CHAPTER VIII
MR. ALEXANDER’S RUSE
The following morning Algy failed to appear in time to join the tourists. Mr. Dalken and Mr. Alexander wished them all a good time, and then hurried away to the business meeting. Mrs. Alexander had ordered her breakfast served in her room, but she sent word to Jack that she would be down in time to start with the others on the auto trip.
Finally, having waited half an hour longer than the time appointed for starting, Jack sent a bell-boy up to the room occupied by Algy, and Dodo went to telephone her mother to hurry, if she wished to accompany them.
Dodo came back to her friends with an impatient expression upon her face.
“Ma says she will be down in just one little moment. That means another half-hour to wait! May as well sit down and take life easy, Jack,” remarked she.
“It does seem a shame that we have to lose a whole hour of this wonderful day, and then have to rush over the sight-seeing after we are there,” declared Eleanor, angrily.
At this moment the bell-hop returned to the waiting group with his astounding information. Word was brought Jack that Mr. A. A. Alveston had checked out that morning, leaving no word of explanation. Then he turned and went away again.
“Why! Of all things!” exclaimed Polly, astonished at what she heard.
“There must be some mistake. I can’t picture Algy having enough gumption to do such a thing without some one to coach him in it.” So saying, Jack hurried to the clerk to find out if the message was correct.
“Yes, Mr. Baxter,” replied the clerk, politely. “I was just coming on for my morning duty when the young man paid his bill and left orders with the porter for the forwarding of the trunks.”
“Trunks! He only had one, I thought,” gasped Jack.
“I’ll call the porter and you can speak to him,” said the man.
The head porter was called and Jack learned from him that four trunks were removed and expressed to Williams. Jack felt perplexed, but he concluded that it was a fortunate day for his friends when silly A. A. A. had sense enough to realize that he was not a very welcome addition to the Dalken party. Then he hurried back to tell his companions of the strange move made by Algy.
“Don’t let’s waste time wondering why he did it, but let us enjoy the respite he is giving us. It will be dreadful to find him awaiting us at Williams as he is sure to do, because he hasn’t pep enough to plan any journey for himself. I will wager anything that Ma is the cause of this sudden move of his, and she can explain how he managed to get away so early without saying good-morning to us,” said Dodo.
At this moment Mrs. Alexander was seen approaching the group. She was smiling too genially for one who had nothing to hide, and long before she joined the watching circle of friends, she began to apologize for her tardiness.
“You see, it is so difficult to dress without the help of a maid. I am unaccustomed to doing my hair and hooking my gown. And, of course, Dodo never thinks of me, in these little acts of kindness.”
“Don’t spoil the day’s outing by explanations,” retorted Dodo, impatiently. “It’s bad enough for you to have held up the entire crowd for an hour.”
Jack started for the door, and the others now followed him, but it was plainly seen that Mrs. Alexander’s coming had failed to add joy or peace to the party.
Mrs. Courtney now spoke to the lady. “We heard, to our amazement, that Mr. Alveston has gone. He evidently plans to remain at Williams for some time, since he had his trunks sent there.”
“Is that so! Well, we need not weep over that,” returned Mrs. Alexander, pleasantly. “Algy is a dear boy, but he does get on one’s nerves at times, doesn’t he?”
“I really cannot judge, since I paid so little attention to him, you know,” replied Mrs. Courtney, just as sweetly as her companion had spoken. “He seemed to be always attending you, and I was engaged in attending the girls, you see.”
“Yes, that’s so! Algy must have felt himself out of the group of young folks. He was quite important a personage at the Springs, however, and Dodo was the envied one of all the girls there. How different it must have seemed to him—to be secondary in your party,” said Mrs. Alexander.
Mrs. Courtney remained silent after this, because she detested hypocrisy and preferred silence to such empty conversation. So the two ladies took their seats in the car without further explanations.
While Jack was advising the driver about the trip, Dodo turned to her mother and spoke.
“What under the sun made you send A. A. A. on with the trunks?”
“My dear! As if I was responsible for his leaving you!” the lady sighed, as though the accusation was too much for her to bear.
“Well, never mind, Ma! We’re all thankful you did it, because it would have been too distressing to have him slide down one of the high cliffs we will visit, or get mixed up in an Indian brawl, or lose himself as usual, when we go to inspect queer caves and ancient canyons,” laughed Dodo.
Mrs. Alexander seemed mollified at this, and subsided with a fixed smile upon her lips. A smile that seemed to say sorrowfully: “I’ll be pleasant no matter what you do or say to me, since I am a martyr, anyway.”
The young people soon forgot Algy, and Mrs. Alexander exerted herself to be agreeable to Jack, hence the trip proved to be very enjoyable to all.
The week passed quickly with so much sightseeing, and the genial company that agreed pleasantly upon every suggestion Jack made for them. Then Mr. Dalken and Mr. Alexander concluded their conferences at Gallup, and, in company with Mr. Fuzzier, informed Jack that they were ready to leave. Jack then arranged with a man who owned several fine cars to drive the entire party to Adamana, which was the nearest stop to the Painted Desert, just north of the town, and the Petrified Forest to the south of it. It had been decided to visit the Painted Desert first, and then drive through the Petrified Forest the next day, and come out near Holbrook, where the entire party could spend the night. In the morning the three business men would continue to Ash Fork where they were to remain for a week, to consult privately with several prominent men. The party under Jack’s supervision would motor to the Hopi Indian Reservation, where the wonderful Keams Canyon and the remarkable Hopi Mesas were to be found. Going southerly from Polacca, he wished his friends to visit the Giant’s Chain, and then follow the autoroad from Oraibi to the Painted Desert of the Little Colorado. Thence he would turn off this road and follow the one which led to Canyon Diablo. Here they would stop long enough to see all the points of interest, and then motor on to Flagstaff.
This route was followed, and a week later the two cars ran into Flagstaff. The passengers and their luggage were soon waiting in the hotel while Jack paid off the drivers of the automobiles and sent them back to Gallup. To the delight of the three girls, Mr. Dalken and his two companions met them as they entered the hotel. This meant that Dalky would be with them when they visited the Cliff Dwellings just south of Cliffs, a wonder-spot which they had seen in the distance when motoring past.
Soon after the party had gone to their individual rooms to brush away the dust and dirt of touring in a wind which carried the desert dust upon its wings, Jack’s room-telephone rang. He answered it at once, and heard his guardian’s voice.
“Jacky, old boy, what do you plan to do the rest of the day?”
“I paid off the chauffeurs and sent them back to Gallup, because I learned how much cheaper are the cars in Flagstaff. But I have not hired any; I wanted to hear from you first,” returned Jack.
“Can you come down—or shall I come up?” asked Mr. Dalken.
“I’ll run down—I was about to leave my room, anyway,” said Jack; then he hung up the receiver and left the room.
A few minutes later he met Mr. Dalken, and sat down beside him to plan for the week.
“I suppose you all expect me to go about with you to visit the side-shows of Flagstaff, eh, Jack?” asked Mr. Dalken.
“Why, yes,” returned Jack. “The girls were awfully glad to find that you were here and would be at liberty to stick to the bunch.”
“Well, that is what I had planned to do, my boy, but we—that is, Alex., Fuzzy and myself—find we can drive with you as far as Montezumas Castle, but we will have to leave you there, while we go on to inspect a stretch of land now for sale. It is not generally known to be for sale and Alex. says we must get an option on it before the United Copper Company gets wind of the thing. We just heard of this last night—Fuzz got a code wire from Chicago, and you understand that we have to work fast, eh?”
Mr. Dalken seemed anxious, as he confided this news to Jack, and the young man understood how important it was that his guardian should be excused from joining the tourists.
“Why, Dalky, every one of us will give up our outings if, by doing so, we might help you in this work you are developing. Just you go on exactly as though you were here alone with Fuzzy and Mr. Alex., and never waste a thought upon us. In fact, I have done nobly, thus far, with A. A. A. out of the way. Ask Mrs. Courtney if you doubt that I made a fine guide.”
“Oh, that reminds me!” exclaimed Mr. Dalken, laughingly. “I saw Algy—but I will wait and tell the crowd about it later.”
Mr. Fuzzier strolled up at this moment, and Jack got up to shake hands with him. Then the newcomer spoke to Mr. Dalken.
“I’ve been doing a little private detective work, Dalken, and I find that a stranger who reminds me of one of the directors of the Copper Company is staying at this hotel for a few days. Now, how in the name of conscience are we to get away without their suspecting our intentions? Lucky we took Alex.’s advice and registered under assumed names.”
Mr. Dalken turned to Jack and said: “You know what I told you just now? Well, the girls—and Mrs. Alexander particularly—must be warned not to greet me as a returned wanderer from Ash Forks. If any one lurking about finds out how Fuzzy, Alex. and I have been scouting around the country in quest of capitalists to subscribe for our new company’s stock, the whole plan of opening the tract Alexander discovered may go up the flue. On the other hand, it seems providential that we all arrived about the same time, since it will seem plausible that we are on a tour of the Grand Canyon and nearby points of interest. I will leave it to you, Jack, to tell every one in our party that secrecy about my movements, since I left New York, is imperative if they wish to help me succeed. This afternoon at—say—two, we will get in the cars and start to visit Montezumas Castle, you returning here to-night. But, silence, Jack, upon the confidential plan I told you—about our going on from the Castle, and sending you and the ladies back alone—understand?”
“Sure! I’ll skidoo upstairs now, Dalky, and warn the three girls and Mrs. Courtney about it.”
“Exactly! And I’ll send Alex. up to his wife to put her on guard about giving things away to strangers—her usual failing,” added Mr. Dalken.
Then before another word was said, Jack hurried away, and the two men hastened to the smoking-room to tell their third partner to go find his wife, and impress upon her the necessity of keeping mum about the actions and business meetings of her husband and his partners.
Mr. Alexander smiled cynically as he listened to his friends’ advice; then he replied: “Like-es not, Maggie’ll fly off the handle and shout all she knows from the housetops, just to badger me into agreein’ to let that perky dude marry Dodo!”
“Oh, good gracious!” exclaimed Mr. Dalken. “The whole continent of South America isn’t worth that dreadful mistake.”
“Don’t you worry, friends,” explained the little man, smiling as an idea entered his tremendous brain. “I’ll fix things so’s Maggie will be feeding out of my hand for a few days, and by that time there won’t be no risks of losin’ that property.”
As it was none of Mr. Dalken’s business what his friend said or did in his private family circle, he did not ask Mr. Alexander how he planned to keep his wife from publishing the news of her husband’s close association with a man who added prestige to her social position. As this news would tell others that three financiers were affiliated in a way that might bode ill to competitive financiers, it would be as well to suppress the publisher before she could broadcast her tidings.
Mr. Alexander hurried away to reach his wife’s room before she could confide in the chambermaid, or come down to the lounge to see if she might find any one of importance to whom she might introduce herself, as was her usual custom when left alone.
In the sanctity (?) of their private room, Mr. Alexander began to approach his subject in a round-about manner.
“Well, Marguerite, glad to see you lookin’ so good. This bracin’ air sure does agree with your complexion and tone. A few more weeks of the same tonic will take twenty years more off your face.”
Mrs. Alexander had just been examining her face and color in the mirror, and she felt worried over a small wrinkle which she thought she detected at the corner of her eyes. In spite of all the wrinkle plasters she used nightly, this fine line crept in unawares, it seems. But her husband’s surprising compliment—so unusual from him—pleased her mightily.
“Do you really think so, Ebeneezer? I was just thinking how worn and aged I had grown since I started on this tiresome tour.”
“Not a bit! Not a bit, Marguerite! I’m the only one that looks worn and aged. If we-all didn’t know better, you and Dodo could pass for sisters, all right. I wonder you never thought of lettin’ her go visitin’ for a season, or so, just to see if folks at home would credit you with havin’ such a grown-up gal,” continued the wily little man.
“It does seem too bad, doesn’t it, that Dodo really advertises my age to the public. I know I look very young to have such a big girl, but I try to have society people understand that she looks much older than she is. Still, I don’t know but you are right.” Mrs. Alexander mused silently over her husband’s remark, after she had had her say. Mr. Alexander watched quietly and waited for her to make the next move in this game.
“I’ll have to try your plan out, when we get back to some fashionable place in the East, Ebeneezer,” finally said Mrs. Alexander. “Every one in your party knows me here, and even Algy would laugh if he heard I was trying to play a joke on the public by passing as Dodo’s sister instead of her mother.”
“I’ll tell you what you might do, Marguerite,—just to try and get your hand into the game before we-all reach Grand Canyon, which is a fearful high-toned place, you know. That El Tovar Hotel is one of the swellest houses in the country, and folks dress to beat the band. Now, I’ll strike a bargain with you, dearie, if you want to have some fun by posing as a young lady, heartfree and ready for a beau, eh?”
Mr. Alexander’s interested smile and his good-natured offer would have hoodwinked a wiser person than his wife. Being so willing a victim to blandishments, Mrs. Alexander was ready for the proposition instantly.
“What bargain do you want to make? I’ll agree to anything that doesn’t annoy me,” returned she, eagerly.
“Why, it’s this. That you don’t let on Dodo and me are your husband and daughter until after we leave Arizony. I’ll make believe that Dodo’s and my name is Ammerman—see. You hang on to Alexander, and pose as a flapper, if you like, with Dodo and the other gals your chums. Then I’ll put Dalken wise, to play up as amateur sweetheart, and Fuzzy must be your steady company. That makes a fine little comedy, I say, and we’ll see if folks swallow the bait. I’m sure Dalken and Fuzzier will enjoy the joke as much as you will. The girls are always out for a lark, and that leaves Jack and Mrs. Courtney to fix. But, then, Jack will see the fun to be had out of the play, and Mrs. Courtney doesn’t count any in this plan.”
“Oh, Ebeneezer!” cried Mrs. Alexander delightedly clapping her beringed hands. “It would be too funny for anything! I can just see myself with two admiring lovers following around after me. If you think the others will see what a joke it will be, I’ll play the star part until we leave Grand Canyon. What a lot of romantic tête-à-têtes we can have in that lovely resort!”
Her husband grunted silently to himself. But he could not afford to lose, now that he had won thus far, so he hid his disgust at his wife’s social aspirations and her yearning for a vanished youth, and he now made known what she must do for him to clinch the bargain.
“You must act the part of a modest, retiring young lady, Mag—Marguerite, and keep close to Mrs. Courtney, since she is the chaperon, you see. Don’t flirt with other men, but make believe you have your hands full of trouble with keeping off the two elderly beaux. I’ll put Dalken wise to the play, but Fuzzier is half in love with you already, I see. He’s not any too particular about loving another man’s wife, I fear, so he’ll be glad of a chance to make up to you. Now, then, for my promise to keep Dodo and myself out of your way, and let you make believe you are Miss Alexander, of New York, or London, or some other big town: you’ve got to keep secret that you ever knew a miner by your name; or that Dalken is a widower, once removed, with his chum, Fuzzier, out here on business. To play the game right, Dalken and Fuzzier ought to take new names, too. Fine fix it would be, if some one, knowing of Dalken’s fame as a New York millionaire, read his name in the hotel register, and then reported to all the newspapers how he was mad over you! The same about Fuzzier—only he’s famous in Chicago. Now, I won’t stand for any such newspaper notoriety, understand? If you want to try out your hand at acting a part, it’s got to be done proper, and then I’ll stake my money on you, old gal!”
“Oh! If that is all,” laughed his wife, in relief, “I can promise that at once. It doesn’t make a bit of difference whether the two men change their names, or what they do, as long as we go on with the fun. Then we shall see whether folks really think me as young as my friends tell me I look.”
“Better begin right here, Mag—Marguerite! I’ll go and coach your beaux how you are Miss Alexander, and we ain’t no family of yours. Then I’ll see the girls and teach ’em their parts, too. You dress the part, and when we start off for Montezumas Castle, you’ll have things your own way, see?”
“Yes, yes! Hurry away and do as you say. I’ve got to find a youngish dress in my baggage. What a pity I shipped my trunks on to Williams. I had lots of Dodo’s fine clothes in them, and they’re just what I need for this joke.”
“Why not have Dodo loan you one of her suits for to-day? I will send her here to find out what you want. A few days from now, and you will have your trunks sent on to Grand Canyon, you know,” advised her husband, pleasantly.
“That’s a good idea. Run on, and tell Dodo to come to me at once. But don’t you go and ruin all the fun by calling me by my first name, as though you knew me intimately!” warned his wife.
“No danger!” laughed Mr. Alexander, as he skipped out of the door and closed it carefully behind him. Then he shook with mirth as he remembered how he had slandered the Chicago bachelor, Fuzzier, and how scandalized Dalken would be to find he was Mrs. Alexander’s lover.
The little plotter hurried to Dodo’s room to tell her the news, and she laughed with her father at his description of Mr. Fuzzier being a flirt, and having intentions to fall in love with Mrs. Alexander. But Dodo became serious, when she understood the reason for keeping her mother so interested in Mr. Dalken and Mr. Fuzzier.
“You’d better run and prepare Dalky and his friend, Daddy, or they’ll escape. Don’t shock them suddenly, but do it by degrees, if you want them to survive,” laughed Dodo.