar- 
 veled Leonora sotto voce.) The letter continued: 
 
 I think you could handle Sophie in " Langdon's: 
 
 Reform," which goes en tour next month. Later the 
 
 company returns to a West End playhouse, so you 
 
 would secure a lead in London with the engagement. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 T. HAMILTON. 
 
 Deaf to Pippin's babble, Leonora stood looking 
 at the missive of flattering response to her success. 
 Back, back over the past agonizing weeks went her 
 mind. Back to the night that she stepped upon the 
 stage, numb with panic over the lines there had not 
 been time enough to commit and lack of rehears- 
 ing; weak from ages of weary disappointment and 
 insufficient food, beset by deadly inertia. How had 
 she won ! But that she had won, had never seemed 
 so clear as now. Resentment, half revengeful, stole 
 over her. 
 
 She darted back to her writing things and fran- 
 tically penned an answer. 
 
 Dear Mr. Hamilton: 
 
 Nothing could be more gratifying than your recog- 
 nition of my unsuspected ability. Your discovery a
 
 282 PIPPIN 
 
 little earlier would have spared me hunger. But ex- 
 periences help every actress! I can't accept your 
 offer, thank you, because when I close my engage- 
 ment at The Royal I am going 
 
 She paused, then wrote " home." 
 
 She signed, sealed and addressed her letter. She 
 held it, thought, then dropped it in the top drawer 
 of the chest upon which she had written. 
 
 " I can't send it," she admitted regretfully ; 
 " which is one of the most disappointing things I 've 
 ever known! At ten any morning this week " 
 she musingly recalled the appointment as she turned 
 to Pippin who had been loudly clamoring for atten- 
 tion. 
 
 " Miss Lawrence ! " Pippin begged. " Do look 
 'ere, Miss!" 
 
 Leonora looked, obliged to capture the paper she 
 was requested to view before this was possible. 
 
 " Compliments of the Earl of Clavering," cried 
 Pippin in a mad jig. " A pass for a box. 'E said 
 I should give a box-party ! " 
 
 Extreme in her joy she seized Sally Taylor. 
 
 " Go 'ome an' get ready, Sally ! You 're to bring 
 Hal, the darling. Oh, I feel as though I should 
 bust!" 
 
 " You 're like to, if you keep on," laughed Sally 
 Taylor, "though I really don't wonder at it my- 
 self."
 
 PIPPIN 283 
 
 " Mind now," Pippin instructed her. " Bring 
 Mr. Taylor, your two little brothers and my little 
 'un." 
 
 Sally started backing out. 
 
 " The d'y after to-morrow ! Come early, Sally ; 
 and mind you tog up. There '11 be your mother an' 
 Miles and " 
 
 " I 'm off ! " Sally showed excitement. " Good 
 d'y, Miss Lawrence. Mother's coming up to see 
 you soon." 
 
 "Mind, Sally, you doss up," pressed Pippin; 
 "and, oh, Miss Lawrence, will you tell 'is lord- 
 ship" 
 
 " What a happy Pippin I have left at home," 
 smiled Leonora. " I shall be sure to." Indulgently 
 deciding to share her surprise, she added, giving 
 Pippin the letter she had received, " You may read 
 this and then put it in the top drawer." 
 
 Pippin read and reread the letter unbelievingly. 
 Then slowly, as it had come to Leonora, the thought 
 of what this letter would once have meant came 
 to her. She looked up, but she was alone. 
 
 " My dear Miss, waiting, waiting, waiting 'op- 
 ing and 'oping, going again an' again 'er sweet 
 countenance getting so white and strange like and 
 never, nothink ! " 
 
 Teddy chirped out merrily. 
 
 " Yes, old chap," she said, " it is awright now, 
 but them was terrible d'ys ! " But melancholy
 
 284 PIPPIN 
 
 merged with the cause into the past. She looked to 
 the future. 
 
 Waltzing across the room, she dropped the let- 
 ter in the top drawer, murmuring dreamily : 
 
 " Lady Leonora Clavering." The caretaker's 
 voice, calling agitatedly from below, startled her 
 rudely. 
 
 Hurrying down she found Mrs. Miles in the 
 Court, talking to some one ; Pippin looked, stopped 
 and caught at the baluster for support. Mr. Charles 
 Browne of Goshen, Indiana, had come! The liv- 
 ing image of his photograph, he stood there on the 
 pavement, straw hat in his hand, his eyes roving 
 over the house. 
 
 Pippin stepped out. As he looked at her she be- 
 came suddenly weak-kneed and giddy. But her 
 heart cried out loyally for the Earl. 
 
 " I am Pippin," she said, looking up at the tall 
 American. " I see you 've come ! " 
 
 Mr. Browne's face showed the greatest relief ; he 
 smiled at her. 
 
 " I got in this morning ! " he said, stepping nearer 
 the door. " I must see Miss Lawrence at once, I 
 got your letter what 's the matter ? " he demanded 
 as the caretaker gave a startled gasp. 
 
 " I sent for you," Pippin said ; " yes, sir ! But 
 you Ve come too late, Mr. Browne ! " 
 
 " Rather ! " chimed Mrs. Miles, thinking she saw 
 her cue.
 
 PIPPIN 285 
 
 " Too late what do you mean ? " thundered the 
 gentleman so sharply that Pippin was alarmed. 
 
 " Well, you see, sir," she ventured, yet bold. " I 
 sent for you, quite unknown to Miss Lawrence. If 
 it ever gets to 'er that I did it, sir well I don't 
 know what, s'truth ! " 
 
 " Do you mean she does n't want to see me ? " 
 asked Mr. Browne. 
 
 Pippin looked from the restive caretaker, back to 
 the kind, puzzled face of the gentleman she had 
 brought all the way from America. It did seem 
 rather too bad. 
 
 " I am going to ask you, sir, to go away again," 
 she said pleadingly. " You 've come too late ! I 
 can't tell you 'ow it 's been all these d'ys past. Why, 
 sir, everythink Miss Lawrence 'as wanted an' 
 needed an' nearly died for, she could n't get " she 
 put her hand on his arm timidly. " She needed you, 
 sir, but you was n't 'ere ! You did n't come. She 
 wanted a engigement she even wanted money for 
 'er rent, she wanted su'think to eat besides bread 
 that was stale " 
 
 " My God ! " Mr. Browne cried, placing his hand 
 over Pippin's. 
 
 " Yes," Pippin said, stepping back, " an' now, sir, 
 when she needs nothink, when she 's in clover, with 
 a Lunnon engigement as a leading woman and a 
 earl to go about with, everythink and everybody 
 turns up but too late ! " 
 
 18
 
 286 PIPPIN 
 
 Mr. Browne folded his arms over his chest and 
 his grave face was set. 
 
 "I did n't know! "he said. 
 
 " Well, she was n't evicted, if she could n't p'y ! " 
 the caretaker put in, shaking her dust-cloth vigor- 
 ously round Mr. Browne. " I went aw'y partly 
 not to see it done, too. If it 'd got to come to that, I 
 left it for Sally and the agent." She smiled be- 
 nignly. 
 
 Pippin frowned her to silence. 
 
 " What you going to do, sir? Will you go away? 
 You would n't want to upset Miss Lawrence now 
 she's going to be happy so soon, would you, sir? 
 She 's out now, up the river with the Earl, sir ! " 
 
 " Do you mean she 's going to marry him ? " ques- 
 tioned Mr. Browne, with a quiet that alarmed Pip- 
 pin. 
 
 She nodded faintly. 
 
 Mr. Browne turned and paced a few steps up and 
 down the pavement. 
 
 " This is awful ! " he muttered. " I did n't think 
 she meant what she said in her last letter. And to 
 think she 's suffered and I did not know ! " 
 
 He shook his head fiercely. 
 
 "If you '11 just go aw'y, sir, not to 'urt 'er worse, 
 like " begged Pippin softly. 
 
 " An earl " he said unbelievingly. 
 
 " Yes, sir," Pippin said. " The Earl of Claver- 
 ing, 'e backs The Royal Theater of Varieties!"
 
 "I didn't know !" he said
 
 PIPPIN 289 
 
 She kept her eyes on Mr. Browne while she 
 reached into her deep pocket. " 'Ere 's a clipping 
 about 'er. Listen, sir ! " 
 
 She read to him. 
 
 " * At The Royal Theater of Varieties is a very 
 good little play entitled " Miss Nestor's Necklace." 
 It might be termed a stirring one-act event of Amer- 
 ican ranch life. The playwright who modestly 
 with'olds his nime from the public I learn on good 
 authority to be the Earl of Clavering.' That 's a 
 mistake," Pippin interjected and continued reading. 
 " * His lordship is fortunate in his choice of Miss 
 Leonora Lawrence, who, as Miss Nestor, proves 
 'erself a young actress of unusual dramatic ability 
 and 'as probably done much for the pl'y.' ' 
 
 Mr. Browne's face was set. He made no com- 
 ment but looked up and down the street and then up 
 at the house. 
 
 " Genteel little plice she 's 'ad 'ere," the caretaker 
 murmured proudly. " Nothink, of course, like what 
 I understand she 's marryin'." 
 
 Mr. Browne consulted his watch and turned 
 away. His back to them, he stood deep in thought, 
 loathe to leave. 
 
 " You will go, sir," Pippin said and added as he 
 did not move : " If you wants to see 'er, sir, and 
 not be seen by 'er like, why, you could drop in at 
 The Royal Theater of Varieties about ten, sir. 
 You'll no doubt see 'is lordship in the stige box.
 
 290 PIPPIN 
 
 Next door to The Royal is The Rose and Crown. 
 I 'm barmaid there Miss Lawrence not needing 
 me all the time." 
 
 Mr. Browne glanced at her, at the caretaker, 
 looked over the house sadly, and lifting his hat 
 walked away. Pippin looked after him. Irreso- 
 lute she stood; if he turned round and came back, 
 if he only looked back, she should beg him not to 
 go! She should ask him in spite of the Earl of 
 Clavering to return and see Miss Lawrence. 
 
 " Well," said Mrs. Miles, " you always seemed 
 to me a person of sense. You did indeed ! What 
 was you thinkin' about when you sent for 'im, do 
 yer know that ? " 
 
 " I was balmy," Pippin said. " I was near mad 
 thinking of 'ow to p'y the rent ! " 
 
 " Some folks would be as well off not able to 
 write," retorted the caretaker. " Now the fat 's in 
 the fire. 'E 's not going off so simple as 'e came. 
 'E 's a lad that 's set in 'is way, like most men ! " 
 
 " I don't know what to do ! " admitted Pippin. 
 
 " Look 'ere," Mrs. Miles said, tapping Pippin's 
 chest. "You got 'im 'ere now get rid of 'im. 
 If you want 'er to lose the Earl, as you s'y she 's got 
 'ooked " 
 
 " Oh, no, she must n't lost him the Earl," Pip- 
 pin said. " I must send Mr. Browne off ! " 
 
 " Glad to 'ear you talk sense ! " approved Mrs. 
 Miles.
 
 
 PIPPIN 291 
 
 " When 'e 'is gone, I '11 tell Miss ! " Pippin edged 
 away. 
 
 In this dilemma she wished to be alone to re- 
 flect. 
 
 " I '11 be up shortly to 'ear more about it," prom- 
 ised the caretaker. " I 'm just going to drop round 
 to the shop to tell Miles ! " 
 
 Pippin reached her room and for some time sat, 
 hands in her lap, thinking. At last sighing heavily, 
 she took up some sewing. The white muslin and 
 lace edging that she took from the drawer, Leonora 
 had given her and the lingerie for Pippin's trous- 
 seau was under way. 
 
 But she could not work ; she was thinking of Miss 
 Lawrence. She recalled the day in Temple Gar- 
 dens. Each day since was jotted in her memory 
 never to be erased. Each day since had been to 
 her, gain. All the little things that she had learned 
 from Miss Lawrence who never had seemed to 
 teach, she thought of now, from the way to hold her 
 knife and fork to the big things like honor ! Honor 
 was the hardest thing to grasp definitely. It was 
 something even apart from taking people's purses, 
 or taking spirits. She squirmed in her chair. She 
 was very uncomfortable about Mr. Browne's com- 
 ing. But again she reflected, she had sent for him 
 without being told to do so! Was she not then 
 free to dispose of him? Anyhow she could not sit 
 still and decided to slip off at once and see about the
 
 292 PIPPIN 
 
 flat Miss Lawrence was taking in Queen Anne Man- 
 sions. 
 
 Reaching the corner she saw a few repeated puffs 
 of smoke, a pipe, the peak of a cap and the tip of 
 a nose and chin, projecting from the other side of 
 the lamp-post. She stole up softly but the alert 
 Dandy sprang out, caught her arm and planted a kiss 
 on her apple-cheek. 
 
 " Saw your shadow, dear," he laughed. 
 
 " You 're too cute," she laughed back. " Come 
 along then an' 'elp me attend to a bit o' business ! " 
 
 They locked arms and started along gaily. 
 
 "I've got a motto," sang Dandy, "ahvays merry 
 an' bright." 
 
 They passed a doorway from which a sallow face 
 under purple plumes had been wont to pop out at 
 her, as she walked with Dandy. Pippin had told 
 him of the end. Poor Doll ! 
 
 "I've simp-ly gotter sing " tunefully persisted 
 Dandy. 
 
 " We 're going to move, Miss an' me, to a flat ! " 
 she chatted. 
 
 " You 'd better be looking out for some one else 
 to take your place with the young lady, Victoria 
 A.," he answered. " You 've only another week, y* 
 know!" 
 
 " Stow it ! " cried Pippin. 
 
 " Wotcher mean, dear?" he asked, sobering and 
 looking down at her.
 
 PIPPIN 293 
 
 " I 'ave promised -but if I asked you to wait a 
 bit longer if I asked you to think of your master, 
 so as to put yourself in my plice, like Miss do 
 need me, Dandy ! " Pippin said anxiously. " You 
 would n't leave Mr. Granville if 'e needed you? " 
 
 " I '11 inquire about some one to take 'er off your 
 'ands," said Dandy with finality ; " we need n't talk 
 of it!" 
 
 "Dandy" 
 
 " It 's all settled," he said. " You an' me is to 
 go to put the manor in order in a week's time. You 
 an' me, dear and we 're to 'ave the little brother 
 Hal ! We '11 be 'itched in the morning an' off we 
 goes in the afternoon. Now, 'ave I a good mas- 
 ter?" 
 
 Added happiness came with this good fortune for 
 little Hal. Dandy's master was kindness itself and 
 she was for the time swayed to think of her future 
 responsibilities as Dandy's missus and the house- 
 keeper of a manor. 
 
 ' 'E is good, Dandy, your lordship is an' to 
 think of having a place to keep little Hal with us ! " 
 
 But having brought the affairs of Miss Lawrence 
 to a climax, only fatally could her management be 
 now withdrawn. 
 
 " You see Miss Lawrence do seem to need me 
 su'think awful ! " 
 
 " It '11 all come right! " persisted Dandy. 
 
 That evening the Earl of Clavering did not come
 
 294 PIPPIN 
 
 into the barroom until late. He was, if possible, in 
 even lighter spirits. 
 
 " We had a splendid day," he told Pippin, over his 
 brandy and soda. " It 's done Miss Lawrence good 
 too. She's got quite a little color and admitted 
 that she felt sleepy. She says she 's not been sleep- 
 ing well ! " 
 
 " Oh," cried Pippin, " she never told me ! " 
 
 " Never mind," said the Earl, " a few all-day out- 
 ings with us " 
 
 " Oh, yes, sir ! Yes, indeed, sir they '11 set 'er 
 up, your lordship, won't they ? And she 's going 
 again soon?" 
 
 The little barmaid's eyes glowed. The Earl 
 nodded back. 
 
 " You got your box ? " said he. 
 
 " 'Ow can I ever thank you enough, sir, you 're 
 too good ! " 
 
 " Fill it up," he said; " let them all come! " 
 
 His lordship was in good spirits. But suddenly 
 like a shadow, over his lordly happiness, appeared 
 the tall, broad figure of Mr. Charles Browne of 
 Goshen, Indiana. He came from The Royal into 
 the barroom and looking squarely at the barmaid, 
 he stepped up to the bar, shoulder to shoulder with 
 the Earl of Clavering. 
 
 " Give me a glass of cold beer! " he said. 
 
 " Good night ! " said the Earl, turning away. 
 
 " Good night, your lordship," Pippin returned
 
 PIPPIN 295 
 
 pointedly, " I am glad Miss Lawrence enjoyed 'er- 
 self to-d'y!" 
 
 She glanced at Mr. Browne, drew the beer, and 
 put it down for him. He was looking over his 
 shoulder at the departing Earl. 
 
 " That 's 'im ! " said Pippin. 
 
 Mr. Browne's face grew heavy and dark. He 
 glared at the glass of beer, took it up and drank. 
 
 The door opened and Dandy came in from the 
 street. At the same moment Mr. Browne put down 
 his glass and leaned forward. 
 
 " I am going away," he said. " I thought I 
 would n't, but " 
 
 Pippin knew this encounter with the Earl had 
 done it. 
 
 "She broke it off in that last letter " he ad- 
 mitted, pondering miserably. " Well," to Pippin, 
 " do as you like about telling Miss Lawrence I 
 came ! " 
 
 He turned away and went slowly out. Pippin 
 looked at Dandy. There was a question in his 
 sharp glance. 
 
 " S'truth," sighed Pippin. " 'E 's a bloke from 
 America. Mr. Browne from Goshen, Indiana. 
 'E 's come to see Miss Lawrence, to take 'er aw'y, 
 like enough, an' I 've told 'im str'ight an' plain 
 Miss Lawrence is getting engiged to the Earl of 
 Clavering. I Ve got Mr. Browne to go aw'y ! " 
 
 " You 've got 'im to? " Dandy thrust his head for-
 
 296 PIPPIN 
 
 ward unbelievingly. " You 've got him to go, and 
 Miss Lawrence not knowing 'e 's 'ere ! She 's get- 
 ting engiged to the Earl? " 
 
 He glanced at her with desperate vexation as he 
 saw what she had been up to and the Earl of 
 Clavering about to marry his cousin, Lady Maude ! 
 
 " Now you Ve made a bit o' trouble," he sternly 
 rebuked her, turned and swung out of the barroom 
 by the street door, just in time to see a cab driving 
 away with the American inside. 
 
 " Hi, cabby ! " hailed Dandy. 
 
 The driver did not hear, but a lounger ran up. 
 
 " Want the gentleman inside ? " 
 
 " Yes, old covey," Dandy said. " I did ! Now 
 where in blazes do you fancy 'e 's going? " 
 
 " To the Savoy hotel ! " said the lounger. " I 
 'card the address ! " 
 
 Dandy threw him a penny and set out with all the 
 fleetness of his nimble limbs. 
 
 As Dandy fled from the bar, he had unknowingly 
 brushed past his master, who attributed the depar- 
 ture to shyness. Mr. Granville, smiling at this, 
 stepped forward and ordered something to drink. 
 But before she could serve him, he said slyly to the 
 little barmaid : " I hear you are willing to retire 
 from this position of responsibility, to become my 
 housekeeper ! " 
 
 " Oh, sir, thank you, sir," gaped Pippin. " Then 
 you 're Mr. Granville ! " She viewed him with
 
 PIPPIN 297 
 
 instant approval and suddenly with her most win- 
 ning smile, leaning forward, begged : " You '11 
 give us a little time, sir ? " 
 
 "Time?" queried the playwright. "I thought 
 this day week " 
 
 " Dandy 's quite determined on it. 'E would n't 
 leave you though, with no one to look out for you ; 
 Miss Lawrence is quite as needing as you are, ask- 
 ing your pardon, sir ! " 
 
 The playwright pursed his lips in a low whistle. 
 " Well, well," he smiled. The girl amused him and 
 suddenly he leaned forward, promising whisper- 
 ingly. 
 
 ;< You shall not leave Miss Lawrence until she 
 can spare you there ! " 
 
 " Oh, thank you, sir, thank you a thou " 
 
 [< Your conscientiousness is tremendous ! " he 
 said. " It is commendable and Miss Lawrence 
 must be looked out for, first of all. We will see to 
 that!" 
 
 Seeing the joyous results of his promise, Mr. 
 Granville laughed again in his big way and disre- 
 garding the shilling put down for a drink he 
 walked away. 
 
 " Now look at that ! " the barmaid cried, as she 
 discovered the money. " But, my eye ! I do like 
 Mr. Granville ! " 
 
 The room was empty and the landlord nodding 
 sleepily. She pocketed the money.
 
 298 PIPPIN 
 
 " I '11 give it to Dandy for expenses of the 
 manor," she vowed, bustling about her preparation 
 for departure. 
 
 When she reached home, she found Miss Law- 
 rence already there. She was sitting as she had 
 come in, rather wearily, before the grate in which 
 there was no fire. 
 
 " Are you cold, Miss ? " asked Pippin anxiously. 
 
 " Well, chilly perhaps," Leonora said. " I 
 could have lighted the fire. You spoil me terribly, 
 Pippin. It will be good for me to be left alone ! " 
 
 Pippin only hurried to touch a match to the 
 wood she had laid. " So you 'ad a pleasant d'y, 
 Miss?" 
 
 " Yes," Leonora said. " We had a lovely time 
 and I am dead tired. I like the Claverings! I 
 may tell you a secret, too, Pippin " 
 
 "Oh, Miss, what?" the girl's eager little face 
 came close to Miss Lawrence's, her hands clasped 
 ecstatically across her breast. 
 
 " Lady Maude and the Earl of Clavering are to 
 be married very soon ! " 
 
 Pippin drew back. 
 
 " Oh, Miss Lawrence ! " she cried in an agony of 
 disappointment. " Then what whatever about 
 you?" 
 
 " You foolish child," exclaimed Leonora. 
 
 " O Gawd-, Miss ! " Pippin wept ; " I wish, I wish 
 I was dead ! "
 
 PIPPIN 299 
 
 "Why, Pippin!" 
 
 " But Miss, Mr. Browne, 'e " 
 
 Leonora started. 
 
 " What about Mr. Browne? " 
 
 " 'E came to-d'y from Goshen " 
 
 Leonora rose like a cold white statue. 
 
 " I sent for 'im to come when 'e got 'ere, I 
 sent 'im aw'y ! " 
 
 " You sent for Mr. Browne he has been here 
 and you sent him away ? " 
 
 Pippin stirred roughly the tranquil curls on her 
 forehead. 
 
 " I did, Miss but," she cried, looking up wildly, 
 "you had wrote 'im su'think 'arsh. He said you 
 did it was n't all me. You 'd sent 'im a let- 
 ter" 
 
 " Let me understand," commanded Leonora, 
 gripping the girl's shoulders. " Mr. Browne came 
 came here and you sent him away? " 
 
 Pippin blurted out guilty assent, her shoulders 
 quivering in the painfully tense-fingered grasp. 
 
 " What right had you? " cried Leonora. " How 
 dared you ? How dared you - are you privileged 
 to interfere with my very life's happiness and 
 his? Oh, what a fool I have been! I have put 
 myself actually in your keeping, in your meddling 
 child's hands" 
 
 " I thort it was for your life's 'appiness I sent 
 'imorf!"
 
 300 PIPPIN 
 
 " What, oh, what have you done to me?" 
 
 Leonora released her, turned to the mantelshelf, 
 her head sinking upon her arms, sobs came fast and 
 furious. 
 
 " What 'ave I done ? " Pippin questioned with 
 fearful uncertainty. 
 
 Her hands groped yearningly over the shaken 
 form. But slowly she drew back, seeing in its 
 enormity the thing she had done. The weeping 
 filled the room, despairingly. Numb, cold and 
 deathly frightened, stood Pippin, trying to think. 
 Suddenly to her ears came footsteps and voices. 
 
 " 'Ere 's Miss Lawrence's room. Can you see, 
 sir? One more step, there! I told 'er, as you 
 would n't go so easy ! " 
 
 It was the caretaker speaking. 
 
 "Wouldn't go? of course not. There's been a 
 misunderstanding." 
 
 " Dandy ! " shrieked Pippin. 
 
 She sprang to the door, but was fairly trampled 
 back by the advance of none other than Mr. Charles 
 Browne. 
 
 " Molly ! " he cried. He did not say Leonora. 
 
 " Charlie ! " came in a sob of answering gladness. 
 His arms opened, closed and clasped her to him. 
 
 " Dear little runaway Molly ! " 
 
 " Charlie," she still sobbed. " I was afraid you 
 had gone ! " 
 
 "After this, Victoria Alexandra," sternly spoke
 
 PIPPIN 301 
 
 Dandy looking in at Pippin, " perhaps you '11 mind 
 your own affairs ! " 
 
 But she stared as though the faint forms there 
 in the flickering candle-light were only ghosts. 
 
 " Perhaps she will, but she won't," added the 
 caretaker officiously. 
 
 Pippin answered looking out at Dandy con- 
 tritely: "I will, s'elpme!"
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 T is too long for you by just the width 
 of one ruffle, Pippin ! " Miss Law- 
 rence stepped back to survey the little 
 figure standing on a chair in her re- 
 cent gift of the pink ruffled frock. 
 " Then I 've to lose a whole flounce, Miss ! " re- 
 gretted Pippin, twisting for a better view in the 
 small mirror over the chest. " I always feared 
 I 'd 'ave cause to be sorry for not growing a bit 
 more ! " 
 
 " This is a time for nothing but happiness," re- 
 minded Leonora. " Now get your scissors and be- 
 gin!" 
 
 " Right ! " Pippin gathered the skirt round her 
 and jumped to the floor. " 'Ear the flutist, Miss 
 practise do make perfect! " 
 
 Leonora was busy packing and could not attend. 
 She came upon a pair of pink slippers and held 
 them up, looking at Pippin. Her eyes grew 
 rounder, raised to Leonora's questioningly. Leo- 
 nora nodded. Pippin came forward. 
 
 " Oh, Miss " she took the slippers tenderly. 
 " I 've often looked at 'em an' felt the satin. You 
 are too good ! " 
 
 302
 
 PIPPIN 303 
 
 " Now," said Leonora, " you will be all in pink 
 ^ a little pink bride ! " 
 
 "I ort to be very 'appy," Pippin said, folding 
 this last gift to her. 
 
 " Ought to be Pippin ? " 
 
 " I am 'appy, Miss." Pippin looked up at Miss 
 Lawrence. " It 's just a bit 'ard letting you go, 
 just a bit!" 
 
 Two tears trembled on her lashes, rolled down 
 the apple-cheeks and splashed on the sole of one 
 slipper. 
 
 " I 'd never ask for nothink better than to stay 
 and do for you. It 's been so different since that 
 day I found you, Miss. It 's very 'ard giving 
 you up ! " 
 
 " Giving me up to happiness ! " reminded Miss 
 Lawrence. " When I want to be given up to go 
 back with Mr. Browne to Goshen, Indiana? And 
 I '11 write often, please, ma'am " 
 
 Pippin laughed in spite of her grief. 
 
 " I want to give you up to 'appiness," she ad- 
 mitted, " and that do seem to be Mr. Browne ! " 
 
 " It is ! " exclaimed Miss Lawrence. 
 
 Pippin was marveling: 
 
 " 'Ow quick it '11 be over ! You 're Miss Law- 
 rence now; you go out, meet Mr. Browne, and in 
 another hour you are Mrs. Browne ! " 
 
 "Yes, it's very simple." But Leonora blushed 
 happily. 
 19
 
 304 PIPPIN 
 
 "If it 'ad n't been for Dandy, though, Miss!" 
 Pippin recalled. " ' Who 's that ? ' he says to me, 
 when 'e saw Mr. Browne walking out last night. I 
 tells 'im. Without a ' If you please,' Dandy walks 
 out after the gentleman, his own master in the bar- 
 room too, Dandy walks out " 
 
 " I shall always love Dandy ! " Leonora said. 
 
 " A near thing," Pippin admitted, with guilty rec- 
 ollection. 
 
 But Miss Lawrence began humming " Way 
 Down South in Dixie." Wisely she must refrain 
 from admitting that it was after all due to Pippin 
 that Charlie Browne had come at all. And in a 
 few more hours she and Charlie were to be mar- 
 ried; that afternoon after the play. She bent her 
 happy blushing face over the trunk. When last 
 night, she had looked up from his comforting arms, 
 Charlie had whispered : " Get your hat, Mollie ! " 
 
 And down in the Court while they walked, how 
 quickly she had told of all the past weeks of hope, 
 vain endeavor, and despair. And at last success, 
 but not happiness. 
 
 " I wanted you, Charlie," she told him honestly, 
 gladly. " And I had to come way over here and 
 suffer to find it out ! " 
 
 So he would not wait for anything more. She 
 must take him now, he said. There was nothing 
 to wait for and she wanted to take him now. 
 
 " Not another tear ! " she commanded, as look-
 
 PIPPIN 305 
 
 ing up, she saw Pippin shedding some in secret. 
 " And I think the heels are too high for you on the 
 pink slippers; Cobbler Miles can fix them." 
 
 " 'E shan't touch 'em, please, Miss ! " Pippin 
 put them down carefully. " I must 'elp you or 
 you '11 never get your packing done an' then what '11 
 Mr. Browne s'y ? " 
 
 She was taking the things from the drawers, 
 when she looked up at the wall over the fireplace. 
 She crossed the room, moved a chair and stepping 
 upon it reached for the picture of His Majesty, the 
 King of England. 
 
 " Miss," she said, " I 'd like you to 'ave His 
 Majesty to take 'im with you, back to Goshen, 
 Indiana. Mar would wish it, too," she added 
 quickly, seeing that Miss Lawrence seemed to hes- 
 itate. " Will you take 'im, Miss ? " 
 
 She held out the picture, looking back over her 
 shoulder at the Queen. 
 
 " They must part like you an' me, Miss ; King 
 Edward goes with you, Her Highness stops with 
 me!" 
 
 " Can Her Highness spare him ? Can you, Pip- 
 pin?" 
 
 Pippin nodded gravely and Leonora accepted His 
 Majesty with all reverence and tenderness. 
 
 " Thank you, Pippin. I '11 never part with the 
 picture." 
 
 " In with 'im ! " cried Pippin, and taking back
 
 306 PIPPIN 
 
 His Majesty, wrapped the picture carefully first in 
 tissue paper, then in a pink silk kimono, and placed 
 it tenderly in a nook in the trunk. 
 
 " And put the sofy cushion with the big * H ' on 
 it, atop of 'im, Miss, to keep 'im safe I'm so 
 pleased," she sighed, " that there is su'think " 
 she paused, quick to realize beside the gratification 
 of bestowing this treasure upon her friend, the su- 
 perb benefit to her Sovereign's likeness. In the 
 home of the Browne's low temptation would not 
 abide. His Royal Highness could hang unmo- 
 lested; there become forever disassociated with 
 even a memory of the demon Drink! He would 
 have been safe enough with her now ah yes! 
 Yet something about his going helped to dispel the 
 past. 
 
 " My word ! 'Ow time do go to-d'y," she cried 
 as the clock on the mantel struck. " Sally will be 
 along soon now." 
 
 " And I must hurry, too," added Leonora, bend- 
 ing over her trunk again. 
 
 But again Pippin stopped her. 
 
 " Miss," she whispered softly. 
 
 Leonora looked up. Pippin held up her finger. 
 
 " It 's come true what Mrs. Crimmins Miles I 
 mean, said about the little room being lucky ! " 
 
 They both stood silent. Teddy twittered hap- 
 pily. The kettle on the hob sang softly and from 
 above the gentle queen looked down still smiling.
 
 PIPPIN 307 
 
 " Pippin ! I s'y, Pippin ! " It was the cry of 
 Dad Raymond in the hall. 
 
 For a moment Pippin looked terrified, then her 
 face cleaned and she went to the door. 
 
 "Dad!" 
 
 " The sime," said he. 
 
 " Why, Dad " 
 
 " Flossie sent 'em ! " he told her, extending a 
 bouquet of white marguerites, " with 'er compli- 
 ments and thanks for the invitation." 
 
 Mr. Raymond coughed a little anxiously. 
 
 " Do I get it right that it 's a box party you in- 
 vites us to? " 
 
 "Right-O!" cried Pippin. 
 
 " I can't stop now," he said. " I 've a chimney 
 to sweep out and to get 'ome and washed up before 
 time to start to the pl'y! An' Flossie draws me 
 p'y! I'd be on the streets, if I didn't do what 
 she says." 
 
 " I am glad you 're so 'appy, Dad," said Pippin, 
 hiding her smile in the marguerites. " Give my 
 love to Flossie an' " 
 
 "You won't let on I've said anythink?" he 
 begged, " an', I s'y, Pippin, come round to tea, will 
 yer?" 
 
 "Rather! S'long, Dad." 
 
 He went off, not like a henpecked husband, but 
 with quite a jaunty air. 
 
 " An' 'e 'ad his tooth in," Pippin recalled with
 
 3 o8 PIPPIN 
 
 satisfaction as she put the marguerites in a glass of 
 water on the mantelshelf. 
 
 " That is a good sign," said Leonora. " It 
 shows " 
 
 " Flossie 's got the upper 'and ! " said Pippin. 
 
 Leonora laughed and catching up a shoe that 
 she had overlooked, crowded it into the top tray 
 and closed her trunk. She went to the mirror, 
 tucking back a stray lock of hair and taking up her 
 hat. 
 
 " Mr. Browne will come at any moment ! 
 There 's lunch, then the fitting of my gown, hat 
 and gloves to buy, all before the matinee ! " 
 
 " Miss Lawrence," began Pippin, " I am going 
 to tell you 'ow I feel 'ere ! " The pit of her stom- 
 ach seemed to be the seat of emotions with Pippin 
 and she now indicated it gravely. 
 
 " I wanted you to 'ave the Earl. I was quite 
 bashed when I found you was n't to. But the more 
 I thinks of Mr. Browne 'is lovin' eyes when 'e 
 talked o' you yesterd'y, his beautiful teeth when 'e 
 laughed for seeing you last night! I am very 
 pleased it 's to be Mr. Browne after all ! " 
 
 " Good ! " cried Leonora. " There ! There 's 
 some one in the hall now ! " 
 
 But without ceremony the door was opened and 
 the young visitor walked in. 
 
 " Hellow, Pippin, we 've come to the pl'y ! " 
 greeted little Hal and flew to her open arms.
 
 PIPPIN 309 
 
 " Oh, Miss, feel 'im," she cried as she released 
 the boy, to prod and sound his now firm and 
 changed little body. " 'E 's as plump an' beautiful 
 as a partridge 'ello, Sally ! " 
 
 Sally Taylor appeared in the doorway. 
 
 " My eye ! " approved Pippin, a little dazed how- 
 ever. 
 
 " Ain't Aunt Sally grand ? " cried the happy 
 boy. 
 
 Sally's bonnet had become a small bower of pop- 
 pies. Her hair had acquired a kink that must last 
 forever, the heavy bang meeting her faint brows 
 evenly. A quantity of pinchbeck jewelry, chains, 
 watch and two bead necklaces, was scattered over 
 her slender person. Her gloves stopped far below 
 the frill in her sleeve. 
 
 Standing on one foot she looked shyly at Miss 
 Lawrence, and Pippin. 
 
 " You 've sent me a shilling too much," she said, 
 taking one from her purse. 
 
 " Not a bit," said Pippin with financial insou- 
 ciance. " Hal is 'alf fare from your plice." 
 
 " You need n't have done it not after this rare 
 treat," insisted Sally, letting the shilling drop back 
 into her purse. " Well, Taylor comes on the next 
 train and is going straight to The Royal with the 
 boys!" 
 
 Sally stood on the other foot. 
 
 " Sit down, Sally," urged Miss Lawrence.
 
 3 io PIPPIN 
 
 " I hate new shoes," admitted Sally, dropping 
 into the proffered chair. 
 
 " May I come in ? " inquired Sally's mother from 
 without. 
 
 It was rather a solemn face that the caretaker 
 brought. She was not in gala dress yet and her 
 hair was still tightly bound in curlers, over these a 
 hair net. 
 
 " I 'm sorry to lose yer, Miss, indeed I am ! " she 
 said, mopping her face with her apron. 
 
 " I 'm not being lost," Leonora laughed. " I am 
 only going to be married and go home and I want 
 you all to remember me " 
 
 "Remember?" 
 
 "Who could help it?" 
 
 "Oh, Miss!" 
 
 Into the three earnest and admiring faces looked 
 Leonora. She took up something from the bed. 
 
 " They 're just little remembrances not even 
 quite new " She held out to Sally a long chain 
 of seed-coral, though another chain Sally hardly 
 seemed to need. A belt of beaded design she 
 dangled before the caretaker. " It lets out to fit 
 any waist," she said and then she cried, " And oh, 
 I want you all to know I 'm just awfully happy." 
 
 Sally and her mother were loud in their thanks 
 for the gifts and Pippin and Sally went to the win- 
 dow to look more closely at the coral chain. 
 
 " Very good," the caretaker sighed resignedly.
 
 PIPPIN 311 
 
 "Of course I 'd like to think of you married to an 
 earl" 
 
 " How silly, Mother ! " sniffed Sally, slipping on 
 the newest chain which went well with the others. 
 " I just told Mother downstairs," Sally went on, 
 turning to Miss Lawrence, " I told 'er / always be- 
 lieve in marrying your own color and kind. Fancy 
 mixing races up like that ! Americans and earls 
 Father feels the same way ! " 
 
 " Yes," admitted the caretaker. " Miles is all for 
 the American. I did n't see 'im give Miles any- 
 think last night, neither." Mrs. Miles paused at 
 this idea. " Miles an' me had hoped for your in- 
 fluence to get the Earl's patronage. Miles wanted 
 to get out a sign about it. ' Shoe-maker to the 
 Earl of Clavering,' it 'd be the making of 'im 
 Miles, I mean ! " 
 
 " For real influence of that sort, apply to Pip- 
 pin ! " Miss Lawrence told them slyly. 
 
 " I s'y," suddenly cried the boy ; " where 's din- 
 ner?" ' 
 
 " Bless 'is 'eart ! " Pippin drew him closer. 
 " Go an' give Miss Lawrence a kiss for she 's going 
 aw'y ; then I will give you an' Sally su' think to eat 
 before you start off to the pl'y. And I 've su'think 
 ever so nice to tell you ! " 
 
 He advanced sedately, his face now quite round 
 and merry, raised for the kiss. Leonora took up 
 the little hands, pressed them together upon a gold-
 
 3 i2 PIPPIN 
 
 piece and whispering in his ear, " To buy Pippin a 
 present," she kissed him on each cheek. 
 
 A cab rolled into the little court below. The 
 visitors rose, expectant. Leonora looked out of 
 the window, stepped to the mirror, and touched at 
 her hat. 
 
 " Good-by," she said, turning to them all. 
 " Good-by," she said, again looking over her shoul- 
 der at Teddy who stood quite still on his perch, 
 tipping his head questioningly. " Good-by little 
 room, good-by Your Majesty ! " 
 
 She smiled up at the gentle queen. 
 
 " I '11 see you off ! " insisted the caretaker, fol- 
 lowing with Sally, little Hal and Pippin, who car- 
 ried the satchels. 
 
 Mr. Browne was waiting. 
 
 " These are all my friends," Leonora told him 
 happily. 
 
 As he smiled at them all, swinging off his straw 
 hat gallantly, Leonora drew Pippin aside, flashed 
 before her the magic name of Toby Hamilton on a 
 sealed letter and whispered : " Post it, Pippin ! " 
 
 It was the same Pippin had noticed these two 
 days past in the top chest-drawer. A glance into 
 Miss Lawrence's eyes was enough. She snatched 
 the letter with a triumphant yell. 
 
 " I '11 post it awright," she chortled. 
 
 Mrs. Miles stayed a sudden tear with the tip of 
 her finger, and offered Mr. Browne her hand.
 
 PIPPIN 313 
 
 He shook it, shook Sally's then turned to Pip- 
 pin. 
 
 "We're friends!" he stated, pressing upon her 
 something crisp and rustling. 
 
 There was a brief struggle. Emotion must be 
 pumped back at a time when appearances count for 
 everything. Unlucky the bride, reluctantly given. 
 
 " Shake hands of the gentleman, Hal ! " she re- 
 minded with a little tug at his sleeve. 
 
 Hal and Mr. Browne though just met, gripped in 
 a man-to-man farewell. Mr. Browne opened the 
 cab door and turned eagerly to Miss Lawrence, his 
 arm slipped round her, drew her from the parting 
 advice of the friendly caretaker, the clinging clasp 
 and loving gaze of little Pippin. Pippin's hand 
 closed the cab door upon them, hers was the last 
 glance that met Leonora's in farewell. 
 
 " Remember, we 're going to have the loveliest 
 tea, you and I a great, big, farewell tea! And 
 I '11 always be good to His Majesty ! " 
 
 " Yes, Miss ! " very bravely. 
 
 But this was to Pippin the real good-by. She 
 had given Miss Lawrence back, back to the Amer- 
 ican. She went away from Jubilee Court to which 
 Pippin had brought her his ! 
 
 The trunk was hoisted, the driver took his seat, 
 the cab rolled away. The flutist trilled a merry, 
 joyful farewell, all unknowingly. Pippin clasped 
 her hands hardly conscious then of the substantial
 
 314 PIPPIN 
 
 banknote she held. She looked until the cab had 
 turned. 
 
 Miss Lawrence was gone. 
 
 The Earl of Clavering leaned over the bar, 
 brooding darkly. He seemed revengefully bent 
 upon taking his displeasure out on Pippin. 
 
 " What 'd she take the part away from the other 
 girl for, if she did n't care to stick to it? It 's not 
 what I 'd have looked for from Miss Lawrence 
 that 'sail!" 
 
 Pippin eyed him more in sorrow than anger. 
 
 " These unreliable Americans ! " He hesi- 
 tated for a stronger word. 
 
 " Well, your lordship has got the other un back, 
 now! " flared Pippin, " so that 's awright! " 
 
 " Ungrateful ! " regretted the Earl. 
 
 The matter was, the first Miss Nestor was re- 
 placing Miss Lawrence in the part. She knew the 
 lines and for lack of another engagement had been 
 her secret understudy at the suggestion of the patri- 
 otic and foxy Dicky Rogers. 
 
 " That 's the kind of acting his lordship wants ! " 
 he sniffed whenever he had smuggled the lady into 
 a seat to witness Miss Lawrence's rendition at The 
 Royal. 
 
 Privately she was overawed by what could be got 
 out of the part and regretted indulging the temper 
 that had caused her to throw it up; but she
 
 PIPPIN 315 
 
 sniffed with Dicky. And now Dicky was up in the 
 air! 
 
 " Ungrateful ! " muttered the Earl. 
 
 " I 'ope you don't mean me, sir," sighed Pippin, 
 " when you 've give me a box party ! " 
 
 The Earl did not fix the charge but went away 
 muttering. Pippin winked. There was more in 
 this than met the eye, any eye but hers at least. 
 Anger sometimes screens a bleeding heart. It 
 seemed sad for Lady Maude! All being quiet in 
 the barroom, Pippin slipped out, into The Royal 
 behind his lordship. The house was dark. " Miss 
 Nestor's Necklace " was on. Pippin's half-closed, 
 straining eyes found first Sally Taylor's poppy hat in 
 the stage-box. Sally clung to one Pippin took to 
 be Mr. Taylor, the play affecting them both greatly. 
 Mrs. Miles and her cobbler sat hand-in-hand, lost 
 Dad Raymond looked on, though certainly a lit- 
 tle dully. Flossy, handsome in red silk, was hold- 
 ing Hal close to them, his eager little compan- 
 ions, Sally's brothers. The dignified Dandy stood 
 and Pippin narrowed her doubting gaze ! But, 
 yes it was beside him Mr. Bertram Granville, 
 Dandy's master, the playwright. 
 
 Apparent indeed was his appreciation of the 
 leading lady his play was about to lose. Here a 
 wilful tear started but was quickly suppressed. It 
 was to happiness Miss Lawrence was going, Pippin 
 recalled. Just then Dad Raymond flopped, sank
 
 316 PIPPIN 
 
 sideways, but Flossie was there, prompt with a re- 
 mindful elbow. Pippin laughed softly. 
 
 " Thank Gawd for everythink," she murmured 
 with a contented sigh. 
 
 THE END
 
 
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