The Girl Scouts' Good Turn Part 18

But Marjorie's question was a little different.

"Where is Frieda Hammer?" She asked it seriously, trembling in spite of herself.

The fortune teller half closed her eyes, and there was intense silence for a moment. Then she replied slowly,

"New York!"

"Oh, thank you!" cried Marjorie, believing in spite of her better judgment. "And we'll find her, Lil!" she added, glancing significantly at her room-mate.

Around nine o'clock the dancing began, David Conner had naturally arranged Marjorie's program to give himself the first dance.

"Did you know Jack invited me home with him for Thanksgiving?" he asked, watching her closely, hoping to see an expression of pleasure cross her face.

But her eyes did not change.

"That's nice," she replied. "I'm sorry I won't be there--I've accepted an invitation to go home with my room-mate."

David looked disappointed. Did Marjorie still care for John Hadley, to the exclusion of all other boys? He could not help wondering about it, and, somehow, felt vaguely jealous.

The hour and a half of dancing pa.s.sed all too quickly, and the girls were summoned by Miss Phillips to get their wraps. As the boys joined them to accompany them back to school, David sought Marjorie, hoping to have her to himself. But he did not find her conversation very satisfactory, for her mind seemed far away, and he was relieved to have Lily and d.i.c.k join them.

Marjorie had enjoyed her evening, but now she was eager to be alone with Lily, to discuss, in private, what the fortune teller had said about Frieda's whereabouts.

"And I really can't help attaching some importance to what she said,"

she remarked, when the girls were finally alone. "Oh, Lil," she added, "just suppose we should find her! This very week, perhaps!"

"But New York's a big place, Marj!" observed Lily, rubbing her eyes, sleepily. "So don't get your hopes too high!"

CHAPTER XIII

THE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAYS

Seven o'clock came all too soon for Marjorie and Lily, as they opened their eyes at the sound of the rising bell.

"Don't you wish we could stay in bed?" yawned Marjorie, glancing at the clock.

"We can to-morrow; mama will let us have breakfast in bed every single morning, if we like."

"Oh, Lil, that sounds too good to be true! I know we'll have a wonderful time."

There were only three hours of cla.s.ses; after an early luncheon, school was dismissed. Everybody took the one-o'clock train for home.

"Frieda saved me the trouble of expressing my canoe home," remarked Marjorie, when the girls were comfortably seated together in the train.

"But how I wish I'd find it--and her, too!"

"Maybe we shall," said Lily. "Don't forget the fortune teller!"

"But New York's pretty big, isn't it?" Having lived all of her life in a small town, Marjorie had only a vague idea of the size of the great city.

Lily laughed good-naturedly. "Wait till you see it," she said. "It's simply tremendous--and so crowded and confusing."

"Poor Frieda!" sighed Marjorie.

Mrs. Andrews's chauffeur met the train, bringing the former's regrets at not being present in person.

"Mama's out so much," explained Lily. "Teas and charity work, you know."

As Marjorie entered the big limousine, she realized that she had never ridden in so luxurious a car before. She glanced at the soft upholstery, the bouquet of real flowers, and felt the warmth of the artificial heat.

Lily's parents were obviously rich, although the girl evidently gave it little thought now. But Marjorie remembered how impressed her room-mate had been with the fact when she entered Miss Allen's, and suddenly she decided that, had she known all this, she would not have blamed her so severely.

Then the streets claimed her attention. They were filled with traffic of all kinds, which she watched silently. Her thoughts flew to Frieda Hammer; she wondered what were her impressions as she entered this great, noisy confusion, that is called New York. How would she feel herself, if she had come all alone--with no Lily to direct her, no car to meet her, no friends to entertain her? Alone, with little or no money in her purse, and no qualifications to fit her for work! She shuddered at the very idea; a sort of despair seized her, so that for the instant she suffered vicariously as acutely as if she were the other girl in the situation.

But Lily's voice brought her back to reality.

"That was the Grand Central Station, where we came in," explained the New York girl. "And this is Sixth Avenue."

"And you live in an apartment, too, don't you, Lil?" asked Marjorie, her gaze resting upon her companion. "Do you know, I've never been in an apartment!"

"It's an apartment-hotel," corrected Lily. "We don't even get our own meals!"

Half an hour later, the girls were sitting in Lily's dainty boudoir, sipping chocolate and enjoying a glorious hour of pure idleness.

"Are we doing anything to-night, Lil?" asked Marjorie, leaning back contentedly against the cus.h.i.+ons on the window seat. "Not that I think we need to----" she hastened to add, lest her hostess might attribute her remark to impoliteness.

"Yes, we're going to the theater," replied Lily, laughingly. "It's a musical comedy. I hope you will like it."

"I'm sure I will. Do you know, Lil, I've never been in a real theater in my life!" She paused a moment, and then blurted out, unexpectedly, "Suppose Frieda should be a chorus girl! Do you think we'd recognize her, with all her paint and powder, if she were?"

Lily smiled at the other's simplicity. Evidently Marjorie had no conception of the great number of theaters in New York, or of the difficulty, for a novice, in obtaining a part in a show. And the idea of Frieda Hammer--rude, awkward, and uncouth--on the stage, was absolutely grotesque.

"I hardly think she'd be able to get the job, Marj," she replied, succeeding in hiding her amus.e.m.e.nt. But in order to forestall any more such remarks, she decided to change the subject.

"We're going to the game to-morrow," she announced, "with papa and mama, and----"

But Marjorie was only politely enthusiastic.

"We surely won't see Frieda there," she remarked. "Isn't it dreadfully expensive?"

"Not only that, but she wouldn't be interested. Of course, Frieda Hammer wouldn't understand football! But I'll tell you who will be there!"

"Who?"

"Guess!"

"The boys?"