The Argosy, Vol. 82 No. 2 — page 42: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

224 “And now,” floated over to them in Mary’s pleased voice, “I'll just make the sauce for the little puddings and then every- thing will be ready. But I do wish I could have had the fresh mushrooms and the anchovies.” They seated themselves for supper at eleven o’clock. At eleven-five, except for Mary Callum, they felt themselves satiated, for it was not the sort of meal to be lingered over. The viands, concocted with astounding ingenuity from a limited supply of raw ma- terials, were strange and wonderful; there were stone-like shells, damp inside, which one mistook for biscuit at first glance; there was bacon, thoroughly burned and served with a rich sauce, and there were canned beans, reprocessed @ Ja Mary Callum, so that they resembled sweetened bullets. Dis- concerting disks, drowned in molasses, swashed before the company and _ con- founded them, and there was incredible cof- fee and several other dishes. Cragg, edging cautiously from the circle of light, paused at a distance. In the bushes several soft rustlings were followed by sev- eral soft thuds and then by the whine of a chauffeur still supperless. Hapworthy, having settled next to Jane Fayre, giggled slyly and addressed her in a confidential undertone; and Farnham, not- ing this even as he grew thunderstruck at his supper portion, scowled blackly and finally took to watching Aunt Hettie, who gazed at her own tin plate with a heart- broken, embittered smile. But Mary, happy and unconscious of her crime, ate blithely, pausing now and then to taste critically of this or that morsel and seeming each time satisfied that the desired result had been attained. She sat back and smiled sleepily as she said: “Tt wasn’t so bad, everything consid- ered.” “Tt was—er—lovely!” Jane Fayre mur- mured kindly, as Mr. Farnham inconspicu- ously shied the last of her bacon into the protecting darkness. | “And for breakfast I’ll make—” “We needn’t think of breakfast now, Mary,” Aunt Hettie put in grimly. “Which tent is mine? Where is it?” “There is only one—one tent,” Jane fal- tered, “and it is ours, aunt—yours and Mary’s and Mrs. Hapworthy’s and mine, that is. Jack must have forgotten the oth- ers. And he forgot the beds, too, I think. THE ARGOSY. We'll just have to crawl fn and sleep on a blanket, Mr. Farnham says.” “And on a glorious night like this—” Mr. - Farnham began. Aunt Hettie’s wordless cry stopped him; Aunt Hettie, even now, was tottering to- ward the little square of white canvas across the clearing. Mr. Hapworthy, rising, as- sisted Jane to her feet quite unnecessarily and held out his hand. “Good night, Miss Fayre,” he said feel- ingly. ‘Good night,” Jane responded listlessly. “And pleasant dreams and re “Let Miss Fayre go to them!” his wife put in sharply and looked at Jane with eyes that burned suddenly. Jane started annoyedly—and started again within the second, for Mary Callum’s voice rose suddefily as Cragg shuffled past her with both hands full of soiled tin plates. “Why, somebody didn’t finish his pud- ding!” Mary cried. ‘And—oh, who left her beans and—oh!” Her voice broke and her slender white hands went up in pure overwhelming grief. ‘‘Why, there’s ever so much left and—” Aunt Hettie took her arm firmly. ‘““Come to bed child!” said Aunt Hettie’s grim voice. ~ “T—-I don’t believe any one liked their supper!” Mary quavered regardless of grammar. ‘“‘No one can please everybody,” Farn- ham said hastily. “What I liked especially —and it was the very finest I ever tasted, too!—was the—” A sob stayed him. Mary Callum leaned weakly against Aunt Hettie and covered her her face; and thus Aunt Hettie led her away. Jane looked dazedly after them. Mrs. Hapworthy, standing her ground firmly, waited for Jane to move from the person with the china-blue eyes—and suddenly Jane turned and fled tentward. There were, it seemed, no conventional preparations for this night’s slumber; given two blankets and a tent barely sufficient to permit of their being stretched to their full width, it was plain that one merely crawled in upon the under blanket as one was, drew up the other blanket and, ostensibly, pil- lowed one’s cheek on Nature’s bosom and dropped into dreamless sleep. Aunt Hettie had already entered with the lantern and Mary Callum was trailing limply after; side by side they surveyed the lonely blanket ECOMMICLOO® C S (C@)