CHAPTER XXII--STAGING A THUNDERSTORM

Somewhere Laura Belding had read of this very thing!

But the idea that Dr. Agnew approved of Mrs. Kerrick sleeping where she could hear the patter of rain drops gave incentive to Laura's thought and set her about following out the idea that had first flashed across her mind.

She found Chet and Lance hard at work cleaning the automobile. That was as much fun for them as it would have been for Laura and Jess to go to a party. Laura took her brother and Lance into her confidence instantly.

At first Chet was inclined to pooh-pooh the idea; but Lance, loyal to Laura, fell in with her plan instantly. And by and by Chet came around, and said he would aid his sister in carrying through what he termed "a crazy idea."

They had to take Mr. and Mrs. Belding into their confidence at the supper table, for they had to get permission to use the car that evening. Mrs. Belding was somewhat doubtful of Laura's scheme, and called it "an escapade." But her father was always an easy captive to his oldest daughter's whimsies, and he cheered her idea enthusiastically.

"And besides," said Chet, slily, "Laura is trying to rope in the old Colonel and make him cough up for the girls' athletic field. I know her!"

"Chetwood!" ejaculated his mother. "Is it proper to speak of your sister as a 'roper in'--as though she were a female cowboy? And why should the Colonel contract a bronchial affection for the sake of the girls' athletics?"

The family assembled had to laugh at this; but Chet was somewhat abashed, too.

"Don't be so hard on a fellow, Mother," he begged. "I can't remember to shift languages when I come into your presence--it is just impossible. To talk Americanese outside the house and stilted English within--well, it's just impossible. I'm sure to get my wires crossed--there I go again!"

"I really do not see why you send this boy to high school, James," sighed Mrs. Belding. "It seems to be a waste of time. 'Stilted English,' indeed!"

But Mr. Belding was inclined to laugh at her. And he was very much interested in Laura's plan for helping Mrs. Kerrick get a good night's sleep.

"I think," said the father, "that the principal trouble with Mabel Kerrick--and always has been--is she has never had any real object in life worth living for. If Fred Kerrick had been a different sort of a man while he lived--or if he _had_ lived more than three months after they were married--Mabel might have amounted to something."

"But she really is ill, Father," said Laura.

"So she is ill--now. But it is nothing, I believe, that a vital interest in life wouldn't cure. The Colonel has 'babied' her all her life. When she was a girl she could dance all night, and sleep most of the day, and never took any healthful exercise. And now she is one of these nervous women whom every little thing fusses. She leads the old Colonel a pretty dance, I guess."

"Nevertheless, if she cannot sleep she is in a very uncomfortable state," said Mrs. Belding.

"Let Laura try her magic, then," laughed Chet. "Lance and I will help. I'll go down to the opera house and borrow that stuff all right. I know Mr. Pence, and he'll let us have it."

"It seems to be carried by the majority," said his mother. "I will not object. But get back as early as possible, children. Late hours are becoming prevalent in this family, and it must not continue."

So after supper Lance came over and the three young people went off in the automobile, first stopping at the stage entrance of the opera house on Market Street. It was not quite dark when the car rolled into Colonel Swayne's grounds. The old gentleman was on the lawn waiting for them.

"Now, what sort of a play are you going to act, Miss Belding?" he asked quizzically.

"You'll see," laughed Laura. "Is Mrs. Kerrick up yet?"

"She is just about to retire."

"Then you will have to play a deceitful part, sir," said Laura. "Go and tell her that you think there will be a thunder storm. Put down the shades at her windows so that the lightning will not frighten her."

"You _must_ have a better hold on the weather department than anybody else," declared Colonel Swayne, looking up into the perfectly clear sky. "There isn't a sign of a storm."

"That's all right," said Laura. "Is your gardener about?"

"You will find him at the back of the house. I told him you would need him."

"Then we will go right ahead with our plan," said the girl, confidently. "See that Mrs. Kerrick gets to bed with the idea firmly fixed in her mind that a shower is approaching. That will help a whole lot."

The car was run around to the rear of the big house. There the two boys and Laura found the gardener, with a long ladder and the garden hose already attached to one of the lawn hydrants. They raised the ladder quietly to the roof of the ell, and when the light in Mrs. Kerrick's windows was dimmed by the shades, the boys and Laura climbed up the ladder, dragging the hose and carrying some paraphernalia with them.

Chet put on a pair of rubber gloves and disconnected the telephone wire which here was fastened to the side of the house. Chet knew a good deal about electricity and was careful about putting the telephone out of commission.

Meanwhile Lance began to work the sheet-iron "thunder machine" which they had borrowed from the manager of the opera house.

"Bring the thunder on gradually, Lance," whispered Laura, with a low laugh. "Not too often. Chet has to rig his lightning machine. There!"

Chet had rigged his little box-like instrument quickly. He brought the two ends of the charged wire into close contact and there was a startling flash.

"Now the thunder--louder!" exclaimed Laura, in a whisper.

The thunder rolled convincingly. It sounded nearer and nearer. After every flash of the stage lightning the explosion of sound became more furious. Then Laura waved her hand to the gardener below. The man turned on the water.

Laura turned the spray-nozzle of the hosepipe upon the tin roof and against the side of the house. The water began pattering gently. Another flash of lightning, and the thunder rolled as though the tempest had really burst over the house.

It really was a convincing exhibition of stage mechanism. Colonel Swayne climbed the ladder himself and stepped upon the roof.

"This is great," he whispered. "I never saw a girl like this one. She's as full of novel ideas as an egg is of meat. Great!" he added as Chet flashed the lightning again and Lance followed it up with a roar of thunder that shook the house.

Laura gave the "rain storm" more force and the drops pattered harder and harder upon the roof and against the windows. Soon a very convincing shower was clashing against the panes, while the lightning became intermittent, and the thunder rolled away "into the distance."

But the gardener came up and relieved Laura at the hosepipe, and they finally left the man alone on the roof to continue the shower for some time longer while the young folks removed their paraphernalia, and Chet connected up the telephone wires again.

When they were on the ground Colonel Swayne came back from a trip to his daughter's room. Her maid reported to him that her mistress was fast asleep. The old fellow was really quite worked up over the affair.

"You young people have done me an inestimable service," he declared, shaking hands with them all around. But he clung to Laura's hand a little longer, and added: "As for you, young lady, you certainly are a wonderfully smart girl! Perhaps it pays to make our girls more vigorous physically--it seems to stimulate their mentality as well.

"I haven't really thought much about your athletics; but the school board has been at me, and I shall consider seriously their request that I become one of a number of patrons who will give a foundation fund for a really up-to-the-minute athletic field for your Girls' Branch. We will see."

"Oh, that will be just scrumptious!" gasped Laura, "If you only knew how much good the sports did us--and how we all enjoy them!"

"I can believe it," agreed the old gentleman, as Lance helped Laura into the car and Chet started the engine. "And I shall give it serious thought. Good-night!"