Girl to Come Home To (29 page)

So before Jessica left her room, she went carefully about, examining even the wastebasket to make sure there wasn’t a scrap of precious notes or papers that could possibly tell any tales about what she was doing.

Her baggage was locked and her door was locked when she came down the stairs, for it was too early for the elevator boy to be on duty. She gave careful directions to the office man at the desk, explaining that she was going to see a member of her family who was very ill, and she was not sure how long she would be gone. If she found she was needed she might remain a few hours and return this evening. On the other hand, she might stay for several days or even for a week or two. In which case she would telephone for some of her baggage, but for the present she was retaining her room.

Then with high head, she went briskly out the door as if for a pleasant visit and got into the taxi, feeling, perhaps, much like the fliers about to start on their first bombing mission.

Jessica had started early, following minutely the careful directions she had been given by her husband, and she arrived at the plant early, even earlier than she had hoped, and some minutes before the brothers reached there. She had made her entrance carefully, showing the badge and card and identification papers as she had been directed, and she had no trouble in getting to the office where Rodney was soon to arrive. A pretty woman seldom had difficulty in getting by, she reflected with satisfaction. She was beginning to get back her self-confidence.

The officer in charge of the rooms on that floor had given Jessica a sharp looking over, wondering a little at the style of secretary the new man had selected, but he let her in and hovered near the door to explain, once Rodney arrived, that he had let in his secretary just a minute ago. “Was that all right? She had all her papers and badge,” he said.

“Secretary?” said Rodney sharply, lifting his eyebrows, “Why—I—
haven’t
—any—secretary.” And then he stopped short and remembered that he was still a serviceman and there was no telling what the regulations here were to be. Perhaps they picked out his secretary for him! He didn’t like that. But perhaps it was only temporary.

Then the door swung open and there was a woman, working away at the safe!

Jessica had been furnished with the safe combination and been drilled carefully on how to open the safe swiftly. Moreover, she had just found the paper she was ordered to take, and as she heard the doorknob turn, she dropped the paper inside her handbag and turned, smiling pleasantly, toward the stern face of Rodney, who at once recognized her.

“Good morning!” said Jessica sweetly.

But Rodney’s face did not relax. He took one step to the desk that stood near the door, and whose accessories he had carefully studied before when he came to look things over. He slipped his hand across the top, down to the edge next to his chair where two small unobtrusive bells were located and touched them, one and then the other, twice. And instantly the door was stopped in its progress of closing and swung open again with the orderly standing there and the sound of tramping feet coming down the hall toward the door. Two burly officers came and stood saluting. “You called?” they said.

Rodney answered their salute.

“Take this person down to Major Haverly’s office at once,” he ordered. Gravely the officers advanced impersonally to the attractive, astonished, frightened young woman who stood before the safe with her hands full of papers.

“But—but—I’m Commander Graeme’s secretary!” she said in a frightened voice.

But Rodney paid no heed to her. “See that she is thoroughly searched!” he ordered. “She has no right to be up here.”

“But her papers seemed all right,” said the alarmed orderly.

“They can’t be all right,” said Rodney. “Take her at once, and don’t let her out of your sight. I’ll call Major Haverly.”

He went to the telephone. “Major Haverly,” he said in a low voice when the door was closed again, after the frightened girl and her escort, “I have just sent a young woman down to you under guard. I found her in my office standing in front of the safe, taking out papers. Please see that she is thoroughly searched and pay no attention to any of her claims. She is
not
my secretary and never has been, and you cannot always believe what she says. This is important. I haven’t had opportunity to see what is missing from the safe. I will check the list at once.”

“Yes, Commander Graeme. I will attend to your order. She has just arrived. Reporting later.”

Jessica was stiff with fright, yet she knew she must somehow brazen this out. If she only could get that terrible paper out of her bag. No matter what became of it, it wouldn’t be in her possession.

But when she tried to fumble with the clasp of her bag the sharp-eyed keepers watched her every move, and there presently arrived a woman to search her, who seemed to miss nothing. The officers were at a distance, but she knew she could make no move without their notice. Now if only that woman would only pass by that paper and not notice it!

But no! She opened the bag at last and found the paper the first thing. A gimlet-eyed woman who knew every sign of official paper and knew what was important and what was not.

“Officer!” she called, and handed over the paper, also the handbag.

Jessica began to cry. “But I need that bag,” she said, “and I need all those papers. Some of them aren’t mine.”

“That’s right, they’re not,” said the officer coldly. “You took some of these out of the safe.”

“No,” she said. “No, I didn’t. I only took out what I was told to take out. I’m a secretary, you know. I was sent to get them.”

“Who sent you?” The sharp eyes of three officers were instantly upon her. They saw her flinch. They knew her guilt. The head one spoke a single word, and the others put handcuffs on her slender wrists and marched her away to a small room that was like a prison cell. More orders were given in low tones, and then she was left there with two women police, and one orderly at the door.

She cried a lot and begged them to send for her friends. She said she had many friends both in the army and the navy who would help her. At last she asked them to send for her husband, and she was frightened afterward when she saw a knowing look pass between the men who were guarding her. Also she remembered Carver had told her
never
to speak his name or he would be in trouble. But surely he didn’t expect her to get arrested, did he? It was time he did something about this himself. He had no right to let her suffer. Even the blue diamond wasn’t enough to pay her for going through a thing like this.

By night Jessica was taken to a place of safekeeping. She was fed and made comfortable, but she was definitely a prisoner, and from remarks she overheard now and then she gathered that there were a lot more suspects in this also. Oh, what was she in for?

At last she wrote a most piteous note to Rodney, telling him what trouble she was in and asking him to come to her at once, but though they took the note, they did not give it to Rodney. He was having trouble enough rounding up others of this gang and going over a mass of important papers that had been tampered with. Of course this was something that had been going on before Jessica had arrived on the scene, but she was definitely linked up with it, and he suspected that the honorable old De Groot was at the bottom of the whole matter, which probably originated out of the country.

So that night Rodney did not get home to the delightful dinner that had been prepared. Instead he telephoned that there was trouble at the plant and he must stay till things were straightened out.

Jeremy came later for him in response to his phone call, and they felt that the real work of their new labors had begun in earnest.

Jeremy frowned when he heard that Jessica was connected with the trouble, and he blamed himself. “I knew
some
thing was going on,” he said, “but I didn’t suspect it was as serious as this. There’ll be a trial of course?”

“Sure,” said Rodney.

“She’ll try to get you to help her out,” said Jeremy.

“No way,” said Rodney. “They wouldn’t allow it, even if I would, and I don’t see getting into this. If she’s guilty, she’s guilty, and they’ll soon find it out. And even if she didn’t know any better, she has to learn her lesson. These people that play fast and loose with their country’s honor are just as bad as our enemies and need punishment every bit as much.”

“Certainly,” said Jeremy. “But what do you think will happen to them? Will they be shot?”

“Some of them, perhaps, but most of them will be put in jail well guarded. Better off than some of the war prisoners, of course, but they’ll not be able to carry on any of their machinations. They’ll be out of circulation till they learn how to be decent. Some of them will be out of circulation for life. But that’s the only way to make the world safe for the coming generation. Of course we can’t make the world perfect, and it won’t be, till the Lord Jesus comes, but it will help to have right living possible for everybody. They won’t all want it, nor take it, but those who want it ought to be able to get it and not be under the domination of cruel fools.”

So they talked it over, these two, who were sorely heavy-hearted over the world and the way that Satan had deceived the multitudes. But they went on, living near to God and trying not to bring their daily worries into their dear homes that were so precious to them.

A little later came the trial, for they had rounded up Jessica’s husband and his gang and were sifting the whole matter down to facts, and later the names all came out in the paper. They had all been sent away to a safe place, Jessica with the rest, and poor Louella read about it in the paper and cried a great deal. She went off to a lonely little hotel in a far part of California and disguised herself, fearing that she, too might be rounded up with the criminals because of her close association with Jessica.

But the dear young people about whom all this trouble had circulated and tried to harm, went strongly on in the power of their Lord and were glad that they had found each other and found a Lord who could sustain them.

Saturday was on its way, and Rodney was very glad that he need not worry anymore about Jessica, nor have to deal with her in any way. He knew she was in the hands of right and just men who would find out the truth if anybody could and deal with her as she should be dealt with in order to teach her righteousness of a sort, and make her see that she could not play with sin and treachery and not take the punishment when a law of the land was broken.

O
n Saturday, up in New York, Diana and Rodney walked into the Winters’ apartment just half an hour after the arrival of the father and mother.

They found Diana’s mother frantically trying to telephone her daughter back in Riverton.

It must be said that Mrs. Winters was at once impressed by Rodney’s uniform, not to mention the stripes and other decorations, all of which she took in thoroughly, at a glance, even while she was standing by the telephone, receiver in hand, insisting that the operator ring Riverton again.

Then when she saw Diana, who rushed to embrace her at once, she hung up the receiver and turned to face her and the young lieutenant commander with such notable decorations and such a handsome face.

It certainly was incredible, she thought, the way Diana always managed to attract the good-looking men, and high officers. This young man was almost better looking than Bates Hibberd. Where did she find him? Not surely in that little backwoods town of Riverton! Then she smilingly held out a welcoming hand and was introduced. Diana with pride gave Rodney all his titles, even the newly acquired one that he had only worn a day or two, and she had the great pleasure of seeing her mother look him over with eyes of approval.

Then she heard her father coming downstairs, and she called, “Daddy, come here! I want you to meet somebody I’ve brought home,” and there followed another introduction.

I knew Dad would like him, I knew, I knew
, she whispered to her heart as she saw the hearty grip he gave Rodney, and his smiling, interested glance.

Suddenly, as they all sat down and the mother was prepared to ask a few routine questions about their journey and so on, Diana burst in with her news. “Mother and Dad, this is a very special person I’ve brought home with me, because I am going to marry him just as soon as we can arrange it. We love each other, and we think that’s all that matters. He has a good government job, so I won’t starve, and I hope you’ll approve. This is Rodney’s place to say all this first, I know, but I wanted you to know where I stand before he begins, so there won’t be anything said that you’ll be sorry for afterward, because this is the man
I’m going to marry
!”

Then Rodney came to the front. “I didn’t know she was going to do this, first, but I hope you’ll excuse me for being slow. I came up here to ask your permission to marry your daughter. I’ve brought all my credentials with me, which you can examine at your leisure, but I sure hope you’ll approve, for I love her a lot, and I’m going to make it my chief business to make her happy as long as I live.”

Then Father Winters fell in line gallantly. “Well, young man, I don’t know you, of course, but I like your looks, and I’m willing to take you on faith until I can know you better.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Rodney warmly, grasping the offered hand of the man whom he had been afraid was going to be just another enemy to be conquered, as he had conquered the enemies across the water. But suddenly he knew that the eyes into which he was looking seemed definitely to be friendly eyes, and his heart grew warm and happy. Then he turned to meet the mother whom he had been led to understand would be the hard one to please.

But amazingly Mrs. Winters was smiling, looking almost shy as she held out a lovely hand. “Well, I guess what Papa has approved, I will have to approve, too,” she said in her most gracious manner. “But we love our girl a great deal, you know, and you’ll have to measure up to the requirements if you’re going to please us.”