The Mandie Collection (23 page)

No more was said about the dog that evening, and when it was time to retire, Mr. Guyer told Jonathan, “I would suggest you let the dog sleep in your room tonight so you will know where he is. We can't have him roaming all over the house.”

“Of course, Father,” Jonathan agreed with a big grin. “He can sleep on the rug right beside my bed, and I will see that my door is closed.”

When good-nights were said and the girls were alone in their room, Mandie thought about the girl as she undressed for bed.

“I wish we could help that girl. She looked like she could use some better clothes,” she said to Celia, who was already combing out her hair for the night.

“I know,” Celia agreed. “Maybe there's some way we can help her.”

Mandie drifted off to sleep that night wondering where the dog really came from and who the girl was. These things needed to be cleared up.

CHAPTER FOUR

WHAT A DAY!

Mandie was always an early riser, and she woke the next morning just as a maid came into the room she was sharing with Celia and quietly built up the fire in the fireplace, even though the great mansion had furnace heat going.

The maid, a young girl whom Mandie had never seen, looked up from where she was stooping by the fireplace as Mandie sat up in bed and said, “Good morning.”

“Guten morgan,” the girl quickly replied with a big smile as she shuffled the wood.

Mandie jumped out of bed and came to join her. “German!” she said. “You are German. I know because I went to Germany with my grandmother this past summer, and that is the way the German people say good morning.” Mandie grinned as she wrapped the loose nightgown around herself and sat on the carpet.

“Ja!” the girl replied shyly.

“And that means yes,” Mandie said. “But please don't say too much more in German because I don't know very much. You do speak English, don't you?”

“Ja, I speak American language,” the girl replied.

Celia had silently crawled out of her bed and joined them. She said,
“Mr. Guyer has so many people working here, and they're all different nationalities.” She flopped down by Mandie.

“German, French, Russian is all, and American,” the girl explained.

“So Zelda must be Russian. I couldn't figure her out,” Mandie said. “My name is Mandie Shaw. What is yours?” She wondered how old the girl was and decided she must not be much older than her own thirteen years.

“I am called Leila,” the girl said as she rose and pushed back her long reddish-blond hair and adjusted the tiny maid's cap on her head. She was young but she was tall and a little on the plump side. “I will go now,” she added, turning toward the door.

Mandie and Celia stood up by the fire and at that moment Snowball, who had been asleep in the middle of Mandie's bed, jumped down and came running to join the girls by the fireplace.

“Ah! He is the cat for the sandbox,” Leila exclaimed as she watched him. “Nice, pretty.”

“Thank you,” Mandie said. “His name is Snowball, and he belongs to me. I take him with me everywhere I go.”

“Does Snowball like the white dog Master Jonathan has in his room?” Leila asked.

Mandie laughed as she replied, “That white dog is afraid of Snowball.”

“Is Jonathan already up?” Celia asked. “Has he gone out yet?”

“Up and down the stairs with the white dog,” Leila said as she opened the door. “Now I fix fire in next room.” She went out into the hallway and closed the door behind her.

“Let's get dressed and see if we can find Jonathan,” Mandie said, rushing to open the huge wardrobe.

“And find something to eat,” Celia added as she followed.

Just as the girls were buttoning their dresses and smoothing out their long skirts, there was a soft knock on the door.

“Now, who can that be?” Mandie said, going to open the door.

The maid, Zelda, stood there in the hallway holding a silver tray. She came into the room and said, “Drink. Eat in half hour. I come back then.” She set the tray on a table nearby, and Mandie could see then that two crystal glasses full of orange juice stood beside a bud vase holding a bright red rose.

“Thank you,” Mandie told the maid as she left the room.

“This is nice,” Celia said, picking up one of the glasses and drinking from it.

“Yes, I agree,” Mandie said, taking the other one and sitting on a chair nearby. “I just wonder if we could find Jonathan.”

“Mandie, we might get lost, and Zelda said she would be back for us in thirty minutes,” Celia reminded her. “Besides, my mother is in the next room, remember, and we can't go running off without letting her know.”

“I'll be glad to find out what plans your mother has for us today,” Mandie said.

“We still have to finish getting ready,” Celia reminded her.

When Mandie and Celia were finally ready, the door opened to the bathroom between the two rooms, and Celia's mother came into their room.

The girls both eagerly greeted her with “Good morning” and “What are we doing today?”

Mrs. Hamilton smiled at them and said, “Well, for pity's sake, y'all make me feel so important I'm speechless.” She sat down on a chair near the girls.

“Oh, Mother, please tell us. Are we going shopping or sightseeing today?” Celia asked eagerly.

“I thought we'd do some of both,” Jane replied.

“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Hamilton. That's exactly what Jonathan suggested, and that's what we want to do,” Mandie told her.

“I'm not real interested in shopping, but I'll go along just to do the sightseeing,” Celia teased. “Besides, I don't have any money.”

“Celia, of course you have money. I brought enough for you to buy some new clothes and other things if you'd like,” Mrs. Hamilton told her in surprise. Then turning to Mandie, she asked, “Did your mother give you spending money?”

“Oh yes, ma'am,” Mandie told her. “I have a whole purse full of money, but I have no idea what I'll do with it.”

“Everything in New York is expensive, so you won't have any trouble getting rid of it,” Mrs. Hamilton said with a smile.

There was a knock on the door, and Celia opened it. Zelda was standing there in the hallway.

“You eat now,” the maid said, looking into the room and seeing Mrs. Hamilton. “We go.”

“Oh yes, thank you,” Mrs. Hamilton said.

Mandie quickly put Snowball in the bathroom and closed the door. Then they followed the woman downstairs to the dining room. Jonathan was waiting for them by the huge sliding doors made of mahogany to match the wainscoting.

“Good morning,” he greeted Mrs. Hamilton. “My father left his regrets, but he received a telephone call during the night and had to go down to Washington early this morning. He hopes to return by tomorrow night and should be home for Thanksgiving dinner, which is the day after tomorrow. I'm sorry.”

“I'm sorry we'll miss his company, but I understand,” Mrs. Hamilton said as Jonathan stepped aside and motioned for her to enter the dining room.

The three of them and Jonathan were seated at a long table covered with white linen and set with the finest china and silverware. A silver candelabra stood at each end. They made their plans for the day while the housekeeper, Mrs. Yodkin, stood by supervising the serving of the meal.

“My father told me to ask Jens to drive us in the motorcar wherever you wish to go,” Jonathan said. “Jens is the butler, you know, and he can drive the motorcar, but Hodson drives the carriage.”

“Thank you, Jonathan, but I think the carriage would be more practical for us to use,” Mrs. Hamilton told him.

“And more comfortable,” Jonathan agreed with a big grin.

Mandie and Celia looked at each other and breathed sighs of relief. They listened as Mrs. Hamilton and Jonathan mapped out their day, and everyone began filling their plates with food.

“Will I be able to take Snowball with me?” Mandie asked.

“Why don't you leave him here, Amanda? Some of the stores probably won't allow pets inside,” Mrs. Hamilton told her as she took a roll from the basket the maid was holding.

“Yes, and New York is awfully big for him to get lost in. We'd never find him,” Jonathan added as he took a sip of coffee.

“Then I'll have to feed him and shut him up in our room. I hope no one lets him out,” Mandie said. “Where is the white dog, Jonathan?”

“He's in the kitchen, where he's going to stay until we return. Mrs. Cook has made friends with him,” Jonathan explained.

“What if that girl comes back to claim him while we're gone?”
Mandie asked as she accepted potatoes from a tray being passed. Then she suddenly glanced down at what she had put on her plate.
These people eat potatoes for breakfast!
she thought.
How odd!
She looked around and saw that Celia and Mrs. Hamilton had both put potatoes on their plates.

“She won't be able to get him because Mrs. Cook has strict orders not to let him outside except when absolutely necessary, and then with strict supervision,” Jonathan replied. “She'll just have to come back when I'm home. I'm sorry for the inconvenience to her, but I can't stay home all day waiting for her to show up when she may never even come back.”

“Are you hoping that she doesn't?” Celia asked.

Jonathan grinned and said, “Sure, I'm hoping she won't be able to claim him, or that anyone else ever will. I'm positive he must belong to someone, but I don't believe that girl owns him.”

“We never did ask her where she lives or her name,” Mandie said.

“No, and that was a big mistake. I could have had someone check her out,” Jonathan said.

“The girl may never come back,” Mrs. Hamilton told him. “Surely she has some parents or somebody somewhere to see that she doesn't go running around on the streets alone at night in New York.”

“Anyhow, right now we've got things to do, like sightseeing,” Celia reminded them as she hurriedly ate her breakfast.

“Yes, the dog is safe, so let's get finished and get going,” Mandie agreed. She wasn't very hungry and had taken small portions of the food when it was passed.

They were soon on their way in the carriage. Jonathan instructed Hodson to drive slowly and be prepared to stop and let them out to walk around now and then.

Their first stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral. The girls were greatly impressed with the magnificent Gothic Revival style church as Jonathan acted as tour guide.

“This church took twenty-six years to build,” he told them as they stood on the sidewalk in front of it on Fifth Avenue. “It is a whole block long, from Fiftieth Street to Fifty-first Street.” He motioned up and down the street.

“How old is it?” Mandie asked as she leaned backward trying to see to the top of the spire in front of her.

“It was opened for service in 1879, and it is now 1901. But remember, it took all those years to build, so I suppose you'd calculate the age by what was constructed in what year,” he explained, becoming confused in his thought.

“In other words, pieces of it are actually older than others,” Celia said with a mischievous grin.

“Why don't we look inside?” Mrs. Hamilton told the young people as she walked up the steps to the huge doors.

Jonathan rushed ahead to open the door, then he followed the girls and Mrs. Hamilton inside, where they paused at the back to look around.

Mandie could feel the peaceful atmosphere as she gazed about at the beautiful carved woodwork and stained-glass windows. She stepped forward to look more closely at a pew when a dark form suddenly darted between the seats. She quickly moved in that direction to investigate.

“Amanda, where are you going?” Mrs. Hamilton asked in a whisper.

Jonathan had also noticed the movement, and he hurried after Mandie, who had not heard Mrs. Hamilton's question.

“That's the girl who came to your house!” Mandie whispered to Jonathan as she finally got a good look at the moving form.

Jonathan followed her gaze, but at that moment Mrs. Hamilton stepped forward and sternly caught Mandie by the hand. Without a word she swiftly pushed Mandie and Celia back to the outside door and Jonathan followed.

“There are people praying in there,” Mrs. Hamilton scolded the young people. “We can't go running around and disturbing them.”

“But I saw that girl in there who claimed the white dog,” Mandie replied. Mrs. Hamilton frowned at her. “I'm sorry,” Mandie continued.

“I think we'd better go now,” Mrs. Hamilton said.

They returned to the carriage to continue their sightseeing, and Mandie could tell that Mrs. Hamilton was upset by her behavior. She didn't know what else to say, so she tried to remain silent, but her friends wanted to talk.

“Do you really think that was the girl in our backyard last night?” Jonathan asked as Hodson drove on.

“I'm positive it was, but she saw us and tried to run away and hide,” Mandie said.

“I got a glimpse of her, too,” Celia said. “It was the same girl.”

“Well, it was a little dark in there after being outside in the sunshine, so I couldn't tell who it was,” Jonathan explained.

“I wonder what she was doing in there,” Celia commented.

“Anyone can go into a church,” Jonathan said. “It was probably just a coincidence that we met up with her.”

“Or she could live in the neighborhood near the church and saw us go inside and decided to follow,” Mandie suggested.

The driver pulled the carriage to a stop in front of a large building on West Fifty-seventh Street. They all left the vehicle and looked around.

Jonathan quickly began explaining, “This is Carnegie Hall. It is rather new. It only opened about ten years ago.”

“Well, what is it?” Mandie asked, glimpsing at the colorful posters around the doorway. She tried the doors but discovered they were locked.