Astra (19 page)

In the morning she woke with a comfortable feeling that she had had a good time and had made a true friend, no matter how many mink coats there were to the contrary. She went down to breakfast, and while she was eating, decided that when she had done a good morning’s work, she would call up Mr. Lauderdale and get things fixed up for Tilly, then either today or tomorrow she would take a run out and set Tilly’s mind to rest.

She stopped at the desk to see if there was any mail for her, and then remembered that the only address the Lesters’ knew was care of Mr. Sargent. So, if Marmaduke had written in a disagreeable strain, as undoubtedly he would do when he got around to it, it could not reach her until that Sargent secretary forwarded it to her.

So she went to her room quite contentedly.

She had brought her portable typewriter over with the papers from the Albans’ house, and she went quite happily to work, cleaning and oiling and putting it in first-class order. Then she went at the typing with zeal.

As she read a few pages over, she could almost hear the dear, familiar voice of her dead father as he dictated them to her. Such a little time before, it seemed to her now. Being back in the home surroundings seemed to bring it so much nearer. All that long, monotonous, uncongenial time at the Lesters seemed to have vanished now, leaving little behind to remember. How surprised they would be if they knew she felt that way!

At eleven o’clock she called up Mr. Lauderdale and told him what Tilly’s son-in-law was trying to put over on poor Tilly and received his assurance that nothing of the sort had been said by him, that the young man had done all the talking and made it very plain that Tilly
wished
to give up the house. He advised her that it would be a good thing if he could have a talk with Tilly. Could she get in touch with her and bring her to his office that afternoon?

“Of course her son-in-law can’t do anything to harm her. I’ll call Mr. Boyd. He’s the head of that pension affair and fixed it up for her. We’ll get it all straightened out so she can have an easy Christmas. Now, how about that unpleasant cousin of yours? Have you heard from him again?”

“Not yet,” said Astra, with a worried look in her eyes. “The wedding they went out to attend was Saturday night. They wouldn’t have had time to do much yet. Besides, your letter must have reached them about the time my letter did, and that may have stalled them off a bit. Though if I know Cousin Duke as well as I think I do, it may have only made him angrier. I wouldn’t be in the least surprised if he took the first plane he could get and came over here to force me back there!”

“So! Well that’s bad! I’m sorry I arranged to go away. Of course, if he arrives before I leave, or you have word that he is coming, I’ll put off my departure. But if he should turn up after I’ve gone, you write me or call me up, and I’ll fly back at once. I’m not going to run any risk of your being harrassed!”

“Oh, no indeed! You mustn’t think of doing that! I’ll manage. And besides, he doesn’t know where I am staying. He sent his telegram to Mr. Sargent’s office, and the secretary forwarded it to me.”

“Oh, is that it? Well, leave it to me then. I’ll see that that secretary doesn’t give him your address. In fact, I think she told me she or her assistant is to be away after tomorrow till the end of the week. I’ll look after them, anyway. And it will probably take him a little time to find you. You might decide to spend Christmas with friends and not be immediately available. But be sure to keep me in touch with you at all times. Haven’t you a few friends upon whom you can call if you are in a trying situation?”

Astra thought instantly of Cameron, but immediately put him out of her mind. She didn’t want to tell the story of how she came to know Cameron, not just yet. It was all right, of course, but Mr. Lauderdale might not understand. Besides, Cameron was to be away over Christmas. Well, she wouldn’t need any help, of course. It wasn’t in the least likely that Miriam would let Duke run away until all her plans were carried out.

“Why, yes,” she said after a second’s hesitation. “I have plenty of friends, only I didn’t want to let them know I was here until after the holidays. They would feel they must invite me, and I’m not ready yet to be invited. If it hadn’t been for my cousins’ absence, I wouldn’t have chosen just this time to come, but I thought it would be easier to run away when they were not there. Of course, though, if it came to an emergency, there are several people I can go to. But the Lesters wouldn’t be as bad as that. If they should come and insist that I go back with them, I would tell them I must stay till you get back to sign some papers, or something like that.”

“You’re a smart girl. I believe you’d make a good lawyer. Well then, run along, child, and take things easy. I’ll see that you have all the addresses you need, and I’ll be right there at the end of the wire whenever you choose to call me. Now go and see what you can do with Tilly. The earlier this afternoon the better. That will help a lot.”

So Astra went out to Willow Haven and dragged Tilly away from a washing she was doing at home for a woman in the village. She made Tilly leave her clothes soaking, promising to return soon so she could finish.

Poor Tilly was greatly delighted to see her, for after Astra had left she had been regarding her visit in the light of a vision or dream that couldn’t possibly be true, and she had even gone on getting her things in order, with the probability in mind that she was going to have to leave her home and go into family servitude.

Tilly was hustled into her best bib and tucker, without any chance to let her recalcitrant son-in-law know what she was going to do. She was taken by the next bus into town, arriving in the lawyer’s office almost as soon as he returned from his late lunch.

Mr. Lauderdale was most kind and put poor frightened Tilly at ease at once. And after the matter of the pension and the reduced rent were all fixed up with definite papers to prove it, and fully explained to Tilly so that she couldn’t be bullied by her son-in-law any longer into thinking she had lost her home, Astra took Tilly out and gave her a delicious lunch, ending with mince pie a la mode. She also bought her three pairs of warm woolen stockings and a pair of kid gloves for a Christmas present. Then she gave her a crisp new ten-dollar bill and put her on the bus back to Willow Haven.

Astra went back to her lodging place with a lighter heart. That matter was settled, and she knew that Tilly was a great deal happier. There might be trouble with her family later, but Tilly was well fortified with knowledge now and could hold her own.

Back in her room, Astra did a few more pages of typing and wrote a letter to her father’s publisher to say that she was trying to get in shape the article for which they had asked and hoped to have it ready for them to see very soon.

When she went down to the Association restaurant for her dinner, she found she was very hungry. She had worked hard and really accomplished something worthwhile. She felt she was doing what her father would have wanted her to do, and it made her very glad. And so far she had been able to put out of her mind to a certain extent, the vision of Cameron, who had seemed to possess her for several days. But seated in the restaurant now she felt very lonely and couldn’t help thinking back to the pleasant meals they had enjoyed together.

Becoming suddenly aware of how her thoughts were flying back to him again now that her mind was not busy, she hurried with her eating. She would do something to break this up quickly, even if she had to go back to her work on the typewriter. She simply must not get silly about a young man. A stranger, too! Although her heart denied that, even as she thought it. He wasn’t a stranger. He never could be, and whether she ever saw him again or not, she would always count on him a real friend. Besides, a man who owned such interest in Christian things
had
to be a friend. If he had taken Christ as his Savior, and he certainly talked as if had, then he was a fellow child of God. That brought a relationship which was not to be measured by human standards. It was the fellowship of those who love the Lord.

Up in her room again, her first act was to kneel by her bed and pray for Cameron with her whole heart, that he might truly take Christ as his Savior, that he might be guided in his life, and that he might be kept safe from harm. And she prayed for herself, that she might not let her thoughts wander where they had no business to be, that her life might be a true witness to all with whom she came in contact, and that she might be kept safe from harm and dangers and led in God’s ways.

Then she got up from her knees and went back to her work.

About ten o’clock, there came a telephone call from Cameron.

“Sorry to disturb you, but I suggested that I might come over a few minutes this evening, and I was afraid you might wait up for me. So I’m calling to say it is impossible for me to come tonight. I got involved with a man on business and couldn’t get done sooner. And it turns out after all that I am not leaving for the old home in the morning as I planned. I can’t possibly get off now before Wednesday morning. But even at that, I shall be able to spend Christmas Eve with my stepmother, and she will like that, I know. So perhaps I may be able to run in on you tomorrow night and wish you Merry Christmas. Sorry not to have been there tonight, of course. I hope I didn’t spoil any possible plans for you. Good night. I have to take my man to the train now, but I’ll be seeing you again soon, if you don’t mind.”

The tone was that of a real friend, a comrade, and she felt her own voice had been a bit breathless as she answered him. She hoped he hadn’t noticed it. But it was nice to have someone in a whole wide city to say good night to when she felt so alone. Tomorrow night! Well, that would be something nice to look forward to, even if it didn’t really happen when the time came. It gave a friendly feeling to the world. And, of course, he was a man of business and couldn’t be counted on to keep casual appointments every time. Every sensible busy person had to remember that.

So she curled up on her couch and read a magazine for a little while before retiring, telling herself all the time what a very nice time she was having away here on her own, getting work done and enjoying herself.

And nearer and nearer came Christmas. That day means so much in home life, the crowning peak of all the joyousness of the year. Christmas was going to be a lonely day. Really, tomorrow she must take a little time off and think up something nice and Christmasy to do for somebody. If she had a lot of money, she would do something for the people in this building where she had found a temporary home. Something cheering that would bring brightness into every life. Say a rosebud, or a carnation, sent up to every room with a tiny label, “From a fellow guest, with Christmas Greeting.” Should she do it? Oh, likely all the girls and women who lived here had Christmases of their own, friends who would give them gifts, but a single blossom couldn’t do any harm to anyone, and she could put a Christmas text on the flower. Well, that was a thought. If she couldn’t find any better way of celebrating, she might try that. Of course, it would have to be strictly incognito, but it would be fun to watch their faces. Would they wear the flowers? Should she do that? Well, she would think about it. Since there was no likelihood of her having any Christmas of her own except in her heart, why not do something for somebody else? At least there could be joy in that.

Of course there were other things that could be done. There were little children in some of the city’s slum streets, not far away probably. A box of candy, passed around among some of the dirty-faced urchins who would have no real Christmas. A handful of tiny, bright little dolls, some red Testaments in attractive covers. Ah! There were ways to spend money. Someday, if all went well, when she came into her own, here were thoughts to put aside and remember. She wrote some of them down idly. She might decide on one plan and try it out, and maybe another year she could try others. Surely there must be some way in which a lover of the Lord Jesus could get the story of His birth, and the reason why, across to some of the people on the earth to whom God’s children were supposed to witness. The great gift of salvation, the forgiveness of sin. If people knew how to get forgiveness of sin, it would make a real Christmas for them. Well, if she ever had opportunity to talk things like that over with Cameron, it certainly would be interesting to see what he thought about it.

And with that thought, Astra decided it was time to go to sleep. But definitely she made up her mind as she drifted off to sleep, that she would find some way to bring a Christmas message to someone this year.

And then she dreamed that she was talking it over with Cameron, and the look he gave her fully approved of it all.

T
he stepmother’s letter reached Cameron late Wednesday afternoon when he rushed back to his room to fling a few things into a bag, preparatory to taking the evening train.

She had written it after due deliberation on Sunday evening and given it to a neighbor the next morning to mail “special delivery,” and then she had gone about her preparations for the journey to her sister Nancy’s home. But the neighbor had put the letter in his pocket and forgotten all about it until late Tuesday afternoon, when he mailed it just as the post office was closing. So it finally came to Cameron’s notice about the middle of Wednesday afternoon and halted his preparations at the last minute.

He frowned when he read the letter. It seemed so unlike his stepmother to do things in that way. She hadn’t been very close to that sister for years, and it wasn’t in the least like her to start up suddenly and run away when she knew he was coming. However, it seemed reasonable.

But afterward, as he was taking the first leisure breath of the day and wondering what he should do next, the telephone rang, bringing the voice of his plotting sister Rosamond, and then he wondered again.

“Charlie,” she said in her usual pleading voice that always took him for granted, “are you in a very kindly gentle mood, and are you going to be very good to your wornout sister Rosamond? Because I’m going to ask a very great favor of you, and in turn, I’ll be glad to do anything in the world you want. Now be a good brother and say yes, before I ask you, won’t you?”