CHAPTER XIII

AN IMPORTANT REQUEST

Doris and Kitty spent an unpleasant night in the right wing, for, as they had anticipated, the weird noises began shortly after they had retired. Once, hearing footsteps near their door, they clutched each other in an agony of fear, but the sound soon died away. They were on the verge of falling asleep when a strange noise from a distant part of the wing roused them into wakefulness.

“This is terrible!” Kitty whispered. “What can be going on in this dreadful house?”

“Perhaps it’s only Cora or Henry astir,” Doris suggested, but the explanation did not satisfy her, and Kitty refused to be comforted by it.

For long hours the girls lay awake, but once asleep nothing disturbed them and they awoke in the morning feeling refreshed in spite of the harrowing night.

“It’s always something of a surprise each morning when I wake up and find I’m still alive,” Kitty laughed.

At breakfast Iris chanced to remark that an old croquet set had been stored in the attic and Doris and Kitty asked if they might use it.

“Certainly,” Iris assured them. “I’ll get it out of the attic for you.”

“Oh, let us get it ourselves,” Doris begged. “I just love to poke around in attics. It’s on the third floor above our wing, isn’t it?”

Azalea and Iris exchanged quick, startled glances.

“Oh, no,” Iris returned hastily. “The attic is in the left wing.”

“But I thought there was a floor above our bedroom,” Doris said, somewhat puzzled. “We’ve been hearing such queer noises at night.”

“Mice undoubtedly,” Azalea explained and arose from the table. “If you want to see the attic, come with me.”

They went to the kitchen for a lantern and then mounted the stairs to the third floor above the left wing. Azalea unlocked the door and told them to look about as much as they liked.

After Azalea had gone back down stairs, Doris whispered to her chum:

“Didn’t you think the twins acted funny when I asked about the third floor on our wing?”

“Yes, I did, Doris. They switched the subject, too.”

The attic was something of a disappointment, for it was very clean and tidy. A number of boxes lined the walls, but each was plainly labeled as to its contents. Flashing the lantern about, the girls saw that they contained blankets, woolens, old clothing, and numerous other articles.

“Nothing very exciting here,” Kitty said. “It isn’t any fun poking into boxes when they’re all labeled. I wish the Misses Gates weren’t such good housekeepers.”

Doris had found the croquet set and, with Kitty’s help, dragged it out into the light.

“We may as well take it down into the yard and have a game,” she suggested.

“I suppose so,” Kitty agreed. “I’d hoped we might stumble upon something interesting here, but I guess there’s no chance of it. You know, Doris, I’ve read about folks finding false bottom trunks and things like that in their attics.”

“I guess it happens only in stories. Anyway, I don’t see any trunk here. If there’s an attic above the right wing, I’ll bet it’s more interesting than this one.”

Locking the attic door, the girls took the croquet set down to the front lawn and set up the arches. They played three games, Doris going down in ignoble defeat.

“Croquet isn’t my game,” she laughed. “I’d rather wield a tennis racquet than a mallet.”

Soon tiring of the sport they amused themselves by throwing a rubber ball to Wags who would pick it up in his mouth and return it to them.

Presently Iris and Azalea brought their sewing and came out to sit in the swing. They watched the girls for a time and then Iris called to them.

“Perhaps you would like to hear the rest of the story we were telling you the other day?” she asked.

“Yes, indeed,” Doris declared.

“I’m afraid we’re only boring you,” Azalea murmured. “We have no desire to inflict our troubles upon you.”

“Oh, but you aren’t,” Doris assured her. “We’re both very much interested.”

Leaving Wags to his own devices, the girls sat down in the swing beside the Misses Gates.

“You go on with the story,” Azalea murmured.

Iris did not begin at once but sat for some minutes gazing away. At last, with a sigh, she forced herself to take up the broken threads.

“For thirty-two years after John Trent left, we heard no word from him,” she said sadly. “Often we wondered what might have become of him. At first we thought perhaps he would write to one of us—at least to tell us that he was sorry for everything that had happened.”

“And he didn’t?” Doris asked.

“No, to this day our only message has been through his son. You may imagine our joy when Ronald came to see us here at the mansion. He resembles his mother more than his father, it seems, so we did not recognize him.”

Kitty and Doris exchanged odd glances but Iris did not notice.

“Ronald told us that his father was dead,” she continued in a low voice. “His wife had died before him, so Ronald was his heir. Before John passed away, he begged Ronald to return to Rumson and find the lovely Misses Gates. Those were his very words! ‘Do all in your power to make them happy,’ he said.”

Here Iris paused to wipe her eyes.

“It was very dear of him to think of us at the last,” Azalea said softly, “and very kind of his son to come this far with the message. He remembered us in a material way, too.”

“Yes,” Iris went on bravely. “It seems, that after John left Rumson he accumulated a large fortune. He willed three-quarters of the estate to his son—which was as it should be—and the remaining quarter to Azalea and myself, to be divided equally.”

“How considerate,” Doris murmured.

“Yes,” Iris agreed, “and just at this time the money will come in handy. You see, since Father died the estate has dwindled. We have this property, of course, but very little ready money.”

“Unfortunately, we shall not be able to get our inheritance for some time,” Azalea explained. “There are certain legal complications which I do not entirely understand. There seems to have been some tangle about identifying poor John’s body at the time of his death and the estate is tied up.”

“Of course we shall get the money in the end,” Iris declared, “but right now there are a number of attorney’s fees to be met. Ronald is entirely without funds, so it was natural that he should come to us.”

“You gave him money?” Doris asked, although she thought she knew the answer.

“Yes, we loaned him what we had, but our funds are running low,” Azalea told her. “It isn’t as if we were actually giving him the money, for in the end every one will be rich.”

“Ronald says he will pay us back when the estate is settled,” Iris added.

Doris and Kitty were so taken by surprise that for a minute they could think of nothing to say. The twins looked at each other in an embarrassed way, and it was evident that they scarcely knew how to go on.

“Unless we can raise money to meet the necessary attorney’s fees, we will lose our inheritance,” Azalea said. “We have nothing of value we can sell except this mansion, and we are too old to leave it after having lived here all these years.

“Ronald has been so impatient at our reluctance to do anything. Dear boy! One scarcely can blame him, for his fortune, too, is at stake, and he does not understand how low our funds are.” Iris hesitated as she finished lamely, “And so, after hours of debate, we decided that for the sake of your own uncle, Doris, we would ask you for money.”

“Of course you understand we intend to will everything to you at our death,” Azalea added hastily. “It will be your own uncle’s money, so it will be entirely a family affair.”

“That is why you invited me here?” Doris stammered.

“Yes,” Iris told her. “You will help us, won’t you?”

Doris did not know what to reply; in fact, the request left her a trifle dazed. She remembered that Marshmallow had jokingly told her the Misses Gates might ask for money, but she had not considered the matter seriously. She actually had believed that she was being invited to Locked Gates for the purpose of being informed of an inheritance of her own! What a blow to her hopes!

“I really don’t know what to say,” she murmured. “I must confess I have no idea how much money of my own I actually have.”

“Of course this has all been very sudden,” Iris said tactfully. “We can’t expect you to decide upon the instant, but after thinking it over, if you decide you can spare the money, we shall be eternally grateful.”

“Yes,” continued Azalea, taking up the subject. Her sister sank back in the big, old-fashioned rocker, like one in need of rest. “We realize the importance of not neglecting this business a day longer. You will consider it soon, won’t you, Doris, dear?”

She, too, now leaned back in her chair with something of a sigh of relief, making Doris aware of the fact that her assistance was expected and counted upon by her hostesses, who could from now on assume that she would lift their burden permanently.

Just then Cora, without any warning of her approach, entered the room, carrying a number of letters and several newspapers. She glanced at the faces of the thoughtful group, as though she were to be asked to remain, should her advice or assistance be required. However, they were so absorbed in what they had been discussing that they did not notice Cora’s being there, and, receiving no word of encouragement to remain, even for a moment, she bustled out of the door.

Wags bounded into the room, and came straight up to Doris, attempting to jump into her lap and to lick her hands and face caressingly.

Doris was glad of the interruption, for this gave her an opportunity to get up from her chair and shake the playful puppy off her lap.

As soon as she gracefully could do so, Doris excused herself and went to her room. She wished to be alone that she might think over what the twins had told her.

“Can it be that I have made a mistake about Ronald Trent?” she asked herself.

After all, she had heard him say only that he was having trouble securing money from the two sisters. But why, if his motives were honest, was he in league with Cora and Henry Sully?

Doris admitted that the problem was too weighty for her to solve at once.