Polly and Her Friends Abroad Part 30

Fabian, who was sincerely proud of the little man's depth of character, even though he had never had the polish and opportunities given other men.

"That's what you-all think!" snapped Mrs. Alexander. "I bet you'll find him in the blackest gambling den of all this awful place."

"Ma, you wait right where you are, and Mr. Fabian and I will find that awful place and tell you if Pa is there," said Dodo with a stern expression.

"What! Let you go in such a place? No indeed! I'll go with Mr. Fabian myself if _anyone_ has to go," declared Mrs. Alexander.

"I don't want you to; you always nag at Pa and if you start in in a crowd, I know just what he'll do. It is better for me to go with Mr.

Fabian,-but I don't believe he's there!" declared Dodo.

"Perhaps Dodo is right, Mrs. Alexander. Let us go while you remain quietly here with the others," said Mr. Fabian.

So they hurried away, while the girls and the ladies walked about, or sat down to watch the lovely scene in the Park. The two had been gone about ten minutes, when Mr. Alexander was seen coming towards the group on the bench, but he was not alone. A very pretty girl of about sixteen years was with him. Dodo and Mr. Fabian were nowhere in sight.

"h.e.l.lo there, Maggie," called out Mr. Alexander, genially, as he came within speaking distance of his wife. "I brought a 'Merican girl to you-all, to take care of her as far as Nice. She thought she was lost, but I soon showed her she was safe with us, until we landed her with her folks."

Everyone gazed at the well-dressed pretty girl in surprise. It was evident from her red eyes that she had been crying a short time before.

But Mr. Alexander said no more about the incident at the moment, merely introducing his companion as Genevieve Van Buren, of New York City.

"Where's Dodo?" asked Mr. Alexander, suddenly missing his daughter when he wished to introduce her to the newcomer.

"She went with my husband," hastily replied Mrs. Fabian. "They'll be back in a few minutes. We are waiting for them, now."

"Ebeneezer, where did you meet Miss Van Buren?" questioned his wife, suspiciously.

"Oh, just outside that door, where we all went, last," returned the little man, indefinitely.

Mr. Fabian and Dodo were now seen coming out of the large building, and Mr. Alexander glanced from them to his wife, with a knowing twinkle in his eyes. Before anyone could say a word to Dodo, he spoke: "Well, so you've been wastin' all _your_ savings, too, eh?"

"Oh no! Mr. Fabian and I just wanted to see what the place looked like.

It is the most gorgeous hall I ever saw, and Mr. Fabian says it is well worth seeing. Why don't you come and have a look at it, Polly?" replied Dodo.

When she was introduced to the strange girl, Dodo wondered how she came to join their party but she said nothing. At last, Polly consented to go and take a peep at the interior of the palace, but Miss Van Buren preferred to remain on the bench with Mr. Fabian, while Mr. Alexander escorted the ladies.

"That homely little man is wonderful, isn't he?" asked Miss Van Buren, in a humble little voice, when Mr. Fabian and she were quite alone.

"We think so. In fact, we like him so well that we fail to notice any shortcomings."

"I feel that I must tell someone what he did for me, a few moments ago, although he was a total stranger," continued the girl, her chin quivering.

"Were you both in the gambling hall?" was all Mr. Fabian asked.

"No, but I had been there last night, and lost all my money in gambling.

Then I borrowed some cash, from a woman, on my jewels, and lost that money, too. I never played before, and it was so terribly exciting that I put aside every other thought but winning.

"The woman who had given me the money, had been very nice to me, when she met me at the hotel; she it was who invited me to go with her to visit the palace, just for fun. But it ended as such visits generally do," the girl's lovely blue eyes filled with tears and she dabbed at them, hurriedly.

"I was desperate, and wondered how I should get back to the party with which I am touring Europe. I had no money to pay my way to Paris, and I had nothing of value left with which I could get money.

"Mrs. Warburton who had been so kind, as I thought, had just proposed paying my way to Paris and keeping me at her hotel until my party arrived to call for me, when that little man walked slowly over and stood looking at both of us."

"'Maybe you-all are an American?' he asked Mrs. Warburton.

"She lifted her head and looked insolently at him. But she never said a word. Then he went right on without caring how she looked. 'I am an old miner from the West. I've been in lots of evil places, and seen all sorts of evil people, so I know one when I see and hear 'em. I've heard all you offered to this young girl, but I'll go your offer one better.

She comes with my wife and daughter and it won't cost her a lifetime of regrets.'"

The girl bowed her head and her slender form shook with sobs. Mr. Fabian said nothing. He was too amazed to say a word.

Finally the girl continued, but her head was averted. "Something told me to trust that homely little man so I looked at him and said, 'I believe you want to save me from some trouble?'

"'That's what I do, little gal. Just as I would want some one to help my daughter if she needed help. Now tell me what's all this about, and maybe we can get down to bra.s.s tacks.' He said it just that way,"

repeated Miss Van Buren, looking up at Mr. Fabian.

The gentleman smiled, and nodded understandingly.

"Well, he made that woman give up the jewels and he paid her back the money for them, then he said to her: 'You ought to be thankful that I am touring with a party, or sure as I am a man, I'd hand you over to the police for what I know you had planned in your evil mind.' Then he made me come away from her.

"When we were out of hearing he told me that from his experience in mining-camps, and cities where miners go to spend their earnings, he could tell that the woman was not right. He thinks she actually led me _on_ to gamble, to ruin my chances of getting back to my friends."

The innocent girl gazed at her companion, and Mr. Fabian nodded his head understandingly, without saying a word. Then she continued: "But that is terribly wicked! Why do they permit such things to happen here?"

"Why will people come here to visit the place with the sole idea of going away with more money than they came? They ought to know that all this lavish expenditure and display has to be maintained, and the money for that comes out of the foolish gamesters who _always_ lose at such tables," said Mr. Fabian.

"I suppose I was very silly to leave my friends and come alone to Nice.

They wanted me to go with them, but I preferred this place to the Alps and mountain climbing, so I agreed to meet them at Paris, later. I said I was going to visit with some friends at Nice, but I believed I could take care of myself. Now I think differently."

Her voice was so repentant and meek that Mr. Fabian said: "Maybe this lesson will prove to be the best one of your life. Let it teach you that head-strong ways are always sure to end in a pitfall. And remember, 'that a wolf generally prowls about in sheep's clothing to devour the innocent lamb.' Thank goodness that you escaped the wolf-but thank Mr.

Alexander for being that goodness."

The others returned, now, and as there was nothing more to visit at Monte Carlo, they drove on to Nice to spend the night. The girls found Genevieve Van Buren a most congenial companion and everyone showed a keen desire to befriend her.

A telegram awaited her at Nice, and Mr. Alexander had the satisfaction of reading it. Her friends, to whom he had wired from Monte Carlo when he heard Genevieve's story, said they would be at Paris the following day.

Before Mr. Fabian and his companions drove away from Nice, they saw the repentant girl safely on the train to Paris.

Having said good-by to Genevieve, the tourists left Nice; they drove to Ma.r.s.eilles and the girls visited several mills where famous textiles are woven.

Cannes was the next place the cars pa.s.sed through, and then Aix was reached. Mr. Fabian wished to stop long enough at this city, which was founded B.C. 122 by a Roman named s.e.xtius Calvinus, to show his students the ruins and historic objects of antiquity.

At Avignon the tourists saw the famous bridge and the many notable and ancient buildings-some ruins having remained there since the town was founded by the Phnicians in 600 B.C.

They stopped over-night at Avignon, and early in the morning, started cross-country for Bordeaux. The roads were heavy and the travelling slow, and they found it necessary to stop at the peasants' homes and ask, to make sure they were on the right road. At several of these stops, Mr. Fabian and the girls acquired some old bits of pottery and porcelain which the poor people were glad to sell, and the collectors were over-joyed to buy.

All along the country route from Ma.r.s.eilles, the women seen wore picturesque costumes, with heavy wooden shoes on their feet. These shoes were lined with sheep-skin to protect the instep from bruises. The children playing about their homes were scantily clothed, but their rosy faces and plump little bodies spoke plainer than words, that they were healthy and happy, and cared naught for style.

Quite often, when the cars pa.s.sed over a stream, or ran along the banks of a river, the occupants would see the peasant women was.h.i.+ng linen in the water. They knelt upon the bank, or upon a stone near the sh.o.r.e, and beat the clothes with sticks as the water flowed through the pieces. The garments were rinsed out and then wrung, before hanging upon the bushes nearby to dry.

Mr. Alexander remarked: "Good for dealers in white goods."