Read The Red Signal (Grace Livingston Hill Book) Online
Authors: Grace Livingston Hill
Hilda gasped in astonishment and tried to think of something to say, but the man's voice was gone, and in a minute she heard a shy little “Hello!” which she hardly recognized her mother's voice.
“Hello!” she said eagerly. “Oh, mother, is that you? Is it really you?” and suddenly the tears came with a swift rush and drowned her eyes and choked her voice.
“Yes, darling!” came the mother's voice eagerly. “Isn't it wonderful? I was so worried and afraid, with the long journey and that awful woman, and then not finding you! But Mr. Stevens was beautiful. He brought us straight to his lovely home. I don't feel as if we ought to stay here, but he would have it. Are you really all right? Not sick nor hurt nor anything? They have found out through the conductor what a narrow escape from death you had in getting on the train, and I have been so worried about you. Didn't you get hurt at all?”
“Oh, no, mother; I'm all right;” laughed Hilda hysterically, “and I'm so glad to hear your voice. Is Karl with you, too? How great! Oh, I wish I could fly to you! But I've got to stay here for a day or two, they say. They want me for evidence against those people.”
“I know, dear child! They have told me. That's all right. Just do as Mrs. Stevens says; I know she must be lovely. I've been talking to her on the phone, and I'm so relieved that there is a woman down there who will be good to you. Mr. Stevens says we will call up in the morning and make our plans, so don't worry.”
“But how did you happen to be here, mother?”
“Why, I've left that asylum! It was quite impossible to stay. I'll tell you all about it when see you. I don't know what your Uncle Otto will say when he knows, but I really couldn't keep Karl there! But find something else to do, I'm sure, so don't worry!”
When Hilda came out of the telephone booth there was a tender, shiny look in her eyes that made the officers look away from her quickly as if they had caught a glimpse of some holy vision that was not for stranger eyes; but the sweet-faced woman who was sitting in the chair that Hilda had vacated when she went to the telephone, dwelt with pleased eyes upon the tired young face. So this was the girl who had interested her son. She was glad she was slender and pretty and young, with that look of mingled innocence and strength about her, and not a modern girl with a self-sufficient swagger and a look of having turned the universe inside out and found little in it worth her notice. She had not owned it to herself before, but she had been just a wee bit worried down deep in her heart ever since Dan had spoken of the little girl whose life he had saved, lest she might turn out to be a girl who would try to make much of her hold upon him. But this girl never would, this lovely, modest girl with the high bearing and the look of soul culture in her face. Whoever she was, and wherever she came from, she had a gentle, grave dignity about her that was exceedingly pleasing. Mrs. Stevens liked the shy way in which the girl lifted her serious eyes and studied her face when the Chief introduced her, and. she liked the simple deprecatory way in which she dismissed the matter of her impossible garb with a glance clown and a smile of apology.
“I am really not fit to go with you, Mrs. Stevens,” said the girl. “I would much rather you would send me to a plain boarding house where I shall not mortify you. I haven't even any hat. I pinned this up out of my work apron after I got on the train.” She took off the little brown cap and looked at it ruefully, thereby revealing her lovely bead of heavy hair, beautiful even in its disarray from the long hard day.
“It is a very clever little cap, my dear,” said the lady, examining it curiously, “and a wonderful little girl to be able to evolve it in necessity. Don't worry about your clothes, dear. We'll fix all that up in the morning. You're coming with me now to get a good night's rest To-morrow, they tell me, you are to see the President, and you will need to get rested and ready for that. Just play I'm your mother, or your aunt, if you like that better, and come on with me to my hotel.”
IN wonder Hilda found herself seated in a big limousine slipping through the broad streets of Washington, peering out at the looming pillars of the Treasury building, whirling around a corner and up to the door of the great hotel. It was only a glimpse she caught of beautiful halls and corridors as they whisked up in the elevator, and then she was taken into a big cool room opening from a delightful big sitting-room full of easy chairs. A white-tiled bathroom gleamed beyond, a telephone stood under a softly shaded light, a little desk with papers and pens was at hand, and all this elegance was for her alone. Hilda stood in the middle of the room and looked about her with wonder and delight. Then suddenly a vision of her bare little room at the truck farm came to her and she laughed, a sweet, clear gurgle of amusement.
“Excuse me!” she said as she saw Mrs. Stevens's look of surprise. “I was just wondering what Mrs. Schwarz would say if she could see me in this room. Oh, you don't know how—different--everything is!”
A tender look softened the woman's eyes, and she came over and kissed the girl almost reverently.
“You dear child!” she murmured. “You must have been having a very hard time, and one can see you have been brave about it. You must tell me all about it in the morning. But now you must rest? I will get you a few of my things for to-night, and in the morning we will go out and look up some of your own. There is your private bathroom. Perhaps it would rest you to take a bath, unless you are too tired. Would you like me to ring for a maid, or would you rather look after yourself?
“Oh, much rather!” said Hilda, with another of her quaint little gasps. “I should be frightened to death of a maid. And please don't take any trouble for me. I can get along beautifully with what I have.”
But Mrs. Stevens went over to her own room, which opened on the other side of the sitting-room, and returned with her arms full. A lovely pale blue silk kimono embroidered in cherry blossoms, a perfect dream of a white nightrobe all dainty with frills of lace and blue ribbons, an ivory brush and comb, and a pair of blue satin slippers with tiny rosettes of pink rosebuds. Hilda went over and looked at each of the articles in amazement after her hostess had kissed, her good-night and left her with injunctions to sleep as late in the morning as possible, and not to think of trying to get dressed till she brought her some things. How wonderful and fairly-like it all was! To think that this should have happened to her!
She took her luxurious bath, being a long time about it in spite of her weariness, because it was all such a. wonderful experience—the white tub, the hot and cold water in abundance, the scented soap, the big, soft towels. She could not help contrasting it with the tin wash basin on a box at Schwarz's. And then, too, she told herself that she would probably never have such a bath again in a bathroom all her own like this.
She put on the delicate nightrobe, brushed out her lovely hair with the beautiful brush, tried on the blue silk kimono for a brief glimpse of herself in the mirror; then put it back on the chair and crept with a kind of awe into the great white bed that was so soft she felt as if she were floating on a cloud. Then, the very next thing she knew, it was morning! Oh, very late morning, indeed; and Mrs. Stevens was standing by the bed in a. charming gown, looking down on her.
“Aren't you ever going to wake up, dear child?” she said smiling. “You've skipped breakfast entirely, and if you don't hurry there won't be any time left for lunch. Come, wake up! I've been out and bought you some things and I'm anxious to see if they fit you.”
Dazed and bewildered, Hilda opened her eyes and smiled about her on the wonderful dream that was staying real, and the sweet woman who was talking to her exactly as if she were one of her own family. The “few things” were lying on the chairs about the room. There were filmy garments of lingerie, silk stockings and dainty pumps. “I took one of your shoes along to get the size,” explained the lady. “I hope they will fit you. There are three pairs of different styles for you to try on. I hope one of them will fit.”
It was wonderful to get dressed up in those beautiful new clothes and see herself looking like a stylish young stranger in the long mirror.
“But I oughtn't to wear them,” she said deprecatingly, “for I can never pay for them, you know; and I shall soil them, I'm afraid.”
“Don't talk about pay, dear child!” said Mrs. Stevens. “You are my little girl for to-day, and I buy what I like for you. Besides, didn't you save the life of my dear boy for me? Didn't you risk a great deal to send him word; and didn't you save a lot of other lives and a lot of valuable property, without ever stopping to think of yourself? Isn't it right that you should wear the best that is to be had. Please don't say any more. You'll be perfectly able to pay for clothes such as these after the rail-road gets done giving you what they owe you for what you did for them; although I claim the right to buy you what I please to-day just because I love you for saving my son's life, and because I love you for being what you are—a clear, unspoiled, brave little girl! Now say no more! Get dressed as fast as you can, for we want to make the most of what there is left of the day. You have an appointment to meet the President this afternoon. Word has just come from the executive mansion. And to-morrow Dan is going to get off and bring your mother and brother down to see us.”
It was all so wonderful and bewildering that Hilda could scarcely keep her head about her. But she managed to get herself dressed in the new garments in an incredibly short space of time, despite strange hooks and girdles and fastenings. There was nothing about the plain brown rajah silk dress to which Hilda could object as being showy or too grand for one in her position, for it was simple and dark, and rather plain in its make, but it had an air of distinction, as though made by an artist in clothes, and designed purposely for her. The cut of the long, lovely lines on her slender figure, the exquisite pressing of the perfect pleats, the curve of the transparent sleeves, the finish of the girdle and neck, all proclaimed its high origin.
The little hat to go with it was a fine milan braid in tricorne shape, with just a rim of brown and had no place to wear them? However, the beautiful lady would have her way. The last stop of the shopping trip was at a jewelry shop, where Mrs. Stevens fairly took Hilda's breath away by purchasing a tiny gold wrist watch and a small pin in the form of a crescent of pearls with one tiny dewdrop of a diamond at the tip.
“They are just to remind you of my deep gratitude for saving my dear son,” she said as she fastened the pin on Hilda's dress. Then they drove down the broad avenue to the White House, and the great iron gates opened to them without a hindrance. So it was that Hilda Lessing entered into the charmed spot where the eyes of all the women of the land turn wistfully now and then, and long to enter in. She not only was allowed to enter now, but had been bidden by the great man of the land himself.
Hilda had a glimpse of the big room where the great and small gather to meet the great; and a fleeting view of several other rooms where more intimate audiences are held; and then all at once she was in the genial presence of the President himself, and he was looking at her with those friendly, keen eyes and saying gracious words to her.
Afterward she could not remember what she answered to his kindly questions, nor whether she had the sense to thank him for the medal on her breast. She looked with wonder at it back in her room when she laid it carefully in the little velvet-lined leather case where it belonged, and realized that she had won this honor just by being faithful to the right and loyal to her country and her flag.
They finished the perfect day by dinner in the great hotel dining-room and a drive in the car to a fine old place in the suburbs, where there were nice people and beautiful music. Mrs. Stevens made her wear a lovely fluffy pink and blue affair of chiffon delicately picked out with crystal beads here and there. She felt like a girl in a dream. But the crowning wonder of the whole day was that few minutes she had spent in the White House. She kept going back again and again with a thrill of her heart to the memory.
She thought she never would get to sleep that night with all the wonderful things she had to think about, but sleep, dropped down upon her unawares; and morning rose upon her bright with anticipation, for she remembered with her waking thought that her mother and brother were coming that day. She tried to hide from herself how glad she was that the young engineer was coming, too, until the joy of her heart just clamored to get out and express itself to her, and she could keep it back no longer with any reproofs.
“Well, why shouldn't I be glad, just once?” she smiled to herself in the glass as she arranged her bronze braids with special care. “He saved my life, and it will be nice to see him once more and say another thank you again. Of course, I know he is rich, and I probably will never see him again after I go back to Chicago, but it isn't wrong to have a good time just for once. I'm not silly. I shan't get a notion he is in love with me or anything,” and she smiled wistfully at herself in the glass.
Somehow life seemed a great deal more bearable now that she was away from the Schwarzes and there was a prospect of seeing her mother. Maybe they could find work together somewhere and be able to live at home once more. Wouldn't that be great!
She went out to meet her hostess with a smiling face. Hilda had thought that no day could quite equal in wonder the one that had just passed, but she found this new one thrilled her anew, and after all surpassed anything she had yet experienced.
The travellers arrived soon after they had finished breakfast, and Hilda was so glad to see her mother and brother that she forgot all the transformation that had happened to herself, and didn't even see the delight and surprise in the eyes of the young man as he looked at her for the first time in the hotel sitting-room.
His mother saw it, however, and watching, turned with a shade of anxiety toward the quiet little woman in black who was mother to this sweet stray girl, to see what she was like. Perhaps the relief she felt when she saw the lines of fineness and strength in the tired sad face gave cordiality to her own greeting as she stepped forward to be introduced.