THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 SUNNY DUCROW 
 Drawn by J. C. Cowl.
 
 SUNNY DUCROW 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY ST. JOHN COOPER 
 
 FRONTISPIECE BY 
 
 J. C. COWL 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP 
 
 PUBLISHERS NEWYORK 
 
 Made in the United State* of America
 
 COPYRIGHT, 192* 
 
 BY 
 HENRY ST. JOHN COOPER 
 
 This edition is issued under arrangement with the publishers 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON 
 
 Ube Rnicherbocfcer press, we w Botfe
 
 PUBLISHERS' NOTE 
 
 The frontispiece to Sunny Ducrow is a reproduction in 
 colors of a picture which has previously been printed 
 in both Vanity Fair and The London Sketch, represent- 
 ing a charming pose in character of Miss Florence 
 O'Denishawn, the well known dancer, to whom rather 
 than to the artist the design should be credited. 
 
 iii
 
 PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION 
 
 HERE, in my English home, I sit, pen in hand, yet a 
 little hesitating, greatly anxious, vainly trying to 
 call to mind some high-sounding phrases, some eloquent 
 utterances, with which I may make appeal to the great 
 heart of the American people, to whom I am unknown 
 and a stranger, and yet I take comfort in the thought 
 that to the stranger the kindly American was ever hos- 
 pitable. 
 
 So dear unknown American reader, I claim from you, 
 with confidence, your hospitality, and still though I am 
 but a stranger, I feel that I may perhaps have a little 
 claim on your generosity through one dead these many 
 years, one very dear to me in life, dear always in my mem- 
 ory. He lived among you for many years, when the 
 nineteenth century was yet in her teens, he sang of you 
 and of your country songs that many of you remember 
 hearing your Fathers sing: these old songs with their 
 pleasant memories, To the West, Oh Woodman Spare thai 
 Tree, A Life on the Ocean Wave, Cheer, Boys, Cheer, 
 Mighty Niagara, and many and many more. And be- 
 cause he, my dear old grandfather, Henry Russell, knew 
 you and loved you and lived among you for so long, per- 
 haps I feel no such great stranger after all. 
 
 This little book of mine is a simple story, aspiring to no 
 great literary flight, yet perhaps as you turn its pages, 
 it may here and there win a smile from your lips, per- 
 haps and to me, a greater triumph it may to some kind 
 eye bring a tear.
 
 vi Preface 
 
 So after all my preface, like my story, is lacking in 
 well-turned sentences and literary brilliance. As in one 
 chapter of this book, my little red-haired girl of the Lon- 
 don slums comes down to the footlights and holds out 
 her hands to her audience, asking that it will not take 
 from her the chance she has been waiting for so long, so 
 I, too, plead to you, for this, my chance in your country, 
 and feel that I shall not plead in vain. 
 
 HENRY ST. JOHN COOPER. 
 
 SUKBURY-ON-THAMBS, 
 November, 1919.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PACK 
 
 I. HER FIRST APPEARANCE IN PUBLIC . i 
 
 II. AT THE FOOT OF THE LADDER . 12 
 
 HI. THE START . . . . .20 
 
 IV. THE CONTRACT . . . M ,.,. 30 
 
 V. GETTING ON . . ." r 9f 42 
 
 VI. THE FIRST NIGHT . . S 2 
 
 VII. GOOD REPORTS . . . 64 
 
 VIIL THE OTHER WAY .... 73 
 
 IX. A SITTING 78 
 
 X. THE RIGHT WAY .... 89 
 
 XI. STILL GETTING ON! . . .94 
 
 XII. THE NEW REVUE . . . .100 
 
 XIII. MAKING TERMS .... 109 
 
 XIV. SUNNY BREAKS DOWN . . . 1 14 
 
 XV. AN OFFER OF MARRIAGE . .122 
 
 XVI. SUNNY is DISCHARGED . . .135 
 
 XVII. NEW PLANS 140
 
 Contents 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XVIII. A NEW FRIEND . . . .145 
 
 XIX. A GENTLEMAN . . . .152 
 
 XX. HER OWN, BACK . . . .155 
 
 XXI. A SONG 161 
 
 XXII. A CHARITY CONCERT . . . 175 
 
 XXIII. SUNNY'S SUCCESS .... 177 
 
 XXIV. NEW FRIENDS . . . .184 
 
 XXV. A FRIEND INDEED . . . .190 
 
 XXVI. No FOOL 195 
 
 XXVII. A HOME OF HER OWN . . . 207 
 
 XXVIII. A MOVE 210 
 
 XXIX. THE OLD FRIENDS . . . .218 
 
 XXX. NEW IDEAS 228 
 
 XXXI. THE FUTURE .... 235 
 
 XXXII. AN APPEAL 238 
 
 XXXIII. THE LION AND THE MOUSE . . 249 
 
 XXXIV. SUNNY GETS TO WORK . . . 252 
 
 XXXV. AUGUST THE THIRD . . . 260 
 
 XXXVI. IDENTIFICATION . . . .271 
 
 XXXVII. SNARED 274
 
 Contents ix 
 
 CHAPTER PACK 
 
 XXXVIII. Miss CASSON CALLS . . .277 
 
 XXXIX. Miss CASSON WRITES A NOTE . 283 
 
 XL. AN ACT OF FRIENDSHIP . . . 292 
 
 XLI. THE BOOMING OF " JOHN CROW" . 296 
 
 XLII. CURREN'S AND RAS'BERRIES . . 302 
 
 XLIII. MR. BARSTOWE ATTENDS A MATINEE 314 
 
 XLIV. MR. JOHNSON GROWS NERVOUS . 325 
 
 XLV. A LAND DEAL .... 333 
 
 XLVI. A QUESTION OF EDUCATION . . 346 
 
 XLVII. THE BIRTH OF "SUNNYVILLE". . 356 
 
 XLVIIL Too LATE 359 
 
 XLIX. SOMETHING A LITTLE WRONG . . 366 
 
 L. THE AWAKENING .... 376 
 
 LI. JUST A LITTLE TOO FAST . . 378 
 
 LIL "No!" 381 
 
 LIII. AT BRIGHTON .... 387 
 
 LIV. AT SUNNYVILLE .... 400 
 
 LV. THREE LETTERS .... 409 
 
 LVI. THE LOVE STORY OF A DUCHESS . 418 
 
 LVII. AN INVITATION .... 424
 
 Contents 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 LVTII. Two ENGAGEMENTS . . .427 
 
 LIX. FIVE O'CLOCK TEA . . . 439 
 
 LX. A CHANGE . . . . . 445 
 
 LXI. THE DUCHESS ACTS . . . 452 
 
 LXII. ASHES 457 
 
 LXIII. LONELY 461 
 
 LXIV. WHY IT DIED . . . .467 
 LXV. THE THING SHE COUL NOT Do . 476
 
 SUNNY DUGROW
 
 SUNNY DUCROW 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 HER FIRST APPEARANCE IN PUBLIC 
 
 "/^RUMBLING and growling won't 'elp you, Bert; 
 
 vJ. you've got to look on the bright side of things in 
 this world!" the girl said. 
 
 The boy, trudging by her side, sniffed. 
 
 "There isn't no bright side of nothing!" he said. 
 
 "Go on!" she said briefly. 
 
 "It's all very well for you!" he grumbled. "You're 
 a girl; you don't get hit and slogged about like me! 
 They're down on me!" 
 
 "Because you've always got a miserable mug on you," 
 she said. "If you was to be like me, laugh and make 
 'em laugh too, you'd be all right!" 
 
 "I 'ate it!" he said passionately; "I 'ate it! It's 
 bad enough in the summer, what with the wasps buzzing 
 round, and the smell the sickening smell of the boiling 
 sugar and the ras'berries and the rest but the winter's 
 worse still ! The onions and the shallots and the smell 
 of the vinegar makes me ill!" 
 
 "Well, it won't be for long!" the girl said. 
 
 He looked at her. " 'Ow do you mean it won't be for 
 long? What else is there for us but the jam and pickle 
 factory?"
 
 2 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "What else?" She looked at him with sudden scorn 
 in her blue eyes. "There's all the blessed world, ain't 
 there? You don't s'pose, Bert Jackson, that I'm going 
 to stick in a pickle factory all my life? Not me!" 
 
 "What are you going to do then? Get a place as 
 'ousemaid, or " 
 
 She darted a look at him, then suddenly gripped him 
 by the arm. "See that?" she said. She pointed. A 
 smart motor was rolling noiselessly down the street; a 
 chauffeur was driving ; beside him sat a footman in livery, 
 his arms folded across his chest. "See that? That's 
 my mark. Before I'm done I'm going riding in a car 
 like that, Bert!" 
 
 He laughed mirthlessly. 
 
 "All right, you see!" she said. "You wait and see. 
 One day I'll remind you of what I just said. Wait and 
 see!" 
 
 He laughed again, then grizzled. He was a thin, 
 white-faced, narrow-chested lad of about eighteen. The 
 girl by his side was a year younger, but there was 
 this difference between them : while the lad walked with 
 dragging footsteps and lowered head, the girl stepped 
 bravely along the pavement. 
 
 She was a little girl; the crown of her naming head 
 only just topped the boy's shoulder. Hers was the hair 
 that the greatest of the old masters loved to paint the 
 brilliant, living, rich red gold that is so rarely seen in 
 gray England. Rude little boys in the streets, who had 
 no art in their souls, put their hands to their mouths 
 and bellowed ' ' Carrots ! ' ' after her. But she did not care ; 
 she took everything in good part. Laughter gleamed in 
 her blue eyes; it rippled over the edges of her rather 
 large mouth. Whatever happened, she laughed; her 
 good temper was unassailable. If she fell down the 
 narrow wooden steps at the pickle and jam factory,
 
 Her First Appearance in Public 3 
 
 she laughed, though she might have bruised herself 
 badly. 
 
 It was Bill Wilkins, the foreman at the factory, who 
 had three years ago christened her "Sunny.", 
 
 "What with your bloomin' red 'ead and your ever- 
 lasting smile," he said, "blow if you ain't like a streak 
 of sunshine comin' into the place! It does a chap 
 good to look at you. Sunny's a good name for you, 
 and that's what I'm going to call you!" And Sunny 
 it was from that moment. Others fell into the habit 
 of calling her Sunny. She was Sunny even on the 
 pay-sheet when the small amount of her weekly wage, 
 eight shillings and sixpence, was entered to the credit 
 of Sunny. 
 
 "You won't never ride in no motor-car, unless it's 
 a omnibus, or" the boy paused "maybe a motor- 
 'earse," he said lugubriously. 
 
 "You shut up!" Sunny said. "I'm not going to ride 
 in no hearse yet a while. I've got a lot to do before 
 that time comes. What you want, Bert, is a day out in 
 the country!" 
 
 ' ' What I shan't get ! " he said. ' ' Country the coun- 
 try wasn't made for me! I ain't got the fare; besides, 
 what should I do in the country?" 
 
 " Run about and pick flowers and let the wind ruffle 
 your 'air and and oh, everything!" the girl said. 
 Her eyes flashed, her white teeth glistened. "That's 
 what I'm always longing for, Bert the country! Some- 
 times I feel as if I couldn't hardly breathe here in these 
 streets! Bert, if only you and me could get a day out 
 there!" 
 
 He shook his head. "Where's the money coming 
 from?" 
 
 Sunny put her hand into her pocket and produced 
 eight shillings and sixpence. She had been paid off half
 
 4 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 an hour ago at the factory, for it was Friday night 
 pay night. 
 
 "That ain't yours," he said. "Your aunt'll be all 
 over it when you get back!" 
 
 "I know; but if she could spare me two shillings this 
 week " 
 
 "She won't! "he said. "Not 'er!" 
 
 "No, I s'pose she won't; anyhow, there's no harm 
 trying!" she said. "What about you?" 
 
 "I've got my money six bob," he said. "Father'll 
 be waiting for it; if I was to take back only five-and- 
 eleven 'e'd break my neck for me, 'e would!" 
 
 "Bert," she said suddenly, "I want to go out into the 
 country; I've got to go. When I make up my mind to 
 do a thing, I do it, somehow! I'm going to do it!" 
 
 "You ain't got the money," he said despondently, 
 "and you can't get it neither!" 
 
 "I will!" she said. She set her small, white even 
 teeth. "I'm going to get the money; you and me'll 
 get it!" 
 
 "No 'ousebreaking for me!" he said. 
 
 She laughed happily. "No, I know a better way," 
 she said. "Bert, you meet me to-night in half an 
 hour " 
 
 "What for?" 
 
 "Meet me and I'll tell you," she said "half an hour. 
 Good-bye, Bert, and cheer up!" 
 
 She left him at the corner of the wretched street where 
 he lived and she walked on. She almost danced along 
 the pavement; there was a light spring in her step; a 
 distant organ was grinding out a tune and she danced 
 along in time with the music. 
 
 She was very ragged ! her boots were atrocious, her 
 stockings were very creased and out at the heel, her 
 dress had never been made for her, but had been cut
 
 Her First Appearance in Public 5 
 
 down and cobbled up in some unsightly fashion. Yet 
 hopelessly shapeless though it was, it could not com- 
 pletely hide the graceful, curved lines of her little figure. 
 Her hat was a black straw; there was a hole in the 
 crown, through which protruded a wisp of red hair. 
 She was pretty in a roguish, brilliant, almost impudent 
 way. Her little nose turned up very distinctly at the 
 end, her mouth was large, but the lips were very red, and 
 the teeth, that she showed so lavishly when she laughed, 
 were brilliantly white. She had the pure, almost trans- 
 parently white complexion that often goes with hair of 
 her color. But its perfection was marred by freckles, 
 that are also often an accompaniment of red hair. 
 Somehow the freckles suited her; they seemed part and 
 parcel of her glowing young personality. 
 
 Sunny, who had been christened Elizabeth Ann, 
 tripped down the narrow, dirty, little street. Presently 
 happened an. event that was by no means unusual with 
 her: one of her broken, ragged old boots flew off her 
 foot ; it described a half-circle in the air and came down 
 in the gutter. 
 
 "Drat it!" she said. "I'll really have to get myself 
 a new pair. Next pair will be French with high heels 
 and silver buckles" she paused and laughed merrily 
 "in my mind!" she added, as she rescued the boot from 
 the gutter and put it on again. 
 
 She was home now the only home she had known 
 since she was a tiny child a tall, narrow, dingy house 
 in a dirty, narrow street. The door of the house stood 
 open; all the years that Sunny had lived there she never 
 remembered to have seen that door closed. It stood 
 open all day and all night. The house itself was like a 
 rabbit warren; it was tenanted by half a dozen families. 
 Sunny 's home was on the topmost floor; she ran upstairs. 
 She knew exactly which broken stair to avoid, even in
 
 6 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 the pitchy darkness of the staircase. She arrived at 
 the top without a slip and opened a door. It was an 
 attic room, with sloping ceiling. In the middle of the 
 room was a small table, on which burned a candle. There 
 were two or three chairs, and a bed in one corner. On 
 one of the chairs, with her elbows on the table, sat a 
 woman. She was a thin, narrow-faced woman, with 
 gray-black hair, wisps of which streamed down her face 
 and over her eyes in the manner of a Skye terrier. 
 
 At the moment that Sunny opened the door and came 
 in the woman was weeping; she was rocking herself 
 backwards and forwards on her chair, emitting dismal, 
 moaning sounds. 
 
 "What's the matter?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "There's nothing to live for nothing; there's no 
 'ope!" her aunt said. "To think I should come to 
 this! Me who once 'ad a respectable business; me who 
 'ad a parlor of my own!" she moaned. "Life's 'ard," 
 she said "bitter 'ard!" 
 
 Sunny paused and stared at her. "Ain't Lizzie been 
 to see you this afternoon?" she asked. 
 
 The woma'n looked up slowly. "I ain't 'ad a drop," 
 she said "not a drop!" 
 
 Sunny sniffed. She knew better; her sharp eyes de- 
 scried a bottle propped in a corner of the room. 
 
 "Got the money?" her aunt asked. "You got your 
 wages, Elizabeth Ann?" She was the only person who 
 called Sunny by the names her godfathers and godmothers 
 had selected for her. 
 
 "I want to talk to you about the money," Sunny said. 
 "It's like this I want to go and 'ave a day in the 
 country " 
 
 "You you want " Mrs. Melkin sat back and 
 stared at the girl as though she had taken leave of 
 her senses.
 
 Her First Appearance in Public 7 
 
 "Me and Bert Jackson have made up our mind to 
 take a day off to-morrow; it's Saturday half-day. We 
 want to go to Hampton Court on the tram, and go to the 
 river, and like that!" 
 
 "You give me that there money!" Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 "I thought you might spare" Sunny paused; she 
 had meant to demand two shillings of her own earnings, 
 but her courage failed her "a shillin' !" she said. 
 
 1 ' You give me that there money, miss, at once ! Wasting 
 money such times as this going to 'AmptonCourt on trams. 
 I never did 'ear the like ! 'And it over at once, or " 
 
 "Well, sixpence?" Sunny said. 
 
 "If you don't give me every penny " 
 
 Sunny counted out her hard earnings, slowly and 
 regretfully. The woman reached out and grabbed them; 
 she counted them twice to herself to make sure; then 
 she sighed and resumed her moaning and groaning and 
 references to her past splendor. 
 
 When her aunt was in one of her moods, Sunny knew 
 it would be useless to discuss matters with her. She 
 got her own tea; it was a frugal meal. Tea with no 
 milk, a hunch of bread and a piece of cheese, but she set 
 her strong white teeth into the hard crust and seemed to 
 enjoy it. At any rate, she did not grumble. Wander- 
 ing round the room, she managed to kick the bottle and 
 bring it down; it was empty. No doubt it had been 
 full not many hours ago, which accounted for her aunt's 
 lachrymose condition. 
 
 "A best parlor I 'ad!" Mrs. Melkin whined. "I 
 remember it like it was yesterday: a round ma'ogany 
 table in the middle, the feet standin' on a bit of lonelium 
 so as not to mark the carpet, and on the mantelpiece was 
 two chiny ornaments I got from the tea-shop; one 'ad 
 a girl with a sheep on it and the other Elizabeth Ann, 
 where are you going to?"
 
 8 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Goin' out!" Sunny said. She had edged towards 
 the door. 
 
 Her aunt would have remonstrated, but Sunny made 
 a sudden bolt for it. She slammed the door after her 
 and sped down the stairs; then she had to come back 
 and grope in the darkness for one of her boots, which 
 she found. 
 
 Bert was waiting faithfully at the street corner. He 
 looked a shade more miserable than when they had 
 parted. 
 
 "I gave 'im the money, and he said if I didn't get a 
 bob rise inside two weeks 'e'd give me the strap, 'e did, 
 Sunny?" 
 
 "You'll get the rise all right!" she said. "Don't 
 worry, every thing'll come all right." 
 
 " I wish I could look at it your way ! " he said. 
 
 "It's the only way; what's the use of worrying? 
 Care killed the cat!" She laughed joyously. "Come 
 on, Bert!" 
 
 "Where are you going to?" he asked. 
 
 "West!" she said. 
 
 "West! What for?" 
 
 "I'll tell you presently; we're going to earn our day 
 in the country to-morrow." 
 
 He shook his head; he had no faith in the future 
 whatever. 
 
 "You're on wires, you are, Sunny; you never seem to 
 get tired!" he said. 
 
 "What's the use of getting tired?" she said. "Time 
 to get tired when one is eighty!" 
 
 "What did your aunt say?" he asked. 
 
 "Lizzie!" Sunny said briefly. 
 
 "She's always at it, ain't she?" Bert said. 
 
 " Pretty near always ; she says it keeps her spirits up ! " 
 
 "Putting 'em down keeps 'em up!" He laughed
 
 Her First Appearance in Public 9 
 
 weakly at his own joke. "Sunny, where are we gettin' 
 to?" 
 
 They had walked a considerable way, had crossed a 
 bridge over the river, and now they were in the well- 
 lighted and busy thoroughfares of the west end. 
 
 "Know any songs, Bert?" she asked. 
 
 "Songs ! " He stared at her. 
 
 "Tunes!" she said. "Know any songs at all?" 
 She paused. " Know Won't you Buy my Pretty Flowers? " 
 
 "I did know it, only it give me the 'ump," he said. 
 "I forgot it on purpose!" 
 
 Sunny laughed. "It's a bit miserable," she said. 
 "Do you know" she hesitated "Down Where the 
 Water-lilies Grow?' 1 
 
 Bert shook his head. "I 'card it," he said. "Father 
 sings it sometimes when 'es 'ad too much ; it ain't a song 
 I care about." 
 
 Sunny tried again. "Remember that night me and 
 you got sixpence each and got into that there concert?" 
 she said. 
 
 He nodded. Was he likely to forget it ? It was almost 
 the one bright spot in his life. 
 
 "Remember a chap singing a song about 'is old 
 Dutch?" Sunny said. "Like this." She hummed the 
 tune. 
 
 He nodded. "I remember; but I don't know the 
 vrords." 
 
 "I do; it goes: 
 
 " We been together now for forty year, 
 And it don't seem a day too much, 
 There ain't a lady living in the land 
 As I'd swop for my dear old Dutch. 
 
 "Remember?" 
 
 He nodded. "I remember all right."
 
 io Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Then strike up; come on, get into the road!" she 
 said. 
 
 He stared at her. "You you ain't going to sing out 
 loud?" he asked. 
 
 "Of course I am; we're going to earn money to pay 
 our tram-fares to Hampton Court to-morrow!" 
 
 "We'll get run in," he said. 
 
 Sunny laughed. 
 
 "That makes it all the more fun, taking the risk! 
 Come on, now!" 
 
 Very unwillingly he stepped into the gutter by her 
 side, and Sunny lifted up her voice and sang : 
 
 "We been together now for forty year " 
 
 Sunny's voice was very strong, very shrill, yet very 
 sweet. It was clear and penetrating; it was very unlike 
 the usual monotonous howls of the street singers. People 
 turned to look. Bert plucked up courage and made 
 some ineffectual noises that he thought was singing. 
 
 "Brother and sister, pore things!" one kindly natured 
 woman said; she handed Sunny a penny. 
 
 A young man stared. "Not a bad voice, by George ! " 
 he said. "And, by George, what a pretty little thing! 
 A confounded shame she should have to sing in the 
 streets! Why don't the lout of a brother work?" He 
 tossed Sunny a sixpence, and she smiled at him, show- 
 ing her dazzling teeth. 
 
 "Getting on fine, aren't we?" she whispered. "Go 
 on, Bert, sing up." 
 
 Bert tried to sing up; he only succeeded in making a 
 more discreditable noise. 
 
 "There ain't a lady living in the*land 
 As I'd swop for my dear old Dutch, " 
 
 Sunny sang.
 
 Her First Appearance in Public n 
 
 She only knew the one verse; but that did not matter. 
 They were moving on, and the audience was changing 
 every moment. 
 
 "You ought to know the words by this time," she 
 whispered. "Can't you sing up a bit? 
 
 "We been together now for forty years " 
 
 A big policeman stumped down the street. 
 
 4 ' Have y ou ? " he said. " I ' ve been looking for you two. ' ' 
 
 "What's the matter?" Sunny asked, with a sudden 
 sense of fear. 
 
 ' ' Matter, singing in the streets ! " he said. ' ' Vagrancy, 
 that's what's the matter. You two come with me." 
 He put his hand on their separate shoulders. 
 
 "I knew it!" Bert groaned. "We're run in. I knew 
 it ! It's your fault, Sunny ! "
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 AT THE FOOT OF THE LADDER 
 
 TTHE police-court magistrate frowned. 
 1 "Application of Miss Leslie Montressor for a 
 license to permit two children to appear in a revue at 
 the Park Music Hall." 
 
 The magistrate pursed up his lips. "I don't know," 
 he said; "I don't know at all!" He looked at the 
 applicant over his spectacles. 
 
 She was a tall, very beautiful woman, with shining 
 golden hair; not quite a young woman, perhaps, yet a 
 remarkably handsome woman. The magistrate was a 
 kindly looking man. 
 
 "I do not care for this sort of thing. What is the age 
 of these children? " 
 
 "One is nine and the other eleven," she said. 
 
 "Too young, too young; far too young!" He shook 
 his head. "Well, well!" He paused. "I'll consider, 
 I'll think it over. Wait. I'll take the next case." 
 
 Miss Montressor bowed. 
 
 "I am to wait?" she inquired. 
 
 "Yes," he said, "wait. I don't care for this child- 
 performing business at all, but I'll see. I've no wish to 
 be unjust. Next case." 
 
 Miss Montressor stepped out of the witness-box. 
 
 "Vagrancy, your honor." 
 
 "Dear, dear!" the magistrate said. "Dear, dear!" 
 
 Into the prisoners' dock stepped the delinquents. 
 
 12
 
 At the Foot of the Ladder 13 
 
 One shuffled with a melancholy mien and downcast 
 face, the other tripped lightly into the dock and smiled 
 broadly at the paternal-looking magistrate. 
 
 "Herbert Jackson and Elizabeth Ann Ducrow," 
 someone announced. "Charged with vagrancy sing- 
 ing in the streets for the purpose of collecting alms." 
 
 "We weren't collecting alms at all," Sunny said 
 indignantly. "Me and Bert wanted some money to 
 pay our fares to " 
 
 "Wait!" the magistrate said sternly. "You will have 
 an opportunity to talk presently." 
 
 The ponderous policeman who had arrested them 
 went into the witness-box. He declared that they were 
 always pestering people for money, that he had warned 
 them several times, but they had taken no notice of his 
 warnings, so he had arrested them last evening while 
 they were singing in the streets. 
 
 Sunny's face burned, her blue eyes flamed. 
 
 "Oh!" she gasped. "How how can he? What a 
 liar!" 
 
 "Hush!" someone said. 
 
 " Well, it is a lie ! He never saw me before in his life ! " 
 Sunny exploded. "When did you see me in the streets 
 asking for money?" she demanded of the policeman. 
 
 "Yesterday morning; it was about twelve," he said. 
 
 "Oh, was it?" Sunny leaned over the edge of the 
 dock. "Was it? What about me being in Johnson's 
 pickle factory then?" She turned to the magistrate. 
 "Don't you believe a word he says, sir; it's not true. 
 Me and Bert work at Johnson's pickle factory. I've 
 been there three years, Bert's been there nearly four. 
 We're there all day long, so how could he have seen us?" 
 
 "You were singing in the streets last night?" the 
 magistrate said. 
 
 Sunny nodded. She smiled at him, and for the life
 
 14 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 of him the old gentleman could scarcely repress a smile 
 in return. 
 
 "It was like this," she said in a confidential tone. 
 She leaned towards him. "Me and Bert wanted to go 
 to Hampton Court. I asked my aunt to let me keep a 
 shilling of my money, but she wouldn't. Bert's father 
 wouldn't let him have none of his, either. So we had 
 to get money somehow to pay our fares, and I thought 
 if I sang in the streets I might get enough. I never 
 done it before, and what that fat policeman says isn't 
 true. How could we be beggin' in the streets when we're 
 working in Johnson's pickle factory? Ask yourself!" 
 Sunny insisted. "How could we be in two places at 
 once? He said we were in the streets beggin' at twelve 
 yesterday. Why, we were at the pickle factory ! I was 
 chopping up the cauliflowers for the piccalilli, I was, and 
 Bert was in the boiling-room. It always makes 'im 
 sick, the smell of vinegar. Don't it, Bert?" 
 
 "Yes," he said. 
 
 "Of course," Sunny admitted, "I s'pose we didn't 
 ought to have sung in the streets, only there was no 
 harm in it, was there? We wanted to go to Hampton 
 Court. Bert's been queer in his insides for days; it's 
 the smell of the vinegar and " 
 
 "Silence!" someone said. 
 
 Sunny looked round indignantly. 
 
 "I'm telling the old gentleman," she said; "he wants 
 to know. You do want to know, don't you, sir?" 
 
 "Yes," he said. "So you work in a pickle factory?" 
 
 "Johnson's in Cutway Street, Borough," she said. 
 "You call down there first time you're passing and ask 
 to see Mr. Bill Wilkins; he's the foreman. He'll tell 
 you " 
 
 "It seems to be a case of mistaken identity," the 
 magistrate said. "Though" he paused, and looked
 
 At the Foot of the Ladder 15 
 
 at Sunny "I cannot understand how anyone can have 
 mistaken this girl for any other. However, it is very 
 wrong, and it is against the law to sing in the streets," 
 he said severely. "You must not do it again." 
 
 "Not if you say we're not to," Sunny said. 
 
 "Very well. On that understanding you can go. 
 The charge is dismissed. Next case." 
 
 Sunny lingered. She felt she would have liked to 
 have had a longer chat with the pleasant old gentleman. 
 
 " If you are in Cutway Street any time, our hours are 
 from seven till five," she said. 
 
 "The charge is dismissed," he said. 
 
 A police constable hustled Sunny and Bert out of the 
 dock. 
 
 "That fat policeman is the worst liar I ever saw!" 
 Sunny declared in her clear, shrill voice. 
 
 "You get out of it," the constable said. "Clear out, 
 and think yourself lucky!" 
 
 Sunny smiled at him, and the man smiled back. 
 
 "Cut along now," he said. "You're done with." 
 
 "I thought I was done for," Bert mumbled. "This 
 comes of listening to you, Sunny! I'll get the strap for 
 this when I get back from father all right," he grumbled. 
 
 "I shouldn't worry!" Sunny said. "Come, Bert, 
 let's get off!" 
 
 They were making towards the door when a hand 
 touched Sunny's arm. 
 
 " I would like to speak to you. Could you wait for a 
 little while?" 
 
 Sunny looked up. She saw a tall and very handsome, 
 golden-haired woman, richly dressed. 
 
 "I don't know," she said. "It's not much use our 
 goin' to work to-day, anyhow; it's past eleven, and we 
 knock off at one on Saturdays." 
 
 "I won't keep you very long. I should like to talk
 
 1 6 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 to you," the lady said. "I might have something to 
 propose to you that would be to your advantage. Will 
 you wait?" She hurried off, for her case was being 
 called again. 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 The lady turned away to enter the witness-box. 
 
 "Come on," Bert said. "Let's get out of this, Sunny 
 for goodness' sake!" 
 
 "I can't; I promised her," she said. "You go, if you 
 like, but I'm not going with you." 
 
 It was less than five minutes later the lady came back. 
 She looked satisfied. After some argument, the magis- 
 trate had granted the license. 
 
 "We'll go somewhere and have a cup of tea," she said- 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "I could do with one," she said. "Let's go to one of 
 them aireyated bread shops." 
 
 Miss Montressor looked at Bert. 
 
 " I don't think there's any need for your your friend," 
 she said. 
 
 "Bert's with me," Sunny said. "Me and Bert is 
 chums; we 'ang together. Where I go, Bert goes." 
 
 "Oh, very well!" They went out of the court, they 
 walked down the street, a queerly assorted trio Miss 
 Montressor in her elegant clothes, and Sunny shuffling 
 along, afraid that her boots might play truant any 
 moment, Bert with hunched shoulders and a look of 
 miserable dejection on his face. 
 
 The waitress at the coffee-shop looked at Sunny and 
 Bert askance. 
 
 Sunny looked at her, smiled broadly, and nodded. 
 
 "Like your job here all right?" she asked. 
 
 The girl put her nose in the air. 
 
 "I'll take your order, if you please," she said to Miss 
 Montressor.
 
 At the Foot of the Ladder 17 
 
 "Three cups of tea, scones and butter and jam," 
 Miss Montressor said. 
 
 "Not not jam," Bert shuddered. "Not jam nor 
 pickles," he said, "please." 
 
 " Me and Bert ain't keen about jam," Sunny said. 
 
 Miss Montressor smiled. 
 
 "Cake, then," she said. 
 
 And now they were seated at a small round table. 
 
 "So you work in a pickle factory, do you?" she said 
 to Sunny. 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "Pickles in the winter, jam in the summer," she said. 
 
 "Have you never thought of bettering your position?" 
 
 Sunny laughed outright. "I ain't never thought 
 about anything else," she said. "I'm not going to stick 
 in a pickle and jam factory all my life." 
 
 "Then you have ambitions?" 
 
 "I mean to get on, if that's what that means," Sunny 
 said. "I'm not going to stand still; I'm going ahead, I 
 am. ' ' She thrust out her firm little rounded chin. "I'm 
 going to work my way up somehow." 
 
 "How?" Miss Montressor asked. 
 
 "I don't know; I ain't thought about it yet. When 
 I get a big house and five servants and a motor-car, I'll 
 reckon I've done all right. Till then" Sunny paused 
 "I'm going to slog in." 
 
 Bert grunted. 
 
 "Nearly got put away for singing in the streets; 
 that's how she slogs in," he muttered. 
 
 ' ' Well, it was an idea, anyhow, ' ' Sunny said. ' ' You've 
 got to take risks in the world. Why, we made eight- 
 pence inside three minutes; we'd have been done inside 
 half an hour if that cop 'adn't come along." 
 
 "But the cop did come along all right," Bert said. 
 
 "Your name is?"
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Sunny," she said. "Leastways, it's reely Elizabeth 
 Ann Ducrow." 
 
 "Have you never thought of the stage?" 
 
 ' ' Thought of it ! " Sunny laughed. ' ' I ' ve just dreamed 
 of it!" 
 
 "Would you like to go on the stage?" 
 
 Sunny 's eyes flashed, but she said nothing. 
 
 "How old are you?" 
 
 "Sixteen last September," she said. 
 
 "You look older no younger; at least" Miss Mont- 
 ressor paused "in some ways you seem to be older, a 
 great deal older; yet you have the face of a child, 
 and " she hesitated again. "Sunny, I think I might 
 help you. I am connected with the stage. I - " 
 
 "You you are!" Sunny leaned forward, her blue 
 eyes wide. " You're on the stage ! You sing and dance 
 and 
 
 Miss Montressor smiled. 
 
 "I do," she said, "sometimes. But we are talking 
 about you. How would you like a stage life?" 
 
 "I'd love it!" Sunny said. "I hate pickles, anyway!" 
 
 The girl had brought the tea and the scones and cake, 
 and Sunny and Bert did justice to the food. 
 
 "Come to my house to-morrow. Here is my address. 
 To-morrow will be Sunday. You can come, Sunny?" 
 
 " I'll come, only I ain't " Sunny paused " I mean my 
 clothes ain't Sunday-going-to-meeting ones for calling," 
 she said. 
 
 "That doesn't matter in the least tome," Miss Mon- 
 tressor said. ' ' You can read ? ' ' 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "I've got to in our business. It wouldn't do for me 
 to go and stick the apricot labels on the strawberry jam, 
 would it? Nor pickled walnuts on pickled onions, 
 neither."
 
 At the Foot of the Ladder 19 
 
 Miss Montressor smiled. 
 
 ' ' Come to-morrow. I shall expect you at two o'clock. ' ' 
 
 " Me and Bert will be there," Sunny said. 
 
 "There is not any need, I think, for for Mr. Bert " 
 Miss Montressor smiled. "I think you could come 
 alone, Sunny." 
 
 Sunny shook her head. 
 
 "Me and Bert is chums. Where I go he goes," she 
 said. "Either Bert comes with me, or I don't come." 
 
 "Very well," Miss Montressor said briefly, "bring 
 Bert." She rose to pay the bill. "To-morrow at two, 
 Sunny," she said. 
 
 "Right you are!" Sunny said.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE START 
 
 " TV It Y opinion is that it is talent real talent. The girl 
 
 1 VI is absolutely natural. It was as good as a sketch 
 to see and hear her chat with the magistrate; it took the 
 wind out of the old fellow's sails completely. She is 
 positively refreshing, Max." 
 
 "Well, you ought to know, I suppose," the man said. 
 "Who is she?" 
 
 "A little girl from a slum, who works in a pickle 
 factory and has ambitions," Miss Montressor said. 
 
 "She'll want training, then." 
 
 ''Training would spoil her; you want her as she is. 
 She's a natural artist, and she has the most beautiful 
 hair I ever saw." 
 
 The man smiled. He was thick-set, sallow-faced, and 
 stout. There was something about him that suggested 
 at a glance the prosperous theatrical manager possibly 
 the large and expensive cigar that he always had tucked 
 in a corner of a large and fleshy-looking mouth. 
 
 "I don't often make mistakes," Miss Montressor 
 said. "You remember I found Lily Birch." 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "She's getting thirty quid a week out o' me now," he 
 said. "And when you spotted her she was a shop-girl." 
 
 "This girl beats her hollow," Miss Montressor said. 
 "There's money in her, Max, you wait and see. Lily 
 Birch," she went on, "was clever, but a fool in a way. 
 
 20
 
 The Start 21 
 
 She dances nicely and she's got a pretty voice, but for 
 the rest she's a fool. This girl is different. She's all 
 life and sparkle and go, utterly without self -consciousness, 
 as fresh as a daisy, and Oh, you needn't smile, Max." 
 ' ' I like enthusiasm, Leslie, ' ' he said. ' ' You are always 
 enthusiastic. If the girl's all half even of what you 
 say she is, she ought to be a small fortune. She's 
 
 coming 
 
 "She'll be here almost at once." 
 
 Miss Montressor rang a bell. 
 
 It was a large, odd-looking room half drawing-room, 
 half dining-room, and yet neither in appearance. There 
 was a host of arm-chairs, of soft cushions lying about the 
 floor. The carpet was thick and Eastern, the walls 
 were hung with hundreds of photographs of theatrical 
 celebrities, all of them signed. 
 
 "To dear old Leslie, from So-and-so." "Miss Leslie 
 Montressor, with respectful compliments of someone 
 else." "Dear old girl, yours lovingly " The usual 
 thing. Miss Montressor had been on the stage from the 
 age of thirteen, and there was not a better-liked woman 
 in the profession. 
 
 A maid-servant answered the ring. 
 
 "I am expecting a yo ng girl, Simmons," Miss 
 Montressor said "a poor ' ' she paused ' ' rather 
 shabby " 
 
 "She's at the door now. Been twice and asked for 
 you, and I told her to go away, miss," the girl said. 
 "There she is slamming at the door again. She said 
 she had an appointment with you, but I didn't believe 
 her. Why, you can see her toes through her boots. 
 Hark to her now, miss." 
 
 Bang! bang! bang! went the knocker below. 
 
 "Go and let her in at once, Simmons," Miss Mon- 
 tressor said. "It's Sunny," she said to the man.
 
 22 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Anyhow," he said, "she didn't mean to be left out 
 in the cold." 
 
 He rolled his cigar between his fat fingers and watched 
 the door. He was interested. Leslie Montressor rarely 
 made a mistake. She had found the girl they were 
 talking about just now serving ribbon and laces behind 
 the counter of a tenth-rate milliner's shop. Her eyes 
 had not deceived her. The girl had been quite a success. 
 She was doing well, and he Max Hemmingway had 
 made a nice little profit out of her. 
 
 The door was ajar. From the staircase came the 
 sound of a clear, ringing, infectious laugh. There was 
 something so spontaneous about the laugh that Mr. 
 Hemmingway himself smiled. 
 
 " Didn't want to let me in!" a voice cried. " If I had 
 come rollin' up in a swell motor-car you'd a fell over 
 yourself to open the door. Well, don't worry; one o' 
 these days Fll come in that there car!" 
 
 Again the laugh, then the voice again, a little nervous 
 this time. 
 
 "Bert, you never wiped your feet! You go back this 
 moment and wipe them on the mat. Soiling the car- 
 pets ! When I get my best carpets down in my salong, 
 I won't let you come in till I've made you take your 
 shoes off." 
 
 There was a pause. Evidently Bert had gone back 
 to wipe his feet. 
 
 "The lad is no use, of course," Miss Montressor said. 
 "But she insisted on bringing him!" 
 
 And now the door was pushed open and Sunny walked 
 in. She was quite at her ease, not a bit abashed. She 
 looked round her with her bright eyes. They dwelt 
 approvingly on the luxury and the good taste she saw 
 about her. She knew nothing of luxury, and had had 
 no opportunity in her short life of indulging in good
 
 The Start 23 
 
 taste, but what she saw she liked. It was not only that 
 it was rich and costly, but it looked comfortable. 
 
 "Nice place you've got here," she said, with her frank 
 smile. "Where's Bert? I sent him back to wipe his 
 boots." 
 
 "Sunny, this is Mr. Hemmingway, a great theatrical 
 manager, I have asked to meet you." 
 
 Sunny advanced; she held out her hand to Mr. 
 Hemmingway. 
 
 "How's yourself?" she said cheerfully. "Don't 
 mind me if you want to light your segar. Here's Bert. 
 Bert, come in!" 
 
 He looked sheepish and ill at ease. He held his head 
 down and shuffled his untidy feet. 
 
 "Bert, hold up your head," Sunny said. "Bert, this 
 is Mr. Hemmingwa} 7 '." 
 
 Hemmingway nodded. He was looking at Sunny; 
 he had no time for Bert. 
 
 Miss Montressor moved closer to Mr. Hemmingway. 
 
 "Don't ask any questions; let her talk," she whispered. 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "I didn't think I'd be able to come," Sunny said. 
 She sat down without an invitation and examined the 
 cover of the chair. "Nice chair," she said. "I like 
 this cover; you you should see ours!" She laughed. 
 "Aunt's in a bad way. She's been having too many 
 visits from Lizzie, you know " She paused. She 
 winked deliberately at Mr. Hemmingway. "It's her 
 weakness. She isn't bad other ways, but when Lizzie 
 comes to see her" she paused "she gets talking about 
 what she used to be like this." 
 
 A sudden and indescribable change came over the 
 girl. It was wonderful. She drew a long, pitiful face; 
 she rocked backwards and forwards on the chair; she 
 made little moaning sounds.
 
 24 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Oh, them old days!" she whined. "You wouldn't 
 believe! I 'ad me own parlor and a ma'ogany table in 
 the middle; and the feet used to stand on lonelium, so 
 as not to mark the carpet; and there were them anti- 
 macassars as I worked as a gel. Nothink wasn't too 
 good or too fine for me, and I've come down to this!" 
 Again she rocked and moaned. "And I ain't 'ad a drop, 
 I ain't, the live-long day!" 
 
 Bert had forgotten his nervousness. 
 
 "That's 'er aunt," he said. "That's the old girl to 
 a tee ! You wouldn't believe. Why, I can see 'er sitting 
 there and " 
 
 He remembered suddenly where he was and closed his 
 mouth abruptly. 
 
 "Copy anything, Sunny does!" he muttered. "See 
 'er take off Bill Wilkins; it 'ud make you split your 
 sides! There isn't nobody Sunny can't take off; 
 she'd " 
 
 Again he shut up abruptly, overcome by nervousness 
 
 The other two exchanged glances. Mr. Hemmingway 
 nodded imperceptibly. 
 
 "And Miss Montressor tells me that you would like 
 to get on the stage, my girl," he said. 
 
 "I'm going to," Sunny said. "It isn't a question of 
 liking. When I want to do a thing I do it!" 
 
 "If you get the chance." 
 
 "I make the chance," she said, nodding her head. 
 "I've got no patience with people who sit and wait for 
 chances. I make 'em and take 'em. That's how I got 
 into the pickle factory. They didn't want a girl. I 
 went there and argued with Mr. Johnson. 
 
 " 'I don't want no girl,' he said"; instinctively she 
 mimicked Mr. Johnson's rather snarling voice. " 'I'm 
 bunged up with girls. They're falling over one another 
 doing nothing. They're eating up my profits. You
 
 The Start 25 
 
 dear out ! ' Well I didn't go. I stopped and argued with 
 him. There was some pickle jars on the table, and I 
 showed him how the labels was all stuck on anyhow. 
 I told him that he wasn't going to get business unless he 
 stuck his abels on straight. I said I'd come and stick 
 labels on straight for him for four shillings a week, and 
 I give him permission to give me the sack the first label 
 he saw on crooked. Well, he took it. I ain't 'ad the 
 sack yet! That's the way you've got to make people 
 understand what you want. I'm going on the stage!" 
 She smiled happily. ' "I'm going to get there. I may 
 get on next week, or next year, or the year after. I 
 don't know, but I'm going to get there!" 
 
 "Can you sing?" Mr. Hemmingway asked abruptly. 
 
 "Not as you could notice! I make a funny sort of 
 sound with my mouth. Some call it singing. I'll show 
 you, if you like!" 
 
 He nodded. She rose up deliberately and sang. 
 There was not a quiver nor a suspicion of shyness; her 
 voice was as clear as a bell. Sweet and tuneful it rose 
 and filled the room. She broke off abruptly. 
 
 "I don't call that singing," she said. "What you 
 want when you sing is a band. I'll sing to a band one 
 day; you see!" 
 
 "I think you will," he said slowly. "Now" he 
 paused "is Sunny your name?" 
 
 "Elizabeth Ann Ducrow; Sunny for short," she said. 
 
 "I've got an idea, Sunny Ducrow, that you are going 
 to get on in the world, and I'm rather inclined to think 
 I am willing to give you your first chance." 
 
 "When do I start?" she said. 
 
 He rose and paced the room, his unlighted cigar 
 between his teeth. 
 
 "I'm running two theatres in town and a couple of 
 music-halls in the provinces," he said. "I'm putting
 
 26 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 on the new revue Keep off the Grass in a fortnight's 
 time. Miss Montressor here is my leading lady. I'm 
 open to make you an offer. I'll have a small part written 
 in for you a coster girl's part." 
 
 "Keep it!" Sunny said briefly. 
 
 ' ' What do you mean ? ' ' 
 
 "I'm not going to play no corster parts," she said. 
 " When I go on the stage I'm going to be dressed up fine ! " 
 
 "I've got an idea," he said. " I dare say it will work. 
 No, it won't be a coster part. It will be just a small 
 part to commence with twenty lines perhaps, not 
 more. I'll start you at two pounds a week. If you go 
 well the first night I'll have an agreement drawn up 
 engaging you for five years at a rising salary. Well? " 
 
 "Three years'll be long enough," Sunny said quietly. 
 "It's no good tying yourself up, is it?" 
 
 She looked at him so innocently that he laughed in 
 spite of his annoyance. 
 
 "You are evidently no fool," he said. "Well, we'll 
 talk about that later. Will you come to my office to- 
 morrow ? " He paused, he looked at her, he put his hand 
 into his pocket. "I'll make you an advance half your 
 first week's money to get some clothes," he said. 
 
 Sunny shook her head. 
 
 "I don't want no borrowed money," she said. "I'll 
 manage somehow. If they don't like my clothes, they 
 can do the other thing. What sort of a job are you 
 going to give Bert?" 
 
 " Bert ! " He looked at Bert. Bert looked the picture 
 of wretchedness. He sat on the very edge of the chair 
 trembling with nervousness. " I shall not require Bert, " 
 Mr. Hemmingway said. 
 
 She rose; she nodded to him and held out her hand 
 to Miss Montressor. 
 
 "I'm going. It's no use me wasting your time,"
 
 The Start 27 
 
 Sunny said. ' ' You see, me and Bert go together. We've 
 been chums ever since I went to the pickle factory. 
 We're going on being chums. If Bert don't get a job 
 along with me, then I don't take it, that's all!" 
 
 "But " Miss Montr essor said. 
 
 "That's all!" Sunny said. "Thank you for letting 
 me come and see your nice rooms! One day I'll have 
 rooms like 'em!" She nodded to Mr. Hemmingway. 
 
 "Wait! "he said. "Wait!" 
 
 He looked at Bert. Bert looked hopeless the picture 
 of supreme misery. He did not want Bert. He wished 
 Bert at the bottom of the sea, but he did want Sunny 
 Ducrow. 
 
 "Then you won't come to me unless I engage your 
 friend Bert?" 
 
 "No," Sunny said. "I told Bert when I get a job 
 he'd get one in the same place. I'm not going back on 
 my word; I never do. Bert, hold up your head and 
 look intelligent. I never break my word, do I?" 
 
 "No, you don't, Sunny," he said. 
 
 " There it is then, " she said. " So-long ! " 
 
 "Come back!" Mr. Hemmingway said. 
 
 "Don't miss her," Miss Montressor whispered. 
 
 He shook his head. Again he looked doubtfully at 
 Bert. Then he sighed. 
 
 "I'll give your friend Bert thirty shillings a week to 
 walk on," he said. 
 
 Sunny smiled. 
 
 "That's all right then," she said. "You see, I 
 couldn't go back on Bert nohow. I'll come to your old 
 office in the morning; hadn't you better give me a card 
 or something? Else they'll very likely shut the door in 
 my face!" 
 
 "Yes. Here's my card. You'll come at eleven?" 
 
 She held out her hand frankly to him.
 
 28 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I'll be there at eleven sharp," she said. "Good- 
 bye!" 
 
 She was gone. They heard her talking as she went 
 down the stairs. , 
 
 " If you don't hold your 'ead up, Bert, people'll think 
 you're ashamed of your face!" she said. 
 
 Then the door closed on them. 
 
 "Well?" Miss Montressor said. 
 
 "She's a wonder! If she's half as good on the stage 
 as she is off she'll have the town by the ears in a month ! " 
 
 "And she has a voice!" 
 
 "Untrained, but a voice for all that a wonderful 
 voice! And utterly without self-consciousness; entirely 
 natural!" 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "Leslie, she's a find! I believe, on my word, that 
 we've found something worth talking about!" 
 
 She smiled languidly. 
 
 "I never make mistakes, Max," she said. 
 
 "How how you could cheek them like you do beats 
 me!" Bert was saying to Sunny. 
 
 "Cheek who?" Sunny 's eyes flashed. "I never 
 cheek no one; I just talk!" she said. 
 
 " I call it cheek. I ain't got the sauce to jaw like you 
 do," he said. 
 
 "If you had you'd get on better in the world," she 
 said. 'Bert, I said I'd never go back on you. It's 
 good-bye to the old pickle factory this journey!" 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "I'll get kicked out of the theatre before I've been on 
 a week, " he said. "Me! I'm no good for the stage! 
 It's all right for you; you're a girl and pretty and and 
 like that!" 
 
 "Me pretty me!" She stared at him. "Me, with 
 hair like this!" she said.
 
 The Start 29 
 
 "It is a bit red, only you could get it dyed cheap, I 
 dare say!" 
 
 "Anyhow," Sunny said, "we're making a fresh start, 
 we are. Two pound a week isn't so bad; better than 
 eight-and-six." She paused. "But it's going to be 
 two hundred! You never know your luck. Besides," 
 she added confidentially, "I'm going to have a room just 
 like that sofy cushions on the floor and all. You wait 
 and see!"
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE CONTRACT 
 
 MRS. MELKIN rocked to and fro in her chair. 
 "Oh, oh dear, if you won't be the death of me!" 
 she said. "The trouble you've been* goodness only 
 knows! And now you're telling me that you're going 
 to leave the pickles!" 
 
 "Can't keep both jobs going, can I?" Sunny said. 
 
 "An* an' going on the stage!" Mrs. Melkin groaned. 
 "Giving up a nice, respectable, comfortable job with 
 the pickles and going on the stage," she moaned. 
 
 "To better myself," Sunny said cheerily. 
 
 "Better yourself! Worser yourself, you meafl! 
 Nothing reg'lar. A shilling a night for standing round 
 with a lot of other gels arid li'ble to be out of work any 
 time. Oh, oh dear! What 'ave I lived to see? What 
 'ave I lived to see? It's a wonder to me your poor 
 mother, poor Bee'trice, isn't a-turning in her grave!" 
 
 "Look here, aunt," Sunny sa?id. 
 
 "Don't talk to me, you wicked, ungrateful girl, after 
 all I done, after all the pains I took and all all I 
 done!" 
 
 "You didn't get me the pickle job. I got it myself!" 
 Sunny said defiantly. 
 
 Mrs. Melkin rocked to and fro. She only uttered 
 low, moaning cries, like a soul in agony. 
 
 Sunny sniffed. 
 
 "Of course, two pounds a week ain't much to start
 
 The Contract 31 
 
 with. It ain't by a long sight what I mean to get 
 presently . But ' ' 
 
 Mrs. Melkin sat bolt upright. She stared at the girl. 
 
 "Two p two pounds!" She gasped. '"Go's talk- 
 ing of two pounds a week?" 
 
 "I am," Sunny said. "That's what 'e's going to 
 start me on. 'E wanted me to sign for five years, but 
 not me ! Three years is enough, as I told him. There's 
 no knowing what may 'appen before five years is up." 
 
 "And you mean to stand there and tell me, Elizabeth 
 Ann, that you've been engaged for the stage, and you're 
 to get No, I won't believe it!" 
 
 "Do the other thing, then," Sunny said. "Anyhow, 
 it's true. Two pounds a week is what I get to start 
 with." 
 
 "Elizabeth Ann, are you telling me the truth?" Mrs. 
 Melkin demanded. "'Oo'd give a gel like you two 
 pounds? Don't talk to me!" 
 
 "All right, then! Seeing's believing. You'll believe 
 when you see me come on Saturday nights Friday, I 
 believe it'll be with two golden pounds in my 'ands. 
 Now, you cheer up and don't worry!" Sunny added. 
 "I've got to get off and see Mr. Hemmingway at his 
 orfice." 
 
 There was a weak tap on the door. Sunny turned. 
 
 " 'Allo ! Is that you, Bert ? " she said. 
 ' 'Erbert Jackson, is that you?" Mrs. Melkin said. 
 "What do you want?" 
 
 "I dunno," he said. He came into the room, looking 
 the picture of misery. 
 
 "Sunny," he said, "I 'ad to call for 'er, so I come." 
 
 "Why ain't you at the pickles?" 
 
 "I wish I was for some things," he said, with a sniff. 
 "I don't 'old with this 'ere stage business." 
 
 "You ain't got no pluck nor ambition," Sunny said.
 
 32 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 " I know I ain't," he said. "I don't want any, neither. 
 I'll get the strap for this all right chucking my job. 
 I ain't said a word to father yet. I ain't dared!" He 
 sniffed miserably. "When I do, he'll take it out of me 
 all right; and it'll be your doing, Sunny." 
 
 "Oh, come on!" Sunny said. She took a last look at 
 herself in the very discolored piece of looking-glass 
 over the mantelpiece. She had taken pains with her 
 appearance this morning. Hair, face, and teeth shone. 
 She had spent two hours sewing up the very worst holes 
 in her frock and her boots, but the result was not striking. 
 
 "What the end of this 'ere foolery's going to be I 
 don't know," Mrs. Melkin said. "Two pounds!" 
 She shook her head sadly. She had no belief whatever 
 in the two pounds a week. 
 
 Bert hunched his shoulders. He sniffed miserably 
 and dejectedly as he trudged by Sunny's side. She 
 skipped along the pavement, she always skipped rather 
 than walked. Bert hunched along in a hopelessly dejected 
 fashion. 
 
 "What's going to 'appen is this: we'll be kicked out!" 
 he said lugubriously. "They don't want us. It's a 
 joke. We been and lost our jobs at Johnson's, and it's 
 your fault. It's all your fault, Sunny!" 
 
 "Whatever 'appens, it's my fault," Sunny said cheerily. 
 "It'll be my fault, won't it, when you're getting five 
 'undred a year and riding about in taxi-cabs, Bert?" 
 
 "Me?" he said. "Me? I don't think!" 
 
 People in the streets turned to look at the pair. There 
 was something so fresh and so happy, so full of life about 
 Sunny, that worn-out folk found themselves envying the 
 girl her wonderful vitality. Her ragged feet scarcely 
 seemed to touch the ground. She was on wires, she 
 was a fairy, she was brimful of life and health and an 
 immense belief in a great future. Bert was just the
 
 The Contract 33 
 
 contrary. He believed in nothing except his own evil, 
 bad luck. The only thing he really believed in was the 
 strap, with which his father treated him occasionally. 
 
 The Parkside Theatre was an immense white stone 
 building. It looked so large, so imposing, so expensive, 
 that the little courage that had been left in Bert oozed 
 out and vanished. 
 
 "I ain't a-going in!" he said. "Not me!" 
 
 "You ain't what, Bert? I'm ashamed of you!" Sunny 
 said. 
 
 She stood studying the bills, with which the front of 
 the building was liberally plastered. 
 
 "KEEP OFF THE GRASS!" 
 The Great Revue to be produced Shortly 
 
 MISS LESLIE MONTRESSOR AND MR. HARVEY DAGLAN, 
 MISS KITTY DAMER, MISS BERTIE BRISTOWE 
 
 There were several other names, but Miss Montressor's 
 was the most in evidence. 
 
 "See that, Bert? That's 'er, our friend; the lady as 
 was 'ad up at the police-court same time we was," Sunny 
 said. "They don't 'alf advertise 'er, do they?" 
 
 Bert grunted. He did not care. He wished himself 
 back at the pickle factory. He was thinking of the strap. 
 
 "Come along!" Sunny said. 
 
 She marched up to the imposing mahogany and plate- 
 glass swing-doors. A liveried commissionaire was on 
 duty. 
 
 " 'Allo!" he said. "What's your trouble?" 
 
 "I'm took on 'ere," Sunny said. "I'm come. Why 
 ain't you got the red carpet down, and no band or 
 nothing?" 
 
 He looked down at her.
 
 34 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "You get out of this!" he said. 
 
 Sunny drew herself up. 
 
 "I'm an actress; I'm engaged here," she said. 
 
 "You!" He smiled at her. "I don't think! You 
 nip round to the stage-door if you've got any business. 
 'Ere!" he shouted. "You've forgot to take this with 
 you!" He pointed at Bert. 
 
 "Come along, Bert," Sunny said. "We come to the 
 wrong entrance. That chap," she said to Bert outside, 
 "one of these days he'll be opening my carriage door 
 for me, he will; you see! Nice place, ain't it?" She 
 stared at the walls. "Sunny Ducrow. You'll see that 
 name plastered all over them walls one of these days, 
 Bert, and Bert Jackson too, if I know anything!" 
 
 " I wish I was back at the pickles ! " he said. 
 
 They found the stage-door. There was a man in a sort 
 of ticket office there. He looked over the ledge down at 
 Sunny. 
 
 "Well? "he said. 
 
 "Quite well, thank you! 'Ow's yourself?" she said 
 cheerily. 
 
 "I mean, what do you want here?" 
 
 "Me? I'm come. I'm engaged least, I'm going to be 
 soon. Mr. Hemmingway in?' 
 
 "Mr. Hemmingway is here, but he hasn't time for 
 you." 
 
 "Don't you believe it!" Sunny said. "I got an 
 appointment with him." 
 
 "Well, you can't see him. He's with Mr. Rostheimer." 
 
 "I don't care if he's with the King of Russia! You 
 tell him I'm here Sunny Ducrow. That's the name. 
 I got an appointment with him at eleven; it's eleven 
 now!" 
 
 "You clear off!" the man said. He had seen Sunny 's 
 boots; that was enough for him. No one with such
 
 The Contract 35 
 
 boots was likely to have an appointment with Mr. Hem- 
 mingway the great Mr. Hemmingway. 
 
 "Come on, Bert," Sunny said. 
 
 But instead of turning away, she pushed open a small 
 door. The man shouted after her, but it was useless. 
 Sunny had gone in, so had Bert. He could not leave 
 his box. 
 
 "Anyhow, someone'll pitch 'em out!" he thought. 
 
 Quite where they had got to Sunny did not know, but 
 she did not admit that she was nonplussed even to her- 
 self. She found herself in a dark place, which seemed 
 to be in a terrible condition of untidiness. Now and 
 again she tripped over something; once she ran into 
 something. Stumbling, floundering, she clutched Bert 
 by the hand and dragged him unwillingly forward. 
 
 "Hallo! Who are you? What do you want, kid?" 
 
 "I'm eome to see Mr. Hemmingway. Which is his 
 office?" 
 
 "That's Mr. Hemmingway 's office if you want to 
 know," the man who had spoken to her said. "But he 
 hasn't time for you. Come on, clear out ! " 
 
 But Sunny had learned all that she wanted to know. 
 This was Mr. Hemmingway's office, and Mr. Hemming- 
 way's office was the place she was in search of. The 
 man was descending on her with the evident intention 
 of putting her outside, but she dodged him. She made 
 a dash for the door in front of her, opened it, and whirled 
 into the room, dragging the reluctant Bert with her. 
 
 "Den tousand bounds," someone was saying. "I 
 dell you that it haf gost ten tousand " The speaker 
 paused. "Vat's dat?" he said. 
 
 " "Ad a nice job to find you, I did! We've come, me 
 and Bert." 
 
 "So I see," Mr. Hemmingway said. "Sony, I can't 
 attend to you just now. Mr. Rostheimer is "
 
 36 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Oh, don't mind me! I'll wait," Sunny said. She 
 looked round and saw a chair. She sat down. "Sit 
 down, Bert!" she said. 
 
 "Vat's dis choke?" the over-stout gentleman who 
 was talking to Mr. Hemmingway demanded. ' ' Who is dis 
 girl ? Himmel ! Look at her boots ! ' ' 
 
 Sunny thrust out her feet. 
 
 "A bit off, ain't they?" she said. "But that don't 
 matter. There's plenty more where they come from. 
 You go on with what you were talking about, and don't 
 mind me. Me and Be it'll chat till you're through." 
 
 The stout, Jewish-looking man looked at Mr. Hem- 
 mingway. 
 
 "The the girl I was speaking to you about," Mr. 
 Hemmingway whispered. "One of Miss Leslie Mon- 
 tressor's finds." 
 
 "Soh! Goot eh? Ligely to be a paying brobosition, 
 eh?" 
 
 Hemmingway nodded. 
 
 " I think so. You never know. She may take on, it's 
 just a chance." 
 
 "Der bublic swallow all kinds of rubbish," the other 
 man said. 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway nodded. 
 
 They continued their conversation in low, guarded 
 voices. Large sums of money were mentioned frequently. 
 Sunny did not want to listen. She tried to talk to Bert 
 in an undertone, but for all that she heard "Den 
 tousand bounds" being mentioned somewhat frequently. 
 
 "I wish I was out of this," Bert grunted. "I'd give 
 somethink to find myself back at the pickles!" 
 
 "Hold your head up!" Sunny said. "And keep smil- 
 ing. What's the use of growling? You're going to get 
 thirty bob a week, ain't you?" 
 
 "I dunno," he said. "It's a dream!"
 
 The Contract 37 
 
 "Miss Ducrow!" 
 
 Sunny started. For perhaps the first time in her life 
 she had been addressed in this fashion. 
 
 "That's me!" she said. 
 
 She sprang up. 
 
 "Dugrow! Dat's a bretty good name, ain't it?" Mr. 
 Rostheimer said. "Where did you ged dat name?" 
 
 "I didn't get it, it got me!" Sunny said. "It was 
 'anging about before I was!" 
 
 "With regard to our conversation yesterday," Mr. 
 Hemmingway said, "I have had a form of agreement, 
 a contract, drawn up, binding you for five years at " 
 
 "I said three," Sunny said. "I didn't say five. You 
 know very well I said three. You hank about and I'll 
 make it two, I will!" 
 
 He laughed. 
 
 "Three then, it's my mistake," he said. "You're 
 going to take a small part in the revue, Keep off the Grass. 
 I am getting our author to write it up for you. A few 
 lines, of course " 
 
 "Just to start with, only you'll want more presently," 
 Sunny said. "No corsters, though." 
 
 "No," he said; "no coster part. This is the idea," 
 he said. "You are the long-lost daughter of a Cabinet 
 Minister see?" 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "What's a Cabinet Minister?" she asked. 
 
 "Well, that doesn't matter now. He is a man in a 
 very high position, stiff and starchy, very dignified. You 
 follow?" 
 
 "Yes! Fire away !" Sunny said. , 
 
 "His child is stolen when a baby, and she's been 
 brought up by poor people. She had, as a matter of 
 fact, been working in a pickle factory. The low com- 
 edy man discovers her and returns her to her father.
 
 38 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 There's a big drawing-room scene. The comedy man 
 brings you in. Got the idea?" 
 
 Sunny nodded. "I see; and it gives my father fits 
 when he finds out what I'm like!" 
 
 "That's it, you've got the idea! You've got to act 
 naturally. Of course, you don't get many lines first, 
 but if you go on well, we'll lengthen your part. You'll 
 be here for rehearsal to-morrow morning at ten." 
 
 "And what about Bert?" 
 
 "Oh, him " Hemmingway paused. "I'll find 
 him a corner in the chorus, I dare say!" 
 
 "It ain't any dare say about it!" Sunny said. "You 
 promised Bert thirty bob a week; either you take 'im 
 or you don't take me say which!" 
 
 "That's arranged," he said. "I give Mr. ahem! 
 Bert thirty shillings a week in the chorus. No contract 
 will be necessary in this case." 
 
 "Not yet, but it will later," Sunny said. 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway rang a bell. A young man came 
 in and brought with him some official-looking papers. 
 
 "Just sign your name here," Mr. Hemmingway said. 
 "It's the usual form of contract. No need to read it. 
 It's only a waste of time." 
 
 "What! Me sign my name to somethink I ain't 
 read! That ain't me!" Sunny said. "No, thanks! 
 I'm a-going right through this lot before I write a word ! " 
 
 "Oh, very well! Go and sit down and read it then," 
 he said. 
 
 "If you and this gentleman have got anything more to 
 say, don't mind me," Sunny said pleasantly. 
 
 She went to the window and sat down and slowly 
 spelled her way through the agreement. There were 
 words here and there that she did not understand . When 
 she came across one she called Mr. Hemmingway's 
 attention to it and demanded an explanation.
 
 The Contract 39 
 
 Mr. Rostheimer sat looking at Sunny out of the 
 corners of his eyes. She had annoyed him at first, now 
 he found himself slightly interested. The sun shone 
 in through the window and touched her head bent over 
 the papers. It turned her wonderful hair into living fire. 
 
 "She don'd vant to vear a vig any," he muttered to 
 Mr. Hemmingway. 
 
 Bert sat on the very edge of his chair, looking and 
 feeling intensely miserable. He was going over in his 
 mind the events as they would take place at this time at 
 the pickle factory. He pictured himself in the boiling- 
 room, with the sour smell of the boiling vinegar making 
 him feel sick, as it always did. He wished from the 
 bottom of his heart he could smell the boiling vinegar 
 at this moment, but he could not. 
 
 "That seems all right. Lend us a pen," Sunny said. 
 "Two pounds a week to start with, and to be raised in 
 accordance with the part played. You've got here five 
 years; I've crossed it out and I'll write three." 
 
 "Where is id that you get so beautiful hair?" Mr. 
 Rostheimer asked her. 
 
 "Me?" Sunny said. "Beautiful you call it! I got 
 it same as I got my name. I didn't arst for it, it was 
 served out to me, I s'pose!" 
 
 He stretched out his fat hand to finger the glowing 
 locks ! 
 
 "Hands off ! " Sunny said. "Hands off ! " 
 
 She drew her small self up with a wonderful dignity. 
 Mr. Hemmingway smiled as she bent over the document. 
 
 " What's der matter? Mosd girls would feel fladdered 
 dat I dake any notice of dem," Mr. Rostheimer said. 
 
 "Very well, you go and take notice of them as like it, 
 not me!" 
 
 "One day you ged sorry if you don'd look out!" Mr. 
 Rostheimer said.
 
 4*> Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Sunny looked at him. 
 
 "You run away and play!" she said briefly. 
 
 Mr. Rostheimer the man of millions, the man who 
 was financing the most gorgeous revue that had ever 
 been put on any stage gobbled and choked. 
 
 "You're an imberdinent girl!" he said. 
 
 "And you, you're a nice old gentleman," Sunny said. 
 "Oh, what's the use of quarrelling?" She held out her 
 hand suddenly. "I don't want to quarrel with no one. 
 I dare say my 'air's all right for them as like it. One 
 day I'm a-going to dye it black." 
 
 Mr. Rostheimer hesitated. He looked at the glowing 
 face, the dazzling white teeth revealed by Sunny's broad 
 smile. He hesitated for an instant, then he put his 
 large, fleshy paw into hers. 
 
 "That's all right," Sunny said. "It's no good 
 beginning by 'aving rows." 
 
 "Quide ride; you're a nice liddle girl, and you'll go 
 far," he said. "Hemmingway, dis girl will go far." 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway nodded. 
 
 " That's what I mean to do," Sunny said. " I'm going 
 to have my name stuck up all over the walls here before 
 I'm done. You mind what I say. One of these days 
 you'll come up and see it Sunny Ducrow. It'll be in 
 the biggest letters, and stuck all over the place." 
 
 "You dink you are going to ged on in der world?" 
 he said. 
 
 "I don't think, I know!" she said. "I made up my 
 mind to get on, and I'm going to!" She thrust out a 
 stubborn little chin. "You watch me, mister! I'm 
 for the top; you see!" 
 
 He laughed good naturedly. 
 
 "All ride; I'll helb you, perhaps, if you are a goot girl!" 
 
 "And I don't want any help, neither," Sunny said. 
 "I'm going to do it alone."
 
 The Contract 4 1 
 
 "We'll see," he said. 
 
 "We'll see," she said. 
 
 The document was signed. Sunny wrote her name, 
 "Elizabeth Ann Ducrow," laboriously underneath. 
 
 "And now, one small matter," Mr. Hemmingway 
 said. "You'll have to come here to rehearsals, Miss 
 Ducrow. Your salary will be half during rehearsals. 
 I am willing to advance you, say, five pounds to get the 
 necessary things " 
 
 "Not me! I don't want no money advanced," Sunny 
 said. " Nor doesn't Bert !" 
 
 "But " He looked at her clothes, at her boots. 
 
 "I do bedder dan dat," Mr. Rostheimer said. He 
 took out a fat pocket-book and from it a five-pound note. 
 "Dat ain'd an advance. Dat a bresent to ged some 
 preddy tings to suit your preddy face mit." 
 
 "What's this ?" Sunny said. She looked at the note. 
 
 "For you a liddle present," he said. 
 
 "Keep it!" Sunny said briefly. "When I want 
 presents I'll ask for one. Thanks all the same!" She 
 smiled at him and held out her hand. "No offence 
 meant and none took," she said. "Come on, Bert!" 
 
 The two men looked at one another when the door 
 had closed on Sunny and the mournful Bert. 
 
 "Curious!" Mr. Hemmingway said. "Original, eh?" 
 
 Mr. Rostheimer took out his handkerchief and mopped 
 his forehead. 
 
 "You mark my vords!" he said. "Dat girl vill drive 
 some feller crazy one of dese days!" 
 
 "I've got an idea that, with luck, she'll drive the 
 public crazy!" Mr. Hemmingway said. 
 
 Mr. Rostheimer nodded. 
 
 "I believe you!" he said. "Yes, I believe you!"
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 GETTING ON 
 
 FOR the first time in her life Sunny had received a 
 parcel. It had come from a well-known Wesr 
 End shop. 
 
 "I don't know nothing about it!" Mrs. Melkin said. 
 "It come by a cart. There it is!" 
 
 Sunny opened the parcel. It contained a dress, some 
 underclothing, and a good pair of boots, but as to who 
 sent it there was no indication. 
 
 "Someone trying to do me a turn," she said. "I 
 wish they wouldn't, whoever it is. It's about my size, 
 too!" 
 
 It was a plain but neat and serviceable dress of black 
 serge. It was the very first brand-new dress Sunny had 
 ever owned in her life. She put it on and looked at 
 herself in the glass. 
 
 "I wish I knew who sent it!" she said; "I'd send it 
 back. I don't want favors from no one!" 
 
 "You're an ungrateful child!" Mrs. Melkin said. 
 "After me savin' and scrapin' " She paused. 
 
 "You you" Sunny gasped "you got me this?" 
 
 Mrs. Melkin hesitated. 
 
 "Well, if I did, ain't you my own sisters child?" she 
 said. "What's the 'arm? I like to see you look niee, 
 I do; and me saving and scraping " 
 
 "You old darling!" Sunny said. 
 
 She believed it. She believed that her aunt had sent 
 
 42
 
 Getting On 43 
 
 her the clothes, while, as a matter of fact, Mrs. Melkin 
 knew no more about it than Sunny did. 
 
 "Scraped and scraped, I did!" she said. "Put it by, 
 bit by bit, for you, Elizabeth Ann!" 
 
 "You're an old dear!" Sunny said. "I'd take from 
 you what I wouldn't take from no one else!" 
 
 She was wearing the new dress and boots and the new 
 hat the following day when she met Bert. 
 
 He looked at her in surprise, but said nothing. 
 
 "A present from aunt!" she said. "How do I look, 
 Bert?" 
 
 He looked at her and blinked with his melancholy 
 eyes. 
 
 "You look a fair knock-out, Sunny!" he said. "Sort 
 of make me wonder all the time if it is you!" 
 
 "It's nothing to the clothes I'll have one day!" she 
 said. "Come on!" 
 
 They hurried on. They had to be at rehearsal at ten. 
 This time there was no difficulty about their admittance. 
 The man in the little box-office smiled good morning 
 to Sunny. 
 
 "Got your little lamb with you still, I see!" he said, 
 looking at Bert. 
 
 What happened after that Sunny could remember 
 only as a confused kind of dream. She found herself 
 on a huge stage. There were no footlights. The great 
 auditorium was a black void, through which shrouded 
 candelabra glimmered in ghostly fashion. 
 
 Someone was shouting and raving. There were a 
 number of girls and a number of young men who were 
 going through some kind of a performance. 
 
 "Now, then, you're in the chorus, aren't you?" 
 
 Bert found himself roughly torn from Sunny's side. 
 He was hurled into a corner among a lot of young men, 
 who looked at him superciliously.
 
 44 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 They were going through a kind of dance, accom- 
 panied by a song. Now they thrust out their right arms 
 and moved a step towards the centre of the stage. 
 
 They were singing something about a girl from Ohio. 
 Sunny watched them; she watched Bert. Bert looked 
 intensely unhappy. He, too, thrust out his right arm 
 and took a step with the rest. He was trying to sing, 
 but he was woefully out of tune. Sunny smiled. Little 
 by little she began to laugh. Others standing about her 
 followed the direction of her eyes and saw Bert. Then 
 they laughed. Soon everyone was laughing. 
 
 " That chap at the end there looks like a funeral ! For 
 goodness* sake kick him away!" someone said. "Look 
 at him!" 
 
 "Leave him alone!" It was Mr. Hemmingway who 
 had come on. "Leave him alone!" He looked at 
 Bert. "Say nothing to him. Let him go on his own 
 way. I've got an idea ! ' ' 
 
 "He's spoiling the chorus," the stage-manager said. 
 
 "I've got my own ideas, Jakes!" Mr. Hemmingway 
 said. "Let that fellow alone for the present, at any 
 rate." 
 
 "Very good; as you like!" Mr. Jakes said. "Now, 
 then, ladies of the chorus!" he bellowed. "Come on, 
 you!" He glared at Sunny. "You are in the chorus, 
 I suppose ! Hurry yourself ! ' ' 
 
 Sunny walked deliberately across the stage. 
 
 "Where have I got to stand?" she asked. 
 
 "Get into your place!" the stage-manager bellowed. 
 
 A girl made room for Sunny. 
 
 "He's in one of his tantrums this morning; got out of 
 bed the wrong side!" she muttered. "He's a beast any 
 time sometimes a worse beast than others. What's 
 your name?" 
 
 "Sunny. What's yours?"
 
 Getting On 45 
 
 "Sunny what?" 
 
 "Funny our names should be alike, isn't it?" Sunny 
 said. " Mine's Sunny Ducrow and yours is Sunny Watt. 
 Who give you that name? I mean you wasn't " 
 
 "Silence!" shouted the stage-manager. 
 
 "Now, then, ladies!" 
 
 The orchestra struck up and the chorus burst into 
 song. Sunny did not sing for the simple reason she was 
 hearing the chorus for the first time. 
 
 "Sing up!" the stage-manager yelled at her. "Hang 
 it, what are you here for?" 
 
 "Not to be hollered at by you!" Sunny said. 
 
 There was a sudden and deathly silence. 
 
 "What's that?" the manager demanded. 
 
 " What I said is, 'ow can I sing up when I don't know 
 the blooming song?" Sunny said. 
 
 "You ought to know it!" 
 
 "Ought ! How can I ? Could you know, for instance, 
 'ow to make raspberry jam first go off out of apples and 
 coloring and flavoring and bird-seed? You couldn't do 
 it, could you, unless you was showed 'ow?" 
 
 He stared at her. 
 
 "I don't know what you are talking about, but I do 
 know this: if you want to find yourself outside " 
 
 " I don't," Sunny said, " and I ain't going to ! So keep 
 your hair on, mister!" 
 
 "You'll get fired, sure ! " the girl beside Sunny muttered. 
 
 "Not me!" Sunny said. "But I ain't goin' to be 
 'ollered at by no one. Wilkins at the factory tried it 
 once, then he gave up; so'll he!" 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway was talking to the stage-manager 
 in a low tone. 
 
 "Oh, very well, but I can't have mutiny among the 
 chorus. You'll have to shift her out of it if she goes on 
 on those lines," Mr. Jakes said.
 
 46 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 He altered his tone and his manner a few moments 
 later as Miss Montressor came on the stage. She had 
 a song to sing, which she sang exquisitely. Even the 
 chorus left off whispering to listen to her. Tears stood 
 in Sunny's eyes when she had finished. 
 
 ' ' Sing your head off and your heart out of you, can't 
 she?" she whispered. "Lor', what wouldn't I give to 
 sing like that ! I know 'er, too." She paused. 
 
 Miss Montressor, her song finished, looked round. 
 She saw Sunny, and came straight to her. 
 
 "Well, little girl," she said pleasantly, "so you are 
 here! And how smart you look!" 
 
 She took Sunny's hand in hers and held it while she 
 was talking to her; the other girls looked on enviously. 
 Leslie Montressor was a great star; to know her in- 
 timately, as this girl seemed to, was an honor not to 
 be scoffed at. They looked at Sunny with new respect. 
 So, too, did the stage-manager. It was noticeable that 
 he left Sunny alone after that. 
 
 "How did you get to know her like that?" the girl 
 who had stood next to Sunny asked. 
 
 "Me and her was had up at the same police-court. 
 I don't know what she was charged with," Sunny said, 
 "but me and Bert was had up with singing in the streets. 
 We got off; so did she, it seems." 
 
 The girl laughed; she thought it was some joke of 
 Sunny's. 
 
 " My name is Daisy de Venn," she said. 
 
 "You tole me just now " 
 
 "No, I didn't; it was your mistake. I said 'Sunny 
 what?' I mean what was your other name." 
 
 "I am an idiot, ain't I ? " Sunny said. 
 
 "I'll introduce you to the others. They are rather a 
 decent lot, take them all round. How about your dresses 
 for the chorus?"
 
 Getting On 47 
 
 "I ain't bothering," Sunny said. 
 
 "But you'll have to see the Wardrobe about them." 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "I will; only there ain't no hurry as I know of. Be- 
 sides, I shan't want them long." 
 
 The other girl looked at her. 
 
 "You'll want them for the run, unless you get fired." 
 
 Sunny shook her head. 
 
 "I shan't stop long in the chorus," she said. "Not 
 that it isn't all right being in the chorus," she added; 
 "only I prefer to have a part of my own." 
 
 "I dare say you do," Miss de Venn laughed. "So 
 would most of us. But parts don't grow on every tree, 
 my girl." 
 
 "It's a-growing on the tree I'm sitting under, and 
 presently one's going to drop on me!" Sunny said. 
 
 When the first strangeness had worn off, Sunny 
 adapted herself to circumstances with ease. She learned 
 the words of the choruses and the necessary actions; 
 even the stage-manager had no fault to find with her. 
 He was not naturally a bad-tempered or evilly disposed 
 man, as most of the girls thought ; but the stage-manager 
 life is not all beer and skittles when a big new production 
 is being made ready, as he told Sunny one day when 
 they were the best of friends. 
 
 Sunny's part as the long-lost daughter rescued from 
 the pickle factory was of the briefest. It consisted of 
 something under twenty lines, which she learned thor- 
 oughly inside half an hour. She was what is called a 
 "quick study." 
 
 "It don't hardly seem worth while me getting myself 
 up and all the rest of it to come on and say just that!" 
 she said to Bert. 
 
 "You ought to have a song," he said. 
 
 "I ought; but I ain't got one.'
 
 48 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I was thinking about a song as 'ud suit you," Bert 
 said. 
 
 "You!" she said. "Why don't you write it out?" 
 
 Bert nodded gloomily. 
 
 "I s'pose everyone'll laugh at it if I do; but I'll have 
 a shot at it. I got the strap the other night all right," 
 he added cheerily. "Father gave it to me when he 
 heard about me leaving the pickle factory." 
 
 "Bound to," Sunny said. "Did it hurt, Bert?" 
 
 "Same as usual 'bout," he said thoughtfully. "I'll 
 have a shot at that there song to-night," he added. He 
 went his way. 
 
 "Got the song?" Sunny asked him, as they met the 
 next morning on their way to rehearsal. 
 
 Bert nodded. 
 
 "It didn't turn out as well as I thought," he said. 
 "No one 'ud look at it. It's no good. Any'ow, here 
 you are." He brought out a dirty piece of paper, and 
 Sunny stopped in the roadway to read the pencilled words. 
 
 "Bert, you never wrote this!" she said. 
 
 "Me' I did!" he said. "Why not?" 
 
 "Why, it's fine! It suits splendid! I'm going to 
 take it straight to Mr. Hemmingway." 
 
 "It's no good. He'll turn it down; very likely kick 
 us both out," he said. "What's the use? " 
 
 "I'm a-going to take it to him, anyhow," Sunny said. 
 
 "Well, Miss Ducrow?" Mr. Hemmingway asked a 
 trifle impatiently some hours later. 
 
 Sunny came smiling into the office. 
 
 "Me and Bert has been talking," she said. "Bert 
 thinks as my part 'ud go better if I had a song to sing." 
 
 "I dare say," he said dryly. "Now, I'm busy; I'm 
 sorry, but " 
 
 "So Bert wrote a song that he thought might do. 
 Here it is. It's called Piccalilli Lily, and "
 
 Getting On 49 
 
 "I've got no time," he said. "It's not a bad idea, 
 but " 
 
 "Here it is," Sunny said. She thrust the dirty scrap 
 of paper in front of him. 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway glanced at it. He hesitated, then 
 he took it. He read it through. It was not bad. It 
 commenced: 
 
 "I'm Piccalilli Lily, 
 And I work in Piccadilly, 
 A-sticking of the labels on the jam " 
 
 "Who wrote this?" he asked. 
 
 "Bert did done it out of his own head," Sunny said. 
 "He thought I might sing it." 
 
 " Leave it here," he said briefly. "I'll think about it." 
 
 "Have a look through this." Mr. Hemmingway said 
 some time later to the musical director, "and, if you 
 think you can manage it, hang some sort of a tune to it. 
 The metre seems all right." 
 
 Signer Posetti nodded. He looked at the paper. 
 
 "Nice swing," he said. "Ter umity, tumity, tumity 
 Yes, all right. I'll go over it presently." 
 
 For three days Sunny heard no more about the song. 
 Bert had forgotten it, except that he had a vague idea 
 that he would be dismissed for having dared to write it. 
 
 Sunny had been at rehearsal a week. She had made 
 a few friends and perhaps one or two enemies. Girls 
 whose natures had soured a little by years of neglect, 
 by years of having to remain in the background while 
 they saw others and newer-comers forge ahead, disliked 
 her. 
 
 "Wait till the first night, she'll go to pieces," they 
 said. And they hoped that they would prove true 
 prophets. 
 
 "Miss Ducrow wanted," someone said.
 
 5 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Sunny went. She found Mr. Hemmingway with the 
 musical director. 
 
 " That song," Mr. Hemmingway said. " Signor Posetti 
 has set it to music. Think you can catch the tune?" 
 
 "Try me," Sunny said. 
 
 The signor sat down at the piano in the office and 
 played the air. It was a very catchy, bright air the 
 very thing for the words. The words had been altered 
 a little here and there, but they stood much as Bert had 
 written them. 
 
 "Got it?" Mr. Hemmingway asked. 
 
 Sunny nodded. She hummed the tune to herself. 
 
 "Lively, isn't it? Wonderful being able to write out 
 music like that. I should not have been able to think 
 of it in a thousand years." 
 
 Signor Posetti smiled. He was open to a little flattery, 
 and this was genuine admiration. He looked at her 
 kindly. 
 
 "Now, den, we try it over, yes," he said. "Come!" 
 
 His supple fingers touched the keys. 
 
 "Don't be frightened," Mr. Hemmingway said. 
 
 "Not me," Sunny said. She smiled, showing her 
 white teeth. With the original paper in her hand to 
 guide her in the matter of words, Sunny sang the song 
 over. Never once did her ear play her false; she had 
 got the tune marvellously. 
 
 "I'd like to do it again. I'll do it better next time," 
 she said eagerly. 
 
 "All right," Mr. Hemmingway said. "Sorry to 
 trouble you, Posetti." 
 
 This time Sunny let herself go. She put more than 
 words, she put actions into her song. 
 
 "Fine," Hemmingway said briefly. "You'll da 
 Send Jackson to me." 
 
 Sunny hurried back to the stage.
 
 Getting On 51 
 
 "It's all right," she whispered to Bert. "They've 
 put wonderful music to your song, and I'm to sing it. 
 Mr. Hemmingway wants to see you at once." 
 
 " It's the sack," Bert muttered. " I knew it. It's all 
 up." He went wretchedly. 
 
 Half an hour later he came back. There was a mysti- 
 fied look on his face ; in his hand a piece of paper crackled. 
 
 "Gave me five pounds for the rights of the words," 
 he said to Sunny. "Five! Look! I dare say it's a 
 bad 'un, though." 
 
 Sunny laughed.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE FIRST NIGHT 
 
 WHAT was it, that terribly sinking sensation, that 
 feeling of fear that never before in her life had 
 assailed her? She could not understand it. It fright- 
 ened her and worried her. 
 
 "What's the matter with me?" she demanded of her- 
 self. She felt cold, she shivered a little, her hands were 
 trembling. 
 
 It was the long-looked-for, the hardly-worked-for 
 first night. It had come at last. The great theatre 
 was brilliantly illuminated, the orchestra was already in 
 its place, playing the overture. Here on the stage, 
 Sunny and all the girls of the chorus had taken their 
 places, and Sunny felt queer. 
 
 "Got the shivers?" Daisy de Venn asked. "I know. 
 I had 'em myself. But they'll go off presently, you see." 
 
 " I hope so. I can't get over it," Sunny said. " I feel 
 as cold as cold, and yet I ain't frightened. Why should 
 I be? There's nothing " She paused. The or- 
 chestra was playing the opening chorus, the great curtain 
 rolled up, and there before her Sunny saw spots of white 
 thousands and thousands of white spots, it seemed to 
 her, drifting about in a sea of fog. The spots of white 
 were the faces in the audience; the fog existed only in 
 her imagination. She still felt cold, but she was sing- 
 ing; she was going through actions almost mechanically. 
 
 Mrs. Melkin was in the gallery. She had been pre- 
 52
 
 The First Night 53 
 
 sented with a gallery ticket. She was probably pointing 
 Sunny out to her immediate neighbors, and describing 
 how for years she had slaved and striven and scraped, 
 all for Sunny's benefit. 
 
 The chorus was over; the girls took up their positions 
 at the back of the stage. 
 
 Now Miss Montressor came on, to be greeted by a 
 storm of applause. Then Harry Kibble, who was almost 
 as popular a fine, handsome-looking young fellow. 
 But Sunny still felt worried and nervous. Every mo- 
 ment her nervousness increased. She was thinking of the 
 scene in the second act when she came on alone; when 
 she alone must take the stage; when she knew she would 
 not be sheltering behind the girls in the chorus. It 
 would be up to her then, and she would have to sing 
 Bert's song. 
 
 "I shan't never do it," Sunny thought. "I thought 
 myself clever, didn't I? I didn't know. I feel like I 
 was wishing I was back at the pickle factory." 
 
 The first act was over. No one seemed to notice that 
 there was anything wrong with Sunny. 
 
 She met Bert behind the scene. 
 
 "How do you feel?" he asked. 
 
 "All right," she said. She smiled at him. Bert, 
 deluded, went away. 
 
 It was the second act that she dreaded the great ball- 
 room scene where she was to take the stage and sin;; 
 her song. 
 
 "I wish I didn't never have a song," she thought. 
 "I'll break down. I can't do it! Sunny Ducrow 
 you've got to do it! There won't be no motor-cars, 
 nor nice flats with sofy cushions on the floor, nor nothink 
 for you if you don't do it, my girl!" 
 
 She did not take her place in the chorus when the 
 curtain went up on the second act. She had changed
 
 54 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 into the ragged dress of the girl from the pickle factory. 
 It was an exaggerated dress. It was coming, coming, 
 coming! Every moment now was bringing her nearer 
 and nearer to the ordeal. 
 
 "Sunny Ducrow, pull yourself together, my girl! It's 
 your chance; your chance has come at last the chance 
 you've been waiting for and looking for. Go on, I'm 
 ashamed of you!" she muttered to herself. 
 
 "Miss Ducrow!" the call-boy was shouting. 
 
 Heavens, never had she winced before at the sound of 
 her own name! How she got there she did not know. 
 She found herself standing on the stage by the wings. 
 Her moment had come. It was here! Someone gave 
 her a little thrust forward and she stepped on to the 
 brilliantly lighted stage one little figure on which the 
 attention of the gieat audience was focused. Yes, it was 
 her hour, the moment of her life. She felt that she 
 wanted to turn and run for it; fly for her life; hide 
 herself somewhere. 
 
 Everyone was looking at her. Good heavens, she 
 had to say something! What was it she had to say? 
 What were the words she had spoken so glibly for weeks 
 now at rehearsal? Why did people stare so? Where 
 was Bert? Oh, there he was, standing in the opposite 
 wings, looking wretched and dejected. Sunny could 
 also very distinctly see a sneer on the faces of some of 
 the chorus ladies who were dressed in ball costumes. 
 What was it she was expected to say? She racked her 
 brains; she closed her eyes. She opened her mouth. 
 She said something, what she hardly knew. She heard 
 someone laughing. The laugh was taken up; it rippled 
 through the house. 
 
 Then suddenly a wild, mad idea came to her. She 
 walked deliberately to the footlights; she looked over 
 the sea of faces.
 
 The First Night 55 
 
 "Give us a chance!" she said. "I'm only a girl from 
 the pickle factory. I ain't never been on the stage before. 
 It's took it out of me. I don't know whether I'm on 
 my head or on my heels. Don't howl me out ! It's the 
 chance I've been waiting for, for years and years ever 
 since I was so high!" She paused. 
 
 Someone in the audience applauded. It was taken 
 up. In a moment the house was roaring applause and 
 encouragement to her. And then suddenly it was gone 
 the nervousness was past. She was herself again. 
 She stood there, smiling at them, while they clapped their 
 hands and stamped their feet at her. What had she 
 said or done? Only one thing Sunny knew. These 
 people here in front were her friends. They wished her 
 well. 
 
 "God bless 'em all!" she thought. 
 
 Sunny heard a voice from the wings; the voice was 
 addressing her. 
 
 "Go on," it said; "talk to them!" 
 
 Talk to them! Of course she would talk to them! 
 She had not the slightest fear of the audience now; it 
 was with her. These people, whose faces seemed as 
 innumerable as the stars in the heavens on a brilliant 
 night, were her friends; they wanted to hear her talk. 
 Very well, she would talk ! 
 
 "Some o' you," she said "some o' you as is married, 
 very like you've got gels of your own, maybe about as 
 old as me. I ain't seventeen yet." She paused. "Well, 
 if your gel was to get a chance like I got, you'd like to 
 see her take it, wouldn't you? You'd feel hurt and sore 
 about it if it was took away from her." She paused. 
 "It's like that with me. I been waiting for my chance. 
 I used to work in a pickle factory, sticking on labels. 
 I never put on one crooked all the time I was there. 
 Ask Mr. Johnson and Bill Wilkins!"
 
 5 6 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "That's right, Sunny!" roared a voice from the 
 gallery. "You never put on a crooked label nor 
 done a crooked thing in your life, gel. Good luck to 
 you!" 
 
 "That's Bill!" she said. Her face beamed. "Good 
 old Bill! I ain't afraid of him now," she said confiden- 
 tially. "Come to that, I never was wonderful afraid 
 of him." She paused. "Well, sticking on labels wasn't 
 no cop, day arter day, week arter week, sticking labels 
 on pickles someone else was going to eat. There ain't 
 much in that game anyhow, and all the time I used to 
 be thinking, one day I'll get my chance. Well" she 
 paused "I got it! It's come, and you're going to see 
 fair play, ain't you?" She paused again. 
 
 There was no need for her to renew her question. 
 There was something so fresh and so original, so naive, 
 in the simplicity of her little speech that the audience 
 was swept off its feet. It might be acting, it might be 
 real, it might all be part of the performance, including 
 the interruption just now from the gallery, but whatever 
 it was, it had been so well done, there had been such an 
 undercurrent of pathos through it all, such an appeal to 
 their good nature, that they answered to it nobly. 
 
 They had applauded Miss Montressor in the first act, 
 but that was nothing to the chorus of approval and the 
 hand-clapping that they awarded to Sunny. 
 
 She was herself again. She had not the slightest 
 trace of fear left. She smiled to them and nodded; she 
 kissed her hand, and then she went on with her part. 
 She forgot nothing. Her memory was as fresh as it 
 had been at rehearsal. 
 
 Her part was not much a few words and the song. 
 But the song went with a swing. At the end of the 
 second verse she had the major part of the house joining 
 in the chorus:
 
 The First Night 57 
 
 " I'm Piccalilli Lily, 
 I work in Piccadilly, 
 A-sticking of the labels on the jam. 
 And you don't think I'm silly, 
 A-sticking tight to Billy, 
 He's a soldier-boy in khaki and a man! " 
 
 There was not much in it, but Bert shifted nervously 
 from foot to foot as he heard his words being roared out 
 by the pit and the gallery. They encored her three 
 times, and she had to sing the last verse over that number 
 of times before they would let her go. Then it was 
 over. Her little part was done. Little as it had been, 
 it had engrossed the house for four times the original 
 length of time allotted to it. 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway was in the wings. 
 
 "By thunder!" he said. "By George!" He looked 
 at her. Then he composed his face into a frown. ' ' What 
 does this mean, Miss Ducrow?" he asked sternly. 
 
 "What does what mean?" she asked. 
 
 "Why this. You had your part. What was that 
 speech you made to the audience?" 
 
 "Oh, I 'ad to say something," she said. "I couldn't 
 stand there looking like a stick. My part 'ad clean 
 gone hooked it out of my head. For the life of me, I 
 couldn't remember a word, I couldn't! I 'ad to say 
 something, so I said just what come into my head. 
 Funny Bill Wilkins being there, ain't it?" 
 
 "Very!" he said grimly. "In future, Miss Ducrow, 
 you will content yourself with speaking the lines written 
 for you. You understand me? " 
 
 "Anyhow, it didn't go so dusty. I don't see what 
 .you're grousing about!" she said. 
 
 "Look here, young woman, if I allowed every actor 
 and actress to chat to the audience as you did, how do 
 you think the revue would go on? Where should we be
 
 58 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 by midnight? We shouldn't have got through the first 
 act. Besides, it's not the thing; it's not the usual. 
 You stick to your lines in future!" 
 
 "All right ! " Sunny said. " I'm sorry ! " 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway turned away to hide a smile that 
 he could not repress. Of course he was right. This 
 sort of thing would not do at all. There would be an 
 end to organization and routine, an end to all law and 
 order, and an end to stage-management. 
 
 "I wonder 'oo it was give me the tip to go on talking 
 to 'em?" Sunny wondered. "Couldn't have been old 
 Hemmingway, yet I thought it sounded like his voice!" 
 
 Sunny hurried to the dressing-room that she shared 
 with the other ladies of the chorus. 
 
 "Well, if you haven't got a cheek!" they greeted her. 
 
 " Me ! What's the matter now ? ' ' 
 
 "Standing there, spouting all about yourself and your 
 chance," one said. "You've got a nerve. I expect 
 Uncle Hemmingway will give you the push-out to- 
 night!" 
 
 "And a good thing too," another girl said, with lofty 
 disdain. "It was a cheap bit of business altogether. 
 As for the song, it was rotten!" 
 
 Sunny smiled. She looked round. On many of the 
 faces was an expression that she immediately knew for 
 jealousy. It was the surest sign that she had made a 
 success, if the others were jealous of her. 
 
 Sunny did not know much of the world, but she knew 
 a good many things instinctively. 
 
 She was changing for the third act, and she hummed 
 to herself as she did so the refrain of her own song. It 
 was certainly a very catchy tune. 
 
 " Shouldn't be surprised if they had that there tune on 
 the orgins in a day or two." 
 
 "Oh, don't flatter yourself," one of the girls said.
 
 The First Night 59 
 
 Miss Idalia Clifton had from the start made herself 
 particularly obnoxious to Sunny. It was she who had 
 Started the raid against Sunny when she had come to 
 the dressing-room. 
 
 "The organs don't touch potty songs of twopenny- 
 ha'penny beginners; it's the stars' songs they want." 
 
 "All right, I'm going to be a star, then," Sunny said. 
 "Don't you worry." 
 
 ' ' You a star ! ' ' The girl laughed shrilly. She laughed 
 more shrilly and more ill temperedly because she had a 
 faint suspicion that Sunny might be right. A girl from 
 a pickle factory coming in here, blowing in and calmly 
 stepping over the heads of other girls, older than herself, 
 who had served their apprenticeship in the chorus, and 
 had worked hard. It was disgraceful. It was all due 
 to favoritism. 
 
 "It's like this," Sunny said. She had completed her 
 change. She leaned against the wall under a gas- 
 bracket and looked about her at the other girls. ' ' When- 
 ever I start doin' a thing, I mean to get on, whether it's 
 sticking labels on pots, or being an actress, or anything 
 else. I didn't see no future in sticking on labels. You 
 know what I mean. I couldn't see myself rolling about 
 in a motor-car and 'aving a nice little flat with sofy cush- 
 ions lying about on the floor, and seeing my name in the 
 papers every morning like this here: 
 
 " 'Last evening, Sunny Ducrow, the well-known and 
 popular hand at Johnson's pickle factory, stuck on 
 four hundred and seventy-five labels in an hour and a 
 half. A portrait of this beautiful and talented young lady 
 appears on page three.' " Sunny paused. "I didn't 
 see anythink of the sort coming my way in the pickle 
 factory, so I stuck on till my chance come, and here I 
 am. If I don't make good as an actress, I'll start some- 
 thing else artist or something, I don't care. Anyhow,
 
 60 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 one way or another, I'm going straight up top at some- 
 thing. The bottom, or half-way up, or even three- 
 quarters ain't going to be good enough for Sunny Ducrow. 
 You take it from me, girls, it's only them who want to 
 get on as gets on. And that's me." 
 
 "Stupid little idiot," Miss Clifton said. "If impu- 
 dence and cheek will get on, I expect you'll be a star, 
 but it won't be merit." She shrugged her shoulders. 
 "And such hair!" she added audibly. "It's simply 
 awful!" 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "It's a bit red, but it's just like it was served out to 
 me. It ain't lovely gold, like yours, because I ain't 'ad 
 the money to get it turned yet." 
 
 There was a laugh at Miss Clifton's discomfiture. 
 She was not popular. 
 
 "Third act, ladies of the chorus!" piped a voice. 
 
 Sunny hurried out with the rest. It was a magnificent 
 scene, representing the gaming rooms at Monte Carlo. 
 She and the other chorus girls were in evening dress. 
 The gentlemen of the chorus were also in evening dress. 
 They looked smart and well set up, a fine-looking set of 
 young fellows in their well-cut clothes, their grease paint 
 and nicely made-up eyelashes. 
 
 "Bert, for goodness' sake 'old up!" Sunny whispered. 
 Bert in evening dress was not a success his clothes 
 looked considerably too large for him, his make-up 
 was abominable. 
 
 The stage-manager glared at him. 
 
 "You keep out of sight," he said, "confound you! 
 Can't someone see that this idiot makes up properly. 
 He looks like a low comedian." 
 
 "Me!" Bert said wretchedly. "What's the matter? 
 Ain't I put on enough black round my eyes?" 
 
 '"Old your row!" Sunny said.
 
 The First Night 61 
 
 They took their places, the curtain went up. 
 
 In this act the young hero was going to ruin himself 
 at the tables in making a desperate bid for fortune in 
 order that he might marry the girl he loved. He loses 
 everything, the lights are turned low, the chorus ladies 
 and gentlemen depart silently, the hero produces a nickel- 
 plated revolver and points it to his forehead; then he 
 sings a song, and before he quite gets through, the 
 heroine enters. She has had better luck at the other 
 tables she has made a fortune. She tells him that it is 
 all well that his uncle, a large soap-boiler, is dead, and 
 that he had inherited seventy thousand a year. It was 
 very touching, so touching that Bert was visibly moved. 
 He forgot to sing. When the time came for the chorus 
 to silently depart, Bert forgot. He stood there, staring 
 at the hero. 
 
 "Come off, you fool!" someone whispered. 
 
 Bert did not hear, or, hearing, believed the hero was 
 the person referred to. 
 
 Through the whole operation Bert, utterly uncon- 
 scious that he was the last rose of summer blooming 
 alone, stood watching the antics of the hero. 
 
 In the semi-darkness it did not so much matter. The 
 audience might be led to believe that his presence there 
 was part of the play. But when, with the arrival of the 
 heroine, the lights went up and Bert was disclosed stand- 
 ing open-mouthed and alone, people began to stare at 
 him. What was he to do with this scene, anyway?" 
 
 "Come off, you pie-faced fool!" someone whispered 
 huskily. "Come off, you blithering numskull, you 
 lopsided, turnip-headed deaf mute ! Come off, you ! 
 
 The beautiful heroine, Miss Montressor, was coming 
 down the stage. 
 
 ' ' Jack, your Uncle Marmaduke is dead. All that he had 
 is yours. You are a rich man, and I I will be your wife,"
 
 62 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Come off, you unmentionable ass!" 
 
 Bert heard it. It dawned on him that he was the 
 person referred to. He looked about him; he seemed 
 suddenly to waken up from his sleep. Where were the 
 companions of his youth, the brave and beautiful young 
 gentlemen he had been associated with up to a short 
 time ago? Gone, gone, every one of them and he was 
 here alone, alone! He gasped, his eyes rolled, he stood 
 rooted to the stage. 
 
 "Jack, we are rich! I, too, have won fifty thousand 
 pounds this very night by the secret system that the 
 old woman I saved from being run over by the motor-, 
 car taught me ! Oh, Jack ! ' ' 
 
 "Oh, my lor'!" Bert gasped. He gasped it out loud. 
 He turned and bolted towards the wings like a rabbit, 
 altered his mind, stood confused, then bolted back across 
 the stage. 
 
 The audience roared, they cheered. Miss Montressor 
 had to pause. The orchestra was just striking up the 
 popular air of the love duet that would finally bring 
 down the curtain. It had to wait and strike up over 
 again. 
 
 Bert tripped, he fell sprawling, his hat rolled one way. 
 He got up, dazed and terror-stricken, then he bolted 
 back across the stage again. 
 
 "Help, help!" he gasped feebly. "Help! Here, 
 stop a minute! Wait for me! I " 
 
 Hands grasped him and whirled him out of sight, and 
 the audience sat back to laugh, to laugh till the tears 
 rolled down their faces and their sides shook. 
 
 Miss Montressor and Mr. Harvey Daglan, the young 
 hero, were too good and experienced actors to be put out 
 by a thing of this kind. They filled the break with 
 dumb show. Then the laughter subsided at last, the 
 orchestra struck up the popular air of the love duet and
 
 The First Night 63 
 
 it went with a swing; it brought the house down on a 
 grand finale. 
 
 Bert hung limply inside his clothes, which the stage- 
 manager was holding by the coat collar. 
 
 "What's to be done with a blithering, hopeless imbecile 
 like this?" the stage-manager demanded. "Here, my 
 beauty, this is your first and last appearance on any 
 stage. This night you go out into the cold and wet 
 see?" 
 
 "What have I done?" Bert moaned feebly. "I only 
 forgot!" 
 
 "Forgot! forgot! Oh!" The stage-manager shook 
 him. "You forgot, and nearly ruined the duet! Men 
 have been slain for less! see?" 
 
 "I'm very sorry," Bert said miserably. "I was 
 thinking." 
 
 "You're done," the manager said "done here for 
 good. Mr. Hemmingway what about this fellow?" he 
 asked, as the general manager appeared. 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway paused. 
 
 "We'll have to work that bit of business in somehow, 
 Jakes," he said. "It went well." 
 
 "Work it in?" Jakes gasped. 
 
 "Of course! It went with a bang. Man alive, we 
 can't afford to lose a laugh like that! We'll rehearse 
 this to-morrow morning, please." 
 
 Mr. Jakes released Bert. He gasped at him. "Well, 
 I'm blowed!" was all he could say.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 GOOD REPORTS 
 
 'T'O think that I should ever see the day!" Mrs. 
 
 1 Melkin moaned. " Oh, oh ! To think I should ever 
 see the day!" 
 
 , "What day?" Sunny asked. "'Ave you got them 
 pains in your insides again, aunt?" 
 
 "No, I ain't; I'm overcome!" Mrs. Melkin rocked 
 to and fro. 
 
 Sunny looked at her. 
 
 "Well," she said. "What hurts you?" 
 
 "Come to my arms. I always did say as I knew you'd 
 be a great actress," Mrs. Melkin said. "Elizabeth Ann 
 Ducrow, I am proud of you! I feel 'appy to think as 
 my bringing up of you 'as resulted in this." 
 
 "Oh that," Sunny said. "Don't you worry, I ain't 
 properly begun yet." 
 
 "No, you ain't begun yet," Mrs. Melkin said, "but 
 you've made a start, Elizabeth Ann Ducrow, and I can 
 see you rolling about in your carriage, I can." 
 
 "No, you can't," Sunny said. "I ain't going to roll 
 in no carriage, I'm going to sit up straight, and proper, 
 lam." 
 
 " That's what I mean," Mrs. Melkin said. "Elizabeth 
 Ann, what about our moving?" 
 
 "Moving?" Sunny said. 
 
 "Moving from 'ere from these 'ere apartments," 
 Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 64
 
 Good Reports 65 
 
 "Time for that later on," Sunny said. 
 
 She looked at the squalid attic. It had served them 
 well enough for years, it would serve them a little longer. 
 Sunny was in no hurry. She was not going to make any 
 wild, impetuous rushes that she might afterwards regret. 
 She was going to work her way steadily, slowly, but very 
 surely up. Heaps of time to think of smarter rooms 
 later, when she had saved. 
 
 Mrs. Melkin cried out against it, but Sunny was firm. 
 
 "We've managed here pretty good," she said. " We're 
 going on managing. I'm kind of fond of the place; 
 and anyhow it's cheap. I can save a good bit while I 
 am here, aunt. Anyhow, I haven't got the money yet 
 to buy no furniture for no new flat or nothing." 
 
 "You could get it on the 'ire," Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 "Me!" Sunny said. "Start by running into debt 
 and living with things as don't belong to me not much ! 
 Law, I shouldn't feel like it was a 'ome of my own, 
 thinking the men was coming with the cart to clear me 
 out every moment if I was a day behind with the pay- 
 ments. Not taking any, thank you!" 
 
 It was the following morning, the morning after her 
 first appearance. 
 
 "Seems funny, don't it, not to 'ave to git up and rush 
 for my blessed life to the pickles?" Sunny said. " 'Ere 
 I am a lady, with leisure time! 'Ello!" She paused. 
 "What's up?" 
 
 Someone was pounding up the stairs. There was a 
 crash, a yell, the fall of a heavy body. 
 
 Mrs. Melkin screamed. Sunny started to her feet. 
 
 "It's only Bert, 'e's slipped and fell down," she said. 
 "He generally does. These stairs are that dark!" 
 
 It was Bert; he came in rubbing himself. 
 
 "I've brought the paper," he said. 
 
 "What paper?" Sunny asked.
 
 66 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "The newspaper, this morning. Thought you'd like 
 to 'ave a look at it." 
 
 "What's 'appened?" Sunny said. "Someone been 
 and blowed up London Bridge, or the Buckingham 
 Palis cat 'ad kittens, or what?" 
 
 "It's about you!" Bert said. 
 
 "Me!" Sunny stared at him. "About me!" She 
 turned red. "'Go's been saying things about me, 
 Bert? It it ain't been reported about me and you 'ad 
 up at the police-court all them weeks ago? They ain't 
 been and got 'old of it now?" 
 
 "Read it and see for yourself; and then read a bit 
 further on, near the end. There's a bit about me," he 
 said. 
 
 Sunny took the paper and went to the window. 
 
 "There's the bit; I marked it," he said. 
 
 "Read it out loud," Mrs. Melkin said. "I can bear 
 almost anything now, after what I been through in my 
 life." 
 
 She sat down with a resigned air, a look on her face 
 that the Christian martyrs might have worn in the time 
 of Nero. 
 
 "'We welcome,'" Sunny read out, " 'the advent of 
 a very charming and talented young actress, Miss Sunny 
 Ducrow. The name is unfamiliar, but it is very evident 
 that this young lady has been taught in a good school 
 and must, youthful though she is, have had a wide experi- 
 ence. From the moment she came on the stage and 
 made her delicious little speech to the audience her 
 success was assured. Of her talents there cannot be 
 the slightest doubt. The naive, charming, irresistible 
 manner, the delightful little personality, and, above all, 
 the suggestion of personal confidence that she managed 
 to impart to her speech proved irresistible. The vast 
 audience welcomed this young actress in a fit manner.
 
 Good Reports 67 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway is to be congratulated on having 
 secured a sure draw in this charming little lady, who has 
 certainly taken the town by storm. Apart from a de- 
 lightful stage presence, far more than her share of good 
 looks, and possibly the most glorious head of hair that 
 has been seen on the stage for many years, Miss Ducrow 
 is the possessor of a charming and very tuneful voice. 
 She rendered the song Piccalilli Lily in an irresistible 
 fashion. The song itself is brightly written, the words 
 taking, and the melody full of tune and go. It is safe 
 to predict it will become one of the popular airs of the 
 immediate future. 
 
 " 'We can only repeat what we have previously said, 
 that we welcome Miss Sunny Ducrow and personally 
 thank her for a very delightful ten minutes or so. Our 
 congratulations are also due to that astute and far-seeing 
 impresario, Mr. Hemmingway!' 
 
 "Well, I'm blessed!" Sunny said. 
 
 Bert nodded. 
 
 "That's the bit about you. Now go on. Look further 
 down, where there's a mark. I done it with a bit of 
 pointed wood, and I hadn't got a pencil. That's about 
 me!" 
 
 "' Here, '" Sunny commenced to read again, "'there 
 was a welcome break of humor to relieve the somewhat 
 decided gloom of this act. A comedian whose name 
 we looked for in vain on the programme executed a 
 remarkably clever piece of business. Ostensibly one of 
 the chorus, he seemed to have got left behind, and was 
 apparently engrossed in the acting of Mr. Harvey Daglan. 
 Suddenly, warned by a voice from the wings that he is 
 de trop on the stage, he seems to realize his position. 
 The expression of the young actor's face was really 
 excruciatingly funny. His attempt to escape from the 
 stage brought the house down. The laughter continued
 
 68 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 for some time and delayed the execution of the duet 
 between Miss Leslie Montressor and Mr. Daglan for 
 some minutes. We would like to see this young artiste's 
 name on the programme. Surely he is worthy of a 
 place there, and in something more than small letter 
 type?"' 
 
 "That's me," Bert said. "Thought I done it on pur- 
 pose." He looked gloomily round the room. "Thought 
 I got left there on purpose," he said again. "Only I 
 didn't. I was fair scared out of my life! I didn't know 
 the others 'ad gone, and there I was." He paused and 
 wiped his forehead. "Give me a turn, it did!" he said, 
 shuddering. 
 
 "Well, you've got over it all right, Bert," Sunny said. 
 "I shouldn't worry. They seemed to like it, anyhow. 
 Now then, we've got to get a move on us ! " 
 
 She and Bert went out. They walked to the theatre. 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway was on the stage when they arrived. 
 
 "I want you two," he said "you, Jackson, and you, 
 Miss Ducrow. I'll start with Miss Ducrow first. That 
 speech of yours " He paused. "It was all wrong, 
 of course, remember. I don't go back on that in the 
 slightest. It was unprofessional and out of order, yet 
 it seemed to make a hit!" 
 
 "They seem to like it all right, any'ow, in the papers," 
 Surniy said. 
 
 "Oh, so you've seen the papers, have you? All right. 
 Now, look here, I want that speech every night see?" 
 
 "Me!" she gasped. "Tell 'em about myself every- 
 thing?" 
 
 "That's the idea. I give you five minutes to say 
 what you like. I leave it to you to tell them about the 
 pickles and the rest of it. Sort of throw yourself on 
 their generosity. That's what an audience likes, it's 
 the right note. You've got that? "
 
 Good Reports 69 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "I'll do what I can," she said. "Only, if I've got to 
 talk to 'em I don't want nothing written down. I've 
 got to say just what comes into my head." 
 
 "That's it," he said. "Make them cry, if you can 
 if you can't make them laugh. That touch about their 
 own daughters and that sort of thing was good. Keep 
 on that line and you're all right. Remember, you have 
 five minutes. The first time you don't draw a laugh, 
 I'll cut it out see?" 
 
 "You won't never cut it out," Sunny said. "You'll 
 be asking me to give them ten minutes next!" 
 
 He laughed. 
 
 "We'll see. Now then, Jackson, about that bit of 
 business you introduced last night." 
 
 "Me!" Bert said. "I didn't introduce nothing." 
 
 He looked abjectly wretched. 
 
 "Well, I don't know whose idea it was, but it wasn't 
 bad. It seemed to go. I want you to rehearse that. 
 Miss Montressor and Mr. Daglan are willing. They'll 
 work up a little by-play to fill in." 
 
 " I I couldn't! I simply never couldn't do it again," 
 Bert said. The tears came into his eyes. "Don't arst 
 me!" he implored. "Let me go! I wish I wish I 
 was back at the pickles, I do!" he said with a sob. 
 "This here is breaking my heart!" 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway nodded. 
 
 "That's the sort of thing! You can't look too 
 wretched," he said. "It's a good card to play, misery; 
 it always tells. Mr. Jakes, take Mr. Jackson through 
 that bit again, will you? And, by the way, see his name 
 is on the programme. We'll call his part" he paused 
 "Lord Pomeroy Pootle, that'll do. Any old name." 
 
 He nodded to the wretched Bert and went. 
 
 Sunny's little speech to her audience that night went
 
 70 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 with even more success than her first effort. For one 
 thing, she had gained confidence. She no longer felt 
 afraid of her audience. 
 
 Her brain was wonderfully clear and very active. 
 She told them about how she had been taken on at the 
 pickle factory. She mimicked Mr. Johnson's manner 
 and his shuffling speech. 
 
 " It's like this ! " she said. " I want to get on. I didn't 
 often get any supper, as you could notice. I went to 
 bed 'ungry, and when I was a little un I used mostly to 
 cry myself to sleep. But all the time I meant to get on, 
 and you're going to 'elp me, ain't you? I know you 
 are. Some of you is married, and got daughters my age, 
 very likely. You'd like other folk to give 'em a 'and, 
 wouldn't you? just like you're going to give me to-night? " 
 
 It went, as Mr. Hemmingway admitted to himself, 
 with a bang. The audience hung on every word; they 
 applauded her to the echo. Her song was even better 
 to-night, and Miss Idalia Clifton was green with fury. 
 
 "Don't you worry," she said to Sunny. "They'll 
 soon get fed-up with you and your blessed pickle factory. 
 Oh, goodness, when the novelty once wears off they'll 
 cry with being tired of you ! What's that ? " 
 
 "That" was a bouquet of flowers. It was addressed 
 to Miss Sunny Ducrow. 
 
 The girls gathered round the call-boy who brought it. 
 
 "Oh, isn't it lovely!" Miss de Venn said. "Sunny, 
 you are lucky! Why, what's the matter?" 
 
 Sunny had blushed with delight at the sight of the 
 flowers. Now suddenly she went white. She had taken 
 them and examined them; she had buried her flushed 
 face in them, and her nose had come into contact with 
 something that was not a flower. It was a small morocco- 
 covered case. She had opened it. Inside lay a little 
 pendant glittering with diamonds. 
 
 .
 
 Good Reports 7* 
 
 
 
 "Oh, good gracious!" Miss Clifton said. "Some 
 fool with more money than wit!" She stared at the 
 pendant enviously. "Who's it from?" she demanded. 
 
 There was a card attached to the flowers. Sunny 
 spelled out the name. 
 
 "Please accept this small offering from one who ad- 
 mires you greatly." The card was engraved. "Stanley 
 Alwyn, Viscount Dobrington." 
 
 ' ' You're in luck ! ' ' Miss de Venn said. ' ' Why, it must 
 have cost ten guineas if a penny; very likely more! 
 It's Dobby, too; he's rolling in money!" 
 
 She was a good-natured girl, and seemed to take a 
 genuine interest and pleasure in Sunny's success. 
 
 Sunny said nothing. She laid the little case aside 
 with the card, and the flowers she put in water on her 
 dressing-table. 
 
 Never in his life had Bert felt so intensely miserable 
 and so hopelessly wretched as to-night. He had to do 
 all over again what he had done unwillingly and spon- 
 taneously last night. He knew he could not do it. He 
 felt that when the time came and the lights were turned 
 up he would faint. 
 
 When the rest of the chorus had gone off and Bert 
 was left behind he stood there shaking in his shoes. He 
 would not do it; he could not. It was impossible. 
 
 He wished himself back at the pickle factory with all 
 his heart and soul. He longed for the smell of vinegar, 
 which had always made him sick. The smell of that 
 vinegar would have been sweeter than the scents of 
 paradise to him just now. 
 
 The lights were going up. Miss Montressor was 
 coming on the stage. Bert shut his eyes and swayed. 
 He stood there a crumpled-up, hopeless-looking figure. 
 
 "Come off, you pie-faced, mutton-headed idiot!" 
 someone said audibly.
 
 72 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 It was meant to be audible to-night for the benefit 
 of the audience. 
 
 Bert started. 
 
 "I I can't can't do it!" he gasped. "Don't arst 
 me. I'm bad! I've got a feeling inside as there's 
 something wrong. Let me off!" 
 
 He groped his way to the wings. 
 
 "Come off, will you?" roared the voice. 
 
 "I'm coming!" Bert moaned. "Oh oh dear!" 
 
 He knew he had to make a rush across the stage and 
 fall down. His legs shook under him. He collapsed in 
 a heap, moaning. 
 
 Just as last night, the audience was roaring at him. 
 He turned a dazed, surprised, even hurt face to the sea 
 of faces. The expression on his face was inimitable. 
 The very sight of him sent them into fresh paroxysms of 
 laughter. 
 
 Finally, on his hands and knees, feeling a perfect 
 wreck, Bert crawled off to the accompaniment of a 
 tornado of mirth. 
 
 "Went all right!" Mr. Jakes said patronizingly. 
 "That last bit of business, crawling off, was very good. 
 Do it again to-morrow!" 
 
 "Gi' gi' gi'me some brandy!" Bert whispered. 
 "I'm a-going to faint, I am! It's all up! I wish I was 
 back at the pickles, I do!"
 
 CHAPTER VIII \ 
 
 THE OTHER WAY 
 
 I 'AD some flowers to-night," Sunny said, as she and 
 1 Bert walked home together to the southeast side 
 of the river. 
 
 "I 'ad some brandy," he said, "and wanted it too!" 
 She laughed. She said nothing about the pendant. 
 The other girls, however, had said a good deal. Lord 
 Dobrington was well known. He was young and hand- 
 some, a member of a family very high up in the nobility. 
 He was, moreover, very rich even for a peer, and very 
 free-handed. 
 
 These were qualities that would naturally endear him 
 to any chorus-girl; but he was something more than 
 this. He was a genuine, clean-minded, decent fellow, 
 honorable and straight, who, having plenty of this 
 world's goods* liked to make things a little easier for 
 those not so well off as himself. 
 
 "He's an awful big catch!" Miss de Venn had told 
 Sunny. " If you could get hold of him, a chap like that, 
 and be a viscountess one day!" 
 
 "Not me!" Sunny said. "Not taking any, thank 
 you! I'm going to make my own future, I am. Any 
 fool of a girl can get married, but it isn't every girl 
 who's going to make her own name and her own 
 living. Besides," she said thoughtfully, "when I 
 marry, as I s'pose I'll have to some day, it'll have to 
 be Bert." 
 
 73
 
 74 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Who's Bert?" Miss de Venn asked. 
 
 "Bert Jackson!" Sunny said. 
 
 She had the idea always at the back of her mind that 
 she was bound in honor, in some inscrutable way, to 
 marry Bert. Of course it would not be yet; not for 
 years and years ten years, perhaps twenty. She 
 regarded thirty-seven or thirty-eight as a very suitable 
 age for a woman to marry. Bert would then be nearly 
 forty. He would have settled down. 
 
 Yes, she supposed she would marry Bert ! Goodness, 
 if she did not marry him, who would? And who would 
 look after him and see he did not make an idiot of himself 
 if she was married to someone else ? 
 
 She was thinking about this now as she and Bert 
 walked slowly homewards over Waterloo Bridge. 
 
 "Bert, 'ow old are you?" she asked. 
 
 "Nineteen next Feb ry," he said. 
 
 "And me, I'm seventeen in November," she said. 
 "That makes you about" she paused and counted up 
 "a year and ten months older'n me, don't it?" 
 
 "I suppose so," he said gloomily. 
 
 "Well, forty's a good age for getting married, ain't 
 it?" she said. 
 
 "I dunno. I never give it a thought." 
 
 " Any'ow, I'll marry you when you're forty if you like, 
 Bert," she said. 
 
 ' ' Will y ou ? " he said unenthusiastically . " All right !" 
 he sniffed. 
 
 "Of course, if I didn't no one else never would!" 
 
 "I'd never ask no one; wouldn't 'ave the face! I 
 wouldn't 'ave asked you, Sunny. It's your idea, don't 
 blame me!" 
 
 ' ' That's all right ! " she said. She felt relief ; it settled 
 the question of matrimony. In about twenty-three 
 years she would be Bert's bride. Meanwhile, there
 
 The Other Way 75 
 
 i 
 
 was a great deal to do. "I'm glad that's settled all 
 right!" she said. 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 " We ought to have a bit put by then," he said. "And 
 very likely" he seemed to brighten up "your aunt 
 and my father '11 be dead and gone by then!" 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "We should only have each other, Bert." 
 
 Sunny found her aunt in tears, her voice raised in 
 lamentation, to-night. 
 
 ' ' Why, what's the matter now, old dear ? ' ' Sunny asked. 
 
 "I'm a heart-broken woman!" Mrs. Melkin said. 
 "I'm a put-upon woman! I went there to-night to to 
 the theatre!" She sobbed bitterly. "I told them who 
 I was I said I was your aunt, and asked them to let 
 me pass through, and they wouldn't ! They told me to 
 get out!" She wailed and sobbed. "Get out me 
 who brought you up ! I went out and I walked up and 
 down, to and fro, to and fro, then I went back, and a 
 big man said if I didn't clear off he'd call the police. 
 Then I came home. And after all I done after all I 
 done, me bringing you up!" 
 
 Mrs. Melkin rocked backwards and forwards. 
 
 Sunny comforted her. 
 
 "I'll get passes for you if I can," she said. 
 
 "It ain't that it ain't merely being there. It's 
 knowing as I can go in and out jest as I like it's that 
 as makes the difference!" Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 "I'll get the passes any'ow," Sunny said. "Mr. 
 Hemmingway'll give 'em to me." 
 
 Sunny's little speech had come to be a feature of the 
 revue. It was looked for, people talked about it. People 
 who had been to both performances realized that Sunny's 
 speech was spontaneous ; it was not merely written words 
 that she had learned by heart. The news went about.
 
 7 6 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 She was something more than an actress, she was an 
 originator. 
 
 "Five minutes!" Mr. Hemmingway muttered to her, 
 as she stepped on to the stage. 
 
 Sunny nodded to the audience. 
 
 "Good evening!" she said pleasantly. "I ain't got 
 no more than five minutes, that's what Mr. Hemming- 
 way says, so I've got to get on with it quick. I told you 
 last night about how I got to the pickle factory, and got 
 took on and like that. Well, to-night I've got something 
 else to tell you. It's this: Some chap sent me a lovely 
 nosegay last night. It's the first time I ever got flowers 
 sent to me in my life, but it won't be the last!" She 
 paused for the laugh, and it came. "Well," Sunny said, 
 "I nearly cried over them flowers. I loved 'em. I felt 
 like my heart was going to burst ! " She paused. " Me, 
 I lived in a back street all my life; I ain't often been into 
 the country. The only flowers I ever see almost are 
 them in the flower-shop windows. I never didn't 'ave 
 any real flowers of my own. When I'd been to 'Ampton 
 Court in a bus I picked some daisies in a field and I 
 kep' 'em three weeks. They was pretty bad when I 
 was through with them. You don't know, none of you 
 that ain't lived in a slum, what a few flowers mean to 
 a gel as never sees the green fields and the trees and the 
 country She paused, there was a sob in her voice. 
 
 "But," she went on> "them flowers was spoiled for 
 me." She paused. "There was a little box sent with 
 them. I opened it, and there was something inside, all 
 shining! di'monds they were. It just spoiled them 
 flowers. You you understand?" 
 
 She might have been talking to an intimate friend 
 one who understood her, who knew her every thought, 
 her every feeling. She spoke to them all collectively, 
 yet her voice was for them individually.
 
 The Other Way 77 
 
 "I ain't going to say 'oo sent 'em," she said. "That 
 wouldn't be fair. He meant it kind, but it it spoiled 
 the flowers." She paused. "It's at the ticket office, 
 that little box. I 'anded it in. If he'll give 'is card, 
 they'll take and 'and 'im the box with the di'mon's in. 
 Flowers" she paused "God's flowers," she said very 
 softly, "mean more to a gel like me than all the di'mon's 
 in the world!" 
 
 There was a silence, a long silence. Could it be that 
 Sunny's speech had fallen flat to-night? 
 
 Someone applauded, half-heartedly it almost seemed, 
 and the others took it up. The house roared at her, it 
 rose at her. 
 
 She stood dazed, almost frightened. Yet she knew, 
 as everyone else there did, that what she had said to- 
 night had gone right to the heart of every man and 
 woman there.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 A SITTING 
 
 SUNNY had moved, she had done it against her will; 
 she had felt very sad about it. There was little 
 enough to regret about the miserable attic rooms, but it 
 was Sunny's nature to be loyal. She was loyal to every- 
 thing, she was even loyal to the noisy little slum and the 
 two rooms under the roof, but she had to go. For one 
 thing, it meant too long a walk for her at night after the 
 performance was over; for another, there was really no 
 need now why she could not have better rooms in another 
 and nicer neighborhood. 
 
 "But I don't like going, all the same, " she told Bert. 
 
 " I should have thought you'd be glad, " he said. 
 
 Sunny shook her head. 
 
 "I hate changes!" she said. "Yet I guess I'm going 
 to see heaps of changes, one way and another, before 
 I'm done." 
 
 Mrs. Melkin wanted badly to take an unfurnished flat 
 and furnish it on the hire-purchase system. 
 
 " It'll be so much nicer to have things as you know are 
 your own, " she said. 
 
 "Know are your own and ain't paid for! 'Ow are 
 they going to be our own when we owes for 'em? Why, 
 I shouldn't sleep o' nights counting up 'ow much I'd still 
 got left to pay! It would fair worry me to death!" 
 Sunny said. 
 
 The hire-purchase system was not for her. They took 
 
 78
 
 A Sitting 79 
 
 small furnished rooms, mean rooms they were, but the 
 neighborhood was an improvement on the old one. 
 
 The revue Keep off the Grass was scoring a big success, 
 and one of the features of its success was Sunny Ducrow, 
 though she did not realize it. 
 
 "I've only begun as yet," she said to Bert, to whom 
 she opened her heart. "Playing gels out of pickle 
 factories ain't going to be my line. It's all right to start 
 with, but I'm going a sight better than that presently, 
 you see. As for you, Bert, you ain't doing so dusty, 
 either. You fetch the house down, you do, with that 
 there ack of yours. 'Ow about 'aving a song? " 
 
 "Me a song?" Bert said. "Me singing? Lor', I'd 
 faint dead away ! I couldn't do it ! It's bad enough to 
 'ave to do what I do, but singing ain't in my line." 
 
 "Well, you ain't got a voice to write 'ome about," 
 Sunny said. "I mean, you ain't a blooming Cruser. 
 What you want is a sad sort of song." 
 
 " Don't you get talking about it, Sunny. It'll only go 
 putting ideas into some of their 'eads, " Bert said. "I'm 
 very well as I am." 
 
 " You ain't ! " Sunny said. "You're like me, only just 
 beginning. And we've got a long way to go yet, Bert." 
 
 It was the following morning that someone tapped 
 on the door of their lodgings in the Bloomsbury neigh- 
 borhood. Mrs. Melkin opened the door. She found a 
 shabby-looking, little thin man with white hair. 
 
 "Not to-day," Mrs. Melkin said. She would have 
 closed the door. 
 
 " I think there is some mistake. I called at the desire 
 of Miss Ducrow, " he said. 
 
 "Oh, you did! And what do you want?" 
 
 "Who is it?" Sunny asked. "Oh, come in!" She 
 nodded brightly to the old fellow. "Come in! Aunt, 
 this is Mr. Gibbins."
 
 8o Sunny Ducrow 
 
 " Pleased to meet you, " Mrs. Melkin said. She looked 
 at him inquiringly. 
 
 Mr. Gibbins came into the room. He was evidently 
 very poor. His clothes suggested it; the half -starved 
 look about him suggested it. Sunny saw it. 
 
 "First," she said, "we'll 'ave breakfast." 
 
 "But you've 'ad breakfast once!" Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 "'Oo 'as? You've been dreaming!" Sunny said. 
 "Ring and 'ave breakfast up." 
 
 Mrs. Melkin was learning obedience. In the old days, 
 when Sunny had earned seven shillings a week, it was she 
 who was mistress of the establishment. Now Sunny was 
 earning seven or eight times that amount, with the prom- 
 ise of more in the immediate future. She rang the bell. 
 The surprised landlady brought up the breakfast things, 
 which she had only just taken down. More bacon was 
 cooked, and Mr. Gibbins had his breakfast, firmly believ- 
 ing that Sunny was having hers. 
 
 The things were cleared away at last. 
 
 "Now we'll start," Sunny said. 
 
 "Start what?" her aunt asked. 
 
 "Mr. Gibbins 'as come round to improve me; he's 
 coming every morning, " Sunny said. "It's like this. I 
 ain't going to play pickle-factory gels all my life. I'm 
 going to play Hamlick one of these days, and Romero 
 and Julia, or whatever her name is." 
 
 "Juliet, possibly; I hope so I do indeed hope so," 
 said Mr. Gibbins. 
 
 " It's all the same. I'm going to play big parts. You 
 wait and see. For one thing I've got to talk proper. 
 That's what Mr. Gibbins is 'ere for. He's going to learn 
 me. Two hours every morning, 'scept when there's 
 rehearsals. Then we'll 'ave to find some other time." 
 
 That morning Sunny's lessons started. When Sunny 
 put her whole mind to a thing she succeeded. She put
 
 A Sitting 81 
 
 her whole mind now to bettering her education. She 
 wrote a hand like a child of five. Under Mr. Gibbins's 
 guidance her writing began to show rapid improvement. 
 But speech was the main thing. He was a broken-down 
 literary man, who in his youth had been an actor. Poor, 
 old, friendless, he was glad to earn a shilling an hour 
 teaching Sunny Ducrow, and the breakfast every morn- 
 ing became the usual thing. Mrs. Melkin looked on it all 
 with suspicion. She did not quite know what she sus- 
 pected, but she suspected, because it was her nature. 
 
 But Sunny was improving; every day, almost every 
 hour, saw an improvement in her. Her speech grew less 
 rough and careless, more polished, her " h's " were seldom 
 dropped. Now and again she drifted into some of the 
 old familiar slang ; but she pulled herself together, quickly. 
 She was learning Shakespeare under Mr. Gibbins's in- 
 struction, and the old man's patience and pride in his pupil 
 was something wonderful to see. 
 
 "How how about having that there Porcher's speech 
 this morning?" Sunny said. 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 "'That there' is not good grammar, Miss Ducrow. 
 You should have said " 
 
 "Wait a moment," she said. "I ought to have said, 
 'Shall we have Porcher's speech this morning?'" she 
 said. 
 
 4 ' That is better. But you should have said Portia. ' ' 
 
 "Portia, " Sunny said. "I've got it now, haven't I?" 
 
 He nodded and smiled. 
 
 Mrs. Melkin could not understand it at all. Nor 
 could she understand it better when Sunny stood up and 
 declaimed : 
 
 "The quality of mercy is not strain 'd; 
 It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven 
 Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd "
 
 82 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "It beats me," Mrs. Melkin said. "What that gel's 
 after I don't know. Sometimes I feel fair frightened the 
 way she's going on." 
 
 Meanwhile the revue was running its course. It had 
 scored a big success, and people were beginning to know 
 the name of Sunny Ducrow. But only beginning. She 
 had a long way to go yet, and she knew it. 
 
 "What we've got to do, Bert, is to advertise," she 
 said. "No one doesn't I mean, no one gets on in this 
 world without advertisement." 
 
 Bert nodded. 
 
 "You mean, 'ave a private advertisement in the Even- 
 ing News ?" he said. " Only I ain't got nothing to sell." 
 
 Sunny shook her head. 
 
 "No, I don't mean that. You come with me this 
 morning." 
 
 Bert went, as he always did when Sunny ordered him. 
 They went west. Outside a large photographer's estab- 
 lishment Sunny came to a standstill. 
 
 "I think this is the place, " she said. She marched in 
 and Bert followed. 
 
 "Guv'nor in?" Sunny said. 
 
 The young lady sitting behind a table rose. 
 
 "Have you an appointment?" she demanded. 
 
 " Me! No. Only just tell him I'm here, " she said. 
 
 "Mr. Hurlingham sees no one without an appoint- 
 ment, " the young lady said stiffly. She looked Sunny up 
 and down. 
 
 "Well, I don't see how he's going to make an appoint- 
 ment with me unless he sees me first, " Sunny said. "I 
 s'pose the old boy's busy?" 
 
 "Mr. Hurlingham is now attending to a client a lady 
 of title." 
 
 "I'm in no hurry, " Sunny said. "I'll wait." She sat 
 down.
 
 A Sitting 83 
 
 " I assure you it will be quite useless. Mr. Hurlingham 
 will not see you; it is his rule to see no one." 
 
 "Don't you worry," Sunny said. "Bert, you sit 
 down." - 
 
 Bert sat on the very edge of the chair, looking, as 
 usual, uncomfortable and ill at ease. 
 
 The minutes passed. Then the heavy curtains were 
 drawn aside, and a majestic-looking lady with silvery hair 
 rustled through into the outer shop. She was followed 
 by a young man, a very well-dressed young man who 
 stared at the sight of Sunny, reddened a little, and 
 hesitated, as though about to raise his hat; but he did 
 not he followed the aristocratic old lady out of the 
 shop. 
 
 "See him?" Sunny whispered to Bert. "You know 
 him?" 
 
 Bert shook his head. 
 
 "That's the vis-count Vis-count Dobrington; him as 
 sent me the flowers and the di'mon's, which I sent back, " 
 Sunny said. 
 
 " I s'pose the old gentleman's alone now?" she said to 
 the girl. 
 
 "I have told you once that Mr. Hurlingham will not 
 see you if you have no appointment." 
 
 " Don't talk silly," Sunny said. "What's he in business 
 for? His health, or what? Isn't he here to take photy- 
 grafts photographs, I mean. Well, then " She rose, 
 "Come on, Bert!" she said. 
 
 The young lady thought she was going, but she had 
 never made a greater mistake in her life. Sunny turned 
 to the right instead of to the left; she pushed the thick 
 curtains aside. 
 
 "You must really come back. I cannot allow Mr. 
 Hurl " 
 
 But it was too late. Sunny had seen a room with the
 
 84 N Sunny Ducrow 
 
 word studio painted on the door; she turned the handle 
 and went in. 
 
 De Vere Hurlingham is, as everyone knows, the most 
 exclusive and particular photographer in London. He 
 takes only the best people, moving in the highest circles 
 of Society. Now and again he condescends to photo- 
 graph an actress, provided she is in the very highest walk 
 of her profession; but a mere chorus girl never passes the 
 portals of his exclusive studio. 
 
 He was a youngish-looking man. He wore a velvet 
 coat and a long, crimson silk tie, which hung half-way 
 down to his waist. He wore his hair long, and he af- 
 fected a single eyeglass; through his eyeglass he stared 
 at Sunny. 
 
 "I've come to have my picture took, " she said "me 
 and Bert to have our picture post cards done." 
 
 "I am afraid," he said, "that there is some mistake. 
 I " 
 
 "I'm Sunny Ducrow. I'm in the revue, you know, 
 Keep off the Grass. Maybe you've seen what the papers 
 say about me." 
 
 ' ' I assure you ' ' 
 
 "Well, that don't matter; it's no good talking," she 
 said. " 'Ow much 'ow much, I mean, for a dozen post 
 cards to start with?" 
 
 A dozen post cards! He reeled as though she had 
 struck him he, the eminent artist ! 
 
 " There's a man at the corner of our street who charges 
 five shillings the first dozen and two shillings a dozen after 
 from the same picture, " Sunny said. " I wouldn't mind 
 going a bit more . " She smiled at him . There was some- 
 thing so irresistible in her smile that Mr. Hurlingham, 
 who really was an artist, smiled back. 
 
 The girl stood in a favorable light. Her face was 
 aglow with vitality and animation. It was a very
 
 A Sitting 85 
 
 different face from the pale, proud, passively unemotional 
 face he had been wrestling with just now. It would be 
 almost a relief to take a picture of a girl like this. He 
 found himself studying Sunny while she talked. His first 
 thought had been to ring the bell and order someone to 
 remove her. 
 
 "Say seven-and-six and three bob, and I'm ready 
 now!" Sunny said. "You see, I'm only a beginner, and 
 with girls like me there's nothing that gets us on like 
 having their pictures took post cards and advertise- 
 ments and like that. You know," she said, "me drink- 
 ing a cup of corfee or cocoa and grinning fit to break my 
 neck and showing all my teeth that's one way." 
 
 "I do not take photographs of that kind," he said 
 stiffly. 
 
 "Now, then, how about me leaning against a rustic 
 arch or somethink like that, just holding up the edge of 
 my skirt like that; somebody's stockings as won't wear 
 into no 'ole holes," she corrected herself. She smiled 
 at him again. 
 
 "No," he said; "certainly not! I am an artist, Miss 
 ahem!" 
 
 "Ducrow Sunny Ducrow, " she said. 
 
 " Miss Ducrow, I don't take pictures, as you call them, 
 of that kind. My art " He paused. But what was 
 the use of talking about his art ? She would not under- 
 stand. Still, she had a wonderful face. It was not that 
 she was perfectly beautiful, nor beautifully perfect; it was 
 the expression. If he could catch that swift, rippling 
 laugh if it was only possible ! 
 
 "I tell you I don't take photographs for advertise- 
 ments or picture post cards, but I might " He 
 hesitated. "Stand just where you are; don't move, 
 please. Go on talking; I can hear you." He made 
 a rush; he was gone; a heavy curtain fell, hiding him.
 
 86 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I don't see how I can go on talking when I can't 
 see you, " Sunny said. 
 
 "I am here; I can hear you perfectly. Tell me about 
 your work; your head a little more to the left." 
 
 Muttered exclamations came from behind the curtain 
 now and again. Sunny threw back her head and laughed. 
 It seemed so funny to talk to a man who was dodging 
 about behind a curtain. She laughed again; her laughter 
 filled the room. Bert stood there, looking on gloomily. 
 It all seemed waste of time to him. 
 
 "Funny me chatting away like this and you not being 
 on the stage, " Sunny said. 
 
 "Go on talking, " he said. "Laugh again like you did 
 just now. Throw your head back; you understand?" 
 
 Sunny did as she was told; it was a genuine peal of 
 laughter that rang out. She laughed unrestrainedly. 
 
 "I don't see nothing to split my sides about," Bert 
 muttered gloomily. "What's the joke?" 
 
 "I don't know as there's any joke," Sunny said. 
 "Only it seems funny me standing here laughing at 
 nothing; that's what made me laugh. Once I start 
 laughing I can't stop." She laughed again. 
 
 It was some minutes later that Mr. Hurlingham came 
 out from behind the curtain. 
 
 "Thank you," he said. 
 
 He smiled, he rang a bell; he said something to the 
 young lady who answered it. She went out; a few 
 moments later she came back with a cheque and a 
 fountain pen. Mr. Hurlingham signed the cheque and 
 handed it to Sunny. 
 
 "But," she said, "I don't see " She paused. She 
 stared at the cheque for two guineas. "What's it for? 
 It was me as was going to pay you. I mean it was I 
 who were was which is it? going to pay you for 
 taking my photograph and you ain't took it yet."
 
 A Sitting 87 
 
 He smiled at her. 
 
 "My dear Miss Ducrow, I have taken about a dozen 
 negatives of you. As I wish to retain the copyright, per- 
 mit me to pay you for the sitting. I will send you proofs 
 of those I decide to use. In a few weeks' time you may 
 possibly see what use I make of them. Meanwhile, if 
 you would call this day month at the same hour. Miss 
 Smith, please make a note Miss Ducrow, on the seven- 
 teenth of next month at eleven A.M." 
 
 "Well I'm blessed!" said Sunny. "Anyhow, I'll be 
 here all right." She held out her hand and Mr. Hurling- 
 ham took it. 
 
 "I have only one thing to ask," he said. "Will you 
 promise me that until you come here again you will not 
 sit to any photographer other than myself? I feel in- 
 clined to make a contract with you; much depends on 
 the result of this morning's work." 
 
 "All right," Sunny said. "Bert, put this in your 
 pocket for me." 
 
 "Well, if you ain't got a sauce!" Bert muttered as 
 they went out. " Don't you know that half the actresses 
 in London are wild for him to take their photographs and 
 they say he won't look at them?" 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 " That's why I come to 'im, " she said. " Only I didn't 
 know he was taking my pictures all the time." She 
 laughed happily. "There's always ways of doing things, 
 Bert. If the front door's locked and bolted, you can 
 generally get in by the back door. And if that's locked 
 too well, there's a winder to climb through. That's 
 the way I look at it." 
 
 It was three weeks later that Sunny saw the result of 
 her morning's visit. On the front page of one of the 
 leading illustrated weekly papers was a whole-page 
 photograph of a girl laughing. It was such a genuine,
 
 88 Sunny Due row 
 
 irresistible laugh that people who looked at it smiled 
 unconsciously . It was a real laugh not a mere laugh with 
 the mouth for the purpose of showing a good set of teeth. 
 She laughed with her mouth, her eyes, her little tiptilted 
 nose. Exhibited in the news agents' windows, or on the 
 bookstalls, people stopped to look at it and then laughed. 
 Everyone laughed. Like yawning, a genuine laugh is 
 infectious. The picture was called The Laughing 
 Girl; underneath was printed, "A Study of Miss Sunny 
 Ducrow, by de Vere Hurlingham." 
 
 Some people said, and with reason, that it was the 
 very finest piece of work that Mr. Hurlingham had ever 
 done. At any rate, it was Sunny's first real big advertise- 
 ment. People asked one another, "Have you seen that 
 picture of ' The Laughing Girl ' in the Weekly 
 
 Through the medium of that picture, Sunny Ducrow 
 became known to more people by name and by appear- 
 ance than three years' hard work in the theatre would 
 have effected.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE RIGHT WAY 
 
 SUNNY and Bert were leaving the exclusive photo- 
 grapher's. Outside on the pavement a young man 
 stood waiting. Now and again he glanced at the door 
 of the establishment. Now he reddened and hesitated. 
 They were coming out. The sun shone on the girl's 
 hair, turning it into living fire about her pretty, piquant, 
 impudent little face. 
 
 He took a step forward and lifted his hat. 
 
 "Miss Ducrow?" he said. 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "That's me!" she said. "And you are the Vis- 
 count " 
 
 "My name is Dobrington, " he said "Lord Dob 
 rington. Miss Ducrow, I've wanted to apologize 
 to you for a long time past. I feel " He paused 
 abruptly. 
 
 "The flowers were lovely," she said. "Kept 'em 
 eight days before I had to throw 'em away." 
 
 "I'm glad. But the other " 
 
 "We needn't talk about that," Sunny said. "You 
 got it back all right?" 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "I am sorry, and and a little ashamed. I thought 
 you would like it and " 
 
 "I did like it," Sunny said. "It was lovely; but of 
 course" she looked up at him with her frank eyes 
 
 89
 
 90 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I didn't know you and you didn't know me, and I 
 couldn't take it, could I?" 
 
 "No," he said, "I suppose not." 
 
 "Well, there's nothing else to say about it, is there?" 
 she said. 
 
 " I'd like to say a good deal more about it, " he said. 
 
 He looked down at her. He had thought her pretty 
 on the stage. Here, in the open air, in the strong sun- 
 light, she seemed a thousand times prettier to him, and 
 it was not mere prettiness alone. Her little face was 
 sparkling with animation. She seemed actually to dance 
 along the pavement by his side. She was a fairy, a 
 sprite, and yet she was very, very womanly. 
 
 There was something in the eyes of her that spoke of 
 unfathomable tenderness, of a great power for sympathy ; 
 a girl with such eyes might encourage and hearten a man 
 to do anything, to face any odds; might pick a man out 
 of the gutter and set him on his feet, give him a new lease 
 of life, give him back self-respect and the courage he 
 might have lost. He saw all that in Sunny's smiling, 
 happy eyes. 
 
 "You've forgiven me?" he said. 
 
 "I had nothing to forgive," she said. 
 
 "Then you will shake hands?" He paused and held 
 out his hand. Solemnly Sunny put her hand into his. 
 Passers-by stopped to look at these two shaking hands 
 gravely in the middle of the busy pavement. 
 
 Bert hunched his shoulders. He supposed they knew 
 what they were talking about; he did not. 
 
 Bert, I haven't introduced you, ' ' Sunny said. ' ' This 
 is, Bert, this is " She paused. 
 
 "Dobrington, " he said. He held out his hand to 
 Bert. 
 
 "Hope you are well?" Bert said. 
 
 "Quite, thanks. I've enjoyed your performances, Mr.
 
 The Right Way 91 
 
 Jackson. I've laughed till I've cried; you've done me 
 good!" 
 
 "Huh!" Bert said. "I'd like to do myself good. 
 Laugh " He paused, he stared about him. "I've 
 died a 'undred deaths," he said tragically. "You don't 
 know. No one knows. Give me the pickles every time." 
 He hunched his shoulders. 
 
 "It's a quarter to one lunch-time, Miss Ducrow, 
 very nearly." 
 
 "I was thinking the same," Sunny said. 
 
 Dobrington's eager face brightened. 
 
 "Where shall it be?" he asked. "Romano's, Princes', 
 James's, or " 
 
 " Me ! I always go to the Areyated, " Sunny said. 
 
 "I don't think I know " 
 
 "The bread and tea shop that's where I go." 
 
 "Oh, but to-day, won't you I mean " 
 
 "The Areyated's good enough for me," Sunny said. 
 "I'm for the Areyated!" She smiled at him. 
 
 "I am too," he said. He had never lunched at an 
 Aerated Bread Shop before, but he was not too old to 
 begin. They found one of the many branch shops and 
 went in. Sunny ordered her repast. 
 
 "Tea and scone and butter." 
 
 Bert ordered, " Corfee and toast." 
 
 Lord Dobrington hesitated. 
 
 "You could have a egg if you wanted," Sunny whis- 
 pered. "If you feel like going to it, eggs is tuppence, 
 but they are all right!" 
 
 " I'll have the same as you, " he said. 
 
 Lord Dobrington did not know when he had enjoyed 
 a lunch so. He thought the coffee was excellent or was 
 it tea? He forgot. The scone and butter were some- 
 thing to remember. He thought of the champagne and 
 the many courses of his usual restaurants, and he did not
 
 92 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 regret them. When lunch was over, Sunny captured her 
 own bill. 
 
 "Won't you let me?" he asked. 
 
 "What! Pay for me? "she said. "Why should you?" 
 
 "But " 
 
 "I always pay for myself," Sunny said, and that 
 ended it. 
 
 "Who was the old lady that I see you saw you, I 
 mean coming out of the photographer's with?" Sunny 
 asked. 
 
 "That was the Countess of Blessendale, " he said, 
 "my mother." 
 
 "Your mother? She's nice-looking cold a bit, I 
 thought, but very handsome. Thinks a lot of you, I'll 
 bet!" 
 
 He laughed, and colored in his boyish way. 
 
 "She thinks more of me than I deserve, " he said. 
 
 "You didn't ought to say that," Sunny said. "I'm 
 only a girl" she paused "and worked in a pickle 
 factory alongside Bert here " 
 
 Bert nodded. 
 
 "Wish I was back there again, I do!" he said. 
 
 "Only if I was a man and had a mother of my own, " 
 Sunny went on, "I'd say to myself, ' I'm going to be just 
 what my mother wants me to be. I'm going to show her 
 I'm fit to be her son.' That's the way I look at it." 
 
 "And the right way, " Dobrington said. 
 
 "If I was a man, I'd try and win every woman's 
 respect," Sunny said. "But the woman whose respect 
 I'd want most 'ud be my mother's. Me! I ain't got a 
 mother." Her voice trembled a little. " I wish I 'ad, " 
 she said. "I'd like to work for 'er and make 'er 'appy. 
 I'd like to have a mother to watch me get on and feel 
 proud of me. It's different with aunts. Aunts ain't 
 mothers." She sighed.
 
 The Right Way 93 
 
 But now it was time to go. They must hurry, for 
 there was a matine'e at half-past two. 
 
 " You'll have to take a cab, " Dobrington said. 
 
 "Not me; I'll run for it. A run'll do us good; won't 
 it, Bert?" 
 
 "But do allow me," he said. "I'd love " 
 
 Sunny held out her hand to him. She smiled frankly. 
 "I'm glad to know you," she said. She looked him 
 straight in the eyes. "I like you," she said frankly. 
 "You're one of the sort I like." 
 
 "Thank you, " he said. "You don't think, you don't 
 know, how much I appreciate that. I shall remember 
 it." 
 
 "That's all right," Sunny said. "So-long!" 
 
 They were rather out of breath by the time they 
 reached the theatre. 
 
 "What about that feller?" Bert asked. 
 
 "What feller?" 
 
 "The vis-count." 
 
 "What about him?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "You look out, that's all," Bert said. 
 
 "What are you talking about?" 
 
 "You'll be marrying him afore long if you don't look 
 out." 
 
 "Me!" Sunny laughed. "'Ow can I marry 'im? 
 Ain't you and me engaged to git married in twenty 
 years or thereabouts?" 
 
 Bert wagged his head. 
 
 "A feller don't look at no girl like he looked at you 
 more'n once 'less he means something. I know, I do. 
 You'll find yourself a she-viscount, or whatever they call 
 it, if you don't look out. I'll bet he's thinking about you 
 and 'im getting married." 
 
 Sunny laughed. 
 
 "You go and eat coke!" she said.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 STILL GETTING ON! 
 
 'T'HERE were three of them in Mr. Hemmingway's 
 1 private office when Sunny went in Mr. Hem- 
 mingway himself, Mr. Rostheimer, and Signor Posetti, 
 the musical conductor. 
 
 "Come in, Miss Ducrow, " Mr. Hemmingway said. 
 
 "I'm coming," Sunny said. She came into the room 
 and nodded to them. "Here I am! You sent for 
 me?" 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway coughed. 
 
 "You know, of course, that we shall be taking off 
 Keep off the Grass in five weeks' time?" 
 
 "I know," she said. 
 
 "Miss Montressor, unfortunately, has an engagement 
 that will take her to America for some time. Miss 
 Blythedale will take the lead in the new thing." 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "She ought to do all right," she said generously. 
 " She's pretty, and got a lovely voice. I'll love to see her 
 take the lead, I shall. I know she'll do well." 
 
 Mr. Rostheimer lifted his fat hands. 
 
 "Gootness!" he said. "And dis is von voman sbeak- 
 ing of another! Vil der heavens fall, or vat is it?" 
 
 "What's the matter with you?" Sunny said. 
 
 "Now, Miss Ducrow, we want you to have a more 
 prominent part in the new revue, which is to be called, 
 Look Out There!" 
 
 94
 
 Still Getting On! 95 
 
 "I don't mind," Sunny said, "if you don't. Only no 
 pickle-factory girls for me this time. See?" 
 
 " No, " he said thoughtfully. "What about a coster? " 
 
 Sunny flushed. 
 
 "I told you, no corsters for me! Next part I take is 
 going to be a young-lady part. Oh," she cried, "you 
 needn't smile! You don't think I can do it ? Very well, 
 then, listen to me. Excuse me, Mr. Hemmingway, I 
 really could not consider taking the part of a person in a 
 lowly walk of life. I infinitely prefer to take the character 
 of a young lady of some intelligence and education. Do 
 I make myself plain? I trust I do. Excuse me for 
 putting my views before you in this manner, but I really 
 wish you to quite understand me, that I am entirely 
 capable of taking the part of a person of education. 
 See?" Sunny paused. 
 
 They stared at her. 
 
 "Dot girl, she drive me silly mit laughing," said 
 Rostheimer. "What game she up to now, eh?" 
 
 "Half a moment, " Sunny said. " I haven't done yet. 
 Permit me, Mr. Hemmingway and you gentlemen; there 
 is something I would like to say, or, rather, to do, that 
 will prove my contention that I am perfectly qualified to 
 take a better part than that which you propose allotting 
 to me. Have I your permission?" 
 
 "Oh, go on, fire away!" Hemmingway said. 
 
 Sunny stood up before them; her face was grave. 
 
 "'The quality of mercy is not strain'd, '" she said. 
 "'It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven upon the 
 place beneath.'" She went on from beginning to end. 
 It was Portia's speech, and she was letter perfect. Not 
 that alone, but she acted her part; her gestures were 
 admirable, her intonation, her expression, all that could 
 be desired. The three stared at her. 
 
 "Dot girl is von great surbrise-backet, " Mr. Rost-
 
 96 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 heimer said. " I don't know what she do next. It make 
 me laugh in my sides. Ho, ho, ho!" 
 
 Sunny climbed down with a gesture of relief. 
 
 "Now you've got it!" she said. "You think I'm not 
 good for nothing but corster parts or pickle-factory parts. 
 You think, because I talk in the way I like to talk in, I'm 
 not good at nothing except low parts; but you're off the 
 line. You give me young-lady parts, nice and ladylike." 
 
 "I believe, by George, you could do it!" Mr. 
 Hemmingway said. 
 
 "Try me," Sunny said. 
 
 "Look here! In this revue there's a girl who runs 
 away from school. Lady Maud, she's called. She runs 
 away from school and joins a travelling circus for love of 
 adventure. It's a good part; heaps of fun and go in it. 
 We thought of someone else, but " He paused. He 
 looked at Rostheimer. 
 
 "Oh, for goodness' sake led her haf it! I'm gedding 
 to believe that that girl could blay anything." 
 
 " You leave it to me, " Sunny said. "Am I to have the 
 part or not?" 
 
 "There are three songs in it, " Mr. Hemmingway said. 
 
 " Make it four, " Sunny said. 
 
 "Three," Hemmingway said. "And that's two more 
 than you've been doing. And two of them are fairly 
 heavy songs; not tripe like that Piccalilli thing." 
 
 "It's a better tune than you can write any day!" 
 Sunny said. 
 
 Signor Posetti smiled. He had written the tune. 
 
 "Oh, I don't say anything about the tune, but I say 
 the words are tripe. These songs are good two of them 
 big." 
 
 "All the better," Sunny said. 
 
 "Let's see." Hemmingway paused. "How long have 
 you been on the stage, Miss Ducrow? "
 
 Still Getting On! 97 
 
 "Three months, " Sunny said. 
 
 "Three months, and yet you are going to play second 
 lead ! " Hemmingway said. "You seem to be getting on, 
 MissDucrow!" 
 
 "That's what I am here for," Sunny said. "In six 
 months I'll be playing lead. You don't believe it?" 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha!" Rostheimer was laughing. 
 
 " Go on; you'll split your sides. What's the matter?" 
 Sunny said. 
 
 " Madder ! You make me laugh, that's all. You blay 
 de lead in six months!" 
 
 "Betcher!" Sunny said. 
 
 "I bet you a hundred pounds to to von shilling dat 
 you dond blay lead inside six months from dis day," 
 Rostheimer said. 
 
 Sunny modded. 
 
 "You start saving up that hundred pounds, old dear. 
 Six months! I shan't forget. It'll be something towards 
 my new motor-car. Anyhow, I'm to play Lady Maud?" 
 
 "Yes, " Hemmingway said. 
 
 "That's settled, then," Sunny said. "Now, what 
 about Bert?" 
 
 "I fancy Jackson can look after himself. He's in the 
 chorus, of course." 
 
 "I've got to look after Bert. He's like most men 
 he can't do anything for himself. He done did pretty 
 well in the last. He's to have a song in the new thing 
 Look Out There!" 
 
 "Song! He couldn't sing," Hemmingway said. 
 
 "He's going to sing, " Sunny said. "He's got to sing. 
 I know what Bert can do and I know what he can't do." 
 
 "He's got no voice," Hemmingway said. "It's 
 impossible." 
 
 "That's it. He's got no voice and he can't sing 
 not for toffee! But, all the same, he's going to have a 
 
 7
 
 98 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 song something slow and sad-like, " Sunny said. She 
 turned to Posetti. "You f oiler me?" she asked. 
 
 "Yes, I tink so. I tink, Mr. Hemmingway I tink 
 Miss Ducrow is right. I see it. Leave it to me." 
 
 Sunny smiled. She and Posetti were allies friends. 
 The little Italian was vain and susceptible to flattery and 
 admiration. Sunny genuinely admired his talents, and 
 told him so. 
 
 "I don't know," Hemmingway said, "I don't know. 
 I can't see that fellow singing." 
 
 "You'll hear him all right, though," Sunny said. 
 "You leave it to the signor and me. And now," she 
 said, "about money." 
 
 Hemmingway looked at her. 
 
 "You you avaricious little person!" he said. 
 
 ' ' I've got to be. I've got to look after myself. There's 
 no one to look after me." Sunny paused. "Playing 
 second lead, I ought to be getting" she paused "a 
 'fiver.'" 
 
 "Oh, very well," he said. 
 
 "And Bert '11 want three to start with, and if his song 
 goes as I know it will he'll want five." 
 
 "I'll see," Hemmingway said. 
 
 "Now's the time," Sunny said. "Let's have it yes 
 or no?" 
 
 "Yes. All right. Very well." 
 
 "That's settled, then. I'll be glad to have my part 
 when it's ready, so I can study up." 
 
 She went out ; the signor went out with her. 
 
 "Sunny, you have been foolish, " he said. 
 
 "Me?" 
 
 "Yes. You were too queek. You say to Hemming- 
 vay you vant a 'fiver.' Hemmingvay was ready to pay 
 you eight or ten if you stand out. See?" 
 
 "That's all right, " Sunny said. " I reckoned on five.
 
 Still Getting On! 99 
 
 Five's good enough to go on with. It's no good opening 
 your mouth too wide, is it?" 
 
 "But all zee same " 
 
 "All right. This time next year I'll be getting 
 twenty," Sunny said "at least," she added, "perhaps 
 more. You never know. Besides, I've got Bert fixed 
 up all right, and that's something."
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE NEW REVUE 
 
 JfEEP off the Grass, the very successful revue, had 
 *V come to an end. The newspapers bewailed the 
 fact that Miss Montressor, the popular leading lady, 
 would be seen no more in London for some considerable 
 time. 
 
 She was leaving for the States in a few days to fulfil 
 a long engagement, and this was the main reason for the 
 change of programme. But the new revue, Look Out 
 There! was being advertised freely, with Miss Grace 
 Blythedale in the leading part. 
 
 "I see they ain't advertising your name, Sunny," 
 Bert Jackson said. 
 
 Sunny looked up. 
 
 "What are you grousing about now?" she said. 
 ' ' Advertising my name ! What next ? ' ' 
 
 " Didn't they ought to ? " he said. "Ain't you playing 
 second lead?" 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "Look 'ere, Bert, you re looking for trouble, you are. 
 They ain't advertising my name yet, but you wait a bit, 
 then you'll see 'Sunny Ducrow' on every blooming 
 hoarding in London, and it won't be long neither." She 
 laughed, showing her white, even teeth. "Some time 
 or other the people of London'll be about fed-up with 
 Sunny Ducrow." 
 
 1 ' Huh ! Wait and see, "Bert said. ' ' Only I thought, 
 
 100
 
 The New Revue 101 
 
 as you was playing second lead, they ought to advertise 
 you a bit." 
 
 "That's all right; don't you worry," Sunny said. 
 
 "Second lead!" said Mrs. Melkin. "That's just it. 
 Second lead, and going to get five pounds every week, 
 and 'ere 'ere we stay in these mis'rable lodgings, not 
 fit for a girl like Sunny, they ain't!" 
 
 ' ' They ain't so dusty, ' ' Sunny said. "I've seen worse. 
 Anyhow, they're a bit better'n we been used to, old 
 dear." 
 
 "In the old days," Mrs. Melkin said, "when I was a 
 'appy wife, I 'ad a parlor with a Kiddyminster carpet 
 and " 
 
 Sunny made a sign to Bert. She knew what was 
 coming, and she slid towards the door. 
 
 "We'll 'ave to be moving for rehearsal, Bert," she 
 said. "Come on! So-long, auntie." 
 
 "And chairs as we didn't 'ave to use one year's end 
 to the other, their legs a-standing on little square bits of 
 lonelium so as not to mark the carpet, and the round 
 table in the middle " 
 
 But Sunny and Bert had escaped. 
 
 "Poor old dear!" Sunny said. "She do kind of live 
 in the past, don't she? Now that's where she and me 
 is different, Bert. She lives in the past, and me, I live in 
 the future. See? *Et ain't with me what I been or what 
 I am. It's what I'm going to be and what I'm going to 
 do. That's how it is." 
 
 "Huh!" said Bert. He hunched his shoulders. "I 
 gotter sing a song in this new thing, " he said. "Wish I 
 was dead." 
 
 "Oh, well, you go on wishing long enough and it'll 
 come true," Sunny said. "Got your song yet?" 
 
 He nodded gloomily. 
 
 " I got the words, " he said, "and the music's all right,
 
 102 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 I s'pose, for them as can read it. Old Posetti made me 
 try it over last night, and he laughed." Bert paused. 
 "Never see a chap laugh like it," he said gloomily. 
 "Laughed till the tears run down 'is ugly mug. When 
 I got 'ome I thought I'd try it over a bit by myself in 
 my room, I did " He paused. 
 
 "Well?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "I got the words all right; rotten words they are, too 
 all about flowers and roses. Father come up and 
 arsted me if I was really ill, or only pretending, and when 
 I told 'im I was singing, he lathered me with the strap!" 
 Bert paused. 
 
 "I don't think much of that song. It ain't my style. 
 That's a good song, now, about the diver. You know, the 
 chap as goes diving about for treasures in the sea and 
 dying lonely in the end. That's the sort of thing as 'ud 
 suit me; not a thing all about being 'appy and roses and 
 being gay and rubbish!" He paused. 
 
 "Father lammed in all ri', he did!" he added. "I 
 wish I wish I was back at the pickles, Sunny!" 
 
 "You don't in your 'eart!" Sunny said 
 
 Bert sniffed. 
 
 "I love the smell of b'iling vinegar, " he said, "and ras'- 
 berry jam on a 'ot summer day ; there ain't nothink like it ! " 
 
 "There ain't!" Sunny said decidedly. 
 
 The deep gloom and wretchedness which seemed to be 
 Bert's character had wholly taken possession of him now. 
 He looked the picture of intense and abject misery. 
 Never a smile came on his lips. 
 
 The other girls asked Sunny what ailed him was he 
 in love, or had he some incurable disease, or what was his 
 trouble ? 
 
 "He likes being like that, that's all," Sunny said. 
 "He ain't never thoroughly 'appy unless he's utterly 
 mis'rable that's Bert ! "
 
 The New Revue 103 
 
 At first sight it seemed to Sunny that the song Signer 
 Posetti had selected for Bert was most unsuitable. It 
 was called, She Gave me a Bouquet of Roses. 
 
 When Sunny read the words she could not see much 
 point in them. To-day, on the stage, when they were 
 rehearsing the new revue , Signer Posetti insisted on Bert 
 singing his song. 
 
 " I've forgot the chune ! " Bert said. " 'Ow can I learn 
 myself the chune when I can't read the music? 'Ow- 
 ever " 
 
 He turned his eyes upwards. The orchestra struck 
 up. 
 
 "'Ow does it start?" Bert inquired. "Blowed if I 
 ain't forgot the words as well as the chune now!" 
 
 "'She gave me a bouquet of roses,'" said the signer, 
 " 'because she loved me so'" 
 
 "Ah, that's it!" Bert began. 
 
 "You haf the tune not got," said the signer. 
 
 "I told you I 'adn't," Bert said. 
 
 He made another start. This time, if possible, it was 
 worse than before. The tune he hit on was something 
 between Rule, Britannia! and Little Grey Home in the 
 West. 
 
 Someone laughed. Bert looked round. 
 
 " I wish you 'ad this job ! " he said. " I didn't arst for it, 
 neither. ' She gave me a bookay of roses, because '" 
 
 Two or three began to laugh now. 
 
 " Don't take any notice, " Signor Posetti said. 
 
 He was laughing himself, shaking, and the tears were 
 rolling down his good-natured little face. Looking at 
 Bert only made him laugh the more. The expression of 
 intense misery on Bert's face was beyond description 
 funny. 
 
 A few minutes and the whole stage was in a roar. 
 Sunny herself was laughing weakly. She was leaning
 
 104 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 against the wings laughing, while the tears rained dowr 
 her face. 
 
 "Look 'ere!" Bert demanded in a loud voice. "Is 
 this a comic song, or what?" 
 
 " Don't take any notice. Continue. It is excellent!" 
 the signor said. 
 
 "Oh dear, oh dear!" he sighed, when Bert had got to 
 the end. "If dis does not bring down ze house I don't 
 know any sing !" 
 
 "Glad I've amused you all!" Bert said savagely. "I 
 didn't set up to be no singer. If I'd bragged about my 
 singing it 'ud 'ave been different, but I didn't. I never 
 said I could sing. I wish to 'evings " 
 
 He paused. 
 
 "Say it! Say it!" said Jakes the stage-manager. 
 " Say it, man; get it off your chest ! " 
 
 "Well, I do wish to 'evings I was back at the pickles!" 
 Bert said. 
 
 The girls of the chorus, who had seen Sunny come 
 among them an entire stranger, a small, ragged, red- 
 haired girl from the slums, from a pickle factory, and had 
 seen her thrust herself into a part, make a part for herself 
 and achieve success in it, had looked with a certain 
 amount of amusement at her cheek. Now Sunny Du- 
 crow was to play second lead, they did not feel quite so 
 amused. 
 
 " She's the limit ' " Miss Kitty Bennington said. "She 
 ought to be put down. A jumped-up little gutter- 
 sparrow!" 
 
 Sunny had met with friendliness from the other girls 
 till now. Now there was a visible change in their de- 
 meanor towards her. No one was eager to lend her 
 their sticks of grease paint ; no one seemed at all anxious 
 to help her in trifling matters. She got cold glances and 
 harsh speeches.
 
 The New Revue 105 
 
 Sunny smiled. 
 
 "Poor dears!" she said. "It's just as I expected; 
 they can't 'elp it. It's a sign I'm getting on. No girl 
 don't get on in this world without other girls getting sore 
 about it." 
 
 But Sunny's sweetness and good nature never deserted 
 her. She smiled in response to a harsh word. She never 
 lost her temper. Day after day it seemed to grow worse. 
 The other girls shunned her as though she had the 
 plague, but the smile never left Sunny's lips. They had 
 confidently counted on her making an utter and entire 
 failure of the part of Lady Maud. 
 
 "A gutter-snipe like that play an aristocratic part! 
 It's rot!" Miss Bennington said. "You see, she'll come 
 an awful cracker." 
 
 They waited for Sunny to come the "awful cracker," 
 but she did not. She drifted into the part. It suited her 
 as neatly as a well-made glove might. She was Lady 
 Maud, dainty and dignified, full of fun. Never a vul- 
 garism came from her lips. The girls stared at her. 
 
 "She's as common as dirt really," Miss Bennington 
 said. "How does she manage it?" 
 
 She played the part of the well-born girl as though to 
 the manner born, and as though she had been highly 
 educated and had been finished off at an expensive 
 school Eastbourne or Tunbridge Wells way, for all 
 that anyone could tell from her accent. She never 
 dropped an "h." 
 
 No one knew of the hours of study she put in with the 
 patient old Mr. Gibbins, who had come to regard Sunny 
 Ducrow as the apple of his eye. He was poor and 
 shabby, he had neither kith nor kin, and the very few 
 shillings a week that he earned barely kept body and soul 
 together under his thin, worn coat. 
 
 He came every morning to find a nice, hot breakfast
 
 106 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 waiting for him. At first he demurred; he said that he 
 had breakfasted. 
 
 "You've got to eat your breakfast or I don't take no 
 lesson, " Sunny said. 
 
 So Mr. Gibbins took his breakfast, and after that it 
 became a settled thing. 
 
 "It's like this, " Sunny said. "I've got to know how 
 to speak properly, so as I can speak all right when I'm on 
 the stage. Me, personally" she paused "the way I 
 speaks is good enough for me every day. See? I come 
 out of a pickle factory. I wasn't nothing, and I don't 
 mean to pertend I ever was; but I'm going to get on, old 
 dear; and you're a-going to 'elp me." 
 
 He nodded. Yes, he wanted to help her, and Sunny 
 wanted to learn. The result was satisfactory. Sunny 
 learned whole pages of Shakespeare. She could stand up 
 and recite them with impressive gestures and a perfection 
 of speech that would have surprised Bill Wilkins of 
 Johnson's Pickle Factory if he could have heard. 
 
 So, unknown to anyone but her aunt and old Gibbins, 
 and perhaps Bert, Sunny studied hard morning after 
 morning. She read aloud; she held imaginary conversa- 
 tions with her old tutor. In a thousand and one ways he 
 corrected her in his gentle manner, and Sunny never for- 
 got the correction, never repeated the mistake. Never 
 had a man a more willing or more intelligent pupil. She 
 learned to recite with feeling and expression most of the 
 speeches of the greatest of Shakespeare's heroines Rosa- 
 lind and Juliet, Portia and Ophelia and no one, to hear 
 her, could ever guess that she even knew what the inside 
 of a pickle factory was like. 
 
 " It isn't because I once worked in a pickle factory, " 
 she said to him, "that I'm going to spend all my life 
 smelling the boiling vinegar. See ? I've left that behind 
 me for good."
 
 The New Revue 107 
 
 She laughed and flung her head back, and the old man 
 laughed too, because it did him good to see her progress. 
 
 "You are the most wonderful child in the world," he 
 said. " I never knew another girl like you. One day 
 there is no knowing one day you may reach great 
 heights." 
 
 "That, "said Sunny, "is what I am after all the time. 
 They thought at the theatre I couldn't play a twopenny- 
 ha'penny part like Lady Maud in the revue. They don't 
 know, do they? One day I'll play Hamlick " 
 
 "Hamlet but you can't; it's a man's part." 
 
 "Then Ophelia; it's all the same; though I should 
 like Rosalind best. That would be more in my line," 
 she said. 
 
 Miss Montressor was going. In a few days she would 
 sail. And Miss Montressor was giving a little dinner- 
 party to a few intimate friends. 
 
 " I'll miss her something dreadful, " Sunny said. "She 
 was good to me. It was her give me my first start, and 
 I shan't ever forget that. I'd like to see her and say 
 good-bye and wish her luck, and thank her for all she done 
 for me, " Sunny said. 
 
 She never thought she would get the opportunity; 
 but she did. The unexpected invitation from Miss 
 Montressor came to Sunny at the theatre. On the back 
 was scribbled : 
 
 "DEAR SUNNY, Do come! I would love to see you 
 and say good-bye. If you feel that you cannot come 
 without Bert, bring him too, of course. Lovingly, 
 L.M." 
 
 "She's a dear!" Sunny said. 
 
 In her joy and high spirits she showed the card to 
 some of the other girls.
 
 io8 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "'They are making a fool of the brat, " Miss Benning- 
 ton said. "It's disgusting! Fancy asking her! Why, 
 even Grace Blythedale hasn't been asked!" 
 
 Bert refused to come. 
 
 "Not me!" he said. "One thing, I don't want to go; 
 another thing, I ain't got no evening clothes. I ain't 
 going, Sunny!" 
 
 "You didn't ought to refuse, Bert. See what she's 
 done for us both!" 
 
 "For you," he said. "She didn't worry her head 
 about me; it was all for you. If it hadn't been for you 
 standing out for it, I should be still at the pickle factory 
 now, and I wish to 'evings " 
 
 He paused. 
 
 "You was, " Sunny said. "But you ain't, Bert ; you've 
 got to come." 
 
 "I ain't going," Bert said. 
 
 And he did not. That settled it, so Sunny went 
 alone.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 MAKING TERMS 
 
 WHEN Hurlingham's portrait of Sunny appeared in 
 the Illustrated it attracted more attention 
 
 than most other portraits of celebrities. People asked 
 one another who Miss Sunny Ducrow was. They did 
 not know the name. It was not everyone in London 
 who had been to see the revue, Keep off the Grass. Those 
 who had, knew, of course; but they were few compared 
 with the many who had not. The Laughing Girl was 
 a success. One of the leading comic papers parodied it, 
 putting instead of Sunny's face that of a well-known 
 statesman, and it all advertised Sunny. The result was 
 letters a shoal of letters and not a few of them were 
 from photographers. 
 
 "MADAM, If you have not yet made arrangements 
 with regard to your photographs picture post cards 
 and portraits for the illustrated papers, etc. we shall 
 be glad if you can give us an early call, with a view to 
 making a contract." 
 
 There were half a dozen or more of these letters, and 
 Sunny carefully put them on one side. Day after day 
 she made journeys first to one, then to another. She 
 heard all that they had to say, listened to their offers, 
 and did nothing. 
 
 "I'll think it over," she said. "Anyway, I can't do 
 anything yet; it depends on what Mr. Hurlingham says." 
 
 109
 
 no Sunny Ducrow 
 
 And now to-day had come the time for her visit to 
 the eminent photographer, who had done remarkably 
 well out of Sunny so far. 
 
 There was no question about her admittance this 
 time. The young lady who had at first snubbed her 
 received her with smiles. She showed Sunny into a cosy 
 little waiting-room. 
 
 " Mr. Hurlingham will be with you in a few minutes, 
 Miss Ducrow, " she said. " He will not keep you waiting 
 long." 
 
 "Nearly fell over herself," Sunny thought. "Lor', 
 what a difference time do bring sometimes, don't it?" 
 
 Prominent among the papers in the waiting-room was 
 the particular issue of that paper in which The Laughing 
 Girl appeared. There was also a huge enlargement of 
 the same picture hanging over the mantelpiece. In fact, 
 wherever Sunny looked she saw reproductions large and 
 small. 
 
 "I should think they'd get fair fed up with my mug 
 here, " she thought. 
 
 Mr. Hurlingham came in. "Good morning, Miss 
 Ducrow. I trust I have not kept you waiting?" 
 
 "Of course you have," Sunny said. "But nothing as 
 you need worry about. Now, then, what I want to know 
 is, how are we going on?" 
 
 "How are we going on?" He looked at her. "I 
 don't quite follow." 
 
 "Done pretty well out of that, didn't you?" Sunny 
 said. She pointed to the enlargement. 
 
 "Yes, yes, fairly; in a small way, it was quite 
 successful!" 
 
 Sunny looked at him hard. He might be a clever 
 artist, but he was also a clever business man, and she 
 was no fool either. It was likely to be a battle of wits. 
 "Well, I'm glad I did you a turn," she said. "It's
 
 Making Terms m 
 
 done and over now. You asked me to call to-day ; so I've 
 called, and that's all about it." 
 
 "How do you mean 'all about it'?" 
 
 "Well, we've settled up now, ain't we? I sat for you 
 and you paid me; now I'm going to sit for someone else." 
 
 "You you have not made any any other arrange- 
 ments?" he said quickly. 
 
 "No, I ain't, because I promised you I wouldn't till I'd 
 seen you again. Now I've seen you, I'm going off this 
 afternoon to make arrangements with Billings and Wil- 
 son. They've offered me about the best terms, though 
 De Lisle and Bernard's and the rest are pretty liberal, 
 too!" 
 
 "What do you mean?" he said. 
 
 "What I mean is this," Sunny said. "I've got about 
 six contracts waiting for me to sign, and I can choose 
 the one I like best. Like the game, ain't it?" She 
 smiled at him. "Sally Waters, you know!" 
 
 " I don't know the young lady, " he said stiffly. "Let 
 me understand, Miss Ducrow. You have other offers?" 
 
 "'Eaps!" 
 
 "But you have made no arrangements?" 
 
 "Of course I ain't. I told you I wouldn't. I waited 
 to see you. ^ow I've seen you, I'm off to Billings and 
 Wilson. They are the boys for my money I mean 
 their money and my face. See? " 
 
 He did see, but he pretended not to. 
 'I am willing," he said slowly, "to offer you ahem! 
 terms for, say, three sittings a year once every four 
 months purely pictorial for the illustrated papers." 
 
 "Not taking any," Sunny said. "What I want is 
 this, picture post cards " 
 
 "I never touch them," he said. "They are be- 
 neath " 
 
 "All right, we've done then!" Sunny rose. She held
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 out her hand. "Good-day; I'll go and fix up with Bill- 
 ings and " 
 
 "Wait a moment," he said. "I say that I never do 
 picture post cards; they are rather beneath me. Do you 
 understand?" 
 
 "Well, they aren't beneath me," Sunny said. "I've 
 got to advertise and go on advertising all the time. See? " 
 
 "I see it from your point of view, but " 
 
 "What's the use me wasting your time? You ain't 
 going to make post cards of me. Very well, then; good- 
 bye and " 
 
 "Wait!" he said. "I might I say I might feel in- 
 clined to enter a branch of work that hitherto " 
 
 " Get it off your chest ! " Sunny said. " It amounts to 
 this. I owe you something for doing me well with that 
 picture. You done yourself well at the same time. I 
 know that all right. Anyhow, there it is. What I want 
 is this." She sat down and faced him. "One sitting a 
 month. You can take as many as you like. Say the 
 first of every month I come here for an hour, and you can 
 take a hundred for all I care. Only five thousand post 
 cards of me a month. I don't care what you do about 
 the picture papers." 
 
 "Well? "he said. 
 
 "That's twelve times I'll come here a year. Twelve 
 times ten is a 'undred and twenty. That's what I want." 
 
 "I don't understand," he said. "A hundred and 
 twenty what?" 
 
 " Pounds ! " Sunny said. " Ten pounds a sitting, that's 
 my price. Take it or leave it and don't forget, either. 
 Five thousand picture post cards at least every month; 
 that's sixty thousand a year." 
 
 " My dear young lady ! If you were a great star " 
 
 "Look here," Sunny said, "we can cut that out. I 
 ain't a great star but I'm going to be pretty soon. That's
 
 Making Terms 113 
 
 got nothing to do with you, except that your picture 
 post cards is going to help me considerable. You need- 
 n't do it. You've only got to say no and there's an end 
 to it. Billings and Wilson'll give me them terms; they 
 suggested it themselves. I'm offering you the same 
 terms as they offered me. It ain't 'arf fair to them, now 
 I come to think about it; so I'll 'ave to make it guineas, 
 see, to make it fair to them. A hundred and twenty 
 guineas for a two-year contrack!" 
 
 "I am afraid " he said. 
 
 "All right!" Sunny said. She rose and made towards 
 the door. 
 
 "One moment, Miss Ducrow." 
 
 "Look 'ere!" Sunny said. "Yes or no? It's no good 
 us acting about. Say yes and I'll stop. Say no and I'll 
 go. I don't want to waste your time and I don't want 
 you to waste mine. See?" 
 
 "I see," he said. "But " 
 
 "Yes or no, " Sunny said, "and finish it!" 
 
 He stared at her hard for a moment; then a smile 
 dawned on his face. 
 
 "Yes," he said briefly. 
 
 Sunny came slowly back and sat down. "Now we'll 
 talk," she said. 
 l
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 SUNNY BREAKS DOWN 
 
 MISS LESLIE MONTRESSOR'S rooms, always 
 charming, were looking their very best to-night, as 
 was their owner. A graceful and very beautiful woman, 
 far fitter to play Shakespearian or old English comedy 
 parts than light revue characters, she moved gracefully 
 about her rooms, putting a finishing touch here and 
 there. There were a dozen guests in all, and the first 
 was arriving now. He turned out to be Hemmingway. 
 
 " So good of you to come ! " she said. 
 
 "Good of you to ask me, Leslie. By George, we'll 
 miss you badly, old girl!" 
 
 She smiled. 
 
 "I shall miss you, too; all my friends here," she said. 
 "I shall miss my little home all my dear things but 
 ours is always a wandering life. An actress has no right 
 to a home, I suppose." She sighed. 
 
 "Oh, for goodness' sake don't let us be miserable 
 to-night, Leslie!" he said. 
 
 "I can't help it, I hate going; yet, of course, I have 
 to go. One grows old, and one must make all one can 
 while the sun shines. I don't want to be old and poor. 
 It will be bad enough to be old without being anything 
 else horrible. How is the new thing shaping, Max?" 
 
 "Fine!" he said briefly. "Grace Blythedale isn't, of 
 course, Leslie Montressor, but she's a good girl and looks 
 the part." 
 
 "4
 
 Sunny Breaks Down 115 
 
 "She is younger than I am, and that counts," Miss 
 Montressor said. 
 
 ' ' Younger ! Rot ! " he said. ' ' She is younger in years, 
 but you look like a child on the stage a child with the 
 experience of a finished artiste." He sighed. "How- 
 ever, I mustn't grumble; I've got the next best in Grace 
 Blythedale, and then" he paused "there's that pro- 
 teg6e of yours, the little Ducrow girl she's shaping fine." 
 
 "I knew she would! I was right!" she said. "It 
 was another of my finds." 
 
 "Not another, but 'the Find,'" he said. "That girl 
 will go far; she's barely begun yet. George," he said, 
 "she stood up and spouted Portia's speech as to the 
 manner born the other day before old Rostheimer and 
 Posetti and me. It made my hair stand up on end. I 
 didn't think she had it in her! Leslie, there's something 
 almost uncanny about that girl. I never saw any girl 
 with such ambition, with such an intense desire no, not 
 desire, but resolve, to get on. She is going to get on. 
 Her will will beat down all obstacles." 
 
 " I believe she'll be a great success I hope so. When 
 I come back I shall help her all I can. Meanwhile, you 
 will do what you can for her, Max?" 
 
 "Trust me!" he said. 
 
 There were other arrivals now Mr. Rostheimer, Miss 
 Blythedale, Mr. Harvey Daglan, and Lord Dobrington. 
 They were all there, and one or two whom Sunny did not 
 know, when she arrived a little later. 
 
 " Sorry being late ! " she said. " Only it was a long way, 
 and I missed my turning twice!" She stood and looked 
 round the room and laughed. 
 
 "It's just the same, only it looks different somehow, " 
 she said. " I suppose it's me as is altered. Miss? " 
 
 "You have altered a little, Sunny," Miss Montressor 
 said smilingly.
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 The others were staring at the small, red-haired girl. 
 "Who was she?" some were asking. 
 
 "Dat girl," Rostheimer said, with a fat -laugh, "she 
 drive me silly mit laughing all der time! Ho, ho! She 
 haf god der cheek of dwendy!" 
 
 "Yes, I s'pose I'm a bit different to what I was that 
 Sunday!" Sunny looked down at her plain but neat 
 dress, her neat shoes. "Remember them old boots I 
 was wearing that time?" she said. "Law, I lost one of 
 'em on the stairs, and I lost it twice going home. I never 
 'ad such boots for wanting to go off on their own, but it 
 was this way: I got 'em cheap off a barrer men's boots 
 they was only they was cheap and thick and kept the 
 water out. 'Ello, " she added, "who are you laughing 
 at?" 
 
 "Ho, ho, ho! You make me sblit my sides!" Mr. 
 Rostheimer said. 
 
 "I hope," Sunny said, "you've begun to save up that 
 hundred pounds you'll owe me in three months' time! 
 Three wasn't it or was it six?" 
 
 "Ho, ho, ho! "he laughed. 
 
 "Oh, shut up!" Sunny said. She looked round. She 
 saw Lord Dobrington and nodded. 
 
 "How's your mother?" she asked. 
 
 He turned a little red. "Quite well, thanks ! " he said; 
 while some of the others laughed. 
 
 "I go to the same photographer's to be took as she 
 does now!" Sunny said. "Only I expect she pays him, 
 while he pays me. A hundred and twenty guineas a 
 year I'm getting out of old Hurlingham; not so dusty, 
 is it?" 
 
 "Hurlingham!" Miss Montressor said. "Surely you 
 have not a contract with him, Sunny?" 
 
 "I have!" Sunny said. "Why, ain't he good for the 
 money?"
 
 Sunny Breaks Down 117 
 
 Miss Montressor laughed. 
 
 " It isn't that; he is good enough for the money; but, do 
 you know, all the years I have been on the stage I have 
 tried to get him to photograph me and he has never 
 consented?" 
 
 "Because you didn't go the right way to work with 
 him!" Sunny said. "He took me first pop off! The 
 Laughing Gel, he called me not so dusty either! Bert, " 
 she went on, "wouldn't come. He 'adn't got no dress 
 clothes for one thing ! I told 'im he could 'ire 'em, but 
 he wouldn't. Poor old Bert!" she sighed. "I wish he 
 could get out of being so mis'rable!" 
 
 It was a tasteful and dainty little meal, nothing ostenta- 
 tious. It was just like Miss Leslie Montressor herself 
 quiet and distinguished, everything of the best and all 
 with a charm and daintiness that one could not hope to 
 find in a restaurant, no matter how expensive or exclusive. 
 
 " It's lovely coming 'ere, isn't it?" Sunny whispered to 
 Lord Dobrington. 
 
 "Very lovely!" he said, staring her straight in the 
 face. 
 
 "You needn't try and be funny!" she said. "If you 
 mean me, I'm no oil-painting, and I know it!" 
 
 "Sunny, if you " 
 
 "Miss Ducrow, if you don't mind!" she said. 
 
 "But I thought we were friends?" 
 
 "Well, Sunny, then," she said. "What's your first 
 name?" 
 
 "Stanley," he said. 
 
 ' ' It isn't a bad name ; I don't dislike it ! What do they 
 call you at home Stan?" She looked at him. 
 
 "No, I wish they did they call me Dobrington as 
 a rule. My mother sometimes calls me Stanley, but 
 usually she speaks of me as Dobrington." 
 
 "Law now!" Sunny said. "And she your mother.
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 too! If I was your mother I'd call you Stanley, or 
 Stanny boy, or something like that!" 
 
 "Supposing you do," he said, "without being my 
 mother? I'd like it just as much!" 
 
 "You get on with your bun!" Sunny said. 
 
 There were presents for Miss Montressor to-night 
 little presents to mark the good-will and the affection in 
 which they all held her. Hemmingway had brought a 
 little diamond brooch, Rostheimer a large piece of silver, 
 Dobrington and the rest some trifles. Dobrington's gift 
 was a silver-gilt chain bag. Only Sunny seemed to have 
 come empty-handed, but she had not. 
 
 "I got something it ain't much something as I 
 worked myself," she said. "I thought you wouldn't 
 mind." She paused. She went out and returned with 
 a brown paper parcel. 
 
 "It ain't nothing," she said "not like what the rest 
 has given you, but I'd like you to have it. I thought it 
 might be cold on the steamer going acrost!" She undid 
 the parcel and took out a soft, woolly jacket. "Just to 
 keep the cold out going acrost!" she said. "And when 
 you git to the other side, you can drop it into the sea if 
 you like." 
 
 "I ajn not likely to do that, Sunny, " Miss Montressor 
 said. She took the girl suddenly into her arms and 
 kissed her. "Thank you, dear thank you again and 
 again. I love your present, and I shall keep it always 
 in memory of my dear little friend!" 
 
 The tears started into Sunny's eyes. 
 
 "If I had a hundred million pounds I'd give it all to 
 you," she said. "And I wouldn't think I'd give you too 
 much, seeing all you've done for me. You gave me my 
 start in life. You took me by the hand and helped me out 
 of the gutter. One day one day you'll know how grate- 
 ful I am. I don't never forget and shan't never forget
 
 and and " She sobbed suddenly. "God bless 
 you and keep you and take you safe there and bring 
 you safe home again to all of us as loves you, dear, 
 dear " 
 
 No one spoke. There was a long silence after Sunny's 
 little speech. Max Hemmingway took out his hand- 
 kerchief and blew his nose loudly. 
 
 "Dat girl," Rostheimer said, "she makes me to sblit 
 my sides mit laughter every time. Ho, ho!" 
 
 It was over. The time for parting had come now and 
 Sunny broke down. She cried; the tears rolled down 
 her face. 
 
 "There ain't no one so good and lovely as you in all 
 the world!" she said. "You've been everything to me 
 and and I shan't never forget you, and I'll pray for you 
 every day and and like that " She paused. 
 
 Leslie Montressor held the girl tightly in her arms. 
 
 " Good-bye, little Sunny, and good luck to you! Your 
 success will bring me a great deal of pleasure. Write to 
 me sometimes and I will write to you. I shall be proud 
 of my little girl." 
 
 Outside in the street Sunny dashed the tears from 
 her eyes. 
 
 "She's the best and sweetest woman as ever walked!" 
 she said aloud. 
 
 "Bar one!" 
 
 " Oh ! " Sunny looked up. "How did you blow out ? " 
 
 " I'm going to see you home, Sunny, " Lord Dobrington 
 said. 
 
 "You ain't!" she said briefly. 
 
 "That's where you are wrong; I am," he said. "I 
 am going to see you home, Sunny." 
 
 "You're going to do nothing of the kind, Stanley," 
 she said. 
 
 He laughed.
 
 120 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "Because I'm going to walk." 
 
 "So am I." 
 
 "What about your motor-car?" 
 
 "Hang the car!" he said. "I'm walking with you, if 
 you prefer walking." 
 
 "You'll have to step it out, then!" she said. 
 
 "I'm willing. Will you take my arm? " 
 
 "What for? I ain't eighty yet; I can walk alone 
 without help." 
 
 He looked down at her. 
 
 " You are a very impudent little woman! " he said. 
 
 "And if I weren't, where'd I be now? Trying for a 
 job somewhere," she said. 
 
 " Sunny, won't you take my arm? I'd like you to! " 
 
 "What for? "she said. 
 
 "Nothing, only " 
 
 " We'll get on all right walking like this, only it's a long 
 way, and you'll be sick of it before you get there." 
 
 "I don't fancy I shall. The way can't be too long for 
 me," he said. 
 
 "Like walking, then?" 
 
 "No; but I like you!" he said. 
 
 Sunny laughed. 
 
 "So do others, perhaps," she said. "There's Bert. 
 Where would Bert be without me?" 
 
 "Hang Bert!" he said. "Sunny" he paused 
 "Sunny, you are the most wonderful girl in the 
 world!" 
 
 "Am I?" she said. "I don't think!" 
 
 "But I do, Sunny!" He paused again. 
 
 "What's the matter with you? Got a pain in your 
 indigestion?" she asked. 
 
 "No," he said slowly. "I have a pain somewhere 
 else. In my heart, I think!"
 
 Sunny Breaks Down 121 
 
 "It's because you don't get enough exercise," Sunny 
 said. 
 
 "Sunny " 
 
 "Oh, for goodness' sake get on with it!" she said. 
 "What's the use of keeping on Sunnying? That's my 
 name." 
 
 "Sunny, do you think you could like me?" he asked. 
 
 She turned and stared at him. 
 
 " I don't see nothing perticular about you to dislike, " 
 she said. "Why?" 
 
 "Nothing. Only one day I may tell you I may tell 
 you He paused. Then he laughed. He seemed 
 to shake himself shake his thoughts off him as a dog 
 shakes the water from his coat when he leaps from the 
 water to the land. 
 
 "Lots and lots of things is going to happen one day," 
 Sunny said thoughtfully. "One thing is, I'm going to 
 play Hamlick, or Mrs. Hamlick I mean Ophelia, that 
 is. I'm going to earn a hundred pounds a week. And 
 another thing is" she paused thoughtfully "one day 
 me and Bert'll get married, I suppose!"
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 AN OFFER OF MARRIAGE 
 
 OING to marry Bert ! " Dobrington said. " Sunny, 
 what do you mean?" 
 
 "Jus' that!" she said. "Me and Bert fixed it up one 
 day. It isn't going to be yet not for twenty years or 
 thereabouts only it 'as got to be. See?" 
 
 "Do you mean to say," he cried "do you mean to 
 say you are in love with him?" 
 
 " Me in love with Bert ! " 
 
 She burst into a merry peal of laughter. 
 
 "You're not! Of course you're not!" he said. "Then, 
 what on earth do you mean by saying you are going to 
 marry him? Is he in love with you, then?" 
 
 "Bert! Bert isn't in love with no one!" she said. 
 " It isn't a question of love. I ain't never worried about 
 love. I had" she paused "the measles once when I 
 was a kiddie, and I had the diptheria once and went to 
 the isolation 'orspital, I did, and done well." She paused. 
 "I've caught most things in one way and another, but 
 I ain't caught love, and don't mean to. I've got no 
 time for falling in love. It's like this. Bert you know 
 'ow helpless he is he couldn't never get on nohow if he 
 was left alone if there wasn't me to look after him. 
 Could he?" 
 
 "He is certainly not a genius," Dobrington said. 
 "Not very bright, I should say." 
 
 "Bert's a perfect ijut!" she said briefly. "He's got 
 
 122
 
 An Offer of Marriage 123 
 
 to have someone to look after him. That's why I've 
 got to marry him one of these days, only there Lm't no 
 hurry. Me and him have fixed it up to get married 
 when we are forty." 
 
 "I see," he said slowly "I see." 
 
 "Oh, thank goodness for that, then!" Sunny said. 
 "Now" she paused and turned to him "you didn't 
 better come farther." 
 
 She held out her hand. 
 
 "I'll see you home." 
 
 He had his way. He saw her to the door. There he 
 shook hands with her. He held her very small, child- 
 like hand for a few moments longer, perhaps, than was 
 absolutely necessary. 
 
 "Good-night, and thanks for coming." 
 
 ' ' Good-night, Sunny ; and and I think " he paused 
 "I think you will find out you were wrong." 
 
 "Wrong about what?" she asked. 
 
 "About being proof against love. I fancy it'll come 
 to you one day, little girl, and when it does, yours will 
 be a love worth having. When you learn to love it will 
 not be with any ordinary love it will be heart and soul. 
 It will be a great and wonderful love, yours, Sunny, and 
 he who wins it will be a happy and fortunate man! 
 Good-night, little Sunny!" 
 
 He wrung her hand and turned away. 
 
 Sunny stared after him. 
 
 ' ' What 'she mean by that ?" she asked herself. "He's 
 gone off his onion!" 
 
 And then she went indoors. 
 
 The new revue was a gorgeous production. Max 
 Hemmingway had spent money like water. He had 
 laid himself out to offer his best to the public, but one 
 thing was lacking. The popular favorite, Miss Leslie 
 Montressor, was away playing to crowded houses on the
 
 124 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 other side of the Atlantic. Miss Montressor was a big 
 loss. There was no one else in London quite up to her 
 standard. She was a personality. She alone had the 
 power to draw, and Hemmingway knew it. Grace 
 Blythedale was young and even prettier than Leslie 
 Montressor. She was very charming and very graceful, 
 but she was not Leslie Montressor. 
 
 "Of course they'll miss her," Hemmingway said. 
 "They are bound to. Even the British public has a 
 grain of loyalty in its composition. They'll miss Leslie 
 Montressor. I'm nervous about the Blythedale girl; 
 she's stiff. She don't let herself go like Leslie did. I 
 hope it's going to be all right!" 
 
 "Considering der money we haf spent," Rostheimer 
 said, "it ought to be all ride, didn't id?" 
 
 "It ought to be, but what ought to be very often isn't," 
 Hemmingway said. "I just hope it's going to be all 
 right." 
 
 As the first night drew nearer, Hemmingway grew 
 more and more anxious and inclined to be despondent. 
 
 "I dell you," Rostheimer said, "dat song dat feller 
 vat's his name? sings aboud der roses is a scream, yes ! " 
 
 "Oh, hang him!" Hemmingway said. "Yes, it isn't 
 so bad. It'll go, I dare say. But I'm worried. I 
 think I've made a mistake, Rostheimer, about that 
 Blythedale girl. She's nice and pretty and young, of 
 course; but that isn't everything. She's stiff. I can't 
 get her to jump about. She's stiff. The public hate 
 anything that's stiff. She don't fling herself into the 
 part. Come and see!" 
 
 The two went into the wings, where on the stage a 
 dress rehearsal was in progress. 
 
 Hemmingway was right; Miss Blythedale, for all her 
 youthful charms, was distinctly stiff in the love-making 
 scene in the cornfields. She did not let herself go. She
 
 An Offer of Marriage 125 
 
 did not in the least look like a country maiden in her 
 print dress and her sun-bonnet. She looked like a smart 
 London young lady dressed up in clothes that did not 
 belong to her. 
 
 "She's just awful!" Hemmingway groaned. "Look 
 at her, mincing and prancing about. Picture Leslie in 
 such a part; she would have been 'it'!" 
 
 "For goodness' sake, Miss Blythedale," he said, "do 
 do let yourself go! Get off your high horse. Here, 
 do it like this!" 
 
 He pushed her aside. He took her place on the hay- 
 cart. 
 
 "You've got to be coy and roguish full of fun. See?" 
 he shouted. "You've got to laugh and dimple and grin 
 grin like the doose! This hay-cart isn't a 'bus it's 
 a hay-cart. It's stuck out here in the country; it isn't 
 Piccadilly. Now, then, have another try." 
 
 Miss Blythedale was in tears. It was hopeless more 
 hopeless than before. 
 
 "That girl is going to ruin the whole thing," Hem- 
 mingway groaned. "I was mad to choose her. I 
 thought she could do it. I made a mistake. She's 
 only fit for a walking-on part. She's great as Lady 
 Marigold Mangold Wurzel, the Society young lady, with 
 four lines to speak, but she's a helpless fraud at this. 
 She can't do it!" 
 
 He tramped up and down the wings, and wrenched 
 his cuff-links off in the agitation of his mind. 
 
 "I dell you, old feller, der mistake we make, yes," 
 said Rostheimer. "We oughd to have put dat little 
 Sunny girl into dis bart." 
 
 "I believe you are right. She knows how to be 
 natural," Hemmingway said. "But it's too late now." 
 
 "She's a quick study, ain't she?" Rostheimer said. 
 
 "Yes, but, hang it, two days, man alive! Are you
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 mad? No; it's going to go through. We've got to trust 
 to luck. There's the scenery and the dresses; and, of 
 course, Daglan is up to standard and a bit beyond. 
 We've just got to risk the Blythedale girl ! ' ' 
 
 Hemmingway's interference at rehearsal had done 
 considerably more harm than good. Before that Miss 
 Blythedale had been merely stiff and formal; now she 
 was nervous as well, and the combination had a terrible 
 effect on her part of Marian Dobbins, the country maiden. 
 Leslie Montressor, as Hemmingway had said, would 
 have thrown herself heart and soul into the part. She 
 would have ceased to exist in her own personality. She 
 would have become a country girl with a rich Somerset 
 accent, and the audience would have gone mad about 
 her. Grace Blythedale was not only spoiling her part, 
 but she promised to spoil the show. 
 
 Hemmingway held his head in his hands and groaned 
 in bitterness of spirit. He saw failure before him, and 
 failure meant the loss of many thousands of pounds, 
 apart from the blow to his name as a successful producer 
 of high-class revue. 
 
 "I've been an ass!" he said. "I can't imagine now 
 what I was thinking about. I ought to have bagged 
 Molly Deschamps or Lucy Lane for the part. Either 
 of them would have done it all right; now I've got that 
 stick!" 
 
 "Or der liddle Sunny girl," Rostheimer said. 
 
 "Hang her! She's got no experience; she's only a 
 beginner," Hemmingway said. " I couldn't have trusted 
 her. She's all right in the little part she's got, but the 
 whole thing hangs on Marian Dobbins. One could 
 cut out the part of Lady Maud altogether and no one 
 would be the wiser." 
 
 It was true enough; Sunny 's part had very little 
 bearing on the plot, such as it was. It was a small part,
 
 An Offer of Marriage 127 
 
 but she made the most of it. She looked very small and 
 very pretty and delicate and graceful as the runaway 
 schoolgirl. She spoke very nicely; her accent was per- 
 fect, her modulation wonderful, considering the pickle 
 factory in the near past. She had adapted herself 
 wonderfully, just as Leslie Montressor could have done 
 in her place; but the truth was her part did not matter 
 much one way or another. It could not make or mar 
 the play, and Grace Blythedale could and did. 
 
 "Bert!" Sunny said. "Bert, I got an idea at the 
 back of my head that this revue's going to be a frost!" 
 
 "Shouldn't wonder!" Bert said bitterly. "Making 
 me sing that blooming song about roses! What do 
 they expect?" 
 
 " Oh, it isn't you," Sunny said; " it's Grace Blythedale. 
 She's no good. She's nice and pretty and sweet, and 
 I'm sorry for her. I cried like anything, Bert, when 
 Hemmingway went for her yesterday. But, all the same, 
 he's right ; she's going to bring us all down bang ; you see ! " 
 
 " I wish to goodness," Bert said slowly and impressively 
 " Sunny, I wish to goodness I was back in the pickles." 
 
 Sunny took no notice. She never did when Bert 
 bewailed his present lot and sighed for the smell of the 
 vinegar. 
 
 " It'll be an awful pity, won't it ? " she said. "A terrible 
 pity! S'posing the show cracks up, Bert, what then?" 
 
 "I'll go and see Bill Wilkins and see if I can get took 
 on again!" Bert said, with a look of hope in his eyes. 
 
 "You won't!" she said "me neither! We're like 
 the chap as crossed the river, Bert, and burned his 
 bridges behind him; see!" 
 
 "He was a fool to do that, anyway! Any'ow, there's 
 generally a job to be got," Bert said. 
 
 Sunny shared Max Hemmingway's anticipation of 
 failure to the full. She said nothing to anyone but
 
 % 
 
 128 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Bert, but she knew, even of her inexperience she knew, 
 that Grace Blythedale was going to make a hash of the 
 part on which the whole thing hung. 
 
 "It's a pity!" she said. "I know jolly well I could 
 play that part. It's as easy as falling off a gate! I 
 wasn't never a country girl, but if I couldn't make 
 myself one, I'd eat my hat!" 
 
 For days and days past Sunny had grown to notice 
 that old Rostheimer and she were constantly meeting. 
 No matter what time she left, she was almost sure to 
 run up against Rostheimer. 
 
 Twice he had asked her to go to lunch with him, and 
 she had refused sharply. He had asked her to tea, and 
 had obtained another refusal. 
 
 "Don't you like me, Sunny?" he asked. 
 
 "I ain't crazy about you one way or the other, she 
 said. "Only I pay for my own lunches and teas and 
 suppers, I do, that's all." 
 
 To-day was the day of the last rehearsal. They 
 opened the next day, and Hemmingway was in a state 
 of nervous collapse. He dared not witness the rehearsal. 
 Jakes had been to him, and had given him his private 
 opinion that Grace Blythedale was a stick, and was going 
 to ruin the whole show. 
 
 "Just as if I didn't know it!" Hemmingway shouted, 
 giving way to a burst of bad language. "I've been a 
 fool, a mad fool, a blind, helpless imbecile! Hang the 
 girl and hang me hang me most! It's my fault; a 
 blind, helpless imbecile! I've been trying to make a 
 silk purse out of a sow's ear. And it can't be done." 
 
 "However, let's hope it'll be all right," Jakes said. 
 "Now, if we'd tried that Ducrow girl in the part " 
 
 "What! A beginner, a novice, a girl with less than 
 three months ' ' 
 
 "She's got it in her; she's an actress to her finger-tips!
 
 An Offer of Marriage 129 
 
 She swears one day she'll play Hamlet, and I believe she 
 will," Jakes said. "Now, if we'd tried that Ducrow girl 
 in the part all would have been well; she's versatile, 
 and Blythedale isn't." 
 
 "Why," Hemmingway said, "didn't you tell me this 
 three weeks ago?" 
 
 "Never thought of it," Jakes said. 
 
 "It's too late now," Hemmingway said. "We open 
 with Blythedale to-morrow, and it's going to be a fizzle." 
 
 "For goodness' sake don't come to rehearsal to-day!" 
 Jakes said. "Don't let her see you to-morrow. You 
 put the fear of death in her. She's ten times worse 
 when you're about." 
 
 "I know," Hemmingway said. 
 
 Rehearsal was for four o'clock that afternoon. Sunny 
 was perfect in her part. It was a small part, and she 
 was vaguely disappointed and dissatisfied with it. The 
 more she thought of the part that Grace Blythedale 
 was making such a sorry mess of, the more convinced 
 she was that she could play it. 
 
 "It might have been written for me," she whispered 
 to Bert. "I'd love it! Look at her in the hay-cart 
 scene ! She might be first mourner at a funeral, mightn't 
 she?" 
 
 Bert nodded gloomily. 
 
 "At the pickle factory one didn't have to bother about 
 how the others done their work," he said mournfully. 
 "I wish to goodness I was " 
 
 "Note for Miss Ducrow," said the call-boy. 
 
 "Me?" Sunny said. She took it and opened it. 
 
 "DEAR Miss DUCROW, I would be glad if you could 
 spare me a few moments in my private room before you 
 leave to-day. I wish to speak to you. Yours sincerely, 
 
 "FELIX ROSTHEIMER."
 
 130 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Oh, him!" Sunny said. "What's he want now? 
 I told him I wouldn't go to no lunches nor teas nor 
 suppers; he's a blooming old nuisance!" 
 
 She almost forgot, but remembered just in time as 
 she and Bert were about to leave the theatre. 
 
 "You'll 'ave to go alone, Bert," she said. "Old 
 Rostheimer wants me to go and see him, though good- 
 ness knows what about." 
 
 Mr. Rostheimer was a great man here. He was a rich 
 man, fabulously wealthy, and it was well known that 
 he was behind Hemmingway in financial matters. It 
 was Rostheimer's money that provided the gorgeous 
 spectacles that drew the public in crowds to the theatre. 
 Rostheimer had his own private room, and a very lux- 
 urious one. There was a thick Turkey carpet on the 
 floor, several valuable paintings on the wall, and a host 
 of photographs signed by celebrities. 
 
 In a leather arm-chair Sunny found the financier 
 smoking a large cigar. 
 
 "Come in, my dear, and shut der door!" he said. 
 
 Sunny went in. 
 
 "You sent for me," she said. 
 
 Rostheimer did not answer; he sat there and stared 
 at her hard through the coil of his cigar smoke. 
 
 "Ach!" he said. 
 
 "Well, get on with it!" Sunny said impatiently. 
 
 "Somedimes," he said, "somedimes I dink you don'd 
 quite make out who I am." 
 
 "Me?" 
 
 "You don'd realize dat I am der boss here!" he said. 
 "Der boss, I am der master. See? I am your master, 
 everybody's master, Hemmingway 's master!" 
 
 He spread out his large, fat hands. 
 
 "You mean that you find the money?" Sunny said. 
 
 "Dat's id. I find der money!"
 
 An Offer of Marriage 131 
 
 "And get it back with interest, or you wouldn't find 
 it!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Dat's so," he said. "Somedimes," he said, "nod 
 always! Dis time it looks like dat I am going to make 
 a good loss, yes!" 
 
 He stared at her hard. 
 
 "Sunny, you vas a very bretty little girl. One day 
 you make a big name mit help!" he added. "Mit 
 help, yes!" 
 
 "With help or without it!" she said. "Well?" 
 
 He rose, and put his fat hand on her arm. 
 
 "Sunny, I fall in lofe mit you!" he said briefly. 
 
 She stared at him. 
 
 " Look here, for goodness' sake, if you've got anything 
 to say, say it!" 
 
 "Dat is vy I haf send for you!" he said. "I haf 
 fallen in love mit you!" 
 
 "You'll get over it!" Sunny said. 
 
 "No." He shook his head. "I don'd ged over it, 
 Sunny. I haf someting to ask you." 
 
 "Then for goodness' sake ask it!" she said. "What 
 is it?" 
 
 "Could you lofe me?" 
 
 " Love you ! " Sunny said. "Love you ! Well, I didn't 
 never have a grandfather. If I had, I s'pose he'd be 
 somewhere about as old as you, so I " 
 
 "Sunny, how vould you like me for a husband?" he 
 said. "No, you vaid a bid," he added quickly. "I am 
 a rich man, a very rich man, Sunny, and I can gif you 
 furs and diamonds and a fine motor-car. I can make 
 you a lady!" 
 
 "Pity he didn't start making himself a gentleman!" 
 Sunny thought; but she said nothing. 
 
 "I can gif you a gread deal," he said. "I am a very 
 rich man richer dan der oder people tink. Yes, dia-
 
 i3 2 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 monds and furs and motor-cars and fine dresses. You 
 will have everyone envying you, Sunny. Den, mit my 
 money and my influence, I shall pud you ride on de dop; 
 you shall go bang to der dop, I promise you. You haf 
 only to say id, and I stop der production of dis play to- 
 morrow. I stop it. I, Rostheimer, can and will stop 
 it. I shall pay der Blythedale out. Her part shall be 
 yours. Der broduction shall be but back for three weeks. 
 You will be der leading lady ! " 
 
 "Will I?" Sunny said. 
 
 "Yes." He came a step closer; he pawed at her with 
 his fat hand. " Sunny, you shall haf it all your own way. 
 You haf only to say one ding!" 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 "Felix, I will be your wife!" 
 
 "Well, I ain't going to say that, not in a thousand 
 years," Sunny said. 
 
 "You dink it over," he said. "You'd bedder. As 
 yet I only show you der one side of der picture. Shall 
 I show you der oder?" 
 
 "Oh, let's see it every way!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Very goot!" he said. "It's dis way. You say 
 'No,' you lose your blace here; you find it difficult to 
 get anoder. My name goes everyone knows Rostheimer. 
 I have my finger in many bies. You will be sorry, very 
 sorry. Presently you come and say, 'Felix, I am sorry! 
 Felix, forgive me!' It too late den!" 
 
 "Let's have it straight," Sunny said. "You ask me 
 to marry you?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And I say 'No,' " she said. "Well, how do we 
 go on?" 
 
 "It ain't go on, it goes off!" he said "You go off 
 poof; you are done. I say to Hemmingway dat girl 
 goes, you go. Hemmingway does as I tell him. You
 
 An Offer of Marriage 133 
 
 go to the other managers and say, ' I am Sunny Ducrow. ' 
 ' No shop ! ' he says . Already he has heard from me ; there 
 is to be no shop for Sunny Ducrow. Now you ged me ? ' ' 
 
 "I see your game all right. You're going to boycott 
 me if I don't marry you?" 
 
 "Dat's so!" he said. 
 
 "Well, I ain't going to marry you, all the same not 
 if you was hung with di'monds and precious stones. 
 Besides, I'm engaged!" she said. 
 
 "Engaged!" 
 
 "To Bert Jackson. I'm going to marry him when 
 I'm forty. Not as marrying you'd prevent that; you'd 
 be dead long before. But, anyway, I'm not going to 
 marry you now, nor never!" Sunny said. "You get 
 me?" she asked, mimicking him to his face. 
 
 Slowly a look of rage came into Rostheimer's face. 
 
 " All ride; you'll be sorry," he said. " I gif you anoder 
 chance. Say 'Yes' now. You gif me a kiss and say 
 ' Yes, ' I stop der broduction of dis revue for dree weeks. 
 You take der lead!" 
 
 "Not me!" Sunny said. 
 
 He stood glowering at her, then suddenly he made 
 an elephantine-like spring. He tried to clasp her in his 
 arms, but Sunny ducked, she dodged. Mr. Rostheimer 
 brought up against the wall, and Sunny laughed. 
 
 "All ride, all ride!" he gasped. "All ride! You 
 laugh on de oder side your mouth presently. You 
 vaid, vaid, vaid! You laugh! Ve'll see!" 
 
 He was mad and furious; he looked evil. His small, 
 pig-like eyes were blazing with an unholy light. He 
 tried to get between Sunny and the door, but she was 
 alive to his plans. With a quick jump she gained the 
 door, wrenched it open, and was gone. 
 
 "I mage you sorry!" he bellowed. "I mage you 
 sick mit being sorry! See?"
 
 i34 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Marry him!" Sunny thought. "Me marry him! 
 Marry anyone at all! But marry him!" She laughed. 
 "Anyhow it looks like me being up against trouble." 
 She sighed. "Anyhow, I couldn't hope I was going to 
 get it all my own way. I s'pose the next thing'll be 
 the sack!"
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 SUNNY IS DISCHARGED 
 
 HEMMINGWAY'S prognostications were only too 
 thoroughly fulfilled. Grace Blythedale in the 
 part of Marian Dobbins was an utter and absolute frost. 
 The huge audience fidgeted on its seats; there was a 
 chilly atmosphere in the house. Now and again it rose 
 to Harvey Daglan's effort. Now and again it applauded 
 Sunny in her small part. But Sunny 's part was all too 
 small to have much effect on the chill frost that had 
 settled over everything. Only once did the audience 
 give itself up to thorough and intense enjoyment. That 
 was when Bert Jackson, looking the picture of abject 
 wretchedness and trembling with nervousness, came 
 down to the footlights and sang his song about the roses. 
 
 From the moment he stood on the stage alone the 
 audience yelled with laughter at him; they shook their 
 sides. Stout old ladies and gentlemen laughed till the 
 tears rolled down their cheeks. The more they laughed 
 the more wretchedly nervous did Bert become. He for- 
 got his words; he appealed to the conductor. 
 
 The leading London newspapers gave Bert a quarter 
 of a column all to himself; the rest of the production 
 they dismissed in rather less space. 
 
 "Miss Grace Blythedale, a charming young actress, 
 was ill-fitted with the part of Marian Dobbins," the 
 critics reported. "We sadly missed Miss Montressor 
 in the part. Miss Blythedale worked earnestly and did 
 
 135
 
 136 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 her best, but she has been wrongly cast. She has a 
 pretty voice, and did her best with the songs that fell 
 to her share. In the part of the errant schoolgirl, Lady 
 Maud, Miss Sunny Ducrow was seen to advantage. 
 She was graceful and dainty, and sang her songs with 
 infinite charm. The audience regretted that her part 
 was not a bigger one. Mr. Harvey Daglan made a 
 robust and handsome hero; he was in good voice," etc. 
 
 And that was all there was to it. It was a fizzle, a 
 frost! Thousands had been spent and would never, 
 never come back. 
 
 Max Hemmingway would have at least one failure 
 to his credit. Perhaps he could afford it, seeing how 
 many successes he had made in the past. Yet it was 
 none the less bitter for that. The second night the 
 house was half empty, the third night it was worse still; 
 the stalls were thinly populated. They were playing 
 to a dead loss. The week slowly passed; every night 
 showed a poorer and still poorer return. Only on Satur- 
 day night things looked a little brighter. When the 
 Monday of the following week came, receipts fell to 
 zero. There were scarcely a dozen people in the stalls, 
 the pit was half empty, the gallery nearly deserted. 
 There was not one person in the private boxes, and the 
 dress circle was filled with paper. 
 
 "Und bang goes fif deen tousand ! " said Rostheimer. 
 
 "Looks like it. There's only one thing to do: close 
 up the shutters," Hemmingway said. "Cut our losses, 
 pull down the curtain, and stop the whole thing. We've 
 got the new thing, Are You There? to fall back on. We 
 can rush it through and get it inside three weeks. Well ? " 
 
 "Fire ahead!" Rostheimer said. "You know best!" 
 
 hey were in Hemmingway 's office. 
 
 "I'm going to risk it!" Hemmingway said. 
 
 "Risk what?"
 
 Sunny is Discharged 137 
 
 "That Ducrow girl. I believe she can do it. I'm 
 going to give her the part of Betty Barker in Are You 
 There?" 
 
 "Soh!" Rostheimer muttered. "Soh! She is very 
 young and very inexberienced." 
 
 " She'll do it. I've got faith in that girl." 
 
 "I haven't," said Rostheimer. "It's all cheek; id's 
 not dalent. Anyhow send for her." 
 
 Hemmingway rang his bell. 
 
 "Tell Miss Ducrow to come here right away," he said. 
 
 Five minutes later Sunny tapped at the door and 
 came in. 
 
 "Miss Ducrow," Hemmingway said, "I'm going to 
 let you into a secret. We shall be taking this thing off 
 immediately." 
 
 "I thought you would," said Sunny. "It's gone 
 flat." 
 
 "Anyhow it's coming off. We're going to put a new 
 thing, I have here, into rehearsal at once. It's called 
 Are You There? The leading lady's part is a soft one. 
 She's a telephone operator, who happens on a secret 
 concerning an aristocratic family. She decides to make 
 the most of it, and forces herself into Society. I needn't 
 go into the whole thing now. What I want to know 
 is " He paused; he looked at Sunny; her eyes 
 were sparkling. She knew what was coming. Rost- 
 heimer, sitting in the shadows beside the window, she 
 had not seen. ' ' I want to know if you will take the script 
 and look through it, and let me know to-morrow if you 
 think you are up to the part. It's your chance the 
 big chance for you. If you let me down, you let your- 
 self down. I don't know that I'm not rather a fool to 
 risk it. I could get Molly Deschamps; she's a practised 
 and experienced actress. That part would be safe with 
 her; but I rather fancy you could do it!"
 
 138 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Vaid a bid!" Rostheimer said. 
 
 Sunny started. 
 
 "Vaid a bid, Max!" He rose and came forward. 
 
 " I've lost preddy heavily on dis ting," he said. " I've 
 lost tousands. I'm not going to run der risk of losing 
 more on der next broduction!" He paused; he stared 
 at Sunny. "I'm sorry for Miss Ducrow's disabboint- 
 ment," he said; "but I can't see her in dis part. She 
 can't do id. She hasn't enough exberience. I want 
 dat part to go to Miss Deschamps. I'm sorry, of course ! " 
 There was a baleful look in his eyes as they rested on 
 Sunny's face. 
 
 "This is where you get your own back," she said 
 quietly. 
 
 Hemmingway looked from one to the other. 
 
 "I don't quite understand!" he said. 
 
 "No, I don't suppose you do, nor ever will," Sunny 
 said. "Only he don't mean me to have the part." 
 
 Rostheimer nodded. 
 
 " Not only I don'd mean you to haf dat part, Miss 
 Ducrow, but I fancy you don'd bring dis theatre any 
 luck!" 
 
 "You don't mean to say" Hemmingway paused 
 "that you want her to go? " 
 
 "Dat's it; I vant her to go!" Rostheimer said. "I 
 god an idea she is a Jonah in dis theatre. See?" He 
 rubbed his hands and smiled at Sunny. "Der best 
 ting is you look for anoder shop, Miss Ducrow!" he said. 
 
 Hemmingway looked red with anger. 
 
 "Look here!" he said, in a low voice. He took 
 Rostheimer by the arm and led him to the window. 
 For some moments he talked quickly and angrily. 
 Rostheimer shook his head. 
 
 "Whose money, is it, eh?" he asked. "Mine, ain'd 
 it ? Very goot. I haf my own vay, or nod anoder penny
 
 Sunny is Discharged 139 
 
 do I lend to dis place. Are you going to do mitout me, 
 Max? I don'd tink so. Very well, I haf my way!" 
 
 He turned to Sunny. 
 
 "Miss Ducrow," he said, "we dakeoff Look Out There! 
 in dhree veeks' dime. Our contract mit you den ceases. 
 You vill den kindly loog for anoder blace in anoder 
 theatre!" He smiled at her viciously. 

 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 NEW PLANS 
 
 IT was a blow a knock-out blow all the worse 
 because so unexpected. But the confident smile 
 never left Sunny 's face. 
 
 "Sunny, you've got to hold your head up and keep 
 smiling! " she muttered. "It's no good howling. There 
 ain't any roads without hills. I've just come to the first 
 hill, that's all, and I'm going to climb to the top all 
 right!" 
 
 She laughed aloud, partly to cheer herself, partly so that 
 others should not guess that there was anything wrong. 
 
 Bert looked at her. He said nothing. He knew 
 Sunny; he could read her as an open book. It was the 
 only thing Bert could do with certainty. 
 
 Strangely enough, it was Bert who had made the one 
 brilliant success of the piece, and no one was more sur- 
 prised than Bert himself. He could not realize it; he 
 could not believe it. The moment he came on the 
 stage, nervous and ill at ease and awkward, the audience 
 began to laugh. When he, confused, and forgetting 
 both the words and melody of his song, came down to 
 the footlights and cast appealing, anxious glances to the 
 musical conductor, the audience laughed louder still. 
 When he sang the first line in a low, melancholy voice, 
 and then halted at a loss and appealed to the conductor 
 for a cue for the second line, the audience was in fits of 
 laughter. 
 
 140
 
 New Plans 
 
 It was less what he did than the way he did it. The 
 look of utter misery never for a moment lightened by a 
 smile on his face; the wretched, melancholy, hang-dog 
 expression, the slouch, the air of complete misery and 
 the wondering, astonished looks that he gave the audi- 
 ence made them laugh till the tears rolled down their 
 faces. It was the height of genius. He was an actor 
 in ten thousand, they said; but they did not know Bert. 
 
 Night after night it was the same. Hemmingway, 
 in spite of bad business, raised Bert's salary a pound a 
 week, and would have made him sign a contract, but 
 Bert would not. 
 
 "I ain't going to stay play-acting long," he said. "I 
 shall get a job byme-by in the pickles again. It's no 
 use me signing no contracts." 
 
 So he did not. 
 
 To-night he and Sunny walked homeward together. 
 
 Sunny was unusually silent. 
 
 "Well?" Bert asked. 
 
 "Not particularly," Sunny said. 
 
 "I thought you wasn't; but that isn't what I mean. 
 What's wrong?" 
 
 "Oh, the sack," Sunny said. 
 
 Bert evinced no surprise. 
 
 "I thought you'd got a contract," he said. 
 
 "So I had. There's only one thing I could be dis- 
 missed for and that's what I got incompetence; that's 
 what he said." 
 
 "Huh!" Bert shrugged his shoulders. " Hemming- 
 way 's a fool," he said. 
 
 "It wasn't Hemmingway; it was old Bloomrotter." 
 
 ' ' Oh, him, old Ros thingumy ! ' ' Bert said. ' ' What's 
 he know?" 
 
 "Enough to sack me," Sunny said. " But, law, whatV 
 the use o' worrying?"
 
 I4 2 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Not much! I s'pose you'll go back to the pickles?" 
 
 Sunny lifted her head. 
 
 "I don't go back any time, Bert," she said. "I'm 
 going forward, never back. See? I'm holding my head 
 up still and keeping on smiling," she said. "You see "- 
 she broke into a merry peal of laughter "it's got to be; 
 it's nature," she said. "You never do just what you 
 want to do without getting a pull up now and again. 
 Goodness, you wouldn't give twopence for success if 
 you could get it for just asking for it. You've got to 
 fight for it, Bert fight. See? I'm fighting!" She 
 clenched her small white teeth. "I'm fighting all the 
 time. I've come to the ditch, Bert, but I'm going to 'op 
 over it all right. It's all good going on the other side." 
 
 " If I was you," Bert said, "I'd go and see old Johnson 
 and Bill Wilkins and get took back." 
 
 "You would! I won't!" Sunny said. "I ain't going 
 back; and what's more you aren't neither, Bert," she 
 said. "Back! There ain't no such words as going 
 back. I'm going right on right forward; that's me." 
 
 The revue dragged towards its end. The new piece 
 was in rehearsal, but Sunny had no part in it. The 
 other girls were surprised. She was plied with questions, 
 but she only laughed. 
 
 Harvey Daglan, the popular "lead," stopped her one 
 day. 
 
 "I say, Sunny," he said, "aren't you in this new 
 thing .4 re You There?" 
 
 "Not as you'd notice," Sunny said. 
 
 "But, good heavens, why not? I had half an idea 
 that Hemmingway was going to give you lead. Now 
 I hear he's engaged Miss Deschamps." 
 
 "Good judge too!" Sunny said. 
 
 "I say, little girl, you aren't going to leave us, are 
 you?" he asked.
 
 New Plans H3 
 
 "I think it looks like it." 
 
 "That's rotten. I'll have a talk with Hemmingway." 
 
 "I wouldn't; it's no good," she said. "Besides, it 
 isn't Hemmingway, either; it's old Bloomingblitzen ! " 
 
 It was evident that Mr. Daglan did have a few words 
 with Hemmingway, and the result was that Rostheimer 
 lay in wait for Sunny that evening. 
 
 "Sunny, I got sometings to say mit you," he said. 
 
 "Well, get on with it," Sunny said. 
 
 " Sunny, I dink I might alder my mind aboud you yet." 
 
 " Do you? Well, I shan't alter my mind about you." 
 
 "You're a liddle fool!" he said briefly. 
 
 Sunny nodded. She smiled at him. 
 
 "One of these days," she said, "you and Hemmingway 
 will come and arst me to come back. You'll offer me" 
 she paused "a hundred a week, you will." 
 
 He laughed. 
 
 "Himmel, you've got der goot conceit mit yourself!" 
 
 " But I shan't come back under a hundred and twenty." 
 She nodded. ' ' You wait. ' ' 
 
 "No, no, no!" Rostheimer laughed. "Sunny, I led 
 you stob if you like," he said. "You'll haf to go in der 
 chorus, bud " 
 
 "No chorus for me," Sunny said. "I'm beyond that. 
 I'm going on, not back. So-long!" 
 
 She left him. 
 
 "Well," Hemmingway asked when Rostheimer went 
 back to the office, "have you made it up with her?" 
 
 "No, I ain't. She won't mage it ub mit me," Rost- 
 heimer said. "She say that she'll gome back when 
 we offer her a hundred and dwenty a week. I dell her 
 she can stob and go in der chorus and she say nein 
 no. Datendsit!" 
 
 Hemmingway sighed. 
 
 "We're making a mistake," he said. "There's her
 
 144 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 contract. I've got an idea she could hold us to it. She 
 can prove that she isn't incompetent. There's the 
 Press notices to prove that. If she takes action we'll 
 lose." 
 
 "I god an idea dat Sunny Ducrow isn't going to dake 
 action," Rostheimer said. 
 
 The idea of taking legal action never entered into 
 Sunny 's head. 
 
 Sunny made careful inquiries; she discovered that 
 Rostheimer held interests in some half-dozen London 
 theatres and in several provincial touring companies. 
 
 It was Harvey Daglan who gave her an introduction 
 to the agent, Moss Bernstein. 
 
 "Straight as a die, Sunny," Daglan said. "You put 
 yourself in his hands. I met him at the club yesterday 
 and put in a word for you. He's got an eye on you 
 already. If there's one man who can get you on it's 
 Moss. Go to him, and good luck to you, little girl!" 
 
 "You're a brick!" Sunny said. "And and I'd like 
 to give you a kiss for luck!"
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 A NEW FRIEND 
 
 O you shall, Sunny." Harvey Daglan put his 
 hands under her elbows and lifted her off her feet. 
 He gave her a hearty kiss and set her down again. 
 
 The next morning Sunny was in Bernstein's office. 
 
 Moss was a fat, round, little, good-natured man 
 very typical of his race. It is a race that has earned 
 the name of being grasping, avaricious, and greedy; 
 but Jews are not all built that way, any more than 
 Christians are all cast in one mould. There is the gener- 
 ous, good-natured Jew, and the generous Jew is perhaps 
 the most widely generous, good-natured person in the 
 world. 
 
 Moss was of that type. He gave lavishly; he sup- 
 ported charities, he fed the hungry, and he gave drink 
 to the thirsty. Jew or Gentile, no one ever came to 
 him in distress but that his fat hand went into his 
 capacious pocket. 
 
 He was a short man, as broad as he was high. He 
 had a large, fleshy nose and thick, cherry lips. He was 
 fat grossly fat his neck hung over the back of his 
 collar in large, greasy folds. 
 
 " Hello ! " he said. ' ' Thunny Ducrow, ain't it ? " 
 
 She nodded. She looked hard at him, then she smiled 
 and held out her hand. 
 
 "How are you? Mr. Daglan sent me to you." 
 
 "Good boy, Harvey !" he said. "Thit down, my dear !" 
 
 10 145
 
 146 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 He took her hand and patted it. "Had a row with old 
 Rostheimer, ain't you?" 
 
 "No, I ain't!" she said. 
 
 "I thought " 
 
 "He had a row with me. I ain't having rows with 
 no one!" 
 
 "You've got a contract with Hemmingway?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Two y earth .isn't it?" 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "Well, what are you going to do about it take 
 action?" 
 
 "Not me! I ain't got time!" Sunny said. "I don't 
 want to start meddling with no law. I want to get back 
 on the stage and get a move on!" 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "You're wise!" he said. "You'd very likely win, 
 but it 'ud cost you thomething in the long run. You'd 
 get the name of being an artiste who went to the Courts, 
 and managers 'ud fight shy of you. How about the 
 provinces?" 
 
 Sunny shook her head. 
 
 "Not me! London's good enough for me," she said. 
 "I'm staying in London. When you get out into the 
 provinces you get forgot." 
 
 "Quite right!" he said. He sat back in his chair and 
 thought deeply. 
 
 "Barstowe's taking off All Fares, Please, in three or 
 four weeks; he's got a big production up his sleeve. I 
 fancy he's engaged the artistes, but I'll see him to-day. 
 Got your Press notices?" 
 
 Sunny nodded ; she produced them. She had brought 
 a little parcel of them. Acting on Hemmingway's 
 advice, she had subscribed to a Press cutting agency, 
 so she had all her Press notices pasted into a book.
 
 A New Friend 147 
 
 Besides the notices, there were half a dozen photographs 
 by Hurlingham. 
 
 "I thay, how did you get Hurlingham to take you?" 
 Moss asked. 
 
 "Just told him I wanted to be took and he took me 
 all right. He pays me pretty well. I shan't starve so 
 long as I go to him," Sunny said. 
 
 " You're a wonder ! " the little man said. " I've known 
 actresses in good positions, mind you, almost go down on 
 their knees and ask him to take them. They offer him 
 any price ; but he won't. When can you come in again ?." 
 
 "Any time; it's the last night to-night!" Sunny said. 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "I'm lunching with Barstowe to-day. Come in this 
 afternoon. I'll very likely have something to tell you 
 I hope so! Well, good-bye, my dear, for the present!" 
 
 "Barstowe; he's the Realm man, isn't he?" Sunny 
 asked. 
 
 "Yes; the biggest man in London. Rostheimer 
 don't have to finance him." 
 
 "S'posing I go and have a chat with him first?" 
 Sunny asked. 
 
 Moss laughed. 
 
 "You couldn't do it in a hundred years!" he said. 
 "No one ever goeth to have a chat with Barstowe. I 
 get on with him all right, because I used to go to thchool 
 with him. Don't you think of it, my dear. You'll 
 have to pass seven thecretaries and about ten under - 
 thecretaries and a regiment of commissionaires and clerks 
 and other folk before you get as far as Curtiss's office. 
 Curtiss is Barstowe's private secretary, and no one 
 gets beyond him." 
 
 "Bet you I do!" Sunny said. She glanced at the 
 clock; it was a quarter to twelve. "What time are you 
 meeting him at the club?"
 
 148 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "One," Moss said. 
 
 "I'll see him before you do," Sunny said. 
 
 Moss laughed, he chuckled. 
 
 "My dear, you are very clever, but I'll bet you a 
 dothen pairs of gloveth to a brath farthing you don't thee 
 him!" 
 
 "I take it that bet, I mean!" Sunrty said. She went 
 out, she hailed a taxi-cab. 
 
 "Realm," she said. "You know, that big theatre!" 
 
 Five minutes later the cab dropped her outside the 
 Realm. 
 
 She was going to see Barstowe somehow. She was 
 on her mettle. Moss had told her she could not do it, 
 she had said she could. It would have been easier for 
 her if she had known precisely where Barstowe's office 
 was, but she did not know. She would have to chance 
 her luck. 
 
 Sunny went to the stage-door. There was a large- 
 sized commissionaire there; she nodded to him sweetly, 
 wished him good-morning, and before he could say a 
 word she had pushed open the door and gone in. 
 
 "Number one. Soon settled him," Sunny thought. 
 
 She was behind the scenes. It was less strange to 
 her now than it had been when she had first entered 
 Hemmingway's theatre. Presently she found a stage 
 hand. 
 
 " Good-morning ! ' ' she said. ' ' Where is Mr. Curtiss ? ' ' 
 
 "In his office, I expect, miss," the man said. 
 
 "Oh yes. Let me see. I forget which is his office 
 now!" 
 
 "I'll show you," he said politely. "You'll have to 
 pass through the general office first; Mr. Curtiss's office 
 is beyond that." 
 
 "And beyond that is Mr. Barstowe's office, isn't it?" 
 Sunny asked.
 
 A New Friend 149 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 That was all Sunny wanted to know. The man left 
 her outside the door of the large suite of offices from 
 which Barstowe conducted his huge business. Bars- 
 towe's "Realms" existed in every town of any size 
 throughout the country. He was the accepted king of 
 the music-hall world. He was the man who had lifted 
 the halls and had placed them on a level with the legiti- 
 mate stage. Time was not so many years ago when 
 legitimate actors and actresses looked down on the 
 artistes of the halls. It was different now, thanks to 
 Barstowe . Some of the greatest living actors and actresses 
 were not above accepting a contract from him to appear 
 at one or another of his "Realms." He was certainly 
 a great man, a great power, beside whom Hemmingway 
 was an upstart, a nobody, a mere mushroom! 
 
 But, like all great men, his time was worth gold, and 
 he was difficult to approach. A man cannot run a 
 business like Barstowe's if he sees every Jack and Jill 
 who wants to waste his time. Sunny realized all this, 
 but she was going to see Barstowe. 
 
 She opened the door and entered the outer office. 
 There was a commissionaire at the door. He stepped 
 forward. 
 
 "Thanks!" Sunny said pleasantly. "Oh, it's all 
 right, thanks!" She passed him by; a clerk rose 
 and came towards her. 
 
 " I hope Mr. Curtiss isn't mad with me for being late," 
 she said, smiling at him. 
 
 "Mr. Curtiss!" he said. "Have you an appointment 
 with him?" 
 
 "Goodness!" she said. "Didn't you know I'm 
 Sunny Ducrow?" She smiled broadly. 
 
 "I'll tell Mr. Curtiss that you are here, Miss Ducrow," 
 the young man said.
 
 150 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "What's the use of telling him what he'll be able to 
 see with his own eyes ? " she said. " I'll tell him myself! " 
 
 She slipped past the clerk and made for a large, solid- 
 looking, mahogany door. She opened it and went in. 
 
 It was a large room, luxuriously furnished. There 
 was a thick and valuable carpet on the floor. The walls 
 of the room were decorated in two shades of blue. There 
 was some fine old oak furniture, some valuable blue- 
 and-white Nankin plates on the walls, one or two good 
 pictures, portraits of celebrated actors and actresses. 
 
 At a massive roll-top desk a youthful, fair-haired man 
 was seated writing. He was exquisitely attired. He 
 wore a single eyeglass, and had the appearance of aft 
 army officer in mufti. He looked up and stared at 
 Sunny in sheer astonishment. 
 
 "I beg your pardon!" he said. "How is it you came 
 in without being announced?" 
 
 "I told 'em I'd announce myself!" she said. "I'm 
 Sunny Ducrow. How are you?" 
 
 She held out her hand firmly and smiled at him. 
 There was something irresistible in Sunny's smile. The 
 youthful-looking man smiled faintly, though he took 
 no notice of the small, outstretched hand. 
 
 "Oh, too proud to shake hands, are you?" she said. 
 
 "I I beg your pardon!" he said. He took her hand 
 and held it limply for a moment, then dropped it. "And 
 now may I ask " 
 
 Sunny looked round the room. She saw another 
 door. She guessed what was behind that door. 
 
 "Mr. Bernstein is having lunch with Mr. Barstovre 
 at one," she said. 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "I've got to see Mr. Barstowe first!" Sunny said. 
 
 "That is impossible!" 
 
 "Is it? I've got good eyesight!" Sunny said.
 
 A New Friend 
 
 " I mean that Mr. Barstowe sees no one on any con- 
 dition whatever!" 
 
 Sunny 's face fell. 
 
 "Anyhow, he'd see me," she said. 
 
 "I fancy not, Miss er Miss Ducrow!" 
 
 Sunny stared hard at the mahogany door facing her. 
 Behind that door was the inaccessible Mr. Barstowe. 
 She would see him somehow must see him, or she 
 would drop in her own estimation. 
 
 "I am sorry," Mr. Curtiss said; "but I really have 
 no time. Mr. Barstowe will certainly not see you. It 
 is quite out of the question. If you would be so kind 
 as to leave any message you would like conveyed to him ? " 
 
 "Then I suppose I'm done!" Sunny said. She had 
 seated herself, now she rose. "I wanted to see him 
 particularly," she said, "so I thought I'd try. They 
 told me I never should, but I didn't believe it, and now 
 now ' ' She paused. ' ' Well, I suppose I'm beaten ! ' ' 
 she said, with a frank smile. "I'll go, then." She 
 turned towards the window. "I'm sorry to oh!" she 
 gasped. "Oh, oh, good gracious!" 
 
 "Why, what's the matter?" 
 
 Sunny did not answer, she pointed. Her face had 
 gone white, her eyes were glaring, her hand and arm 
 shook. Mr. Curtiss rose and hurried across to the win- 
 dow. He looked out. He saw nothing unusual, only 
 a view of the side street. Then suddenly he heard a 
 door open and shut quickly. He swung round. Miss 
 Sunny Ducrow had vanished. 
 
 "Well, I'm hanged!" he gasped.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 A GENTLEMAN 
 
 HE was a big man; he had the look of a rather needy 
 farmer. A thin beard straggled over his cheeks, 
 his forehead was lofty, his face rugged, his eyes keen. 
 He had a colossal jaw, and mouth as firm and as hard 
 as nails. 
 
 He sat back in his chair and stared at Sunny stared 
 at her in sheer astonishment, as though she was a rare 
 and uncommon specimen. 
 
 "Good-morning!" Sunny said briskly. "You're a 
 busy man. I'm not going to worry you, or fill your time 
 up. It's took me a bit of trouble to get to see you. 
 They said I couldn't, I said I could I'm here! I 
 started in a pickle factory; worked hard sticking on 
 labels at first, then got into the boiling-room " She 
 paused. 
 
 The great man said never a word; he still stared at 
 her in silence. 
 
 It was a small and distinctly shabby room. The floor 
 was bare except for a ragged old rug. Papers, old 
 play-bills, posters, and other odds and ends, thick with 
 dust, were pinned here and there on the wall. On the 
 floor lay papers in heaps. The great man held a pen. 
 He still stared at Sunny in a silent, disconcerting kind 
 of way. 
 
 "I don't want you to say anything. Give me just 
 two minutes and then I'll go," Sunny said. "I started 
 
 152
 
 A Gentleman 153 
 
 in the pickles. I made up my mind to get on. Miss 
 Montressor gave me my first start. I've been playing 
 at Hemmingway's in the revue, Keep off the Grass. I 
 did pretty well. I hadn't much chance, but I made the 
 best of it. Mr. Bernstein'll show you my Press notices 
 presently at lunch." She paused for a moment. "I'm 
 leaving; Hemmingway is sorry, so is Mr. Daglan, and 
 the others. I don't get on with Mr. Rostheimer." She 
 paused again. "I want any place where I can get a 
 chance, that's all a small chance to start with. Pre- 
 sently I shan't have to ask for places. They'll come and 
 look for me. I'm sorry about worrying you and taking 
 your time up; good-morning!" 
 
 She turned to the door. 
 
 "Stop!" 
 
 It was the first word he had uttered. 
 
 "What's your name?" 
 
 "Sunny Ducrow; good-morning!" 
 
 He did not answer this time. She went out to find 
 Curtiss red with anger. 
 
 "That was a nice trick!" 
 
 "I'm sorry," she said. "I'd got to see him, and now 
 I've seen him I like him," she added; "he looks strong." 
 
 " I wonder he didn't kick you out!" 
 
 "He didn't, because he happens to be a gentleman!" 
 Sunny said. 
 
 Neither he nor she had seen the mahogany door open 
 an inch or two; it opened no farther. 
 
 "I'm going; I didn't waste a lot of his time!" 
 
 "If ever you play a trick like that again " 
 
 "I'm sorry sorry about you, I mean, but glad I saw 
 him. As for his kicking me out" she paused "he 
 wouldn't. He's not the sort to kick girls out. He's 
 not built that way; good-morning!" 
 
 She went.
 
 154 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 The mahogany door opened wider; Mr. Barstowe 
 came into the room. 
 
 "That girl, Curtiss," he said. "Sunny Ducrow, is 
 she any good?" 
 
 "Made a bit of a hit at Hemmingway's in Keep off 
 the Grass. She's in his present failure. Papers speak 
 well of her; hasn't much chance." 
 
 Barstowe nodded. 
 
 "She'll get on," he said briefly. "We're booked up, 
 aren't we, for What Are You Going to Have ?" 
 
 Curtiss nodded. 
 
 "Every part including chorus, all fixed!" he said. 
 
 Barstowe frowned. 
 
 "Tell Mortimore I'd like to see him at twenty minutes 
 past four this afternoon twenty past, remember. I'll 
 give him three minutes, that's all!" 
 
 Then he went out.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 HER OWN, BACK 
 
 MR. BERNSTEIN smiled at Sunny. 
 "My dear," he said, "you're the limit i If they 
 were all like you there'd be no living for me ! You thaw 
 him?" 
 
 "I told you I would and I did!" Sunny said. "He 
 didn't bite my head off, neither!" 
 
 Moss shook his head. 
 
 "Thunny Ducrow, you'll get on," he said. 
 
 "That's what I'm here for," Sunny said. "I've got 
 to hold my head up and keep smiling. No one can do 
 my smiling for me, can they?" 
 
 "That's true!" 
 
 "What did he say to you?" 
 
 "Not much. He never thays much. He looked 
 through the Preth notithes, had a good look at the photo- 
 graphs, and then told me that all the cast for the new 
 thing, What Are You Going to Have? was filled up." 
 
 "Then I'm too late?" Sunny said. 
 
 Moss shook his head. 
 
 "No; he's thent for Mortimore. He ith the writer 
 man. He'll write you in a part. You're engaged at 
 thix pounds a week to start with thix months' contract 
 
 not less than three months in London. How'th that ?" 
 / 
 
 Sunny nodded. " It'll do as a start," she said. 
 " I've got a provisional contract here for you to thign," 
 Moss said. He held it out to her. 
 
 155
 
 156 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Sunny took it to the window and read it through. 
 
 "I thee you want to know what you're signing," he 
 said. 
 
 "That's me!" Sunny said. "I don't sign nothing 
 that I don't understand. I made up my mind to that at 
 the start. This here is all right. But what about him 
 signing it, too?" 
 
 "He'll thign it ail right; I thign as his agent." 
 
 "All right, then, give us the pen!" Sunny said. 
 
 Six months and no less than three months in London ! 
 Sunny made a slight alteration in the contract. She 
 put the word "first" before "three months in London." 
 
 "What's that for?" Moss asked. 
 
 "Not less than the first three months in London," 
 Sunny said. " If I get the first three months in London, 
 they'll want me for the last three too. See? If they 
 send me off somewhere for the first three months it's 
 like being dead in London for three months, ain't it?" 
 
 "That'th all right!" 
 
 Mr. Hemmingway and Rostheimer were wrangling. 
 Rostheimer was the man with the money and he had the 
 last word; but, for all that, Hemmingway stood out for 
 his rights. 
 
 "You're making a mistake, losing that girl; she's 
 going to be a gold mine," he said. " She's getting to be 
 known. We shall have Barstowe taking her if we're 
 not careful!" 
 
 "Barstowe!" Rostheimer said; he laughed. "Bar- 
 stowe don'd dake any but assured successes; he don'd 
 dake no risks, Barstowe!" 
 
 "All right! But it's a mistake. We ought to keep 
 her. I meant her to have the lead in the new thing 
 She would have done it well. We could make her." 
 
 "I don'd mean to make her, hang her 1 "
 
 Her Own, Back 157 
 
 "All right, she was my find Leslie Montressor's 
 find, I mean, and that's the same thing. We oughtn't 
 to let her go." 
 
 Rostheimer was sulky. 
 
 "All ride, have your own way, den," he said. "I 
 don'd care, no lead for her; just keep her on ad dree 
 bounds a week." 
 
 Hemmingway rang the bell. 
 
 "Tell Miss Ducrow I'd like a word with her," he said. 
 " Hello," he added, as the door opened and Lord Dobring- 
 ton came in. 
 
 Dobrington nodded at the two men. 
 
 "I say," he said, "is this right that Miss Sunny 
 Ducrow is leaving you?" 
 
 "I hope not," Hemmingway said. "It was Ros- 
 theimer's doing; it's a mistake; we've just got him to 
 reconsider it. I've sent for her to tell her she can stay." 
 
 "That's good!" Dobrington said, with a sigh. "It's 
 not the little bit of money I've got in it that's worrying 
 me, Hemmingway; it's the girl herself. I'd like to see 
 her have her chance. She's got it in her to make a big 
 success, if I know anything." 
 
 Rostheimer sneered. 
 
 "Her a big success!" he said. "Pooh! Here's Hem- 
 mingvay been delling me dat she'll go to Barstowe's 
 if we led her go. She'll need a bid more experience before 
 Barstowe would lock at her. I know his game. Hang 
 him ! He leds other men find 'em and bring 'em on. He 
 watches 'em, sees who the failures are, who the successes. 
 He bicks out the promising ones and collars 'em, leaving 
 der failures on our hands. That's his game!" 
 
 " He's a business man!" Dobrington said. "And " 
 
 He paused. 
 
 The door opened and Sunny entered. 
 
 Hemmingway rose; he put a chair for her. He was
 
 158 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 always polite; he took his hat off to a chorus-girl in the 
 street, never forgetting that though she was only a 
 chorus-girl, yet she was still a woman. 
 
 "Good-morning evening, I should say!" Sunny said. 
 She smiled round on them all. "What's the trouble 
 this time?" 
 
 "Mr. Rostheimer and I have been talking matters 
 over, Miss Ducrow," Hemmingway said. 
 
 "I bet I know who done most of the talking!" Sunny 
 said. 
 
 Dobrington laughed. He smiled at Sunny and she 
 smiled back at him yes, she did like him. There was 
 something so frank and friendly about that smile of his. 
 
 "I wanted to see you, too, Sunny," he said. "But 
 that can wait. It's a favor I've got to ask." 
 
 Hemmingway frowned. 
 
 "This is a business matter," he said. " Miss Ducrow, 
 we have decided to allow you to remain." 
 
 "Very good of you!" Sunny said. 
 
 "After careful consideration, we haf decided to give 
 you anoder chance," Rostheimer said. "But you've 
 god to keep your blace and remember your bosition 
 here. See?" 
 
 "I shan't forget it!" Sunny said. "Only I'm 
 sorry " 
 
 "We will engage you for Are You There? And 
 reinstate the contract " 
 
 "Which you broke!" Sunny said, smiling. 
 
 "We don't admit that!" 
 
 "You gave me notice, didn't you?" 
 
 "That's true, but ") 
 
 "You said I was incompetent," Sunny said. 
 
 "Yes, but " 
 
 "That's all right, then. You broke the contract; 
 it's done with. They say I could have sued you on it.
 
 Her Own, Back 159 
 
 but not me; no law for me, thanks! I'm sorry" she 
 rose "I can't take no part in Are You There? because 
 I'm engaged " 
 
 ' ' Engaged ? ' ' Hemmingway said. 
 
 ''Mr. Barstowe I saw him this morning " 
 
 "Saw Barstowe?" Rostheimer gasped. 
 
 "And he's engaged me for six months, and having a 
 part writ for me in What Are You Going to Have? That 
 settles it, don't it?" 
 
 Hemmingway stared at her. 
 
 "Is that the truth?" he said. 
 
 Sunny flushed. "When I tell a lie, you send me a 
 telegram about it," she said. "It's the truth. I seen 
 him this morning. Then Mr. Bernstein chatted it over 
 with him. Mortimore that's his name is going to 
 write me a part, and I'm fixed for six months." 
 
 "I I'm sorry!" Hemmingway said. He turned 
 angrily on Rostheimer. "What did I tell you?" he 
 shouted. 
 
 Sunny went out. Dobrington followed her. 
 
 "Bravo!" he said. "Bravo, little girl! You got 
 your own back on them this time. They'll want you, 
 and want you badly. Don't enter into any new con- 
 tract at the end of the six months, and don't be in a 
 hurry. You'll have Hemmingway offering you big 
 money, mark my words!" 
 
 Sunny smiled. 
 
 "Everyone's going to offer me big money one day," 
 she said. "Why, I haven't fairly started yet!" 
 
 "Sunny, I want you to do something for me. You 
 will, I know, because you're a little brick, and because" 
 he paused; his voice faltered a little "because, 
 Sunny, I would do a good deal for you," he said tenderly. 
 "And I believe you'd do something for me." 
 
 "That's right!" she said. She looked him full in
 
 160 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 the eyes. "You and me are friends all right!" she 
 said. 
 
 "If we are only friends" he paused "only friends, 
 it will be your fault, Sunny, not mine. But that is not 
 what I meant to say. My mother is getting up a big 
 concert; it's to be held in our town house. She's left 
 it to me to get one or two artistes. There'll be a good 
 advertisement out of it. Sunny, will you sing for us?" 
 
 "I don't see why I shouldn't," she said. 
 
 "You will promise, then?" 
 
 Sunny put her hand out. 
 
 "I'll sing for you," she said. "Yes, if you want me." 
 
 "Sunny," he said quietly, "I want you always want 
 you ! I shall want you till I ' 
 
 Sunny laughed. 
 
 "You tell your ma," she said, "I'll sing for her. 
 How's she keeping?"
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 A SONG 
 
 SUNNY DUCROW and Bert Jackson sat on a seat 
 in St. James's Park talking earnestly. 
 
 "It's a bit rough on the British public, but it can't be 
 helped," Sunny said. "They'll have to pay twice to 
 see you and me me at one place and you at another. 
 Only I don't know the Barstowe lot well enough to shove 
 in an oar for you yet; besides, it's only six months cer- 
 tain I've got with them. After that, Hemmingway will 
 be asking me to come back." 
 
 Bert sniffed. 
 
 "I'm not so sure," he said. "People ain't always in 
 a hurry to have people back. If we was to go to John- 
 son's, now, I doubt if he'd take either of us on!" 
 
 "But we aren't going," Sunny said. "Me and you 
 have done with pickles and jams, we have!" 
 
 "I 'card it this morning," Bert said miserably; "it 
 didn't sound 'arf bad on the orgin." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "That there song of mine, Piccalilli Lily the one that 
 I wrote for you. One of these days I'll write something 
 as'll make a stir!" 
 
 Something like a glint of enthusiasm came into his 
 dull eyes and then died out again. 
 
 "I get all sorts of ideas, I do. I thought of writing 
 a sketch. I've got an idea." 
 
 "Tell us," Sunny said. 
 " 161
 
 1 62 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Bert shook his head. 
 
 "You'd only laugh." 
 
 "Go on!" Sunny said. "Tell us the idea." 
 
 Bert hesitated. 
 
 "Well, it's like this," he began awkwardly. He went 
 on, forgetting his awkwardness; his eyes grew brighter, 
 the words came faster. Sunny clasped her hands and 
 leaned forward, while Bert unravelled the plot that his 
 brain had conceived. 
 
 It was a good plot, short and pithy, a stirring idea. 
 Sunny found herself wondering how Bert had ever 
 thought of it. He drew near the end, his voice dropped, 
 an air of diffidence came to him. 
 
 "That's some'ow 'ow it goes," he said. 
 
 Sunny said nothing; her eyes were gleaming. 
 
 "It's good!" she said. "It's good, Bert! You did 
 ought to write it!" 
 
 "I've been thinking of trying," he said; "but I'd only 
 make a mess of it, I suppose." 
 
 "Let's write it together, Bert," she said "me and 
 you in off time; we could come here and sit and talk it 
 over." 
 
 "Would you?" he said. "You think it ain't bad?" 
 
 "I think it's splendid, Bert. I want to play that 
 part. I could do it. I know I could! People 'ud 
 laugh at the idea of me a red-haired, snub-nosed girl 
 like me playing tragedy; for that's what it comes to. 
 I I could do it. I'd feel it, I would! " Her eyes blazed. 
 "I'd live in it, specially if you and me was to write it 
 ourselves. Bert, let's try." 
 
 She awoke no enthusiasm in him. 
 
 "All right!" he said. "I don't mind. Any'ow, we 
 can't lose anything by trying." 
 
 Sunny sat staring before her with eyes that saw 
 nothing, yet everything. She was seeing the part,
 
 A Song 163 
 
 living in it. A girl, hard, shallow, greedy, without one 
 good trait apparently in her character, eager to earn 
 money so that she might deck herself with finery, care- 
 less of how she gets it so long as she does get it. She 
 is in the pay of a foreign and antagonistic government; 
 war breaks out; her services are more in demand than 
 ever. She stands to earn a huge sum for some particu- 
 larly black act of betrayal. She is, of course, beautiful, 
 "and that 'ud be the hard part of it for me," Sunny 
 thought. There is a young officer who falls in love with 
 her; he is as clay in her hands. Through him she ob- 
 tains the secret information for which she will be so 
 handsomely paid. She uses it, and realizes too late 
 that she loves him. It ends in tragedy. The young 
 fellow is arrested and condemned by court-martial. He 
 is condemned to death. The last scene is the high wall 
 outside the barrack square. The girl is there alone. 
 Within the walls the firing-party is lined up. She 
 cannot see, but she knows. There is the sound of a 
 volley. He has paid the penalty for his love, and she 
 falls lifeless. That is all! 
 
 "I could I could do it!" Sunny muttered. She 
 clenched her teeth. "Bert, I could do it. I'd make 
 'em think it was real ! " She breathed hard, she clenched 
 her small white teeth. Into her eyes came a look Bert 
 had never seen there before. 
 
 He hunched his shoulders. 
 
 "I can't see you doing it," he said. 
 
 "I I can!" Sunny said. "I can, Bert, and me and 
 you'll write it. We'll do it! I've only got six months 
 at Barstowe's. After that I'll do it do it on my own 
 somehow!" 
 
 She paused. Her enthusiasm was not contagious so 
 far as he was concerned. Bert got up. 
 
 "Come on!" he said.
 
 164 Sunny Due row 
 
 Sunny rose too. They sauntered out from the park. 
 They made their way in the direction of Whitehall. 
 Sunny walked as in a dream; there was a far-away look 
 in her eyes. Then suddenly she stopped. 
 
 "Law ! " she said. " Look at him, Bert ! " 
 
 Bert stared up. A mounted Life Guardsman sat stiffly 
 on his horse. He shone brilliantly in the sunlight. His 
 face was as of wood or marble, so expressionless it 
 was. 
 
 "Well, I'm blessed!" Sunny said. "If it ain't 'Arry 
 Wilkins!" 
 
 Bert stared. So it was! Harry Wilkins, who for a 
 time had been in the boiling-room at the jam factory. 
 
 Sunny put her hand on her hips and stared up in 
 rapt admiration. 
 
 "You wouldn't never think he could have looked like 
 that!" she said. "All nice and polished!" 
 
 "Looks like he was dead!" Bert said mournfully. 
 "Daren't move. I s'pose he can't in that tin suit!" 
 
 Sunny and Bert walked round the motionless sentry. 
 They looked at him from every point of view. 
 
 "Wouldn't his mother be proud of him!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Don't you remember how he used to swear some- 
 thing awful?" Bert said. "Remember that day he 
 dropped some hot jam on his foot?" 
 
 Sunny laughed. Their conversation was perfectly 
 audible to the guardsman. He glared at them to move 
 on, but his tongue was, perforce, silent. 
 
 "Ain't he a picture?" Sunny said. "Looks like a 
 Christmas card. He only wants 'A Merry Christmas' 
 writ acrost him, don't he?" 
 
 "Looks like he was dead and stuffed with mud and 
 leaves," said Bert. 
 
 The guardsman stared straight ahead of him; his 
 eyes were on vacancy, his lips moved.
 
 A Song 165 
 
 " 'Ook it!" they muttered. "You two 'ook it off, 
 will you?" 
 
 "It's alive!" Sunny said. "Bert, it's alive! Oh, 
 Bert, don't I wish I was old enough to 'ave a nice young 
 man like that!" 
 
 "Clear out!" the guardsman muttered. "Be off!" 
 
 "He don't like us admiring him!" Bert said. " That 
 'ud be my job sitting there thinking and looking nice." 
 
 "You!" Sunrfy said. "You can think all right, 
 but " 
 
 "It ain't the man, it ain't what's inside," Bert said; 
 "it's that nice bright tin thing he's wearing. He didn't 
 look nothing in the pickle factory, he didn't. You 
 remember Bill Wilkins, his brother, telling him once to 
 wash his dirty neck?" 
 
 The guardsman moved slightly on his horse. He 
 stared at them. There were daggers in his eyes. 
 
 "Bert, it ain't fair us being free, and 'aving the use 
 of our tongues and limbs, standing here talking about 
 'im," Sunny said. "Come on, Bert!" 
 
 They went on, casting glances back at the big Life 
 Guardsman. 
 
 "Wonderful, isn't it, the difference it makes?" Sunny 
 said. "Now I've got to get off to rehearsals. I don't 
 like the lot at Barstowe's. They don't like me, neither. 
 I 'eard one gel say to another yesterday, what did they 
 want to employ a carroty-'eaded, snub-nosed brat like 
 me for, I heard 'em! It didn't matter, though. Bert, 
 you go home ; you ain't got no rehearsals. You go home 
 and start writing that out. I've got an idea we're going 
 to make something out of that idea of yours." 
 
 Bert shook his head. 
 
 " No one won't look at it when it's done." 
 
 "We'll see!" Sunny said. "Anyway, we've got six 
 months to think about it. You make a start. Go on,
 
 1 66 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Bert! Wake up! Hold your head up, Bert, and keep 
 on smiling! It's the only way to face life, old dear. 
 Don't be beat till you're down and out, and then it's 
 no good being beat, either! Keep on keep on all the 
 time! That's me! That's my motter! 'Old your 
 'ead up, Bert, and keep smiling!" She gave him a 
 dazzling smile and hurried away. 
 
 Bert stared after her. 
 
 "If I wasn't sensible," he muttered, "she'd make me 
 think I was a blessed genius ! After all, it was her made 
 me write Piccalilli Lily, and it didn't do so bad! " 
 
 Sunny had not been received with altogether open 
 arms at Barstowe's Realm. She had been snubbed 
 unmercifully; but snubs had no effect on her she kept 
 on smiling. The other young ladies looked down on 
 her; they were ornaments to their profession they had 
 been specially chosen. It was not every girl who could 
 get into a revue at one of Barstowe's "Realms." How 
 and why this red-haired snub-nosed girl had got taken 
 on passed their comprehension. 
 
 "And they say that Barstowe actually had a part 
 written for her," one said. 
 
 But that was not generally believed. One thing was 
 certain, however Sunny Ducrow had a part. It was a 
 very small one, and did not greatly affect the revue 
 whether it was in or out. 
 
 But the fact remained she had a part, but no song. 
 A couple of dozen lines of speaking part was all that 
 Sunny got, and Sunny was not satisfied. She went to 
 see Mr. Curtiss, and that well-dressed young man 
 snubbed her. He had not forgiven the trick Sunny had 
 put on him that day. 
 
 "Want a song?" he asked. "So do many others." 
 
 " I want to earn my money, and I ain't going to earn 
 it just saying two or three words."
 
 A Song 167 
 
 "If we are satisfied, I don't see why it should affect 
 you!" 
 
 " That's it ! " Sunny said. " I ain't satisfied, and that's 
 what counts with me most." 
 
 "If you realized the truth," he said, "you are a great 
 deal more lucky than you deserve. I don't understand, 
 now, why Mr. Barstowe should give you the chance you 
 have. It is not as if you had any experience. You've 
 got a part; you've got your name on the programme 
 that's something." 
 
 Sunny put her hands on her hips and stared at him. 
 
 "It's nothing," she said. "My name on the pro- 
 gramme ! Any fool can get her name on the programme ! 
 If I made hats and dresses I could get my name on the 
 programme. So I could if I done the electric lighting." 
 
 "I'm sorry," he said, "I can do nothing." 
 
 "I'll see Mr. Barstowe." 
 
 "You won't," he said quickly. 
 
 "Bet you I do!" she said. 
 
 She smiled at him. 
 
 "I'm busy," he said. "I'd be glad if you were to go, 
 Miss Ducrow." 
 
 Sunny went to the door. She turned. 
 
 "I'll have a chat about it with Mr. Barstowe and see 
 what he says," she said. 
 
 Curtiss glared at her. 
 
 " Mr. Barstowe will probably give you the sack if you 
 persist in annoying him," he said. 
 
 Sunny wanted a song, and she knew she would not 
 be satisfied till she got it. Her part would be nothing 
 without a song. 
 
 But the question was, where was she going to get a 
 song, and, when she got it, was she going to be allowed to 
 sing it ? 
 
 Signer Posetti had always been kind. She liked him
 
 1 68 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 and she knew that he liked her. Signer Posetti lived 
 in a little back street in Bloomsbury, not so very far 
 from her own lodgings. The following morning early 
 Sunny presented herself at his door. 
 
 The signor was up and having breakfast. 
 
 "I'll go up and see him," Sunny said. 
 
 And before the maidservant could stop her she had 
 gone up the stairs and tapped on the door. 
 
 The signor looked rather old and rather dirty in a 
 filthy old dressing-gown. He was putting away a large 
 quantity of eggs and bacon. He stared at her. 
 
 "Why, eet ees leetle Sunny!" he said. 
 
 " Yes, that's all right ! You get on with the breakfast; 
 I've had mine. I've come about a song," Sunny said. 
 
 "What song?" 
 
 "A song you're going to write for me to sing at the 
 Realm in the new thing I'm in." 
 
 "I'm writing no song, my dear leetle Sunny." 
 
 "That's where you are wrong, you are!" she said. 
 She took out a piece of paper. "I found them words 
 in an old album of my aunt's; they ain't so bad." 
 
 She read them aloud. They were sentimental, full 
 of love and tenderness. Rather pretty words they were, 
 and they had captured Sunny 's fancy. 
 
 "They ain't so bad, are they?" she said. 
 
 "No, they are nice. Good, yes; but I can't write 
 you a song, my dear Sunny. I would like yes, much; 
 but no. Who pay to me for the song?" 
 
 "You'll get paid all right," she said. "This way. 
 I'll sing the song at the Realm and make it a success. 
 The song'll be published as ' Sung by Miss Sunny Ducrow 
 in the successful revue ' and that sort of thing. You'll 
 get the money for the publishing, and there you are 
 now. You get finished with them eggs and things and 
 I'll wait."
 
 A Song 169 
 
 Sunny sat down; she folded her hands. 
 
 Twice or three times the signer looked at her, then he 
 held out his hand for the words. He read them, eating 
 the while, then he looked at her again. 
 
 "I keep de copyright," he said. 
 
 "Yes, of course." 
 
 "But vill Barstowe let you sing?" 
 
 "He's got to!" Sunny said. 
 
 "I don't know!" he said undecidedly. 
 
 He finished his breakfast. He rose and, dragging his 
 anfcient dressing-gown round him, went to the piano. 
 
 He sat down, the words propped upon the music-rest 
 before him. He made strange sounds with his fingers; 
 sometimes they distinctly resembled a tune. Sunny 
 said nothing; she sat and stared out of the window. 
 
 Then presently he rose. He went to the table and 
 took some sheets. He began to write furiously. Now 
 and again he paused and hummed to himself. Never 
 once did he touch the piano. 
 
 "Ah!" he said at last. 
 
 "Done?" Sunny asked. 
 
 He nodded. He went to the piano and stuck his 
 score up. He commenced to play; it was a beautiful 
 melody. Sunny sat entranced. 
 
 "That's fine!" she said. "Now sing it!" 
 
 Signor Posetti had a caricature of a voice, but he sang 
 it, and Sunny listened enthralled. 
 
 "Now me!" she said. 
 
 She stood up. 
 
 "You can read zee score?" he asked. 
 
 "Not a blinking note," she said. "It looks like all 
 noughts and crosses to me; but I remember it all right. 
 I'll sing it. Here goes!" 
 
 She sang it once and she sang it twice. Posetti made 
 her sing it a third time.
 
 170 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "And now once more for the finale," he said. " Come! 
 With gestures appropriately you act so now!" 
 
 She had music and words off by heart now; she let 
 herself go. 
 
 "Good, good!" he said. "Yes, it is a beautiful song. 
 You can sing it. It shall be a success. I will make 
 out the agreement, giving you permission to sing, but 
 the copyright remains with me." 
 
 He dashed off a few lines. Sunny read them and 
 nodded, then she signed. 
 
 "That's all right!" she said. "Now I've got to get 
 Barstowe to let me sing it." 
 
 Mr. Barstowe left his office in the theatre punctually 
 at a quarter to one every morning. He lunched usually 
 at his own club, stayed there an hour, returned to the 
 office and worked till six, then he left for good. He kept 
 rigid hours and worked by the clock. He was probably 
 the most inaccessible man in London, and everyone 
 knew it. 
 
 This morning his car was waiting at a quarter to one. 
 Mr. Barstowe came out, opened the door, and got in; 
 the car moved off at once. 
 
 "Good-morning!" Sunny said. 
 
 Barstowe stared at the small figure crouching in one 
 corner of the car. 
 
 "I know you're busy, and haven't got time to waste 
 on me," Sunny said "not in the office, anyhow so I 
 thought I'd see you this way; it won't waste your time. 
 I want a song" she paused "leastways, I don't want 
 a song, but I want to sing one. I've got a song. Do 
 you mind hearing it?" 
 
 He stared at her; his heavy face had a frown on it. 
 
 "It won't hurt you to hear me sing it. If you don't 
 like, you can stop the car and I'll get out," she said. 
 "Shall I?"
 
 A Song 171 
 
 "Sing, " he said briefly. 
 
 Without any accompaniment except the roar of the 
 traffic and the rattle of the car, Sunny sang. Her voice 
 rose shrill, sweet, and high. She could not stand up 
 because of the motion of the car, so she sat down. She 
 closed her eyes, she pictured herself standing on the 
 stage, she saw an audience before her, and she sang. 
 
 The car stopped just as Sunny did; it stopped before 
 the somewhat gloomy portals of the exclusive club. 
 
 Barstowe said nothing; he got out. 
 
 "Where do you want to go to?" he asked abruptly. 
 
 "Home!" Sunny said. She gave the address. Bar- 
 stowe instructed the chauffeur to drive her home. 
 
 "Back here at two," he said to the chauffeur. He 
 nodded to Sunny and went in without another word. 
 
 "He's the limit!" Sunny muttered. "Thinks I am, 
 too, I dare say." 
 
 She snuggled down in the seat of the car. It was a 
 fine and luxurious car; the fittings were of ivory. Sunny 
 took it all in. 
 
 "When I get my car," she said, "the fittings'll be of 
 tortoise-shell and silver." 
 
 Sunny went to rehearsal that afternoon. She spoke 
 her lines and encountered the snubs of the others, which 
 she accepted with a broad and happy smile. 
 
 "Nothing can crush that creature," one magnificent 
 young woman said. "It's always the way with these 
 gutter-snipes. They are simply one mass of cheek. I 
 heard that she actually had the impudence to go to 
 Curtiss and tell him she wanted a song. I hope she may 
 get it." The girl laughed. 
 
 "Bet you I'll get it all right," Sunny said. 
 
 The girl turned and stared at her, shrugged her shoul- 
 ders, and favored Sunny with a view of her very shapely 
 back.
 
 1 72 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Mr. Curtiss wants to see Miss Ducrow," a messenger 
 announced. 
 
 "It's about my song," Sunny said. 
 
 "More likely about the sack," said Miss Evelyn 
 Clifforde. 
 
 She went to Mr. Curtiss's room; he seemed less 
 amiable than usual, and glared at her. 
 
 "I have heard from Mr. Barstowe," he said, "that he 
 wishes you to try over a song that you have. I don't 
 in the least know how " 
 
 "I told you I'd talk to him," Sunny said, "and I did." 
 
 Mr. Curtiss scowled. "I don't understand in the 
 least," he said. "Besides, I have no time That 
 song where is it ? " 
 
 "Got it here," Sunny said. 
 
 He rang a bell and asked that Monsieur de Boisseau, 
 the musical director, might be so good as to come 
 here. 
 
 Monsieur arrived. He was a stout, red-faced, good- 
 natured-looking Frenchman. He greeted Sunny with a 
 smile, and she smiled at him. They had exchanged this 
 courtesy more than once. 
 
 Only yesterday monsieur had said to her : 
 
 "To me it is a surprise, you haf the vivacitee, the 
 the esprit, the joie de vivre of a girl of France. It is not 
 like the Engleesh; the Engleesh are heavy, are staid, 
 are dull, but you " 
 
 And Sunny had given him another smile. 
 
 Mr. Curtiss explained it was a song Mr. Barstowe 
 wished the musical director to try over with Miss Ducrow, 
 and if the musical director thought anything of it, Miss 
 Ducrow was to have it added to her part. 
 
 Monsieur looked at Sunny. He saw the wistful look 
 in her eyes, and he sat down. 
 
 The song was pretty, the air catching; he realized it.
 
 A Song 173 
 
 Posetti was a personal friend of his, and this was Posetti's 
 work. 
 
 "And now, ma chdre, eef you please!" he said. 
 
 Sunny stood up and sang. Her shrill voice trembled, 
 trilled through the room. Mr. Curtiss left off his scrib- 
 bling to listen. Sunny finished. 
 
 "Not bad!" he grunted. 
 
 "Again!" said monsieur. 
 
 Sunny sang it the second time better than she had the 
 first. 
 
 Monsieur nodded. "Excellent, tr&s bien, vaire good!" 
 
 "Think it'll do all right? " Sunny asked. 
 
 "I shall report as I have say excellent!" he said. 
 
 He gave her a smile across the room, accepted one in 
 return, and went out. 
 
 Sunny went to the table at which Mr. Curtiss was 
 writing. 
 
 "You didn't want me to have a song?" she said. 
 
 "Really, it did not matter in the least to me," he said. 
 
 T 
 
 "Only you don't think it's not so bad now you heard 
 it?" she said. 
 
 "You sang it rather well!" 
 
 Sunny held out her hand; she gave him a dazzling smile. 
 
 " Let's be friends ! " she said. "Why not ? " 
 
 He looked at her and slowly held out his hand. 
 
 "As you say, why not?" he said. "If you wish it, 
 my dear Miss Due " 
 
 "I'm Sunny to my friends," she said. 
 
 Mr. Curtiss laughed. 
 
 "Very well, Sunny," he said. "We're friends. I'll 
 tell Barstowe that you've got a ripping voice and sang 
 that song well. It'll go with a bang ! " 
 
 "What's the name you get called By at home?" she 
 asked.
 
 174 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "My my name my Christian name? Arthur," he 
 said. "Why?" 
 
 "Only wanted to know," Sunny said. "I won't keep 
 you. You're busy." She nodded. "So-long, Arthur!" 
 And she went out.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 A CHARITY CONCERT 
 
 UNNY, it's awfully good of you to come." 
 
 "I came because I said I would. I'm going to 
 sing my new song. It's called Because You Told Me So. 
 Not bad! Law!" She paused, and looked around her. 
 "You've got a nice place, you have. Do you rent it all, 
 or is it let out in flats?" 
 
 "Oh, we we rent it all," Dobrington said, with a 
 smile. "It's my home, you see! " 
 
 "Marble stairs and all!" 
 
 Sunny stood in the immense hallway of one of the 
 most magnificent houses in London. Blessendale House 
 was one of the most famous; there was no royal palace 
 that could vie with it in grandeur. 
 
 Sunny looked about her wide-eyed. This was a 
 magnificence that she had never seen, never even dreamed 
 about. The theatres had seemed wonderful places, but 
 they sank into nothingness compared with this. 
 
 "You live here?" she said. 
 
 "Of course; this is my home our London home," 
 he said. 
 
 The guests were arriving for the concert. It was in 
 aid of one of the countess's pet charities, and it was bound 
 to be a great success. People always came to the Bles- 
 sendale concerts; the house itself was worth seeing. 
 The wonderful Van Dycks and Rembrandts and other 
 old masters were alone worth the money. Besides, it 
 
 175
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 was worth something to stand the chance of getting one's 
 name in the Morning Post next day. 
 
 "Reminds me," Sunny said, "of one of them swell 
 tea-rooms, only better. Must have cost an awful lot! 
 I suppose that t staircase isn't solid marble all through; 
 it's just thin bits laid on?" 
 
 "Solid through," he said. "And it's counted one of 
 the finest existing." 
 
 "Lor'!" Sunny said. "Makes you feel you want to 
 take off your boots when you go up and down." 
 
 If Sunny was looking about her with admiration, it 
 was nothing compared with the admiration in his eyes. 
 
 "I'm glad you've come," he said. 
 
 "So am I! I'm glad, too, I put on my best dress." 
 
 "You look ripping!" he said. 
 
 She laughed. 
 
 "I suppose you've got tidy-sized rooms here?" she 
 said. 
 
 "Quite a fair size," he said. "The concert is to be 
 held in the ballroom." 
 
 " Got a ballroom, too, and a billiard-room, I dare say?" 
 Sunny said. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Bathroom, hot and cold laid on?" 
 
 "Yes," he said, with a laugh. "Several, I believe. 
 Sunny, here is my mother. I would like to introduce 
 you." There was just a note of indecision in his voice. 
 
 Her ladyship was sailing down the staircase. She 
 was a tall, very handsome, white-haired woman. Her 
 face, with its perfectly regular and still very beautiful 
 features, wore an expression of intense pride mingled 
 with a sort of kindliness. 
 
 Sunny stared at her. 
 
 " Must have been nice-looking when she was young," 
 she said. "She's nice-looking now for an old lady."
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 SUNNY'S SUCCESS 
 
 HER ladyship was greeting one or two personal 
 friends. Sunny watched her. Her keen, intel- 
 ligent eyes took in almost every movement of the aristo- 
 cratic dame. She noted just how she shook hands, just 
 the kind of bow she gave. Sunny stored it all up in her 
 brain for future use. 
 
 "It's the best thing to get it off first hand," she said; 
 "see how it's done and then copy." 
 
 A stout, elderly lady was introducing a young girl to 
 her ladyship. Sunny watched it all, spellbound. She 
 saw the courtly bow of the elderly lady, the curtsy of 
 the younger. They did not shake hands, Sunny noticed, 
 nor did they say, "Glad to see you! Hope you are 
 well!" or anything of the kind. 
 
 "It's a licker!" Sunny muttered. "Sort of want of 
 friendliness about it. Come to that, we're all Adam's 
 children, ain't we?" 
 
 "I often think that," Dobrington said. "Sunny, will 
 you come and be introduced to my mother?" 
 
 "I don't mind," she said. 
 
 Dobrington looked just a little nervous. He wanted 
 Sunny to make a good impression; he wanted it more 
 than perhaps he would care to admit even to him- 
 self. 
 
 He piloted Sunny across the wide hall to the foot of 
 the magnificent marble staircase. 
 " 177
 
 178 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Mother, I wish to introduce Miss Ducrow, who is 
 kindly singing for us this afternoon." 
 
 Sunny was just going to thrust out her hand, but she 
 remembered what she had seen. 
 
 "How are you? I hope you are well!" was on the 
 tip of her tongue, but she silenced it. She dropped a 
 curtsy and did it very gracefully. 
 
 "I am very pleased to meet Miss Ducrow," her lady- 
 ship said. She gave Sunny a smile. "And I wish to 
 thank her for her kindness in singing for us to-day." 
 
 "Don't you talk about it!" Sunny gasped. "That's 
 all right! Only " She paused. 
 
 Her ladyship had turned away to greet other arrivals. 
 
 "Phew!" Sunny muttered. "Made me feel hot all 
 over! My tongue got away with me as usual!" 
 
 Dobrington laughed. It had gone off better, far 
 better than he had dared to hope. 
 
 "Come on!" he said. "I'll show you round the 
 house a bit till the performance begins, if you like." 
 
 They went from room to room, and Sunny's eyes 
 opened wider and wider. 
 
 "The rent must be terrible!" she said. "And what 
 about the rates?" 
 
 " We don't pay rent ; it belongs to us," he said. " It's 
 been in the family for centuries. But the taxes, I dare 
 say they are, as you say, a bit thick. Here's the ball- 
 room. Quite a crowd, isn't there?" 
 
 Sunny looked in. She saw a multitude of people. 
 
 " And and I have got to sing to that lot ? " she gasped. 
 
 "Yes; and you can do it, Sunny," he said. "You can 
 do anything you want to do." 
 
 "B etcher I can!" Sunny said; but her voice was a 
 little uncertain. It was one thing to sing in a theatre, 
 behind footlights, dressed in unconventional clothes, but 
 it was quite another to ascend a platform just as she was
 
 Sunny 's Success 179 
 
 and sing to the crowd of well-dressed and, no doubt, 
 critical people. "Sunny, hold your head up, my girl, 
 and keep smiling!" she muttered in a low voice. 
 
 "What did you say?" Dobrington asked. "I didn't 
 quite catch what you said." 
 
 "Nothing much; only something that I'm always 
 saying to myself something that helps me a bit," she 
 said. 
 
 "Tell me; it might help me." 
 
 Sunny repeated her motto gravely. 
 
 "And a jolly good motto! I'll remember it and keep 
 smiling, Sunny," he said. "Now, hush! They are 
 going to start." 
 
 Lady Blessendale had attracted some of the finest 
 singers in London to her charity concert. The pro- 
 gramme was opened by a well-known young concert 
 singer, who received some dignified applause from the 
 audience. She was followed by a stout, rather hand- 
 some, though somewhat passee lady, who was received 
 with applause when she stepped on to the platform. 
 
 She was a well-known star. In her day she had been 
 the queen of grand opera. Her fame still clung to her, 
 and so did her voice. It was certainly a magnificent 
 voice. 
 
 Sunny listened, and looked on in frank wonderment. 
 It seemed to her that the very furniture danced when 
 the great singer produced her top notes. She sang in 
 Italian, of course. All great singers do. 
 
 "Well, she's a wonder, she is!" Sunny muttered. 
 " Her voice just goes through you and comes out on the 
 other side, don't it?" 
 
 Dobrington nodded. 
 
 "She is a great singer," he said. 
 
 "Reminds me of Mother Jacalini, her as used to live 
 on the floor just below us," Sunny said. "She used to
 
 i8o Sunny Ducrow 
 
 go out with a tambourine and a monkey, and her hus- 
 band had an ice-cream round. She talked just like that, 
 she did. Chee puchy wuchy ami jami jam, and like 
 that! French, I suppose it is?" 
 
 Dobrington smiled. 
 
 " Italian!" he said. 
 
 " I knew it was something funny," Sunny said. " Why 
 don't she sing in English?" 
 
 "I don't know," he said. 
 
 "Me neither!" 
 
 The great singer had concluded. She had received 
 very considerable applause. Being very well bred, the 
 audience did not allow its feelings to get the better of it. 
 It clapped and said, "Bravo! encore!" in a genteel 
 fashion. 
 
 Sunny thumped her hands together. 
 
 "Bravo! angcore!" she shouted in her shrill voice. 
 "Well sung! Jolly well sung, that was; let's have some 
 more! Let's " 
 
 She paused. People had turned to stare at her. Even 
 the "star" was looking in her direction. 
 
 Dobrington caught her by the arm. 
 
 "Hush!" he whispered. 
 
 "Then why don't they let go? " Sunny said. " I can't 
 stand that half-hearted sort of thing. If they like her 
 singing, why don't they tell her so and let's have some 
 more? I s'pose it's different here to what it is our way. 
 I'll learn in time, I s'pose." She sighed. "I see what 
 you got to do. Just got to tap the ends of your fingers 
 together and say 'Brayvo!' under your breath like you 
 was ashamed of Oh, oh!" She gasped. 
 
 "What's the matter?" 
 
 "I just remembered I got to sing." She shivered. 
 " It'll give me the horrors singing here! They are a cold 
 lot, ain't they? Got no move on them!"
 
 Sunny's Success 181 
 
 "Don't worry about them, Sunny," he said. "Just 
 sing to me. Remember I am here, and that I shall be 
 listening to you and liking every moment of it." 
 
 She slipped her hand into his. 
 
 "You've got the knack of helping a person, you have. 
 You say just the right thing. That comes of being clever 
 and well educated, that does." 
 
 "It comes of nothing of the sort!" he said. "It 
 comes of of" he looked down at her, then he flushed 
 a little "it comes of liking you, Sunny!" he whispered. 
 
 "Same here," she said. "I like you. We are pals, 
 we are! And now I am next, ain't I?" She shuddered 
 a little, then laughed. "I shan't be frightened, not me! 
 Anyhow, they can't kill me. Law, wouldn't I like to 
 see 'em wake up and git to be a bit human! But I 
 s'pose they are too swell for that." 
 
 A fine baritone was singing now. Dobrington had 
 taken Sunny to the door of the dressing-room and left 
 her there; but Sunny forgot that she had to hasten for 
 her own appearance. 
 
 The baritone had a beautiful voice, and he was sing- 
 ing a beautiful song, and music was a passion to Sunny. 
 She stayed there at the door listening, with all her heart 
 and soul in her eyes. She stayed there until he had 
 finished and left the platform. Then she remembered 
 it was her own turn. Sunny dashed into the dressing- 
 room and tore off her hat. Her hair was fearfully untidy, 
 as she realized. She did her best with it. Outside 
 there was an ominous silence. 
 
 "Miss Ducrow, are you not ready? 
 
 "Half a minit!" Sunny gasped. "Law, what do I 
 look like? As if I had been dragged through a hedge 
 backwards, don't I? Where's my song? Oh, goodness, 
 I've put it down somewhere and Oh, here it is ! " 
 
 A commoner, more human audience would have
 
 1 82 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 stamped and uttered cat-calls to express its displeasure 
 at being kept waiting. This audience sat in stony 
 silence, with marked disapproval on its high-bred face. 
 
 Flushed, ruffled, untidy about her hair, a little out of 
 breath, Sunny bounded on to the platform. She looked 
 about her. The chill atmosphere of the place affected 
 her. She had kept them waiting perhaps ten minutes, 
 and she was sorry for it. 
 
 As she was sorry, why not tell them so? An idea no 
 sooner came into Sunny 's brain than she acted on it. 
 She handed the copy of the song to the accompanist. 
 
 "Half a minit," she whispered. "I've got to say 
 something to them first." 
 
 "Say something? " He looked up. "Why ? " 
 
 "That's all right!" Sunny muttered. She turned to 
 the audience. " I'm sorry at having kept you," she said. 
 "I know I didn't ought to, only it was that chap's sing- 
 ing. I couldn't help listening. He'd got a beautiful 
 voice, hadn't he? Well, instead of getting on, and mak- 
 ing myself tidy, I simply had to stand there listening to 
 him. But I'm sorry all the same, keeping you waiting!" 
 
 She smiled on them all, showing her white teeth. 
 
 Some of the elderly dowagers looked at one another 
 in surprise. Really, what new innovation was this? 
 Some caught the contagion of Sunny's smile, and smiled 
 back at her. She looked such a child such a flushed, 
 rather anxious, pretty, red-haired child. There was 
 something irresistible about her. 
 
 "So, if you'll forgive me," Sunny said, "now we'll 
 get on with it." She nodded to them, in her frank, 
 friendly way, then turned to the accompanist. "Strike 
 up, Mr. Conductor," she said. "I'm ready now." 
 
 Sunny's song was not in the least like those that had 
 gone before. It did not bear the slightest resemblance, 
 for instance, to the aria that Madame Pavilini had sung
 
 Sunny's Success 183 
 
 with such success. But it suited Sunny; she let herself 
 go. 
 
 "What they want is waking up," she thought; and 
 she made up her mind she would try and wake them up. 
 
 She knew nothing of concert-platform manners. She 
 did not stand with a sheet of music in her hand, held 
 out at arm's length, and turn her eyes up to the richly 
 carved ceiling. As she knew the song thoroughly, she 
 did not want any music sheet at all, so she dispensed 
 with it. 
 
 She looked straight at her audience and smiled at it. 
 She smiled until the ghost of a frosty smile began to 
 dawn on some of the faces of the highest-born and chilliest 
 dowagers there. 
 
 It was a charming little song, full of tuneful melody, 
 and Sunny sang it in a very charming, fresh, and original 
 manner. It was such a change after what had gone 
 before. Of course her voice did not compare with some 
 of the other voices, but her personality told, her smile 
 told, her freshness and her youth told. 
 
 The younger ones among the audience applauded her 
 heartily. The elder ones tried to look a little shocked, 
 but failed; then they applauded her, too. Sunny got 
 even more applause than the great Italian singer, and 
 it was of a heartier, more spontaneous nature. 
 
 "I said I'd wake 'em up!" she muttered to herself.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 NEW FRIENDS 
 
 MR. CURTISS, the irreproachably dressed and un- 
 approachable young man, stood in the wings. It 
 was the first night of the new revue, and Sunny Ducrow 
 was singing her song. It was not often that Curtiss 
 troubled himself to witness a performance. His duty 
 and his work lay in preparing for and attending to the 
 business side of things. The rest could be safely left to 
 the acting-manager and the stage-manager; but Curtiss 
 stood in the wings and watched Sunny. 
 
 He wondered a little at the charm of the girl. He was 
 not enthusiastic. He had seen many newcomers and he 
 had also seen them go. There had been few successes 
 and many failures. He had grown to regard every 
 newcomer as a potential failure. 
 
 But this song of Sunny Ducrow's was something 
 different from the usual run of lovesick lyrics. It was a 
 song of home and mother, and Mr. Curtiss, moved by 
 something that he could not very well explain, had 
 decided to give Sunny rather an exceptional chance. He 
 had had a stage setting expressly arranged for her. In 
 the background was a little cottage, the landscape lost 
 in a dim, grayish darkness. The stage was in dark- 
 ness; Sunny 's little figure was thrown into relief by 
 one ray of light. It was effective, very, and so was the 
 song. 
 
 They were old-fashioned words, cut out of an Early 
 
 184
 
 New Friends 185 
 
 Victorian album. Nothing great in the way of poetry, 
 but simple and touching: 
 
 "I have tried, I have hoped, I have failed, 
 
 My way has been weary and lone. 
 I have longed for the rest and the peace on your breast, 
 
 In my own little, dear cottage home. 
 Its windows, like stars in the night, 
 
 Are beacons to welcome me home, 
 And the smile I can see is in welcome for me 
 
 As I'm nearing my wee cottage home." 
 
 She was singing it with all her heart in her voice. Her 
 sweet, childlike voice trembled and shook, and Mr. 
 Arthur Curtiss, who had long since believed himself 
 proof against anything of the kind, blinked hard. 
 
 "Fool!" he muttered. "Clever little wretch, that's 
 what she is! George, she'll do! She'll do! I wish 
 Barstowe could hear her! I'll try to get him to, one 
 night!" 
 
 But that, as Curtiss knew, was almost an impossible 
 thing. 
 
 As Sunny neared the end of her song the scenic effects 
 came into play. The little cottage grew in relief against 
 the dark background; lights suddenly sprang up in the 
 windows. The last note died away; the cottage door 
 opened a warm, yellow light streamed out. In the 
 doorway appeared the figure of an old woman, standing 
 with outstretched arms. With a sob the girl turned to 
 her, holding out her arms, then suddenly all was blacked 
 out. 
 
 It was effective, very, from the audience's point of 
 view. The scng and the singer moved them all. Then 
 came a hurrican^ of applause from every part of the house. 
 
 ' ' George ! ' ' Curtiss muttered. "It's taken. gone with 
 a bang! Big success!" He blinked. "Clever little 
 wretch!"
 
 1 86 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 He turned away and went to Mr. Barstowe's private 
 office. 
 
 Barstowe was always in his private office on a first 
 night, but he was not there now. Curtiss knocked and 
 knocked again; then he opened the door and went in. 
 Barstowe was not there. Odd that Barstowe was not 
 there, Curtiss thought, as he shut the door. 
 
 He turned, and Mr. Barstowe came into the outer 
 office. His hard, strong face was as impassive as ever. 
 
 " I've been to the front, " he said briefly. 
 
 ' ' You you have, sir ? " 
 
 "Yes; I was curious to hear that girl. Well, you 
 heard her?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Well?" Barstowe said, with a heavy frown. "Good, 
 eh?" 
 
 "Splendid! You heard how it went a big number 
 that!" 
 
 Barstowe nodded. 
 
 "What term is her engagement? Six months, isn't 
 it?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "See her in the morning; book her here for three 
 years, to start at ten pounds a week, increasing five 
 pounds each year, making the last year twenty pounds 
 a week. Understand ? ' ' 
 
 "Yes, sir. Very good. I think it's a wise move. 
 She looks like being " 
 
 But Barstowe had gone in and closed the door of his 
 office after him. 
 
 "Fancy the old man going to the front to hear a new 
 hand ! ' ' Curtiss thought. ' ' Glad he did, though ! ' ' 
 
 Except for the girls of the chorus, who were inclined 
 to be spiteful and jealous, they were a good-natured lot 
 at the Realm. Sunny came in for a shower of congrat-
 
 New Friends 187 
 
 illations and handshakes. Miss Esme Ward, the leading 
 lady, kissed her warmly. 
 
 "You sang it beautifully, dear! " she said. "And it's a 
 lovely little song ! You almost made me cry, and that's 
 saying a lot, because I got beyond that stage years ago. " 
 
 "No, you ain't, " Sunny said. She looked up into the 
 woman's pretty, rather tired-looking face. "You won't 
 get beyond the crying stage; no good woman ever does!" 
 
 "Good woman; but " 
 
 "You're that!" Sunny said. She reached up her arms 
 and drew the woman's face to hers. "Never forget how 
 to cry," she said. "It it helps that and smiling!" 
 She laughed gently. "That's what I always say to my- 
 self. 'Hold up your head, Sunny Ducrow, and keep 
 smiling, and everything's bound to come right in the 
 end.'" 
 
 "I believe you are right, dear," Miss Ward said. 
 "You're a good little thing, Sunny Ducrow, and I've 
 fallen in love with you. And I'm not the only one either; 
 I know someone else who has." 
 
 "Fell in love with me?" 
 
 Miss Ward nodded. 
 
 "Arthur Curtiss has, I believe. He was standing in 
 the wings all through your song. I never saw him do it 
 before; and he was looking at you well, just as a man 
 looks You don't understand, though; you're only a 
 baby! There, good luck to you, and many, many more 
 successes bigger ones than this!" 
 
 "Thank you!" Sunny said quietly. "You're good to 
 me. Most people are good to me. I wonder why, 
 sometimes." 
 
 " I'll tell you why; it is just because you are Sunny, " 
 the woman said. 
 
 "Mr. Curtiss would like to see Miss Ducrow if she 
 would be so good as to spare him a few moments ! "
 
 1 88 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Oh!" Sunny said. She sighed. "I wonder if he's 
 got the carpet laid down for me to walk over and got a 
 band playing? 'If she'll be so good as to spare a few 
 moments! ' My word, I'm getting on!" 
 
 She laughed to herself. 
 
 "Tell him all right, " she said to the messenger. 
 
 She was dressed. The first night was over, and a great 
 success it had been, and not the meanest success had been 
 Sunny's simple little song of home and mother and love. 
 
 Sunny, with her hat on, and ready to go out, came out 
 of the dressing-room that she shared with two others. 
 
 Outside she met one of the chorus-girls, a girl who had 
 sneered at her and looked down on her; and shown her 
 petty spite in a dozen different ways since Sunny had 
 come. Miss Evelyn Clifforde stood still in the narrow 
 passage. She stared hard at Sunny, then suddenly she 
 held out her hand. 
 
 "I I hated you," she said "hated you like poison 
 for coming in and walking over our heads ! I don't hate 
 you now ; I like you and admire you. I loved your song 
 and the way you sang it." She paused. "I suppose I'm 
 a fool to lower myself to talk to you like this; it gives you 
 the laugh over me!" 
 
 "What does?" Sunny said. "I don't want to laugh; 
 I feel more like crying. I don't know why you hate me. 
 I never hated you. I thought you were beautiful, and so 
 you are, and " 
 
 She took the other girl's outstretched hand tightly and 
 held up her face for a kiss. 
 
 "You are a dear little thing!" Miss Clifforde said. 
 " I've been a beast, and so have some of the others. One 
 thing, however, all our snubs and sneers did not seem to 
 hurt you." 
 
 "Didn't seem," Sunny said. "I don't know. I'm 
 always hurt a bit when I see people don't like me. But
 
 New Friends 189 
 
 but I just go on, hold up my head, you know, and keep on 
 smiling. It's the only way." 
 
 "It's the best way, if if only one can do it," the 
 other girl said. 
 
 She looked down at Sunny from her superior height 
 and her eyes grew softer. 
 
 " I had a little sister, " she said in a low voice, "about 
 your age, and not unlike you. Perhaps I hated you be- 
 cause you reminded me of her. She was all that I had 
 the only thing in the world that belonged to me, and the 
 only thing that really cared!" 
 
 Sunny gripped the girl's hand tightly. 
 
 "And and she she died?" she whispered. 
 
 The other nodded. 
 
 "And and since then there's nothing that I care for. 
 I can't keep smiling because there's nothing to smile at 
 in this world." She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a 
 fool to tell you. Why should you care?" 
 
 "But but I do care, I do care!" Sunny said.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 A FRIEND INDEED 
 
 ' I 'HE frozen look on the other girl's face thawed a little; 
 something like tears came into her eyes. 
 
 "That song of yours about home and rest and and 
 mother, it hurt me, " she said. " It reminded me of the 
 time when they all belonged to me. Now I live in 
 lodgings alone, I have two pounds a week to live on, and 
 if I died to-morrow no one would care. Oh, I'm a fool 
 to tell you!" 
 
 "You aren't, " Sunny said. She put her arms around 
 the girl. "Me and you are going to be friends, ' ' she said. 
 "I'm going to try to help you just a bit, like your own 
 sister would have done. I can't be to you what she was 
 and would have been, but I might be something, mightn't 
 I?" 
 
 She looked up into the girl's face. 
 
 Miss Cliff orde stooped. She kissed Sunny almost 
 savagely and turned away without a word. 
 
 And that was the beginning of it; and neither Miss 
 Clifforde nor Sunny realized or dreamed at that moment 
 just how much Sunny was going to help her in the near 
 future. 
 
 "Sorry to keep you, Miss Ducrow." 
 Arthur Curtiss was standing; he put a chair for Sunny. 
 Sunny smiled ; she noticed the difference. Everything 
 was getting to be different. 
 
 190
 
 A Friend Indeed 191 
 
 "You ain't keeping me very particularly, " she said. 
 
 "Mr. Barstowe was in the front to-night for your 
 song." 
 
 He said it as if he was uttering some news that would 
 prostrate Sunny with amazement and joy; it did nothing 
 of the kind. 
 
 "Well, seeing he pays, he's got the right to hear how 
 it goes, I suppose." 
 
 "You don't seem to realize that Mr. Barstowe never 
 goes to hear even the most highly paid artistes ! ' ' Curtiss 
 said. 
 
 " I would if I was him, " Sunny said, "then he can find 
 out if they are worth the money." 
 
 "Mr. Barstowe was very favorably impressed with 
 your song, Miss Ducrow." 
 
 "I thought me and you was friends, Arthur?" she 
 said. 
 
 "Quite right! I forgot, Sunny; but this is a matter of 
 business," he said. He sat down and smiled at her. 
 "Mr. Barstowe has, through me, offered you an engage- 
 ment on new terms. The old engagement was for six 
 months only at six pounds a week, I believe?" 
 
 "That's right!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Well, he proposes a three years' engagement, to 
 commence from to-day. The first year at ten pounds a 
 week, the second at fifteen, and the third at twenty. It's 
 a big lift up for you, and I congratulate you, Sunny!" 
 He held out his hand. 
 
 "Half a minit!" Sunny said. "Three years is a long 
 time." 
 
 "All the better for you, and you have an assured 
 income for that period. Why, good heavens, surely you 
 don't hesitate? I am offering you an immediate ten 
 pounds a week instead of six!" 
 
 "I I know," Sunny said thoughtfully. "But three
 
 i9 2 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 years is a long time, isn't it? I don't say I'll be worth 
 any more, but I'm going to try to be. I'd like to 
 think it over." 
 
 "Think it over! Why " He stared at her in 
 astonishment. He had believed that she would jump 
 at the chance, and here was she talking of thinking it 
 over! 
 
 "I'll have to talk to myself about it," Sunny said. 
 "You see" she smiled "I've got to talk to myself, 
 because I've not got anyone else to talk to. I'll just have 
 a chat with Sunny Ducrow about it to-night, Arthur, and 
 let you know in the morning. Only I don't think I'll 
 take it. I don't want to tie myself up for no three years. 
 I've got an idea of things I want to do presently. Be- 
 sides, there's Bert!" 
 
 "Bert? "he said. "Who's Bert?" 
 
 "He's my friend, Bert is. He was in the pickles with 
 me. We started on the stage together, and Bert's a bit 
 lonely, me playing at one house and him at another. I'll 
 have a talk with Bert, too, and see what he says." She 
 rose and held out her hand. "And thank you all the 
 same, " she said. 
 
 " It's a good offer, " he said, "and Barstowe's ' Realms' 
 are in the front. A good many would give something for 
 such a chance." 
 
 "I know," Sunny said. "So-long, Arthur!" And 
 she went out. 
 
 "What the dickens does that girl want?" he thought. 
 
 Sunny knew perfectly well what she wanted. She 
 wanted to get on. She wanted to make a success some- 
 thing unusual, something brilliant. Money was useful, of 
 course, and money would come with success. But 
 money weighed less with her than anything else. 
 
 "Me and Bert has got to get that play written," she 
 thought. "And I'm going to play the heroine. I'll
 
 A Friend Indeed 193 
 
 show 'em all I can do something else besides singing songs 
 in revues. Three years! No." She shook her curly 
 head. "Three years is a long time; still, it's nice to 
 have it offered." 
 
 She lay awake for a long time, that night, thinking it 
 out weighing the advantages with the disadvantages. 
 
 " I'll see what Bert says, " she decided at last, and then 
 went to sleep. 
 
 Bert Jackson was making a success, against his will 
 and against his inclinations. He was beginning to realize 
 that the audience liked him, and he wondered why. He 
 felt a great contempt for the audience that could see 
 anything to laugh at in himself. 
 
 " I don't see nothing to laugh at, I don't. They never 
 laughed at me at the pickles, and I was just the same, " 
 he thought. 
 
 " That's a good line you've taken up, Jackson; stick to 
 it!" the stage-manager said to him. 
 
 "I don't know as I've taken up any line, " Bert said. 
 
 " I mean your miserable, wretched mug. It makes the 
 audience shriek. They like it; keep it up and you'll 
 make a future. Never smile. Smile once and you're 
 done for ever!" 
 
 "He's barmey!" Bert thought. "Smile once and I'm 
 done for ever! What's Sunny say about holding my 
 head up and keeping on smiling? What's a chap to do? 
 First one thing and then another!" 
 
 Early the following morning Bert called at Sunny's 
 lodgings. It was the usual thing. Sunny was taking her 
 lessons, and Bert sat down on the edge of a chair and 
 listened. 
 
 Sunny was a never-ending source of wonder to him. 
 He wondered why she, or any other sane girl, wanted to 
 take lessons; he did not. He hated lessons; Sunny 
 seemed to like them. 
 13
 
 194 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "And the talk she can put on if she likes!" Bert 
 thought wonderingly. "Like any lady!" 
 
 Sunny was free at last, and she turned to Bert. 
 
 "Well, old dear," she asked, "how are you?" 
 
 "Same as yesterday," he said, "same as to-day and 
 to-morrow. There's never no difference with me." 
 
 "What about the play?" Sunny asked. 
 
 He brought out some folded sheets from his pocket. 
 
 'I've written it down; not properly, but just " 
 
 " Sketched it out ? " she said. ' ' That 's fine ! ' ' 
 
 She took it from him and read it intently Here and 
 there she made a note with a pencil; she saw situations 
 that he had not seen. 
 
 "We'll write it together, Bert," she said enthusiastic- 
 ally. " When will we make a start ?" 
 
 "I don't care!" he said. "Any time. Why?" 
 
 She turned round and faced him. She told him about 
 the suggested engagement. 
 
 " If I take it on, good-bye to the play for three years!" 
 she said. 
 
 "Then it wouldn't be no good writing it, " he said. 
 
 "But that's just what we are going to do write it!" 
 she said. "And I ain't going to take this engagement." 
 
 "Not not ten pounds a week?" 
 
 "Not as you could notice," she said. "Not me, Bert 
 dear! " She tapped the paper. "You and me are going 
 to write the play, then at the end of six months I'll go to 
 Barstowe I'll tell him. I'll say to him, 'Give us a 
 chance in your hall with it.' I'll bet he does ! " 
 
 "And I'll bet he doesn't!" Bert said. 
 
 " B etcher !" Sunny said. 
 
 "A bob then!" Bert said. 
 
 She held out her hand. 
 
 " It's a bet, Bert ! Betcher he does ! "
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 NO FOOL 
 
 4 "V/OU'RE a wicked, ungrateful girl, that's what you 
 
 I are ! ' ' Mrs. Melkin said feelingly. ' ' 'Ere, after me 
 toiling and moiling, as the saying is, all my life, just to 
 get you on, me fretting and fuming, worrying myself and 
 wondering what was best to do for you, and looking on 
 you like you was my own child " 
 
 "What's the matter?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "I'm telling you, aren't I? And don't interrupt your 
 elders and your betters and pastors and masters, as the 
 saying is," Mrs. Melkin said. She held up a quivering 
 hand. "What I am saying, Elizabeth Ann Ducrow, is 
 this. After me watching over you and 'elping you as I 
 done, and looking after you and everything, you with 
 your nasty, 'oarding ways! That's what I said, and I 
 say it again your nasty, 'oarding ways, and begrudging 
 me every bite almost as I put between my lips, to say 
 nothing of of of ' ' 
 
 ' ' Lizzie ! ' ' Sunny said. ' ' And that ain't true. I know 
 you want your bit of comfort as well as anyone." 
 
 "'Ere are you getting pounds and pounds a week," 
 Mrs. Melkin said. "And but for me and the education 
 I give you, you might be in the ' pickles ' now. 'Ere you 
 are, earning pounds and pounds, and me living in a 
 wretched 'ole like this!" 
 
 "Oh, that's it!" Sunny said. "You seem a long time 
 coming to it, aunt. You don't like these rooms ? " 
 
 195
 
 i9 6 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I don't," Mrs. Melkin said. "I want to move. 
 You've got a position to keep up, Elizabeth Ann, now; 
 so 'ave I, come to that ! Besides, it's due to me for all 
 I done for you in the past." 
 
 Sunny knew perfectly well that it was not the slight- 
 est use to argue with her aunt. Mrs. Melkin had it 
 in her mind that Sunny owed everything in life to 
 her. But for her, Sunny would never have got on the 
 stage; but for her, Sunny would never have got into 
 the pickle factory; but for her, Sunny would be sell- 
 ing matches or flowers or something in the street. 
 Mrs. Melkin, with tears rolling down her face, ex- 
 plained all this to the landlady, who came upstairs 
 now and again to sympathize with her and call her 
 "Pore dear!" 
 
 "And, would you believe it, that child as I've cherished 
 begrudges me every drop as I put between my lips ! " Mrs. 
 Melkin said. 
 
 Sunny tapped her small foot thoughtfully on the floor. 
 The idea to move, to get a nice little flat of her own, had 
 appealed to her more than once. But she had stood off a 
 little; she did not want to get into debt. Debt was a 
 thing that she hated; it frightened her to the very depths 
 of her honest little soul. 
 
 "I couldn't bear for people to be able to say, 'That 
 there Sunny Ducrow owes money, ' " she thought. 
 
 "I've been thinking about getting other rooms, aunt, " 
 she said. " Only I thought we'd wait a bit. We're com- 
 fortable enough here. It isn't so bad, and it's cheap; 
 and and there's the furniture to think of." 
 
 "There's the 'ire, " Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 "Not me !" Sunny said decidedly. " No hire purchase 
 for me. When I gets a 'ome of my own it's going to be 
 a home of my own. I ain't going to 'ave no tallymen 
 sitting on my doorstep all day and all night, I'm not!
 
 No Fool 197 
 
 I'm going to wait till I can pay for what I want. And 
 it won't be so long, either!" she added. 
 
 "You could get," Mrs. Melkin said, "fifty pounds' 
 worth over two years for ten shillings a week; a 'undred 
 pounds' worth over three years for " 
 
 She proceeded to quote from the advertisements she 
 had read. 
 
 Sunny shook her head. 
 
 "It's running into debt, and no debt for me, thanks!" 
 she said. "In six months we'll be able to buy and pay 
 for what we want, and for six months we'll hang on here, 
 old dear!" 
 
 "You're a wicked, ungrateful girl, that's what you 
 are!" Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 She burst into tears, and rocked herself backwards 
 and forwards. The argument always ended this way. 
 
 "A miser with 'er 'oarding and 'oarding!" Mrs. Melkin 
 groaned. "To think that I should ever see the day ! " 
 
 Sunny had started a small banking account. The 
 revue at the Realm had been running for many weeks 
 now, and had been in every way a brilliant success. 
 Sunny refused to bind herself by a long contract. At 
 the end of the six months she would be free, and it 
 was quite certain that if she wanted to make a new con- 
 tract with Barstowe then, there would be nothing in the 
 way of it. Her song had been a great success. It was 
 the most tuneful number in the whole revue. The 'organs 
 ground it out at every street corner. It was to be seen 
 for sale in the window of every music-seller in the kingdom. 
 "As sung by Miss Sunny Ducrow at the London Realm, " 
 with Sunny 's picture, taken by that great photographer, 
 Mr. Hurlingham, on the cover. 
 
 In her way, Sunny was already a celebrity. People 
 knew her name; when anyone spoke of Sunny Ducrow, 
 no one asked who she was, because everyone knew.
 
 198 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 When she went out into the streets, or got on to an 
 omnibus, people looked at her and nudged one another. 
 "Sunny Ducrow!" they muttered. And Sunny was 
 supremely unconscious of the admiration and interest in 
 their faces. She went on her own way. 
 
 But in one thing Mrs. Melkin was right Sunny was 
 hoarding. There was no doubt about it. She drew her 
 six pounds a week, and she regularly put four pounds of 
 them into her little banking account. Mr. Hurlingham 
 had paid her her fees, and that too had gone into the ac- 
 count. When Sunny had twenty pounds to her credit, 
 that very day she invited Bert to a sumptuous tea at an 
 Aerated Bread Shop. They had poached eggs on toast in 
 honor of the occasion. Sunny Ducrow had become a 
 woman of property ! 
 
 "It's like this here, Bert," she said. "It isn't the 
 money for the money's sake, only there'll come a time, 
 I suppose, one day, when I'll be old and not fit to work. 
 Then I don't want to go to the workhouse; so I made 
 up my mind I'd always save a bit every week. If it's 
 only a shilling, I mean to save a bit and be on the right 
 side. Then you never know, do you ? ' ' 
 
 Bert shook his head. 
 
 "You never know, " he said. " Having a bit of money 
 by you will save trouble. 'Tisn't as if this here stage 
 business is going to last for ever. People '11 get sick of 
 you, and me too, come to that. Supposing me and you 
 saves, Sunny, and get a hundred pounds together" his 
 face brightened up a little "why shouldn't we start in 
 the pickles and jam line on our own? " 
 
 " I'm done with the pickles and jam ! " Sunny said. 
 
 And she meant it; but she did not know what the 
 future held in store for her. 
 
 The twenty pounds had become fifty. A wide-awake 
 film company, realizing that Sunny Ducrow was well
 
 No Fool 199 
 
 advanced on the road to popularity, made her an offer to 
 have a film play written around her, for her to appear in. 
 
 It was Wednesday morning when Sunny got the letter 
 from the Sun Picture Company, and she thought it over. 
 
 On Wednesday there was a matinee at the Realm, 
 and Sunny could do nothing in the matter then. So she 
 wrote and told the Sun Picture people that she had 
 received their letter and would call in the course of a 
 few days. 
 
 At the Realm Sunny was on the best of terms with 
 everyone; she was a general favorite. And with no one 
 was Sunny more of a favorite than with that well-dressed 
 young man, Mr. Arthur Curtiss. 
 
 Mr. Arthur Curtiss was sitting in his private office 
 when Sunny walked in unannounced. Sunny was the 
 only person who ever dared to intrude on Mr. Curtiss's 
 privacy. 
 
 ''Afternoon, Arthur!" she said as she sat down. 
 
 He. smiled at her. 
 
 "Good afternoon, Sunny; but I'm busy!" 
 
 "So am I; that's why I've come. Do you know 
 anything about pictures?" 
 
 "Pictures well " He paused. "I don't know. 
 I'm somewhat of a judge of old masters. I've got a 
 picture that experts say is undoubtedly " 
 
 "I mean films, " she said. 
 
 "Oh, films!" 
 
 "How's my contract stand with regard to films?" 
 
 " I don't know that there is anything in your contract 
 to prevent you appearing on a film, " he said. "No, there 
 isn't. Well?" 
 
 "I've had an offer, that's all!" she said. 
 
 "How much?" 
 
 "They don't say; that's what I want to know." 
 
 "The fact of the matter is, " he said, "I have a friend,
 
 200 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Dawson Perkins, who is interested in a film company. 
 He was dining with me last night, and he spoke of you." 
 
 "What's the pay?" Sunny asked. 
 
 Curtiss smiled. "I never knew a girl so keen after 
 the money as you are, " he said. 
 
 "It isn't the money not for the money's sake. It's 
 this way. There's only me and my health. If I was to 
 fall sick I'd be done, wouldn't I? Well, I want to have 
 a little bit put by. Besides that, I want to get a home 
 of my own; we're only living in lodgings. And that isn't 
 all, either, " she went on. "There's other people I know, 
 sometimes they don't get much luck " 
 
 Sunny closed her mouth suddenly. No one knew, 
 not even Mrs. Melkin, of certain little charities that 
 Sunny had interested herself in. There was the case of 
 Mrs. Hopkins, whose Amy had worked in the pickle 
 factory. Amy had fallen ill, and- had been the only 
 support of her mother and three small brothers and sisters. 
 One night Sunny had found Mrs. Hopkins waiting for 
 her outside the stage-door. 
 
 "I wouldn't have come, my dear I wouldn't have 
 dared to come," she said, "only Amy said you was 
 always kind to her, and so good and generous, and my 
 pore girl is that bad, and " 
 
 Mrs. Melkin waited up for two hours beyond her usual 
 time that night, and when Sunny did come home at last, 
 refusing to give an account of herself, her face was flushed 
 and there was a suggestion of tears about her eyes. The 
 following morning the bank balance was depleted by the 
 sum of five pounds, and since then a pound a week had 
 found its way into the little hovel where the Hopkins 
 family lived. But Amy was getting better again rapidly 
 now and would soon be back at Johnson's. And the 
 Hopkins's case was only one of several ; but Sunny kept 
 her own secrets to herself and no one knew.
 
 No Fool 201 
 
 "What I want is an idea of what it's worth; I don't 
 know anything about it," Sunny said. "If I was to go 
 to these people and they was to offer me a pound I 
 suppose I'd take it!" 
 
 "Rot!" Curtiss said. "I happen to know what Miss 
 Studgarth got for appearing in The Adventures of Annabel 
 she got four hundred and fifty down!" 
 
 "Not not pounds?" Sunny asked, her eyes wide. 
 
 "Pounds, of course!" he said. "But then, of course, 
 she is a celebrity, and you're not half so well known as 
 she is!" 
 
 "About half, say," Sunny said. 
 
 "Well, you're half as well known, then," he said, with 
 a smile. "Shall I speak to Perkins?" 
 
 "First come, first served," Sunny said. "The Sun 
 people wrote me first. I'll pop round and see 'em to- 
 morrow, and, if nothing comes of it, I'll see Mr. Perkins." 
 
 She went out, and hurried to her dressing-room for 
 the afternoon performance. 
 
 The matine'e went as the performances at the Realm 
 always went. Sunny's song had lost nothing of its 
 popularity. The time would come when everybody 
 would be sick of the song. But the time had not come 
 yet Sunny received her usual applause. She was 
 brought on again and again, and had to sing the last 
 verse three times in all. 
 
 She was dressed now; there was nothing before the 
 evening performance would start. But she would just 
 have time to run out and meet Bert, according to their 
 usual custom, and discuss the new play, that was slowly 
 growing under their joint efforts, over a cup of tea in a 
 corner of an Aerated Bread Shop. 
 
 Sunny opened the door of her dressing-room and 
 hurried out, running full tilt into someone who was 
 hurrying along the narrow corridor.
 
 202 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Beg pardon! I "Sunny paused. "Oh, it's you, 
 dear!" 
 
 It was Miss Evelyn Clifforde. 
 
 "Yes; I I am in a hurry," she said hastily. "Don't 
 stop me, and don't " She paused. "Good evening, 
 Sunny!" 
 
 She would have gone on, but Sunny caught her by 
 the arm. 
 
 "What's the matter?" 
 
 "The the matter? Nothing's the matter'" the girl 
 said almost savagely. "You you are always spying on 
 me," she said "always trying to make out that some- 
 thing is the matter. There is nothing the matter 
 nothing at all! Leave me alone, and and mind your 
 own business !" 
 
 Sunny peered into the girl's face. 
 
 "I want to speak to you," she said. "I've been 
 looking for you." 
 
 "I have no time now, and I don't wish to speak to 
 you; leave me alone!" the girl said. 
 
 "I've just got to speak to you!" Sunny said. "Come 
 inhere." She held Evelyn's arm tightly. "Come into 
 my dressing-room; I shan't keep you a minute!" 
 
 "I I'm not coming!" the girl stammered. "I tell 
 you I've got no time; besides, I I don't want! Oh, 
 don't, don't! Leave me alone! Do you know," she 
 said, staring down with dilated eyes in her white 
 face "do you know that sometimes I I just hate 
 you?" 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 " I know. I think I know why, too, " she said. "You 
 come in here; I want to speak to you." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "I'll tell you when we're in there." 
 
 "But I won't Oh, very well, get it over quickly!"
 
 No Fool 203 
 
 They went into the little dressing-room and Sunny 
 closed the door. 
 
 "Now," she said, "what are you going to do?" 
 
 "Going to do what do you mean?" 
 
 "I mean you're going to do something you're going 
 to do something you hate doing, and are ashamed of 
 doing, and you're miserable, and very likely you wish 
 you was dead!" 
 
 "I I do, I do!" the girl gasped. "I wish to heavens 
 I was dead! If I wasn't a coward I I would be dead 
 now. What have I got to live for? " she went on bitterly. 
 " Nothing, nothing ! I haven't a real friend in the whole 
 world ! If I was dead there isn't a soul who would care! " 
 
 Sunny said nothing. She let the girl go on, thinking 
 it was wiser. 
 
 "I'm a chorus girl, and I shan't ever be anything else! 
 I've got no voice. I can't sing like you can. I can't act 
 like you can. I'm just a chorus girl, and they have me 
 here because I'm fairly good-looking. When I get old 
 and ugly it'll be the workhouse. One can't save a lot on 
 two pounds a week, so so so I'm sick of it all. I'd 
 sooner have a good time and finish it than go on living 
 like this!" 
 
 "I saw you last night as I was going home," Sunny 
 said. 
 
 "You were spying!" 
 
 "I wasn't spying neither!" Sunny said with spirit. 
 "I was going home, and I see a car pull up before one 
 of those smart restaurants, and you got out with with 
 someone else someone I know of, and not much to his 
 good, neither!" 
 
 "Mind your own business; it's nothing to you!" 
 
 "Yes, it is!" Sunny said. "It's a lot to me, because 
 I like you, and because I I'm a bit like you said it 
 yourself like what your little sister was!"
 
 204 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Don't!" the girl whispered. "Don't dare speak of 
 her!" 
 
 "But I'm going to!" Sunny cried. "If she was here, 
 wouldn't she talk to you just like I'm talking to you? 
 Wouldn't she say don't don't go and do anything you 
 are ashamed of? Don't do nothing, dear, that will 
 prevent us meeting again in in another life?" 
 
 "I won't listen," the other girl said. "I won't listen 
 to you; I I can't!" 
 
 "You can, you you must! What was her name? 
 Tell me that." 
 
 ' ' Her her name ? ' ' 
 
 "Your sister's name the girl you loved and who 
 loved you. What was her name ?" 
 
 "I I won't tell you; I I can't!" 
 
 "You can, you will! What was her name?" 
 
 Evelyn hesitated. 
 
 "Her name was Dora, " she said. 
 
 "And Dora's dead!" Sunny whispered. "Dead! I 
 don't know much; I used to go to church a bit when I 
 could, only people used to look funny at my rags in them 
 days. I go now sometimes; but it isn't only church, it's 
 something one feels inside one, ain't it? It's believing 
 believing as there's something better than just living in 
 this world, something else to live for than just getting 
 one's meals reg'lar and like that! Oh, I can't talk I 
 know that but you understand. You do understand, 
 you know in your heart, you believe she is waiting for 
 you somewhere! Waiting and hoping and praying as 
 you'll come to her, just like she left you here on earth. 
 You know you know ! You'd be ashamed to face her, 
 you'd be ashamed to feel her kiss, you would ! But you 
 won't. You're going to be what she would have wanted 
 you to be what she expects you'll be. And when the 
 time comes she'll be waiting for you, gel ! She'll be there,
 
 No Fool 205 
 
 I know I know it, and then you'll be glad you kep' as 
 you should keep for her sake for your own sake too. 
 Oh, I ain't clever at speaking I know that but but 
 you understand what I mean, don't you?" 
 
 Evelyn nodded silently; the tears were coming into 
 her eyes. Sunny had watched for them, hoped for them, 
 almost prayed for them. And they were coming now ; the 
 girl's eyes were wet a great tear rolled down her cheek. 
 
 "You're only a girl yourself, little more'n a child, only 
 a little older 'n me!" Sunny whispered. "And there's 
 heaps of 'appiness in this world for you yet if if you 
 don't spoil your life. One day someone'll come and ask 
 you for your love, and you'll give it because he'll be good 
 and honest and worthy of it. He won't be like him I see 
 you with last night. Would Dora have liked to have 
 seen you with him?" 
 
 "She wouldn't, she she wouldn't! She would have 
 hated it!" Evelyn cried suddenly. "Sunny, I I am 
 going to-day with him. I shan't be here to-morrow!" 
 
 "Yes, you will!" Sunny said. "You will for Dora's 
 sake, you will!" 
 
 The girl crumpled up suddenly. The tears came to 
 her eyes. Sobbing, she sank on the floor and covered 
 her face with her hands. 
 
 " It's the the loneliness, the horrible, horrible loneli- 
 ness ! The feeling that there isn't anyone in the world to 
 care! To be quite quite alone! To have no one! Oh, 
 Sunny, Sunny, you don't understand!" 
 
 "I do, dear!" Sunny said. She went to Evelyn and 
 put her arms around her ; she held her tightly. "But you 
 won't be lonely no more," she said, "because you are 
 coming to me to me ! You're going to be with me. I'm 
 going to be just what Dora would have been. You'll 
 come to me instead She paused. ' ' You you won't 
 go. It's not too late yet?"
 
 2o6 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Not too late yet!" Evelyn whispered. "But I 
 promised him, and " 
 
 "Promises don't count when they are made to people 
 like him. You won't go, but you come to me instead, 
 and we'll be like you and Dora would have been. You 
 will ! Say say you will ! ' ' 
 
 " Do you mean it ? " Evelyn looked up. 
 
 Sunny held her tightly. 
 
 "You know I mean it!" she said. 
 
 "But you you would despise me in your heart, or 
 feel pity for me, and I don't want pity." 
 
 "I'd feel proud," Sunny said "proud to think you 
 was so strong and so brave that you could face tempta- 
 tion and put it aside! I'd pray I might be like you, 
 that's all." 
 
 "Then I I will come!" Evelyn whispered. "Sunny, 
 God bless you ! " She clutched the girl hard and tightly. 
 "You've saved me from from " She shuddered. 
 "To-night he'll be waiting for me." 
 
 "I'll be there!" Sunny said. "I'll be there instead!" 
 
 "You you wouldn't dare!" 
 
 "I'll be there, and you'll be coming home with me 
 instead. In future my home is your home, that's all!" 
 
 Evelyn rose to her feet. Her face was pale, but there 
 was a new look in her eyes the hardness and the despair 
 had gone. x 
 
 "Sunny Ducrow, you're a good girl ! " she said. "One 
 day you'll be a wonderful woman!" 
 
 "And one day he'll come," Sunny said; "and when 
 he comes, and you see him with your own eyes, and when 
 you know there's heaps and heaps of happiness left in the 
 world for you, you'll look back and thank God for 
 to-day." 
 
 " I think I thank Him for it now!" Evelyn said.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 A HOME OF HER OWN 
 
 THE evening performance was over. Sunny, with her 
 little face unusually hard and set, went out. She 
 looked about her. At the end of the alley from which 
 the stage entrance opened a motor-landaulette was 
 waiting. 
 
 On the pavement beside the car a man stood. He 
 was not in evening dress, and wore a light coat. He was 
 tall, of middle age, perhaps a little more, dark, and hand- 
 some in a bold kind of way. His nose was large, hooked, 
 and somewhat fleshy. 
 
 He paced up and down beside the car, and now and 
 again stopped to stare down the alley. He glanced at 
 Sunny, half smiled at her prettiness, and looked down 
 the alley again. 
 
 "You needn't wait no longer," Sunny said. 
 
 "I beg your pardon?" he said. 
 
 "Don't mention it!" Sunny said. "All I said was, 
 you needn't wait, because there's nothing to wait for." 
 
 He stared at her. 
 
 "I don't understand." 
 
 "Well, she ain't coming, that's all! She's done with 
 you. She's altered her mind, and I helped her to do the 
 altering. See?" 
 
 Sunny put her hands on her hips and looked him 
 straight in the face. 
 
 "The best thing you can do is to get back to your 
 
 207
 
 208 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 home," she said, "that's all! I thought I'd save you 
 waiting." 
 
 He glared at her. 
 
 "I don't understand you. Are you a messenger 
 from " 
 
 "From Evelyn! Yes, I am, if you want to know. 
 And I ain't ashamed of my name, either; it's Sunny 
 Ducrow! As for you, I know who you are, and if you 
 ain't ashamed of your name you ought to be! She's 
 done; she's through with you. She's altered her mind. 
 You won't see her to-night nor no other nights, nor 
 days neither. She's done and through with you. I've 
 given you the message, and now well, you can hop it, 
 that's all!" 
 
 "You mean that she Miss Cliff orde sent this 
 message through you?" 
 
 "That's right!" Sunny said. "And I don't ever tell 
 lies, neither." 
 
 "And you have been interfering, daring to to inter- 
 fere, to interest yourself in what does not concern you?" 
 
 "In what does concern me! If I see any girl going 
 to spoil her life, I'll up and talk to her!" Sunny said. 
 "I talked to her and got her to listen. Now she's done 
 and through with you, and that's about all! Better tell 
 your shuwer to start the' engine, hadn't you?" 
 
 "Am I to believe you?" he said. 
 
 "You can do just as you like; only it's no good your 
 waiting, because she isn't here and won't be here!" 
 Sunny said. "Wait, if you like. I've said all I wanted 
 to say, except just this. You aren't so particular young, 
 and one day you'll be a lot older, and when you are old 
 and and getting near the end" she paused "then 
 perhaps you'll be sorry at the things you've done and 
 tried to do the bad things, I mean. And you'll be 
 afraid, you will, of the punishment waiting for you."
 
 A Home of her Own 209 
 
 He laughed. 
 
 "You little fool! "he said. 
 
 "Yes, I s'pose I am a bit of a fool!" Sunny said. She 
 paused. "I'm sorry for her," she said softly "very, 
 very, very sorry; but in my heart I am more sorry for 
 you. Good-night!" she said. She turned and hurried 
 away. 
 
 The man stared after her, then he turned to the 
 chauffeur with an oath. "Start the engine, and home!" 
 he said briefly. 
 
 Sunny went to the dressing-room. The others had 
 all gone. Evelyn was waiting there alone, white-faced 
 and anxious, shivering a little. 
 
 "I told him," Sunny said, "and I think he's gone. 
 Come! She held out her hand. "You and I are going 
 home together." 
 
 "Yes, yes, just to-night; this one night, Sunny. I 
 daren't be alone to-night." 
 
 "This one night and every other night, till you get 
 a home of your own, a home that is a home to go to, " 
 Sunny said. "You come now!" She took the other 
 girl by the hand, and hand in hand they made their way 
 out of the darkened place. 
 14
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 A MOVE 
 
 UR idea is this, Miss Ducrow. We'll get one of our 
 
 writers to write up a picture play you to take the 
 leading part. I've got a draft of the idea here. Perhaps 
 you'll look through it." 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "I always look through everything before I sign 
 anything, " she said. " How long is it going to take ? " 
 
 "It will take about ten days, " he said. "You'll have 
 to come out into the country for the different scenic 
 effects. Two will be interiors, which we shall fix up at 
 our studios, the rest are out-of-doors scenes. Can you 
 swim, by the way?" 
 
 " Never swum a stroke in my life! " Sunny said. 
 
 The manager of the Sun Picture Company frowned. 
 
 "That's a nuisance!" 
 
 "I'd learn, if it was necessary," she said. "I'd learn 
 inside a week easily!" 
 
 "But " 
 
 "Anyhow, put it down that I can swim," she said. 
 "Now, go on." 
 
 "Well, it would be necessary for you to swim. In 
 one scene you leap off the deck of a yacht and swim 
 ashore. However, if necessary, we could put on someone 
 else to do it." 
 
 "I'll do it myself!" Sunny said. "Now, about the 
 terms?" 
 
 2IO
 
 A Move 2ii 
 
 The manager looked at her. 
 
 "Well, what terms have you in your mind?" he asked 
 evasively. 
 
 " I've got my own terms in my mind all right, " Sunny 
 said, "but I want to hear from you first. It'll take ten 
 days. One thing you've got to remember. I can't come 
 Wednesdays and Saturdays because of the matine'es, so 
 it'll take about two weeks. Now, what do you say?" 
 She looked at him engagingly. 
 
 "I had not gone into the matter of terms," he said; 
 "but of course we should meet you liberally, Miss 
 Ducrow." 
 
 "You'd have to, " she said; " me learning to swim and 
 all! Besides, there's another firm after me." 
 
 He looked up. 
 
 "Another?" 
 
 "Yes; but that's got nothing to do with it now," 
 Sunny said. "What do you offer me?" 
 
 He paused again. 
 
 " I I thought," he said " we find all necessary things 
 costumes and so on and pay all expenses travelling 
 and and so on" he waved his hand "and pay you, 
 say" he paused again "three guineas a day. That 
 will be thirty guineas for the ten days. Or if it takes 
 longer or less time, proportionately, of course, on the 
 basis of three guineas a day." 
 
 "So you've got that off your chest!" Sunny said. 
 " Now, you just listen to what I've got to say. I know 
 what Miss Studgarth was paid, I know what Nellie 
 Hanson was paid, and lots of others and it wasn't three 
 guineas a day, neither ! My terms is this." She paused. 
 "Ten guineas a day, and a guarantee for not less than 
 ten days. That means you guarantee I don't get less 
 than a hundred guineas for this business, and it's cheap 
 at the price!"
 
 212 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "But it is impossible!" 
 
 "That settles it, then! I'm going round to see Mr. 
 Dawson Perkins of the " 
 
 "Who? "he said. 
 
 "Mr. Dawson Perkins. He's a friend of a friend of 
 mine. Only you wrote first and I gave you first chance. 
 Yes or no?" 
 
 "But I can't, I mean, unless I consult my directors." 
 
 "I'll give you till eleven to-morrow morning, " Sunny 
 said. " If I don't hear I'll go and fix up with Mr. Perkins. 
 You've got my address. So-long!" She nodded and 
 went out. 
 
 "Three guineas a day!" she muttered. "Not taking 
 any, thank you." 
 
 It was barely two hours later that a messenger delivered 
 a letter to Sunny at her lodgings. 
 
 The letter was to accept her terms. 
 
 "I have put the matter before my directors, and, while 
 they are of the opinion that the terms are somewhat high, 
 they are desirous of enlisting your services in our com- 
 pany, and so I am instructed to accept your offer," etc. 
 
 Sunny laughed. "I expect he keeps his directors on 
 a shelf handy, " she said. "Anyhow, that's settled; and 
 now I've got to learn swimming." 
 
 When Sunny made up her mind to do a thing it did 
 not take her long to carry it out. She had to learn 
 swimming, and the following morning she went to the 
 swimming baths and took her first lesson. Three morn- 
 ings later she could swim sufficiently well to keep herself 
 up without outside assistance. By the end of the week 
 she could comfortably swim three lengths of the baths, 
 and the only thing that puzzled her was that she had not 
 been able to swim at the beginning. 
 
 A fortnight later Sunny commenced her work for the 
 film company. By this time she was a fairly proficient
 
 A Move 213 
 
 swimmer, and had accustomed herself to swimming in 
 her clothes. 
 
 It took not ten days, but fourteen in all before the film 
 was complete, and at the end of that time Sunny received 
 a cheque for a hundred and forty guineas to add to her 
 little store in the bank. 
 
 "And now," she said to herself, "I don't see no 
 particular reason why I shouldn't see about getting that 
 furniture and looking for a flat ! We're a bit pushed for 
 room now Evelyn's living with us, and aunt she's 
 worriting and worriting fit to break her heart. I'll see 
 about it, I will!" 
 
 Sunny said nothing to Mrs. Melkin; she went to an 
 agent and received particulars of some score of flats. 
 
 "A pound a week's about what I want," she said to 
 him. "That's fifty pound a year in all. Something 
 small and not too expensive-looking. There's got to be 
 three bedrooms, and a sitting-room, and a kitchen." 
 
 There were many such flats, and Sunny spent three 
 mornings with Bert inspecting them. 
 
 "The more I see of 'em the more muddled I get!" 
 she said. "Everyone looks nice, and everyone's got 
 something against it, Bert." 
 
 "Me, I wouldn't bother!" he said. "Anywhere's 
 good enough to live in!" 
 
 This morning they were making their way back from 
 the southeastern district. They were going to have 
 lunch at their usual Aerated Bread Shop when Bert 
 suddenly pulled up. 
 
 "Look!" he said. "See that!" 
 
 "See what?" 
 
 ' ' Him ! " Bert said. ' ' Johnson ! Lor' , ain't he looking 
 old?" 
 
 Sunny looked. It was true, it was Mr. Johnson of the 
 pickle factory. She had not seen him for months, and
 
 214 Sunny Due row 
 
 now she looked at him interestedly. As Bert had said, 
 he was looking old and careworn. 
 
 "Poor old dear!" she said. "One time, Bert, I used 
 to shake in my shoes when he come along!" 
 
 "So did I!" Bert said. 
 
 Mr. Johnson looked up. He saw them, hesitated for a 
 moment, then came towards them and held out his hand 
 to Sunny. 
 
 "Well," he said, "I'm glad to see you again! I hear 
 you've both been doing well for yourselves. Well, you 
 deserve it, at any rate, Sunny. We missed you at the old 
 place!" He sighed. "We missed you badly when you 
 first left." 
 
 "I'm glad!" Sunny said. "I like to be missed. I 
 hope you've got a girl doing my work as sticks the 
 label on straight now, sir?" 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "Oh, the labels are straight enough," he said. "The 
 fact is, there won't be many more labels to stick on, I'm 
 afraid!" 
 
 "Running short of labels?" 
 
 "Running short of money, Sunny. It looks to me as 
 if I shall have to put the shutters up before long. Bad 
 times and bad debts ; hampered for want of ready money." 
 He sighed. " It's been a hard fight. You were lucky to 
 leave when you did. The others will be finding them- 
 selves out of work, I am afraid, in a few weeks." 
 
 "Law, as bad as that!" Sunny said. 
 
 " Yes, as bad as that ! It's capital the want of capital 
 that's done it. If I could buy in the best markets I've 
 got to have capital; but I can't, and credit means " 
 
 ' ' Ruin I know that. What I say is, pay for what you 
 want, and get the best you can for the money. We're 
 going to have a bit of something to eat, me and Bert; 
 will you join us?"
 
 A Move 215 
 
 Bert stared at her. He wondered at Sunny's daring. 
 In Bert's eyes, Mr. Johnson of the pickle factory was a 
 far greater and more powerful man than Mr. Hemming- 
 way or Mr. Barstowe. 
 
 At a little table at the far back of the tea-shop Sunny 
 sat with her elbows on the table. 
 
 "Now, tell us all about it all about the worries 
 and everything," she said. "Is Bill Wilkins with you 
 still?" 
 
 "Yes, he is still there, poor fellow. He'll have a hard 
 job to find another berth, I'm afraid." 
 
 "How is it you stand?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "It's simply this, Sunny, I don't know why I tell 
 you, but I suppose it's a relief to a man to tell his worries, 
 I'm hampered by want of ready money. Try how I 
 may, I can't get a hundred or two to my credit. If I had 
 a few hundreds I'd be all right. It's just this bad time 
 fruit and vegetables all up, vinegar a ruinous price, unless 
 one can buy it right. Sugar you know what sugar is! 
 Of course ours isn't a big business not like some. It 
 never was; but if I had the ready money I could have 
 pushed on. As it is, we must go under." 
 
 "Won't no one put money into the business?" 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 " How much would you want to keep going the least 
 you could do with?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "A hundred or two, " he said. "Say two hundred and 
 fifty. It would mean all the difference in the world. I 
 could buy stores then for cash. I'd save about thirty per 
 cent. I've got orders enough to keep us going for a long 
 time. But the worst of it is, under the present system the 
 orders don't show enough profit to keep us running, with 
 the wages and rent and other expenses." 
 
 "Supposing you had two hundred and fifty, could you 
 keep going on that?"
 
 216 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Yes. But you couldn't find anyone who would 
 advance me that." 
 
 "I don't know that I can't," she said thoughtfully. 
 "What would you give for two hundred and fifty, sir?" 
 
 "Give?" he said. "Give? Oh well, I would give a 
 half -share in the business!" 
 
 "What are you driving at, Sunny?" Bert asked. 
 
 "I've got an idea, that's all." She paused. " Bert, " 
 she said suddenly, "could you lend me three pounds till 
 the end of the week?" 
 
 "Yes," he said, "of course. But you don't want no 
 three pounds." 
 
 "Yes, I do. You see, all I've got is two hundred 
 and forty-seven pounds. I want to give Mr. Johnson a 
 cheque for two hundred and fifty. As for that there flat 
 and the furniture, it seems to me that it's got to wait a bit 
 yet, Bert. I'd hate to think of Bill Wilkins being out of 
 work and the old place being shut down!" 
 
 ' ' What do you mean ? ' ' Johnson asked Sunny. ' ' Surely 
 you haven't got the money?" 
 
 "That's just what I have got, bar three pounds. Bert 
 is going to lend me that, and I'd love to be a partner, I 
 would! Fancy me being a partner in the business where 
 I used to stick the labels on the pots not long ago ! Law, 
 won't they laugh, Bill and the rest, when they see the new 
 name go up 'Johnson and Ducrow!" 
 
 " Sunny, you mean it ? " Mr. Johnson said eagerly. 
 
 Sunny held out her hand. 
 
 "You'll have two hundred and fifty by this time to- 
 morrow, " she said. "And me and Bert'll come down and 
 see the new name; won't we, Bert?" 
 
 "Good heavens!" Mr. Johnson said. "To to think 
 that you I was practically despairing! I felt sure it 
 would all have to go! Sunny, are you sure you have the 
 money?"
 
 A Move 217 
 
 "I've got two hundred and forty-seven, and Bert's 
 three makes two hundred and fifty. And this time to- 
 morrow I'm going to be your partner. Do you remember 
 that day when you first took me on?" 
 
 " I remember ! I've never forgotten it ! " 
 
 "Do you remember me showing you how the labels 
 was stuck on crooked?" Sunny said. 
 
 "I remember, and you struck me as being smart. I 
 decided to give you your chance. I little thought the 
 time would ever come when you would give me my 
 chance, Sunny!" 
 
 "It's a funny world!" Sunny said. "And there's 
 only one thing to do in it, and that's to hold up your 
 head and keep smiling."
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 THE OLD FRIENDS 
 
 WANK?" Sunny said. "I dare say it is, Bert. I 
 ain't pretending with you no more than I am with 
 myself. Only it isn't all swank, either!" She paused. 
 " I wouldn't have liked the old show to shut up and Bill 
 and the rest to be out of work, nor wouldn't you, Bert!" 
 
 "S'pose I wouldn't!" he said gloomily. "Only that's 
 what it'll come to in the long-run for all of us. People'll 
 get tired of me and you, Sunny, they will! " 
 
 "Not much; but if they do, why, we'll have the pickle 
 factory to go back to now, anyhow! " 
 
 Three days had passed; the money had been duly paid 
 over, and the style of the firm was henceforth "Johnson 
 & Ducrow, Pickle and Jam Manufacturers." 
 
 It had been Sunny's express wish that the new firm 
 should be launched in style. The hands were to have a 
 beanfeast, the cost of which was to come out of Sunny's 
 pocket. 
 
 She had interviewed Mr. Arthur Curtiss and had drawn 
 ten pounds in advance, and Sunny had made her arrange- 
 ments accordingly. And to-day (Thursday) the bean- 
 feast was to take place. There was to be a motor-char-a- 
 banc to take the whole party to Epping. The provisions 
 Sunny had arranged for. The only thing she could not 
 arrange for in advance was the weather. But it happened 
 to be a beautiful day just the very day she would have 
 chosen. 
 
 218
 
 The Old Friends 219 
 
 They were to meet at the pickle factory in Cutway 
 Street, Borough, at eight-thirty precisely. And now, at 
 seven-thirty, Bert and Sunny, Evelyn Clifforde and Mrs. 
 Melkin, were taking their breakfast together. Mrs. Mel- 
 kin was in her painful best. She wore a bonnet with 
 tall, nodding plumes, like one sees on a funeral hearse, 
 and her face was in sombre keeping with her headgear. 
 Her dress of rusty black silk, split where it had been 
 folded, creaked and rustled with her every movement. 
 She had a deep, black-edged pocket-handkerchief, with 
 which she dabbed her eyes now and again. It was evident 
 that Mrs. Melkin had made up her mind to spend a very 
 pleasant and happy day. 
 
 "Now, old dear, if I was you," Sunny said, "reely I 
 shouldn't come. It'll only upset you. It'll get you 
 thinking about the days when you was a young girl and 
 used to go out on beanfeasts and like that. You'll only 
 go and upset yourself; you know you will!" 
 
 "I'll try and bear it," Mrs. Melkin said. "It'll no 
 doubt bring back tender and 'eart-breaking memories, 
 but I'll bear up. If sentiment gets the better of me, I'll 
 withdraw quiet and 'ave a little weep." 
 
 "I shouldn't if I was you," Sunny repeated. "Be- 
 sides, you might get cold sitting about on the wet grass." 
 
 "Sunny Ducrow, I'm going!" Mrs. Melkin said. 
 "And so no more about it, if you please! I should be 
 sorry to think, Elizabeth Ann, that you didn't want me 
 to join in the gay and festering scene!" 
 
 Sunny said no more. It was hopeless. Mrs. Melkin 
 certainly did intend coming, and nothing would stop her. 
 
 Evelyn Clifforde was going too. Sunny had explained 
 that the pickle and jam hands were inclined to be a little 
 rough in their play. 
 
 "But they are a good lot, the best lot in the world!" 
 Sunny had said. "They used to be my friends and they
 
 220 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 are my friends still. Me! I'm one of them when I am 
 with them, and it'll always be like that with me, Evy! 
 I'm going to try to get on, I'm working hard to get on. 
 I am getting on a bit, come to that. Time was not so 
 very long ago I was sticking labels on jam pots there; 
 now I'm a partner. But, whatever happens, I'm not 
 going to lose sight of old friends. Only I know, dear, they 
 ain't your friends, and you mightn't care for them! " 
 
 "If they are your friends, Sunny," Evelyn said, "it is 
 enough for me." 
 
 So she was going. And there was someone else who 
 might just possibly might turn up. Sunny rather hoped 
 that he would not. It was Dobrington. Yesterday 
 evening he had asked Sunny to have a run out with him 
 in his car to Brighton for lunch and back in time for the 
 evening performance. 
 
 "Can't do it!" Sunny said. "I'm going on another 
 sort of beanfeast. Not so far as Brighton quite. You 
 see," she explained, "I'm going on Johnson's beanfeast 
 with my old friends at the pickle and jam factory. See?" 
 
 " I wish I could come too, " he said. 
 
 Sunny laughed. She did not realize that he meant it 
 seriously. 
 
 "Oh, you can come if you like, of course!" she said. 
 "You'll like Bill Wilkins and the rest. Get on fine with 
 them, I should say!" She laugned again. "Anyhow, 
 we start from Cutway Street in the charrybang at half- 
 past eight. If you want to go, you must be there in time." 
 And that was all, so far as she was concerned. 
 
 Of course, there would not be the slightest likelihood 
 that Dobrington would be there. Viscount Dobrington, 
 a very fashionable young man, moving in the very best 
 circles, at a pickle and jam factory jaunt! Not likely! 
 Sunny smiled at the thought. 
 
 "Anyhow, there's as good men as him!" she mused.
 
 The Old Friends 221 
 
 Sunny had made up her mind to enjoy herself. She was 
 not going to wear any old dress. The very best dress she 
 had was not too good for her old friends of the pickle 
 factory. It would be an insult to them if she put on 
 anything less than her very best! 
 
 At eight they were ready. The taxi-cab drew up at 
 the door. Bert helped Mrs. Melkin in. Mrs. Melkin 
 sniffed and wiped her eyes. 
 
 "Don't take no notice of me if I'm a bit sad-like, " she 
 said. "If you see me weepin', don't call no attention to 
 it. Oh dear, it reminds me of the day when me and my 
 pore husband him as is dead " 
 
 "Come on, Evy!" Sunny said. "In with you! Now 
 then, Bert! Right away, driver! Cutway Street, and 
 don't 'ang about!" 
 
 Sunny 's eyes were sparkling. She was brimming over 
 with sheer delight and the joy of youth and kindness. 
 Overhead the sun shone gloriously in a blue sky. Could 
 anyone wish for more ? 
 
 The cab certainly performed the journey in fine style. 
 It dashed over the bridge and made its way into the 
 Borough. Then finally, with a honk, honk ! on the some- 
 what wheezy motor-horn, it turned into Cutway Street. 
 
 And what a sight Cutway Street presented this day! 
 There stood the huge char-a-banc that would hold forty 
 people without crushing. There stood Bill Wilkins and 
 Mr. Johnson and the hands, all in their best and gala 
 attire. 
 
 "Look, look! Don't Billy look fine?" Sunny hung 
 out of one window, Bert out of the opposite one. They 
 waved their hands and shrieked welcome to the impatient 
 crowd on the pavement. 
 
 "There she is ! There she is ! Three cheers for Sunny ! 
 'Allo Sunny! Why, if it ain't Bert, and he's got his neck 
 washed ! Oh, ain't Bert a swell ! How are you, old dear?"
 
 222 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 One stout, good-natured-looking girl threw her arms 
 around Bert's neck and kissed him lustily. 
 
 "Not so fast!" Bert said. '"Ands off! You've 
 crumpled my collar!" 
 
 Mr. Johnson advanced in state. He held out his hand 
 to Sunny and took off his hat. 
 
 "Welcome!" he said. "Ahem " He paused, he 
 cleared his throat, he turned to the others. 
 
 Cutway Street presented a gay appearance. Johnson's 
 Pickle Factory was in possession of the roadway and the 
 pavement, such as it was. The three or four other 
 factories that occupied the narrow, dirty street had struck 
 work for the moment. Heads were thrust out of every 
 window up and down the street. Now silence fell on all. 
 Mr. Johnson was going to make a speech. He stood with 
 Sunny's hand in his, and went red and then pale. 
 
 " Friends ! " he said. " Friends 
 
 "Get on with it!" someone said. 
 
 "Silence! Shut up; hold your row! Let the guv'nor 
 get it off his chest!" 
 
 "Friends," Mr. Johnson said, "this ahem! is a 
 happy day for us, a very, very happy day. We see back 
 among us for a little time, for one short day, alas! I 
 say alas " He paused. 
 
 "Get on with it!" 
 
 "For one short day we see back among us one who I 
 I may ahem! say, I think I may say, is for always 
 enshrined within our hearts our dear, dear little friend, 
 our comrade and true friend, Sunny Ducrow! " 
 
 "Hurrah, hurrah!" Bill Wilkins bellowed. 
 
 Everyone else shouted " Hurrah ! " And Sunny turned 
 red; the tears stood in her eyes. 
 
 "When she was here among us, a simple worker and 
 a good worker too for there was never a better Sunny 
 was everyone's favorite. Everyone loved her, from me
 
 The Old Friends 223 
 
 downwards. Now she is back, just for the day; but that 
 is not all! Look here!" Mr. Johnson waved his hand 
 dramatically. Over the dingy front of the pickle factory 
 had been erected a new board, and on the board, in huge 
 white letters, was painted "Johnson & Ducrow." 
 
 " Sunny 's back!" Mr. Johnson said. "Back in more 
 ways than one! Our luck is her luck; henceforth she is 
 with us, of us not a worker among us, alas!" 
 
 "Don't you believe it!" Sunny said. "I'm going to 
 work for this old show now like I never worked before. 
 I'll bet we're going to make things move, too; why, I'm 
 fair bunged up with ideas! " 
 
 " Hooray, so you always was ! ' ' big Bill Wilkins shouted. 
 "Sunny for ideas all the time ! Eh, boys and girls ? " 
 
 "I don't think I've got anything more to say," Mr. 
 Johnson said, "except that one and all of us from our 
 hearts welcome Sunny Ducrow back among us. May 
 she be of us and with us for many, many years to come ! " 
 
 The speech ended with a hurricane of cheering. The 
 cheering was taken up by the interested onlookers from 
 Morton's Printing Works, from Hopkins & Saunders's 
 Blouse and Underclothing Factory, and the employees of 
 the Black Diamond Boot Polish Factory. 
 
 "Hooray, hooray, hooray! Long life, Sunny Ducrow! 
 Good old Sunny!" 
 
 It was heart-rending! Mrs. Melkin broke down, and 
 howled into her black-edged handkerchief. 
 
 Round the corner of Cutway Street turned a very 
 handsome touring car, but no one took any notice of it. 
 Sunny was the principal figure at the moment. She stood 
 up and looked about her. 
 
 " I am glad to be back, " she said. " I was happy here 
 among you, and we are all going to be happy together 
 again! I'm not going to be sticking labels in the future; 
 there's another job, I think, for me to do. Only one
 
 224 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 thing" she paused "I'm the same old Sunny Ducrow 
 and you're the same dear friends as you've always been. 
 I love you all just as I used to, and I want you to go on 
 liking me the same! We're going to have a happy day 
 together. Aunt's started all right ; she's enjoying herself ! " 
 
 Mrs. Melkin sobbed into her handkerchief. 
 
 "And to-night, after the day's over and done with," 
 Sunny went on, "you're all to come to the Realm. I 
 got seats from Mr. Curtiss for you all, and you'll see me 
 there ! And now now, if we are ready Oh, crumbs ! " 
 She paused. "If it ain't the vis-count after all!" she 
 said. 
 
 It was! Dobrington had arrived! The hands stared 
 at the young man who had descended from the smart car. 
 He was immaculately dressed, and he certainly looked 
 very handsome and distinguished. 
 
 "Toff!" one girl said. "My 'at, we're getting into 
 society, we are ! 'Go's the juke that's blowed in? " 
 
 Dobrington looked round and smiled. "Miss Ducrow 
 said I might come, and so I have come, " he said. " I hope 
 you don't mind! I wanted to know all her old friends. 
 I'm only a new friend of hers, but I am her friend none 
 the less. So I hope you'll make room for me among you 
 all to-day!" 
 
 "That we will, and good luck to you!" Bill Wilkins 
 said. " My name's Wilkins ! " He held out his hand. 
 
 "Mine's Dobrington!" 
 
 "Glad to meet you!" Bill said. "Mr. Harris, Mr. 
 Dobrington; Mr. Allbut, Mr. Dobrington: Miss Stevens!" 
 He introduced them all ; there was a great deal of hand- 
 shaking. 
 
 "Shall you have room for me in the er brake," 
 Dobrington asked, "or shall I follow in the other car; 1 " 
 
 " Plenty of room ! " Sunny said. "We'll all go together. 
 Now then, if we're all ready ! "
 
 The Old Friends 225 
 
 "All aboard!" Bill Wilkins bellowed. "All aboard!" 
 There was a rush for the char-a-banc. 
 
 "May I sit next to you, Sunny?" Dobrington 
 whispered. 
 
 "No, you can't!" she said. "I've got Bill on one 
 side and Mr. Johnson on the other. Sorry, old dear, 
 but 
 
 "All right!" he said. "I'll sit next to that pretty girl 
 with the yellow blouse." 
 
 He did, and that he made himself very agreeable and 
 polite to Miss Ada Harris, of the picking department, 
 there was no doubt. 
 
 "Go hon!" she said. "Hee, hee!" She giggled and 
 blushed and looked coy. She was having the time of her 
 life. 
 
 They were off! The hands from the other factories 
 gave them a cheer and waved their hands enviously. 
 The char-a-banc started. At the corner it gave a jolt; 
 everyone put his arms around everyone's waist; Miss 
 Harris screamed and clung to Dobrington. 
 
 "Ain't we going to be killed?" she demanded. 
 
 "I hope not; yet it would be pleasant to die in such 
 society!" he said. 
 
 But they were not killed. They got round the bend 
 safely; now they were fairly off. The huge contrivance 
 went lumbering through the City and down the White- 
 chapel Road. Bill Wilkins had brought his concertina, on 
 which he was an admirable player. Alf Harris had his 
 mouth-organ; so the orchestra was all right. 
 
 "Now then, Sunny, give us a song!" Bill shouted. 
 "Somethink as we can join in the chorus." 
 
 "I don't know what to sing," Sunny said. "How 
 about my song at the Realm? " 
 
 "No ; give us one of the old ones ! You know, that one 
 as you used to sing when you was in the factory ! " 
 15
 
 226 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "What's that?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "My Old Dutch," said Bill. 
 
 Sunny looked at Bert, Bert looked at Sunny. They 
 both had cause to remember that song. Had they not 
 sung it that eventful night when they had been marched 
 off to the police-station and to fortune, the night that had 
 been the turning-point in their careers? 
 
 "All right!" Sunny said. "Just as soon sing that as 
 any other." 
 
 Bert sat next to Evelyn Clifforde. They were rather 
 tightly packed, but Bert did not mind that; he liked it, so 
 perhaps did the girl. 
 
 "Me and Sunny was run in once for singing that song! " 
 he whispered. 
 
 ' ' You were run in ? You mean taken to ' ' 
 
 "Chokey!" Bert said. He nodded. "All night in 
 the cells for us. I don't regret it, though; nor don't 
 Sunny!" 
 
 "Tell me all about it ! " Evelyn said. 
 
 " Presently, " Bert said. He nodded. " Sunny 's going 
 to begin now, Miss Clifforde." 
 
 Miss Clifforde edged a little nearer to Bert. "I don't 
 see why you should call me Miss Clifforde!" she said. 
 "Do you?" 
 
 Bert shook his head. "I don't, neither; only it's your 
 name!" 
 
 "So is Evelyn, or Evy, as Sunny calls me, Bert," she 
 whispered. 
 
 "You mean " 
 
 "Of course.' 
 
 Bert turned red. It was certainly one of the happiest 
 days he remembered. 
 
 Bill Wilkins struck up the introductory notes on the 
 concertina, and now Sunny gave voice. They were roll- 
 ing and banging down the Whitechapel Road.
 
 The Old Friends 227 
 
 "Now altogether! " Bill bellowed. 
 
 "We bin together naaw for forty year! " 
 
 Even Mr. Johnson forgot his dignity sufficiently to 
 join in. Dobrington did his part lustily; somehow his 
 arm had found its way round Miss Ada Harris's yellow 
 silk waist. 
 
 "Give over now go hon ! " she said. "Not so tight ! " 
 
 "And it don't seem a dye too much! 
 There ain't a lydy living in the land " 
 
 Sunny's song was a grand success. It was Bill's turn, 
 and he obliged with Daarn the Road! 
 
 That song went well too. 
 
 "'Ow about your friend over there, Sunny?" Bill 
 demanded. "That there Mister Dobson cawn't 'e 
 sing?"
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 NEW IDEAS 
 
 "I'M not much in the singing line," Dobrington said, 
 
 1 "but I'll have a cut at it if you like ! " 
 
 He sang Little Grey Home in the West, and sang it 
 exceedingly well and gained much applause. 
 
 "Law, cawn't you sing well!" Miss Ada Harris said. 
 "A fair 'umming-bird you are! What line are you in?" 
 
 "Line? Oh " Dobrington paused. "Line of Suc- 
 cession, I suppose!" he said. 
 
 "What's that? Never 'eard of it! Funny trades 
 there are about now, ain't there?" Miss Harris said. 
 
 Mr. Johnson and Sunny were holding an interested 
 conversation in low voices. 
 
 "I got ideas," Sunny said. "I want to talk to you 
 about 'em ! What we want to do is to get our name up 
 there's nothing like it. We won't supply no more whole- 
 sale houses; we'll have a cut at the retail. " 
 
 "It's easier said than done! It means advertisement." 
 
 "Well, we're going to advertise!" 
 
 "It means money," he said. "But " 
 
 " We'll advertise all right ! I'll talk to Moss about it ! " 
 
 "Moss! Who's he?" 
 
 "Oh, he's an agent; but he knows everything. What 
 I've been thinking is this," Sunny said. "How do you 
 manage now? You supply Jinks and Smith and Jarvis 
 and all the rest; they stick their names on your pots. 
 People think your stuff is made by Jinks. Then Jinks 
 
 228
 
 New Ideas 229 
 
 buys other stuff from other firms stuff not half as good 
 as yours. What happens? Folk buy Jinks's marmalade 
 one time ; it 'appens to be your make. ' Good stuff ! ' they 
 said. 'We'll always get Jinks's marmalade in future.' 
 Next time they get a pot of Jinks's marmalade that was 
 not made by you at all. This time it's off. 'Rotten 
 stuff!' That's how it goes. Now, in future, we ain't 
 going to supply Jinks, nor one of them. We're going 
 straight to the British public. Our pots has got to have 
 our own name on 'em and no one else's Johnson & 
 Ducrow. See?" 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "We're going to push the 'John Crow' brand all the 
 time!" Sunny said. "The best of everything!" 
 
 "I've often thought of cutting the quality a bit for the 
 sake of a better return!" he said. 
 
 "Not on your life, you won't!" Sunny said. "We're 
 going bald-headed for quality all the time! The 'John 
 Crow" brand stands for quality and purity; the same as 
 mother makes. Ask for what you want and see that you 
 get it, and mind it's ' John Crow.' Got that ?" 
 
 He nodded. He laughed, carried away by her 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 "But it's going to cost money, Sunny! " 
 
 "We'll manage!" she said. "No more trade deals. 
 We go right to the British public. We're going to take 
 the British public into our confidence. Come and see 
 our factories; note the cleanliness there. Note that we 
 use the best English-grown fruit bar oranges and 
 lemons, of course the best sugar. If you pay a penny a 
 pound more for ' John Crow ' specialties, you are paying 
 a penny for purity and cleanliness. Is it worth it? Yes, 
 you bet it is. That's my idea. I'll chat with you about 
 this to-morrow! " Sunny said. 
 
 "You're right, Sunny. I think we could build up a
 
 230 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 good trade; but it's the money for the advertising. Noth- 
 ing's any good without advertising! " 
 
 "We will go over that to-morrow," Sunny said. "I 
 think the name, the 'John Crow' that's good enough; 
 and you'll just stick under it, 'The Same as Mother 
 Makes.' That fetches them all the time. See?" 
 
 He did see; he was lost in thought for the rest of the 
 journey. Sunny had put new ideas into his head. He 
 had stuck in a rut for too long. Unless he got out of 
 the rut there was a likelihood of disaster. 
 
 They had arrived. The long and joyous journey was 
 at an end. The char-a-banc drew up under the trees of 
 the grand old forest. 
 
 Epping! It is a place of sheer delight. The rich, 
 who travel in trains de luxe to Scotland, or abroad to the 
 Riviera, have heard of Epping vaguely, as of some place 
 where common people go to enjoy themselves, and do 
 not know what they have missed. 
 
 It is the grandest, finest forest that England can 
 boast of. Where else are there such noble trees, such 
 dells, such glimpses of perfect woodland? Where else 
 does the grass grow so green and so smooth? Where 
 else does laughter ring out more spontaneously or the 
 voices of happy merrymakers rise more joyously to the 
 blue skies? 
 
 Travel far and wide, but you will never beat Epping. 
 It is London's beauty spot; it is the natural recreation 
 ground for tired Londoners; and here they forget the 
 grim, close streets, the humdrum, everyday life of toil. 
 It's a breath of the country. It is more it is a breath of 
 paradise. 
 
 Mrs. Melkin sat under a tree and wept. Tender 
 memories came back to her. She sobbed into her black- 
 edged pocket-handkerchief. 
 
 " It takes me back to when I was a young gal me a
 
 New Ideas 231 
 
 'appy bride 'anging on my 'usband's arm!" she said to 
 herself. "Lor", and it's the same! It ain't altered, it 
 ain't been built over, nor nothing! Oh oh dear! " 
 
 She wept afresh, for it was a thoroughly enjoyable 
 day. 
 
 They had started a childish game of hide-and-seek. 
 People forget that they are grown up and become children 
 again in ttie Epping glades. 
 
 Miss Harris, of the yellow blouse, was eagerly seeking 
 " Mr. Dobson, " as they called him. Dobrington, for his 
 part, had successfully dodged Miss Harris and had found 
 Sunny. 
 
 "It's ripping!" he said. "The day of my life, Sunny! 
 I can never thank you enough for letting me come!" 
 
 "You're enjoying yourself?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "Can you doubt it? " he said. 
 
 "No, I don't! But you've got yourself to thank. 
 Some wouldn't. Some would look down on us, you don't ; 
 that's because you're all right!" she said. She held out 
 her hand to him suddenly. Her eyes met his frankly and 
 kindly. "You were right just now," she said. "You're 
 my friend too. You're not an old friend like these here, 
 but you are a new friend, and none the less you're my 
 friend, and I'm glad to have you for a friend! " 
 
 He bent his head and kissed her finger. 
 
 " How they'd laugh at you for doing that ! " she said. 
 
 "You you mean they kiss in other ways here?" 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 "Then I I must do in Rome as the Romans do, eh, 
 Sunny?" 
 
 Sunny flushed. He put his arms around her suddenly 
 and kissed her on the cheek. 
 
 " They'd understand that ! " Sunny said. "So do I ! " 
 
 She kissed him back, then took his hand and, like the 
 child she was, raced with him through the woods, till Miss
 
 232 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Harris, of the yellow blouse, spying them, gave chase and 
 ran them to earth. 
 
 "It all seems just just wonderful to me!" Evelyn 
 Cliff orde said. She and Bert had wandered away through 
 the woods. "Just wonderful!" She drew a long breath. 
 "A little while ago, a short week ago, I was the most 
 lonely, miserable; unhappy girl in the world. I could see 
 no hope for happiness, or anything else. I " she paused ; 
 her face flushed, then paled "I I won't think of it all 
 now. I'm glad to be here. I'm happier this day than I 
 have been for years ! " 
 
 "So'm I!" Bert said. He looked at her. 
 
 "Why? "she said. 
 
 Bert turned red. 
 
 "You're here, ain't you?" he said. 
 
 The girl flushed too. She said nothing, nor did Bert. 
 Presently, as they walked, her hand managed to slip into 
 his, and they went hand in hand; it is the Epping way. 
 
 Luncheon was on the green grass under the trees, and 
 Sunny did the honors, ably supported by Mr. Johnson. 
 
 There was beer for Bill Wilkins and others who liked 
 it. There was lemonade and ginger-beer and such-like 
 for those of simpler tastes. There was pigeon-pie and 
 steak-pie and other pies, and a ham and tongues and 
 hard-boiled eggs, and mountains of pastry. And, best 
 of all, there was appetite and a proper appreciation of 
 Sunny 's bounty. 
 
 Bert saw to Evelyn's plate before his own. 
 
 "You're eating nothing, Bert!" she whispered. 
 
 "I I can't. I'm generally one for my meals, too," 
 he said. "But to-day, somehow, and and you beside 
 me Have a bit more 'am? " 
 
 Dobrington overheard. "'Here with a loaf beneath 
 "this bough, a book of verse, a flask of wine, and thou,'" 
 he quoted.
 
 New Ideas 233 
 
 "We ain't got no wine, " said Bert. "And as for books 
 of verses, we're having a holiday, we are!" 
 
 Dobrington smiled. He toasted Bill Wilkins in a glass 
 of ale. 
 
 "And 'ere's to you, " Bill said, "and many of 'em, and 
 hope to see you again. You're our sort, you are, Dobson ! " 
 
 A great compliment from Bill, and Sunny clapped 
 her hands. 
 
 "Order! Silence!" Bill roared suddenly. "Speech!" 
 He rose to his feet ; he looked red and awkward. 
 
 "I got a few remarks to make," he said. "I ain't 
 much in the spouting line. Come to that, I ain't got the 
 knack of saying nice things pretty. See? Only what I 
 got to say is this. This 'ere is a 'appy day for all of us. 
 We're 'appy to be 'ere out in the open, under the sky, 
 with the trees and grass and shrubs and birds and things 
 around us. We're 'appy to 'ave our health and our 
 appetites and like that, but we are 'appiest of all 'aving 
 our little Sunny back with us, boys and gels. Elizabeth 
 Ann she used to be, but one day it come to me she was 
 like a streak of sunshine in the place. So I up and called 
 'er Sunny, and Sunny it's been from that day, and Sunny 
 it'll be to the end." He paused. "Boys and gels and 
 Mr. Johnson, likewise Mr. Dobson a stranger, but a 
 good sort I want you all to stand up and drink 'er 'ealth. 
 Sunny Ducrow! And may Heaven bless her and give 
 'er all she arsts of life! May she be always as she is 
 now the 'appiest, brightest, best, and dearest kid as ever 
 trampled on this earth ! Sunny Ducrow ! " 
 
 They rose, all of them; they lifted their glass of beer, 
 of lemonade, or soda-water, as the case might be. 
 
 "Sunny Ducrow!" they said. "Sunny!" 
 
 And Sunny sat there alone on the green grass. The 
 tears rose in her bright eyes and streamed slowly down 
 her cheeks.
 
 234 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Mrs. Melkin, in the background, broke into loud sobs 
 of supreme anguish. 
 
 "There there is something that I I would like to 
 say ! " Evelyn Clifforde's voice trembled a little; her face 
 was white. 
 
 They were silent. 
 
 "I am one of Sunny's new friends, like Mr. Dobson, 
 I was friendless, poor, and lonely, helpless, and in great 
 danger. She " She paused. "I can't tell you now. 
 I was alone and without a friend. Before me was a great 
 and terrible danger. I did not care. I had lost all fear, 
 as I had lost all hope. I stood on the threshold; another 
 step, and it would have been over. And then she she 
 stretched out her little hand to me; she drew me back; 
 she put her arms around me and kissed me, and woke 
 hope and love again in my heart. She she saved me 
 from something worse than death " The girl's voice 
 broke. "You all say, 'Heaven bless Sunny Ducrow!' 
 I can say it from my heart ! Heaven bless her ! Heaven 
 bless the dearest, truest, best friend that ever a girl had ! 
 Heaven bless her! " 
 
 Silence for a moment. The girls looked at one another. 
 The men stood awkwardly. Then big Bill Wilkins 
 stepped forward, took her hand, and held it tightly. 
 
 "And Heaven bless you too, my dear, " he said, "and 
 make you a happy woman one of these 'ere days!" He 
 stooped and kissed her, and cared nothing that Bert 
 glared at him with fine fury in his eyes.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 THE FUTURE 
 
 BACK in the gray dusk, back through the streets as the 
 lamps were being lighted. Back full early, for the 
 day's pleasures were not yet over. The char-a-banc did 
 not take them back to Cutway Street ; it drew up before 
 the brilliantly lighted portals of the Realm. 
 
 Sunny had left them at Snaresbrook and had gone 
 back by train to save time. With her were Evelyn and 
 Bert and Dobrington. 
 
 "It's been a ripping day!" Dobrington said. "I 
 wouldn't have missed it, Sunny, for all the world!" 
 
 They had one end of the first-class carriage to them- 
 selves. Bert and Evelyn occupied the far end. Sunny 
 glanced across at them. She smiled; her eyes danced. 
 
 "You were saying?" she asked. 
 
 " I said it's been the day of my life! " He, too, glanced 
 at Bert. "I thought," he said in a whisper "once you 
 told me " 
 
 "Looks like I'll be having him up for breach of 
 promise one of these days, don't it?" Sunny said, with 
 a laugh. 
 
 Dobrington laughed too, and there was sheer enjoy- 
 ment and happiness in his laughter. 
 
 "I wonder what they will like best for a wedding 
 present?" he inquired. "By George, I'll give them a 
 stunner!" 
 
 And now they were at the Realm. They were in 
 
 235
 
 236 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 good time. Bert had gone to fill his engagement at 
 Hemrningway's. 
 
 Dobrington was in front tcnnight, so were the hands 
 from Johnson's Pickle Factory, making a solid square in 
 the very middle of the gallery. 
 
 The curtain was up; the performance commenced. 
 
 "Pass it along!" Bill Wilkins whispered. "When she 
 comes on, give voice, boys and gelsi Shout for her. 
 Remember she's one of us! Now then, are you ready?" 
 
 It was Sunny's cue; she stepped on to the stage. 
 Usually she was greeted with some little applause, for 
 her name was becoming well known now, but to-night! 
 To-night the whole house rang with a sudden shout 
 of "Sunny! Sunny! Sunny!" One long, bellowing roar 
 from the gallery. It was taken up in a moment by the 
 pit and the rest of the gallery. The house was filled with 
 that one word her name! 
 
 Bill Wilkins stood up and waved his hat wildy. It 
 whirled out of his hand and fell into the stalls. He 
 grasped someone else's hat, and waved it till that fol- 
 lowed his own. 
 
 "Hurrah, hurrah!" he shouted. "What's the matter 
 with Sunny Ducrow?" 
 
 "She's all right!" they answered. 
 
 It was some considerable time before the performance 
 was allowed to go on. 
 
 Sunny stepped forward to the footlights. 
 
 "You," she said, "you, Bill Wilkins and the rest, 
 you've got to be quiet here," she said. "We aren't at 
 Epping now!" 
 
 "Hurrah, hurrah!" shouted Alf Harris. In his excite- 
 ment he leaned perilously over the edge of the gallery. 
 He lost his balance. There might have been a tragedy, 
 but someone just managed to catch him by the heels 
 and haul him back to safety.
 
 The Future 237 
 
 And then at last the revue was allowed to go on. 
 
 But Sunny 's song was the signal for a fresh demon- 
 stration. This time the whole house pit, stalls, dress 
 circle, and all joined in. Sunny had an ovation. Her 
 song always went, but it went to-night as never before. 
 
 The curtain came down at last; the long day was 
 over. Tired and happy, they made their way from the 
 gallery. 
 
 Tired and happy, Sunny put on her hat, in her dressing- 
 room. 
 
 " It's been splendid, hasn't it? It's all been splendid! " 
 she said to Evelyn. 
 
 "It's been the happiest day I have known for many, 
 many years. I never thought I'd be as happy as I've 
 been to-day!" the girl said. 
 
 "And this isn't nothing to what you'll be one day, 
 Evy ! " Sunny said. She tucked her friend's hand through 
 her arm. 
 
 "Now we'll go home. I expect by this time aunt's 
 cried herself to sleep 1" she said.
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 AN APPEAL 
 
 WELL, it's not our trouble," Bert said. "He's old 
 enough to go out without a collar and lead on." 
 
 Sunny looked grave. 
 
 " I shouldn't like to think that anyone I liked so much 
 as I do him, should come to any harm," she said. 
 
 Evelyn shrugged her shoulders. 
 
 "Men are all the same," she said. "Sometimes I 
 begin to think there's not one nice man in the world!" 
 
 Bert shifted uneasily in his chair. 
 
 "Present company always excepted!" Evelyn said. 
 
 "And you mean to say," Sunny said, "that he goes 
 about with her?" 
 
 "I hate speaking about anyone, only everyone knows 
 " Evelyn paused. 
 
 "Hush '."Sunny said. 
 
 Silence fell on them all three. Sunny's pretty face 
 looked very grave, a little careworn even. A full month 
 had passed since that day at Epping, and many things 
 had been crowded into these four weeks. There was the 
 prospect of a big and gorgeous revue something new and 
 startling in the way of revues, something that would take 
 London by storm being put on at the Realm before very 
 long; and it was being whispered that there would be a 
 big part for Sunny Ducrow. But Sunny herself had said 
 nothing on the subject. Then there had been vast 
 changes, considering the time had been so short, at the 
 
 238
 
 An Appeal 239 
 
 pickle factory. Sunny had had a long interview with 
 Mossy Bernstein, and that good-natured little man, 
 clever and far-seeing, had allowed himself to be per- 
 suaded by Sunny's eloquence. More money had been 
 found for Johnson's, and a big advertising campaign had 
 been commenced. Henceforth Johnson & Ducrow would 
 serve the public direct, and not through the wholesale 
 houses, who stuck on their own labels. 
 
 But this matter that the three were talking over this 
 morning was less pleasant than the rest. It concerned 
 Lord Dobrington, "The Vis-count," as Bert persisted in 
 calling him. 
 
 Only twice since that excursion into Epping had 
 Sunny seen him. She had liked him sincerely, liked him 
 as a good, true, honest, and honorable friend, and it had 
 hurt her to see him as she had. But she had said nothing. 
 It was Bert who had blurted out the truth this morning. 
 
 "Going to the dawgs, he is!" Bert said, and then 
 looked round to see the effect of his statement. Sunny 
 turned a shade white; Evelyn, looking up from her 
 needlework, nodded. 
 
 "Everyone knows what she is!" Evelyn said. "Bar- 
 stowe would not have her on any of his halls. I " 
 She paused and flushed, and then bent her head over her 
 needlework. 
 
 There was silence between them. Sunny's face was 
 still white; her brows were contracted into a frown. 
 
 "Who is she, who is she, anyhow ? ' ' she asked suddenly. 
 
 "Who? Gilly Casson?" Evelyn said. "It doesn't 
 matter who she is; it's what she is!" She looked up, 
 her eyes and Bert's met, Bert turned red. 
 
 "Best say nothing about her," he said. "One thing, 
 she isn't the sort you'd care to know anything about, 
 Sunny. Not in your line, nor nor Evelyn's either, nor 
 mine, come to that!"
 
 240 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Sunny sighed. 
 
 "I've heard about her," she said. "She she takes a 
 little more than is good for her." 
 
 "That's right!" Bert said. "And he's getting to be as 
 bad; so they say." 
 
 Sunny shivered. 
 
 "What a shame! A nice chap like him, such a nice, 
 clean sort of chap! Oh, it's a shame, a shame! That's 
 what it is!" 
 
 "And what makes it more surprising to me," Evelyn 
 said, "is that once I thought he he thought such an 
 awful lot of you, Sunny!" 
 
 "So he did, and so did I of him!" Sunny said. "We 
 were good friends, Dobrington and me. You remember 
 that day in Epping?" 
 
 "It was just after that he met her. She was dancing 
 at the Mono, getting about three quid a week. Then 
 Dobrington saw her; he went mad about her. He got 
 her a lot of Press notices must have cost him pretty 
 dear. Anyhow, she began to go up. I know there was 
 half a dozen managers crazy to get her. Old Rostheimer 
 was mad about it, but Hemmingway wouldn't have it 
 more credit to him! And Rostheimer had a fearful row 
 with him. I heard 'em " Bert paused. "Anyhow, 
 she's getting about eighty pounds a week, and you don't 
 pick up a paper unless you see her in it, either as a picture 
 or as an advertisement for tooth-wash, or something. 
 All done in a month, too!" 
 
 "And at Dobrington's expense, " Evelyn said. "What 
 fools some men are ! And to look at her she's nothing ! " 
 
 "Hush!" Sunny said. She never talked of other 
 women that way; she did not like to hear it, either it 
 hurt her. 
 
 "Perhaps she means to be nice," she said. 
 
 Bert scoffed.
 
 An Appeal 241 
 
 "She means to get on!" Evelyn said. 
 
 "I don't blame her for that; that's what I're always 
 meant to do myself!" Sunny said. 
 
 "But your way and her way are different," Evelyn 
 said. "Your way is to work and do your best for your- 
 self, and go straight and honestly, and help others at 
 the same time as you are helping yourself just as you 
 helped me and " 
 
 "That's nothing!" Sunny whispered. She slipped her 
 hand into Evelyn's. 
 
 "Her way is different. Her way is to get hold of some 
 young fool like Dobrington and make him spend his 
 money on her, then marry him and become a fine Society 
 woman. Oh, he's rich enough even for her ! We all know 
 that. I bet you they are married before the year's out ! " 
 
 "I'd be sorry!" Sunny said. She turned and stared 
 out of the window. "I'd hate to think he had married 
 a girl like that. He ought to have a good wife. I'm 
 sorry about it, more sorry than I can say. I liked him 
 lots, and She paused. The tears had come into her 
 eyes ; she forced them back. Yes, she had liked Dobring- 
 ton, had thought him a good fellow, a good companion, 
 a true friend; and now it seemed as if it was all going 
 to pieces. 
 
 Bert saw that she was troubled and worried, and 
 turned the conversation. Time was going on; of Sunny 's 
 six months with the Realm people, more than half had 
 passed. His own engagement with Hemmingway would 
 come to a natural conclusion at the end of the present 
 production. It was an open secret that Bert was making 
 a big success. He was so successful that his name not 
 only appeared in the programmes, but in the newspaper 
 advertisements as well. Bert's fame was spreading. 
 People heard of him and came to see him, and went 
 away not disappointed. 
 
 16
 
 242 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Me and you ought to be playing in the same house; 
 we did!" he said to Sunny. 
 
 "Yes," Sunny said. "I've been thinking about that 
 sketch. We've finished it, and it's pretty good good 
 enough to try!" 
 
 Bert shook his head. He had developed some business 
 capacity. 
 
 "I've been thinking about that," he said. "We've 
 got to put that sketch aside just yet. Tell you why. 
 We've got to make money. We need it. When we've 
 made a bit, and can afford to take a risk, we'll put that 
 sketch on ourselves. If we lose, it won't break us! 
 See?" 
 
 "You're right!" Sunny said. "They've treated me 
 jolly well at the Realm. Arthur Curtiss is a dear; so's 
 Barstowe, only he don't want anyone to know it. You've 
 got to get a job there along with me in the next pro- 
 duction, Bert." 
 
 "I shan't never get a job at the Realm, " Bert said. 
 
 "Betcher!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Betcher I don't!" Bert said. 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 " I'm going to talk to Barstowe about you. Don't you 
 settle anything, Bert, till you've heard." 
 
 Bert rose. It was time for him to go. 
 
 "I'll wait a bit. Hemmingway spoke to me about 
 fixing up for the new production when it comes off, but 
 I didn't say anything. I waited to see what was going 
 to happen. So-long, Sunny!" 
 
 Sunny turned and stared out of the window. She had 
 a reason. 
 
 "So so-long, Evy!" Bert said. 
 
 Evelyn looked up ; her pretty face flushed a little. 
 
 "Good good-bye, Bert!" she said. She dropped her 
 eyes, so that her lashes touched her cheeks; her hand,
 
 An Appeal 243 
 
 holding the needle and thread with which she was doing 
 her mending, trembled a little. 
 
 Bert looked at her. He gave a great sigh. He took 
 a step towards her, paused, and then made for the door. 
 
 "So-long, all!" he said, and went out. 
 
 Sunny turned and looked at Evelyn. 
 
 "Gone, has he?" she asked. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Never says much, does he? That's like Bert; ain't 
 got much courage in some things. But Bert's all right," 
 Sunny said. "Straight and honest and sober clean 
 through and through, Bert is." 
 
 "I I know!" Evelyn said. 
 
 "Of course, being engaged to Bert " Sunny began. 
 
 "You you mean, I that is " Evelyn stammered. 
 
 "Well, sort of engaged," Sunny said. "Me and Bert 
 are going to be married when I'm forty unless we alter 
 our minds in between. If he finds someone else I shan't 
 worry particularly!" 
 
 Evelyn laughed a little unsteadily, then she went on 
 Nyith her sewing. 
 
 Mr. Gibbins had arrived to give Sunny her hour's 
 tr.ition. Whatever happened, Sunny never missed this 
 h^ *tr with the gentle, painstaking old man. Day by day, 
 week after week, Gibbins came, and Sunny studied hard. 
 However busy she might be, she never begrudged the 
 hour that she spent with the old man. And she was a 
 pupil to be proud of intelligent and keen to learn. 
 Sunny was progressing rapidly. 
 
 "That child is a genius!" old Gibbins said to Mrs. 
 Melkin. "She can learn anything she wants to learn; 
 she can bring her whole intellect to bear on a subject 
 until she has mastered it. I never saw such a pupil as 
 her in my life!" 
 
 "Takes after 'er mother's side of the family," Mrs.
 
 244 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Melkin said. "Me! I was always the same. The 
 number of sustificates I got you'd be surprised when I 
 was a gel at school!" 
 
 Evelyn went on with her needlework while she listened 
 to Sunny taking her lesson. The lesson was barely over 
 when there came a startling double rap on the front door. 
 A few moments later the landlady came up. 
 
 "There's a lady arsting to see you, Miss Ducrow; 
 come in a big motor-car, she has, and seemed quite the 
 lady. What'll I do about it? " 
 
 Mr. Gibbins was preparing to go; he was putting the 
 books away; his work with Sunny was over for the day. 
 
 " Wants to see you pertickler and private! " the woman 
 said. 
 
 "I'll see her!" Sunny said. 
 
 Evelyn gathered up her needlework. 
 
 " I'll go into the bedroom till she's gone, " she said. 
 
 "So-long till to-morrow!" Sunny shook hands with 
 Gibbins. "And thank you so much for being so patient 
 with me!" 
 
 " Patient, my dear ! Never was a man's patience taxed 
 less! It's a sheer delight to teach you!" he said. "One 
 day I shall miss " He paused sadly. 
 
 " No, you won't !" Sunny said quickly. " Something'll 
 turn up before I stop having lessons. You see if it 
 don't!" 
 
 He was gone. He stood aside on the narrow stairs to 
 allow a veiled lady to ascend. She made him a faint 
 inclination of her stately head. 
 
 Sunny stood by the door. 
 
 "Come inside!" she srid pleasantly. "You want to 
 see me?" 
 
 "Yes, I want to see you, Miss Ducrow." 
 
 Sunny looked at her visitor; there was something 
 familiar in the voice, but her face was so covered by a
 
 An Appeal 245 
 
 heavy veil that it was quite impossible to make out who 
 she was. 
 
 "Well, come in and sit down!" she said. "Is it any- 
 thing to do with advertising? " 
 
 "No, not with " 
 
 "Anything to do with the stage or the pickle factory? " 
 
 "With with neither!" the visitor said. 
 
 "Photography very like?" Sunny said. "Or picture 
 palaces ? ' ' She smiled. 
 
 "No." 
 
 Sunny wrinkled her smooth forehead. 
 
 "Then yeu've got me all right!" she said. "Say, who 
 are you, and what do you want with me? " 
 
 The visitor raised her veil, and Sunny stared at her. 
 Surely somewhere she had seen those pale, proud, beauti- 
 ful features before! The face was familiar, but she could 
 not place it. 
 
 "I am Lady Blessendale," the visitor said. 
 
 "Law!" Sunny gasped. "So you are, and I didn't 
 tumble to it! You see, the first time I saw you it was 
 only for a moment, coming out of Hurlingham's studio; 
 then, when I saw you at the concert, you were not dressed 
 in outdoor things, so " 
 
 "I quite understand. You will think it strange that I 
 have come to see you, Miss Ducrow." 
 
 "Not a bit!" Sunny said, though in her mind she did 
 think it strange. 
 
 " In in fact, as a matter of fact, I am terribly worried, 
 very anxious, and I have come to you as one friend to 
 another. You are only a child, our positions in life are 
 different, yet there is about you something so frank, some- 
 thing so transparently honest and honorable, that I I 
 thought of you, and no sooner had I thought of you than 
 I resolved to see you and ask you to help me if you 
 could."
 
 246 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I'm glad you came!" Sunny said gently. "Sit 
 down!" She took the Countess's hand. 
 
 "Miss Ducrow," her ladyship said, "when one is 
 troubled and anxious almost at one's wits' ends, as I 
 am one is like the drowning man who is supposed to 
 clutch at a straw." 
 
 "And I am the straw?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "I I did not quite mean that!" 
 
 "Never mind, it's near enough! Only, no straw never 
 saved no drowning man yet! There is only one thing to 
 do" Sunny paused "and that is, to hold your head up 
 and keep smiling all the time!" 
 
 "Sometimes it is difficult sometimes utterly im- 
 possible. I I tried not to believe. I had seen veiled 
 suggestions in some of the lower-class so-called Society 
 papers those papers that appeal to a vulgar section of 
 the public by making veiled attacks on persons of good 
 position. People have sent me copies of these papers 
 marked so that I should not miss the horrible things!" 
 She shuddered. ' ' When one is in trouble, one finds many 
 kind friends to help heap the burden of trouble on to one's 
 shoulders, Miss Ducrow!" 
 
 She spoke bitterly; her face was hard and cold; there 
 was no suggestion of tears in her beautiful eyes. Sunny 
 looked at her wonderingly, then slowly she began to 
 understand. This woman was suffering terribly, but her 
 natural pride forbade her breaking down like another 
 woman might. 
 
 "You've come to see me!" Sunny said. "There's 
 something you think I might perhaps help you with! 
 Just tell me what it is and, if it is possible, I'll do 
 it!" 
 
 "You are a good little thing!" her ladyship said. "If 
 if it was only " She paused; she looked steadfastly 
 at Sunny.
 
 An Appeal 247 
 
 "Who was the old man I passed on the stairs?" she 
 asked. 
 
 ' ' Him ? That was Mr. Gibbins, my tutor, ' ' Sunny said. 
 
 "Your tutor! Then you have " 
 
 "Of course! You see, I started life" Sunny hesi- 
 tated "started life with the odds against me a bit!" 
 She laughed. "I hadn't much time for school. I did my 
 best, but I kept away a good bit had to, you know. It 
 kept the School Board Inspector busy hunting for me. 
 So I did a bit of good that way ! " She laughed. "Then 
 I got into the pickles, you know, and then on to the stage. 
 And then I made up my mind I'd learn things, so I got 
 Mr. Gibbins to come, and he^s been coming months now 
 and teaching me and making me read with him to im- 
 prove myself. However, you did not come here to hear 
 about all that, did you?" She smiled. 
 
 "No, I am afraid I did not! I came to ask you to 
 help me if you could. I remembered that my son thought 
 a great deal of you. He liked you; he used to speak to 
 me sometimes about you in a manner that I thought 
 almost exaggerated. You are only a child, of course; 
 but he admired you immensely and liked you as a friend. 
 He told me about that trip to Epping and how he enjoyed 
 himself, and how much you were thought of by your old 
 friends. In fact, Stanley sang your praises to me till I 
 began to feel just a little a little anxious till I reflected 
 that, after all, you were only a child! " 
 
 "That's all," Sunny said. "Go on! " 
 
 "It is very difficult for me to go on," her ladyship 
 said. "Miss Ducrow, can you not imagine that it cost 
 my pride something for me to come here to you ? " 
 
 "I know it did. I been thinking about that all the 
 time'." Sunny said. "Go on! You've got nothing to 
 worry about." She held out her hand. "I'm glad to see 
 you, and if I could do anything to help you I'd be proud
 
 248 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 and happy, because I liked him just as he liked me. I 
 thought he was the best and the nicest " 
 
 "And so he was till till he met this this horrible 
 woman." Her ladyship shuddered. "Miss Ducrow, I 
 want you to help me to save my son from the claws of 
 this terrible woman ! You have heard you surely have 
 heard?" 
 
 "I've heard something," Sunny said. "We were only 
 talking about it just now Bert, Evelyn, and me. And 
 they were saying what a pity it was." 
 
 "Pity! It is something more than a pity! It is 
 horrible unbearable intolerable to me, his mother. 
 What can I do? What what can I do? He is stubborn 
 and obstinate, yet good. He tells me that he loves this 
 creature, and that he will never be happy till she is his 
 wife. His wife think of that!"
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 THE LION AND THE MOUSE 
 
 HER ladyship rose and paced the room with short, 
 nervous steps. "His wife, Miss Ducrow! Ours is 
 a proud family we have been proud of our unsullied 
 blood for many generations; and and now my son, my 
 eldest and only son, thinks of marrying this woman, a 
 dancer, a creature of the gutter, and putting her into the 
 place that is now mine! Think what it means to me, the 
 shame of thinking that such as she can come after me; 
 that by one act he can sweep aside all the sacred traditions 
 of our family a nobody, a lowly born, coarse " 
 
 "Wait a bit!" Sunny said. "Wait a bit! It's like 
 this with me. I'm not so keen about this here tradition. 
 I don't see it is much to us. If she's a nice, good, sweet, 
 loving girl, and he loves her, that's everything. Tradi- 
 tions aren't going to make up for them not loving one 
 another, nor isn't family pride and and geographical 
 trees, or whatever you call 'em. If she's a good girl, and 
 sweet and nice and pretty, and he loves her, what does 
 it matter where she came from so long as she came clean? 
 See?" 
 
 "I do see, and I think, to a certain extent, you may be 
 right; but this woman is not good, she is not nice, she 
 does not love my poor, misguided boy. She wants his 
 money, his position, his title, and he is so madly, blindly 
 infatuated that he cannot see it. I have talked to him; 
 my solicitors have spoken to him. I dread, absolutely 
 
 249
 
 250 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 dread the knowledge reaching his father, yet it must in 
 time. Then I thought of you. I remembered how much 
 he admired you. I wonder if you could have any influ- 
 ence with him to part him from this woman, this creature 
 who calls herself Gilly Casson!" She shuddered as she 
 uttered the name. " If you cannot, or do not wish to help 
 me, will you say so?" her ladyship said; "and then I 
 will go, apologizing to you for wasting your time." 
 
 "You sit still, " Sunny said; "sit there. Gilly Casson? 
 Yes; I have heard about her." 
 
 "And nothing to her good or her credit?" 
 
 "I don't like talking about folk, but it People say 
 she's not " Sunny paused. 
 
 "Is she, in your opinion, a fit wife for my son, Lord 
 Dobrington?" 
 
 "I don't think she is!" Sunny said. 
 
 " Then will you help me no matter how, in any way 
 do something to to open his eyes ? He thinks her perfec- 
 tion; she has blinded him; his brain has turned. One day 
 he will come to his senses and will realize with horror 
 what he has done unless we can drag him from the verge 
 of the precipice now. For his own sake, for mine, for his 
 father's, for the sake of our family traditions, our pride, 
 will you help me?" 
 
 "I don't see what I can do, but if I can do something 
 I will, for his sake and yours, and maybe for his father's; 
 but I don't give that for the family traditions and that 
 sort of thing," Sunny said. 
 
 " So be it. Then you will help me ? " 
 
 "I'll do anything I can," Sunny said. "But if he 
 won't listen to you I don't suppose he'll listen to me." 
 
 "Try, try, try!" she whispered. "Try, and if you 
 succeed, you will find you have made a very grateful and 
 sincere friend in me, Miss Ducrow. Somehow I have 
 faith in you," she went on, "great faith! You look so
 
 The Lion and the Mouse 251 
 
 bright, so intelligent, so trustworthy, so so brave and 
 you are brave ! Any girl who is fighting her way upwards 
 single-handed must be brave. You are making that fight, 
 and they tell me you are winning your way up. Help 
 me, and you will find that I am a very grateful woman." 
 She held out her hand and Sunny took it. 
 
 "I'll help you and him if I can. I'd hate to think he 
 was ruining and spoiling his life." 
 
 "Thank you, child. I do not know why, but you have 
 given me fresh hope." In the doorway her ladyship 
 paused. "Have you ever heard of a place called" 
 she hesitated ' ' Rendlesham's ? ' * 
 
 Sunny shook her head. 
 
 "It is what is called a night club." 
 
 "I never been to one," Sunny said; "don't mean to 
 either! Night's the time for sleep and rest after work." 
 
 "You are right!" her ladyship said. "But others do 
 not agree with you. I hear that they my son and that 
 woman are always there, night after night. I thought 
 perhaps you might " 
 
 "I'll see about it," Sunny said. 
 
 Her ladyship went out, and Sunny sat down to think.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 SUNNY GETS TO WORK 
 
 "IV flY dear Sunny," Arthur Curtiss said in his most 
 
 IVl affected and usually very effective voice, "you 
 are a very dear little soul, we are all very fond of you and 
 admire you immensely, but you really must consider that, 
 at any rate at the present moment, you are not not " 
 He paused, groping for a word. 
 
 "Not nothing to write home about!" Sunny sug- 
 gested. 
 
 "I hardly meant that. You are not a celebrated star 
 at whose feet anxious and expectant managers are suing 
 for the favour of a contract. See what I mean?" 
 
 "I'd be blind if I didn't!" Sunny said. "You're 
 right, Arthur; only, all the same, I want to see the 
 governor." 
 
 "And the governor, my dear child, won't see you! 
 He has much larger fish to think about than Sunny 
 Ducrow." 
 
 "Only lots of little fishes make a better dish, don't 
 they? than one big, ugly, coarse fish," Sunny said. "So 
 you ain't going to let me through, Arthur?" 
 
 "Certainly not, my dear!" 
 
 "Betcher I see him all the same!" Sunny said. 
 
 Arthur Curtiss frowned. "No tricks, Sunny; I won't 
 have it. You've played several on me already, and I've 
 been forgiving, too forgiving. You've got to remember 
 that Barstowe trusts me to keep his privacy intact. If I 
 
 252
 
 Sunny Gets to Work 253 
 
 fail, then I am in his bad books. If you play tricks on 
 me and get the better of me, you are doing me harm. 
 See?" 
 
 "Yes, I see, now you put it that way," Sunny said. 
 " I wouldn't be mean to you. You know that ! " 
 
 "I don't think you would. You wouldn't want to get 
 any friend into trouble." 
 
 " Not much I wouldn't. You trust me ! " 
 
 "I do!" Curtiss said. "One moment excuse me. 
 I heard the bell." He paused, and then went swiftly 
 out of the room, leaving Sunny alone in his private 
 office. 
 
 Opposite her was the door to Mr. Barstowe's room; in 
 that room Mr. Barstowe, the inaccessible, was sitting. 
 Sunny wanted to see him badly about Bert: the cast for 
 the new production was being settled on almost at once. 
 One word to Barstowe about Bert, and she felt she should 
 succeed in getting what she wanted that was, a part for 
 Bert in the new revue. There was the door, and what in 
 the world could be easier than to cross the room and open 
 the door and go in and interview Barstowe there and 
 then? 
 
 Sunny did not move Curtiss had put her on her 
 honor. If Barstowe himself had come into the room she 
 would not have spoken to him. 
 
 A few moments and Curtiss was back. He looked at 
 Sunny keenly. 
 
 "So you didn't take advantage of " 
 
 " Me ? " she said. Her face flamed. " You think I'm a 
 mean pig like that, after what you said about your getting 
 into trouble? '* 
 
 "Good child!" he said. He held out his hand. "The 
 fact of the matter is, Sunny, Barstowe hasn't come to-day 
 he's not there! Only I thought I'd just try you and 
 see!"
 
 254 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Did you?" Sunny said. "If I trusted a person like 
 you said you trusted me, I wouldn't want to try no tests, 
 neither!" 
 
 "I'm sorry!" he said frankly. "Sunny, I am sorry. I 
 ought to have known better. You'll forgive me, little 
 girl? " He held out his hand. 
 
 "Well, I don't know," Sunny said. "Only another 
 time you just trust me. If I say I won't do a thing, I 
 don't do it; if I say I will do a thing, I just set my teeth 
 and start doing it. I've got to go on trying to do it till I've 
 done it, See?" 
 
 "I see! "he said. 
 
 She looked at him. "You get about a bit, I suppose, 
 one way and another? " 
 
 "Why?" he said. "Yes, why?" 
 
 "Belong to clubs and like that?" 
 
 "To a few; to too many if it comes to that! Why?" 
 
 "Night clubs, I s'pose?" she said. 
 
 "Three or four, for my sins; wearisome things they 
 are, too! Well?" 
 
 ' ' Rendlesham's, for instance ? ' ' 
 
 "Yes, Rendlesham's among others. People go there 
 when they ought to be in bed, and they sing and dance 
 and make a noise generally, and fancy they are enjoying 
 themselves, whereas, as a matter of fact, they are bored 
 stiff. That's how I look on it. You don't mean to say 
 you think of joining a night club? " 
 
 "Me, my goodness, joining a night club! No, thanks! 
 Bed's good enough for me when my work here's done! " 
 she said. 
 
 "That's good! Stick to that idea and you'll keep your 
 -complexion longer than most!" he said. 
 
 "All the same, I want to go to Rendlesham's just 
 once, " she said. 
 
 He frowned.
 
 Sunny Gets to Work 255 
 
 "I think it is hardly the place for you! I mean, 
 I don't say it's bad, but but somehow I don't like the 
 idea of your going there. There's a lot of nice people go 
 there, of course, but there are also " 
 
 "I know," Sunny said. "But I want to go all the 
 same. You owe me something for for that test just now, 
 don't you?" 
 
 "Yes," he agreed. 
 
 "Very well, take me to Rendlesham's to-night to make 
 up for it." 
 
 "I can't to-night; to-morrow I might." 
 
 "To-morrow night, then," she said. 
 
 "Yes," he said. "All right. Though for my 
 part " 
 
 " It's a bargain, then. So-long, old dear! " Sunny said. 
 
 "So-long, young dear! " he said gaily. 
 
 Sunny went out. 
 
 "Good sort, Arthur. He don't understand me quite 
 yet," she muttered. 
 
 She went out. People knew her. She had achieved 
 fame to the extent that people in the streets turned to look 
 after her. People in omnibuses nudged one another and 
 nodded in her direction; her face was familiar to pur- 
 chasers of picture post cards. 
 
 Sunny Ducrow was beginning to be well known, she 
 was popular; but it was not exactly fame not the fame 
 she meant to win one day. 
 
 "It's the first step or two up the ladder anyhow!" 
 she thought. When people stared at her in the street, she 
 smiled at them and they smiled back. She smiled out of 
 pure good-nature and goodness of heart. One or two mis- 
 guided young fellows misunderstood: they took off their 
 hats and suggested that they had met somewhere before. 
 Then the smile would vanish from Sunny 's face; she 
 would stare them full in the eyes.
 
 256 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I don't know you," she would say, "and don't know 
 that I particularly want to know you. It seems a pity 
 that a young fellow like you hasn't something better to 
 do!" It was not so much what she said, but the quiet 
 and sometimes cutting way in which she said it, that 
 brought the blush of shame to the cheek of the 
 transgressor. 
 
 Sunny went out. She helped a nervous woman with 
 a very dirty and noisy child to cross the street at a 
 crowded crossing; she hailed an omnibus for a stout 
 old gentleman who was waving his umbrella franti- 
 cally and trying to sprint after it; she gave a dirty, 
 cold, ragged-looking boy who had his nose pressed 
 against a restaurant window a sixpence to buy tarts 
 with. It was her usual mode of progress along the 
 street. It was surprising what a number of good 
 turns Sunny could find to do her fellow human 
 beings in even a short walk. She kept her eyes 
 open, and saw other people who needed help. She 
 gave it to them quickly; it was her way of going 
 through life. 
 
 Mossy Bernstein was in. He and Sunny were particu- 
 larly good friends now. Mossy had been known to keep 
 Miss Patty Dubois, the eminent music-hall star, waiting 
 for half an hour while he talked ' ' pickles ' ' to Sunny. He 
 had even kept Miss Allis Sinclair, the great American 
 actress, waiting a full ten minutes while he settled a new 
 poster with Sunny. 
 
 He was unoccupied to-day, and welcomed her with 
 evident pleasure. 
 
 "I've got those proofs of the last pothter in, Thunny," 
 he said. "They are eye-openerth, my dear. Have a 
 look here!" He unrolled a proof poster and held it up 
 before his fat, squat figure. It was a brilliant one in green, 
 red, and yellow.
 
 Sunny Gets to Work 257 
 
 DON'T BE POISONED 
 Avoid it by knowing what you are eating. 
 
 JOHN CROW 
 
 Stands for purity. We sell you purity for a penny a pound. 
 See what we mean? You pay a penny a pound more for 
 JOHN CROW JAM, JOHN CROW PICKLES, and JOHN CROW 
 SAUCE, because they are pure, because they are made of the 
 best, because our factory is open to your inspection at any 
 time. 
 
 WELL? WHAT DO YOU SAY? 
 
 Unless we make a mistake, you'll say what everyone else is 
 saying to their grocers 
 
 "JOHN CROW JAM, PLEASE." 
 THE SAME AS MOTHER MAKES 
 
 "How'th that?" Mossy asked. 
 
 "Fine, ain't it? " Sunny said. "That ought to fetch 
 r em! " She had written it herself. 
 
 "They are knocking off fifty thouthand of 'em!" 
 Mossy said. "I've fixed up for them to be posted in 
 London, Liverpool, Manchethter, and Bradford, and 
 about a dozen other platheth. It'll be a good thtart, eh? " 
 
 "Fine!" Sunny said. "Only I didn't come to talk 
 'pickles' to-day." 
 
 "Want an engagement, eh?" he asked. 
 
 "No," she said. "Not as you could notice not yet, 
 anyhow! I think I'll fix up with Barstowe for the new 
 production. Only it wasn't that I came to talk to you 
 about." 
 
 "Fire away, dear ! " he said. He sat down and beamed 
 at her. "Don't thmoke, do you? " he asked, pushing a 
 box of cigarettes towards her. 
 
 Sunny shook her head. "No, nor don't mean!" she 
 said. She put her elbows on the table. "Mossy, you 
 know everyone! " she said.
 
 258 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Motht people, my dear good, bad, and indifferent, 
 mothtly indifferent! " 
 
 "Know" she paused "know Gilly Casson? " 
 
 Mossy paused. He got up. "I meant to thhow you the 
 proof of the bills to thtick in the groceth' windowth. 
 What do you think?" 
 
 He produced a small poster. 
 
 SOLD HERE 
 
 JOHN CROW 
 
 JAMS, PICKLES, AND SAUCES. 
 John Crow stands for purity. 
 
 We charge an extra penny a pound 
 for purity, and it's worth it. We 
 guarantee money's worth. 
 
 THE SAME AS MOTHER MAKES 
 
 "That's an idea, isn't it?" Sunny said "to keep on 
 telling 'em all the time that we charge a penny a pound 
 more, and telling 'em at the same time why we charge it. 
 They can't say, ' How dear ! ' can they ? That's the idea 
 that struck me!" 
 
 "I believe you're right, my dear. We'll thee how 
 it maps out," Mossy said. "Now, about this new 
 revue " 
 
 "That's not why I'm here," Sunny said; "it's about 
 Gilly Casson." 
 
 " Hemmingway'th going to put on a big production 
 in October," he said. "I was thinking, only you don't 
 like Rotheimer, and I don't blame you ! Well, after all, 
 Hemmingway ith both, ithn't he? So why not " 
 
 "Look here," Sunny said, "it's no good; I see what 
 your game is, Mossy. I'm come here for a purpose, and 
 you know me, don't you? "
 
 Sunny Gets to Work 259 
 
 "Of courth, my dear! " he said. 
 
 "Well, you know what I am. When I've got a purpose 
 I'm not going to be turned from it, eh? " Sunny said. 
 
 " It ith uthually the way ! " he muttered. " Well ? " 
 
 "I'm come here to ask you what you know about 
 Gilly Casson," she said; "that's what. Now stick to it! 
 You know her? " 
 
 He nodded; he looked round the room; he wanted to 
 find something to attract Sunny's attention, something to 
 turn the current of her thoughts. 
 
 "Oh, I thay thath a good pothter I had done for 
 Millie Lagrange. I'll get it and " 
 
 "Sit there!" Sunny said. "It's Gilly Casson all the 
 time. See?" 
 
 Mossy dropped back in his chair; he crossed his hands 
 over his ample waistcoat and looked at her with patient 
 eyes. 
 
 "Well, and what the dickenth do you want to know 
 about Gilly Cathon? " he asked. 
 
 "Just everything!" Sunny said. "Everything from 
 AtoZ. See?"
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 AUGUST THE THIRD 
 
 MOSSY BERNSTEIN wriggled on his seat. 
 " Look here, Thunny ! " he said. " I don't beHeve 
 in chattering; ith not good for trade. Another thing ith, 
 I don't want to be dragged into no libel action. Thee ? " 
 
 "I see," Sunny said. "If you can't trust me, you'd 
 best say nothing; only I'd got an idea somehow that you 
 could trust me!" 
 
 "Trutht you, my dear of courth I can!" he cried. 
 "Well " Again he hesitated. He brought the tips of 
 his fat fingers together and sat staring at Sunny for some 
 moments. Then he seemed to wake up; he hastily 
 scribbled something on a piece of paper. 
 
 "About that woman Gilly Cathon," he said. "Well, 
 it ithn't her name. I knew her before ; got her an engage- 
 ment once under her own name! If you want to know 
 her real name, here it ith!" He pushed the scrap of 
 paper towards Sunny. She picked it up and read the 
 name; it was quite unfamiliar to her. 
 
 "Got her an engagement in a provinthial pantomime 
 two yearth ago," Mossy said. "And don't make any 
 mithtake," he added. "I know ith the thame one! " 
 
 " Well? " Sunny asked. "This don't tell me much ! " 
 
 Mossy leaned back in his chair; he closed his little 
 eyes. 
 
 "Augutht the third!" he muttered. "Thath it 
 Augutht the third!" 
 
 260
 
 August the Third 261 
 
 "What is?" Sunny said. "For goodness' sake do get 
 on with it ! " 
 
 "I've told you all I'm going to tell you! " Mossy said. 
 
 "But you ain't told me nothing!" she said. 
 
 "I've told you a lot, my dear, and if you've got the 
 brainth I think you have, you'll work the retht out for 
 yourthelf! Don't forget the date Augutht the third. 
 You've got the name!" He grabbed his hat suddenly. 
 "Thorry, I mutht run away!" he said. "Tho-long, 
 Thunny!" 
 
 Mossy bolted there was no other word for it bolted 
 out of the room like a rabbit pursued by ferrets scuttling 
 out of its burrow. Sunny stared after him in sheer 
 astonishment. She called him, but he did not come back. 
 
 Sunny rose and followed him down to the street, but 
 Mossy had gone long before she gained the stairs. 
 
 Out in the street Sunny opened the paper and looked 
 at the name again ; it was certainly an uncommon one 
 " Morania Gilbert." 
 
 Morania! Who ever heard of such a name as that 
 before? Gilbert was common enough, of course. Gilbert. 
 And she called herself Gilly short for Gilbert, of course 
 and had tacked on the Casson and dropped the 
 Morania. 
 
 "Well, what about it all?" Sunny wondered. "And 
 why August the third? I'd like to shake him, I would!" 
 she muttered. "Running off like that as if he was half 
 scared out of his life! 
 
 "Morania Gilbert, August the third! What on earth 
 could August the third have to do with it? And what 
 August the third?" she wondered. "This year, or the 
 year before that, or twenty years ago, or what? 
 
 "Little wretch!" Sunny muttered. She stood there 
 on the pavement wrinkling her brows in deep thought. 
 People passing stared at her; most of them knew her.
 
 262 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "It seems to me" Sunny muttered her thoughts 
 aloud " as something must have happened to her, Mor- 
 ania Gilbert, one August the third. Perhaps it was in the 
 papers. Perhaps " 
 
 It dawned on her suddenly. 
 
 " Hi, taxi! " she shouted excitedly. 
 
 A cab pulled up against the curb for her. 
 
 "August the third, please!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Beg pardon, miss?" the man said. 
 
 "I I mean I mean a newspaper office! " Sunny said. 
 "Take me to a newspaper office, quick! " 
 
 "Yes, miss; w!iich one, miss?" 
 
 "Any old one!" she said. "Try the Times I don't 
 care the Mail, or the Telegraft; it don't matter! Yes, it 
 does, though ! " She paused. " I'll go to the Mail office," 
 she said. "You can get the news out of the Mail quicker 
 if you're in a hurry than you can out of most papers, 
 can't you? " 
 
 "I believe you can, miss," he said. 
 
 Sunny stepped into the cab and it dashed off. A few 
 minutes later and she was in the Mail office and asking 
 to be allowed to see a file of papers. 
 
 One thing Sunny had decided in her mind it would 
 not be August the third of this year, for now it was only 
 September, and Gilly Casson, as Gilly Casson, had been 
 before the public for several months now. 
 
 "I'll start and try last year," she thought. So she 
 asked to see the file for August of the previous year. 
 
 For half an hour she studied the copy of the paper 
 for August the third, but there was nothing in it that 
 seemed to have anything to do with Gilly Casson or 
 Morania Gilbert. To make sure, she went carefully 
 through the issue of August the fourth, and then 
 skimmed through that of August the fifth. There was 
 no August the sixth, that day chancing to be a Sun-
 
 August the Third 263 
 
 day. August the seventh conveyed no information to 
 her at all. 
 
 " I'll have to get a look at the year before," she thought. 
 
 It was a very obliging young clerk who brought her 
 the files and assisted her by every means in his power. 
 He had been to the Realm and had seen her seven times 
 in all, and knew her song by heart. He would have liked 
 to tell her so, but refrained. 
 
 "Ah!" Sunny gasped. 
 
 "Found what you want, miss? " he asked. 
 
 "Yes, I've got it all right!" Sunny said excitedly. 
 "Can can I get a copy of this paper? " 
 
 "I dare say, Miss Ducrow! " he said. 
 
 It did not strike Sunny as odd that he should knovr 
 her; most people knew her. 
 
 She had to wait a considerable time before he brought 
 the issue of the paper that she wanted. 
 
 "Thank you very much for all your trouble! " Sunny 
 said. She shook hands with him gravely, and the young 
 man flushed with pleasure. It was something to re- 
 member and to talk about that he had shaken hands 
 with Miss Sunny Ducrow. 
 
 Sunny went out. For ten minutes she stood on the 
 pavement outside the office making up her mind what, 
 she should do next, then suddenly she made it up. 
 
 She walked up Bouverie Street into Fleet Street and 
 hailed a cab. 
 
 " Blessendale House! " she said. "Know it? " 
 
 The driver nodded. "Yes, miss!" he said. "An* 
 know Buckingham Palis and Mawl-brough 'Ouse too! " 
 
 "Know quite a lot, you do!" Sunny said. "Well, 
 hop it! " 
 
 He hopped it at a very fair pace. He carried Sunny 
 to her destination, and unloaded his fare outside the 
 massive and imposing portals of Blessendale House.
 
 264 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 This time there was no red carpet down or awning 
 erected above the sidewalk. Sunny felt a tremor of 
 nervousness as she ascended the awe-inspiring steps and 
 rang the bell. 
 
 A large and massive footman, gorgeously upholstered, 
 opened the door and stood looking down at her. 
 
 " I want to see her ladyship, " Sunny said. " I'm come 
 on private business. Just tell her I'm here. My name 
 is " 
 
 " Beg pardon, miss, I know your name; 'ad the pleasure, 
 miss, of hearing you sing, miss, at 'er ladyship's concert. 
 I'll mention it to 'er ladyship as you are 'ere, Miss Du- 
 crow ! Will you step inside ? ' ' 
 
 Sunny stepped inside. She stood within the great 
 marble hall which boasted the most magnificent stair- 
 case in London. She remembered that day, not so 
 very long ago, when she had stood just here talking to 
 Stanley Alwyn, Viscount Dobrington. What friends 
 they had been then, and now she had not seen him for 
 weeks ! 
 
 "Her ladyship will be pleased to see you, Miss Ducrow. 
 Will you kindly step this way? " 
 
 He led her up the wide staircase to the floor above; he 
 opened a door with a flourish and announced her. 
 
 "Miss Sunny Ducrow." 
 
 Lady Blessendale rose. It was quite a small room, 
 even a homely little room, hardly a room one would have 
 looked to see in such a house of magnificence. It was 
 actually shabby, Sunny noted with a feeling of relief. It 
 made her feel at home at once, and banished the some- 
 what scared, overawed feeling that had oppressed her 
 since the great door had closed behind her. 
 
 Lady Blessendale held out her hand. 
 
 " It is good of you to come! " she said eagerly. "Have 
 you any news? "
 
 August the Third 265 
 
 "Not yet, I haven't!" Sunny said. "I just came to 
 have a talk with you about this here matter" she 
 paused "this matter, I mean! " she added. 
 
 "Sit down, child! " her ladyship said. 
 
 Sunny sat down. 
 
 There was a look of extreme eagerness in her lady- 
 ship's eyes ; she was visibly agitated. 
 
 "Tell me, have you discovered anything, anything that 
 is likely to be of help to to us, to me " 
 
 "I've found out bits here and there!" Sunny said. 
 "Only that isn't what I've come to talk to you about; 
 it's money ! " She paused. 
 
 "You you mean payment?" 
 
 "That's it!" Sunny said. 
 
 A look of keen disappointment came into the elder 
 woman's handsome, aristocratic face. 
 
 " I I might have guessed it," she said, speaking aloud, 
 though to herself. "One cannot expect help unless one 
 pays for it! Money you wish payment? " 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "I see! If you are in a position to assist me, Miss 
 Ducrow," her ladyship said haughtily, "I will certainly 
 remunerate you for your trouble in the matter. I will pay 
 you handsomely." 
 
 " Me? " Sunny said. ' ' Pay me? What are you talking 
 about?" 
 
 "I understand that you desire payment for assisting 
 me in this matter! " 
 
 "Then you don't understand nothing!" Sunny said. 
 "Me, I don't want pay. You've got hold of the wrong 
 end of the stick!" 
 
 " I beg your pardon! " 
 
 "So you ought to!" Sunny said. "Anyhow, it's 
 granted. What I want to know is, how much will you 
 run to to pay her? "
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Oh, you- you mean what offer can you make her on 
 my behalf? " 
 
 "Put it that way if you like! " Sunny said. "What I 
 want to know is, how much may I go to to get her to 
 clear out? That's plain English, isn't it? " 
 
 "Yes, quite plain, now I quite understand you. I am 
 afraid I wronged you. I thought you were seeking re- 
 muneration for your own services." 
 
 "Well, you thought wrong. I don't want no paying. 
 I'm acting friendly for you and and him. I thought you 
 understood that ! " 
 
 "I do indeed understand that, and if you can help me 
 I shall be very grateful indeed, Miss Ducrow! " 
 
 " Sunny 's good enough for me!" Sunny said, with a 
 broad smile. The smile was contagious. Anxious and 
 nervous though the elder woman was, she smiled back. 
 
 "Very well, Sunny," she said, "I shall be everlastingly 
 and deeply in your debt if you will assist me in gaining 
 my desire." 
 
 "Well, I'm going to have a good pot at it," Sunny 
 said. "Now, how much will you go to to buy her off ? " 
 
 ' ' I am afraid she will not be bought off unless you have 
 some other lever " 
 
 "Give it a name, " Sunny said; "how much? " 
 
 "I I would give five thousand pounds! " her ladyship 
 said. 
 
 "Lawky!" Sunny opened her eyes. "As much as 
 that?" 
 
 "It would be little compared with what I should gain. 
 The thought that my son, a son of our house, should 
 marry such a woman " 
 
 " He won't ! " Sunny said. " Not much he won't ! Five 
 thousand! You'll give that? Well, she won't be able to 
 say that you ain't generous! " 
 
 "It is not generosity," her ladyship said. "I would
 
 August the Third 267 
 
 give all I possess, to the last shred, to save my son 
 from a lifetime of unhappiness and disgrace and disillu- 
 sionment." 
 
 "That's about it!" Sunny said. She leaned back in 
 the chair and looked at the pale, proud, but beautiful face 
 of the other woman. 
 
 "You trust me, I s'pose? " she said briefly. 
 
 "Entirely!" 
 
 "You'd like to prove it, perhaps?" Sunny said. 
 
 " I shall be pleased to prove it, Miss Du Sunny ! " 
 
 " Then write out a cheque, don't put in no amount, just 
 write out, pay Sunny Ducrow, and don't say no sum, and 
 sign your name, that's all." 
 
 "But but supposing " 
 
 "Oh, if you don't trust me!" 
 
 "I do; I will prove it!" her ladyship said. "I suppose 
 I need hardly tell you to be careful; if it fell into other 
 hands the cheque might be filled in for some very heavy 
 sum!" 
 
 "I know. I shan't lose it; don't you worry! " Sunny 
 said. 
 
 Her ladyship sat down at a little ornamental escritoire 
 and wrote out a cheque, leaving the amount blank. She 
 handed it to Sunny. 
 
 "Thanks," said Sunny; "that's all right! I can fill 
 that in for anything up to five thousand pounds ? " 
 
 "Up to and including! " 
 
 "That's all right!" Sunny put the cheque into the 
 bosom of her dress. "It'll be all right there safe as 
 houses!" 
 
 "You see I am trusting you completely!" her ladyship 
 said. 
 
 "If you didn't, we couldn't do no business together!" 
 Sunny answered. 
 
 Her ladyship smiled. "You will take tea with me, I
 
 268 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 hope?" She reached out and touched an electric bell. 
 "Tea, if you please," she said to the gorgeous footman. 
 
 "You don't suppose he's likely to come in?" Sunny 
 asked. 
 
 "He who?" 
 
 " Dob ! ' ' Sunny said. ' ' The Vis-count, I mean ! ' ' 
 
 "My son? No, he will not come in; I see very, very 
 little of him of late, too little ! " She sighed. " I do not 
 think we need fear his putting in an appearance." 
 
 Her ladyship was right, Lord Dobrington did not put in 
 an appearance. Had he done so, he might have been very 
 considerably surprised to see Sunny Ducrow talking with 
 his mother, and talking in an entirely unconstrained 
 manner. 
 
 If it was possible for two people so widely apart by 
 birth, upbringing, and education to be friends, these two 
 seemed to thoroughly understand one another at least. 
 
 Sunny ate a vast quantity of wafer-cut bread-and- 
 butter, she drank four tiny cups of exquisite tea, and 
 consumed certain pieces of cake, and while she ate she 
 talked. 
 
 "Poor dear, she's half worried to death! " she thought. 
 "What she wants is amusing ! " So Sunny talked to her 
 ladyship of the old days at the pickle factory; she told 
 anecdotes of Bill Wilkins, and of " 'Arry " his brother, of 
 Mr. Johnson, and the rest. 
 
 "Then I managed to get on the stage. Got run in, me 
 and Bert did. I know" Sunny paused "I know I 
 ought to say Bert and I were arrested, only when I'm 
 talking naturally I like to talk my old way. You see? " 
 
 ' ' Quite ! But but arrested ? ' ' 
 
 " For singing in the streets. We wanted a holiday and 
 hadn't got the money, so I struck an idea. Me and Bert 
 tried to sing My Old Dutch, and we got run in, the pair 
 of us. Next morning at the police-court we got let off
 
 August the Third 269 
 
 all right; nice old gentleman the magistrate was I'd like 
 to see him again. Then Miss Montressor come along " 
 Sunny went on with her history, and her ladyship was 
 interested. 
 
 "An* now it seems funny, don't it?" Sunny said. 
 " Me who used to stick the labels on at eight bob a week, 
 I'm half partner now. Well, I've got to be moving. 
 Thank you for the tea. I never 'ad bread-and-butter 
 cut that thin before !" She rose and held out her hand. 
 "I'll be popping along now," she said. 
 
 " Miss Ducrow Sunny!" her ladyship said. She held 
 Sunny 's hand. "Do do you hold out any prospect, 
 can you honestly say that you have any hope that you 
 may succeed? " 
 
 " Betcher I do ! " Sunny said. " I'll succeed all right ! ' ' 
 
 " How how long before you can bring me good news? " 
 
 Sunny wrinkled her brows. 
 
 "To-morrow's Thursday." she said, "next day's 
 Friday. Friday afternoon with luck ! ' ' she said. ' ' Maybe 
 it won't be till Saturday, but I think it'll be Friday! 
 Friday's my lucky day! " 
 
 "I hope that it will prove mine, child!" Lady 
 Blessendale said. "Sunny Ducrow, if you succeed, how 
 how can I reward you? What mark of my gratitude 
 can I bestow on you? " 
 
 "Me?" Sunny said. "Oh, I don't want nothing" 
 She paused. "Of course," she said slowly, "I know 
 what I ought to say, like Mr. Gibbins teaches me. I 
 really want nothing, my lady!" She paused. She 
 screwed up her forehead. "Only there's one thing I 
 wonder if you'd do it? there's one thing you could do 
 for me! " She became eager all of a sudden. 
 
 "Anything!" Lady Blessendale said. "Anything in 
 my power!" 
 
 "In a house this size," Sunny said, "you must get
 
 270 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 through a wonderful lot of jams and pickles and things 
 like that! If you'd tell your cook always to ask for the 
 John Crow Brand you'd do me an awful good turn! " 
 
 "You foolish child! Why, of course I will! Is there 
 nothing else nothing you can think of?" 
 
 "One thing," Sunny said. "That is, hold your head 
 tap and keep smiling. It'll be all right, betcher ! "
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 IDENTIFICATION 
 
 MR. MAKERSON, the manager of the huge retail 
 business, " Myhills," that vast shop where every- 
 thing conceivable is, if not kept in stock, to be obtained 
 on the shortest notice, sat in his private office. 
 
 A card was brought to him ; on the card was scribbled 
 in lead pencil a name. 
 
 "Miss Ducrow! Sunny Ducrow!" he muttered. 
 "Know the name. Well, what does she want? " 
 
 "Says she wants to see you particularly and impor- 
 tantly, sir! " the clerk said. 
 
 "Sunny Ducrow who's she? I know the name! " 
 
 "Well-known actress, sir! " the clerk said. 
 
 "To be sure, of course, bless me! Well, yes, I'll see 
 her! Show her in!" 
 
 Mr. Makerson was not quite a young man, but he had 
 an eye and keen appreciation for beauty. 
 
 He rose gallantly and placed a seat for Sunny as she 
 came in. 
 
 "And to what may I ascribe the honor of this visit, 
 Miss Ducrow? " he inquired. 
 
 "You mean," Sunny asked, "what the dickens do I 
 want bothering you for. Is that it? " 
 
 "It is no bother, I do assure you; it is a pleasure the 
 more delightful that it was unlocked for! " 
 
 " I've come to ask you to do something for me," Sunny 
 laid. 
 
 271
 
 272 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "It will be a very great pleasure, provided that it is 
 in my power!" 
 
 " Anyhow, if you can't do it for me," Sunny said, "it'll 
 be something I've gained getting to know you. See? " 
 
 Mr. Makerson actually blushed with pleasure. 
 
 "The pleasure is mutual!" he said. 
 
 "Now we've done throwing bouquets about," Sunny 
 said, " I'll get to business! " She brought a picture post 
 card out of her bag; very carefully she tore a strip off 
 the bottom of it, then she held it out to Mr. Makerson. 
 
 The photograph was of a young woman, who was 
 laughing, showing a double set of fine teeth in an un- 
 earthly grin. She was wearing a low-cut gown, of a style 
 bordering on the daring. 
 
 "Know it? " Sunny asked. 
 
 Mr. Makerson frowned. ' ' It it is not meant for you ! " 
 
 "I could have told you that. Does it look like me? " 
 Sunny said. 
 
 "No, it does not, and I am glad to realize that it does 
 not; but the face is is familiar, strangely familiar. An 
 actress, possibly? " 
 
 Sunny nodded. ' ' Have you seen her before ? ' ' 
 
 "I can't say, I am not sure; there is certainly some- 
 thing familiar about the woman. I don't know! " 
 
 "You were here on the third of August the year before 
 last that's two years and a month ago? " 
 
 "Of course!" 
 
 "Have another look!" 
 
 Mr. Makerson did have another look. 
 
 "No," he said, "I can't place her; I certainly do seem 
 to remember, but " 
 
 "Supposing she was a customer and came into the 
 shop, who else would see her I mean if she was a sort of 
 particular customer, something out of the ordinary?" 
 
 "Bridges might recognize her," Mr. Makerson said.
 
 Identification 273 
 
 He rang the bell. " Mr. Bridges, if you please! " he said. 
 
 Mr. Bridges came, a thin, spare man with a narrow 
 face and very keen eyes. He took the portrait from his 
 superior, looked at it, and smiled. 
 
 "Of course!" he said. "I'd know the woman any- 
 where!" He paused. "Let me see, it would be about 
 two years ago. The name was" he paused again 
 ' ' Gilbert. An uncommon Christian name ! ' ' He wrinkled 
 his brows. " I ' ve got it Morania ; described as an actress 
 when she " 
 
 "That's all right!" Sunny said. "I wonder if you'd 
 mind writing that down on the back, would you?" 
 
 Mr. Bridges looked at his superior. 
 
 "If it will be of any assistance to Miss Ducrow, I 
 should be obliged to you, Bridges, if you would do so," 
 Mr. Makerson said. 
 
 "With pleasure!" Mr. Bridges bent over the table, 
 he wrote for some moments, then he handed the card to 
 Sunny. ' ' Will that do ? " he asked. 
 
 Sunny took it, read it, and ribdded her head. "Do 
 fine!" she said. "You don't know how much obliged I 
 am to you! You've helped me a wonderful lot ! " 
 
 * ' The pleasure is ours, Miss Ducrow ! " Mr. Makerson 
 said gallantly. "Thank you, Bridges! " 
 
 Bridges went. 
 
 Evidently Mr. Makerson, though he was of course a 
 busy man, was not in a hurry for Sunny to go. He kept 
 her talking, and Sunny felt that she owed him some return. 
 So she stayed, and they parted good friends. Mr. Maker- 
 son had promised to come and see her act at the Realm. 
 
 "That's all right! " Sunny said when she was outside. 
 "Only I got to make dead sure, dead, certain sure! " 
 
 She hailed a cab. 
 
 "New Scotland Yard, where the policemen live!" 
 she said. / 
 if
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 SNARED 
 
 " I'LL be bothered if I know what on earth a girl like you 
 1 wants to come to a place like this for!" Arthur 
 Curtiss said disgustedly. "This place bores me tired. 
 How long do you want to stay, Sunny? " 
 
 "Not long!" Sunny said. The theatre was over, they 
 had taken a cab, and now they were sitting in a corner of 
 the large dancing-saloon at Rendlesham's. 
 
 The string orchestra, an unusually good one, was dis- 
 coursing music ; a few couples had taken the floor. They 
 were dancing really well, as they ought to, considering 
 that dancing was part of their business in life. 
 
 It had gone twelve, and the night club was slowly 
 filling up. 
 
 Arthur Curtiss, with a crumpled shirt front, his hands 
 deep in his pockets and a scowl of complete boredom on 
 his face, sat with his legs stretched out beside Sunny. 
 Sunny sat with her elbows on a little table. 
 
 "You'll have to have something for the good of the 
 house, I suppose," he growled. 
 
 "I don't mind! " Sunny said. 
 
 Curtiss beckoned a waiter. 
 
 " What will it be?" he said. "Where's the wine list ? " 
 
 " I'll have a cup of tea," Sunny said. 
 
 "Scone and butter with it? " Curtiss asked jeeringly. 
 
 "No, I'm not particularly hungry; I'll get on with just 
 a cup of tea." 
 
 274
 
 Snared 275 
 
 Many more people were drifting in now that the 
 theatres were closed. Arthur Curtiss yawned. "How 
 long?" he demanded. 
 
 "Well, if you ain't a bright and pleasant companion, 
 Arthur!" Sunny said. "It's a real pleasure to come out 
 with you!" 
 
 He laughed. "Sorry and all that," he said, "but 
 this place gets on my nerves. And you don't mean 
 to tell me you are enjoying yourself?" 
 
 "It's interesting, anyway," Sunny said. 
 
 "Then, if you are so keen, why not join, why not be 
 a member?" 
 
 "Not me, thanks; once is enough, and " Sunny 
 paused. She started and then stared; her eyes grew 
 rather hard, her mouth, that red-lipped, laughing, happy 
 mouth of hers, grew suddenly stern. 
 
 Two newcomers had entered the room; "He" was one 
 of them. It was some weeks since she had seen Dobring- 
 ton, and she realized that the weeks had not improved 
 him. He looked jaded and careworn, he looked rather ill, 
 too. His handsome, boyish face had lost something of the 
 boyishness and good health and freshness that Sunny had 
 always liked about him. 
 
 By his side was a woman, a woman at whom most of 
 the other women turned and stared. She was dressed 
 magnificently, over-dressed, in outrageously bad taste. 
 She was not exactly pretty, but there was something 
 fascinating about her white face. Her hair was a vivid 
 red not the real red, the gorgeous red of nature like 
 Sunny's own locks, but a magenta red, very, very ob- 
 viously the work of the dye factory. 
 
 She was talking and laughing loudly. She held Dob- 
 rington's arm, and seemed to be piloting him, rather than 
 he piloting her, to a seat opposite where Sunny and 
 Curtiss sat.
 
 276 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Know that chap?" Curtiss muttered. "Lord Dob- 
 rington. Rather a decent sort, or used to be; that cat's 
 got him in her toils. Bad lot ! Don't look at her, Sunny ! ' ' 
 he said suddenly. "I don't like to think of your looking 
 at that sort of woman. I say, haven't you had enough 
 of this? Let's clear out, old girl!" 
 
 11 I'm ready, Arthur ! ' ' she said. "Let's clear out ! " 
 
 And they cleared.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 
 MISS CASSON CALLS 
 
 "pvEAR MISS CASSON, I do not know you and 
 I/ you don't know me, but I have something of 
 importance to tell you something that it is necessary 
 for you to hear. I would be glad if you could kindly call 
 on me at this address this morning between twelve and 
 one o'clock. I shall be waiting for you. Kindly send an 
 answer to this letter by bearer, and oblige. Yours 
 obediently, 
 
 " SUNNY DUCROW." 
 
 It had taken Sunny from half-past seven to half-past 
 nine to write this letter, but it was done at last. She had 
 destroyed half a quire of note-paper in the attempt, and 
 even now she was not altogether satisfied with it. 
 
 "I didn't ought to say 'Dear Miss Casson,'" she 
 muttered. "She isn't dear to me; she'd be dear at any 
 price. Besides, her name isn't Casson. Anyhow, I'm 
 sick of writing. I shan't write any more! " 
 
 She sent the letter by a messenger. "Wait for an 
 answer, " she said. 
 
 "And who," Mrs. Melkin demanded "who might 
 you have been writing to, Elizabeth Ann? " 
 
 "The Pope of Rome," Sunny said briefly. 
 
 "Elizabeth Ann, don't you tell me no lies, not even in 
 play. Lying ' ' 
 
 "'Go's a liar?" Sunny said. "You said, 'Who might 
 
 277
 
 278 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 I have been writing to? ' And I said the Pope of Rome; 
 so I might, but I was not. See?" 
 
 "Then who?" 
 
 "You mind your own business, old love ! " Sunny said. 
 
 "I don't like this here secrecy," Mrs. Melkin said. 
 "It breaks my heart, after all I done for you, after all the 
 years I was your only friend, and now not to be took 
 into your confidence; it's 'eart-breaking ! " Mrs. Melkin 
 whined. " 'Eart-breaking is the only word to use." She 
 glared at Evelyn. "You make noo friends and bring 'em 
 'ome without as much as by your leave, nor with your 
 leave! I don't count for nothing after the years of 
 sacrifice and toiling and moiling I gone through to keep 
 you clad and fed respectable and " 
 
 "Sunny!" Evelyn looked up "Sunny dear, I I do 
 not think your aunt likes me to be here with you; if if 
 it makes unhappiness, I will go! " 
 
 "Don't you talk rubbish! " Sunny said. "Why, she 
 just loves you to be here! " 
 
 "I don't! " Mrs. Melkin said. "I don't! " 
 
 "Yes, you do; if Evelyn wasn't here, what would you 
 have to grumble at? And if you didn't have anything 
 to grumble about, you'd be an unhappy woman, you 
 would!" 
 
 "Sunny, I I don't want to make trouble," Evelyn 
 said. "I've been happy here happier than I ever 
 thought to be. I shall never forget all your goodness to 
 me, but I could not stay where I am not wanted." 
 
 "You are wanted, " Sunny cried. 
 
 "You ain't!" Mrs. Melkin said viciously. "Elizabeth 
 Ann Ducrow, I don't want that young woman here at 
 all!" 
 
 "Then I shall go," Evelyn said quietly; she rose as 
 she spoke. "I shall never forget the happy hours " 
 
 "Sit down!" Sunny said.
 
 Miss Casson Calls 279 
 
 "If she wants to go, why not let her go? I wouldn't 
 go and keep a body against her wish, " Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 "Aunt, you shut up!" Sunny said. 
 
 "This this to me who fed you and done right by you 
 and " 
 
 "Shut up!" Sunny said. "Aunt, you git on my 
 nerves!" 
 
 "Elizabeth Ann Ducrow!" 
 
 Sunny turned to her aunt ; she took her by the arm and 
 marched her out of the room. In the little back bedroom 
 they had a heart-to-heart talk. What Sunny said did not 
 matter; it affected Mrs. Melkin, it reduced her to tears. 
 
 "After me moiling and toiling and fair breaking my 
 heart to see you was kep' respectable and " 
 
 "You get that off your mind," Sunny said. "You 
 never done it for me. I don't want to hurt your feelings, 
 but it's your fault. I'm not going to have that girl driven 
 out of this house. And you've got to make up your mind 
 to that, aunt. I earned money since I was eleven years 
 old; all I earned I brought to you; the bits I had didn't 
 cost as much as I paid you. I don't owe you nothing; 
 you owe me a lot; you're living here comfortable and 
 happy on my money, and so you can go on living till the 
 end. I shan't never desert you nor let you down, but 
 you've got to get the better of your miserables or " 
 
 "Or what, Elizabeth Ann Ducrow?" 
 
 "Or you'll get a pound a week to live on and shift for 
 yourself. There isn't no law compels me to keep you to 
 live with me." 
 
 Mrs. Melkin looked at the bright, resolute face before 
 her. She saw defeat for herself. It was her Waterloo, 
 Sunny's victory. Mrs. Melkin, though a foolish woman, 
 had a streak of sense in her. She saw it and she gave 
 way; she broke down and wept copiously. 
 
 "Now what you've got to do is to hop it into the next
 
 280 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 room," Sunny said, "and tell Evelyn you didn't mean 
 nothing, and it's only your bad temper, which you are 
 going to try and get the better of. See?" 
 
 "Yes, Elizabeth Ann," Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 "And off you go ! " Sunny said. 
 
 Mrs. Melkin gathered herself together; she charged 
 into the next room. 
 
 "You didn't ought to take no notice of me; I'm a 
 lonely widow woman and I 'ave my moments of grief," 
 she said. "I don't want you to go, my dear; I like you 
 very much, and it makes me 'appy to think you're 
 comfortable 'ere. I 'ope you won't think nothink more 
 about going! " 
 
 "You you mean it?" Evelyn asked. 
 
 "I do of course I do, " Mrs. Melkin said, "and there's 
 the kiss of forgiveness!" she added. 
 
 Sunny came in and found them embracing. 
 
 "So that's all right!" she said. "Here's Bert!" 
 
 Bert came in; he looked smart; he was wearing a 
 brand-new suit. There was something almost painful 
 about the crease down the front of his trousers ; he carried 
 a new billycock hat in his hand. 
 
 "Law, ain't you a swell?" Sunny said. 
 
 Bert blushed; the blush extended to his ears. 
 
 "Turn round and let's 'ave a look at you!" Sunny 
 cried. "Evy, did you ever see anything so beautiful to 
 look at? Look at him! Hold your head up, Bert, do! " 
 
 "Who'd think he come out of a factory?" Sunny 
 went on. 
 
 "It isn't fine clo's," Mrs. Melkin said. "It's the 'eart 
 behind 'em!" 
 
 "Inside 'em!" Sunny said. "Bert don't carry 'is 
 'eart on 'is back! Goodness, don't I wish as I hadn't got 
 an appointment this morning. I'd walk up and down 
 Regent Street with Bert till I felt ready to drop, so all
 
 Miss Casson Calls 281 
 
 the girls should see me and get mad with envy. Evy, 
 you've got to go instead of me! " 
 
 Evelyn flushed. ' ' But ' ' she said. 
 
 Sunny looked keenly at Bert ; his face was still very red. 
 
 "You go and get your bonnet and shawl on, my dear," 
 she said. "There, run along, and don't keep the gentle- 
 man waiting! " 
 
 Evelyn ran out and came back in a few minutes, very 
 lovely, with a rare color in her face. She was ready, and 
 Bert looked at her admiringly. 
 
 ' ' You two ! ' ' Sunny laughed. ' ' Oh, you two, you ought 
 to be labelled ' Dangerous ! ' Like the pickles as Johnson's 
 don't make. It'll be a happy day for London, you two 
 walking about the street together." 
 
 Bert looked sheepishly at Evelyn; she looked at him. 
 They went out and Sunny laughed again. 
 
 "Elizabeth Ann, I thought one time you had the in- 
 tention of marrying young Jackson yourself," Mrs. 
 Melkin said. 
 
 "You thought!" Sunny said. "Me marry? Not 
 me! I'm too busy. Don't you go thinking too much, 
 aunt; you'll be wearing your bonnets out with your brain 
 working so 'ard underneath them, which reminds me, you 
 ain't had a new bonnet " 
 
 "Not for monse and monse!" Mrs. Melkin said. 
 "Not that I mind going shabby, I " 
 
 "The best thing you can do is to go out this minnit 
 and get yourself one," Sunny said. 
 
 "They've got some good shapes at Gaskett's for eight- 
 and-eleven! " Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 "You take this sovereign and get yourself something 
 you'll look a picture in! " Sunny said. "You go at once. 
 I'll be dying to see you when you come back! " 
 
 She sighed as she watched Mrs. Melkin from the 
 window down the street; it had just struck twelve.
 
 282 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Would Miss Gilly Casson come, or would she not? 
 
 Sunny stood by the window; she watched the dreary 
 street. A quarter-past twelve, half-past, twenty to one, 
 and then a car, a sumptuous landaulette, whirled round 
 the corner and came noiselessly up the street. It stopped 
 outside the door of Sunny's house, the door opened, and 
 a young woman alighted. 
 
 "It's her her all right!" Sunny muttered. "Law, 
 Sunny Ducrow, pull yourself together, my gel; it's got 
 to be a fight, but it's worth righting for ! Hold up your 
 head, Sunny my girl, and keep smiling! " 
 
 "A lady to see you, miss! " the landlady announced. 
 
 Sunny nodded; she shivered a little, but clenched her 
 fists. 
 
 "Show her in!" she said.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX 
 
 MISS CASSON WRITES A NOTE 
 
 IN all this world there never breathed a kindlier little 
 soul than Sunny Ducrow. But Sunny could be brave 
 and strong when she liked. That firm, clean-cut mouth 
 and that stubborn little chin of hers had not been given 
 to Ijer for nothing. 
 
 Miss Gilly Casson swept into the room; she held her 
 head high, tilted backwards, so that she could look at 
 Sunny through half-closed eyes. She swept a glance 
 round the room, and shrugged her shoulders in contempt. 
 
 "I had your letter," she said. "I regarded it as a 
 piece of impertinence. People of your class who wish 
 to see me, generally come and wait my convenience, 
 they don't send asking me to come to them! However, 
 I make allowance for your ignorance and I came!" 
 
 "Very kind of you too!" Sunny said. "Won't you 
 sit down?" 
 
 Miss Casson dropped languidly into a chair. The 
 strong sunlight shone in through the window; it lighted 
 up her face. The light was searching and somewhat 
 cruel. It showed lines and a roughness of skin that the 
 shaded lights of evening more charitably passed over. 
 
 "Well," Miss Casson said, "since I am here, what do 
 you want? You are on the stage, I believe a chorus 
 girl, or something of the sort?" 
 
 "Something of the sort!" Sunny said. "Anyhow it 
 doesn't matter about what I am, it's what you are!" 
 
 283
 
 284 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Miss Casson lifted her eyes languidly. 
 
 "May I ask what it is to do with you? " she said. 
 
 Sunny realized that it would be very awkward to 
 begin. If she could only lose her temper, but she could 
 not; she did not feel in the least like losing her temper 
 for all Miss Casson's insolence. 
 
 "Well, my good girl, I came, here I am! What is it? 
 Money you want to borrow, or something of the kind? 
 If so, let me tell you that there's nothing doing! I 
 don't lend to penniless chorus girls." 
 
 "S'pose," Sunny said "s'pose you wait till you're 
 asked?" 
 
 "Very well, then, what is it?" 
 
 "It's something," Sunny said slowly "something 
 to do with the third of August! " 
 
 Miss Casson started. "I don't understand you," 
 she said sharply. 
 
 "Third of August, two years ago!" Sunny said. 
 
 The woman flushed under her rouge and whitening. 
 "Make yourself clear," she said. "I do not understand 
 you." 
 
 Sunny was beginning to feel more at her ease; she 
 pitied the woman in her heart, but she knew that she 
 must not give way to pity. Pity would spoil everything, 
 and she had work to do that must not be spoiled. 
 
 "It isn't no good me and you beating about no bush!" 
 she said. She put her elbows on the table and rested 
 her firm little chin on her hands. "I just want to tell 
 you straight that I know who you are, and I know what 
 you did, and what you suffered for it, Miss Morania 
 Gilbert!" 
 
 The other held herself in control; she did not start 
 this time. 
 
 "Blackmail, I suppose?" she said sharply. "Well, 
 how much?"
 
 Miss Casson Writes a Note 285 
 
 "That's for you to say, not me! It's me as is going 
 to do the paying!" Sunny said. "That's what I want 
 to know how much?" 
 
 "You mean how much am I willing to pay you to 
 keep your tongue silent? Ah, ha!" She laughed sud- 
 denly. "You are very clever, or you think you are, 
 young woman! But you've made the mistake of your 
 life! I am not Morania Gilbert something like her, 
 I'll admit. I knew her, poor wretch!" 
 
 "She got nine months, didn't she, for shoplifting?" 
 Sunny said. 
 
 "I I forget I am sure I don't know; I was not 
 greatly interested! What has all this to do with me?" 
 
 "It's got a lot to do with you, Miss Gilbert!" 
 
 "My name is Casson!" 
 
 "Now it is, but it used not to be; one time it used to 
 be Morania Gilbert!" 
 
 "Then you you dare to suggest that it was I " 
 
 "I don't suggest nothing, I say it straight and plain 
 you was Morania Gilbert what got caught stealing 
 things from Myhills. You got nine months, and when 
 you came out you changed your name to Casson, keep- 
 ing the Gilbert as a Christian name. See?" 
 
 The other woman rose suddenly. "Well, and what 
 has it to do with you? I deny it it's a lie; it's an 
 attempt at blackmail!" 
 
 "It isn't because I haven't asked for nothing. You 
 deny it look at this!" She held out a picture post 
 card to Miss Casson. 
 
 "Well? I see a photograph of myself!" 
 
 "Turn it over!" Sunny said. 
 
 Miss Casson turned it over; on the back was written: 
 
 "I recognize the portrait on the other side as that of 
 Morania Gilbert, who was charged and sentenced for 
 shoplifting August 19 . Signed, F. G. Bridges."
 
 286 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "See?" Sunny said. 
 
 Gilly Casson's hand shook; into her eyes there came 
 a look of wild anger. "Well, what does it mean?" she 
 said. "What does it mean that you have been interest- 
 ing yourself in me? I deny it understand, it is a 
 mistake. This is an attempt at blackmail! What is 
 to prevent me from calling in the police and having 
 you arrested at once?" 
 
 "Nothing much!" Sunny said. "Except that I went 
 to the police myself yesterday just to make dead certain 
 sure, and showed 'em this photygraft, and they agreed, 
 like Mr. Bridges did, that it was the same Miss Morania 
 Gilbert." 
 
 "Then then you mean blackmail? How much do 
 you want?" 
 
 "I told you before!" Sunny said. "That it isn't how 
 much do I want, it's how much do you want? Look 
 here! I'm sorry for you more, I can say I hate doing 
 it, I do reely. But I got to do it, for her sake, and for 
 his too!" 
 
 "Her his? Who are you talking about?" 
 
 "Lady Blessendale and her son, the Viscount!" 
 Sunny said. "Both their sakes, that's why I sent for 
 you; that's why I want you to know that I know all 
 about you. I don't want to threaten. I hate doing it. 
 I want you to believe I'm sorry for you " 
 
 "Why don't you speak out? What do you mean? 
 What do you want?" 
 
 "Just this!" Sunny said. "You've got to give up 
 the Viscount, Stanley I mean Lord Dobrington. You 
 know you ain't his class. He don't know anything 
 much about you. He's just gone silly about you." 
 
 "The gentleman you speak of is my promised hus- 
 band!" 
 
 Sunny nodded. "I know, or guessed it might be;
 
 Miss Casson Writes a Note 287 
 
 but it is not coming off. I'm sorry. The question is, 
 how much will you take to quit quietly?" 
 
 " Do you mean to say how much will I take to release 
 Lord Dobrington from his promise to me?" 
 
 "That's it!" Sunny said. 
 
 "I will take nothing. Nothing shall induce me to 
 give him up!" 
 
 "I'm sorry then it'll be him as will have to give you 
 up, only it would come better from you. You see, if 
 you don't give him up, I shall have to tell him all I know, 
 and and not that only, I shall tell everyone else. Every 
 one'll get to know that Gilly Casson and Morania Gil- 
 bert is the same, and that she got nine months for shop- 
 lifting. It sounds mean, don't it, and I hate doing it, 
 but I got to. I promised her I'd get him free, and I'm 
 going to do it ! See? " 
 
 She, too, had risen. SJhe stared the other in the eyes. 
 
 "And and you think I fear you?" 
 
 "Not me, but my tongue! Listen!" Sunny said. 
 "When you go out of this house, if you don't listen to 
 reason, I go first straight to him. I tell him everything 
 
 about you. Then I go to the Weekly " She paused. 
 
 "You know the paper the paper as digs up things 
 about people? They'll be glad enough to put it in when 
 I show 'em my proofs. You know the sort of thing: 
 4 Is it true that the popular young dancer, as is engaged 
 to a certain young lord, was once known under another 
 name and got nine months for shoplifting?' Something 
 like that. Maybe a bit stronger. I'll bet you one 
 thing, it'll be known from one end of London to the 
 other inside a week! Well?" 
 
 "I I shall deny it, and sue you and the papers, 
 and " 
 
 "You can't ! " Sunny said. " My proofs are too strong 
 for you, and you know it ! I'm sorry to have to threaten
 
 288 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 you, I hate doing it, I feel low and mean doing it, but I 
 got to, and that's all about it ! Now, if you're sensible, 
 you'll listen to me. I can pay you something handsome; 
 you'll release him, and you can go on just as you are. 
 You're well known, and getting a good salary. It isn't 
 as if you was down and out " 
 
 Gilly Casson crossed the room to the window. She 
 stood staring out. 
 
 "Let me think, you little wretch!" she said. 
 
 "You take your time, only get on with it!" Sunny 
 said. "Because aunt will be coming back with her new 
 hat, and I don't want her to know anything!" 
 
 The woman did not answer; she stood with her back 
 to the room. Sunny moved about restlessly; she looked 
 at her, she felt sorry very, very sorry for the woman; 
 but she knew that she must show no sign of pity. Dob- 
 rington must be saved. She had promised his mother 
 that she would save him, and she had to do it. 
 
 Presently Miss Casson swung round. 
 
 "I'll take ten thousand to clear out ! " she said sharply. 
 
 "Ten hundred!" Sunny said briefly. 
 
 "Not a penny less than ten thousand, and it's little 
 enough considering what I might have." 
 
 "Ten hundred is a lot considering what you would 
 get when he knows the truth about you," Sunny said. 
 
 "Ten thousand!" 
 
 "Nothing doing!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Up to what amount have you instructions to go?" 
 Miss Casson asked. 
 
 "That's my business. I offer you a thousand pounds 
 a nice little sum too!" 
 
 "I refuse it with scorn. I will take eight thousand at 
 the very lowest!" 
 
 "We're only wasting time," Sunny said. "It's like 
 this ! If you don't accept my terms, you don't get noth-
 
 Miss Casson Writes a Note 289 
 
 ing when Dobrington knows the truth about you. He'll 
 throw you up all right. You couldn't take action against 
 him, because if you did it would all come out who you 
 were and why he gave you up. See? I'll be generous 
 and make it two thousand!" 
 
 "Five!" Miss Casson said. "Five thousand the 
 lowest!" 
 
 Sunny shook her head. "Sorry," she said. "I can't 
 do it ! Time's getting short ; I think I hear aunt coming 
 in. If we don't make an arrangement before she comes 
 I'll have to go and see Dob." 
 
 "Four thousand!" Miss Casson said. "Four!" 
 
 "I'll meet you half-way and make it three. That's 
 the last I've got to say!" Sunny said. 
 
 For a moment the woman hesitated. 
 
 "Yes, good, very well, I'll take it three thousand! 
 What do you wish me to do?" 
 
 ' ' Just sit down and write, and write quick ! ' ' Sunny said. 
 
 The woman sat down. "And the money? " she asked. 
 "How do I know " 
 
 "You'll get the cheque before you go out of this 
 room," Sunny said. "Now write: 
 
 " Dear Lord Dobrington Got that?" Sunny 
 asked. 
 
 Miss Casson nodded. 
 
 "After very careful consideration," Sunny went on, 
 "and having given much thought to the matter, I 
 have come to the conclusion that a marriage between our 
 two selves would be a great mistake. I should miss the 
 excitement of my present life, and would never be able 
 to settle down to married life. I am therefore writing 
 this letter to ask you to consider our engagement at 
 an end. The presents you have given me " Miss 
 Casson looked up quickly. 
 
 "Got that?" Sunny asked.
 
 290 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " The presents that you have given me I'll keep. " 
 Miss Casson drew a breath of relief. "But all the 
 letters I have had from you I will undertake to return 
 in the course of a few days. I would like you to under- 
 stand that this is final and definite, and that nothing 
 will make me alter my mind. " 
 
 "Got that?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Then all you got to do is to sign it Gilly Casson!" 
 Sunny said. "He'll know who it comes from better 
 than if you signed the other name." 
 
 "And the money?" Miss Casson asked. 
 
 Sunny sat down. She took out Lady Blessendale's 
 cheque and filled in the amount three thousand pounds. 
 
 "You'll give me a receipt for that, please!" she said. 
 "Put it this way 'Received from Miss Sunny Ducrow, 
 acting on behalf of Lady Blessendale, the sum of three 
 thousand pounds in consideration of my not marrying 
 Lord Dobrington. ' ' 
 
 "Very well!" 
 
 "I'll find the penny stamp!" Sunny said. "I'll run 
 to that myself, and that's about all, I think," she added. 
 ' ' Aunt's coming ! ' ' 
 
 Miss Casson rose. She held out the papers and took 
 the cheque. 
 
 "That's all right, and I'd like to tell you this I'm 
 sorry, dead sorry, I had to do it! One thing" Sunny 
 paused "one thing I want to ask you" she paused, 
 she looked at the other woman wistfully "did did 
 you love him?" 
 
 Miss Casson laughed stridently. "I am not a fool!" 
 she said. "No, I did not!" She snapped her fingers. 
 "I didn't give that for him; it was the position and the 
 money I wanted!"
 
 Miss Casson Writes a Note 291 
 
 Sunny sighed, "I'm glad," she said; "if you'd cared 
 much I'd nave hated myself. Now now it's over" 
 she paused "now it's over and done with, I'd like to 
 to " She held out her hand. 
 
 "No, thanks!" Miss Casson said. She drew back. 
 "One thing I will promise you Miss er Sunny 
 Ducrow, if I can ever do you a mischief I shall do it 
 with much pleasure " 
 
 "That's all right, then!" Sunny said. "Now we 
 understand one another!" 
 
 It was ten minutes later that Mrs. Melkin plodded, 
 breathing heavily, up the stairs. She came into the 
 room. Sunny looked up. 
 
 "Law," she said, "you got your hat, and what a 
 picture you do look! Why, I'm blessed if you didn't 
 ought to be on the stage yourself, aunt!" 
 
 Mrs. Melkin sniffed. 
 
 "I was somethink to look at, I was, when I was a 
 gel!" she said. "And I ain't lost all my looks neither; 
 oh no, don't you flatter yourself, Elizabeth Ann, I dare 
 say I get as much admiration as you do any day!" 
 
 "More," Sunny said. "Because you ain't got my 
 'orrible 'air."
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 AN ACT OF FRIENDSHIP 
 
 "T S'POSE I didn't ought to be here," Sunny said. 
 
 1 Viscount Dobrington stared at her; he looked ill 
 and worn haggard; he seemed to have lost the fresh- 
 ness of his youth. Compared with what he had been a 
 few short weeks ago, he looked an old man almost. 
 
 "Sunny!" he said. 
 
 "That's me!" She stepped into the room. 
 
 "It's good to see you, little Sunny!" he said. "My 
 Heavens, when I think " He paused suddenly. 
 "Well, old girl, what is it?" 
 
 "I got a letter for you." 
 
 ' ' A letter for me ! From whom ? ' ' 
 
 "Oh, someone!" Sunny said; she sat down uninvited. 
 "Dob, you ain't looking yourself." 
 
 "I don't feel myself. If ever a mad fool " He 
 paused. "Well, it's no good grousing, is it? As one 
 makes one's bed, so must one lie on it." 
 
 "Unless you can get someone to remake it," Sunny 
 said. "And I ain't a bad hand at bedmaking always 
 made my own and auntie's in the old days." 
 
 "You're a good little soul," he said. "A dear little 
 pal, Sunny. I wish, I wish that " He paused 
 again. "Well, it's no good wishing," he said. 
 
 "You ain't happy?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "Happy!" He laughed drearily. "I'm about the 
 most miserable, unhappy wretch on the face of the earth, 
 
 2Q2
 
 An Act of Friendship 293 
 
 Sunny Ducrow. Look at me, look hard, and you'll see 
 the biggest fool ever born." 
 
 "How's that?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "Oh, you you are too young to understand," he 
 said. 
 
 "I s'pose I am; I've got my perambulator waiting 
 for me outside," Sunny said. "And I can't stop reely 
 I didn't ought to be here at all. Look here, Dob!" 
 She went towards him and held out her hand. "Tell 
 me straight and honest, what's wrong?" 
 
 "Everything is wrong, old girl. I've made an ass of 
 myself the biggest, confounded ass that a man could 
 make of himself, I've done it!'* 
 
 "Done what? Is it a a woman?" 
 
 "Yes!" he said. "Temporary insanity," he said, 
 with a bitter laugh. "I thought her wonderful; she 
 took hold of me, I went mad, behaved like a wild fool, 
 asked her to be my wife, and she has accepted. And 
 and of course I'm bound to go through with it now!" 
 
 "Why?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "Why?" he cried. "Why? Why, because I asked 
 her, because hang it, I may be a fool, but, thank Heav- 
 ens, I am still a gentleman because I regard a promise 
 given as sacred, no matter to whom it is given." 
 
 Sunny's eyes flamed. "Dob, you're white!" she said. 
 "Real white, and I love you for it! I didn't come here 
 meaning to do it, but I'm going to all the same!" She 
 stood on the tips of her toes, she put her arms round his 
 neck, and gave him a sounding kiss. 
 
 "There's your letter, old dear!" she said. "Read it 
 when I am gone, and then then " She laughed. 
 "Hold up your head and keep smiling, Dob." She 
 turned to the door. 
 
 ' ' Sunny ! " he said. ' ' Sunny ! " He was staring at the 
 handwriting. "Sunny come back!" But she laughed
 
 294 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 at him from the doorway and kissed her hand to him, 
 and a moment later she was gone. 
 
 Sunny curled her feet under her on the sofa and 
 beamed on Lady Blessendale. 
 
 "Then then you have actually succeeded, you clever 
 child?" her ladyship cried. "Sunny Ducrow, you have 
 won!" 
 
 "I meant to," Sunny said, "and when I mean to, I do 
 it gen'rally, and it didn't cost such a wonderful lot 
 neither; there are two thousand pounds change for you. 
 I only filled it in for three instead of five." 
 
 "And and she took it was content; she will not 
 attempt to " 
 
 "Nothin'," Sunny said. "She didn't care for him, 
 and he was fed up, fair worried to death ! Only he asked 
 her, and, being a gentleman, he didn't see how he was 
 to break no promises. I left him reading the letter 
 from her which tells him she isn't going to marry him. 
 I'll bet it's the nicest letter he ever had, and I'll betcher," 
 Sunny went on, "that he'll be popping round to see you 
 before the day's out, looking as happy as a sandboy. 
 Oh, it's all right, all right, and it's cost three thousand!" 
 
 "You wonderful child!" her ladyship said. "Sunny, 
 is it really true?" 
 
 "Dead true, sure as I'm sitting here," Sunny said. 
 "He didn't reely love her, he told me; he'd gone tempo- 
 rary mad, but he's come to his senses again. Oh, he'll 
 be glad all right, you wait and see, and now I must pop 
 off; the way I've been neglecting my own business is 
 simply shameful!" 
 
 " Sunny, I want you to do something for me. Wait ! " 
 Her ladyship sat down, she wrote rapidly for a few 
 moments, then came to Sunny. 
 
 "Sunny dear," she said, "I I want you to keep the
 
 An Act of Friendship 295 
 
 change; here it is, two thousand pounds, and never was 
 the money better earned. Will you take it, dear child, 
 with my most grateful thanks?" 
 
 Sunny turned red and then white; she rose. " I I'm 
 sorry," she said. "I s'pose I've been a bit of a fool. 
 I I thought I was doing it friendly like for for you. 
 I don't realize that a lady like you wouldn't want to 
 take a favor from a girl like me without without 
 paying for it." 
 
 Lady Blessendale colored; slowly she tore the cheque 
 across and across. 
 
 "Dear," she said, "you misunderstand me. I I 
 accept what you have done, and I shall regard it and 
 remember it as the act of a a dear little friend!" She 
 put her arms around Sunny and held her tightly. 
 
 Ten minutes later Sunny went out; her feet scarcely 
 seemed to touch the pavement. Her face was radiant, 
 her red lips smiled, her eyes danced. Then she saw him. 
 Sunny looked round; she saw a doorway and darted 
 into it, and stood there till Viscount Dobrington had 
 passed. She saw him ascend the steps of the family 
 mansion and ring the bell. 
 
 "That's all right!" Sunny whispered. "That's all 
 right!"
 
 CHAPTER XLI 
 
 THE BOOMING OF "JOHN CROW" 
 
 good girl, my dear Sunny, Tragedy! You 
 with your excuse me red hair and turned- 
 up nose and " 
 
 "Don't you worry about my hair," Sunny said. "As 
 for my nose being turned-up, what about Bertha Rail- 
 ton? Don't her nose turnupmore'nmineif any thing, and 
 ain't she ' It ' in tragedy, or anything else, come to that ? " 
 
 "Bertha Railton isn't Sunny Ducrow!" Arthur Curtiss 
 said. 
 
 "Because Sunny Ducrow ain't proved what she can 
 do, and Bertha Railton has," Sunny said. "I'm for 
 tragedy all the time, Arthur!" 
 
 He laughed. 
 
 " If I spoke to Barstowe about it, he'd have three fits!" 
 he said. 
 
 "Don't you worry; you let me talk to him about it. 
 I've got the sketch here, and Bert wrote it." 
 
 "It'll be a farce," Curtiss said. "A tragedy written 
 and acted by Sunny Ducrow, it'll be a screaming farce 
 from beginning to end! Hang it, I don't know that it 
 would not be a good move to put it on and advertise it 
 as a screaming farce!" 
 
 "Go it!" Sunny said; she smiled. "You can't rile 
 me, Arthur!" 
 
 "My dear child, I'm not trying to rile you, I'm just 
 trying to show you common sense!" 
 
 296
 
 The Booming of "John Crow" 297 
 
 "A sample out of your stock," she said, "warranted 
 not to run in the wash! Look here" she set her small 
 teeth "this here sketch is going to be played, and Sunny 
 Ducrow is going to play it. See?" 
 
 "I'll bet Barstowe never puts on a sketch that you 
 write and in which you want to act a tragedy part, my 
 girl!" 
 
 ' ' Betcher ! ' ' Sunny said. " Betcher ! ' ' 
 
 "Let me have the thing!" Curtiss said. "It'll be 
 amusing to run through it!" 
 
 "You'll split your sides with laughing!" Sunny said. 
 "With your sense of humor you'll laugh yourself more 
 silly than you are now!" 
 
 "Let me have it, any way!" he said; he held out his 
 nice white, well-kept hand for the script. 
 
 "You read it and it'll do you good!" Sunny said. 
 "I'll look back later!" She gave him the script and 
 went out. 
 
 She felt a little angry, but she was glad that she had 
 not shown it. The sketch was finished. The Betrayal 
 had been touched up and touched up again. She and 
 Bert had sat over it for hours and hours. Finally they 
 had told one another that it was good, and further 
 meddling would do it harm, so they left it. 
 
 Sunny went out into the street. Opposite her was a 
 great hoarding; from the hoarding huge red letters 
 struck her in the eyes. 
 
 "JOHN CROW 
 
 JAMS, 
 PICKLES, 
 SAUCES, 
 
 The same as mother makes. 
 "John Crow ' ' means purity ; see that you get it ! "
 
 298 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 It was all over London; not a hoarding but shrieked 
 the same glad tidings to every passer-by. Sunny stood 
 and stared. "That looks good!" she said. "Betcher 
 John Crow's going to boom Mossy knows something!" 
 
 Sunny hailed a cab; she gave the man directions, and 
 a quarter of an hour later she stood in Cutway Street. 
 
 Mr. Johnson was in his office; he looked radiant. 
 
 "Hello, Partner!" he shouted. 
 
 " Hello ! " Sunny said. " How's it going? " 
 
 "Strong, splendidly orders rushing in!" he said. 
 "This advertising scheme is beating us hollow. I don't 
 know how we'll keep up with the orders!" 
 
 "Oh, you'll keep up with 'em all right!" Sunny said. 
 "Next thing we've got to consider is a new factory." 
 
 "My dear girl!" 
 
 "I've got it in my mind!" Sunny said. "Just outside 
 London close to the railway, of course. Of course 
 we'll have to build, and we'll run up a hundred cottages." 
 
 Mr. Johnson stared at her. "My my dear Sunny!" 
 he said. "Anything upset your mental balance?" 
 
 "Not as you could notice!" Sunny said. "Only you 
 don't look ahead and I do. We've got to find a tract 
 of land and put up a factory, then we'll run up cottages 
 for the workpeople. We'll call it John Crow Town, and 
 it'll be a place for folk to come and see. Swimming- 
 baths and club-house and reading-rooms and laundry 
 and 
 
 Mr. Johnson rubbed his hands through his hair. 
 "Go go steadily!" he gasped. "You sweep me off 
 my feet!" 
 
 Sunny laughed. "I see it all, if you don't!" she said. 
 "What's more, I know where the land's to be got; it's 
 to be got cheap, too, because the chap as it belongs to 
 goes about with his eyes shut!" 
 
 "Really? "he said.
 
 The Booming of "John Crow" 299 
 
 "Well, it's like this: the land is about half a mile 
 from the railway line; if it were dead on the line, it 
 would be worth six times what he asks for it ! But half 
 a mile isn't a wonderful long distance to lay down a track, 
 is it?" 
 
 "I I see! "he said. 
 
 "Thank goodness you can see something!" Sunny 
 said. 
 
 "There's six acres, and he wants a hundred an acre. 
 It's giving it away; then there's thirty acres belonging 
 to another bloke all touching this six. We'll want that 
 too, but the other chap's more spry, or else he don't 
 want money so badly. Anyhow, I'll betcher in the end 
 I'll get all at a hundred an acre. See?" 
 
 "But the money?" 
 
 "That'll be three thousand, six hundred!" Sunny said. 
 "Then there's the cost of running up the factory. Well, 
 that won't be much. There won't be no upstairs, for 
 one thing; it'll be just a low building, taking up about 
 two acres to start with. We can add other buildings 
 from time to time. I reckon we can stick the first build- 
 ing up for say two thousand that's five thousand, six 
 hundred. Then the cottages, we'll build 'em in pairs. 
 Twenty pairs will be enough to start with, and I've 
 reckoned them out at two hundred and fifty a pair; 
 that's another five thousand, isn't it?" 
 
 "Stop ! " Mr. Johnson said. " It's a fortune ! Where's 
 the money coming from, Sunny?" 
 
 "Oh, I'll find it all right, don't you worry. Of course 
 we'll have to make a company of it ! First to last, we'll 
 want twelve thousand pounds, and say another thousand 
 for boiling-plant and the like thirteen thousand." 
 
 "We shall never get it!" Johnson said. 
 
 "Betcher!" Sunny said. "Betcher we'll be moving 
 in this day twelvemonth!"
 
 300 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I'll bet you a new silk dress and a hat to match we 
 aren't!" Mr. Johnson said. 
 
 Sunny nodded. "Betcher!" she said. "An overcoat 
 and a new hat and a pretty new tie against my dress 
 and hat!" She held out her hand. 
 
 They shook hands on it. 
 
 Sunny went back to the Realm; she left Mr. Johnson 
 a little dazed. "That girl!" he muttered. "She's a 
 wonder! This time, however, she has bitten off more 
 than she can chew!" 
 
 Sunny laughed to herself. She had made her plans, 
 and she meant to carry them out. 
 
 "First thing, I'll get an option on them thirty-six 
 acres right bang away!" she thought. "After that, 
 I'll get to work! Well?" She opened the door of Mr. 
 Curtiss's room. 
 
 "Well?" he said. "I've read it, Sunny; you you 
 didn't write it?" 
 
 " Not all ; me and Bert wrote it between us ! " 
 
 "But hang it!" he said. 
 
 "Oh, hang it if you like, but we done it all the same!" 
 
 "It's not bad stuff," he said; "in fact, it's good! But 
 but, Sunny Ducrow, I can't see you in that part; it's 
 a sheer impossibility!" 
 
 "Betcher!" Sunny said. "You'll see me in that part 
 all right!" 
 
 He shook his head. "Barstowe wouldn't think of 
 it!" he said. "Wouldn't dream of it! You'll do all 
 right for revue, my girl, and for pretty, pretty little songs 
 and nice scenic effects, but when it comes to sheer tragedy, 
 you're no go!" 
 
 "If you'd seen me working in the pickles, sticking on 
 labels, and looking after the boiling," Sunny said, "you'd 
 have said to yourself that girl's all right for this job, 
 but put her on the stage with a pretty, pretty song and
 
 The Booming of "John Crow" 301 
 
 nice scenic effects and she'd be done and out. You'd 
 have said that just because you don't know. That's 
 why you are talking this way! You don't know, and 
 you never will know until you see!" 
 
 "Barstowe will never listen to the suggestion!" he 
 said. 
 
 "He'll do more than listen, he'll jump at it! Betcher 
 that sketch is on at the Realm before two months is out, 
 and that Sunny Ducrow will be playing lead!" 
 
 "I'll bet you anything you like " 
 
 "No, I'm not betting," Sunny said. "I'm fed up with 
 betting. Gi' me that script over; I'm going to get 
 Barstowe to read it!" 
 
 "He won't!" 
 
 Sunny smiled; her lips framed her favorite word, 
 "Betcher," but she did not utter it. 
 
 "You'd better give in, Sunny. Don't aim at the 
 impossible!" 
 
 "Nothing's impossible so long as you hold your head 
 up and keep smiling ! " she said.
 
 CHAPTER XLII 
 CURREN'S AND RAS'BERRIES 
 
 SUNNY stepped out of the train and looked about 
 her. Yes, it was all right "Balmer, for Potshall 
 and Copping." Balmer, that was the name of the station 
 on her ticket. 
 
 It was a glorious morning and a Wednesday. Bar- 
 stowe never went to the Realm on a Wednesday ; it was 
 a hard-and-fast rule he had made years ago. Wednes- 
 day London never saw Barstowe. On Wednesdays, 
 Saturdays, and Sundays he was no longer Barstowe of 
 Barstowe Realms, but Squire Barstowe of Potshall, or, 
 if others preferred it, Farmer Barstowe; he did not 
 mind in the least. 
 
 The Realms were all very well; they were a gigantic 
 success. Barstowe had proved himself to be a man in 
 ten thousand; he stood at the very head of the music- 
 hall profession. To be looked up for a Realm Circuit 
 was the ambition of all the lesser music-hall stars. 
 Barstowe was a name to conjure with in the music- 
 hall profession. But for three days of the week Wed- 
 nesday, Saturday, and Sunday Barstowe sank it all. 
 He put on a shabby velveteen coat, corduroy breeches, 
 hobnail boots, and gaiters. He put a straw between his 
 lips and dragged a disreputable old hat on his head and 
 became Squire, or Farmer, Barstowe. He talked crops 
 with other farmers at the Lion and Garter, Potshall. 
 On Wednesday, market day, he pinched pigs and felt 
 
 302
 
 Curren's and Ras'berries 303 
 
 the limbs of horses. He talked the jargon of the 
 horse trade of the cattle market and of the agriculturist, 
 and to look at him one would never think for a moment 
 that he had ever been inside a music-hall in his life. 
 
 Barstowe led a double life but it was a very innocent 
 one. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays he 
 was Barstowe of the Realms, Barstowe, king of the 
 music-hall world, Barstowe, who engaged stars at 
 several hundred pounds a week apiece and never turned 
 a hair. Wednesday he was Farmer Barstowe at Potshall 
 Market, and would argue and fight and cheapen a cow, 
 or a pig, or a beast, and stand out, if necessary, for three- 
 quarters of an hour over a matter of thirty shillings. 
 
 Saturday he was Farmer Barstowe again, and he 
 tramped his fields and watched the growth of his grain 
 and the fattening of his cattle, and interviewed his 
 bailiff and his farm-servants. Sunday he was Squire 
 Barstowe, and set a good example to Potshall. He rode 
 to church in an antique family barouche, drawn by two 
 fat white horses. He sat with his stout, comfortable, 
 good-natured wife in the Squire's pew, which had passed 
 to him naturally when he acquired Potshall Manor 
 House. In fact for three days out of seven, Barstowe 
 was a simple-minded, English country gentleman, who 
 seemed to have no interests on this wide earth save 
 those connected with the growing of crops, the rearing 
 of sheep and cattle and pigs, the housing of his tenants, 
 and the setting of a good example on Sundays. While 
 the other four days out of the seven he was a different per- 
 sonage. He was Barstowe of Barstowe Realms, the 
 giant of the music-hall profession, the man who had 
 Realms dotted all over the country Manchester. 
 Bradford, Hull and Liverpool, Glasgow, Newcastle and 
 Birmingham, and at least a score of other towns beside; 
 the man who had a clear knowledge and a firm grip on
 
 3<>4 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 each separate branch of the great Realm establishments, 
 who knew to a penny the salary every artist was drawing 
 from him, and exactly how long the contracts lasted and 
 what the clauses were. There was no man who knew 
 his business better from A to Z than Barstowe on 
 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and on the 
 other three days he knew nothing, and, by the expression 
 of his face, gave the suggestion that he had never heard 
 of Harry Lauder and did not know who George Robey 
 was. 
 
 And to-day was Wednesday and a gloriously fine 
 Wednesday. 
 
 "How far is Potshall?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "Potshall, miss? A matter of three mile!" the porter 
 said. "You go straight on there, and then turn when 
 you come to the Courtney Arms, then straight. on for a 
 mile, or maybe a mile and a half, then " 
 
 "All right!" Sunny said. She nodded to him blithely 
 and stepped out down the road. 
 
 " Law, ain't it pleasant to be in the country? " When 
 I get on a bit and get good money, I'll live in the country 
 myself," she muttered. "I'll have a nice little house 
 and a garden, and keep a bee and a pig, and and a hen 
 or two, that's my mark! Does you good, doesn't it, 
 to get away from the smoke and the row and all that? 
 Not that London's so dusty ! " she added. " I seen worse 
 places, and it ain't treated me bad!" 
 
 She walked on, whistling shrilly in the lightness of 
 her heart. 
 
 She had made the thirty-five mile journey from Lon- 
 don to see Barstowe and to discuss the future of her and 
 Bert's sketch with him, but just how she was going to 
 manage it Sunny did not know. Arthur Curtiss had 
 warned her solemnly and tragically. 
 
 "It's like this, Sunny," he said. " If you go to Potshall
 
 Curren's and Raspberries 305 
 
 and run Barstowe to earth and get talking Realm to 
 him, you're done for good and all; he'll never forgive 
 you; he'll never look at you again nor listen to you. 
 Potshall is sacred sacred to crops and pigs and cows; 
 no one ever mentions Barstowe Realms there. I went 
 down once and I know. Take it from me, if you go there 
 thinking to get at him that way, you're riding for a fall, 
 and then good-bye to all your chances at Barstowe 
 Realms. See?" 
 
 "I see!" Sunny said. "But there's more ways into a 
 house than through the front door, old dear. You leave 
 it to me." 
 
 Sunny wrinkled her brows in deep thought as she 
 walked along. She had no plan no plan at all with 
 which to approach the great Barstowe. As Arthur 
 Curtiss had said, she would ride for a fall if she attempted 
 to tackle Barstowe on music-hall matters on a day sacred 
 to pigs, horses, and cows and crops. 
 
 "Hello!" she said to herself suddenly. 
 
 She stopped and looked through a gateway. A fine, 
 old-fashioned Elizabethan house, standing far back from 
 the main road, in its spacious grounds ; it was a noble- 
 looking old house, and it bore every evidence of the 
 utmost care having been taken in its upkeep. The 
 grounds were in fine order. There was a huge lawn, 
 dotted with splendid trees, a lake in front of the house 
 which mirrored the whole structure on its placid surface. 
 
 Stretching away to right and left Sunny could see 
 orchards and large tracts of land, evidently under fruit 
 and vegetable cultivation, while in the far distance were 
 lines of farm-buildings and distant views of arable and 
 meadow lands. 
 
 "Who's this belong to?" Sunny asked. 
 
 The farm laborer, to whom she addressed the ques- 
 tion, touched his hat.
 
 306 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Mister Barstowe, miss," he said. "Squire Barstowe 
 that is! Rich gentleman, miss, and the biggest farmer 
 hereabouts. They do say" he paused "they do say 
 as he has something to do with a theatre in London." 
 
 "I've heard he has," Sunny said. "Thank you!" 
 
 She waited till the old man had gone, then she pushed 
 open a side gate and went in. 
 
 Uninvited, Sunny wandered about at her own sweet 
 will for about half an hour, then she happened across a 
 laborer. 
 
 " I'm just taking a look about Mr. Barstowe's grounds," 
 she said. "Grows a wonderful lot of fruit, don't he?" 
 
 "Yes, miss; wonderful!" the man said. 
 
 "Curren's and ras'berries and like that I suppose 
 tons of 'em, eh?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "Yes, miss; wonderful fine croppers, Mr. Barstowe 
 has got, and he looks after the soil too. They say it 
 takes Kent to grow strawberries, but you should see 
 ours in the season. And then the plums too it's a 
 wonderful year for plums, miss. I'll show you." 
 
 He took her round, and Sunny saw a great deal. The 
 man spoke truly. Barstowe evidently knew a great 
 deal about fruit culture. 
 
 "What does he do with it?" she asked. 
 
 "Markets it, miss; sends it up to Coving Garden, 
 what we can't sell locally." 
 
 "I see!" Sunny said thoughtfully. "But does it 
 pay him?" 
 
 "I expect it does!" he said. "But of course there's 
 a lot of waste, and sometimes, when fruit ain't selling 
 well in the market, he don't see much profit on it. Take 
 them plums there's going to be a glut of plums, they 
 say, this year we shan't make next to nothing on them." 
 
 Sunny nodded. "How many plums would you say 
 you have?"
 
 Curren's and Ras* berries 37 
 
 "I reckon not fur short of three to four tons," he said. 
 "Mr. Barstowe's got a wonderful belief in plums; and 
 then them apples, all the best sorts, too Cox's Orange 
 Pippins and Blenheim while the cookers " 
 
 Sunny spent another hour; at the end of it she gave 
 the man five shillings and set off afoot once more for 
 Potshall. She had learned that Mr. Barstowe was at 
 Potshall Market, and that he made his headquarters at 
 the Lion and Garter. Straight to the Lion and Garter 
 Sunny went. 
 
 The coffee-room was filled with men, farmers and 
 farmers' sons. There was a strong flavor of the land 
 about them; they were eating an immense lunch. 
 
 Sunny ordered lunch for herself and sat at a side table, 
 and while she ate, she watched and listened. It was 
 not long before she spotted Barstowe sitting amongst 
 the farmers. He was holding forth on the subjects of 
 manures. The other farmers listened respectfully to his 
 views, for he was a man who knew. 
 
 "Wood-ash," Barstowe was saying, "that is what I 
 pin my faith on; it lightens the soil, and the soil's too 
 heavy here! I used hundreds of tons of wood-ash." 
 
 He went on laying down the law and thumping the 
 table. 
 
 "Then take poultry," he said. "You men don't 
 understand the value of poultry. You keep half a 
 hundred mangy chickens and allow them to run about 
 anyhow. You get a few score eggs now and again you 
 get none when eggs are fetching their price. And you 
 get too many eggs when eggs are worth nothing, com- 
 paratively." 
 
 "What do you do, Squire?" a man asked. 
 
 "Me? I keep four thousand fowls, and everyone is 
 picked. I keep first cross only," Barstowe went on. 
 "I allow two hundred fowls to each acre of orchard and
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 fence 'em in; every six months I clear 'em off the ground 
 and " 
 
 Sunny listened interested. This was a man who knew. 
 He was teaching these other men too, and they were 
 listening interestedly. 
 
 "That's how I get my crops that set you all wonder- 
 ing," he cried, "and that's how I get eggs and sell 'em at 
 a big profit at a time when you don't see an egg in the 
 whole of your henhouses." 
 
 The other men were rising and going out, one by one. 
 Presently there were Barstowe and a few others left 
 behind. He had talked so much that he had forgotten 
 his lunch. 
 
 "I'll try that wood scheme of yours, Squire," one man 
 said. 
 
 Barstowe nodded. 
 
 The other men went out; only Barstowe and Sunny 
 were left behind. She had finished her lunch; she rose 
 and went over to his table and sat down. 
 
 "Good-morning, Squire!" she said. 
 
 Barstowe started and looked at her; he blinked and 
 frowned. 
 
 "Good-morning!" he said briefly; he turned red. 
 
 "I heard what you said about fowls and like that," 
 Sunny said. "You're right. I don't know much about 
 it, but what you said sounds like sense!" 
 
 "Hum!" Barstowe said. 
 
 "I've been looking round your place," Sunny said. 
 "I didn't get permission, but I thought you wouldn't 
 mind. That's a fine lot of plums you've got coming on." 
 
 "Very fine yes, a fine lot!" Barstowe said; he looked 
 at her suspiciously. He knew her, of course, and waited 
 for what he thought was coming, and he frowned again. 
 
 "And you look like getting a big crop off the ras'- 
 berries and curren's this year!" Sunny said.
 
 Curren's and Ras'berries 309 
 
 "A very big crop." 
 
 "I got talking to one of your men, and he told me 
 about the way you market 'em. I fancy you're wrong 
 about that!" 
 
 "Wrong, hey? What do you know about marketing 
 fruit crops, Miss Ducrow?" 
 
 "A bit!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Oh!" he muttered. "You do, do you?" 
 
 "What you want to do is to fix a certain price, a fair 
 price, and see you get it." 
 
 "That's easier said than done, young lady. I have to 
 take what the market fetches." 
 
 "There's no need," Sunny said. "Take us. We 
 buy at a fair fixed price, but the trouble with us is to 
 get the fruit good and dry and fresh." 
 
 "Who are you?" he asked sharply. 
 
 " Me? I'm Sunny Ducrow ! " 
 
 "I know that, but you say we buy what do you 
 buy?" 
 
 "Fruit and vegetables for jams and pickles," she said. 
 "I'm partner in Johnson & Ducrow the John Crow 
 jams, you know." 
 
 "Oh!" he said; he stared at her. "John Crow I 
 know the name!" 
 
 "You ought!" she said. "It smacks you in the eye 
 on every hoarding. We're out," she went on, "to do the 
 finest and the best in pickles and jams and sauces in 
 this country. We sell the best and the purest, and we 
 want to buy the best we can get at a fair price. It would 
 pay you better to sell your crops direct to us at a fixed 
 price than to stock the markets." 
 
 Barstowe put his elbows on the table; he was filled 
 with wonder, but he said nothing. This girl, he thought 
 she had come to pester him with music-hall affairs. He 
 remembered the trick she had played on him in his car
 
 3 10 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 that day when she sung to him through the crowded 
 streets of London. But this talk of pickles and jams 
 and standing crops was more to his mind. 
 
 "Well, what are your ideas?" he asked. 
 
 "I'll tell you straight!" Sunny said. She too put her 
 elbows on the table, she talked quickly, now and again 
 she waved her hand. 
 
 "You see, we make a point of telling 'em all the time, 
 'You pay a penny a pound more for purity,' and we 
 guarantee purity all the time. And when we guarantee 
 purity, we've got to satisfy ourselves that we are buying 
 the purest sugar and the cleanest and soundest fruit. 
 Now you can sell the sort of fruit we want, and we're 
 in the market for it at a fair price." 
 
 "But your output?" he asked. 
 
 "It's growing. In a little time we are taking thirty- 
 six acres of ground and putting up a model factory, 
 where the public will be invited to come and look round 
 and see how everything is done. It's got to be all fair 
 and aboveboard. We're going to advertise it and give 
 nice pictures of the factory and the girls' club and the 
 swimming-baths and like that, and if you like, we'll put 
 in a picture or two showing the great orchards on Squire 
 Barstowe's estates at Potshall, which supply some of 
 the fruit used by us." 
 
 "You're very young to be interested in such a busi- 
 ness!" Barstowe said. 
 
 "Nothing like starting early!" Sunny said. "I'd 
 like to take another look round them orchards." 
 
 "So you shall!" he said. He was interested. No one 
 listening to them would have guessed for one moment 
 that Barstowe had any connection with the music-hall 
 world, or that Sunny was anything else in life than one 
 interested in the production of pickles and jams. 
 
 At four o'clock that afternoon, when Barstowe's busi-
 
 Curren's and Raspberries 3 11 
 
 ness at the market was over, he drove back to the Manor 
 House, and Sunny drove with him. 
 
 "It's a good idea that," he said "a very good idea. 
 I had thought of something of the sort myself, but I'm 
 a busy man. My time during the week is occupied; 
 the two days a week I can spare to the work here are 
 very much filled. During the rest of the week " 
 
 "You've got something to do with the music-hall 
 world, haven't you?" Sunny asked. 
 
 He looked at her and grunted. 
 
 "I thought I knew your name," she said. "How- 
 ever, that don't matter now. We'll get talking about 
 them plums and cherries and curren's and " 
 
 Sunny felt fairly tired out when Barstowe had con- 
 ducted her round the orchards and fruit-growing plots 
 again. It was growing late too nearly seven and 
 Sunny realized that, while she had undoubtedly struck 
 some good business for the jam factory, she was as yet 
 as far off as ever from her and Bert's sketch. 
 
 "This new factory scheme of yours!" Barstowe said. 
 "Is it in operation yet?" 
 
 "Not quite yet, but it's going to be. I'm going to 
 let some of my friends come in and take a share," Sunny 
 said. " You see, we'll want a bit more money than we've 
 got. We're doing grand business now in Cutway Street, 
 but the place isn't big enough, and not that alone, it is 
 not the sort of place I want. I want a show place you 
 can make pictures of and get the newspaper people to 
 come down and see!" 
 
 He nodded. "And and the shares?" he said. 
 "What money will you be asking for?" 
 
 "About twelve thousand!" Sunny said. "And that's 
 for buying the land freehold and putting up the build- 
 ings. We're making the goodwill all the time and ad- 
 vertising big now."
 
 312 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Barstowe nodded. "I'd like to have a talk with your 
 partner, Miss Ducrow. I might be" he paused "I 
 might be inclined to take a hand in the matter. It 
 strikes me as being a good scheme, but" he paused 
 "it's late; are you not occupied during the evening?" 
 
 "I got the night off," Sunny said. "I arranged with 
 Mr. Curtiss; he's the manager there. Miss Sinclair's 
 going to do my song to-night." 
 
 " I see ! " Barstowe said, then he paused again. " Look 
 here, Miss Ducrow, if you are not engaged, you might 
 come in and dine. I'll introduce you to my wife. We'll 
 chat over this factory scheme of yours. You can let 
 me know exactly how you stand and " 
 
 "Right you are!" Sunny said. 
 
 Mrs. Barstowe was a kindly soul, and she took to 
 Sunny on sight, just as Sunny took to her. It was a 
 good dinner, and Sunny enjoyed it, and after dinner the 
 three sat and talked jam and pickles. Sunny made all 
 her plans and ideas clear to Barstowe, and he nodded 
 approvingly. 
 
 "Anyway, we can't lose much. We'll have the land 
 and we've got the business, and it's growing going 
 up with a bang. People seem to take to that idea of 
 mine about asking 'em to pay a penny a pound for purity. " 
 
 At ten Mrs. Bartowe, who had insisted on Sunny's 
 staying the night, showed her to her bedroom. 
 
 "I think you are a wonderful girl," she said. "And 
 a very clever girl. Mr. Barstowe is greatly impressed 
 with you, and and you are on the stage, are you not?" 
 
 "Yes," Sunny said. "Only I didn't mention it, being 
 a Wednesday." 
 
 "Then you know that Mr. Barstowe never discusses 
 theatrical matters on Wednesday?" 
 
 "Yes, I know," Sunny said, "so I never said a word, 
 Only" she paused "I've got something I want to
 
 Currents and Ras'berries 313 
 
 talk to him about all the same. It's a sketch me and 
 Bert have written, and I want to play it bad." She 
 paused. "It's all right, all I've been saying about the 
 jams and pickles and fruit-growing and all the rest. 
 I'm crazy to get that factory going, but I'm also crazy 
 to get that sketch played, and I've got to tackle him 
 somehow." 
 
 "To-morrow, I dare say you could get an opportunity. 
 I shall suggest that he takes you up to town with him." 
 
 "You're a dear!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Still, I admit Robert is a very obstinate man," Mrs. 
 Barstowe said. "It is very hard to make him listen 
 to anything he does not wish to hear." 
 
 "I know!" Sunny said. "But I believe I'll manage 
 it somehow." 
 
 Mrs. Barstowe kissed her warmly and left her, and 
 Sunny slept the sleep of the innocent and thoroughly 
 tired out. Whatever happened, she had done a good 
 day's work for the jam factory, though the object she 
 had come here for had not yet been attained. 
 
 Barstowe had practically said that he was willing to 
 put down if not all the capital required for the new factory 
 at any rate a great part of it. He had waxed almost 
 enthusiastic certainly more enthusiastic than Mr. 
 Arthur Curtiss had ever seen him. 
 
 "If it materializes," he said, "I don't know that I 
 shan't put in another twenty acres or so under straw- 
 berries." 
 
 In fact, in his mind that night he had planted another 
 ten thousand currant bushes, the same quantity of rasp- 
 berry canes, and so on. His business was Barstowe 
 Realms, but his interest in life was here at Potshall.
 
 CHAPTER XLIII 
 
 MR. BARSTOWE ATTENDS A MATINEE 
 
 SUNNY awakened; it was full early; she could tell 
 that by the general appearance of things. It was 
 an experience for her to wake up with the sound of birds 
 singing, the clucking of the hens, and the lowing of cattle. 
 For a moment or two she lay with closed eyes, wondering 
 where she was, and enjoying it thoroughly. 
 
 "Yes, when I'm fixed up and the jam factory's in full 
 swing and I'm getting about a hundred a week, I'll have 
 a nice little cottage in the country for myself!" she 
 said. 
 
 She got up and went to the window and looked out; 
 she drank in the fresh air and bathed her face and neck 
 and chest in the warm sunlight. 
 
 "I can't make out how anyone can live in London 
 when they could live in the country," she muttered. 
 " Well, there it is, everyone's got their own tastes. Some 
 like the smell of soot and some don't, and some " 
 She paused. 
 
 She saw someone a large, rather ungainly figure, 
 hands in pockets, strolling about the model farmyard. 
 Now he bent over a fence, evidently deeply interested, 
 probably in pigs on the other side of the fence. Now he 
 straightened himself up; he uttered a clucking noise 
 which attracted a score or so of hens; he put his hands 
 into his capacious pockets and distributed grain, which 
 they were in a moment busily picking up.
 
 Mr. Barstowe Attends a Matinee 315 
 
 "Enjoys every blessed minute of it, he does!" Sunny 
 muttered. 
 
 It was Barstowe, and Barstowe had not yet read her 
 sketch. The thing she had come to do had not been 
 done. 
 
 "But it's gotter be!" Sunny muttered. "Gotter be, 
 and it's going to be done soon precious soon!" 
 
 It took Sunny not very long to dress; then she hurried 
 down the stairs and out into the garden. It was, she 
 discovered, just about six o'clock. 
 
 "Just about the time I used to be starting for the 
 factory once," she thought. "Lor*! isn't this dif- 
 ferent?" She had brought her sketch; she had 
 thrust it out of sight in the bosom of her blouse. 
 Now she was hunting for Barstowe. Last time she 
 had seen him, he had been making across a field. 
 Sunny followed. 
 
 Ten minutes later she caught sight of him; he was 
 walking with his hands behind his back and approach- 
 ing a stack of hay. For some minutes he stood regarding 
 the stack with interest. He plucked out some pieces 
 of hay, examined them, and tasted them. Barstowe of 
 the Realms did not exist. This man was a hay merchant 
 pure and simple. He walked round the stack, and Sunny 
 watched him. Against the stack leaned a ladder. 
 Twice Barstowe approached it, as though it had a fascina- 
 tion for him. 
 
 " Oh ! " Sunny whispered. " Oh, if he would ! " 
 
 And he did! Slowly and surely Barstowe climbed 
 the ladder. Now and again he paused to examine the 
 stack more closely. Eventually he gained the top and 
 stepped on to the top of the stack. 
 
 It was what Sunny had hoped for and waited for; she 
 ran forward. What happened he did not see, nor did 
 he hear; but a few minutes later, his investigations over,
 
 3 l6 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 he made up his mind to return to the earth and found 
 that the ladder was gone. 
 
 It was not exactly gone; it was still there, but it was 
 lying along the ground under the stack. 
 
 "How on earth?" he muttered. "What the dickens? 
 Bless me!" 
 
 The stack was at the far end of a large field. He knew 
 that he might shout himself hoarse, and it was not likely 
 he would be heard for a very considerable time. 
 
 "But how on earth did the thing " he muttered. 
 "Hello!" He looked down and Sunny looked up. 
 
 "Good-morning," she said. "Taking the air?" 
 
 "I ahem! I climbed the stack by a ladder," he 
 said; "the ladder seems to have slipped." 
 
 "So it does!" Sunny said. 
 
 "It is not heavy," Barstowe said. "I think you could 
 easily put it in place; if not, would you run and tell one 
 of the men to come?" 
 
 Sunny nodded. " It's a nice morning, ' ' she said ; ' ' and 
 I wanted to speak to you." 
 
 "All right, we'll talk when I come down," he said. 
 " Now, like a good girl, lift the ladder!" 
 
 "There's heaps of time! It's only a quarter-past 
 six!" Sunny said. 
 
 "But " 
 
 "And I want to talk to you. It's not about jam and 
 the factory this time; it's something different. You 
 see, to-day isn't Wednesday yesterday was Wednes- 
 day. To-day you're Mr. Barstowe of the Realms, aren't 
 you?" 
 
 "Yes, of course, but " 
 
 "Well, it isn't Squire Barstowe I want to talk to now, 
 it's Mr. Robert Barstowe of the Realms. See?" 
 
 "I see, but I can't talk to you up here. Put the 
 ladder "
 
 Mr. Barstowe Attends a Matinee 3 1 ? 
 
 "Heaps of time; besides, it's me to do the talking!" 
 Sunny said. "You can sit down comfortable and listen. 
 It's about a sketch." 
 
 Barstowe glared down at her. "You can take it to 
 Curtiss," he said. 
 
 "He's seen it. He thinks it's ripping, but he says I 
 couldn't do the part; he says a girl with my nose, and 
 hair my color is no good for tragedy." 
 
 "Very likely he is right!" 
 
 "He isn't; he's dead wrong," Sunny said. "Now" 
 she produced the manuscript from her blouse "if 
 you'll sit down, you can listen comfortably." 
 
 "I shall do nothing of the sort, Miss Ducrow. I insist 
 that you go and call one of the men if you are not able 
 to raise the ladder yourself." 
 
 "Heaps and heaps of time for that!" Sunny said. 
 "Won't you listen?" 
 
 "No!" he said, "certainly not. I shall certainly not 
 listen to any sketch, or anything else, while I am 
 here." 
 
 ' ' But it won't take twenty minutes for me to read " 
 
 "I refuse to hear a word of it!" he said. 
 
 "I'm sorry!" Sunny said. She turned away. 
 
 "Where are you going?" Barstowe asked. 
 
 "Oh, for a walk, and like that!" she said. 
 
 "Put the ladder up." 
 
 "It's too heavy." 
 
 "Then go and call one of the men." 
 
 "Will you stop first to " 
 
 "No; I will not!" he said angrily. 
 
 "Well, I don't see why I should do something for you 
 when you won't do something for me!" Sunny said. 
 She looked up. "Come now!" she said. 
 
 "I refuse to hear one word. This is not the time nor 
 the place for anything of the kind. Put the sketch
 
 3*8 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 before Curtiss and he will deal with it; if he thinks well 
 enough he will recommend me to read it." 
 
 "He's scared out of his life of you. He's a nice boy, 
 and I'm very fond of him," Sunny said, "but he's too 
 scared of you to be any good. I've got to read this here 
 sketch to you myself." 
 
 "And I tell you I will not listen to you!" 
 
 "Well, then, there's nothing for me to do but to go 
 away." 
 
 "Go and tell one of the men," Barstowe said. 
 
 But Sunny walked away as though she did not hear. 
 
 Barstowe looked about him. The stack was far too 
 high for him to slide down, or jump from; it would mean 
 a broken limb, perhaps a broken neck. He called to 
 Sunny, but she did not take any notice. 
 
 "Drat the confounded girl!" he said. 
 
 "Hi, hi, Walter! hi, Walter! hi, Walter! George- 
 one of you! Hi, Sam, Sam Kitchens, you hi, hi!" 
 
 Sunny sat down under a hedge at the end of the field 
 and watched him. 
 
 "Go on; shout!" she said to herself. "Yell, go it, 
 shout again, now then, again!" 
 
 "Hi, hi, hi!" Barstowe yelled. "You, Sam, one of 
 you are you all deaf ? Confound that girl ! " 
 
 For half an hour he kept it up, till he grew hoarse and 
 hot. Sunny sat and watched him from the distance, 
 then she rose and walked back slowly to the stack. 
 About that sketch?" she asked. 
 
 "Hang the sketch!" he said. "I won't listen!" 
 
 "It's getting to be near seven," she said; "breakfast's 
 at half -past, Mrs. Barstowe said." 
 
 "I'll see the sketch and you " He shook his fist. 
 
 "I never see a man get into such a temper!" Sunny 
 said. "Oh, well, if you wait, I'll begin!" 
 
 "Stop! "he shouted.
 
 Mr. Barstowe Attends a Matinee 319 
 
 "I'll read the sketch if you like, and you can sit 
 here " 
 
 "Hang the sketch! I won't hear a word of it!" 
 
 "All right!" 
 
 Sunny walked away. In vain he called to her to 
 come back. 
 
 What a ridiculous position for a man of his standing 
 stuck here on top of a haystack. 
 
 "Good gracious!" he reflected. It was just possible 
 he might have to stay here all day. Most of the men 
 would be out in the fruit plantation, and those who 
 were not would be driving some sheep to the railway. 
 Stop here all day, and he had a hundred and ten things 
 to do in town! He had an appointment of the greatest 
 importance at half-past ten. He had meant to start 
 for London at half-past eight sharp. What was the 
 time now? He took out his watch. 
 
 It was a quarter-past seven. Of Sunny Ducrow there 
 was no sign. He shouted again and again, then gave it 
 up and sat down on the stack. He looked at the ground, 
 half made up his mind to risk it, then decided he would 
 not. 
 
 "Hi, hi, Sam!" he shouted. "Hi, Miss Ducrow, 
 Sunny Ducrow hi, hi, Sunny Ducrow!" 
 
 "Were you calling?" Sunny asked. She suddenly 
 appeared again. 
 
 "Yes; I called you!" he said hotly. 
 
 "Well, here I am. Got time to hear me read that 
 sketch now?" she asked. 
 
 "No; I have not. Put that ladder up at once, or 
 or " 
 
 "Or what?" 
 
 "Or I'll " 
 
 "Look here!" Sunny put her hands on her hips and 
 looked up. "Supposing you and me changed places;
 
 320 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 supposing I was boss and you wanted me to hear a sketch 
 you'd writ. See?" 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "And I was stuck on top of a haystack and there wasn't 
 anyone about to help me down but you, what'd you do ? " 
 
 "I'd behave like a rational human being," he said, 
 "and and " 
 
 "And let me stop up there till I'd read the sketch or 
 you'd read it to me?" she said. 
 
 "Nothing of the sort!" 
 
 "I've got it here," she said. "It'll take about twenty 
 minutes, and you won't be more than ten minutes late 
 for breakfast. Well?" 
 
 "I won't hear a word!" he said hotly. 
 
 "All right then!" She turned away. 
 
 "Sunny Ducrow, come here back here, this instant!" 
 he said. 
 
 "Well?" Sunny turned. 
 
 He glared down at her. 
 
 "Read that infernal sketch!" he said. 
 
 "What a lot of time you'd 'a' saved if you'd said that 
 first pop off!" she said. "All right, you sit down. 
 You're in the gallery. See? This is the stage. I'll 
 read the other parts and act my own. I'm Gerda 
 Nelstein, the heroine. See? Only when I act the part 
 properly, I shan't have red hair!" 
 
 He nodded; he sat down; he dug his heels into the 
 hay and put his elbows on his knees and rested his chin 
 on his clenched hand. 
 
 Sunny stepped back so that she stood in full view. 
 
 "It's called The Betrayal, and it's written by Sunny 
 Ducrow and Bert Jackson," she said. "I wanted to 
 put his name first, because he thought of it first, but he 
 said, 'Ladies first!' so there you are! Now it starts 
 like this Enter Captain Halliday."
 
 Mr. Barstowe Attends a Matinee 321 
 
 Barstowe made no sign ; he sat with his chin on his hands 
 and stared down at her. Sunny let herself go. She read 
 the other parts, but the part of Isabel she was perfect in. 
 
 Once or twice Barstowe opened his eyes almost in- 
 credulously. This girl a revue girl who sang pretty 
 songs with pretty scenic effects to dare, to simply 
 dare tackle such a part. It took his breath away. His 
 breath was completely taken away presently. He 
 leaned forward; he almost forgot that it was a drop of 
 fourteen feet to the ground. Once he actually slipped, 
 but managed to save himself. 
 
 "Back curtain represents a wall with a gate set in it," 
 Sunny said. "On the other side of the wall there's a 
 firing party. Captain Halliday has been sentenced as 
 a spy, and is going to be shot. I come on Isabel 
 Raymond. I know what's going to happen. I suddenly 
 find out I love him. He's innocent I'm guilty and 
 they are going to kill him. I hammer on the gate with 
 my hands. They won't listen to me. There's a sound 
 of tramping men inside. See? I hear it!" She 
 looked up. "Now " 
 
 Barstowe breathed heavily. He clutched his hamis 
 tightly. This girl why, it was sheer folly how dared 
 she attempt such a part? He looked down at her; he 
 saw nothing incongruous. It was a small red-haired 
 girl in a field ; she was hammering on an imaginary gate. 
 It should have been laughable, but it was not. It was 
 real; her face was real; the cries broken, incoherent 
 cries that came from her lips were real. 
 
 She paused. 
 
 "There's a voice from the other side of the wall, 
 ' Present arms ! ' You see ? " 
 
 "Yes," he whispered. 
 
 Again she shrieked, again she hammered on the im- 
 aginary door.
 
 322 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Fire!" she said. "It's the voice on the other side. 
 There's a report you know what it means " She 
 paused a moment. She put her hands to her head; 
 she swung round; she lifted her face. And Barstowe, 
 in sheer amazement, looked down at her. Her face was 
 grotesque, distorted, almost horrible surely it was not 
 her face! From her open mouth came a cry a hoarse, 
 rattling cry, like nothing he had ever heard before. 
 Then she fell fell heavily and lay still. 
 
 "Good heavens!" Barstowe uttered. 
 
 Sunny Ducrow got up. She was panting a little, 
 and she smiled up at him. 
 
 "Now, I'll put the ladder for you," she said. 
 
 She did; she did it alone and without trouble, and 
 Barstowe descended. 
 
 "One moment, young woman," he said. "Why did 
 you not attempt to make any bargain with me before 
 you put the ladder for me?" 
 
 Sunny looked at him. "Because there wasn't any 
 bargain to make," she said. "I wanted you to hear 
 the sketch. You heard it, and that's all there is to 
 it! If you like it, you'll say you do; if you don't, 
 you'll say you don't, and I know you'll be right either 
 way! You're honest; so am I! That's all there is to 
 it. See?" 
 
 "I see!" he said slowly. He held out his hand to 
 her, shook hands with her gravely, and walked toward* 
 the house. 
 
 "We'll be late for breakfast," he said. 
 
 "Not very!" Sunny said. 
 
 During breakfast, and during the long ride to town, 
 Barstowe never once referred to the sketch. He talked 
 about jam and crops, and his idea of wood-ash as a fer- 
 tilizer. He was giving Sunny a learned dissertation on 
 the use of various phosphates for the production of
 
 Mr. Barstowe Attends a Matinee 323 
 
 certain crops when the car rolled up before the stage-door 
 at the Realm. 
 
 He got out. "Where do you want to go?" he asked. 
 
 "Home!" Sunny said. "There's nothing doing here 
 for me for a bit!" 
 
 "All right," he told the chauffeur. "We'll go into 
 that factory business again very soon. Meanwhile, 
 get your options, Miss Ducrow." 
 
 "That's what I'm going to do," Sunny said. "So- 
 long!" 
 
 Barstowe nodded. 
 
 Sunny reached the Realm rather earlier than usual 
 that night, and found in her dressing-room a note from 
 Curtiss. 
 
 "Kindly come to my office the moment you arrive." 
 Signed "A. C." 
 
 "Might have put 'Dear Sunny,' or made it more 
 friendly!" she muttered. "However " 
 
 She went. 
 
 Curtiss stared at her as she came in. 
 
 "Well, old dear, what's the trouble?" she asked. 
 
 "I didn't say there was any trouble. Kindly glance 
 through this, and if it meets with your approval, sign it," 
 he said stiffly. He pushed a form of agreement towards 
 her. 
 
 Sunny took it. 
 
 "An agreement entered into this day between Bar- 
 stowe's Realms Limited of the one part and Miss Sunny 
 Ducrow of the other part. By which Barstowe's Realms 
 Limited undertake to accept the sketch written by Miss 
 Ducrow in co-operation with Mr. Bert Jackson and 
 known as The Betrayal, and agree to stage same within 
 six months of this date." 
 
 There was a great deal more of it, and Sunny read it 
 through. Briefly it amounted to this. The agreement
 
 324 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 provided that Barstowe's Realms accepted and agreed 
 to stage the sketch, finding all necessary scenery and 
 dresses. They offered payment at the rate of thirty 
 pounds a week to Sunny to take the leading part, pay- 
 ment at the same rate to an actor of their own selection 
 to take the part of the hero, and fifty pounds a week to 
 be divided among the rest of the company. The sketch 
 was to be produced in London at the Realm, and, if 
 successful, was to go on tour at the Barstowe Circuit. 
 
 "Well?" Curtiss asked. 
 
 "It seems all right," Sunny said. "I'll sign you'll 
 be witness?" 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 It was done. Sunny had signed, and he had witnessed. 
 
 "And now, you little demon, tell me how you managed 
 it!" he demanded. 
 
 "Oh, it was all right!" Sunny said. "Easy as, easy 
 as ' ' she paused ' ' falling off a haystack ! ' ' She laughed. 
 "So-long!" She nodded to him and went out.
 
 CHAPTER XLIV 
 
 MR. JOHNSON GROWS NERVOUS 
 
 "HPHAT'S what I want," Sunny said. "Six hundred 
 
 1 pounds, old dear!" 
 
 ' ' Six hundred pounds ! ' ' Mr. Johnson looked startled. 
 "What on earth " 
 
 "To pay for the land I've bought!" Sunny said. 
 "Oh, it's all right. I never see anyone get so scared as 
 you do. Now prop yourself up against the wall and 
 have a drink of water and I'll tell you all about it." 
 
 Mr. Johnson sat down. 
 
 "Go on!" he said in a hollow voice. 
 
 "It's like this. I've seen Beardwell that's the chap 
 as owns the six acres at Havers. Beardwell's all right; 
 he's young and rather nice to talk to. Anyway, he's 
 crazy to get to Canada, and when I got talking about 
 the six acres, he just jumped at the idea of selling out. 
 I offered six hundred, and he took it. I've got the agree- 
 ment signed and all, and there you are! Now, I've 
 got to get the money." 
 
 "But what on earth shall we do with the six acres 
 when we get it?" Johnson asked. 
 
 "It's the start the commencement; after I've got 
 that six I'm going to get those thirty." 
 
 "You won't!" he said. "They belong to Colport, 
 and he's as keen as mustard. You won't buy those 
 thirty under two-fifty an acre, Sunny. I've made in- 
 quiries, and I know what I'm talking about!" 
 
 325
 
 326 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "You think you do!" Sunny said. 
 
 "I do!" he said hotly. "I went into that scheme of 
 yours closely. If it had been workable it would have 
 been all right, but we can't afford to buy land at two- 
 fifty an acre." 
 
 "We aren't going to!" Sunny said. "I've bought 
 six at a hundred. I'm going to get those other thirty 
 at about seventy perhaps a bit less." 
 
 "In your mind!" Johnson said. 
 
 " In reality ! Now, about the money to pay for those six ! " 
 
 "You'll ruin the firm," he said, "just as we are getting 
 our heads above water. I tell you, you'll ruin the firm, 
 Sunny!" 
 
 "And I tell you I'm going to make it! I'm going to 
 make you a rich man, even though I do scare you out of 
 your life while I'm doing it. Now, see here." Sunny 
 sat on the table in the office in Cut way Street. She 
 swung her legs. "You've got your books. You can 
 tell me roughly what I want to know." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "Take June, July, and August last year. See?" 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "What was the profit for those three months?" 
 
 " I can tell you," he said, "without looking it up. The 
 profits were practically nil. We just kept going and 
 paid our way. There was nothing left over." 
 
 "That's all right!" Sunny said. "Now, take the 
 last three months the three months I've been your 
 partner. What's the profits for them?" 
 
 "I can't tell you offhand. Of course, there's the 
 advertising." 
 
 "My doing!" Sunny said. "Do you remember how 
 scared you got when I talked about advertising big 
 how you groaned and said I should ruin you we should 
 all be in the gutter together?"
 
 Mr. Johnson Grows Nervous 327 
 
 "Well, I was wrong," he said shortly. "You were 
 right." 
 
 "I'm right all along the line," Sunny said. "Now, 
 about the profits for the last three months. Come on! 
 Out with it!" 
 
 "I can't give you the exact figures, but I can get a 
 rough idea," Johnson said. He turned to the ledgers 
 and went through them. He made notes. He was 
 busy for about half an hour; then he paused. 
 
 "Well?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "As I said, the figures are not exact, but they are near 
 enough roughly, nineteen hundred and fifty pounds." 
 
 "In three months?" Sunny said. "Not so dusty!" 
 
 "It is practically marvellous," he said. 
 
 "I suppose you'd have a fit," Sunny said, "if I told 
 you, that, two years ahead we might be making nineteen 
 thousand pounds' profit in a year maybe more." 
 
 "Rubbish!" he said. 
 
 "Well, that's what you think. Now, I'm your partner, 
 ain't I?" 
 
 "Yes; of course." 
 
 "Your half-partner," Sunny said. "Of those profits, 
 half belongs to me. What's half of nineteen hundred 
 and fifty?" 
 
 "Nine hundred and seventy-five," Johnson said. 
 
 "Which belongs to me. I'll trouble you for a cheque 
 for that," Sunny said. 
 
 "But, good gracious " 
 
 "I want it," Sunny said, "and I've got to have it." 
 
 "But it is not money actually in hand; there is a good 
 deal to come in on the books. Besides, you're going to 
 throw it away on this wild-cat scheme of yours. I ought 
 to prevent it." 
 
 "You can't," Sunny said. "How much can you let 
 me have ready?"
 
 328 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Not a penny more than five hundred," he said. 
 
 "Give it us," Sunny said. 
 
 Ten minutes later she went out with a cheque for five 
 hundred pounds. She took a cab and went to her own 
 bank and paid it in; then she took a taxi to Havers and 
 motored all the way a piece of extravagance, but Sunny 
 was in a hurry. 
 
 Sunny knew the place well enough ; it was not her 
 first visit by many. For a time she walked about and 
 looked around her. The six acres that she had practi- 
 cally bought faced the main road. It was, however, 
 cut off from the railway line at the back by the adjoining 
 property, which was L-shaped and enclosed her six acres 
 on two sides. 
 
 "If I get those thirty," Sunny thought, "there won't 
 be a site in or near London to touch it. The main 
 factory will be just here. We'll run a line to the railway 
 and have a siding of our own. Yes, that's all right; it's 
 just what I want to know." 
 
 A little later Sunny was knocking on the door of a 
 small house in Havers. A young man opened the door 
 to her. "Hello! Good-morning, Miss Ducrow!" he 
 said. 
 
 "I've come about that land," Sunny said. 
 
 He nodded. His eyes brightened. "You'll be able 
 to take it, you think?" 
 
 "I know," she said. "I've come to settle." 
 
 "But we ought to have a lawyer." 
 
 " Bother lawyers," she said. " Money's good enough." 
 
 "But the title?" 
 
 "That's all right. I've been into it already. Six 
 hundred is the price. Well, I can't pay you down for 
 it. I can give you three hundred down and a note for 
 three hundred at three months, and there'll be an agree- 
 ment that if I fail to pay up the three hundred in three
 
 Mr. Johnson Grows Nervous 329 
 
 months I forfeit the three hundred I'm paying you now. 
 See?" 
 
 "It sounds straight," he said. 
 
 "That's what it is straight," she said. "The land's 
 marked off and there's no mistake about the boundary 
 lines, is there?" 
 
 "None at all. I've been trying to sell for two years. 
 Colport, who owns the land about it, was after it for a 
 time." 
 
 "Was he?" Sunny said interestedly. "What was his 
 game?" 
 
 "Plots for villa residences, I think," Beardwell said. 
 "Anyhow, the price he offered for the land was no good. 
 I couldn't take it. " 
 
 "How much?" Sunny asked. 
 
 He hesitated. 
 
 "It don't make any difference; I'm buying those six 
 acres anyhow. Only, I'd like to know what he offered 
 for them." 
 
 "Forty pounds an acre," Beardwell said. 
 
 "Did he?" Sunny said. She smiled. 
 
 "Now, I'll bother you for a pen and ink, and I'll 
 write you a cheque for that three hundred," she said. 
 
 In half an hour her business was complete; she had 
 given the cheque and taken a receipt. The land was 
 hers, subject to her paying a further three hundred in 
 three months. 
 
 "Which I'll do all right," Sunny thought. 
 
 "Know a good man who can do notice boards?" 
 Sunny asked. 
 
 "Notice boards, you mean " 
 
 "Like that board on the ground 'This site to let, 
 suitable for factory or villa residences' sort of thing." 
 
 "Oh yes; there's Collings down in the village. He's 
 a good man."
 
 33 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Sunny shook hands with Beardwell and hurried away. 
 A few minutes later she was interviewing Mr. Ceilings. 
 
 "Want it done quick. I'll pay half as much again if 
 it's up this time to-morrow, " Sunny said. 
 
 "I'll do it, miss," Collings said. 
 
 " It's got to be big a whacking great big board, black 
 with white letters, and this is the wording for it," Sunny 
 said. 
 
 She spread out a sheet of paper. "The spelling 
 mayn't be all right, but you can put it right on the 
 board," she said. "There it is 'Sight for the Havers 
 Chemical Maneur Works.' Got it?" Sunny asked. 
 
 Collings nodded his head. 
 
 "I see, miss," he said. "You mean Site for the 
 Havers Chemical Manure Works." 
 
 "That's it," Sunny said. "Remember a whacking 
 big board and big white letters. Stick Manure Works 
 in the biggest letters you can manage. See?" 
 
 "The board'll be three pounds ten, miss," Collings 
 said. 
 
 "I'll give you five and pay you now if the board's up 
 by to-morrow morning," Sunny said. 
 
 "It'll be all right," he said. 
 
 Sunny taxied back to town. There was a smile on 
 her face; she felt satisfied; so far, so good. 
 
 "Betcher," Sunny murmured, "that I'll have the 
 option on old Colport's bit of ground at fifty pounds an 
 acre before this time to-morrow." 
 
 There was news for Sunny at the Realm to-night. 
 
 Alfred Curtiss sent for her. "Sunny, you can keep a 
 secret?" he said. 
 
 "Trust me," Sunny said. 
 
 "I do; I wouldn't tell anyone else. But I've been 
 talking to Barstowe to-day. This revue is to come off 
 in three weeks; he wants it kept dark."
 
 Mr. Johnson Grows Nervous 33 i 
 
 "And then?" Sunny said. 
 
 "Then we're going to run the usual variety show, with 
 a big ballet and your sketch. What do you think of 
 that?" 
 
 Sunny snapped her fingers and executed a few steps. 
 
 "I thought you'd be pleased," he said, "but, all the 
 same, I tell you I believe you are going to make a big 
 failure, Sunny Ducrow." 
 
 "You can believe what you like," Sunny said. "I'm 
 not going to make any failure. What about the cast?" 
 
 " I'm in communication with Harvey Deverell to take 
 leading man." 
 
 Sunny nodded; her eyes shone. "He'll do fine," 
 she said. ' ' And the rest ? " 
 
 "Oh, the rest well, they don't count much. Who 
 do you suggest?" 
 
 "Eve Clifforde can do Violet Berand all right," Sunny 
 said. 
 
 ' ' I dare say. I'll book her if you like, and if she wants. " 
 
 " I'll answer for her. Book her at " Sunny paused. 
 
 "A fiver," Curtiss said. 
 
 "Make it seven ten," Sunny said. 
 
 "It's a lot." 
 
 "Well, say seven," Sunny said. "Tell you what 
 say ten and knock me off three." 
 
 "Silly little donkey, do you think she would do as 
 much for you?" 
 
 "I betcher she would," Sunny said. "Book Eve at 
 ten and knock me down to twenty-seven, and then there's 
 Bert he's all right for the comedy part." 
 
 "Jackson, you mean?" 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "Hang by your friends, don't you, Sunny?" Curtiss 
 asked. 
 
 "Well, who, to goodness, should I hang by '."Sunny
 
 33 2 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 exclaimed, "Besides that, Bert's part author and you've 
 got to pay him well, I never thought of that," she said. 
 "Bert ought to be getting something out of the sketch, 
 didn't he?" 
 
 "We'll book Jackson at ten, then,"Curtiss said quickly, 
 "provided, of course, he is capable. That leaves two 
 other parts to fill." 
 
 "Oh, they don't count. Fill 'em yourself," Sunny 
 said. 
 
 "All right!" Curtiss said. "Ill see to it. You'd 
 better begin to study up, Sunny." 
 
 "No need; I'm perfect already. Didn't I partly 
 write it?" 
 
 "All right!" Curtiss said. "And now, you'd better 
 hop it, my girl, or you'll have the stage waiting." 
 
 "Which it's never done for me yet," Sunny said. 
 "So-long." She threw him a kiss and darted out. 
 
 Curtiss stood staring at the door which, as usual, 
 Sunny had left open behind her. 
 
 "I don't know!" he said. "I don't know!" He 
 sighed. "Pah, I'm a foolish man. She's only a kid 
 a jolly, light-hearted, happy kid; she does me good. 
 She's so different from the rest. She thinks of others, 
 never of herself; the rest think of themselves and never 
 of others. That's just the difference and " He paused. 
 He lighted a cigarette and stood smiling, staring down at 
 the carpet. 
 
 "Sunny Ducrow!" he muttered. "Sunny, little 
 Sunny! Good Lord! I've got to pull myself together. 
 My trouble is that I want a change. Dry-rot setting 
 in on the brain or something. Well, well!"
 
 CHAPTER XLV 
 
 A LAND DEAL 
 
 MR. COLPORT was an extremely unpleasant-looking 
 man. Moreover, he was very dirty. He had a 
 dirty little office at the top of a dirty building in Upper 
 Thames Street, and his business was in some way con- 
 nected with metal, of which he had a good many rusty 
 and filthy samples lying about the place. 
 
 " Miss Ducrow, and who the dickens is Miss Ducrow, 
 and what the deuce does she want with me?" he de- 
 manded of the white-faced office boy. 
 
 "Young lidy. She says she's gotter see you im- 
 portink business, sir, " the boy said. 
 
 "Important business a young lady, pah! Show her 
 in." 
 
 Mr. Colport was not in the least impressionable. He 
 glared at Sunny and refused to smile in answer to her 
 smile. Another man must have smiled; Mr. Colport 
 simply glared. 
 
 "Well? "he said. 
 
 " How are you ? " Sunny said as she sat down. 
 
 "I don't know that I am any the better or any the 
 worse for your visit," he said. "May I ask why you 
 are here?" 
 
 "You may," Sunny said. 
 
 "Well, why are you here?" 
 
 " Not to see the view I'm not, " Sunny said. 
 
 333
 
 334 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 " If you think you are going to waste my time " 
 
 "I'm not; my time's pretty filled up, too. I'm here 
 on business." 
 
 "What business?" 
 
 "About that ground of yours at Havers." 
 
 "Oh!" he said. "Ground what do you want with 
 ground?" 
 
 "Lots of things," Sunny said. 
 
 "And what might the lots of things be?" he asked. 
 
 "Hens, for instance," Sunny said. "Poultry, it 
 might be." 
 
 "Pah, poultry-farming's played out! It's no good 
 done for! When a man, woman, or child finds himself 
 entirely unfitted to earn an honest living in a sensible 
 way, he starts poultry-farming; it's the last refuge for 
 the weak-minded and addle-headed." 
 
 "Nothing in it, then?" Sunny asked. 
 
 " Not three-ha'pence a week, " he said. " You take it 
 from me." 
 
 "Well, I don't know; I've got ideas. That bit of 
 land of yours 'ud just suit me for what I want." 
 
 "Got any money?" he asked. 
 
 "No, but I've got plenty of friends." 
 
 "And they'll buy land for you and set you up on that 
 mad-fool scheme ? ' ' 
 
 "That's their business and mine!" 
 
 "Well, I'm not selling my land at Havers for poultry- 
 farming, " he said. 
 
 "Then, what are you selling it for?" 
 
 "Villa residences. I'm going to map it out in plots, 
 and they'll go like hot cakes." 
 
 "Then you won't sell the land altogether?" 
 
 "Only at a price. My price is" he paused; he 
 looked at her "two hundred and twenty an acre." 
 
 "Two hundred and twenty the lot, " Sunny said.
 
 A Land Deal 335 
 
 "No; an acre, and there are thirty acres. You can't 
 pay that price for land for keeping hens on." 
 
 "No; I s'pose not," Sunny said. "Same time, you 
 Mron't never sell it for no building villas on either." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "Well, one thing, they'd never stand the smell." 
 
 "What smell?" 
 
 "Why, the smell they're bound to make, " Sunny said. 
 
 "Who are bound to make?" Colport shouted. 
 
 "Them chemical people them people as are going to 
 make manure out of chemicals; it's bound to hum," 
 Sunny said. "Drive everyone away for miles. Me, I 
 once lived in a street where there was a small chemical 
 manure business " She paused. "I know. That's 
 why I thought you might be glad to sell the ground 
 pretty cheap." 
 
 "I don't know what the deuce you are talking about! 
 What chemical manure have you in your head?" 
 
 "None," Sunny said. "But your villa residence 
 people'll get it in their noses all right, and they'll 
 leave quick, you see." 
 
 "If you would be so good as to explain," he said, 
 with ponderous politeness. "In the first place, I can 
 assure you that there is no chemical manure factory 
 within miles of Havers." 
 
 "Not yet, but there's going to be," Sunny said. 
 "That's why I came. When I saw the board up I said, 
 *B etcher the land will be sold cheap now. It looks like 
 just the place to run a hen or two on.' So I found out 
 where you was and came." 
 
 Colport stared at her. "What board?" he shouted. 
 
 "The board that's up on the other ground the small 
 bit of ground." 
 
 "I know of no board." 
 
 "Well, you may have good eyesight, but you can't
 
 33 6 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 see it from here," Sunny said. "There's a board all 
 right, and it says, 'Site for the Havers Chemical Manure 
 Works, ' and when I saw it I came along to see if the 
 other ground was to be got cheap." 
 
 "What what do you call cheap?" 
 
 "About thirty pounds an acre," she said. 
 
 "Thirty fiddlesticks!" 
 
 "Well, forty," Sunny said. "That's about all it's 
 worth. I've asked and I was told someone offered forty 
 for it and said it wasn't worth no more." 
 
 "About that board, " he said. "I don't believe it." 
 
 "Well, go and have a look for yourself and you'll 
 find out I don't come here to tell you lies, " Sunny said. 
 
 " I'll go now at once. I don't believe it, and I I shall 
 object!" 
 
 "You won't object half as much as them villa residents 
 as won't be there will, " Sunny said. "Anyway, I don't 
 mind a bit of a smell, come to that, and it won't do any 
 harm to the poultry, or whatever it may be. Mind you, 
 I don't say it is poultry I'm after, but it may be." 
 
 "I don't care what you are after, " he said; " I'm going 
 to see for myself!" 
 
 "I'll come with you if you like. I've got the loan 
 of a car; it's Lord Dobrington's, he's a friend of mine, 
 and it's a nice car; it'll get there quickly." 
 
 "All right," Colport said. "But mind you, I don't 
 believe it!" 
 
 Mr. Colport was not a pleasant companion. He 
 sniffed; he refused to speak; he let Sunny's chatter pass 
 unnoticed. He sat and glowered and mumbled to him- 
 self in his shaggy red beard. 
 
 "There it is; what did I tell you? Spell it out!" 
 Sunny said. " ' Site for the Havers ' " 
 
 "What in thunder does this mean?" Colport raged. 
 "What the "
 
 A Land Deal 337 
 
 The board was up, the paint wet, but the board was 
 there and Colport knew nothing about the condition of 
 the paint. He got out of the car and raged up and down. 
 
 "It'll ruin the place, spoil the property!" he shouted. 
 
 "Except for hens and such-like, " Sunny said. 
 
 "I'll see that villain Beardwell!" 
 
 "I would!" Sunny said. She had already seen 
 Beardwell this morning. 
 
 A few minutes later Colport was thundering on 
 Beardwell's modest door. 
 
 "What in thunder is the meaning of this ? " he shouted. 
 
 "I don't know; do you?" Beardwell said. He looked 
 beyond the furious Colport at Sunny. For any expres- 
 sion of recognition on his face he might never have seen 
 Sunny in his life before. 
 
 "That board on your land, what does it mean?" 
 
 "I've got no board on my land!" 
 
 "It's a lie! I've seen it. I saw it myself. What's 
 this infernal Chemical Factory ? " 
 
 "Oh that ! " Beardwell said. " My land? It isn't my 
 land! It's sold. Yes, there is to be a chemical factory 
 or something ! I hear it is going to smell pretty bad, but 
 that won't affect me. I'm shifting to Canada in about 
 a month, and it'll be a bad smell that'll reach me out 
 there!" 
 
 "You've sold your land to to those brigands who are 
 going to to put up a stink factory!" Colport shouted. 
 
 "It's my land, or was. I had the right to sell it. I 
 offered it to you at eighty ; you said forty was a fair price. 
 I got a hundred for it, and I'm satisfied there were no 
 restrictions. They can put up a dust destructor, too, and 
 a fever hospital if they like, it's all one to me." 
 
 "It's ruined my land!" Colport shouted. 
 
 "That's your trouble. I'm busy; good-morning!" 
 Beardwell shut the door.
 
 338 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I thought hens " Sunny began. 
 
 "Hang hens, curse hens, to blazes with hens!" said 
 Colport. "It's my land!" 
 
 "I'll buy it; give me an option at a fair price. I don't 
 mind any smells that might happen along!" Sunny 
 said. 
 
 Colport muttered in his beard; they drove back to 
 town in silence. 
 
 "About that option?" Sunny said. "Is it worth 
 while me coming to your office or not?" 
 
 "What do you want that land for?" he demanded. 
 
 "I told you it might be for hens and it might not I 
 What's the land worth?" Sunny said. 
 
 "It's worth every penny" he paused "of eighty 
 pounds, but how am I going to sell now with that 
 infernal " 
 
 "Eighty pounds is a fair price, is it?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "I gave seventy for it, and bought it cheap, " he said. 
 "I expected to make good profit on it as plots." 
 
 "But you didn't know this had come along!" 
 
 Colport muttered a few remarks to himself. 
 
 "Are you going to give me a month's option to buy 
 that land?" Sunny asked. 
 
 He did not answer. 
 
 "If you aren't it's no good me coming any farther!'* 
 Sunny said. 
 
 "What'll you offer?" he asked. 
 
 "I heard forty was a fair price." 
 
 He snarled. "I tell you I gave seventy and bought 
 it cheaply." 
 
 "I'll take an option on it for two months at eighty 
 pounds an acre," Sunny said. "And I'll give you a 
 deposit of a hundred pounds, which I am to forfeit if I 
 don't close on the option; how's that?" 
 
 He hesitated.
 
 A Land Deal 339 
 
 "Yes or no!" Sunny said. "Because if it's no, I've 
 got heaps to do with my time!" 
 
 He glared at her. "Eighty then!" he said. "Very 
 well, and a hundred pounds' deposit." 
 
 "That's what I said, " Sunny said. 
 
 ' ' It's just a fair price, ' ' Sunny thought. ' ' I could have 
 got it for forty, or fifty if I had stood out, only it would 
 have been tricky. He makes ten pounds an acre, so he 
 doesn't lose anything, and we get the ground at a fair 
 price. It'll be worth a lot more presently." She smiled. 
 "Well, that's all over and done with!" 
 
 Sunny drove Mr. Colport back to Upper Thames 
 Street, then she thanked Lord Dobrington's chauffeur 
 kindly for his services, and shook hands warmly with 
 him, and dismissed the car. "Now I'd best be getting 
 to work," Sunny thought. 
 
 " Hello! " she said. " Look where you are coming to, 
 clumsy!" 
 
 It was Lord Dobrington who had blundered into her 
 at the corner by the Realm. 
 
 "Why, Sunny, you?" he said. 
 
 "Sunny me!" she said. And you nearly trod on my 
 foot, didn't you ought to apologize?" 
 
 "I do from my heart." He smiled down at her. 
 
 " I've been wanting to see you badly, " he said. 
 
 "Well, look now," Sunny said. 
 
 " I'm going to. Are you in a hurry ? " 
 
 "Nothing pertickler, " Sunny said. 
 
 "Sunny, why do you talk like that?" 
 
 "Like what?" 
 
 "Per-tickler!" he said. "You can speak as well as I 
 can if you like." 
 
 Sunny laughed. "I like to talk like I used when I'm 
 talking to friends ; when I'm not, I put on the talk. See ? 
 However, that doesn't matter. I'll give you the other
 
 34 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 kind of talk if it worries you. No, Lord Dobrington, 1 
 am in no great hurry. I was about to call in at the 
 theatre and find out if there were any letters there 
 awaiting my arrival." She laughed. "How's that?" 
 
 He nodded. "You are funny, Sunny," he said. "I 
 want you to come to tea with me." 
 
 "Where? The A. B. C., or " 
 
 "Blessendale House!" he said briefly. 
 
 "But your mar " 
 
 "Wants to talk to you, Sunny," he said. "So do I! 
 I wonder if you realize, Sunny, just how much you have 
 done for me?" 
 
 ' ' Nothing ! ' ' she said. ' ' What I did I did because your 
 mother was worried out of her life, and because I liked 
 you and hated to see you going " She paused. 
 
 "Going wrong?" he said. 
 
 "Yes, if you like!" 
 
 "Well, I was, and you saved me. I didn't think I 
 could be saved ; it was a kind of lunacy ; it passed and then 
 I felt ashamed, and being ashamed, I did what another 
 weak-minded young fool might have done, I tried to 
 forget my sense of shame and " 
 
 "Drank something dreadful!" Sunny said. "You 
 ought to have more backbone." 
 
 "You are right ! Will you come, Sunny ? " 
 
 "To Blessendale House? Well, if she " 
 
 "Wants to see you; so do I. We want to talk to you, 
 my mother and I!" 
 
 Sunny nodded. He hailed a taxi, and a little later 
 they alighted before the imposing portals of Blessendale 
 House. 
 
 "Of course, I'm not dressed for calling properly," 
 Sunny said. "I've got my old things on, and I'm a bit 
 dirty, but it can't be helped." 
 
 "You look perfectly splendid!" he said.
 
 A Land Deal 341 
 
 "Same to you!" she said. "You look different 
 altogether!" 
 
 They went in; a gorgeous flunkey opened the hall door. 
 
 "Her ladyship his hin, my lord," he said. "Her 
 ladyship his hentertaining." 
 
 Perhaps Dobrington did not hear the latter remark, at 
 any rate he took no notice. 
 
 "Come in, Sunny!" he said. 
 
 Sunny was on her good behavior, the marble staircase 
 always affected her. 
 
 Dobrington opened a door and stood aside for her to 
 enter. 
 
 "I've brought Sunny, mother," he said; "and " 
 He paused. 
 
 His mother was there, so too were others; there were 
 several ladies taking tea. Dobrington bowed; he shook 
 hands with some of them. 
 
 Lady Blessendale rose; she shot a quick glance at her 
 son, but her face was wreathed in smiles as she turned to 
 Sunny. 
 
 " My dear, " she said, " I am very pleased to see you!" 
 She took Sunny's hand and drew her to her and kissed 
 her. 
 
 "I didn't know you had company, or I wouldn't have 
 come," Sunny said. 
 
 " Duchess, this is Miss Ducrow, " her ladyship said. 
 
 "Duchess? my hat!" Sunny thought. She saw a 
 wrinkled, hard-featured old woman glaring at her, and 
 she dropped a curtsy. 
 
 "And how does Miss Ducrow do?" the Duchess asked. 
 
 "Very well, I thank you," Sunny said. "I hope to 
 goodness that's right; what on earth do you call her? 
 Your worship? No, that isn't it. I'll wait." 
 
 Sunny was endowed with plenty of sense. She never 
 rushed in; she bided her time, and what she did not know
 
 34 2 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 she waited to learn. She discovered later that it was 
 correct to say "Your Grace." There were two other 
 ladies there and an effeminate-looking young man, who 
 stared hard at Sunny. 
 
 It was beside him that Sunny presently found herself. 
 
 "Haven't I seen you before, Miss Ducrow?" 
 
 "I dare say, if you looked hard, " Sunny said; she had 
 no opinion of the young man. The ladies a little over- 
 awed her, but he looked just what he was, a weakling 
 and a degenerate. 
 
 "I mean at the Realm. Are you on the stage?" 
 
 "When I'm there I am ! " she said. 
 
 "I thought so; how deuced interesting, what?" 
 
 "Don't look as if I'm going to get my talk with her 
 ladyship, " Sunny thought. She glanced across at Dob- 
 rington. He smiled at her, then, seeing that she was 
 sitting next to Sir Robert Doveton, he scowled; for Sir 
 Robert had a bad reputation, he was not the type of man 
 Dobrington wished to see Sunny talking to. He came 
 over to her and, to Doveton's anger, took her away. 
 
 But the guests were disappearing now, it was only an 
 afternoon call. The little, old, hard-faced Duchess rose 
 and shook out her skirts. 
 
 " Ducrow, " she said. " You spell it Ducros, I suppose. 
 D-u-c-r-o-s, eh, French?" 
 
 4 ' Crow is good enough for me, your Grace ! ' ' Sunny said. 
 
 "Humph ! Ducrow, very odd name, very ; don't know 
 it! Where do you come from?" 
 
 "Baggly Street!" Sunny said. "Least at least, I 
 mean, we lived first in Baggly Street, now we live in 
 Bloomsbury. One day I hope to live in the country 
 when I can earn enough money." 
 
 "Earn, then you earn? How do you earn money, 
 young woman?" 
 
 "On the stage!" Sunny said.
 
 A Land Deal 343 
 
 "Bless me!" The Duchess looked at Sunny keenly. 
 Sunny's brave eyes met the old hard ones without 
 flinching. 
 
 ' ' So you are on the stage, are you ? It's a bad life ! ' ' 
 
 "It isn't!" Sunny cried; she flushed hotly. "You 
 know nothing about it, or you would not say that!" 
 
 "Young woman, do you know who I am?" 
 
 "I don't know who you are, my Grace, your Grace," 
 Sunny said. "But I know who you aren't, and that is 
 a judge of the stage and those who have to earn their 
 living by it!" 
 
 There was silence; the other ladies were looking at 
 one another with something akin to horror in their eyes. 
 
 That girl, that wretched little actress, how dared she? 
 
 "So that's what you think!" Her Grace said. 
 
 Sunny shook her head. "That's what I know!" she 
 said. " I've met with more kindness and I've made more 
 friends since I went on to the stage than ever in my life." 
 
 "You have had, of course, vast experience." 
 
 " When a girl is like I am, " Sunny said, "when she has 
 to earn her living almost as soon as she can walk, then she 
 gets a great deal more experience in a little while than a 
 girl who has father and mother to protect her and care 
 for her and look after her. I had no father and mother," 
 her voice broke for a moment, "only an aunt, and I had 
 to look after myself, and and I've done it!" She 
 lifted her head proudly. 
 
 "Insolence!" one of the other women whispered 
 audibly. 
 
 The Duchess turned ; she looked at the speaker. " You 
 are right," she said. "I was insolent to speak to the 
 child as I did. I am corrected. I am glad that you have 
 the courage of your convictions, Lady Hurstford!" 
 
 Lady Hurstford flushed. "I I did not mean you, 
 Duchess. I meant "
 
 344 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 But her Grace turned her back on her; she turned to 
 Sunny again. 
 
 "And your name, child?" 
 
 "Sunny Ducrow, your Grace." 
 
 "Come here, Sunny Ducrow." 
 
 Sunny advanced fearlessly. They were almost of a 
 height; if anything Sunny was a shade the taller of the 
 two. 
 
 " I like you, I like your honesty, I like the look in your 
 eyes. You are brave, and bravery and courage is as 
 admirable in a woman as in a man. The women I meet 
 are not brave, they are all cowards, all without exception 
 miserable, shaking cowards. I like you, Sunny Ducrow, 
 and I wish you well, and if I can help you at any time, 
 come to me. I'm the Duchess of Lulham." 
 
 She bent forward and kissed Sunny, first on one cheek, 
 then on the other. She nodded and smiled. "Keep 
 your courage, child, " she said. " Keep it, cling to it, be 
 brave, it's a grand virtue!" 
 
 She went, the others followed. Lady Hurstford held 
 out her hand to Sunny with a dazzling smile. 
 
 "So very pleased to have met you, Miss Ducrow!" 
 she said. 
 
 " Was she? " Sunny thought. " I don't think ! I like 
 the old woman, though!" 
 
 "Thank goodness they have gone!" Dobrington said. 
 "Mother, may I ring for some fresh tea?" 
 
 "Yes, dear." Lady Blessendale sat down. 
 
 "Sunny," she said, "we have been talking about you 
 a great deal lately, and we have a plan, an idea that we 
 want to put before you, Stanley and I!" 
 
 "A plan?" Sunny said. 
 
 "Yes, child, a plan ! We are very, very deeply in your 
 debt, Sunny, and Stanley and I want to try and repay 
 you a little of all that we owe to you. The plan I am
 
 A Land Deal 345 
 
 going to propose will mean a change in your life, a great 
 change, it will practically mean the beginning of a new 
 life for you." 
 
 Sunny did not speak. "And I thought I was getting 
 on very well in the old life," she thought. 
 
 "And now I will tell you, " her ladyship said.
 
 CHAPTER XLVI 
 
 A QUESTION OF EDUCATION 
 
 UNNY, " her ladyship said, "I have been thinking 
 very much of you of late, thinking of you with a 
 great deal of affection and gratitude and admiration, too, 
 for I realize that you are a very clever girl. Now, Stan- 
 ley, my son, Lord Dobrington, and I have been talking 
 about you " 
 
 "You have?" Sunny said. 
 
 " Talking of you and your future! " 
 
 "My future seems to be going on all right," Sunny 
 said. "I've nothing to grumble at." 
 
 "I know, child; you have done wonderfully, but but, 
 Sunny, I think you are fitted for some better position 
 in life than to be merely" her ladyship paused 
 "merely a little girl in a revue, a little girl on the stage!" 
 
 "I know," Sunny said. "But I'm not going to be 
 that always ! " She shook her head till her curls danced. 
 "No fear! "she said. 
 
 "Hear me patiently to the end, dear child, " her lady- 
 ship said. ' ' Sunny, I want to do something for you, dear, 
 in return for the great good you did for me and my son. 
 I want to take you away from your present life." 
 
 Sunny opened her eyes widely. 
 
 "I want to have you well educated and fitted for a 
 better position in life. I would send you to a good 
 school" her ladyship paused "where you would re- 
 ceive a high-class education, and after that you could 
 
 346
 
 A Question of Education 347 
 
 be taught some trade, or even profession. There are 
 many professions now open to women. I believe that, 
 with your brains, you would go very far, Sunny." 
 
 Dobrington was standing with his back to them, 
 staring out of the window. Sunny looked at him; her 
 eyes wandered from his back to his mother's face, then 
 back to Dobrington's back again. 
 
 She realized that she had to say something, and she did 
 not know what to say. Leave this life, this life that she 
 had made for herself and which she revelled in ! Leave 
 Bert, Evy, her aunt, and all her friends on the stage and 
 off, all those who had been kind to her! Curtiss, Bar- 
 stowe, leave them all and 
 
 "Oh, my my lady!" she said. 
 
 "Perhaps, dear, you would like a little time to think 
 it over,*' her ladyship said. "It comes as a new and 
 strange idea to you, doesn't it?" 
 
 "It comes very strangely to me," Sunny said. She 
 spoke slowly and carefully, remembering all old Gibbins's 
 teachings. ' ' It comes, naturally, as a very great surprise. 
 I do do appreciate your kindness and the goodness that 
 prompted you to make me such an offer." 
 
 Her ladyship looked at Sunny in silent surprise. She 
 had no idea that the girl could express herself so well. 
 
 "I know exactly what your feelings are about this," 
 Sunny went on. "You think you are in my debt, and 
 you generously want to pay me all that you owe me. 
 But you are really not in my debt at all. What I did for 
 for him," she looked at Dobrington's back again, "I 
 would have willingly done for any friend. I know, my 
 lady, that your son, his lordship, belongs to a very 
 different class of society from the one that I live in. I 
 know that, yet still I do think of him as a friend, and as 
 a friend I would do anything to help him and you, his 
 mother."
 
 34 8 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Her ladyship said nothing. She was frankly astonished ; 
 she looked at the girl in silent amazement. This girl 
 whom she had regarded as unlettered, uneducated, a 
 dumsy-tongued little creature of the streets, to speak 
 with such quiet dignity, to speak with words so admirably 
 chosen! Truly Sunny Ducrow was a never-ending 
 surprise. 
 
 "Oh, my lady!" Sunny cried. "Don't don't think 
 me ungrateful. I am not ; if you could only see right into 
 my heart, you would know how grateful I am to you for 
 your kindness, but but " Her voiee faltered. "I 
 have so many friends, people who have been good to me, 
 who would miss me and whom I should miss, I I can't 
 part from them ! I am happy in my life, I am succeeding 
 even better than I hoped, and and I am not forgetting 
 my education, my my lady!" 
 
 "So I see," her ladyship said. "So I see, Sunny. I 
 am surprised ! I never heard you speak like this ; I had 
 no idea that you could!" 
 
 Sunny smiled. "My education," she said, "is like 
 having money put away in the bank. I don't use it 
 unless I need it ; when I want it, I just draw on it. Some- 
 how, I feel I can go through life all right just as plain 
 Sunny Ducrow. I don't want people to think I'm 
 giving myself airs, or trying to make myself out better 
 than I am. I'm just Sunny Ducrow, my lady; but I've 
 got the education there, put away in the bank, and I can 
 trot it out just when I happen to want it, Latin and all 
 the rest of it." 
 
 1 ' Latin ! ' ' her ladyship cried. ' ' You you understand 
 Latin?" 
 
 "Not very much. I'm only just starting with Mr. 
 Gibbins, but he says I'm wonderfully quick to pick it up. 
 I got on just the same way with French and Italian. I 
 loved to learn Italian. Mr. Gibbins thought that one
 
 A Question of Education 349 
 
 day I might be glad to know the language; it's useful on 
 the stage, especially if one sings. So I learned Italian 
 and French, and now I'm starting Latin. Mr. Gibbins 
 says that a knowledge of Latin and Greek helps one 
 wonderfully when trying to learn other languages." 
 
 ' ' Good good gracious ! ' ' her ladyship said. ' ' Italian, 
 French, Latin, and Greek ! And and I spoke of sending 
 you to be educated ! Sunny Ducrow, I beg your pardon ! ' ' 
 She rose and held out her hand. " I do beg your pardon, 
 child. I thought you were a dear, but ignorant, little 
 savage. I had no idea " She turned to Dobrington, 
 who was still staring out of the window. 
 
 "Stanley, why did you never tell me this? " she said. 
 
 "How could I, mother, when I hadn't the faintest 
 idea?" he cried. "I didn't even know that Sunny was 
 educating herself at all!" 
 
 "I'm not!" Sunny said. "Mr. Gibbins is! I have 
 one hour a day with him certain, wet or fine, and some- 
 times, when I've got the time, I have two and three hours. 
 I learn quickly, just because I want to learn, and I love 
 to see how pleased he looks when I get on quickly and 
 pick up what he tries to teach me." 
 
 "You are a very brave and a very clever girl!" her 
 ladyship said. "I have nothing more to say, Sunny. I 
 was wrong. I erred in ignorance. I little knew how you 
 spent your spare time. Forgive me, child; it would be 
 useless to send you to school." 
 
 Sunny nodded. "I couldn't go. I wouldn't leave 
 Gibbins for all the world! Why, it would break his 
 heart!" 
 
 "And now," she rose as she spoke, "I want to thank 
 you just the same. You meant to help me and do good 
 to me, and I do do thank you from the bottom of my 
 heart, I do." 
 
 4 ' My dear ! ' ' Lady Blessendale said. 4 ' My my dear 1 ' '
 
 350 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 She held out her arms and hugged Sunny. Her ladyship 
 did not often give way to sentiment. She was counted 
 cold and rather haughty, distinctly a proud woman. 
 Such tenderness as she was capable of she lavished on 
 her son. Possibly this was the first time in her life that 
 her ladyship had hugged a young girl and kissed her 
 with the warm affection she now kissed Sunny. 
 
 "I only wish that there was something I could do!" 
 she said. "Some little thing that I could do for you, 
 Sunny, in return " 
 
 "Don't want no return!" Sunny said. "What I 
 done, I done!" She laughed happily, she was Sunny 
 Ducrow again, happy, laughing, and merry, the bad 
 grammar tripping irresponsibly to her tongue. 
 
 "You been good to me, you been wonderful good, 
 taking an interest in me and and being kind to me, and 
 that's all I want. Anything I done I was glad to do, 
 and and so don't never say no more about it. But 
 thank you all the same for thinking so kind about me, 
 my lady, and wanting to help me and like that, " Sunny 
 said. 
 
 Sunny Ducrow went, and Lady Blessendale stared 
 after her, a very surprised woman. 
 
 Dobrington walked by Sunny's side. Now and again 
 he glanced down at her happy, bright little face, but he 
 said nothing. There was a great deal of wonder and 
 surprise in his eyes. 
 
 "Sunny, " he said at last, "why didn't you tell me? " 
 
 "Tell you what?" 
 
 " Tell me how hard you were studying, what a lot you 
 know!" he said. 
 
 " What's the use of talking about it ? " she said. "Law, 
 if you had on a nice new fancy undervest all embroidered 
 with gold and jools, you wouldn't go telling everyone 
 about it, would you?"
 
 A Question of Education 35 I 
 
 He laughed. "No; but I'm not likely to have such 
 an undervest ! " 
 
 "Nor didn't you think I was likely to know what I 
 know about Italian and all the rest of it, " Sunny said. 
 "So I just kep' it to myself. One day I may want it, 
 then I can draw on it and trot it out. See? " 
 
 "I see," he said. "Sunny, you are a very wonderful 
 girl!" 
 
 "Nothing to write home about!" she said. "Just 
 an ordinary, everyday kind of girl, only the difference in 
 me is I mean to get on!" 
 
 "And you're getting on!" he said. 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "When I compare you with myself, your life with 
 mine but there is no comparison, you can do everything, 
 I can do nothing ! Compared with you, I am a helpless, 
 hopeless idiot!" 
 
 " Oh, you ain't so bad as all that ! " Sunny said. "You 
 aren't very clever, nor very smart in some ways, but 
 you aren't a born fool neither!" She looked at him 
 merrily. "What you want, Vis-count " 
 
 "Don't!" he said. "Don't call me that; call me 
 Stanley, that's my name, the name my closest and best 
 friends call me." 
 
 "Stan-ley," she repeated. " Too magnificent ! How'd 
 it be if I called you just Stan? " 
 
 "Splendid," he said; "will you?" 
 
 Sunny nodded. " There used to be a kid living in our 
 street named Stan; he got run over by a motor-bus a 
 dear little kid he was ! ' ' She blinked. ' ' I loved him ; he 
 was ill a terrible long time, but he never murmured nor 
 nothing, he just bore it till he he died! I like the name 
 of Stan!" she said. 
 
 "For his sake?" Dobrington said. 
 
 "Yes."
 
 35 2 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Will you try and like it for mine?" he asked eagerly. 
 
 She looked at him. "If I didn't like you a lot, I 
 shouldn't never call you Stan!" she said. 
 
 "Thank you, Sunny, I understand." 
 
 "What you want," Sunny said, as she skipped along 
 by his side, "what you want, Stan, is a job! You ain't 
 got nothing to do but to get into mischief. There's 
 nothing like having a job to keep a chap, and a girl too, 
 come to that, out of trouble." 
 
 "I expect you are right," he said. "My father 
 talked of the diplomatic service." 
 
 "Don't you go into no service!" she said urgently. 
 " Don't you do it ! Being in service means you don't get 
 no time to yourself, 'cept perhaps one night a week and 
 every other Sunday. I expect your people are well 
 enough off to keep you out of service." 
 
 "You don't understand," he said. 
 
 "No, I suppose I don't, only I was thinking Look 
 here, Stan, how would you like to go into the Jam and 
 Pickle business ? " 
 
 "The what?" he cried. 
 
 "Jam, Pickles, and Sauces, not forgetting the sauce!" 
 she said. 
 
 "Johnson's, you mean?" he said. 
 
 "Johnson & Ducrow ! You listen to me and I'll tell you 
 all about it!" Sunny cried. "I'll tell you everything!" 
 
 She did, and he listened with rapt attention. As she 
 talked, Sunny grew excited; she waved her hands, her 
 face glowed, her eyes shone. Enthusiasm and excite- 
 ment were carrying her off her feet. People stopped dead 
 and turned to stare after her. Many smiled; most of 
 them knew her well by sight, some few knew him. 
 
 "Don't you see it?" Sunny said. "There's the land. 
 I've got an option on it, got it now in my pocket, thirty 
 acres and six I've bought. We'll have a model factory.
 
 A Question of Education 353 
 
 all the walls white and shiny tiles and the boilers for the 
 jam, bright copper, so bright you can see your face in it. 
 And then the cottages, they all got to be pretty, pretty as 
 they can be; and each one's to have a nice garden, and the 
 one as keeps his garden best'll get a prize. And then 
 there'll be a club for the girls and a reading-room, and 
 another club for the men and a swimming-bath, and 
 like that! Don't you see it? Say you can see it 
 all!" 
 
 "I do!" he said. "But it will take a fearful lot of 
 money, Sunny !" 
 
 "Not such a wonderful lot! The ground's got, and 
 the ground's the main thing. I got it cheap, and there's 
 acres more to be got later on, but it's no good hurrying. 
 Goodness, when I shut my eyes I can see it all: the 
 pretty little red-and-white cottages and the gardens and 
 the oh, everything! And we'll run a store there our- 
 selves and sell everything at just what it costs us, so the 
 workers'll get the best of everything at the lowest price. 
 Don't you see, can't you see it? Don't it make you 
 want to start work?" 
 
 "I believe it does!" Dobrington cried. "It sounds 
 splendid!" 
 
 "It is splendid!" she said in a low voice. "If you'd 
 lived where I lived in them narrow streets where you 
 scarcely didn't see the sun at all, where there ain't never 
 a blade of grass, not a tree nor a flower ! Where every- 
 thing's dirty and smoky ! If if you'd lived there like I 
 had, you'd understand what a place like this 'ud mean to 
 them as is living there now. It 'ud mean new life to some 
 of 'em, some of those gels you saw at the beanfeast, don't 
 you remember ?" 
 
 "I do remember!" 
 
 "Look at 'em, some of 'em with their sailer faces and 
 their narrow chests, what 'ud the country air and the 
 
 23
 
 354 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 sunshine and the gardens and flowers and like that do for 
 'em?" 
 
 "I understand, Sunny," he said. "And you offer to 
 let me come into this great scheme of yours?" 
 
 "I'd like you to come in," she said. "You was one 
 of the two or three I meant to ask." 
 
 "And the others?" he asked, with a note of jealousy 
 in his voice. 
 
 "Barstowe and Mossy," she said. "Only them two 
 and you!" 
 
 "Good, good!" His eyes shone. "I'll come in, 
 Sunny; how much do you want from me?" 
 
 "Just what you can get hold of," she said. 
 
 He paused for a moment. "I could manage five thouv 
 sand," he said. "Maybe a little more if necessary." 
 
 "That's splendid. You'll get your share for the 
 money, and you'll have to work; we ain't going to have 
 no deadheads in this, Stan!" 
 
 "I don't want to be a deadhead!" he said. "I want 
 to be a very much alive head! Try me, Sunny, and 
 I promise I'll work like a nigger!" 
 
 "I believe you will, and I s'pose it'll look all right to 
 have your name on the prospectuses!" Sunny said. 
 
 Dusk had fallen, she must hasten now to the theatre. 
 A little while and she had reached the stage-door. 
 
 "Well, so-long!" she said. "You think about what 
 I told you!" 
 
 "I'm not likely to forget it," he said. "To-morrow 
 I will let you know exactly how much I can put into the 
 scheme. It won't be less than five thousand, it may be 
 more." 
 
 "That's all right, and, oh, by the way, I didn't speak 
 of Arthur Curtiss! I got to ask him, he's been a good 
 friend." 
 
 "Arthur Curtiss!" Dobrington said.
 
 A Question of Education 355 
 
 "Oh, Arthur's all right, a bit starchy, but one of the 
 best, reely!" Sunny said. 
 
 " You you don't like him as as you like me, Sunny ? " 
 he whispered. 
 
 "Goodness, I never thought about it!" she said. 
 
 "Sunny." He paused; he looked up the narrow side 
 alley and down it not a soul was in sight. "Sunny, 
 will you you do something for me, something that 
 I wish you to do very badly? " he said. 
 
 "Goodness, what's that?" 
 
 "Nothing very much, at least not very much to you, 
 a great deal to me," he said. "Sunny, will you kiss 
 me?" 
 
 She looked up at him and smiled. "Why, of course I 
 will, " she said. She lifted her arms and put them round 
 his neck, she hugged him and kissed him, her soft lips 
 brushed his cheek like the touch of a rose petal carried 
 by the wind. 
 
 That was all, but the man's heart within him gave a 
 sudden leap, the blood tingled in his veins. 
 
 Sunny darted into the theatre, Dobrington walked 
 down to the busy street. He stood on the corner of the 
 pavement. 
 
 "That's it," he said. "That's it, I've been a mad, 
 blind fool a mad, blind fool! I've awakened at last, 
 I know the truth! That's it, it's Sunny, Sunny all the 
 time, just Sunny! The other was nothing, less than 
 nothing! It's Sunny!" He did not know that he was 
 speaking aloud, he did not care. People glanced at him, 
 they thought him mad, and with reason. He had said, 
 " It's Sunny ! " And it was not sunny, it was night-time, 
 and there was a suspicion of a fog in the air! Of course 
 the man was mad !
 
 CHAPTER XLVII 
 
 THE BIRTH OF "SUNNYVILLE" 
 
 THERE was a meeting in Mossy Bernstein's office. 
 Present were Mr. Bernstein himself, in a new white 
 waistcoat; Barstowe of Barstowe's Realms in a velveteen 
 corduroy coat and loose check trousers ; Stanley, Viscount 
 Dobrington, and Mr. Arthur Curtiss, both dressed in 
 exquisite taste; Mr. Johnson from the pickle factory, a 
 little ill at ease and nervous in such society ; and, finally, 
 Sunny Ducrow, who was neither ill at ease nor nervous. 
 
 "And now, for goodness' sake, let's get on with it," 
 she said. " Didn't someone ought to take the chair? " 
 
 "Thomeone ought!" Mossy Bernstein looked at Bar- 
 stowe, as being the greatest man present. 
 
 But Barstowe smiled grimly. "I have pleasure," he 
 said, "in proposing that the moving spirit in this venture, 
 the originator of the scheme, Miss Sunny Ducrow, takes 
 the chair I" 
 
 Sunny took the chair, and she took it with a quiet 
 dignity and grace that impressed Barstowe, the silent 
 man, who saw everything and noted everything. Sunny 
 Ducrow, in the chair at this the first meeting of the new 
 John Crow Company, was a new Sunny. 
 
 "I have plenty of ideas about the factory and the 
 cottages for the workpeople and how to lay out the ground 
 and so on, " she said. "But I realize that money counts 
 more than anything else. I don't know much about 
 money. I never had any myself, so when you discuss the 
 
 356
 
 The Birth of " Sunny ville " 357 
 
 money side of it, I shall say nothing, because I understand 
 you are all a great deal wiser than I am. But but I do 
 want red-and-white cottages and nice little gardens with 
 white palings. I can see it all when I close my eyes. 
 And, later on, when we can get more land, there ought 
 to be a park or recreation ground for the children to play 
 in. It would be so different from " She paused. " I'm 
 sorry," she said; "please go on." 
 
 The meeting went on. It was a strange but neverthe- 
 less a certain fact that Stanley, Viscount Dobrington, and 
 Mr. Arthur Curtiss contradicted one another several times 
 flatly. They looked at one another with unfriendly eyes. 
 And yet, at one time they had been good enough friends. 
 But evidently something had happened to upset their 
 friendship. 
 
 The meeting was over at last, and satisfactorily over. 
 The new John Crow Works were to be, the option was to 
 be taken up. Barstowe had expressed his willingness to 
 put down a sum of ten thousand pounds. Dobrington 
 put down five thousand, Mossy Bernstein a like amount. 
 Arthur Curtiss, who had intended to risk a couple of 
 thousand, would not be outdone by Dobrington, so he 
 signed for five thousand. 
 
 The capital of the new company was therefore twenty- 
 five thousand pounds in cash. The proprietary rights 
 in the company were represented by ten shares. 
 Barstowe held two, Dobrington, Curtiss, and Bern- 
 stein one each; Johnson of the pickle factory three 
 shares for the ground and the plant, or as much of 
 it as could be used; and the other two shares belonged 
 to Sunny. 
 
 "And now for a name for the new venture," Dob" 
 rington said. 
 
 "We've got the name all ready it's to be called John 
 Crow Town," Sunny said.
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I object/' Dobrington said. "I've got a far better 
 name for it than that!" 
 
 "You couldn't have," Sunny said. 
 
 "I have. I suggest that it be called Sunny ville," 
 Dobrington said. 
 
 " Oh no, " Sunny said. ' ' John Crow is ' ' 
 
 But Sunnyville it was, and there was an end of it !
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII 
 
 TOO LATE 
 
 MR. ARTHUR CURTISS paced his private office at 
 the London Realm. He was in deep thought ; he 
 frowned to himself. As usual, he was immaculately 
 dressed; to-day he was rather better dressed than usual, 
 if that were possible. 
 
 The door opened, the office boy came in. "Miss 
 Popsy Giddens to see you, sir, " he said. 
 
 Miss Popsy Giddens was a famous star. Agents and 
 managers received her hat in hand; she had been known 
 to receive three hundred pounds for one week's work, 
 and the lowest she would look at was two hundred. 
 
 "Tell Miss Popsy Giddens to go to say I can't see 
 her, " Curtiss said. 
 
 "But "he said. 
 
 " Clear out, " Curtiss said. " I can't see her, won't see 
 her; tell her I'm busy!" The boy went out. 
 
 "If I thought that that idiot of a Dobrington was " 
 Curtiss thought. "If I thought for a moment " He 
 paused. "It would serve me right! When it was too 
 late, I would suddenly realize what it meant to me! I 
 won't wait till it's too late! Now's the time, now's the 
 time! It's not too late yet!" He went to the bell and 
 rang it. 
 
 "Has that woman gone?" 
 
 "Miss Giddens is gone, sir. She seemed angry; she 
 
 said it was an insult to " * 
 
 359
 
 360 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I don't care what she said; when I want to know 
 what Miss Giddens says, I'll ask you! Is Miss Ducrow 
 in the building?" 
 
 "I don't know if she's come in yet, sir; she generally 
 comes in for letters of a morning." 
 
 "Well, go to the commissionaire and ask him if she 
 is here; and if she is here, say I would be glad if she 
 would spare me a few minutes. If she hasn't come in 
 yet, tell him to tell her the moment she comes." 
 
 "Very good, sir." The boy went out. 
 
 "There's many a man," Arthur Curtiss muttered to 
 himself, "who waits just too long, who can't make up his 
 mind, and then makes it up to find out that he's lost 
 everything that makes life worth living. I'm not going to 
 be among that lot ; I've made up my mind ! I don't think 
 either it wanted much making up. Somehow, it came 
 naturally. There's no one like her in the world; she's 
 only a child, there needn't be a hurry another year, 
 say but I want to make sure of her!" 
 
 The door opened and Sunny came in. She was tresh 
 from the sunlight of the streets and seemed to carry a 
 good deal of it with her into the room. Her face was 
 beaming, her eyes dancing. 
 
 "I've just been down there to Havers," she said 
 "Sunnyville, I mean. They're getting on splendidly. 
 It's going to be lovely!" she cried. "Oh, you don't 
 know how I'm longing and looking forward to it when it 
 is all done, all ready! Those dear little cott .ges, such 
 boxes they do look, and yet they say that they will be 
 quite large; and there's to be a bathroom in each one, 
 think of that and " 
 
 She chattered on, and he stood looking at her. Her 
 little face was glowing, radiant; her eyes glinted and 
 sparkled; her red lips, like twin rose petals, were parted, 
 showing the pearly glitter of her perfect teeth. Best of
 
 Too Late 361 
 
 all, the glorious red hair of her shone around her little 
 head like an aureole of glory. 
 
 Arthur Curtiss stood and looked at her; he was not 
 listening. He could only look and look his fill. Was 
 there in all this sombre, dreary old world such a radiant 
 picture as this to gladden the eyes of a man? And to 
 think that this picture, this wonderful breathing reality, 
 might one day be his, all his own ! 
 
 "Oh, I forgot!" she said breathlessly. "I rattle on 
 and forget everything, don't I? I am sorry, Arthur. 
 You sent for me?" 
 
 " Yes, I sent for you, " he said heavily. 
 
 "About that new sketch? It's to go on in a week, and 
 I'm all ready. I shan't make a mess of it, you can betcher 
 life!" 
 
 "I don't anticipate that you will make a mess of it; 
 it's not in you to make a mess of anything, Sunny 
 Ducrow!" 
 
 "That's the nicest thing you've said to me for the last 
 hundred years," she said. "I'll get through all right. 
 See? Sunny Ducrow as a tragedienne, what?" She 
 laughed. "And now, what is it?" 
 
 She looked at him expectantly. 
 
 Arthur Curtiss hesitated ; he pulled up his shirt collar, 
 shot out his cuff; he coughed and stalked to the mantel- 
 piece. Here he assumed a graceful attitude of negligence. 
 
 "You've got on new trousis, " Sunny said. "I like 
 that pattern." 
 
 "I'm glad," he said shortly. 
 
 "And a gardenia in your buttonhole, too!" Sunny 
 said . ' ' Things are looking up ! " 
 
 "It's a camellia," he said briefly. 
 
 "That shows what a lot I don't know!" she said. 
 " Well, anyhow, you look very nice this morning. Going 
 out to a party, or what?"
 
 3 62 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I am not!" he said. "Sunny, I want to speak to 
 you." 
 
 "Well, it's me doing most of the talking, isn't it, old 
 dear? " she said. "What's it about the jam factory, or 
 what? Or is it the new sketch? If it's the sketch, for 
 goodness' sake don't worry. I'm coming through all 
 right, I'll betcher!" 
 
 "It's neither the one thing nor the other! It is 
 ahem! a more personal" he paused "a far more 
 personal matter ! ' ' 
 
 "I know," Sunny said. "I know what it is! It's 
 that six pound I'm overdrawn. I'll make it all right this 
 week, when Friday comes, and " 
 
 "I tell you, it is not!" he said angrily. "Sunny, will 
 you listen, will you be quiet a moment?" 
 
 "Goodness! Ain't I quiet, haven't I been waiting for 
 you to talk all the time? Only you don't say a word, 
 you just pull your collar about and disarrange your 
 tie! Oh, what a lovely tie! What's that moire silk, 
 or what?" 
 
 "I don't know. I don't care!" he shouted. "Sunny, 
 listen!" 
 
 " Wait a moment ! ' ' she said. She ran across the room 
 and sprang on to the table. She sat there, swinging her 
 small feet and watching him with her bright eyes. 
 
 "Don't hurry!" she said. "It's only Tuesday yet, 
 we've got the best part of the week before us; we can 
 knock off for meals and the performance. For goodness* 
 sake, Arthur, don't hurry!" 
 
 "Sunny, can you be serious?" he said. 
 
 She nodded. "When I want to, but I don't feel like 
 being serious this morning. I've been seeing it all, those 
 little red-and-white cottages, each with a bathroom 
 and " 
 
 "Hang the cottages, blow the bathrooms, bother
 
 Too Late 363 
 
 everything! Sunny, listen to me. Sunny, I " He 
 paused. ' ' Sunny, I love you ! ' ' 
 
 Sunny sat still, her feet refused to swing; she stared 
 at him. 
 
 "I love you, Sunny, with all my heart," he said. 
 "I want you to promise to one day be my wife." 
 
 "You you poor old dear!" she said. "You poor 
 dear old thing, you ! What's the matter? " 
 
 "Sunny, I mean it, I mean it! I love you. I think 
 I fell in love with you the very first day I saw that dear 
 little red head of yours and that bright face of yours ; you 
 just walked straight into my heart, dear! I've got to 
 look for you, to hope for you, to listen for you; but I 
 was a fool, I didn't realize what it meant to me! I 
 do realize it now. I love you. I want you to belong 
 to me ! I know you are young yet only just seventeen, 
 aren't you, dear? But we could wait a year, wait 
 till " 
 
 Sunny slipped down from the table. She came to him 
 and put her arms suddenly round his neck; she drew his 
 face down and kissed him on the cheek. 
 
 " Forget it, Arthur, " she said softly. "Forget it, dear 
 old Arthur. I love you a lot, a heap in another way! I 
 love your dear, solemn old face more than I can tell you, 
 but but it can't be that way. You understand, don't 
 you, dear?" 
 
 He nodded silently. 
 
 "I hate hurting you," she said; her eyes filled sud- 
 denly "hate it, hate it! I'd sooner cut my hand off 
 than hurt you; you know that, don't you?" 
 
 "Then then it can never be?" he said wistfully. 
 
 She shook her head. "It can't be!" she said. "Me 
 and you must be good friends, the best of friends, Arthur; 
 we'll always be that, shan't we?" 
 
 "Always, Sunny dear!" he said. "Always!" There
 
 364 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 was a lump in his throat. It was a blow, but he took 
 it like the man he was. 
 
 "So so it's off!" he said. "Eh? Off for good and 
 all! No chance for me, no hope, Sunny, that you may 
 ever change your mind ? ' ' He looked at her with the last 
 gleam of hope in his eyes. 
 
 Sunny shook her head. "I shan't never change my 
 mind, dear," she said. She went to him and slipped 
 her warm little hand into his. "Only it won't make no 
 difference between us, except perhaps it'll make us like 
 one another better than ever!" she said. 
 
 "I I suppose so. I'll get used to it in time, it it 
 hurts a bit now, Sunny." 
 
 "I know at least I don't know, but I s'poseit does!" 
 she said. 
 
 "Sunny, does it mean that there is is someone else? " 
 he said. 
 
 She looked at him; the color flooded her face to her 
 white neck. Her eyes filled suddenly ; she drew her hand 
 slowly from his. 
 
 "I don't know; I don't know," Sunny Ducrow said. 
 "I don't know." 
 
 But he did! 
 
 She was gone, and he stood staring down at the empty 
 fireplace. 
 
 "After all, I was too late!" he said. "Too late; my 
 luck! Well " He heaved a great sigh. "God bless 
 her all the same, dear, sweet little soul!" 
 
 And Sunny walked out into the street with a far-away 
 look in her eyes, her lips parted. 
 
 "I don't know," she had said to Arthur Curtiss. "I 
 don't know." 
 
 Did she know? She wondered. Did she know? 
 
 "I haven't got no right to go and fall in love with no 
 one!" she said. "Least of all with someone who"
 
 Too Late 365 
 
 she paused "someone who couldn't never think of a 
 girl like me, a girl who wasn't nothing and nobody! I 
 was wrong, I do know ! Only only I know, and no one 
 else ever will! I've got to forget it, get the best of it, 
 never think of it! After all, there's more things in the 
 world than love ' ' She paused. She stood on the edge 
 of the pavement and watched the flow of the traffic. 
 Into her bright eyes came a soft, tender light. 
 
 "Yes, there's more things in this world than love," 
 she whispered. "But love's the best thing of all!" 
 
 And then she laughed suddenly and waved her hands 
 to a policeman. 
 
 "Can't you stop the procession, Mister Constable?" 
 she called out, "I want to get acrost!" 
 
 And he smiled back at her and lifted a large hand and 
 held up the traffic, while Miss Sunny Ducrow crossed 
 the street.
 
 CHAPTER XLIX 
 
 SOMETHING A LITTLE WRONG 
 
 MISS SUNNY DUCROW, who has for so long been 
 a favorite with the patrons of the Realm, proved 
 herself to be as versatile as she is charming. Her per- 
 formance came altogether as a surprise to the audience, 
 which had grown accustomed to seeing her in lighter 
 parts. In the last scene, when she appeared on the stage 
 alone, she held the house spellbound by the tragic force 
 she displayed. And yet, regretfully it must be written, 
 regarded from an artistic point of view, the production 
 could hardly be considered a success. 
 
 " It was hardly fair to Miss Ducrow; the audience was 
 not prepared to accept her as a tragedienne. Miss 
 Ducrow had to live down the reputation she has made as 
 a charming young player of light comedy. It was, in 
 fact, some time before the audience seemed to awaken to 
 the fact that the performance was tragedy, pure and 
 simple. 
 
 "It is, however, not saying too much to declare that 
 Miss Ducrow made a brilliant success and rose to heights 
 that even her most enthusiastic admirers had never 
 believed her capable of. But the strain was too much, it 
 evidently told upon her when she was called after the 
 curtain. 
 
 "If we might offer Miss Ducrow a little friendly 
 advice, we would suggest that she refrained from such 
 
 566
 
 Something a Little Wrong 367 
 
 highly emotional parts as that of Gerda Nelstein, the spy 
 adventuress, for some years to come. One cannot doubt 
 that she has the ability, after last night's performance. 
 That one day she will reach to great heights one cannot 
 doubt either, but she is young, and though her make-up 
 last night was wonderful, there is still much of the child 
 about her, for such a part as this. That she made a 
 brilliant success in the face of natural difficulties is all the 
 more to her credit. As to the play itself, there was 
 much that was good in it and much that was poor. Here 
 and there the touch of the amateur play-writer was 
 evident. It is Mr. Albert Jackson's first venture, but in 
 all probability it will not be his last. We look for some- 
 thing more brilliant from his pen. Last night was the 
 promise of better things to come." 
 
 Sunny lay in bed reading the Morning Cry. It was 
 the paper that Wallace Angus contributed his criticism 
 to, and Angus was counted the best critic of the time. 
 He had been kind, far more kind than Sunny had dared 
 to hope for; her cheeks flushed when she read his praise 
 of herself. 
 
 Last night had been the first night of Bert's sketch at 
 the Realm, and Sunny was staying in bed this morning 
 to read the criticisms in the morning papers. There were 
 half a dozen papers lying on her bed; she skimmed 
 through the others. Some said much as Angus said, 
 some were enthusiastically flattering, only one con- 
 demned. 
 
 Sunny threw them all aside; she put her hands behind 
 her head and smiled. 
 
 " Well, anyhow, I did it !" she said. " I did it ; but he 
 was right, it took it out of me dreadfully! I didn't think 
 it would, but it did. Perhaps I was wrong. I dare say 
 he's right. I ought to leave heavy parts like that for a 
 bit. What's the matter with me is, I'm jumping for
 
 368 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 something that's just a bit beyond my reach. I can't 
 quite get hold of it yet. I can touch it when I jump hard, 
 but only just touch it. Presently I'll be able to get hold 
 of it easy!" 
 
 She paused; her reverie was broken. Mrs. Melkin 
 came into the room. 
 
 "Ain't you never going to get up this lovely morning, 
 Elizabeth Ann Ducrow?" 
 
 "It isn't often I stay in bed," Sunny said. "I'm 
 going to get up now. I was late and a bit tired last 
 night; it was a heavy part." 
 
 Mrs. Melkin sniffed. "Heavy part?" she said. 
 "Much good your heavy parts seem to do! Ain't we 
 never going to have a home of our own, Elizabeth Ann? 
 Are we going to be in in respectable lodgings for the 
 rest of our lives?" 
 
 "Oh, there's plenty of time to see about a home!" 
 Sunny said. "Tell me, old dear, how you'd like to go 
 and live out in the country." 
 
 "I'd hate it!" Mrs. Melkin said decidedly. 
 
 Sunny 's face fell. "Well, it wouldn't be far out, " she 
 said. "Not more'n about ten miles!" 
 
 "I'd 'ate it!" Mrs. Melkin said. "I'm a town bird, 
 lam!" 
 
 "How about a nice little red-and-white house with 
 honeysuckles and things?" Sunny said. 
 
 "I'd 'ate it!" Mrs. Melkin repeated. 
 
 "And a bathroom?" Sunny asked hopefully. "And 
 a kitchen with nice red tiles on the floor, and a back 
 garden with cabbages and like that?" 
 
 "Not me!" said Mrs. Melkin. 
 
 Sunny sighed. "I thought you'd 'a' jumped at it!" 
 she said. 
 
 "I'd 'ate the very sight of it. Give me London and 
 the shops)"
 
 Something a Little Wrong 369 
 
 Sunny sighed. "I thought you would like it," she 
 said. "I had an idea, but! " She paused. 
 
 "What's all them papers?" Mrs. Melkin asked. 
 
 "Only about the piece last night." 
 
 "Oh, that piece of Bert Jackson's! Laugh at it, I 
 should think, don't they?" 
 
 "Not quite!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Well, if they didn't, they ought to! Bert Jackson 
 writing plays! What's things coming to? Him as used 
 to be in the pickles " 
 
 "And me too, I was in the pickles!" Sunny said. 
 "Only things change a bit!" 
 
 "Any'ow, don't mention no country "ome!" Mrs. 
 Melkin said. " No ! nor no bathrooms nor tiled kitchens 
 neither; and as for cabbages in the garden, I never could 
 abide the smell of them growing!" 
 
 "All right, " Sunny said. "All right, we'll get a little 
 flat somewhere later on." 
 
 "Later on? It's always later on!" Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 Sunny rose; she bathed and dressed. It was eleven 
 o'clock when she opened the front door of the house in 
 Bloomsbury and went out. Outside the door a car had 
 pulled up ; in the car was Lord Dobrington. 
 
 "Good-morning, Sunny," he said. "Ripping notices 
 about you in the papers, and you deserve it all! See 
 what Angus said about you in the Cry?" 
 
 She nodded. "And he was right, " she said; "he was 
 dead right! I'm jumping a bit too high. I've got to 
 wait till I've grown a bit." 
 
 ' ' Oh , rot ! " he said. ' ' These chaps always qualify their 
 praise. It was a ripping notice. I read it aloud to my 
 mother and she was delighted with it!" 
 
 "Was she?" said Sunny. 
 
 "Rather!" He made room for her beside him. 
 "Jump in, Sunny," he said.
 
 370 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 He himself was driving the smart little two-seater, and 
 now, with the skill of a practised driver, he put it through 
 the traffic. 
 
 Sunny did not talk while they were negotiating the 
 worst of the traffic, but presently, when Ealing was 
 passed and the road became less congested, she began. 
 
 "It 'sail off! "she said. 
 
 "Off? What's off?" 
 
 "Me living at Sunny ville, " she said. "I spoke about 
 it to aunt, and she nearly had a fit. She's against living 
 in the country ; and I did look forward to it so, " she said. 
 "I'd made up my mind to have one of those little red- 
 and-white cottages, and look after things there during 
 the day, and help a bit in the factory, and and one 
 thing and another, but there it is! Aunt won't listen to 
 it, so it's off!" 
 
 "Poor old girl!" Dobrington said. He looked at the 
 little face beside him. He looked more often than he 
 should, seeing that he was responsible for the well-being 
 of the car. 
 
 "So you want to live in the country?" he said. 
 
 "I'd love it! It was just lovely that night I stayed at 
 Barstowe's, getting up in the morning and seeing the 
 fields and the cows and the hens and all the rest of it, and 
 the fresh air ! Oh, I'd love it ! " 
 
 "You've never seen our country home, Sunny, at 
 Great Harwell Harwell Towers?" 
 
 "Of course I haven't, " she said. 
 
 "Sunny, supposing we run on there now, it's only 
 fifty miles, instead of going to Sunnyville this morning, 
 as we intended? Let's make for Great Harwell, shall 
 we?" He looked at her eagerly. " I'd love you to see our 
 place!" 
 
 "I'd love to see it!" 
 
 He looked at the clock on the dashboard. " If we put
 
 Something a Little Wrong 371 
 
 it on we ought to be there by half-past one. I could send 
 Mrs. Mathers a wire from Uxbridge to tell her to have 
 luncheon ready. We could leave there at four and be 
 back in town by six, shall we?" 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 " Right ! " he said. "I've wanted you to see our place 
 badly." 
 
 At Uxbridge they stopped for a few minutes while he 
 sent a telegram to the housekeeper at Harwell Towers, 
 warning her of their coming for lunch. 
 
 The country was lovely; it was a glorious day, and 
 Sunny gave herself up to the enjoyment of the trip. 
 London and the theatres seemed very, very far away; the 
 little car ran like a dream. They did not talk much, and 
 Sunny was glad. Now and again Dobrington glanced at 
 her, sometimes their eyes met, and they smiled. They 
 were good friends, the best of good friends; there was a 
 complete understanding between them, there was no 
 need for any unnecessary conversation. 
 
 And the car made good time; it was just after one 
 when they ran into the quaint, irregular little street of 
 Great Harwell. It was an old-world village, six miles 
 from the nearest railway station and consequently un- 
 spoiled. The pavements were of rough cobbles, the little 
 cottages had whitewashed walls and roofs of thatch, or of 
 irregular, weather- and time-stained tiles. Old dames 
 with smiling faces bobbed curtsies to Dobrington as the 
 car passed, old men touched their hats to him. 
 
 "Everyone seems to know you here, " Sunny said. 
 
 "They ought, " he said, with a laugh ; "we've been here 
 over four hundred years. I was born here ; it's my home, 
 you know." 
 
 Before them was a pair of large stone pillars, sur- 
 mounted by carved lions holding shields. On the pillars 
 swung beautifully wrought-iron gates.
 
 37 2 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Lor', we didn't ought to go in here, did we?" Sunny 
 asked, as the car went between the gate pillars. 
 
 Dobrington smiled. " It's our place, " he said. " Har- 
 well Towers." 
 
 Sunny said nothing; she looked about her. She saw 
 smooth, green sward, on which fed deer. She had never 
 seen deer in her life, except once in Richmond Park; her 
 eyes widened and she held her breath. 
 
 "You you don't mean," she whispered, "you don't 
 mean it it all belongs to you?" 
 
 "To my father!" he said. "It'll be mine one day, I 
 suppose, though I hope not for many a long day yet. 
 He's the dearest and best old fellow in the world, my 
 governor!" 
 
 And there, at last, was the house itself. It stood back, 
 a large sheet of water reflected it to the most minute 
 detail. A long, low, rambling, old-fashioned place of 
 stone, with mullioned windows and queer churchlike- 
 looking doorways. It stood high, built on a slight hill 
 which had been cut into terraces. 
 
 "Like it? "he asked. 
 
 Sunny did not answer for a moment. "Go go slow. 
 Oh, please stop; I want to look!" she said. "I want to 
 see it from just here!" 
 
 He stopped the car and she gazed her fill. 
 
 "Well? "he asked. 
 
 "It's wonderful. I never saw anything like it! It's 
 almost exactly like the drop scene at the Realm, only 
 better! Didn't there ought to be some swans on the 
 lake there?" t 
 
 He laughed. "There shall be one day if you like, 
 Sunny, " he said meaningly. 
 
 But she did not accept his meaning, did not understand 
 it the house engrossed her attention. 
 
 "Now now go on!" she said pensively.
 
 Something a Little Wrong 373 
 
 He drove slowly up the winding drive that brought 
 them at last to the main entrance. And there a pleasant- 
 looking old woman in a fine, rustling, black silk dress 
 stood waiting to receive them. 
 
 "It's only a short stay, Mrs. Mathers," he said. 
 " Miss Ducrow and I wanted the run. We'll have lunch 
 when it is ready, look around, and then off!" 
 
 "Everything's ready, my lord, " she said. She smiled 
 at Sunny, and Sunny smiled back. There was something 
 so warm and so friendly about Sunny's smile that Mrs. 
 Mathers was her friend from that moment onwards. 
 
 "The young lady would like to wash and tidy her hair 
 perhaps?" Mrs. Mathers said. 
 
 "Yes, of course. Will you take Miss Ducrow to a 
 room and see she has all she wants, Mrs. Mathers?" 
 
 Sunny followed the old dame. She looked about her 
 wonderingly ; her eyes took in everything, yet everything 
 was a little indistinct. Dark oaken walls, against which 
 glimmered suits of old armor, great pictures in massive 
 frames, a hearth in which a dozen people could sit, and a 
 fireplace in which a scuttleful of coals would go nowhere. 
 This Sunny saw; she saw also a wide staircase, a wonder- 
 ful stained-glass window that reminded her of church, a 
 landing like a gallery overhanging the hall on all four sides, 
 from which doors opened into innumerable bedrooms. 
 
 "It isn't like a house at all," Sunny thought. "It's 
 more like a a I don't know what! It seems too big 
 and too lovely for anyone to live in." 
 
 Mrs. Mathers was proud of Harwell; she was always 
 pleased to show its beauties, and she appreciated the look 
 in this girl's eyes. 
 
 "This is the picture gallery," she said. And Sunny 
 saw a long room, top lighted, on the walls of which hung 
 seemingly numberless great paintings. 
 
 Mrs. Mathers prattled about Van Dycks and Knellers
 
 374 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 and Gainsboroughs, Romneys and Raeburns and the 
 other great masters who were all represented here. 
 
 "And this is her ladyship, a wonderful likeness, every- 
 one agrees, painted by Lord Leighton; and this is his 
 lordship, painted by I forget the name; it's a fine 
 portrait though, and it's exactly like him." 
 
 Sunny looked at the portrait of Dobrington's father, a 
 fine, stout, white-haired, pleasant-faced old gentleman. 
 
 "And this is his young lordship, painted by Sargent," 
 Mrs. Mathers continued, "and considered to be a very 
 good likeness; of course he was much younger then." 
 
 Sunny stared at the frank, bright-looking boy that 
 was like Dobrington now and yet unlike him. 
 
 "And this" Mrs. Mathers dragged her on "is Sir 
 Harry Alwyn, of the time of Charles the First, painted 
 by Van Dyck, and considered one of the finest paintings 
 in the gallery, and this " 
 
 "Didn't I better go and and get washed?" Sunny 
 gasped. 
 
 Dobrington was waiting for her in the hall. "Lunch 
 will be ready soon, " he said. " Meanwhile, I'll show you 
 about, as we shan't have too much time. 
 
 "This is the drawing-room!" 
 
 Sunny gasped; she did not attempt to say anything. 
 
 Nor did she say anything when the library, the morn- 
 ing-room, the billiard-room, and the dining-room were 
 disclosed to her gaze. 
 
 Finally they came to anchor in the morning-room, 
 where he had ordered lunch to be served. 
 
 "Well, Sunny?" 
 
 "It's all wonderful. I never dreamed of there being 
 a place like it ! " she said. " Never ! " She stared out of 
 the window ; she saw the great park with its magnificent 
 trees, the placid sheet of water on which there were no 
 swans.
 
 Something a Little Wrong 375 
 
 " It's a pity there isn't no swans, " she said. Somehow 
 she felt glad to be able to find fault, to find that there 
 was something missing. 
 
 "There shall be ; you shall have all the swans you want, 
 Sunny, " he said. He stood beside her in the window. 
 
 "Me? what's it to do with me? I don't suppose I'll 
 ever see it again!" 
 
 "I hope from the bottom of my heart that you will!" 
 he said earnestly. "Sunny, it's the wish of my life that 
 you shall see it very, very often." 
 
 "Why? "she asked. 
 
 Dobrington did not answer her; his hand reached out 
 and touched hers, his fingers closed around her hand. 
 
 "Sunny, I've pictured you here often," he said. 
 " Pictured you in this old place." 
 
 "And I'm here!" she said. "Funny you should have 
 thought of me being here!" 
 
 " It's not funny, it's serious, very serious to me!" He 
 paused for a moment. 
 
 "Sunny, how how would you like this for your 
 home?" he said. 
 
 " My home? not me ! I'd be worried to death ! It's a 
 wonderful place to come and look at, but think of keeping 
 all those rooms dusted and swept and 
 
 "But there are servants to do that." 
 
 "And think of having to look after the servants and 
 see that they did their work!" 
 
 "But Mrs. Mathers does that." 
 
 "Well, what would there be for me to do?" 
 
 "To be mistress, just mistress here, to be my " 
 He paused. The door behind him had opened, and a 
 man-servant had brought in the lunch.
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 THE AWAKENING 
 
 "I'M glad that you have seen my home, Sunny," 
 
 1 Dobrington said. 
 
 "So am I," Sunny said. 
 
 " I hope that you will see it again and often ! ' ' 
 
 They had left Great Harwell far behind them. It 
 was nearly five, in an hour they would once more be back 
 in London, and Sunny would only be just in time for the 
 first house at the Realm. 
 
 "It's been all like a dream," she said. "It's been 
 wonderful, it's been a day I shan't never forget!" 
 
 " But it's no dream, it's reality, it is there waiting for 
 for " He paused again; he looked at her. The glow 
 of the setting sun was on her face, her hair shone like 
 pure red gold about her white brow, her eyes were alive 
 with light, her red lips parted showed the glimmer of her 
 little white teeth, and he looked and looked again. 
 
 "Sunny," he whispered. "Sunny, I want to tell you 
 something. But not now. I want to tell you about a 
 dream I have, a daydream, a dream that's with me all 
 the time." 
 
 "What's it about?" she said. 
 
 "About my home there and and you," he said. 
 " About you ! " He looked her full in the eyes. "Can't 
 you guess, dear?" he said softly. 
 
 Perhaps she could. A soft color flamed into her 
 cheeks; her eyes refused to meet his for a moment. In 
 
 376
 
 The Awakening 377 
 
 that moment the woman in Sunny Ducrow awakened. 
 Her heart seemed to leap up and then to stand still. A 
 sudden knowledge came to her the knowledge that she 
 loved this man, this good friend, this comrade; that he 
 was all that and more to her. 
 
 "Sunny! "he said. 
 
 "Don't, don't," she whispered. "Don't talk to me 
 now. I want to think of it all, to think of this wonderful 
 day!" 
 
 "No, this is not the time nor place," he said. "But, 
 Sunny, do you understand, dear, do you begin to under- 
 stand?" 
 
 She did not answer, and it was proof that she did 
 understand. 
 
 And now they were back among the traffic, the roar of 
 London was in their ears, and it needed all his attention, 
 all his skill to guide the car, for time was pressing and 
 Sunny must hurry. People would even now be flocking 
 into the Realm for the first show. 
 
 He turned up the little side street at last and came to 
 a standstill, and Sunny got out. 
 
 "It's been wonderful!" she said. He held her hand 
 in his. He looked straight into her eyes, and for once in 
 her life Sunny could not look back; her eyes dropped 
 before his, a rich color came into her cheeks. 
 
 "It is you who are wonderful!" he said.
 
 CHAPTER LI 
 
 JUST A LITTLE TOO FAST 
 
 " TOLLY good notices! " Curtiss said. "Better than I 
 J dared hope for, Sunny! " 
 
 Sunny nodded. " Better'n I looked for too! " she said. 
 
 "But Angus is right. You've seen the Cry? " 
 
 "Yes, I seen it!" 
 
 "He's right; you're not old enough for such a part. 
 It's too much, far too much for you. I thought you 
 looked white and played out when it was over, though to 
 look at you now " Curtiss paused and stared at her. 
 "What's the matter with you this evening, Sunny 
 Ducrow? " he asked. 
 
 " Matter with me? Nothing! " she said. * Nothing! " 
 
 But there was, and his quick, keen eyes had seen it; 
 the change that had come in Sunny Ducrow, the change 
 of which she herself was scarcely aware yet, to which she 
 herself had hardly yet awakened. 
 
 "You look radiant ! " he said. " That's the only word 
 for it! I thought you would have been in bed half the 
 day with a headache." 
 
 "I've been in the country," she said. 
 
 "And it's done you good. Who did you go with? " 
 
 "The Viscount," Sunny said. 
 
 "Huh!" Curtiss grunted. "Better hurry, hadn't you? 
 You'll get your call before you know where you are." 
 
 She wished she had not to play this tragic part to- 
 night; she was not in the mood for it. 
 
 378
 
 Just a Little too Fast 379 
 
 "It seems like I've bitten off a bit more than I can 
 chew, " Sunny muttered. " But it's got to be done, only I 
 don't feel like it a bit! Last night it was different; 
 to-day " She paused. 
 
 "Miss Ducrow, the stage waits!" 
 
 "That's done it," Sunny muttered. "Now for battle, 
 murder, and sudden death! " 
 
 She was not in the cue, not in the mood for it to-night; 
 she knew it. She was fully aware that it was going flat; 
 she had not risen to the heights she had last night, the 
 audience would be disappointed. 
 
 "I've got to pull myself together! Supposing it was 
 someone I cared about, someone I loved, and was treating 
 badly? Someone I was playing the traitor with, and 
 loved all the time, and didn't know it? Suppose it was 
 Him the Vis-count, Stanley!" She paused in her 
 thoughts. "Yes, supposing it was Stanley " She 
 paused again. "Stanley, and I'd betrayed him and sent 
 him to death and dishonor? I'll think that, of him, 
 Stanley!" 
 
 The audience felt distinctly disappointed, it had ex- 
 pected more. Sunny Ducrow was not a tragedy actress, it 
 was foolish of her to attempt what was beyond her powers. 
 
 Then the audience changed its mind. Sunny Ducrow 
 was a tragedy actress after all ! She had thrown off the 
 lethargy, she had answered to the demand on her strength, 
 risen to even greater heights than last night. 
 
 "Wonderful, marvellous!" they thought. "And she 
 only a child, really only a child, and yesterday playing 
 little parts and singing pretty, pretty songs! " 
 
 "Bert, I can't stick it," Sunny gasped. "I can't, I 
 can't! Not twice a night of this. I can't never do it. 
 I've bit off more than I can chew, Bert! " 
 
 It was over, the curtain had come down, and Sunny- 
 had been called and recalled again and again.
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Now she was leaning against the wings, faint and 
 white. 
 
 "Bert, I've got to chuck it. I'm not up to it! One 
 day I'll do it all right and a bit more, but two doses of 
 this every night's going to flatten me out." 
 
 Bert nodded. "I thought the same," he said. "You 
 ain't got it in you, Sunny! " 
 
 "Who hasn't? "she cried. 
 
 "Well, you've got it in you all right, but I mean it's 
 a bit too much, ain't it? " 
 
 "That's it! It fair tears me all to pieces, Bert! " 
 
 He nodded. "So it does me, watching you," he said. 
 "I'll see Curtiss about it." 
 
 He did; he had a long talk with Curtiss, and Curtiss 
 agreed. 
 
 "We'll take it off, Jackson," he said. "It's hard luck 
 on you. Either we'll take it off or we'll get someone to 
 take her part. There's Miss Maltravers; she's out, I 
 believe, and she ought to be able to do it all right. I'll 
 wire her and find out." 
 
 But when Sunny heard, she put her foot down. "No 
 one's going to play it but me," she said. "I can do it, 
 only it's the two houses a night that knocks me. I can't 
 do it twice, but once is easy ! " 
 
 "Then only play it to the second house," Curtiss said- 
 "I'll put on the racing sketch for the first house. " 
 
 And so it was agreed.
 
 
 CHAPTER LII 
 "NO!" 
 
 SUNNYVILLE was growing surprisingly. It seemed 
 to Sunny but yesterday that it had been fields and 
 bare, bleak ground, and now the little red-and-white 
 cottages had sprung up like mushrooms in a night. Each 
 with its little garden carefully fenced off, each with big 
 white splodges on the new windows, to prove that they 
 were windows and not merely empty air. 
 
 The factory itself was growing more slowly, with more 
 dignity, as befitted a building of its size and importance. 
 But it was well up now; the roof timbers were in place, 
 soon it would be covered in, and then the boilers would 
 be brought in, the work benches, the hundred and one 
 things necessary, and then life at Sunnyville would begin. 
 
 Sunny was there every day, overlooking, planning, 
 arranging, altering. She was a keen and clever little 
 business woman, she had a good head for figures, yet she 
 did not seem to realize that twenty-five thousand pounds 
 was not an elastic sum, and that billiard- and reading- 
 rooms, swimming-baths and women's meeting-rooms 
 could not be squeezed out of nothing at all. But she did 
 her best ; she put her heart and soul into it, and she saw 
 the little town that was of her own planning, her own con- 
 ceiving, growing and becoming a real fact. 
 
 Dobrington motored over most days, but between him 
 and Sunny there had fallen a constraint. On his part a 
 nervous awkwardness, on hers a shyness. 
 
 381
 
 382 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Side by side they would go over the ground, looking 
 at this thing and the other, yet rarely talking. Some- 
 times they would even take their lunch together at the 
 little old-fashioned Plough Inn. 
 
 But it seemed as if their old intimacy, their old boy 
 and girl-like friendship was a thing of the past, as if it 
 could never be possible again. 
 
 Sunny no longer rattled on to him and told him all 
 her thoughts ; she was silent and shy in his presence. 
 
 And so it went on; the red-and- white cottages were 
 finished, fires had even been lit in the new fireplaces to 
 help dry the plaster on the walls. The factory roof was 
 on, and the litter of building had been cleared away. The 
 great copper boiling-pans had been brought in, and 
 were being installed in place. The work benches where 
 presently the girls would stand, labelling and finishing 
 and tying down the bottles and jars, were being put 
 up. 
 
 Outside, the ground was being cleared, the roadway 
 being made; the lines that were to link Sunny ville up to 
 the railway had been laid. 
 
 In a very, very little while now, Sunnyville would 
 wake up and begin to live, and the weary Londoners who 
 worked in Cutway Street would come out here and take 
 possession of their new homes. 
 
 Sunny 's tragic sketch was coming to an end. It had 
 been successful, perhaps not the brilliant success she and 
 Bert had hoped for, but at any rate, it had not been a 
 failure. Night after night the house had been packed for 
 the second performance, to see it. And the proof that 
 they had come to see Sunny's sketch lay in the fact that 
 the first house was doing rather bad business. But it was 
 to come off. Sunny had a new sketch, something lighter, 
 prettier, more suitable to her. Bert had thought out the 
 idea and had put it into rough form, then he had taken it
 
 " No ! " 383 
 
 to Watson Welford, who was well known as a play-writer, 
 and Welford had thought well enough of it to lick it into 
 shape and to put those finishing touches to it that had 
 been absent from Bert's first sketch. Sunny was rehears- 
 ing it now. In three weeks she would make her first 
 appearance in Happy Days, by Watson Welford and 
 Albert Jackson. 
 
 The tragedy was coming off next week, and Sunny was 
 going to have a week's holiday by the sea for the very 
 first time in her life. 
 
 "And yet, I don't feel wonderful as if I wanted to go," 
 she said. "I'd hate missing even a day here; only one 
 thing, it'll be such a difference when I come back after the 
 week, such a lot of this'll be done! " 
 
 "There's very little left to do now," Dobrington said. 
 "I I shall miss you that week, Sunny." 
 
 "Yes," she said. They stood in the boiling-room, or 
 what was to be the boiling-room when it was completed. 
 The workmen had all gone, the big boilers were in 
 position. There was very little more to do here. 
 
 "I shall miss you horribly that week, Sunny," he said 
 again. 
 
 "I'll miss you," she said; she colored as she spoke- 
 
 "You you mean that?" he said eagerly. 
 
 " I never say anything what I don't mean! " 
 
 " I know!" He caught at her hand suddenly. 
 
 "Sunny, every day that I don't see you, I feel that 
 there's something gone out of my life ; do you understand, 
 can you understand, dear? " 
 
 "There's there's the gas mains to lay yet," she said 
 nervously. " I told Holts about it yesterday; they ought 
 to be in, and " 
 
 "Sunny, listen!" he said. "Sunny dear, listen to me! 
 I want to tell you something, something that's been in 
 my heart for weeks now, since that day when we went
 
 384 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 together to my old home! Sunny, I've thought of 
 the swans; there shall be swans on the lake for you, 
 dear!" 
 
 "I didn't have no right to say anything about the 
 swans!" she said. 
 
 "You had a right, you had, because, Sunny, I want it 
 to be your home. Sunny, I want you to share it all with 
 me one day, will you? Can you care for me, just a little? 
 I love you so much, I need you so much ! " 
 
 She turned to him slowly. Her face had flushed, now 
 it had gone pale. 
 
 "Hush!" she said. "Hush! You you just like me 
 and that's all ! We've been good friends, Stanley Just 
 good friends, haven't we? And we're going on being 
 good friends!" 
 
 "No!" he said masterfully. "Not friends, some- 
 thing better, closer, dearer! I love you, Sunny! Is it 
 hopeless, could you never grow to care a little for me?" 
 
 She turned to him without speaking, but he saw 
 something in her eyes, something that brought a cry 
 to his lips. 
 
 "Sunny, you you do care? " 
 
 "I care so much, "-she said, "so much that I know it 
 is is impossible. I remember who I am, what I was, and 
 what I am now. I remember who you are! I think of 
 your mother and your father and all all those who have 
 their pictures hanging up in your home! There wasn't 
 one of them who married a girl off the stage, or out of 
 a jam factory, I'll bet! " She laughed a little huskily. 
 "I'll bet Sir What's-his-name Alwyn, who fought for 
 King Charles the First, did not find his wife in a jam 
 factory!" 
 
 "I don't care; I don't care!" he said. "They are 
 nothing to me. They lived their lives, I have mine to 
 live; and it needs you, Sunny! There is no other woman
 
 " No ! " 385 
 
 in all the world who can take your place with me ! Either 
 you shall be mistress there one day, or there will never be 
 a mistress there at all!" 
 
 She shook her head. "It just isn't possible, Stanley, 
 and down in your heart you know it!" she said. "If 
 if you'd only been plain Mister Dobson, like like they 
 thought you were at Epping that day, it would be 
 different, but but as it is " 
 
 He caught her hand. "Sunny," he said, "Sunny, I 
 love you, I can't let you go! And you?" He held her 
 hand tightly, he forced her to turn to him. 
 
 "Sunny, can you deny it, can you deny that you care 
 forme?" 
 
 She looked him fearlessly in the eyes. "I don't deny 
 it!" she said. "I I do care for you so much that I'm 
 not going to spoil your life! I'm not going to have 
 people laugh about you and say, ' He married a girl out 
 of a jam factory, he did!' I'm not going to break your 
 mother's and your father's hearts, Stanley ! There won't 
 never be anyone else in the world for me; but you you're 
 different, you're a man, you're young yet, scarcely more'n 
 a boy, aren't you? And me, I'm only a girl, come to 
 that not eighteen yet, Stanley, and and we'll get over 
 it all right, I expect! " 
 
 ' ' I never shall ! I shall never try ! I will wait for you ! " 
 he said. 
 
 "You'll alter your mind," she said. 
 
 "Never, never, never! Try me! Wait!" he said. 
 "Try me! In a year, in ten years it will be the same, it 
 will be only you, Sunny!" 
 
 "You'll be married to someone else long before ten 
 years, and have forgotten all about me," she said; "and 
 it'll be better, Stan, better, much better, dear! " 
 
 "Sunny, you mean, you mean that you will hold 
 out no hope to me?" he cried. "Other girls of
 
 386 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 the stage have married men of better position than 
 mine!" 
 
 "Perhaps! " she said softly. "Perhaps because they 
 didn't love them as much as I love you and think about 
 them more'n they thought about themselves! " 
 
 "I shall go on hoping," he said. "I shall still hope. 
 I have won your love, darling, and that is the greater part 
 of the battle! I shan't give in now or ever ! Sunny, will 
 you? " He caught her suddenly in his arms. 
 
 "Only," she gasped, "only this once and then never, 
 never again! Nor anyone else, either!" she added 
 softly. "But only this once!" And then she lifted her 
 lips to his.
 
 CHAPTER LIII 
 
 AT BRIGHTON 
 
 " T CAN'T 'elp it, Elizabeth Ann Ducrow. I can't 'elp it, 
 
 1 reely. Every time I look at that there sea, it breaks 
 my 'eart. " 
 
 "Then look the other way, old dear!" Sunny said. 
 
 Mrs. Melkin wiped her eyes. 
 
 "It was very thoughtless of you, Elizabeth Ann, 
 knowing 'ow the sea affected me, to go and get rooms with 
 winders looking out on the sea like these do ! Oh dear, oh 
 dear, how it do take me back! It was our 'oneymoon " 
 Mrs. Melkin burst into sobs and hurried from the room. 
 
 "Poor dear!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Sunny, I think you are the most wonderfully patient 
 girl I ever saw!" Evelyn said. 
 
 Sunny laughed. "What's the use of getting into a 
 temper? You only say things that you feel sorry about 
 afterwards. Besides, it don't hurt me, and it makes her 
 happy to be miserable! " 
 
 Evelyn laughed. "At any rate, Sunny, you are one in 
 a thousand. I wonder if he will come down!" she added 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 He ! Sunny 's face flamed suddenly, there was but one 
 He in her thoughts. 
 
 "He won't come," she said "he couldn't, he " 
 
 "But he said he would. To-day is Tuesday; he said 
 Tuesday, and " 
 
 "Oh, Bert ! " Sunny said. " I forgot Bert ! " 
 
 387
 
 388 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Evelyn flushed. "I didn't!" she said. 
 
 "Poor Bert!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Why do you pity him? Why should you?" the 
 other girl cried. ' ' Bert isn't to be pitied ; he is very clever, 
 and he is getting on splendidly! He will give up acting 
 altogether, I expect, soon, and 
 
 "He don't act, he's just himself on the stage, and that's 
 what makes him look so funny," Sunny said. 
 
 "I don't think you are kind " Evelyn began. 
 
 "There, don't get angry!" Sunny said. "I didn't 
 mean nothing." 
 
 She ran to the other girl and put her arms around 
 her. 
 
 " My dear, " she said, "Bert's like a brother to me, and 
 you you're like a sister, and I'd love you two to be 
 happy more'n ever I could say ! " 
 
 Evelyn flushed. "Sunny, you you mean that?" 
 
 "Of course I do!" 
 
 "And you don't care for him yourself? " 
 
 "Of course I do!" Sunny said. 
 
 "I mean " 
 
 "Like a brother or a pal a friend!" Sunny said. "I 
 care lots for Bert. Besides, I'm the one as brought him 
 up. Where'd Bert be now but for me ? He didn't want to 
 do anything, he didn't! The pickles was good enough 
 for him, though the smell of the vinegar did turn him a 
 bit now and again." 
 
 "Oh, Sunny, Sunny, I don't mean all that! I mean 
 " Evelyn flushed. "Do you care for him in in 
 that way ; do you care for him so much that you want to 
 be always with him?" 
 
 "Me always with Bert! My goodness, no! He'd 
 worry me half to death, he's that slow ! I can't never get 
 him to get a move on," Sunny said. "Oh, I know what 
 you mean all right, Evy, " she cried. "You mean, do I
 
 At Brighton 389 
 
 want to marry him? Well, I don't! It's sort of true in 
 a way I'm engaged to him." 
 
 "Engaged to Bert?" 
 
 "Well, like this: me and him didn't think there was 
 anyone else particularly in the world, and we thought the 
 best thing we could do would be to get married one day. 
 So we fixed it up that when I was about forty, him and 
 me 'ud get married; that's in about twenty-three years' 
 time. See? So there's no hurry !" 
 
 Evelyn laughed happily. "Then you don't care for 
 him, you don't want to " She paused. 
 
 "Don't want to cut you out?" Sunny said. "No, I 
 don't, not me! Only what a girl like you, a girl with 
 your looks, can see in Bert " 
 
 "Bert is the kindest, simplest, dearest soul on this 
 earth, Sunny!" Evelyn cried. 
 
 " He's simple all right, and he wants stirring up; you've 
 got to keep on at Bert and jog him now and again, you'd 
 do it all right, I dare say! Evy you're too good for him, 
 but for all that I'd love to see you and him married, I 
 would!" 
 
 Evelyn did not answer, her cheeks glowed. 
 
 "You love him, you do!" Sunny said. "I can see it 
 in your face." 
 
 "Yes, I I care for him; I am fond of him; I I love 
 him!" the other girl said. 
 
 "Only you're asking for trouble," Sunny said. 
 
 "Trouble?" 
 
 Sunny nodded. "You'll never get Bert to speak; he's 
 that shy and backwards, he '11 keep you waiting years and 
 years afore he gets it off his chest that he's fond of you 
 and wants you to marry him! That's Bert, he'll beat 
 about the bush and look lots and won't say anything, and 
 now and again he'll have a pot at trying to say it, then 
 he'll get stuck half-way. You take it from me, Evy, if
 
 390 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 you want to marry Bert, it'll be you as'll have to ask him." 
 "Oh, Sunny, that would be impossible! " 
 "It's the only way," Sunny said. "Any girl who 
 wants Bert has got to think it's leap year." 
 
 The two girls sat at the window of the sitting-room on 
 the first floor of a house in King's Road, Brighton. On 
 the pavement below them sauntered all the world and his 
 wife. Beyond the road and the esplanade shimmered the 
 sea, flecked with the golden sunlight. There were the 
 piers crowded with people, for the Brighton season was at 
 its height, and London by the sea was full just now. 
 
 It was a wonderful experience for Sunny. She had 
 een the sea once only before in her life, years ago when 
 she had been a tiny child and had spent a day by the sea 
 as one of many enjoying a Sunday-school outing. She 
 had remembered it for years. Those hot days when the 
 boiling vinegar and the steaming fruit smelled more 
 strongly than usual, when the hot little factory in Cutway 
 Street was alive with wasps and the heat rose from the 
 streets outside, when her head and eyes ached in the 
 broiling heat of that insanitary factory in the summer 
 time; Sunny used to dream of the wide, cool, blue sea she 
 had seen once, and wonder if she would ever see it again. 
 And now she was here, and the sea lay at her very 
 door. She had but to look from the window and there it 
 was. Last night she had awakened suddenly from her 
 sleep and could not bring herself to believe that the dull 
 thunder she heard was really the sea beating on the pebbly 
 beach. Then she got out of bed and ran to the window 
 and drew up the blind and sat for two long hours watching 
 the sea in the moonlight, watching the little boats that 
 drifted now and again across the path of the moon, to 
 vanish once more into the night. 
 
 It was very wonderful to this London-bred, London- 
 reared girl.
 
 At Brighton 391 
 
 "It's wonderful, that sea, isn't it?" she said. 
 
 Evelyn nodded. "Yes," she said, but there was no 
 enthusiasm in her voice. Her people had been fairly well- 
 to-do in the old days ; nearly every summer of her life as a 
 child she had spent a week or two by the seashore. To 
 her there was nothing very marvellous in the sea. 
 
 "It's a licker where all the water comes from!" Sunny 
 said. "Where it comes from and where it goes to! I 
 was thinking land wouldn't be half so dear to buy if there 
 wasn't any sea, would it?" 
 
 She laughed at her own idea, then started. "There he 
 is, here's Bert," she said. 
 
 It was Bert, looking awkward and ill at ease, gawky in 
 a new and not too well-fitting suit of rather loud tweed. 
 On his head he wore a Panama hat, which he believed was 
 the correct thing for the seaside. 
 
 They heard him knock, heard him enter and come up 
 the stairs. Sunny rose. 
 
 "Whatcheer, Bert," she said. 
 
 " Cheer-o, " he said. " How are you, Sunny ? How do 
 you do, Miss Cliff orde? " 
 
 "Miss Clifforde!" Sunny said. "Goodness, why don't 
 you go and give her a kiss? I would if I was a man, and 
 jolly glad! Well, I'll leave you two to talk!" She went 
 out of the room and went to her own small bedchamber 
 on the floor above. 
 
 She laughed, then tried to laugh again. 
 
 "It's all right between those two," she thought. 
 "They are lucky, there's nothing to stand in their way, 
 nothing! They've just got each other. Bert is getting 
 0^ all right, he'll do well one of these days. Anyhow, he 
 can earn a goodish bit now, and the sketch'll be a success, 
 and there'll be more to follow! It's wonderful how he's 
 picked up writing, and she she's pretty and good, and 
 she loves him. Funny, isn't it? A girl like her loving a
 
 392 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 chap like Bert ; but you never know ! Come to that, it's 
 not more funny than a man like him Stanley getting 
 to care for a girl like me a girl out of a pickle factory, 
 and him a lord with a nice home and all the rest of it. I 
 oh, but that's all nothing! It don't mean anything. 
 Anyhow, I haven't got to think about it ; it couldn't never 
 be! I know that, and he'll get to know soon, if he don't 
 know it now ! That home of his, that there park with the 
 deer and things, and them pictures and and me me, 
 Sunny Ducrow, the jam factory and She laughed 
 unsteadily. "Enough to make a cat laugh, isn't it?" she 
 muttered. " Him caring for me! One of these days he'll 
 laugh when he gets to think about it! " 
 
 She sat at her own window lost in reverie. She had 
 never hesitated for a moment, she had realized how 
 utterly impossible it was. She had keen good sense and 
 good feeling. 
 
 "It's like this," she thought; "he loves me now and 
 thinks as I'd be everything he wanted, thinks I could 
 make him happy and all that, thinks I'd make a nice 
 mistress for his home. But it it wouldn't last for ever ; 
 after a time he'd get to realize that I'm different. I don't 
 belong to his class ! He'd see his friends sneering, per- 
 haps, and laughing about me and pitying him; you 
 never know. Then, bit by bit, he'd come to know he'd 
 made a mistake; but it would be too late then, nothing 
 couldn't put that mistake right, once it was made. Then 
 he'd be sorry, sorry he married me " She paused, the 
 tears had gathered in her eyes. "And that," Sunny 
 whispered, "would be something a bit worse'n death! If 
 I had married him and found out that he was sorry for it, 
 I wouldn't have to live; I couldn't!" She shuddered a 
 little. "So I done right, and one day he'll know it!" 
 
 There was a tap on the door. " Miss Ducrow, are you 
 here?"
 
 At Brighton 393 
 
 "I'm here all right!" Sunny said. 
 
 "There is a lady waiting to see you, miss." 
 
 4 ' A lady ? Isn't Miss Clifforde here, and Mr. " 
 
 " Miss Clifforde and the gentleman have gone out, and 
 your aunt, Mrs. Melkin, is lying down; she says she is 
 bad, very bad and upset, it's the sea that upsets her ; and 
 the lady is waiting to see you, miss." 
 
 ' ' What name ? ' ' Sunny asked. ' ' It must be a mistake. ' ' 
 
 "She wouldn't give her name." 
 
 "Tell her I'll be down in a minute, " Sunny said. ' ' It's 
 someone collecting for some children's outing, or the 
 Boy Scouts, or something else ! " She bathed her face and 
 tidied her rebellious hair, then she went down the stairs 
 and opened the door of the sitting-room. 
 
 There was a surprise for Sunny in store; it was no 
 collector for charity, but Lady Blessendale! 
 
 "Why, I didn't expect, I didn't know you'd know 
 where I was, my lady!" Sunny said. 
 
 "I did not know where you were, but I thought of 
 a means of obtaining your address, Miss Ducrow. I 
 got it from Mr. Curtiss at the Realm," her ladyship 
 said. 
 
 It dawned on Sunny slowly that her ladyship's manner 
 was not so friendly as of old, that there was a harder look 
 in her face. Last time they had met she had called her 
 Sunny, now it was Miss Ducrow. 
 
 "I wished to see you particularly, to have a talk with 
 you, so I motored down for that purpose," her ladyship 
 said 
 
 "There there isn't anything wrong?" Sunny cried. 
 " I mean there's nothing wrong with He he isn't ill 
 or or " 
 
 "If you refer to my son, there is nothing wrong! It is 
 just to prevent something being wrong that I am here!" 
 her ladyship said. "To prevent something My er-
 
 394 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 rand is a difficult and unpleasant one, " Lady Blessendale 
 said. " You are a clever girl, a very clever girl " She 
 paused, there was an unpleasant suggestion in her voice, 
 the look in her eyes was very far from being friendly. 
 
 "You rendered my son and myself a great service, for 
 which I was deeply grateful to you. I believed at that 
 time that what you had done you did out of sheer good 
 will towards him, and perhaps towards me. I did not at 
 that time dream that you were working in your own 
 interests." 
 
 Sunny opened her eyes, but she said nothing. 
 
 "In your own interests you saved my son from an en- 
 tanglement with a person who " She paused. "I 
 need not go into that. I tell you that at that time I 
 thought you were acting as his friend, my friend, only 
 I find that you were acting solely in your own interests!" 
 
 "I'd like to begin to know what you mean," Sunny 
 said. 
 
 " My son has confessed, or practically confessed, to me 
 that he has fallen deeply in love with you. He has told 
 me that one day he took you to our home in the country, 
 that he showed you the mansion and the grounds, of 
 which you look forward, I suppose, to being the mistress." 
 
 "Who told you that?" Sunny said. 
 
 "No one told me, I can see for myself. I have come 
 to put the matter very plainly to you, Miss Ducrow. Do 
 you consider yourself fitted to become wife to a man of 
 my son's position in the world? " 
 
 "No, I don't!" Sunny said. 
 
 Her ladyship looked surprised; it was hardly the 
 answer she had expected. 
 
 "Then, if you are not fitted for such a position, why 
 try to secure it? " she said. 
 
 Sunny's face had gone pale; she leaned against the 
 table.
 
 At Brighton 395 
 
 "You've said what you mean; you you mean that 
 I'm trying to get Stanley for myself, that I only got him 
 free from her, that other woman, so that I I might many 
 him myself?" 
 
 "That is what I am now forced to believe." 
 
 41 You said just now that I wasn't fit to be his wife, you 
 did!" Sunny said. 
 
 "And you admitted that you were not!" 
 
 "I am not. I never said I was. I've always said I 
 wasn't! What has Stanley told you?" 
 
 "Practically nothing; but I have guessed. I have 
 watched him. When he has spoken of you there was 
 something in his voice, something in his manner, that 
 awakened my suspicions. Little by little I have satisfied 
 myself that my suspicions were correct; you have saved 
 my boy from one entanglement, only to involve him in 
 another, Miss Ducrow. You were not working for me and 
 for him when you saved him from that woman; you were 
 working only for yourself!" 
 
 "And Stanley's told you nothing?" 
 
 "Nothing!" 
 
 "Well, it's a pity he didn't, " Sunny said. "It's a pity 
 he didn't, then you wouldn't come here, talking like this 
 to me ! It's less than a week ago that Stanley asked me to 
 be his wife " 
 
 "Asked you? Then then it is too late! He has 
 asked you, and you, of course " 
 
 "I, of course, said no," Sunny said quietly. 
 
 "Said no?" 
 
 " I said just what you said. I told him that a girl like 
 me, a girl who had to earn her own living from the time 
 she was hardly able to walk, a girl who had worked in a 
 pickle factory, and who was on the stage, wasn't fit to be 
 the wife of a man like him. I told him that I couldn't 
 never be mistress of such a place as his. I said that I
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 wondered what all those fine folk, whose portraits are 
 hanging on the walls there, would think if they saw 
 Sunny Ducrow come there as mistress Sunny Ducrow, 
 the pickle factory girl!" She laughed unsteadily. "I 
 told him that I could see it all just as plain as you can. I 
 saw how impossible it was; if it was different, if he was 
 plain Mister, if he hadn't a penny of his own and no 
 family and nothing in the world, then then it would be 
 different ! ' ' Her eyes glowed. " As it is ' ' She flung 
 out her hands suddenly. " I told him all that you've told 
 me, my lady; there was no need for you to come all the 
 way here and tell me just what I already know." 
 
 "Sunny Ducrow, let me understand you!" her lady- 
 ship said. "My son Stanley, my son, has asked you to 
 be his wife?" 
 
 "Yes!" 
 
 ' ' And you refused ? ' ' 
 
 "Yes!" 
 
 "Because you didn't consider yourself to be a fit mate 
 for him?" 
 
 "I told you so. That's what I told him; he didn't 
 want to hear me, wouldn't listen to me, but I made him! 
 I told him that he owed it to others as well as himself, 
 that he was born with a great name and with great posses- 
 sions, and that when he married he would have to look 
 among his own people, his own class; he couldn't never 
 marry a girl out of a pickle factory ! " 
 
 "You told him that, and he " 
 
 "He had to listen, he had to understand that I meant 
 it, every word of it ! " 
 
 "And you, of course, you do not love him? " 
 
 Sunny straightened her little figure; her eyes shone. 
 
 " My lady, " she said, "if I didn't love him as much as 
 I do, I I might have said yes to him. It's because I do 
 care for him that I said no; I wasn't going to be the one
 
 At Brighton 397 
 
 to drag him down! I wasn't going to be his wife, the 
 wife that one day he might be ashamed of ; I'd sooner be 
 dead than that ! I told him it was impossible, and I sent 
 him away ; we'll be good friends, I suppose. But he won't 
 never ask me again to to marry him, and if he does it'll 
 be the same answer! So so you see, my lady, you 
 needn't have come all this long way in your motor-car to 
 see me and tell me what I knew already." 
 
 Lady Blessendale rose; she held out her hands. 
 
 "Sunny, " she said, " you are a very brave and generous 
 and good girl!" 
 
 Sunny shook her head. " It isn't that, it's just because 
 I am a coward! " she said. 
 
 "A coward, you?" 
 
 "A coward; because I was afraid, because though I 
 loved him so much, though I would have married him if 
 he was poor and nobody, I could dare anything, but I 
 could not, dare not marry him and risk his getting to be 
 sorry that I was his wife. That was all. It wasn't 
 because I was brave, my lady, it was just the other way 
 round, it was because I was afraid! " 
 
 "Sunny, I am very, very sorry. I have done you an 
 injustice, a great injustice in my anxiety for him and for 
 his future! I did you an injustice, child; will you forgive 
 me?" 
 
 " It isn't for me to forgive you, my lady, " Sunny said. 
 "You done right, you were thinking of him; he is your 
 son and you've got to think of him; if a mother don't 
 think of her son, who will? You didn't want to see him 
 marry a girl like me so his friends would laugh at him 
 and sneer at me, you didn't want that, nor did I ! You 
 saw it all just as it might be, and I saw it all, too, and I 
 told him; he wouldn't believe, but he'll get to know it's 
 true one day." 
 
 Lady Blessendale held Sunny 's hand very tightly.
 
 398 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I want to thank you, dear, but I do not know how," 
 she said. "You are a wonderful girl, you have such 
 understanding, such good sense; you are so honorable, 
 so true! I wish there were others like you, I wish that 
 Stanley could find some girl of his own class just just 
 like you! Sunny, I am a proud woman. I come of an 
 old family. I have married into a family still older. 
 My son will inherit a great name and title, and one day 
 he must marry ; but when he marries he must find a wife 
 from among his own kind, a wife as well born as he, one 
 fit to take the dignity of his name on her shoulders. 
 I could wish from my heart, dear, that you could be that 
 girl. I could wish that you came of a good family; your 
 poverty would matter nothing, it is blood that tells. 
 Sunny, you have set my mind at rest. I feel easy and 
 hopeful now for the future. When I came here" she 
 paused, her high-bred face flushed a little "I will tell 
 you frankly, child, that it was in my mind to offer to buy 
 you, to offer you money to let him off. I feel ashamed 
 now to think of that, ashamed that I understood you so 
 ill! You see, child, I have been frank with you. I want 
 your forgiveness ! " 
 
 "There is nothing to forgive, you are his mother," 
 Sunny said; "he's got to be your first care, and I I 
 understand ! I feel about it just the same as you do, so 
 so it's all over and" she laughed unsteadily "there's 
 no harm done, nor ever will be! " 
 
 "There would be very little harm done in this world, 
 child, if all women were as you are!" her ladyship said. 
 She put her arms around Sunny and kissed her. 
 
 "God bless you, my dear, and may you one day find 
 a great happiness, may you be always the brave, happy, 
 successful little woman that you are now. And, Sunny, I 
 shall always number you among my best friends." 
 
 She was gone, and Sunny went to the window and
 
 At Brighton 399 
 
 watched the large touring car roll away down the King's 
 Road. Her ladyship turned and looked back; she saw 
 Sunny standing there, and waved her hand, and then she 
 was gone. 
 
 "And that," Sunny whispered, "that puts the lid on 
 it ! " She stood there for ten minutes, then she heard her 
 aunt moving about in the adjoining room, and she hurried 
 out, up to her own room. 
 
 "She she's right, and I'm right, and he's wrong," 
 Sunny muttered. " If only only he'd been plain Mister 
 and nobody, if only " And then she flung herself 
 down on her bed and buried her face against the cool 
 pillows. "If only "
 
 
 CHAPTER LIV 
 
 AT SUNNYVILLE 
 
 IT was perhaps a mere coincidence, or possibly Mr. 
 Johnson knew something about it, but it chanced to 
 be on Sunny's eighteenth birthday that the fires were 
 lighted for the first time, and the familiar smell of heating 
 vinegar and boiling jam became noticeable in the new 
 John Crow Works. 
 
 It was on this day, too, that a procession of furniture 
 vans came down the street through Havers, and dumped 
 beds and bedding, furniture, cooking pots, baths, canary 
 birds, and other articles of household furniture in the 
 little new red-and-white cottages. 
 
 Sunnyville had awakened, it had come to life; the 
 new inhabitants of Sunnyville, who had lived their lives 
 among bricks and mortar, and had seen a green field on 
 rare occasions in their lives, had come out here into the 
 country. 
 
 And it was her doing, through her! Sunny knew it; 
 they knew it. Mr. Johnson and all the rest of them 
 knew it. And the best of it all was that all this happened 
 on her eighteenth birthday. 
 
 She was eighteen to-day, eighteen ! At this age most 
 girls are just waking up to life, just beginning to realize 
 that there is something else in life besides school and 
 play. Sunny, on her eighteenth birthday, could look on 
 a little village and a thriving industry that was practically 
 all of her own making. And she had other successes, too, 
 
 400
 
 At Sunnyville 
 
 she was having a great success at this moment in Bert's 
 new playlet, which was partly play and partly revue, 
 Watch the Clock. 
 
 Bert, in a new suit, with a green felt hat on his head, 
 and a large cigar, with the band still on it, put his hands 
 in his pockets and watched the arrival of the furniture vans. 
 
 "Wonderful," he said, "wonderful it is, Sunny!" He 
 sniffed. "Law, don't that smell of vinegar take you 
 back?" His eyes glistened. "Reminds you of when we 
 was earning eight bob a week, don't it, in Cutway Street, 
 and me getting leathered most nights of my life by father. 
 Oh, those days!" 
 
 "They had their uses, like most days have," Sunny 
 said. "Looking back, Bert, I don't regret nothing! " 
 
 "Nor I!" he said. "There's nothing to regret. We 
 didn't seem to start life with much of a chance, Sunny, 
 yet here we are; at least, here you are! Boss here, pretty 
 well!" 
 
 "I'm not, " Sunny said. "I'm only a shareholder ! " 
 
 "Well, it's something to go on with!" 
 
 "And you, Bert, you've not done so dusty," Sunny 
 said. "You're making money, you are now!" 
 
 " A bit ! " he said. "But I'm going to make more. I'm 
 going to write a play with Welford. I'm full of ideas, and 
 he can do the writing. Between us we're going to do the 
 biggest play " Bert talked enthusiastically, for some 
 time, of the future. Then he suddenly became quiet. 
 Evelyn had joined them, and in Miss Clifforde's presence 
 Bert Jackson had nothing to say for himself. 
 
 " I suppose the next thing, " Sunny said, "is that you'll 
 be thinking of getting married, Bert?" 
 
 Bert grunted. 
 
 "Do you remember me and you, our idea of getting 
 married once ? " Sunny said. She laughed gaily. "When 
 I'm forty, Bert, and you're forty-three!" 
 26
 
 402 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I remember something about it," Bert said. He 
 looked at Evelyn out of the corner of his eyes and, seeing 
 that she was looking at him, his eyes dropped, so did his 
 cigar. He stooped and picked it up and wandered away. 
 
 "It's no good!" Sunny said. "It's you'll have to ask 
 him, Evy ; he gets scared out of his life every time he sees 
 you coming!" 
 
 "I I begin to think he doesn't care for me at all!" 
 Evelyn said. 
 
 "Rot!" Sunny said. 
 
 "If he did," the other girl hesitated, "if he did, he 
 would understand that I I want him to to say some- 
 thing; but he never speaks, he never suggests even that 
 he cares anything at all for me!" 
 
 "Nervous, that's what it is!" Sunny said. "You'll 
 have to ask him yourself!" 
 
 "I never shall!" Evelyn said. "I would sooner die 
 and live an old maid!" 
 
 "You can't do both!" Sunny said. 
 
 " I don't believe he cares!" Evelyn said. " I've got to 
 think that he doesn't care for me at all! If he did " 
 She paused ; the tears came into her eyes and she turned 
 away. Mr. Johnson had come out and was going to show 
 her over the new works and explain how it was all done. 
 
 Sunny had put her little nose into every cottage, had 
 passed the time of day with all the women there, had 
 hung up three or four pairs of curtains, and had helped to 
 put up some pictures. She had done a dozen and one 
 different things and now she was tired. 
 
 Where was Bert? She found him presently, mooning 
 about by himself, his banded cigar still unlighted between 
 his teeth. 
 
 "I've been leaving Bert alone for too long!" Sunny 
 thought. "He wants me to wake him up again!" 
 
 "Hello! "she said.
 
 At Sunnyville 43 
 
 "Hello!" Bert said. "Wonderful, isn't it, that smell 
 of vinegar?" He sniffed. "You can get it here; smell 
 it?" 
 
 "Yes," Sunny said. 
 
 "Takes you back, don't it?" Bert said. 
 
 "You've said that before," Sunny said. 
 
 " Well, I'll say it again; takes you back to the old days, 
 don't it?" 
 
 Sunny looked at him. Bert exasperated her; she was 
 fond of him and loyal to him. It was she who had lifted 
 him out of the ruck and put him on his feet and started 
 him in life. It was she who had made him. But for her 
 Bert would still be earning perhaps fifteen shillings a 
 week in the boiling-room. 
 
 "And it'll be like that always!" she thought. "Bert 
 wants stirring up all the time, he's got to be shook up ; if 
 he isn't, all that's good and worth anything in him settles 
 to the bottom and stops there!" 
 
 "What are you thinking about, Sunny ? " he asked. 
 
 "A friend of mine," Sunny said. 
 
 ' ' Who's that ? " Bert twisted the unlighted cigar about 
 in his mouth. 
 
 "Like the taste of it?" Sunny asked. 
 
 Bert grunted. 
 
 "Why don't you light it?" 
 
 "It 'ud burn up if I did; I like to keep it by me, " he 
 said. ' ' Who's the friend you're thinking about ? ' ' 
 
 "A girl, a dear friend of mine, one I'm very fond of; 
 she's going to be married!" 
 
 "'Oois?" Bert asked. 
 
 "She is, this girl, this girl friend of mine; she's going 
 to get married pretty soon, I believe!" 
 
 "Not not not Evelyn? Not Miss Clifforde?" 
 Bert gasped. "She's your friend, the only one you're 
 thick with; it it isn't her, Sunny?"
 
 404 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "I don't say it isn't and I don't say it is, " Sunny said. 
 "It's a secret, I haven't any right to tell you!" 
 
 "But say it isn't her!" Bert gasped. The cigar fell to 
 the ground and he inadvertently put his foot on it. He 
 stooped and picked it up and brushed it clean on his 
 sleeve and put it back into its resting-place. 
 
 "Sunny, say it isn't Evy!" 
 
 "Well, it is, if you want to know!" Sunny said. 
 
 He frowned, his face whitened, his mouth sagged open, 
 and down went the cigar again. 
 
 "Leave it there, for goodness' sake!" Sunny said ex- 
 asperatedly. She put her small foot on it and crushed 
 it into the earth, and Bert stood helplessly looking on. 
 
 "Yes, it's Evy, and I hope you're glad!" she said 
 viciously. 
 
 "Her going to be be married?" Bert gasped. He 
 seemed to stagger, he had turned white, almost green. 
 
 "Lovely that vinegar smells, doesn't it?" Sunny said. 
 "Takes you back like you said; you remember those days 
 in Cutway Street when " 
 
 "Who who's the chap?" Bert demanded. 
 
 "Oh, a sloppy sort of fellow!" Sunny said. "A chap 
 I haven't much liking for!" 
 
 "I'll kill him!" Bert said. He clenched his fists. 
 
 "What for? Whatever for? What harm has he done 
 you?" Sunny demanded. 
 
 "Harm done, harm! He's going to marry that girl, 
 the only girl I I " 
 
 "Hold up!" Sunny said. "Bert, hold up; you're 
 sickening for something, aren't you? What's this poor 
 chap ever done that you should want to kill him?" 
 
 "That doesn't matter," Bert said. "You tell me hip 
 name, tell me his blessed name; I'll find him and and 
 and " 
 
 "You don't mean to say," Sunny cried "Bert Jack-
 
 At Sunnyville 405 
 
 son, you don't mean to say you're in love with Evy 
 yourself?" 
 
 He nodded hopelessly. 
 
 "And how long have you been in love with her?" 
 
 "Monse'and monse!" he groaned miserably. 
 
 "And you never told her, never said a word? " 
 
 "I tried to, tried hard about fifty times, but but I 
 couldn't get it out! Every time almost I've seen her 
 I meant to tell her and and then she just looked at me 
 with those eyes of hers " 
 
 "She couldn't look at you with her ears!" Sunny 
 said. "Goon!" 
 
 "Well, she looked at me with her eyes, she did, and I 
 I dried up, couldn't get out a word, Sunny, straight!" 
 
 "And meanwhile this other chap came along, and 
 while you were acting the goat, he asked her, I suppose!" 
 Sunny said. 
 
 "I wish I was dead!" Bert said. "I wish to goodness 
 I was dead!" 
 
 "And a fat lot of good that would do you!" Sunny 
 cried. "Instead of being dead, why don't you wake up 
 and get a move on you? Here have you been wasting 
 weeks and months loving a girl and being too silly to tell 
 her so!" 
 
 "I ain't good enough for her!" 
 
 "Of course you're not, no man's ever good enough for 
 any woman, come to that, except some!" Sunny added 
 softly. " And some are too good for some women !" She 
 paused. 
 
 "I don't know what you're talking about!" Bert said. 
 
 "Nor do I!" Sunny answered. 
 
 "All I know," Bert said, "is, I wish I was dead!" 
 
 " Don't that vinegar smell lovely ? " Sunny said. "Oh, 
 here's Evy ! ' ' Evelyn was coming towards them. " Hold 
 up Bert," Sunny whispered. "She might chuck him
 
 406 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 over and give you a chance yet if you will only pull your- 
 self together and try and be a little man. Hold up, 
 Bert, hold your head up and keep smiling. No girl's 
 married till she's somebody's wife!" 
 
 Evelyn came towards them. "What are you two 
 talking about? I've been hunting the place for you 
 both!" she said. "The car will be round soon and we 
 shall have to get back, Sunny!" 
 
 " I know, " Sunny nodded. "I've just been talking to 
 Bert, telling him about" she paused "your approach- 
 ing marriage!" 
 
 "My approaching marriage?" Evelyn cried. 
 
 Bert groaned audibly. He stooped and picked up the 
 battered ruins of his cigar; he took the band off and put it 
 round his little finger and admired it, as though it was a 
 new engagement ring. 
 
 "Yes. I've been telling Bert about your getting 
 married soon to that chap, that silly sort of chap !" Sunny 
 said. 
 
 "Oh, Sunny!" 
 
 "And Bert's been asking what his name is, and says 
 something about killing him!" Sunny said. " So I didn't 
 tell him his name. I don't believe in encouraging people 
 to commit suicide! " 
 
 Bert blinked at her. "I don't understand." 
 
 "You never understand anything! You didn't ought 
 to be out unless you are in a perambulator, " Sunny said. 
 "I'll tell you the name of the silly, weak-headed chap Evy 
 is going to be married to! I'll tell you in secret; come 
 here!" She lifted her hand and took him by the ear; she 
 dragged him down to her level. 
 
 "The name of that silly, sloppy chap is Bert Jackson! " 
 she said. "Now, I'll leave you to talk it over with her ! " 
 
 Sunny turned and hurried away; looking back for an 
 instant, she saw Bert and Evy facing one another. Then
 
 At Sunnyville 407 
 
 suddenly, without warning, Bert collapsed on to his knees 
 on the miry ground. 
 
 "Oh, Bert, Bert, do get up!" Sunny heard Evy cry. 
 ''Bert, think of your new trousers! " 
 
 But Sunny did not stay to observe; she hurried away. 
 
 "He's like pickles himself," she muttered. "He's got 
 to be jarred. When they are married, Evy will have to 
 keep him woke up all the time, and Oh!" Sunny 
 gasped. She had hurried round the corner of the factory 
 building and run straight into someone coming in the 
 opposite direction. The someone was Dobrington! 
 
 "I I'm sorry," Sunny said. 
 
 "And I am glad!" he said. "Sunny, I haven't seen 
 you for weeks!" 
 
 She tried to laugh, but failed. It had been her fault; 
 purposely she had avoided him; she had denied herself at 
 the theatre five or six times to him. She had twice passed 
 him in the street because she knew she could not yet 
 trust herself, because she meant to be true to herself and 
 to his mother and to him. 
 
 "Sunny, I've been longing, longing for a sight of your 
 sweet face," he said. 
 
 "Can't can't" Sunny paused "can't you smell the 
 vinegar wonderfully from here?" she said. " It's started 
 in real earnest, the John Crow factory, and it's going 
 to make all our fortunes! " She laughed a little hysteri* 
 cally. 
 
 "There's only one fortune that I want," he said; "and 
 I'm going to make that, win it if it takes me all the years 
 of my life! You know what it is, Sunny? " 
 
 She looked him straight in the eyes. "Yes, I know; 
 but you will never never succeed!" she said. 
 
 ' ' I shall ! " he said . "I shall ! Sunny , why haven' t you 
 seenmelately ; why wouldn't you let me come to see you ? " 
 
 " I I don't know," Sunny said. " I don't know."
 
 408 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "But I do!" he said. "And I will tell you why, dar- 
 ling; it was because you love me, because you know how 
 much I love you, because you dread that your love should 
 prove stronger than your foolish, stupid scruples. You 
 were afraid that love would win, and love shall, must, and 
 will win, Sunny!" 
 
 Sunny shook her little head; her face was very pale 
 and very resolute. "It's never going to be, Stan," she 
 said. ' ' It can't be, and you know it can't ! You've got to 
 marry in your own class; your mother and your father 
 look to you to do that, and they she does, anyhow look 
 to me to to play the game, Stan, and I'm going to play 
 the game, all the time! And and " She paused, 
 her voice broke a little. "And, Stan, I'm going to hold 
 up my head and keep on smiling, keep on smiling! "
 
 CHAPTER LV 
 
 THREE LETTERS 
 
 MORNING, Porkey! " Sunny said cheerily. 
 Porkey, the keeper of the stage-door at the 
 Realm, grinned a welcome. "Three letters, Miss Du- 
 crow, " he said. 
 
 He was a very small, thin man, with a nervous, hesita- 
 ting manner. 
 
 "Three letters for me, and all at once! Law, there's 
 been a rush on postage stamps for me lately, Porkey! " 
 Sunny said. 
 
 "It's nothing to what some of the young ladies get, 
 miss. Ahem!" Porkey hesitated and coughed. "I 'ope 
 as Mrs. Melkin is well, " he said. 
 
 Sunny looked at him. ' ' You know her, then ? ' ' 
 
 "I have had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Melkin 
 several times; she has called here now and again. But, 
 according to orders, I have not been allowed to let her 
 pass. On them occasions," Porkey went on, "she done 
 me the honor to stop and pass a few words with me 
 a highly nervis, cultivated lady, miss! " 
 
 "She's got a sad nature," Sunny said. "She's never 
 thoroughly happy unless she's having a good cry." 
 
 "Sensitive," Porkey said. "Very, miss a highly 
 strung lady!" 
 
 Sunny took her letters to her dressing-room. She 
 turned them over, the writing on the envelope of one 
 was very familiar; she opened it first. 
 
 409
 
 4 10 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "DEAR SUNNY, Perhaps I should say, Dear Miss 
 Ducrow; if you can spare me half an hour, I wish you 
 would run round and have a talk. I think I could put 
 something in your way that might suit you. Yours 
 sincerely, MAX HEMMINGWAY. " 
 
 "Wants me, does he?" Sunny thought. "Well, he 
 ain't a bad sort. I'll go and see him; not that I'm in no 
 hurry to make a change neither." 
 
 She opened the next letter. 
 
 It was written on the note paper of a well-known club. 
 
 "Mv DEAR Miss DUCROW, You may remember that 
 I had the pleasure of meeting you at Blessendale House. 
 It is my most earnest desire that the acquaintanceship 
 then begun should ripen into friendship. May I hope to 
 have the pleasure of seeing you again in the near future?" 
 
 " 'Oo is it?" Sunny muttered; she turned the letter over 
 and looked at the signature. "Robert Doveton." 
 
 "Oh, 'im! " Sunny said. "I remember 'im; chap with 
 a long nose and hair parted down the middle, and black 
 on 'is eyelashes. What's he want?" 
 
 " It would give me great pleasure if you would do me 
 the honor of taking supper with me to-night. I shall, 
 in the hope of seeing you, be outside the Realm stage- 
 door. With kindest regards, yours very sincerely, 
 
 "ROBERT DOVETON." 
 
 "Law, that chap!" Sunny said. She flung the letter 
 aside. She had not the slightest intention of taking 
 supper with anyone, least of all with a young man she 
 had seen only once and felt no admiration for. Two 
 minutes later, Sunny forgot his existence.
 
 Three Letters 
 
 "The Duchess of Lulham presents her compliments 
 to Miss Sunny Ducrow " (" Does she?" Sunny thought. 
 "Bless her old face, what's she want?") "And would 
 like to see Miss Ducrow to tea one day this week, and 
 the sooner the better." 
 
 "Well, that's straight, anyhow!" Sunny muttered. 
 "Going to tea with a duchess, arst out to supper with a 
 baronit, and Hemmingway running after me for a job, 
 I s'pose ! Law, looks like my time being filled up ! Well, 
 I think I'll go round and see Max!" 
 
 Twenty minutes later, Sunny was shown into Mr. 
 Hemmingway's office. He rose and held out his hand 
 in a very friendly manner. 
 
 "It's good to see you again, Sunny!" he said. "And 
 you've been doing pretty well for yourself, except that 
 tragedy stunt. Sunny, take it from me, leave the tragedy 
 out of it till you are twenty years older." 
 
 "By then, I expect I'll have enough tragedy of my 
 own to go on with, " Sunny said. 
 
 "I dare say, you never know! Well, how are you fixed 
 up with Barstowe?" 
 
 "I'm doing that sketch of Bert's and What's-his-name's 
 and it's going pretty well; it's good stuff. Bert's got a 
 play in hand; he's coming on all right as a playwriter. 
 He's took my advice and he's writing his next play on 
 his own." 
 
 "He had the making of a good actor in him," Hem- 
 mingway said. "However, the fact is, I want to talk 
 to you about our next production. It's going to be a big 
 thing. Are you tied down by any agreement?" 
 
 " Not after the end of the month, " Sunny said. " But 
 I don't know about leaving Barstowe, he's been awful 
 good to me." 
 
 "Still, I fancy you owe me something, Sunny,"
 
 4I 2 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Hemmingway said. "I mean I gave you your first 
 chance, didn't I?" 
 
 " That's right enough, and I'd be here now if it wasn't 
 for old Rosenbloomer. How's he?" 
 
 "Oh, he's all right ! " Hemmingway said shortly. "Well, 
 he won't interfere in this matter, Sunny. I want you for 
 lead in this new thing ; it's by Lesserton, and the music by 
 Posetti. Dinsmore and Lesserton are doing the scenery, 
 and the dresses are by Valenciennes and le Blanc." 
 
 "And ice-creams by Signer Hokeypokerino," Sunny 
 said. ' ' I know, go on ! " 
 
 Hemmingway flushed and laughed. "Well, it's a big 
 thing anyhow, Sunny, and I want you in the part; it is 
 cut out for you. No tragedy, my girl, but a smart, lively 
 part with three ripping songs, and you'll go like hot cakes. 
 Now, what do you say to discussing it? " 
 
 "What's the terms? " Sunny asked. 
 
 Hemmingway hesitated. "You mercenary little 
 wretch! It'll be a chance in a lifetime for you playing 
 lead at your age; how old are you? " 
 
 "Just gone eighteen," Sunny said. 
 
 "Just gone eighteen, and playing lead in a leading 
 London theatre; why, hang it, you ought to pay me 
 instead of my paying you!" 
 
 " I'm not in it for my health ! " Sunny said. "What's 
 the terms?" 
 
 Hemmingway hesitated. "Forty! " he said briefly. 
 
 " Nothing doing ! " Sunny said. "Sorry, but I'm doing 
 pretty well as good as that already. Besides, you don't get 
 a leading lady in a big thing like this for forty, do you?" 
 
 He laughed. "No, I don't; but I thought it would be 
 doing you a turn." 
 
 "What you want," Sunny said, "is a row of iron rail- 
 ings, a hall door, and no curtains to the windows, and 
 you'd be a philanthropic institution."
 
 Three Letters 413 
 
 "What terms do you want? " 
 
 "A hundred!" Sunny said briefly. 
 
 Hemmingway lifted his hands in the air. "And only 
 just gone eighteen! " 
 
 "And for that reason it ought to be two hundred; 
 you can get lots of old women to play it, and they have 
 to make up to look young ! Me, I'm young, and people 
 know it, and that helps!" 
 
 " I'll make it sixty, Sunny ! " Hemmingway said. " It's 
 a fearful lot of money, Sunny, and what you'll do with 
 it I don't know!" 
 
 "Oh, I do all right," Sunny said. "I want to start a 
 girls' club at Sunnyville, and they say they ain't got 
 enough money towards building it, so I decided I'd build 
 it myself and put a piano in it. I'll want all I can get." 
 
 "Sixty, then!" Hemmingway said. 
 
 Sunny shook her head. "We'll split the difference 
 and make it eighty." 
 
 He sighed. "All right, then!" he said. "You'll sign 
 a contract?" 
 
 "After I've seen Barstowe. I'm not going back on 
 him!" 
 
 "But Barstowe will stand in your way and mine! " 
 
 "I can't help that," Sunny said. "Barstowe's been 
 decent to me, and I'm going to play the game with him; 
 and one thing," she added, "if I come back here I won't 
 have old Rosenbuster interfering with me! " 
 
 "I promise you he shall not, and a contract is a con- 
 tract; if you have a contract for, say, three years " 
 
 "I'll think about it; meanwhile, I'll see Barstowe." 
 
 " He'll stand in your way ! " Hemmingway said. 
 
 "Not him, he won't!" Sunny said. "He isn't built 
 that way. Barstowe's a gentleman, he is, and a decent 
 ort; me and him are friends." 
 
 "I don't know how you managed it, considering he's
 
 4*4 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 the most difficult man in London," Hemmingway said. 
 "But you are a wonder, Sunny! I'll have the contract 
 drawn up ready; when will you be in? " 
 
 "To-morrow," Sunny said. "What's the name of 
 the play?" 
 
 "The Lady Detective," Hemmingway said. 
 
 "Don't sound much! " Sunny said. 
 
 " It's a ripping play, a scream, I tell you. You'll make 
 the success of your life; the part's simply you! " 
 
 "All right. I'll see Barstowe." 
 
 Sunny went out ; on the stage she met Rostheimer. 
 
 "If it ain'd Sunny Ducrow! " he said. 
 
 "Pleased, aren't you? " Sunny said. 
 
 "Soh delided," he said. He held out a large, soft, 
 moist hand. " I been saying all der time, ' Hemmingvay, 
 it a bity dat you send avay dat little Sunny; she is der 
 girl for us!'" 
 
 "He didn't send me away, it was you!" Sunny said 
 directly. "Don't you go and get wrong ideas in your 
 head. He's talking about me coming back, and if I come 
 back I come back, and don't put up with no interference ! " 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha!" He laughed jovially. "Always der 
 same, always der same bride little Sunny; und ain'd you 
 grown too? " he added. 
 
 "'Oo has?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "Why, you haf grown more und more lofely as 
 ever!" 
 
 "Oh, go and eat coke! " Sunny said. 
 
 It was not the way to speak to the financial power 
 behind the management, but Rostheimer took it in 
 good part. Nothing could ruffle his good temper and 
 equanimity. 
 
 "Veil, I hobe we see you here again bretty soon!" 
 he said. "Good luck und good-bye!" 
 
 "After shaking hands with him I feel as if I want a
 
 Three Letters 415 
 
 nice hot bath with heaps of soda in it! " Sunny thought 
 as she hurried away. 
 
 Barstowe was not in, would not be at the theatre at 
 all to-day; there was a farmer's conference or something, 
 Curtiss informed her. 
 
 "So you can't see him, Sunny. Is it anything 
 particular?" 
 
 " Pretty particular for me, " Sunny said. "I've got an 
 offer." 
 
 "Offer of of " Curtiss went a little white about 
 the mouth. 
 
 "Offer of eighty pounds a week, " Sunny said. 
 
 "Oh, I thought you meant " Curtiss paused 
 "Well, you're not bound to Barstowe after this month." 
 
 "I am," Sunny said, "bound in honor; if he wants 
 me I '11 stay on!" 
 
 "But, my dear girl!" 
 
 " That's all right ! " Sunny said. "I know my business. 
 I don't believe in turning down them as has done you a 
 good turn. Barstowe's been a good friend to me. I'd 
 hate myself if I treated him mean now." 
 
 "You're a funny girl! " Curtiss said. 
 
 "A scream, aren't I?" Sunny said. "But I can't 
 'elp it ; I was built that way ! What's the time ? " 
 
 "One!" Curtiss said. 
 
 "Come and 'ave some lunch. I'm going to the A. B. C. 
 Coming?" 
 
 He screwed up his face. He hesitated. "All right! " 
 he said. " But why not come to " 
 
 "A. B. C.'s good enough for me! " Sunny said. " There 
 or nowhere; fact is, I'm going to have tea with a duchess, 
 and if I have a lot of lunch I shan't be able to eat much 
 tea, and it'll hurt her feelings." 
 
 Curtiss laughed. He did not for a moment believe that 
 Sunny was taking tea with a duchess, it was hardly likely.
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Twice or three times as they made their way to the 
 nearest Aerated Bread Company's shop he looked at her. 
 When they were seated at one of the little tables at the 
 back of the shop, and being waited on by one of the girls, 
 he still looked at her. 
 
 "Roll and butter and cup of coffee for me," Sunny 
 said. 
 
 Curtiss sighed. 
 
 "Have a poached egg? " 
 
 "Yes, anything, I don't care; toast, tea, anything!" 
 Curtiss waved his hand. 
 
 "Seem upset! " Sunny said. 
 
 He nodded. "Sunny, do you remember " he 
 paused. 
 
 "There's heaps of things I remember!" she said 
 brightly. "And some things I like to remember and 
 some things I don't. There's something I like to re- 
 member, but but it's just the same same now as it was 
 then!" 
 
 "Look here, Sunny!" he said; he leaned across the 
 table towards her. "I'd give you a good time, I'd make 
 you happy!" 
 
 "I know!" she said. "I know you would, you'd do 
 your best; but but it isn't going to be, it can't be! " 
 
 "There's that other?" 
 
 "There's no other!" Sunny said. 
 
 A brighter look came into his face. "I thought " 
 
 "It don't matter what you thought, there's no other!" 
 
 "Then, Sunny, why not listen to me? You know I 
 love you " He paused. The girl had set the poached 
 egg down before him. He waited till she went away. 
 
 "Sunny, you know I love you " 
 
 "I shouldn't take sugar along with your poached egg, 
 if I was you ! " Sunny said. " That's the salt in that little 
 pot thing there!"
 
 Three Letters 
 
 "It doesn't matter to me," he said. "I don't care! 
 Sugar or salt, it's all one to me! " 
 
 " It's no good, Arthur, " Sunny said seriously. " It's no 
 good. There isn't many I like as much as I do you, but 
 it it can't be! That's all about it, it just can't be!" 
 Her voice caught for a moment. ' ' You don't understand, 
 more don't I, perhaps, only I know it can't be! " 
 
 ' ' All right, ' ' he said. ' ' All right ! I didn't give up all 
 hope; I've clung to .hope all through, Sunny. I suppose 
 I'll make a fool of myself, and go on hoping just the 
 same. I'll ask you again one day, Sunny. I'll still 
 cling to " 
 
 "That's the salt you're putting into your tea now," 
 Sunny said. 
 
 " Bother, it doesn't matter, " he said. "It's all one. I 
 shall wait I am content to wait, there's no hurry; I shall 
 never change, " he said. 
 
 Sunny slid out her hand across the table to him. 
 "Nor shan't I, Arthur," she said. "It's no good, I like 
 you better'n I like almost anyone else, but but it just 
 can't be, see?" 
 
 He nodded. "All the same, I'm not going to give up 
 hope, " he said. " I hope you'll change your mind, women 
 have been known to change their minds, Sunny! " 
 
 "I shan't," she said. "Never shall!" 
 
 "But there is no other? You said so." 
 
 "There's no other now, there was" Sunny paused 
 "There might have been, only it could not be, you see! " 
 
 "Dobrington?" he said shortly. 
 
 Sunny 's face flamed. "Yes, I ain't ashamed; it might 
 have been Dobrington, only it it isn't and never will be, 
 well, because it can't be, you understand? And and, 
 Arthur, that's the sugar you're putting on your egg again."
 
 CHAPTER LVI 
 
 THE LOVE STORY OF A DUCHESS 
 
 THE little Duchess advanced, she took Sunny by the 
 hand and she pecked her cheek twice. 
 
 "I'm glad you came, I thought perhaps you wouldn't, 
 but you have." 
 
 "I'm here," Sunny said. "I've got your letter, I 
 thought you wanted me to come." 
 
 "So I did. We'll sit down!" 
 
 It was a huge room, and very magnificent. Her Grace 
 looked a small and mean person set in the midst of her 
 proud possessions. 
 
 "Sit down," she said sharply. 
 
 Sunny obeyed. 
 
 Her Grace rang the bell. "Tea," she said to the 
 immense footman, "and, Perkins " 
 
 "Your Grace?" 
 
 "Perkins, if any callers come, inform everyone that I 
 am out!" 
 
 "Yes, your Grace!" 
 
 "That's all right," her Grace said, when Perkins had 
 gone out. "I'm going to talk to you, Sunny Ducrow!" 
 
 She leaned back in her chair. " Rather, I should say," 
 she went on, "it is you who are going to talk to me, 
 Sunny Ducrow." 
 
 "What am I to say?" Sunny asked. 
 
 "Tell me about yourself, about your life, exactly what 
 you have done, and all the rest of it." 
 
 418
 
 The Love Story of a Duchess 
 
 " There is a great deal to tell, " Sunny said. 
 
 "Tell it," her Grace said impatiently. "Talk, that's 
 why I asked you here to talk to me, amuse me! " 
 
 Sunny's color rose, she began to feel angry; then she 
 altered her mind. There was something about the little 
 gray old woman that touched her, that in some way 
 aroused a sense of pity. She had no right to pity a 
 duchess at all, but there it was. 
 
 "Well, where shall I begin?" she said. 
 
 "You can begin where you like. Where did you live, 
 how did you manage; you were very poor, I suppose? " 
 
 " Hadn't a shoe to my foot, and my only dress was all 
 rags. Aunt had worn it out before it came to me, ' ' Sunny 
 said. " I remember the trouble I used to have to keep 
 my shoes on, tied 'em up with string " She paused. 
 "Sometimes, when I heard an organ playing in the street, 
 I'd forget and start to dance, and then I'd lose both shoes. 
 Once one of the boys picked one up and ran off with it, 
 and I had to hop after him. But I caught him all right." 
 
 "Go on," her Grace said. 
 
 "I'm going on," Sunny said. "I'm telling you " 
 She paused. The footman came in with the tea on a silver 
 tray. He placed it on a little table. 
 
 "That's all, you can go," her Grace said. "Sunny 
 Ducrow, pour out the tea." 
 
 Sunny poured it out, she began to feel at home; while 
 she poured out the tea she talked. 
 
 "I had to go to school, of course; if I didn't the In- 
 spector would have been after aunt and how many 
 lumps?" 
 
 "Three," her Grace said. 
 
 "Same for me, when I can't get four," Sunny said. 
 She rattled on, and the old woman listened. Sunny told 
 of life in the pickle factory, told of her small beginnings, 
 and how gradually and with luck she worked her way up.
 
 420 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "And now, " she said, "now, I've had an offer of eighty 
 pounds a week to-day!" 
 
 "A Cabinet Minister's salary," her Grace said. "And 
 I dare say quite as well earned, if not better!" 
 
 "But I don't know if I shall take it yet, it depends on 
 Barstowe. " 
 
 " Who's Barstowe?" 
 
 Sunny opened her eyes. "Barstowe of the Realm," 
 she said. "You don't know him?" 
 
 "No, who is he? And why does it depend on him? " 
 
 Sunny explained. 
 
 "So, though you are not bound by any agreement with 
 him, yet you will consider him before accepting such a 
 fine offer?" 
 
 "Of course, " Sunny said. 
 
 "You are a curious girl! Unusually honest, I should 
 say!" 
 
 "Nothing to write home about, " Sunny said. "If one's 
 honest, one's just honest and you can't help it, can you ?" 
 
 "No, I suppose not and so so you are going to 
 marry Dobrington?" 
 
 Sunny started, she sat bolt upright. "I'm going to do 
 no such thing, " she said sharply. 
 
 "But he loves you!" 
 
 "Who who told you? " 
 
 "I didn't need telling. I saw it, it was very apparent. 
 He worships the ground you walk on, Sunny Ducrow!" 
 
 "Anyhow," Sunny said. "I am not going to marry 
 him!" 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "Because oh, because it is impossible! " 
 
 "Why is it impossible? " 
 
 Sunny stood up. " Because, " she said, "because he is 
 Viscount Dobrington and I'm Sunny Ducrow. that's why 
 it is impossible!"
 
 The Love Story of a Duchess 4 21 
 
 Her Grace looked at her. "Explain, " she said. "Is it 
 the difference in your rank that you mean? " 
 
 "Of course, the difference between us in every way! 
 I'm not in his class. His mother would break her heart, 
 his father would have fits; besides, he'd be miserable after 
 a time his friends would turn against him and laugh at 
 him!" 
 
 "Rot," her Grace said. 
 
 Sunny started. "But it's true," she said. "A man 
 can't marry beneath him; if if he found out afterwards 
 he'd made a mistake " 
 
 " He wouldn't, you're too clever for that; you'd keep a 
 man's heart, Sunny Ducrow, always and for ever. I 
 fancy that a man who loved you once would love you 
 always, and consider the world well lost for you! " 
 
 ' ' But you ! ' ' Sunny gasped. ' ' You are ' ' 
 
 "The Duchess of Lulham," the old lady said. "And 
 I know what I am talking about. I am an old woman, 
 a very old woman and a little tired. I have seen many 
 things, and I can see with far clearer eyes than you can. 
 I've seen the shams of this world, I've seen the lies, the 
 subterfuges, the pretences, till I am tired of them. I 
 have seen young men and young women marry because 
 they happened to move in the same circles, and I have 
 seen them pass from mere boredom to sheer hatred of 
 one another. I have seen all that and a great deal more. 
 And I have learned one thing, old woman that I am, I 
 have learned that rank and riches, titles, and Norman 
 blood, go for nothing when put in the balance against 
 honest, honorable love." 
 
 Sunny gasped. This from a duchess, this from her 
 Grace, it sounded like rank heresy ! 
 
 " I'll tell you something, " her Grace paused. " I was a 
 poor girl, my father was a curate in a little village. He 
 had six children, four sons and two daughters, of which I
 
 422 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 was the elder. We had less than a hundred pounds a year 
 to live on, and we were almost as shabby as you were, 
 Sunny. And then, one day, there came into my life a 
 man of rank and position, infinitely above the rank of 
 Dobrington. This man loved me and I loved him. He 
 asked me to be his wife and I thought then, as you think 
 now, Sunny. I thought that the time might come when 
 he would regret having married a poor girl, a girl of lowly 
 position and of no birth. 
 
 "I hesitated, my father thought with me; he was a 
 most unworldly man. But in the end my lover won, he 
 made me his wife " She paused. "Thank God!" she 
 whispered. "Thank God, he made me his wife! It is 
 fifty years ago now, Sunny. For thirty years I was the 
 happiest woman on this earth, for thirty years I held his 
 love and made him happy. He never regretted, he he 
 blessed the day when he took me from my little country 
 home. He died in my arms, blessing me and thanking 
 God for our happiness " She paused; the tears were 
 in her eyes, they rolled down her face. She went to 
 Sunny and put her arms around her. 
 
 "Child, that is the lesson I wanted to teach you, that 
 is why I sent for you ; put love first. Dobrington is a good, 
 true, honest lad. It is the man himself, not his name, nor 
 his birth, not his title, nor his friends. Consider him, only 
 consider him and his love for you, your love for him. It 
 is the advice of an old old woman, a woman who has 
 known the best and greatest happiness that this world 
 can give; don't miss it, Sunny, don't lose it! " 
 
 "You you mean it?" Sunny whispered. "You 
 mean it?" She put her arms around the old lady and 
 clung to her. "You mean it, you think that I " 
 
 "I know he loves you, and he's a good lad; his love is 
 worth the having! Take it, keep it, cherish it, hold his 
 love! And and now give me another cup of tea, with
 
 The Love Story of a Duchess 4 2 3 
 
 only two lumps in it this time, if you please, Sunny 
 Ducrow!" 
 
 "But but his mother?" Sunny said. "His mother, 
 She asked me, and " 
 
 "Norah Blessendale is a fool! She has not had the 
 experience I have had. She knows nothing; she married 
 because she was told it was her duty to marry. Fortu- 
 nately for her, she has never realized what love is and what 
 love means. There are other women of her position who 
 married as she married and then came afterwards to learn 
 that there is such a thing as love. Those are the women 
 who have suffered. Norah Blessendale wants to spoil her 
 son's life, Sunny; don't let her, don't let her! The 
 tea's overdrawn, ring the bell and order some fresh to be 
 made. I can't drink overdrawn tea."
 
 CHAPTER LVII 
 
 AN INVITATION 
 
 TTHERE was a color in Sunny's cheeks, a brightness 
 1 and a new happiness in her eyes. The old lady was 
 right, must be right. She spoke out of her great expe- 
 rience ; she had loved, had married into a rank far above 
 her own, and she had been happy. Sunny remembered 
 what she had said. ' ' He died in my arms blessing me and 
 thanking God for our happiness." And she and he might 
 have missed those thirty years of happiness if she had 
 acted as Sunny had intended to act. 
 
 "She is right, I am sure she is right!" Sunny thought. 
 " Love's the best thing in the world! " 
 
 That night Sunny played her part as she had rarely 
 played it before. She seemed to be the very essence of 
 life and fun and happiness. She won her audience's 
 hearts; the curtain came down on Bert's little sketch to 
 thunderous applause. 
 
 "She's right, she's right!" Sunny thought. "I I 
 know she is right, and I was wrong and his mother is 
 wrong!" 
 
 Soon soon she would see him again and then, if he 
 asked her, spoke to her, she. would tell him all that the old 
 lady had told her. She would open her heart to him, tell 
 him everything; tell him how she loved him; how, because 
 she loved him so much, she was willing to give him up, 
 believing it would be for his own good. But if he loved 
 her If he loved her and she knew he did. 
 
 424
 
 An Invitation 425 
 
 "Good-night, miss," Porkey said. 
 
 "Good-night"; Sunny gave him a radiant smile and 
 went out, walked out almost straight into the arms of a 
 young man who was waiting there for her. 
 
 "You had my letter?" 
 
 Sunny started. "Oh, it's you, " she said. ' ' I forgot ! " 
 
 "Really, too bad, don't you know!" Doveton said. 
 "You had my letter, eh, Miss Ducrow? I've booked a 
 table at the " 
 
 "What for?" 
 
 "For supper to-night!" he said. 
 
 "Well, why don't you go and get your supper instead 
 of staying here in the cold?" 
 
 "But you are coming with me," he said. "Oh, I say 
 come; you know you'll come; say you'll come! " 
 
 "Look here, don't make any mistake!" Sunny said. 
 "I'm not coming with you; I never go to supper with no 
 one, and if I did it would only be with a friend, a real 
 friend, someone I know." 
 
 " But I am your friend ! " he said. " Sunny, I am your 
 friend!" 
 
 " My name's Ducrow to you ! " she said. "And you're 
 not my friend, I only met you once." 
 
 " Don't be silly ! " he said. " Come! " he tried to take 
 her arm. 
 
 "Hands off! " Sunny said. 
 
 "I am sorry," he said. "I say, Miss Ducrow, do 
 be kind to me, you don't know how awfully I admire 
 you!" 
 
 "Well, you can pay half a crown and get a good seat," 
 Sunny said. "Only I've no time to supper with no one, 
 so good-night!" 
 
 "Stay!" he said. "Stay a moment; I say you don't 
 mean it, you will come? " 
 
 "No, not me, and good-night!" Sunny said.
 
 426 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 " Miss Ducrow, " he implored, "I've arranged a ripping 
 supper, booked' a table, and " 
 
 " I'm not coming, now nor never ! " Sunny said. "And 
 I don't go out with strangers, nor Good-night, I'm 
 going home!" 
 
 He bit his lips. "Then allow me to call a cab for 
 you, " he said. 
 
 "Oh, all right, if you like! " Sunny said. 
 
 It seemed to be an easy way of getting rid of him. 
 She walked with him to the pavement in the busy main 
 street. He hailed a cab. 
 
 "Where shall I tell him? " he asked. 
 
 Sunny gave her address. He opened the door for her, 
 then turned to the driver. 
 
 "The El Dorado," he said, "quickly!" 
 
 Another moment and he had sprung into the cab after 
 Sunny and slammed the door, and the cab started. 
 
 "What what's this?" Sunny cried. "What does 
 this mean why ? " 
 
 He laughed. " It's all right !" he said. "I've booked 
 the table, you know. Sit down like a dear girl and " 
 
 He thrust her back and she, looking through the 
 window, saw for one moment a face, the face of a man on 
 the pavement, and that man was Dobrington !
 
 CHAPTER LVIII 
 
 TWO ENGAGEMENTS 
 
 "X/OU'LL just stop this cab this minute, " Sunny said. 
 
 I "Oh come, don't be silly, you'll enjoy yourself. 
 I've booked the table, you know; it's all right, eh?" 
 
 " It isn't all right, I won't say just what I think of you 
 for playing a trick on me like this; you'll stop the cab now 
 directly, quick, see!" 
 
 "Come, come be a dear, sensible girl; you don't know 
 how I admire you, and I want awfully to talk to you, 
 don't you know ; and I say for goodness' sake don't make 
 a scene when we get there, or it will be in all the papers, 
 don't you know!" 
 
 "I ain't a-going to make a scene when I get there, 
 because I'm not going to get there," Sunny said. "I'm 
 going to make the scene now!" She rose, she stretched 
 out her hand to tap on the window to call the driver's 
 attention, but he gripped her arm. 
 
 "Come, don't be " he began, and then he got the 
 surprise of his life. Who could ever have dreamed that 
 there was such strength in that slender little body. 
 One wrench and she had freed her. arm from his grip, 
 she gave him a violent thrust that sent him back on to 
 the seat, and then she rapped loudly on the window. 
 The driver turned. 
 
 "Stop!" Sunny shouted. 
 
 "Silly little fool!" the young man growled. "Hang 
 
 427
 
 428 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 it, a good many would have jumped at the chance! All 
 right, have your own way!" 
 
 "I'm going to," Sunny said brightly, "I generally 
 do; and another time, before you want to take anyone 
 out to supper, just find out first if they want to go or 
 not." 
 
 He said nothing, there was nothing for him to say. 
 He sat glowering at her as she opened the door and 
 stepped out. Sunny nodded to the driver and walked 
 away; she hurried back to the theatre. It had certainly 
 been Dobrington, and Dobrington had beyond all doubt 
 seen her in the cab with that man; what might he not 
 think? 
 
 Sunny walked quickly, she broke once or twice into 
 a run, but during her argument with Doveton the cab 
 had travelled some distance. By the time Sunny reached 
 the theatre there was no one to be seen ; Dobrington had 
 gone. 
 
 Tears of annoyance and vexation came into Sunny's 
 eyes. 
 
 "I wouldn't have him, or anyone else, come to that, 
 think that I I went on purpose, that I went of my own 
 free will with that fellow! " she said. 
 
 But there was no help for it; Dobrington had gone, 
 and short of following him to his home, Sunny could 
 not help to let him know the truth this night. 
 
 Slowly and sadly she turned homewards. 
 
 "Anyhow," she muttered, "if he cares anything for 
 me, if he knows me like he ought to do, he'd know I 
 wouldn't do anything of that sort! He ought to trust 
 me, and I suppose he does. I'll tell him all about it 
 to-morrow." 
 
 It was not like Sunny to worry over a matter of this 
 sort; she had acted in perfect innocence; she had nothing 
 to blame herself for. She had been tricked and duped,
 
 Two Engagements 429 
 
 and if Dobrington cared anything for her he would trust 
 her absolutely. 
 
 To Sunny 's mind it was impossible to love anyone 
 without trusting them. Love and trust went hand in 
 hand; without the one, there could not be the other, that 
 was her idea. 
 
 Still, after all, it was worrying, very worrying. 
 
 " But I shan't bother nor think any more about it," she 
 muttered. "When I see him to-morrow, I'll just tell him 
 everything and then he'll understand." She walked on 
 quickly homewards, but her little face, in spite of herself, 
 wore a worried expression. She did not want anyone to 
 think ill of her, and the very last person in the world, 
 Stanley. Still to-morrow she would explain everything, 
 and he would understand. 
 
 And yet, did it all matter; was the Duchess right in 
 what she had said? Would Lady Blessendale ever be 
 inclined to regard 
 
 "I won't think about nothing," Sunny said aloud. 
 She had gained her own home, she opened the door and 
 went upstairs to find Evy Clifforde anxiously awaiting 
 her. 
 
 "Oh, Sunny, you are so late I began to feel nervous, " 
 she said. "And, Sunny, what's the matter?" 
 
 "Matter?" Sunny said. 
 
 "You look so worried and white, has anything 
 happened?" 
 
 "Oh, nothing much!" Sunny said. "Anyhow, you 
 don't look white and worried," she said. "What's the 
 matter with you, Evy?" 
 
 Evy laughed and flushed. "I I'll tell you presently, 
 but I'm not going to be selfish, Sunny, what's upset 
 you?" 
 
 "It's nothing much, nothing to write a song about." 
 Sunny said. "I'll tell you" She did.
 
 430 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "And Dobrington was there and saw?" 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "Do you think he'll think that you went purposely 
 with " 
 
 "And if he does, what does it matter?" Sunny said 
 desperately. "Now tell me what your trouble is, Evy." 
 
 "It's not not a trouble exactly. Bert was here to- 
 night, and and he and I we Bert said " 
 
 "Asked you to fix the day ? " Sunny said. 
 
 "Yes!" 
 
 "And you did? Good luck to you, dear!" 
 
 Evy made a little rush at Sunny; she put her arms 
 around her, and laid her face against Sunny's breast. 
 
 "And I owe it to you; I owe everything to you, every- 
 thing in the world, Sunny!" she said. "Oh, Sunny, but 
 for you, but for you " 
 
 "Hush!" Sunny said. "That's all right Evy, that's 
 all right!" 
 
 "It is all right because of you, because you made it 
 all right, because you helped me, because you were my 
 good angel just at that moment in my life when I wanted 
 a good angel very, very badly. Sunny, dear, to-night 
 I I told Bert everything; I told him the entire truth, I 
 couldn't be his wife and keep anything from him and 
 and I think he understood." 
 
 "Bert's got a way of understanding things," Sunny 
 said. " He mayn't seem very sharp, nor very bright, yet 
 all the time he just gets hold of things all right. I'm glad 
 you told him, it was the best thing you could do. Bert 
 won't think none the less of you; he'll think a lot the 
 more of you, and you won't have anything, not even the 
 memory of anything on your conscience! And and 
 when is it to be, Evy?" 
 
 "A month to-day, Sunny," Evy said. 
 
 "And good luck to you both," Sunny said. "I'm as
 
 Two Engagements 43 1 
 
 pleased as pleased as if it had been myself, more pleased, 
 I think! I'm glad. Bert's all right, and he'll do well, I 
 know, he's started right!" 
 
 "He says I'm not to go back to the stage, I'm to help 
 him with his work, and I believe I can help him too," Evy 
 said. 
 
 "Of course you can, you've got the education Bert 
 hasn't got. You'll be no end of help to him; it's uphill 
 work for Bert like it is for me, having no education behind 
 us. But Bert's doing as I've done, trying to learn now 
 what we might have learned years ago if we'd had the 
 chance. I'm glad glad, that's all I can say, and I'll 
 save up and buy you the best wedding present that ever 
 was!" 
 
 Evy laughed; she hugged Sunny, and the two girls sat 
 talking into the small hours. 
 
 There was another surprise for Sunny in the morning. 
 
 "Elizabeth Ann, I would like to speak a few words 
 with you in private," Mrs. Melkin said, with ponderous 
 importance. 
 
 "I know," Sunny thought, "she's been buying new 
 bonnets without me knowing and running up bills, bad 
 old thing!" 
 
 She rose and followed Mrs. Melkin into her own room. 
 
 "Elizabeth Ann, I 'ave a communication to make 
 you," Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 "Fire away, how much is it?" Sunny asked. 
 
 " I don't understand your reference, " Mrs. Melkin said. 
 " The communication that I 'ave to make is with regard 
 to ahem ! a wedding, that is to say a marriage, ahem ! " 
 Mrs. Melkin coughed and blushed. 
 
 " I know all about it!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Good gracious, 'e 'e told you?" Mrs. Melkin cried. 
 
 " No, he didn't," Sunny said. "There wasn't no need 
 for him to tell me!"
 
 432 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Then you guessed? You you saw, you realized the 
 strong attachment, the mutual liking and admiration that 
 was agrowing up?" 
 
 "I saw it all all right, " Sunny said, "I'm not blind." 
 
 "He is very, very worthy," Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 "Of course he is; he's not much to look at, but he's 
 sound right through," Sunny said. 
 
 "To my mind 'e is a 'andsome man, a man of dis- 
 tinguished appearance; besides, 'e 'as courtly manners," 
 Mrs. Melkin said. "Manners go for a lot. The late 
 Melkins" she paused " 'adn't no manners to speak of, 
 but 'e 'ad a 'eart of gold!" She took out her handker- 
 chief and dabbed her eyes. "A heart of gold, Elizabeth 
 Ann!" 
 
 "It's about all the gold he had, poor chap!" Sunny 
 said. 
 
 "Well, it's all right; you see I knew, and I'm glad; 
 I hope they will be as happy as they can be!" 
 
 "They!" Mrs. Melkin said. "They! Elizabeth Ann." 
 
 "Bert and Evy!" Sunny said. 
 
 " Bert and Evy ! " Mrs. Melkin said. "Elizabeth Ann, 
 I was speaking of of myself and Mr. Porkberry." 
 
 ' ' What what ? ' ' Sunny said. " You and and Porkey , 
 you and you don't mean you, good gracious!" She 
 stared at Mrs. Melkin. 
 
 "Edward Porkberry 'ave asked me to become 'is wife," 
 she said. 
 
 Sunny sat down on the edge of the bed. "And and 
 what did you say to him?" she gasped. 
 
 "I considered the matter; I 'ad to explain to 'im that 
 I 'adn't never contemplated changing my state, but his 
 pleadings you should 'ave 'eard 'im, a most eloquent 
 man! 'Is pleadings told on me. Eventually, Elizabeth 
 Ann, I gave 'im my consent!" 
 
 "Well done!" Sunny said.
 
 Two Engagements 433 
 
 "I am glad that you accepted it in that spirit! 'E 
 spoke most highly of you and your ability. I told 'im, 
 of course, I'd done my share by you, and 'ad brought 
 you up in the right way." 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 "And 'e said great credit was due to me," Mrs. Melkin 
 went on. '"E said " she paused " 'E was sure as you'd 
 never turn your back on me, even if I did change from 
 single blessedness, as the saying is." 
 
 "Which means," Sunny said, "he reckons that I'll 
 always make you an allowance, aunt?" 
 
 '"E did't put it that coarsely," Mrs. Meikin said. 
 
 "Well I have and I will," Sunny said. "You shan't 
 ever want while I have a bob, so don't you worry." 
 
 "It's satisfactory," Mrs. Melkin said, "to reckernise 
 that all the good work I been and done ain't wasted. As 
 the saying is, I ain't sowed my tares on thorny ground, 
 Elizabeth Ann, so that they sprung up and choked me." 
 
 "And you you going to marry Porkey, and Evy 
 going to marry Bert, and I " Sunny paused "I'm going 
 to marry no one, it'll be a bit lonely for me." 
 
 "Me and Edward was considering about your living 
 with us," Mrs. Melkin said. 
 
 Sunny shook her head. "Two's company and three's 
 none," she said. "I'd only get in everyone's way, I'm 
 better alone!" 
 
 Bert and Evy, Porkey and her aunt, what a pairing off, 
 Sunny thought, as she put on her hat and went out. 
 
 "And me me alone, it'll be a bit lonely coming home 
 and finding nobody," she thought. "However, what's 
 the use of grousing?" 
 
 She walked briskly to the Realm and found Arthur 
 Curtiss as usual in his office. 
 
 " I want to see the boss, " she said. 
 
 "He's in, but I don't know " 
 
 28
 
 434 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Tell him it's Sunny Ducrow!" 
 
 Arthur Curtiss smiled. 
 
 " It seems, " he said, "that Sunny Ducrow can get her 
 own way and get a hearing when other people can't. I'll 
 tell him ! " He went into the next room. 
 
 "He'll see you, of course, he says; you can have exactly 
 three minutes, nothing more!" 
 
 Sunny went in. 
 
 Barstowe nodded; he never shook hands, it was one of 
 his cranks. He looked at the clock on the table before 
 him. 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "About going," Sunny said. 
 
 "Going?" 
 
 "I've got an offer from Hemmingway in his play The 
 Lady Detective, he's offered me lead at eighty a week." 
 
 "You are free, aren't you, at the end of the month?" 
 
 "Yes, but you've got first call, do you want me?" 
 
 "I don't know, haven't had time to think it over. 
 Hemmingway offers you eighty, eh?" 
 
 "Yes, "Sunny said. 
 
 "Your contract with me ends this month; why do you 
 come to me, you are free to accept after this month?" 
 
 "Yes, but you helped me a lot; I don't let people down 
 who have helped me." 
 
 Barstowe smiled. 
 
 "Good girl, " he said, "go and take your eighty, I won't 
 stand in your way; besides, we're connected in business 
 anyhow. How's the factory ? " 
 
 "Fine! "Sunny said. 
 
 "I'm putting down two thousand young plums this 
 autumn, and I thought of laying out about another 
 twenty acres under strawberries, though it's a risky crop." 
 
 He grew animated, he talked of crops, of plums, 
 strawberries, raspberries, and apples and the like.
 
 Two Engagements 435 
 
 Suddenly he stopped. ' ' Time's up, " he said. ' ' You've 
 had five minutes. Good-bye! Oh, by the way, my 
 compliments to Hemmingway. I don't see much of him 
 these days. Hope you'll be successful. Anyhow, I shan't 
 lose sight of you. I'd like you to come down to my place 
 one week-end and we might go over the ground together. 
 You seem to know a bit about everything. Foster's 
 inclined to think our soil's a bit heavy for strawberries." 
 
 "You can lighten it up," Sunny said. "I heard " 
 
 She talked on about soils, and Barstowe forgot the 
 passage of time. 
 
 " Now you must go, " he said. "It's been a pleasure to 
 see you. Good-bye and good luck, Sunny!" He held 
 out his hand, a rare and strange thing for him to do. 
 
 Sunny's face was flushed when she went into Curtiss's 
 office. 
 
 "I luppose you had your way all right?" he asked. 
 "You usually do; you don't look as if you had met with 
 a disappointment." 
 
 "He was an old dear," Sunny said. "I'll be leaving 
 you at the end of the month, Arthur." 
 
 "Leaving?" he said. "Leaving the Realm?" 
 
 "I am going to play lead in Hemmingway's new piece," 
 she said, "at eighty!" She laughed. " Eighty pounds a 
 week, and me only just turned eighteen, it's not bad, 
 is it?" 
 
 "It's rattling good; you're a lucky girl," he said. " No. 
 I don't mean that quite; it isn't all luck with you, you 
 have had your share of luck, but you are" he paused 
 " well you, that's it. I suppose ! " he sighed and looked at 
 her. "You won't drop out altogether, Sunny, I suppose, 
 you won't forget old friends?" 
 
 " I'm not built that way, Arthur, " she said. " Once my 
 friends, always my friends!" 
 
 "And I'm that, eh, a friend?"
 
 43 6 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "One of the best!" she said; she held out her hand to 
 him. "One of the best in the world, dear!" 
 
 "Thank you, Sunny!" he said quietly, then suddenly 
 he stooped and kissed her hand. 
 
 He, the superior, the exquisite, and the unimpression- 
 able Mr. Arthur Curtiss had done that ! 
 
 "And somehow," Sunny thought as she went out, 
 "somehow, though I'm going to get eighty, and I'm going 
 to play lead, and I'm going back to where I started first 
 and know 'em all; somehow I'm sorry, sorry to go! It's 
 been good here, I've had a good time and I've got real good 
 friends! Poor Arthur!" She laughed a little, but the 
 tears came into her eyes. " Poor Arthur ! ' ' she said again. 
 
 Sunny stopped and had a few words with Porkey. 
 She congratulated him and gave him a little advice. 
 
 "She's a bit fond of a weep now and again, only don't 
 take a wonderful lot of notice of it," she said. "She likes 
 it, and it don't do no harm. Sometimes she'll tell you a 
 lot about Melkin." 
 
 "I know," he said. "I been married twice before 
 myself, miss!" 
 
 "Then when she starts telling you about Melkin, you 
 start telling her about the other two, see?" Sunny said. 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "And the odds are in your favor," Sunny said. "And 
 as for other things that'll be all right, and good luck to 
 you, Porkey!" She shook hands with him. 
 
 "Thank you, miss!" he said. 
 
 "And seeing you're to be my uncle-in-law by marriage," 
 Sunny said, "you needn't bother about miss, Sunny is 
 my name!" 
 
 "I wouldn't dare make bold, not here at all events, 
 miss!" he said. 
 
 Sunny went to Hemmingway and made her final 
 arrangements. She took the script of her new part and
 
 Two Engagements 437 
 
 listened while Posetti ran through her songs; they were 
 splendid songs, real winners, she knew. 
 
 Everything was just as all right as everything could 
 be, except one thing, she had not seen Dobrington. She 
 had left word at the Realm that if he came there she 
 wanted to see him. She went home and waited; her aunt 
 was out, had gone to meet Porkey. Bert and Evy were 
 out, she was alone, getting her first taste of loneliness. 
 
 Perhaps he might come, but he did not; the day 
 waned, the others came back for tea. 
 
 Evy looked at her anxiously. " Haven't you seen him, 
 Sunny?" she whispered. 
 
 "Not not yet, but I shall to-night very likely," 
 Sunny said, with a catch in her voice. 
 
 But she did not see him that night, nor the following 
 day, nor the day that followed that. She went to Sunny- 
 ville, hoping against hope that he might go there, but he 
 had not been near the place. The factory was working 
 full swing now. The entire neighborhood was pervaded 
 with the smell of boiling vinegar and stewing fruits. 
 
 Sunny looked about her, it was her place, her making. 
 It was one of her dreams and one of her ambitions that 
 had come to pass. But for her and her ideas, Sunnyville 
 would never have been put here; but here it was, a reality 
 as anyone could smell and see. 
 
 Those dear little red-and-white cottages, how bright 
 they looked, how happy the women and the children 
 looked. What a different life for them after the narrow 
 streets and the hot pavements of the wrong end of 
 London. 
 
 They seemed to have forgotten that she was a girl who 
 had once stuck labels on jam jars, she was the Lady 
 Bountiful now. They bobbed curtsies to her, and were 
 honored when she went into their pretty little sitting- 
 rooms.
 
 43 8 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 And she was happy, happy in their homes, happy when 
 she went roughly through the very satisfactory accounts 
 with Mr. Johnson. Yet all the time there was a little 
 ache, a little longing, something unsatisfied in her heart. 
 
 And now a week had passed and of him not one word, 
 not a sign. She hid her feelings as best she could, she did 
 not want to strike a discordant note just now when there 
 was so much happiness about her. She must consider Evy 
 and Bert, and even Mrs. Melkin, who was busy preparing 
 her trousseau. 
 
 " It takes me back, it do, " she said, "it takes me back, 
 Elizabeth Ann, to them happy days of long ago, as the 
 song says, when I was a young gel, soon to be a blushing 
 bride." 
 
 Mrs. Melkin took out her handkerchief. "How it all 
 do come back ; I see it like it was yesterday, and the years 
 'ave rolled by, as the saying is." 
 
 "And you're going to do it all over again," Sunny 
 said. "So cheer up ! " 
 
 It was all very fine to tell Mrs. Melkin to cheer up, but 
 she wanted to cheer up herself. Where was he? Not a 
 word, not a sign since that night. 
 
 There was a note for Sunny at the Realm to-night. 
 
 "DEAR SUNNY, Come and see me to-morrow. 
 Affectionately yours, CHRISTINE LULHAM. " 
 
 "And to think the day would ever come, as aunt 
 might say, when I'd get a friendly little note like this 
 from a duchess!" Sunny thought.
 
 CHAPTER LIX 
 FIVE O'CLOCK TEA 
 
 " TV/ELL, Sunny Ducrow, so after all you thought I 
 
 W was wrong, eh? You did not take my advice! 
 One day, my dear, you will find out that I knew more 
 than you did a pity, a pity!" The old lady sighed. 
 
 Sunny looked at her wonderingly. 
 
 "I don't quite understand what your Grace means," 
 she said. 
 
 "Well, my Grace means that you have foolishly sent 
 a very estimable and well-meaning young man away 
 when you ought, had you any sense, to have kept him 
 by your side." 
 
 "But but I I did not!" Sunny paused; she stam- 
 mered. "I didn't know he'd gone away." 
 
 "Of course he's gone away to Timbuctoo or some such 
 place. I believe the correct and romantic description is, 
 'He has gone big-game hunting,' whatever that may 
 mean. As a matter of fact, I believe he has gone adven- 
 turing in America or Australia." 
 
 ' ' Who who has ? " Sunny gasped. ' ' Not not Stan, 
 not Lord Dobrington." 
 
 "Of course, didn't you know?" 
 
 Sunny shook her head. She suddenly felt cold, years 
 older, very lonely, and very helpless; the tears gathered 
 in her eyes. 
 
 "Come here," her Grace said. "Sunny Ducrow, come 
 here!" 
 
 439
 
 44 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 She put her hand on Sunny's shoulder. "Did you 
 see him, did you send him away?" 
 
 "No, I didn't!" Sunny said. "I haven't spoken to 
 him since since I was here last; I've been wondering 
 where he was. I've been looking for him every day and 
 wondering." 
 
 "You poor little thing; I understand it, then," her 
 Grace said. "It was the boy's foolish mother!" She 
 sighed. "I thought Dobrington had more sense, more 
 pluck, more courage. So he has been sent away so that 
 he would not fall a victim to the artful and designing 
 Miss Sunny Ducrow," she said, and laughed. "Poor 
 child!" Her laughter ceased, her voice grew tender. 
 
 "I didn't know he had gone," Sunny said miserably; 
 "I didn't know a bit. He he never came to say good- 
 bye even." 
 
 "No. I begin to understand now," her Grace said. 
 "I am sorry; it is a pity. I thought better of him, 
 mother-ridden, poor fellow. Well, well, he's gone and 
 there's an end of it; we mustn't break our hearts, Sunny 
 Ducrow, must we?" 
 
 Sunny did not answer; she was trying to realize it. 
 Stan had gone, gone without one word, gone without 
 saying even good-bye to her. The last time, the very 
 last time she had seen him was that night when Doveton 
 had played that foolish senseless trick on her. Could 
 he have thought, could he have believed, for one moment, 
 that ehe wanted to go, that she was going of her own 
 free will with that man? Was that why he had gone, 
 because he was sickened and disgusted with her? 
 
 "We'll have tea," the Duchess said. "Sunny, my 
 dear, men may come and men may go, but five o'clock 
 tea goes on for ever. Ring the bell, child. " 
 
 But there was no need, a footman opened the door 
 and stalked in. "Lady Blessendale, your Grace.'"
 
 Five o'clock Tea 44* 
 
 The Duchess gave Sunny a quick glance. "Sit her 
 out," she whispered. "Understand?" 
 
 Her ladyship came in, she beamed delightedly; then 
 she saw Sunny and her face changed, it hardened. She 
 shook hands with the Duchess. 
 
 "I thought you knew Miss Sunny Ducrow," her 
 Grace said. 
 
 Lady Blessendale gave Sunny a cold bow. 
 
 "We were talking of you and your son; Miss Ducrow 
 did not know that he had gone." 
 
 "I do not see how my son's movements can affect 
 Miss Ducrow," her ladyship said. 
 
 Sunny sat in silence. She felt crushed and miserable; 
 she wanted to get up and slip away. She was out of her 
 element here with these two great ladies, but one of 
 them she knew was her friend. 
 
 The Duchess was not one to beat about any bush; 
 if she had anything to say, she said it. 
 
 "So you sent Dobrington away, eh?" she asked. 
 
 "I did nothing of the kind; he went at his own wish 
 and of his own free will. Personally, I was sorry; I 
 miss him naturally." 
 
 Lady Blessendale had seated herself ; she so arranged 
 it that Sunny had a clear view of her back. 
 
 "My son went of his own will and at his own sugges- 
 tion. I have a brother in Australia, and Stanley had 
 long desired to visit him, so he went." 
 
 "Why?" the Duchess demanded. 
 
 "Really, I don't know; a young man " 
 
 "Stuff and nonsense! There was some reason for it. 
 If you did not send him away, who did?'' 
 
 "Really," her ladyship said, "my dear Duchess!" 
 
 "Oh, don't dear Duchess me!" the old lady cried. 
 "Who sent the boy away?" 
 
 "I tell you he went of his own wish and desire."
 
 442 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Why? My dear good woman, I am not blind, nor 
 a fool ; I know that Dobrington was over head and heels 
 in love with that little girl you are turning your back 
 on. A man in love wouldn't rush away from the object 
 of his affections." 
 
 Lady Blessendale rose. "I did not come here to to 
 discuss my son with anyone," she said; "nor would I 
 certainly have come here did I happen to know who 
 your visitor was. Since you force me to give you the 
 truth, I will tell you. I do not wish to meet Miss Ducrow 
 now, nor at any time. If you knew the truth about her 
 you would probably not receive her into your house. 
 It was because my son discovered for himself what she 
 was, and the depths to which she had sunk, that he de- 
 cided to go and leave the country in order to avoid the 
 unpleasant possibility of meeting her again." 
 
 ' ' Miss Ducrow is an actress ; I think that is the only sin, 
 if a sin it is, you can lay to her charge ! " the Duchess said. 
 
 Sunny had risen; she was flushed and trembling, she 
 gripped at the back of her chair. 
 
 "I always knew that Miss Ducrow was an actress. I 
 did not despise her for that reason." 
 
 "Very kind of you," the Duchess said. "Very noble 
 of you indeed ! This girl has worked her way up in the 
 world, fought a single-handed fight. I see in her a 
 great deal to admire, a great deal to almost to reverence. 
 I have a passionate love for strength and steadfastness 
 of purpose. I see both in this girl; but because she is 
 lowly born, because she is an actress, because she had to 
 work in a lard factory or something, you look down on 
 her. She is not good enough for your son. You forget 
 that the founder of your husband's house was a brewer 
 in the reign of George the Third. In what way is a 
 brewer more desirable than a lard manufacturer is it 
 lard? No, jam it's all the same, I never touch either!"
 
 Five o'clock Tea 443 
 
 "Perhaps you will hear me," Lady Blessendale said. 
 " I wish to say this, that if my son had set his heart on 
 marrying a girl who sold flowers in the street, if I believed 
 that that girl was an honest, honorable, respectable, 
 and worthy girl, one who would make him happy and 
 prove herself, of humble origin though she might be, 
 worthy of being his wife, I would be content. But it is 
 because Miss Ducrow is neither honest nor honorable 
 that I I would sooner see my son dead, love him though 
 I do, than the husband of such a woman." 
 
 "Oh!" Sunny gasped. 
 
 The little Duchess crossed the room; she went straight 
 to Sunny and put her arm around the trembling girl. 
 
 " Of what do you accuse this child, Lady Blessendale? " 
 
 "I accuse her of lightness of conduct, of behaving in 
 a manner that no well-conducted girl would behave in! 
 I accuse her of " 
 
 "Give one instance, one example!" her Grace said. 
 
 "It is easily done! Ten days ago this girl went with 
 a man who is notably a bad character to a certain restau- 
 rant to supper." 
 
 "I I did not!" Sunny gasped. 
 
 "Excuse me, my son saw you with the man! He was 
 so surprised that he could not believe his eyes. He 
 held you in high esteem, unfortunately!" Her ladyship 
 laughed. "But he made assurance certain; he sought 
 out the man and questioned him. This man Doveton 
 admitted that you had supped with him, and gone to a 
 night club with him afterwards, and that he had seen 
 you home at about five in the morning." 
 
 "It it is a lie!" Sunny gasped. "Oh, it is a lie from 
 beginning to end! 1 ' 
 
 "Sir Robert Doveton is a gentleman, and would not 
 lie on such a subject. He told my son these facts only 
 under great pressure. I repeat now," Lady Blessendale
 
 444 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 said, "that though I would naturally desire and wish 
 for my son to marry in his own class, one of his own rank 
 and station, one of breeding and blood, I would yet 
 willingly give way; his happiness is dearer to me than 
 any other consideration. I would see him marry, as I 
 have said, a flower-girl, out of the street, a crossing- 
 sweeper, an actress." She waved her hand. "I would 
 not care, I would not mind how lowly the girl was, but 
 I do demand and insist that my son's wife shall be above 
 reproach. And you, Miss Ducrow, are not that; you 
 are like the rest, I suppose." She shrugged her shoul- 
 ders, she made a sweeping bow to the Duchess and 
 went out. 
 
 "Sunny Ducrow, is this ail true?" her Grace asked. 
 
 "It is a lie from beginning to end," Sunny cried. 
 "Oh, it is a lie, there's no truth in it, not one word of 
 truth! But but " She paused, she tried hard to 
 fight back the tears, tears so unusual with her. 
 
 "But it don't matter now, it's over and done with; 
 he thinks " She paused again. "He asked him, and 
 he lied about me, and he believed ! He didn't ought to 
 have gone to him at all, he ought to have come straight 
 to me, and I'd have told him everything." 
 
 "As you can't tell him, my dear," the Duchess said, 
 "tdl me!"
 
 CHAPTER LX 
 
 A CHANGE 
 
 EVERYONE saw the change and yet none quite 
 realized what the change was. She looked the 
 same, she spoke the same, there was the same smile on 
 her lips and in her eyes, the same cheerful outlook on 
 life, and yet withal there was a difference. 
 
 Barstowe, the man who said little but saw much, looked 
 at her, wondered for a moment or two, then smiled. He 
 thought he understood, but man-like he was wrong. 
 "Fallen in love, most girls do!" he thought. 
 
 Arthur Curtiss looked at Sunny in a puzzled way. 
 Yes, she was changed, she seemed older that was it! 
 She had left childhood behind her suddenly, there was 
 a new look in her eyes. 
 
 To the casual observer, Sunny was just the same, only 
 those who knew her and loved her saw the subtle change. 
 Evy saw it. Bert was dimly conscious of it, but did 
 not understand it. Mrs. Melkin, engrossed in her own 
 matrimonial affairs, saw nothing at all. 
 
 "Sunny dear, what is it?" Evy asked. 
 
 "What is what?" Sunny said. 
 
 "I think you know, dear; you are different!" Evy 
 said. "What is it?" 
 
 Sunny laughed. " It's all nothing !" she said. "It's 
 nothing, and it is not going to make a bit of difference 
 to me!" She laughed again, but a little unsteadily. 
 
 445
 
 44 6 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Is it" Evy paused "is it" she grew bold sud- 
 denly " Dobrington?" 
 
 Sunny turned and regarded her seriously. "Dobring- 
 ton?" she said. "Lord Dobrington? He has gone 
 away. I don't suppose he and I will ever meet again; 
 if we do, it won't be as friends." 
 
 "Sunny, I thought thought you and he cared?" 
 Evy said. 
 
 "I thought so," Sunny said quietly. "I did care, 
 perhaps in my heart I do now. I don't quite understand 
 myself, Evy ; I don't think I want to. I am quite happy. 
 I am looking forward to seeing you and Bert and auntie 
 and Porkey married. Then then I shall" she paused 
 "I shall go and live at Sunny ville. I've made up my 
 mind to that. It's less than an hour by road. I shall 
 have a car; I always promised myself one, you know." 
 Sunny smiled. There was a dreamy, far-away look in 
 her eyes. "In the old days, when it seemed quite im- 
 possible, I used to promise myself a car. Here's Bert, 
 he will remember." 
 
 "Bert came into the room, nodded to Sunny, and kissed 
 Evy awkwardly. 
 
 "Bert, Evy and I were talking about the past; it 
 seems like a hundred years ago, doesn't it?" 
 
 "The past?" Bert said vaguely. "You mean the 
 pickles Sunny ? ' ' 
 
 "I mean the past, you and me boy and girl; kids, 
 we were then, Bert, and it's barely more than a year 
 ago. A lot of water's passed under the bridges for us 
 this past year, Bert." 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "Do you remember how I used to say one day I'd 
 ride in a fine car of my own?" 
 
 He laughed. "I remember," he said. "I never 
 thought it would come true. I used to think you were
 
 A Change 447 
 
 a bit wrong in the upper story, Sunny. Now, I suppose 
 you could have two cars if you wanted 'em; you're 
 going to get eighty a week from Hemmingway." 
 
 "Yes," she said; there was no enthusiasm in her 
 face. "I shall buy a car and I shall live in one of those 
 little red-and- white houses at Sunny ville. I'll have 
 something to keep me busy all day when there is no 
 matine'e. I'll worry poor Johnson into his grave, I 
 expect." 
 
 "Sunny, it's going to be a little lonely for you, dear," 
 Evy said. 
 
 "Lonely? Yes, I suppose I'll be a bit lonely at first. 
 I'll miss you, I'll miss Bert coming in, I'll even miss 
 auntie in a way. You see, I've got used to her, one gets 
 used to any old thing. I've been with her a hundred 
 years now, and it'll seem strange her not being around. 
 But there's always changes; sometimes, when you'll 
 have me, I'll come and see you and Bert on Sundays." 
 
 "I wish you were going to live with us altogether," 
 Evy said. 
 
 "No, you don't, not in your heart, you don't! One's 
 all right by himself, two together are all right, but three 
 means trouble sooner or later. You'd have me falling 
 in love with Bert, or Bert with me, or something!" 
 Sunny laughed. She kissed Evy suddenly and went out. 
 They heard her whistling as she went downstairs. 
 
 "I wish she was happier!" Evy said wistfully. 
 
 Bert stared. "She couldn't be! Hark at her now, 
 whistling like a blessed canary!" 
 
 "That doesn't mean she's happy; of course she's 
 not unhappy, she isn't miserable. I don't mean that. 
 Sunny couldn't be miserable if she tried. But but 
 there's something all is not quite well with her." 
 
 Sunny's time at the Realm was growing very short 
 now, already London was being placarded with bills of
 
 44 8 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 the new play, " The Lady Detective, Musical Comedy, 
 Miss Sunny Ducrow." Her own name stared at her on 
 every hoarding: 
 
 "Miss Sunny Ducrow as Miss Cynthia Jelks, the 
 Lady Detective." 
 
 Only three more days and she was finished at the 
 Realm, and Sunny felt a little sad about it. Everyone 
 at the Realm, from Arthur Curtiss down to the snub- 
 nosed cheeky call-boy, was her friend. There was not 
 a man, woman, or child there who would not have done 
 anything for her. She knew the private history of 
 everyone in the place. 
 
 No man had an ailing wife or child but Sunny remem- 
 bered and stopped to ask him for news, and usually 
 sent some little gift to the afflicted ones. They loved 
 her, how could they help it? They called her Sunny 
 affectionately behind her back, and even dared to call 
 her Sunny to her face; and she smiled, she liked it. 
 
 She was Sunny to everyone. The cheeky call-boy 
 openly dared to call to Sunny that the stage waited, 
 and he was not reprimanded. He would have lain 
 down and allowed Sunny to wipe her small feet on him 
 if she had wanted to. As it was, he thrashed and sadly 
 disfigured the face of William, the son of Mrs. Mack the 
 dresser, who dared to say that Sunny 's hair was red. 
 
 Percy, the call-boy, licked him and went on licking 
 him till William admitted that it was not red, but " obun." 
 Only Porkey at the stage-door insisted on formalities. 
 
 "There's a letter for you, miss," he said. 
 
 Sunny took it ; she looked at the narrow, thin, crabbed 
 handwriting, and knew it at once. 
 
 "DEAR SUNNY, Come to tea, be here three-thirty- 
 five exactly; don't fail. Your friend, 
 
 "CHRISTINE LULHAM."
 
 A Change 449 
 
 "Bless her old heart!" Sunny muttered. "I'll go all 
 right." 
 
 Arthur Curtiss was coming in; he looked at her. 
 
 "Time's getting short, Sunny," he said. 
 
 "Only three days more and I'm done here," she said. 
 "I'm sorry." 
 
 "So am I, dear," he said quietly. 
 
 Sunny looked up at him quickly. He was as well 
 dressed as ever, as smart and as well turned out, but he 
 was not looking himself; he looked a little pale and a 
 little worried. 
 
 "Are you in a hurry, Sunny?" he asked. 
 
 She shook her head. "Not particular!" she said. 
 
 "Come and have a talk with me, then," he said. He 
 led the way to his room. 
 
 "Sit down, "he said. 
 
 Sunny sat down; there was a strange constraint. He 
 was just the same, friendly, something more perhaps 
 than merely friendly, but there was something in the 
 atmosphere to-day that Sunny could not quite under- 
 stand. 
 
 Arthur Curtiss sat down; he put his elbows on the 
 writing-table and his chin on his hands. 
 
 "Sunny, I want to talk to you, dear," he said. "Not 
 not about " He flushed suddenly. "I'm not go- 
 ing to worry you any more, girl." He paused. 'Only, 
 I want to help you ; there's something gone a bit wrong 
 with your life, and perhaps you have no friend, no real 
 friend to whom you can turn and open your heart." 
 He paused. "I I'm rather a fool rather a fool at 
 explaining myself. I hope you understand; I don't 
 want to pry into what does not concern me. I don't 
 want to busy myself with what you would rather have 
 left alone, but " He hesitated, he faltered, and came 
 to a standstill. 
 39
 
 450 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Tell me," she said, "tell me in just plain words, 
 Arthur, I'll understand better!" 
 
 "Yes," he said; he gulped. "Sunny, you know how 
 I cared cared, care now. I realize there is no hope 
 for me, I look forward to nothing; I've put myself, my 
 hopes, and my future out of the question altogether, 
 I'm thinking just of you. I want to help you. I know 
 there is someone you care for very much; I know that 
 that someone has gone away, there's been a misunder- 
 standing, a quarrel perhaps; some small thing that could 
 easily be adjusted and arranged. I want you to use me, 
 Sunny, use me just as if I was your brother. Tell me 
 just what you like, as much or as little, and tell me how 
 I can help you." 
 
 "You can't help me, Arthur," she said quietly. 
 
 "I might!" he said eagerly. "I know that you you 
 loved Dobrington. I know he cared a lot for you. He's 
 gone away, and you you're a bit different, old girl; 
 I've seen it. I've watched you, and I know. Why has 
 Dobrington gone? I know you've never done anything 
 in your life to feel shame for; has he done something, 
 has he offended you?" 
 
 "No," she said. 
 
 "Sunny, won't you tell me, won't you let me help 
 you? If you wanted me I don't know where he is, 
 but I'd go and find him and bring him back, if it would 
 
 be helping you. I don't care how far he has gone, I'd 
 > 
 
 "He's gone to Australia," Sunny said. "The other 
 side of the world!" 
 
 "I'll go if you want me and bring him back to you, if 
 there's some misunderstanding that I can clear up," he 
 said. 
 
 Sunny 's eyes suddenly filled; she rose and went across 
 the room to him.
 
 A Change 45 1 
 
 "Arthur, you're a good sort, a true friend," she said. 
 "There aren't many like you, many who would do what 
 you would do for me, considering " 
 
 "Considering that I love you," he said. "It doesn't 
 offend you, Sunny, for me to tell you this, does it? 
 There's no shame in having won my love. I will never 
 worry you with it, but it'll go on, just go on, whatever 
 happens; and because I love you very, very much, 
 dear, I want to see you happier, I want to help you to 
 happiness if I can; tell me the way, show me the way, 
 and I will do it." 
 
 "Even to bringing Stanley back?" she said, with a 
 shake in her voice. 
 
 "Even to that," he said. "Willingly, willingly, to 
 bring the smiles and happiness back into your face, my 
 dear." 
 
 She laid her small hand over his. "There's nothing 
 you can do for me, Arthur," she said, "nothing! And 
 I shan't forget you you asking me! There aren't 
 many " She stopped suddenly and kissed him on 
 the forehead. Then she went to the door; in the door- 
 way she stood for a moment, looking at him, her eyes 
 alight, her lips smiling. 
 
 "Thank you!" she said. "Thank you, and God 
 bless you, Arthur!"
 
 CHAPTER LXI 
 
 THE DUCHESS ACTS 
 
 HPHE Duchess looked at the clock. "Exactly on 
 1 time, Sunny Ducrow," she said. "There's 
 nothing like being punctual; when one grows old one 
 has to economize with time. Sit down." 
 
 Sunny sat down. 
 
 "I am expecting a visitor," her Grace said. "I've 
 thought over all you told me, and I've thought over all 
 that Lady Blessendale said, so I've decided to act. It 
 is time someone acted." 
 
 "Act? "Sunny said. 
 
 "Oh, my dear, don't imagine that I think of going on 
 the stage at my time of life; nothing of the sort ! I am 
 just going to act fairy godmother, or something of the 
 sort, in a small private play of my own." 
 
 She sat bolt upright, listening, then she smiled. 
 
 "Imagine, child, that the curtain has now gone up. 
 Stage set, characters present, an elderly lady and the 
 heroine. Door opens and servant announces the 
 villain." 
 
 The door did open. 
 
 "Sir Robert Doveton, your Grace, " the footman said. 
 
 Sunny sat up suddenly. Sir Robert came in; he 
 did not see her, he advanced towards the little old lady 
 effusively. 
 
 "I had your note, your Grace, and of course I came 
 
 at once. The honor of " 
 
 45*
 
 The Duchess Acts 453 
 
 He held out his hand, but her Grace did not apparently 
 observe it. "I think you have met Miss Ducrow, Sir 
 Robert," she said. 
 
 Sir Robert started visibly. 
 
 "I I have had the honor!" he stammered. 
 
 He turned to Sunny; he held out his hind, but she too 
 stared him in the face. He let his hand drop awkwardly. 
 
 "I thought," her Grace said "I thought it much 
 better that we three should meet here, Sir Robert, to 
 discuss a certain little matter that has led to a great deal 
 of annoyance and misunderstanding. " 
 
 "I don't think I quite understand what your Grace 
 
 "Sit down," she said abruptly. 
 
 He sat down. 
 
 "Now," she folded her thin, white hands together, 
 "now we will, if you please, go back a few weeks. You 
 wrote a note to Miss Ducrow here, asking her to take 
 supper with you?" 
 
 "Yes," he said; he looked &t Sunny. 
 
 "He did! "she said. 
 
 " You were waiting outside the stage-door of the theatre 
 when she came out." 
 
 He made no sign. 
 
 "You asked her to go with you to the El Dorado, 
 telling her that you had booked a table and had ordered 
 a supper, eh? I am correct? If I am not, please correct 
 me." 
 
 "So far," he said, "all is correct." 
 
 " When Miss Ducrow came out she found you waiting 
 there; she refused to go with you " 
 
 "She she at first she at first " he stammered. 
 "That is to say " 
 
 "She refused to go with you; you offered to order a 
 cab for her to go home in."
 
 454 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "It's true," Sunny said. "It's true, admit it's true! 
 How is it going to pay you to tell lies about me? What 
 have I ever done to you that you should want to tell lies 
 about me?" 
 
 "My dear young lady," he stammered, "I I don't 
 tell lies, a gentleman " 
 
 "Permit me," her Grace said. "You hailed a cab. 
 Miss Ducrow gave her address to you; instead of telling 
 the cabman to drive her home, you told him to drive to 
 the El Dorado; then before she could guess what was 
 happening, you sprang into the cab after her." 
 
 "This is " he began. 
 
 "Wait!" her Grace said. "Wait, please! In a few 
 moments Miss Ducrow understood the position; you 
 told her that she would have to go to supper with you. 
 She refused; she made a small scene, I believe. She 
 insisted on stopping the cab and got out." 
 
 "This is not" he began. 
 
 "Of course the evidence of the cabman is worth some- 
 thing in this matter," her Grace said. "The cabman 
 can witness that after he had travelled only a few yards, 
 the young lady made him stop, and that she alighted 
 and you drove on alone." 
 
 "The the cabman?" he said. 
 
 "You did not realize the possibility of the cabman's 
 number having been taken?" her Grace said. "Admit 
 sir, that the cabman's evidence will settle the whole 
 matter!" 
 
 She rang a bell. 
 
 "Sanders," she said, "the next time I ring, bring up 
 the man who is waiting downstairs." 
 
 The footman bowed and went out. 
 
 " Now, Sir Robert, let us have the truth of the matter," 
 she said. 
 
 "The the truth of the matter?" He laughed un-
 
 The Duchess Acts 455 
 
 easily. "Well, you have the truth, your Grace; it is 
 just as you said. I admit that I played a trick on Miss 
 Ducrow, and she was extremely angry. She made the 
 cab stop, and she got out and went away; since then I 
 have not had the pleasure of seeing her." 
 
 "Yet you you told Lord Dobrington a lie!" Sunny 
 flamed. "You told him I went and had supper with 
 you, and went to some club or other " 
 
 " A j oke ! " he said. ' ' Dobs was in such deadly earnest 
 that that I thought I'd have a joke at his expense!" 
 
 "You admit," her Grace said "you admit that you 
 deliberately lied to Lord Dobrington?" 
 
 "A joke! "he said. 
 
 "You consider it a joke to lie about a young lady, to 
 make a deliberate misstatement, to accuse her of some- 
 thing that was not true, to cause her annoyance and 
 pain! You have a curious sense of humor!" 
 
 She rose, her cheeks suddenly reddened with anger. 
 "Now you can go, and if it is any consolation to you, 
 Sir Robert Doveton, if it is any satisfaction to you to 
 know exactly what I think of you, I will tell you ! You 
 are a despicable cur, a crafty, lying scoundrel, and if I 
 were a man and a young man, I should enjoy giving you 
 the severe thrashing that you deserve. Further, let me 
 tell you this ! The number of the cabman was not taken ; 
 remember, please, that I never deliberately stated that 
 it was. The man who is waiting downstairs to see me 
 is from Marples, and he has brought some patterns of 
 damask to re-upholster my bedroom furniture. You 
 can go, sir, and I shall not lose an opportunity of saying 
 exactly what I think about you!" She pointed to the 
 door. 
 
 He went ; at the door he hesitated, opened his mouth, 
 thought better of it, and vanished. 
 
 "And now, dear child," her ladyship said, "we will
 
 456 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 have tea; but first of all I'd like you to help select a 
 nice pattern for my bedroom chairs. 
 
 "Will you ring the bell, my dear, for the man to come 
 up?" 
 
 Sunny rose; she crossed the room to the old lady. 
 
 "Thank you," she said. "Thank you!" She bent 
 and kissed the wrinkled cheek. 
 
 "My dear, it was the least I could do; and now 
 now I know what I have still to do."
 
 CHAPTER LXII 
 
 ASHES 
 
 "KTO Registry Office for me, thank you!" Mrs. 
 1 N Melkin said. 
 
 "But if you want a servant," Evy asked. 
 
 "I'm talking of getting married. Porkberry , he wishes 
 it at the Registry Office, but I say no! He said he 
 married his last two at Registry Offices." 
 
 "Registrar's!" Evy said. 
 
 "That's the new way of pronouncing it, which I 
 don't hold with," Mrs. Melkin said. "I stood out for 
 the church; but understand, I won't have no one throw- 
 ing no rice nor confectionery about." 
 
 Mrs. Melkin was wavering between pink and pale 
 blue for her bridal costume, white being denied her. 
 And it took all Sunny's and Evy's eloquence to turn her 
 from her purpose. A pale, pearly gray was at last decided 
 on, though Mrs. Melkin felt that she was relinquishing 
 some of her rights. 
 
 It was on the day before the opening night of The Lady 
 Detective that the double wedding took place. 
 
 There were very few people in the church, but the 
 hearts of the few who were there went out to Evy; she 
 looked very pretty, very happy, and very young. Mrs. 
 Melkin held the stage; she brandished a black-bordered 
 pocket-handkerchief and wept openly throughout the 
 entire ceremony. It took her back, as she afterward 
 explained, to that happy day of long ago when she had 
 first become the bride of Melkin, rest his soul. 
 
 457
 
 458 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 Sunny thought she had never seen Bert to worse ad- 
 vantage than in his new and over-long frock-coat with 
 the gardenia in its buttonhole and his painfully creased 
 trousers. To crown all, when Bert knelt at the altar, 
 he displayed a large number of boot-protectors, some- 
 what similar in shape to quarter oranges, which were 
 sprinkled over the soles of his large-sized boots. But 
 it was over at last, and so was the wedding breakfast, 
 which Sunny gave them at one of the West End hotels. 
 
 The happy pairs had driven away and Sunny went 
 back to the empty rooms. It was pretty lonely, pretty 
 miserable; another might have sat down and indulged 
 in a cry. But Sunny did nothing of the kind; she got 
 out her part and threw herself into the study of it, she 
 forgot to be lonely. She rehearsed to herself and then 
 she hurried off to the theatre for a full-dress rehearsal. 
 
 The curtain came down the next night on a brilliant 
 success. The big house had been crowded to its utmost ; 
 for a change the play was bright and sparkling, Sunny 's 
 was a part to revel in. The music was tuneful and 
 catchy, the people went away humming some of the 
 numbers. 
 
 Rostheimer, large and important, greasy, with a huge 
 cigar in his face, dominated the back of the stage. 
 
 "Dere, ain't I ride?" he said. "Ain'd I ride? Dat 
 Sunny 's der von!" 
 
 "I always said so; but for you, she'd never have left 
 us at all! I found her, you didn't!" Hemmingway said. 
 He scowled at the man with the money and wished him 
 at the bottom of the sea. 
 
 Everyone was crowding round Sunny congratulating 
 her. Yet they were strange faces; in spite of her success 
 Sunny felt just a little lonely. She thought of the chill, 
 empty rooms when she should get back, and then she 
 saw a familiar face.
 
 Ashes 459 
 
 "Arthur!" she said. "Were you in the house all the 
 time?" 
 
 He nodded. "Of course; ripping!" he said briefly. 
 " It's no use my telling you what all the others have been 
 telling you, Sunny. I'm glad, that's all, jolly glad! 
 You'll wake to-morrow to find yourseh famous; you 
 were a bit in that line, but this" he paused "this 
 put the lid on. You're bang up at the top of the musical 
 comedy tree now!" 
 
 She nodded. "I hoped so, I suppose so," she said 
 "Only," she shivered, "it's a little cold, isn't it?" 
 
 It was not ; it was hot there behind the scenes. 
 
 "You are tired, girl," he said quietly. "And a bit 
 lonely; you miss the ancient aunt and Evy Cliff orde." 
 
 "Yes," she said, "you understand." 
 
 "So, I thought, if you'd come," he said; he hesitated. 
 "I know it's not in your line, but just this once." 
 
 "You want to take me out, Arthur?" she asked. 
 
 "Yes, to a little quiet supper, somewhere where we 
 can talk." 
 
 "I'll love to come!" Sunny said. 
 
 He had hardly hoped for it had not expected it. 
 
 ' ' That's good ! " he said. ' ' Get ready ! ' ' 
 
 It was a very quiet little restaurant tucked away 
 somewhere among the back streets. There was no gay, 
 glittering throng here, the few people who came in for 
 a meal came for that purpose and nothing else. In a 
 corner Curtiss and Sunny had a little table to themselves. 
 
 The triumph of the night was over, she came down to 
 earth, she talked with him as one friend with another. 
 She told him her plans, a little red-and-white house at 
 Sunnyville, a patch of garden where she would work her- 
 self; a car, of course, that would be necessary; but 
 something small, inexpensive to run, something she 
 might be able to drive herself sometimes.
 
 460 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "And I remember," he said, "you used to talk of an 
 expensive flat and a big fat landaulette of fifty horse- 
 power or more." 
 
 "I know," she said; "but one alters, Arthur." 
 
 "In some things; in some things one never alters," 
 he said. 
 
 "One thing you and me won't alter in, Arthur," she 
 said softly. "That is, being friends ! " 
 
 He nodded and smiled at her. Once he had dared to 
 hope for so much more, now he had put the hopes behind 
 him. He must be content with the crumbs. 
 
 He saw her home to her own door, and held her hand 
 for a moment longer, perhaps, than was necessary. 
 
 "Good-night, Sunny," he said. "Good-night, dear; 
 it's been a big success for you to-night; may there be 
 many, many more in store, and may the great happiness 
 come to you one day!" He lifted her hand to his lips 
 and turned away and she stood there with the key of 
 the door in her hand watching him; but she did not see 
 him very distinctly, because of the mist before her eyes. 
 
 "He's he's a good sort, Arthur!" she whispered. 
 "One of the best! If only" She paused. She 
 opened the door and went in. 
 
 She went up the stairs to the empty rooms, and then 
 she did what she might have done yesterday, but did 
 not; she sat down and had a good cry.
 
 CHAPTER LXIII 
 
 LONELY 
 
 OF course it was a big success; some of the more 
 stately and important of the daily papers devoted 
 a whole column to a review of The Lady Detective. They 
 spoke of the charm of Posetti's melodies, the bright 
 and sparkling dialogues ; most of all, they lauded Sunny 
 to the skies. She was the very spirit of joy, the essence 
 of humor and of fun: she was a consummate actress. 
 She held her audience spellbound. She was the life 
 ?"d soul of the whole play from beginning to end, and 
 FO on and so on. 
 
 Sunny skimmed through four or five of the more im- 
 portant critiques, threw the papers aside, and made a 
 good breakfast. Then she put on her hat and went out; 
 she took the train to Havers and walked to Sunnyville, 
 and spent the morning worrying Johnson. 
 
 "What's your trouble," Sunny said, "is you don't 
 get a move; you look round and say everything is lovely, 
 aren't we doing nicely? Then you shut your eyes and 
 get dreaming about it. What you want is to get moving 
 all the time, and it's to help you keep moving that I'm 
 coming here." 
 
 "You coming here?" he said. "What for?" 
 
 "Only to live," Sunny said. "I'm going to have 
 that last cottage." 
 
 Johnson groaned. "Then there won't be any more 
 peace for me." 
 
 461
 
 4 62 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "There's never going to be any peace for you," Sunny 
 said, "till every hotel, every restaurant, every private 
 house in the land has got John Crow pickles and jams 
 on their tables." 
 
 "As it is," Johnson said, "we're working up to full 
 strength. We can't do any more unless we put down 
 fresh boiling plant." 
 
 "Then put it down!" Sunny said. 
 
 "We've got nowhere to put it." 
 
 "Then for goodness' sake build, that's what I say. 
 You say you can't do any more and you don't do it; 
 but we're going to do it! What more boiling plant do 
 you want ? " 
 
 He explained. Sunny and he put their heads together; 
 the stage, her success of last night, was miles and miles 
 away, out of her mind altogether. She went into figures, 
 discussed cubes, squares, and feet frontages till Johnson's 
 head turned. 
 
 "I've got it," she said. "Those are the plans; I'll 
 rush back and talk to that architect chap and get him 
 to set to work." 
 
 "But," he said, "we ought to get it passed by a board 
 of directors; it'll cost three thousand." 
 
 "We'll get it passed when they've made a start," 
 Sunny said. "What's the use of sitting down waiting? 
 Of course the directors will pass it, they've got to." 
 
 And so, as a matter of fact, they did. 
 
 Sunny had moved, she had taken possession of one of 
 the smallest of the red-and- white cottages ; she had spent 
 half a week's pay on furnishing it. 
 
 Among the earliest of her visitors was Arthur Curtiss. 
 He looked about him, he saw a small kitchen with deal 
 furniture, a red brick floor, a number of well-polished 
 tins on the high mantelpiece. 
 
 Sunny took him to the sitting-room, it was smaller
 
 Lonely 463 
 
 than the kitchen; there were a bookcase, a small oval 
 table of oak, three chairs, an oak dresser. The floor 
 was stained, and there were three rugs at twenty-nine 
 and eleven each. 
 
 "But this isn't what what you you planned, 
 Sunny," he said. " I thought you meant to have rooms 
 just like Leslie Montressor's ? " 
 
 "That's how I used to think. I was a child then; 
 one changes," she said quietly. "One changes one's 
 ideas, Arthur; I've changed mine." 
 
 She put her hand on his arm with the old affectionate 
 gesture. She knew that she could trust this man, trust 
 him in every possible way. 
 
 "I remember," he said, "you used to talk of sofy 
 cushions on the floor." 
 
 She laughed. " Come and see the other rooms. " 
 
 There were only two others, one her bedroom. He 
 entered it almost reverently and looked about him. 
 
 A plain little room with attic windows, a small white 
 bed, a painted suite of furniture, and clean scrubbed floors, 
 with a mat or two laid here and there. 
 
 "Once," she said, "I used to picture the grand bed- 
 room I was to have some day. I remember that crimson 
 velvet played a big part in it, Arthur. Crimson velvet 
 and draperies round the bed. I think the bed was to 
 have been of solid gold, I forget now!" She laughed 
 again. 
 
 "The other room's empty, yet some day I shall get 
 a maid." 
 
 "Do you live here alone, then, Sunny?" 
 
 She nodded. ' ' Of course. ' ' 
 
 "And do everything for yourself, clean and all that?" 
 
 "Everything! I like it, love it, it gives me something 
 to do, and prevents me worrying poor old Johnson into 
 his grave. Come and sit down and I'll get lunch."
 
 4 6 4 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 She had cooked it herself, this lunch, and he was 
 frankly amazed. 
 
 "Sunny, is there anything you can't do?" 
 
 "A good many things," she said. "But if you mean 
 the cooking, cooking's dead easy!" She laughed. "A 
 girl who can't cook has no business to eat ! " 
 
 "You are a wonder!" he said. "Just now you said 
 that there were some things you couldn't do, tell me one 
 of them." 
 
 She shook her head, her face flushed. "One day, 
 I I may," she said, "but not now!" 
 
 He came often; she was always glad to see him. He 
 had lunch with her in the little kitchen, and she cooked 
 it herself for them. Somehow Sunny never got the little 
 servant-maid she was always promising herself. She 
 was in no hurry. 
 
 Every evening at half-past five she shut the door of 
 the little red-and-white cottage and got into her small 
 car and drove to the theatre. 
 
 The Lady Detective was having a brilliant run. Night 
 after night the " House Full " boards were put up outside. 
 Hemmingway rubbed his hands, the receipts were beyond 
 his expectations. Even Rostheimer went about with a 
 fat smile on his face. 
 
 "Good liddle Sunny Ducrow, she make dis go all 
 ride," he said. "You ought to dank me for gedding 
 her back, Max!" 
 
 "You go to the dickens," Hemmingway said. "I got 
 lier in the first place; she would never have left but 
 for you!" 
 
 "Look here, do you want to quarrel mit me?" Ros- 
 theimer demanded. 
 
 Hemmingway stared him in the eyes, the box-office 
 receipts gave him a feeling of independence. 
 
 <: l don't care a hang one way or the other; if you
 
 Lonely 4 6 5 
 
 feel like quarrelling, let 's have it out ! " he said. ' ' And if 
 you want to clear out of it, you cau, there's nothing to 
 stop you!" 
 
 But Rostheimer caved in, like the fat coward he was. 
 
 And so the days and the weeks swelled into months 
 and The Lady Detective still drew full houses, and seemed 
 as if its popularity would never wane. Posetti wrote 
 new songs for Sunny, and Sunny sang them, and the 
 organs played them, and the street boys whistled them; 
 and the name of Sunny Ducrow was as well known, if 
 not better, than that of any Cabinet Minister throughout 
 the land. 
 
 And Sunny lived on in the little red-and-white cottage, 
 and sang as she scrubbed her white floors and dusted her 
 little ornaments or polished the tins in the kitchen. 
 
 Sometimes Evy and Bert came to see her and stayed 
 a night. Once Mrs. Porkberry and her new husband 
 came, but it was a trial. He was humble and effusive, 
 and Mrs. Porkberry spoke of the past and wept copiously. 
 Sunny was glad to see them go, and slipped a ten-pound 
 note into Porkberry 's hot, moist hand at parting. 
 
 It was Thursday to-day, and Thursday was Curtiss's 
 day. He always came on Thursday and had lunch with 
 Sunny and inspected the jam factory. 
 
 Sunny, with a cookery book propped up open against 
 a jam pot on the kitchen table, was struggling more or 
 less successfully with a new dish. 
 
 "Take the yolks of two new-laid eggs, separate from 
 the whites, and beat," she read aloud. " I've done that! 
 One ounce of castor sugar and half a pint of milk, 
 when cream can't be procured well it can, half a pint 
 of milk and " She paused, it was the sound of 
 wheels, a car had arrived and pulled up outside the door. 
 It was Arthur. 
 
 Sunny turned her flushed face towards the window, 
 
 30
 
 466 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 saw the tail end of a car, and called out cheerily. " Come 
 in!" 
 
 He came in ; he stood in the doorway. 
 
 "I'm making a stunning pudding for you!" she said. 
 "It's like this you take the yolks of two new-laid 
 eggs " She paused, she looked up, the color faded 
 from her cheeks. 
 
 4 ' Sunny ! " the man said, ' ' Sunny ! ' ' 
 
 Sunny held out both hands, she gripped the edge of 
 the table. ' ' Stan ! ' ' she whispered. ' ' I I didn't know. 
 I didn't know!"
 
 CHAPTER LXIV 
 
 WHY IT DIED 
 
 DOBRINGTON came into the room; he looked 
 leaner, a shade older, tanned. His absence had 
 done him good, his appearance had improved generally. 
 Sunny saw it all in a flash, just as she saw everything 
 with one glance from her bright eyes. She held out a 
 small hand. 
 
 "Glad to see you, Stan," she said, and wondered in- 
 wardly why her voice never trembled, why she should 
 feel so cool and at her ease. 
 
 "Only that, Sunny?" he asked. He held her hand 
 tightly. 
 
 "Only that and and won't you sit down?" she said, 
 disengaging her hand. "Let's see, how long have you 
 been away? Months and months, isn't it? Time flies, 
 doesn't it!" 
 
 "It hasn't for me, every hour has been an eternity 
 since I saw you last!" he said. 
 
 Sunny laughed. "That's a nice way of putting it, 
 Stan!" 
 
 "Sunny, I I've been a fool!" he cried. 
 
 Sunny nodded. "Most have!" she said. "Aren't 
 you going to sit down, Stan, or are you in a hurry?" 
 
 He sat down, he drew a chair close to the little kitchen 
 table. 
 
 " Sunny, this this isn't the welcome I had hoped for, 
 dreamed of!" he said. 
 
 467
 
 468 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "What welcome do you want, Stan? I'm glad to 
 see you looking so well. I'm always glad to see old 
 friends again, and you are one of my closest and best 
 friends!" 
 
 "Only that?" he said. 
 
 "Stan, what made you come back so quick? I was 
 told you'd gone to stay for a long time. Why did you 
 come back, and what made you come here to look me 
 up?" She looked him straight in the face. 
 
 "I I had a letter, a letter from the Duchess, God 
 bless her!" Dobrington said. 
 
 "She's an old dear, God bless her!" Sunny said. "I 
 wish there were more like her!" 
 
 "She told me the whole truth, Sunny; she wrote me 
 sharply, not more sharply than I deserved. She was 
 frank and outspoken; she told me exactly what she 
 thought of me." 
 
 "It's her way!" Sunny said. 
 
 Dobrington rose suddenly. "And she was right, I 
 have been a fool, a mad, hopeless suspicious fool, Sunny ! " 
 
 "Something like that!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Sunny " He paused; he looked at her. "Sunny, 
 I have brought a message from my mother to you." 
 
 "Last time I see her," Sunny said, "she didn't seem 
 as if she wanted to send me any valentines." 
 
 "She was wrong, as I was wrong; she realized it and 
 is sorry, she regrets the past, Sunny, she asks me to tell 
 you so and ask you to forgive." 
 
 "There's nothing to forgive," Sunny said. "She 
 was right in her way; she believed what she heard, and 
 she was right. After all, you're her son, and a mother's 
 got the right to do the best she can for her son, I don't 
 blame her; if it had been me I dare say I would have been 
 just the same." 
 
 "Then you do forgive?"
 
 Why It Died 469 
 
 "There's nothing to forgive her!" Sunny said. 
 
 "Sunny, do you forgive me?" 
 
 She nodded. "Of course, Stan. You didn't know 
 me well enough to trust me, that's all!" she said. "It 
 wasn't your fault ! It was just because you didn't know 
 me well enough." 
 
 "I did not then, but I do now Sunny. I have come 
 back to you. Don't you understand why why I 
 hurried back, why I lost not one moment in returning 
 here as soon as I got that letter? I am here, dear, to 
 tell you I am sorry, to tell you that I despise myself. 
 I ask you to forgive me, dear. Sunny will you?" 
 
 "Of course I do, Stan!" She held out her hand. 
 "We're just the same friends as ever!" 
 
 "Friends! You don't think I came back for that?" 
 he said. " I came back because in all this world you are 
 the only girl I love, the only one I shall ever love!" 
 
 She shook her head slowly till her curls danced. 
 "You thought you did, Stan, but you did not!" she 
 said quietly. "Love means something more than mere 
 words. If I loved anyone" she paused "if I loved 
 anyone truly and with all my heart, I'd believe in 'em 
 all through everything; I wouldn't go rushing to the 
 other side of the world without a word, without giving 
 them a chance to explain"; she paused again. "If I 
 loved anyone, Stan, nothing on this earth 'ud make me 
 believe ill of them. I'd hold to them and trust them 
 and She broke off suddenly. "Oh, what's the 
 use?" she cried. "I s'pose a woman loves different to 
 a man, Stan, and that's just all there is to it! I'm 
 making a pudding, I expected a visitor. It's getting to 
 be a bit late now, and I don't suppose he'll come after 
 all!" 
 
 "He?" 
 
 " Arthur CurtissS"
 
 47<> Sunny Ducrow 
 
 "Sunny, I I can't bear this. Sunny, you know why 
 I have come rushing back to you from the ends of the 
 earth! You know what is in my heart; you know that 
 I loved you, dear, with all my heart, with all my soul, 
 I believe, before I went away. My love for you now is 
 \ greater even than it was then. My mother knows, she 
 understands. She told me to remind you of words that 
 she had once uttered in your presence; so long as the 
 girl I chose was honorable, true, and good, she would 
 not oppose my wishes, if even she was only a flower-girl, 
 out of the street, a beggar." 
 
 "Or a girl off the stage!" Sunny said, "I remember!" 
 
 "And so, with her consent, with her good wishes, 
 Sunny, I have come back to you," he said. "Come to 
 you this day to ask you to be my wife, to forgive and 
 forget my folly, my distrust, and lack of faith in you. 
 And you love me, dear, I know you love me, you have 
 admitted It. You do not forget?" 
 
 "I don't forget, I did love you," she paused. "Stan, 
 I loved you terribly " She smiled slowly. "It all 
 seems so long ago. I'd have given up life, I think, if I 
 could have done you good. There wasn't anyone in 
 the world for me but you. But I am only a girl off the 
 stags and you are " 
 
 "The man who loves you!" he said quietly. 
 
 "And didn't trust me!" she said quietly. "I loved 
 you till that day, till those days of watching and waiting, 
 then I understood. You had gone away without one 
 word to me; you despised me and looked down on me, 
 yet never gave me the chance that the law even gives 
 to a prisoner to say if he's guilty or innocent. And 
 and that hurt, Stan, and then, little by little I got to 
 understand that your love for me couldn't have been 
 so much after all, there wasn't any faith nor trust with 
 it, Stan, and I got thinking" she paused, there was a
 
 Why It Died 47i 
 
 dreamy, far-away look in her eyes "I got thinking; 
 I'm very young yet, only just turned seventeen, only a 
 kid! It'll be a long, long time before I think of getting 
 married, if I ever do. Your liking me and loving me 
 and you being who you are, it all flattered me and made 
 me think that I cared a whole lot!" 
 
 "And and you didn't Sunny?" he asked. "Sunny, 
 you didn't care for me then?" 
 
 "I did," she said. "I did, and if you hadn't gone 
 away, I'd have gone on caring and the real love would 
 have come, Stan, born of your trust in me, the great 
 love " She hesitated. "I'm not good at talking, 
 only down in my heart I know just what I mean, only 
 I can't explain. I can't make you understand just like 
 I understand myself. There was no one but you, Stan, 
 and I liked to think you loved me and I loved you ; and 
 when you went it hurt terrible! I felt as if I didn't 
 want to live; then I got thinking, thinking that your 
 love couldn't have been so much or you'd have trusted 
 me better, and so, little by little " 
 
 "Your love for me died!" he said bitterly. 
 
 "The the something in me that was growing into 
 love for you died," she said. "Yes, that's what I mean 
 something like that, only just a little different. Oh, 
 I've thought of it, hours and hours I've sat in this little 
 room and tried to understand, but I couldn't quite. 
 And then" she flushed suddenly "then I understood 
 at last!" She held out her hands to him suddenly, 
 "Stan, we'll be friends all our lives, dear, won't we?" 
 
 He caught her hand and crushed it tightly in his 
 own. 
 
 "Only friends, Sunny?" he whispered. 
 
 "Only friends, Stan!" she said. 
 
 "But but don't you understand; I came back from 
 the ends of the world, I came here to-day with my
 
 47 2 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 mother's consent, her good wishes, her desire almost to 
 ask you to be my wife, dear!" 
 
 "I know, only it can't be, Stan!" she said. "Your 
 going away made just the difference. It's like it's 
 like" she hesitated, a smile rippled on her lips "it's 
 like the pudding I was making when you came, Stan; 
 if I had gone straight on with that pudding it would 
 have been lovely, there'd have been nothing wrong; 
 now now because I had to stop in the middle of making 
 it, the milk's got burnt, and the eggs won't beat up nicely, 
 and oh a dozen things! It was just the breaking off 
 that done it, Stan, and the pudding's no good, no good 
 at all ! It'll have to go into the dustbin after all ! " 
 
 "I see," he said, "I see: then there is no hope for me ?" 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 "I've ruined my chances with you, flung everything 
 away?" he said. 
 
 "You didn't trust me, Stan, not as you would if you 
 had really loved me!" she said. "And and that's all 
 there is to it ! But I'm glad to see you back again, glad 
 to see you looking so well ; you look lots better than you 
 did when you went away. You haven't said anything 
 about my little house! This is where I live, Stan, this 
 is my home." 
 
 He did not speak, he strode across the room and 
 stared out of the window. She went to him and touched 
 him on the arm. 
 
 "Stan, I'm sorry, dear!" she said. "I'm sorry for 
 you, and sorry for myself too, a bit. Only, after all, 
 it's better this way; I wasn't ever good enough, not your 
 your class, Stan! Your mother would never have 
 been happy about it, your friends would have laughed; 
 everyone knows Sunny Ducrow now. They'd have 
 spoken slightingly of you and of me, Stan. They would 
 never have forgotten that you'd married a girl off the
 
 Why It Died 473 
 
 stage, a girl who began at the bottom and and did her 
 best to climb up; only that won't count with them! 
 They'll only think of the slum she came out of, and 
 forget the hard struggle she had to lift herself out of it, 
 Stan!". 
 
 "Do you think I care?" he cried. "Do you think I 
 care what others say? I love you, love you, Sunny. 
 I don't care what anyone says or thinks, I am beyond 
 that!" 
 
 ' ' Now, ' ' she said, ' ' but one day it would count. Stan, 
 don't, it's all over dear, over and done with. Perhaps, 
 after all, you did the best thing for yourself when you 
 didn't trust me and went away. One day you'll think 
 so, I dare say!" 
 
 "And and all the time," he cried in sudden passion, 
 "you you played the fool with me, you pretended, 
 you " He paused; her eyes met his, he saw pain 
 and wonder in them. 
 
 "Sunny, I'm sorry!" he said. He caught her hand 
 and held it tightly. "And this is your answer, your 
 last, your final answer to me? It is not to be?" 
 
 She did not answer for a moment; her bright eyes 
 met his frankly, then she sighed, she laughed a little. 
 
 "It is not to be," she said, "it can't be now, it all got 
 spoiled, Stan, because you went away ! You aren't going ? ' ' 
 
 He nodded; he was at the door. 
 
 "I thought you'd stay and and have lunch with 
 me, it's my own cooking, Stan!" she said. 
 
 "Thank you, no, I won't stay; you have given me 
 my answer, Sunny, I am going, good-bye!" He held 
 out his hand. 
 
 The tears came into her eyes. "I don't want to part 
 with you like this," she said. 
 
 "Good-bye!" he said again. "Good-bye, I am sorry 
 I came back!"
 
 474 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 She shivered a little. "Good-bye, then, Stan!" she 
 said gently, "if if you feel like that about it!" 
 
 " Yes," he said, " I am sorry I came back. I I might 
 have known a girl like you would change ! You are right, 
 you were only a child, there was no reality in your love, 
 it was merely a fancy, a passing fancy for me. I suppose 
 I should be proud that I awakened your liking if only 
 for a little while. Good-bye, Sunny!" 
 
 "Good-bye, Stan," she said quietly. 
 
 He held her hand tightly for a moment and looked 
 into her face. 
 
 "I might have known," he said; "off with the old 
 love and on with the new!" He laughed bitterly. "I 
 suppose you forgot me as soon as I was gone! Well, 
 there's nothing more to say ; I was a fool to go, a bigger 
 fool to come back ! Good-bye ! " 
 
 "Good-bye!" she said gently. 
 
 He was gone. She heard him go out, heard the engine 
 of the car start up, heard the gears go in and the sound 
 of the tires turning on the ground. Gone! 
 
 She stood by the mantelpiece and looked down into 
 the fire. How easily he had shifted all the blame of it 
 from his own shoulders on to hers! The tears welled 
 in her eyes and trickled slowly down her cheeks unusual 
 tears. 
 
 " He's hurt and angry ! " she thought. " Oh, it doesn't 
 matter what he thought!" she muttered. "And it was 
 easiest for him to think it was my fault ; if he had never 
 gone away, I'd have gone on loving him, and then I s'pose 
 one day my love my little love for him would have 
 become a great love, that's what I meant to tell him, 
 but couldn't. It was a little love, a child's love, but it 
 could have grown and got stronger, bigger and better 
 if it had been allowed to stand in the sunshine. But 
 it wasn't, it was pushed away in a dark corner; it tried
 
 Why It Died 475 
 
 to live, it made a bit of a struggle and then then it 
 just died!" She laughed softly and wiped the tears 
 away. 
 
 "But it died," she whispered. "Yes, it died, it died. 
 I knew it when I saw him; I didn't know it quite till 
 then, it died all right!"
 
 CHAPTER LXV 
 
 THE THING SHE COULD NOT DO 
 
 A RTHUR CURTISS did not come to luncheon that 
 /v day, nor the next ; a whole week passed. Sundays 
 he often came, and Sunny watched for him this Sun- 
 day morning, but he did not come to Sunnyville, so 
 Sunny got out the little car, which she had learned to 
 drive herself, and she drove to see Bert and Evy. 
 
 Bert was struggling with a new play which, with his 
 wife's help, he was writing round Sunny. She wanted 
 to find out how it was getting on. It was a tiny box of 
 a place, almost as small as her own wee cottage, but 
 rather more elaborate as regards its furnishings. 
 
 There was a change in Bert, a very distinct change 
 for the better. He had thrown off his slouch; he held 
 his head up; there was in his eyes an expression of con- 
 fidence, of greater self-respect. He spoke with less un- 
 certainty; he even flushed when he talked of the play, 
 and the light of enthusiasm glowed in his eyes. 
 
 Sunny saw it. She looked at him and nodded appre- 
 ciatively. 
 
 "She's going to do him a heap of good; she's making 
 a man of Bert, getting him out of the old rut!" she 
 thought ; and she was right. 
 
 Evy, in her own way, was ten times more clever than 
 Bert; better educated, her outlook on life was broader; 
 she knew a great deal that he had never dreamed of. 
 He was a child compared with this sweet-faced life ? a 
 
 476
 
 The Thing She Could Not Do 477 
 
 wife of his. Yet to see them together, to hear them, one 
 would think that he was an epitome of wisdom and she 
 an ignorant little thing. She appealed to him every 
 moment ; she strove to put confidence into him, and she 
 succeeded. In a quiet, unostentatious way, Evy was 
 educating her husband, and Sunny saw it. She heard 
 Bert hold forth enthusiastically on subjects of which, a 
 few months ago, he had been entirely ignorant. He had 
 self-assurance which he had never possessed before. 
 
 "You're the cleverest girl I ever saw; how clever you 
 are!" Sunny whispered to Evy when they were alone. 
 "You are the cleverest girl and the best!" 
 
 "Clever, I?" Evy flushed. "Why? I don't under- 
 stand; what do you mean, Sunny?" 
 
 "You're making Bert; you've made him, he's different, 
 he's a man now ! He's got something in him ; he always 
 had, come to that, but he was afraid of himself, didn't 
 trust himself! You're teaching him to believe in him- 
 self a bit, and it's the best thing you ever did, Evy!" 
 
 "Sunny, do do you think I am succeeding?" Evy 
 asked. 
 
 "I know you are; Bert's different, I wouldn't have 
 believed it! Only, Evy, be careful, don't let him get 
 too much the other way; don't let him get thinking 
 too much of himself and too little of you! If he does, 
 I'll have a word to say to Bert!" 
 
 Evy smiled; she shook her head. "That's where 
 you are wrong!" she said. "You understand Bert all 
 right, but Bert is very, very good to me, and we are 
 very happy, Sunny. I think I know we shall be happier 
 and happier as the years pass. We understand one 
 another, Bert and I!" 
 
 Sunny smiled. "That's where you make a mistake!" 
 she said. "You understand Bert all right, but he doesn't 
 understand you; he thinks he does, but he doesn't! No
 
 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 man ever does understand a woman properly yet, and I'll 
 bet you that to the last day of your lives Bert'll never 
 quite understand his wife; and it's just as well he 
 shouldn't!" 
 
 "I don't understand you, Sunny!" Evy cried. "I 
 hide nothing from Bert, there's nothing in the past that 
 I haven't told him!" 
 
 "I don't mean that!" Sunny said. 
 
 "I don't understand what you do mean, Sunny, dear!" 
 
 Sunny shook her head: "When you are as old as me, 
 Evy " 
 
 "As old as you, I'm years older than you are, you 
 child!" 
 
 "In some ways I'm a lot older than you!" Sttnny said. 
 "A lot, a lot, Evy!" 
 
 The tiny cottage in Sunnyville seemed very empty 
 to-night. Sunny shivered a little as she lighted the gas. 
 It was lonely coming back here to the emptiness, the 
 more so by comparison with the happy little home she 
 had just left behind her. 
 
 "Anyhow, it don't matter about me," she thought. 
 "Bert's happy and Evy's happy, and even aunt is 
 happy as she'll ever be in this world, and me! if I am 
 a bit lonely, I s'pose it's my own fault! But I know 
 what I'll do, I know!" She nodded her head. 
 
 The idea had been in her head for a long time. " I'll 
 get a woman to come and do for me," she thought, "and 
 I'll have dear old Gibbins here; it's getting to be too 
 much his coming down here four days a week. I'll 
 have him here, get rooms for him next door with Mrs. 
 Bagley, and he'll be happy as a king, bless his old heart ! " 
 
 With Sunny to decide was to act immediately. Three 
 days later old Gibbins was installed in Mrs. Bagley's 
 front bedroom, as happy as a king, as Sunny had said he 
 would be. But Sunny 's house was his home; he took
 
 The Thing She Could Not Do 479 
 
 his meals with her, they roamed about the place together 
 and talked to one another, and there was a perpetual 
 smile on the old man's face. 
 
 "God has been very good to me, Sunny," he said, 
 "very, very good to me!" 
 
 "And to me!" Sunny said quietly. "It's right about 
 about His helping those that help themselves." 
 
 The old man put his hand affectionately on her arm. 
 
 "We've helped one another a little, little Sunny," 
 he said. "And He has helped us both. I'm very, 
 very happy here, happier than I ever thought I should 
 be! Happier, my dear, perhaps than I deserve to be!" 
 He paused, his hand tightened on her arm for a moment. 
 Sunny looked up at him and saw the tears in his old eyes, 
 she lifted his hand to her lips. 
 
 "You and me, no matter what comes, what happens," 
 she whispered, "you and me together, the best of friends, 
 true friends!" She paused; she lifted her little face. 
 
 "There," she said, "don't you get it now, the smell of 
 vinegar? It always reminds me of Bert." 
 
 Sunny was sewing industriously. Out on the scrap 
 of a back garden, old Gibbins was manfully digging. 
 
 After all, Sunny had decided against the woman to 
 come in and help. 
 
 "I shouldn't be able to call the place my own," she 
 thought, "and I'd have her breaking up my things. 
 No, I'll go on just as I am!" 
 
 The old man paused and rested on his spade, and Sunny 
 watched him with a smile; then he went on with his 
 work again. 
 
 "I didn't ought to be here sewing," she muttered, "I 
 ought to be learning my part in Bert's play. Where's 
 the script?" She rose, then stood still.
 
 4 8 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 From outside there came the sound of a car. Sunny 
 listened; her face whitened a little. She listened intently, 
 the car had stopped; she heard the sound of footsteps, 
 and the color flooded her cheeks suddenly. 
 
 "I thought you you'd forgotten all about me, 
 Arthur!" she said. 
 
 "You didn't think that, Sunny!" he said quietly. 
 "You knew that was not true!" 
 
 "Then why why didn't you come ? " she said. "I've 
 been looking for you, it's weeks now since you were here ; 
 you never came that day, and I I had got such a 
 nice lunch for you ! " 
 
 "I did come that day," he said. "I came, but 
 He paused. 
 
 "But you didn't come, I didn't see you," Sunny cried. 
 
 "You had a visitor; someone was here, so I went away 
 again," he said. 
 
 "I see," Sunny said slowly. 
 
 He reached out and held both her hands tightly. 
 "These are not mere words, Sunny," he said. "I am 
 glad from my heart, you deserve all the happiness this 
 world can give you, dear! I am glad he he came back, 
 glad all is well with you again!" 
 
 "I I don't understand," she said. 
 
 "Dear, you do. I knew who it was, it was Dobring- 
 ton, so I did not come ; I knew that you did not want me 
 that day, to-day I have just come to tell you that I am 
 glad you have found your happiness! I understand 
 there was some misunderstanding, some little quarrel, 
 eh? But it is all over; he came back to you, and so 
 I kept away like a coward! I had a fight with myself, 
 but, thank God! I've got the better of it. I'm here 
 to-day to wish you joy and happiness, Sunny. I do 
 from the bottom of my heart, without regret, without 
 pain, dear!"
 
 The Thing She Could Not Do 481 
 
 "Arthur," she said. "Arthur, I think I know what 
 you mean, but but you are wrong, all wrong!" 
 
 ' ' Wrong, ' ' he said. ' ' Wrong, Sunny ? ' ' 
 
 She nodded. "It was Stan; he he came back like 
 you said he did; but, Arthur, when he came back I I 
 knew that something had happened, something that 
 made all the difference to me and to him!" 
 
 "Sunny," he said. "Sunny, what do you mean? 
 Do you mean that you are not his promised wife?" he 
 cried. " I counted on that, I made up my mind when I 
 saw him here, his car waiting. I thought it would be 
 all right for you again. Sunny dear, is there anything 
 I can do? Tell me, is not the quarrel made up? Is 
 there anything that needs explaining? Let me help 
 you, dear, act for you; call on me as if I was your brother." 
 
 "There's nothing to put right, everything's put right," 
 she said. "It's all cleared up, Arthur, and and he's 
 gone!" 
 
 "Gone! you sent him away?" 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 "Then you you don't it was not" he paused 
 "Sunny, did you not love him?" 
 
 "Once," she said, "I thought I did, then I knew I 
 was wrong! I told him, and he was angry, very angry 
 with me, Arthur; but it's all over now. Do you remem- 
 ber once here in this little house you said I I was a 
 wonder, was there anything I could not do? And I I 
 said " 
 
 "You said there were some things that you could not 
 do, but you would not tell me what they were, Sunny." 
 
 "I I can't tell you now," she said. 
 
 "You sent him away," he said, "you sent him away; 
 why?" 
 
 "Because I knew that I did not love him as once I 
 
 31
 
 482 Sunny Ducrow 
 
 thought I did; he didn't trust me, Arthur, and that 
 killed my love for him!" 
 
 "Sunny, little Sunny, is there " He paused; 
 into his eyes there came an eagerness, a new-born hope. 
 " Dear, is there any hope for me now; is there any hope 
 in this world for me, Sunny?" 
 
 Sunny looked out through the window at the old man 
 laboring slowly over his work; she looked back into 
 his eager, pleading, hopeful eyes and she smiled. 
 
 "That was was it," she whispered, "one of the 
 things I could not do, Arthur just to to tell you, 
 dear, that I " 
 
 "Cared forme?" he whispered. "Cared? Sunny!" 
 
 Sunny nodded. 
 
 THE END
 
 ETHEL M. DELL'S NOVELS 
 
 May ba had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset A Dunlap's list 
 
 The scene of this splendid story is laid in India and 
 tells of the lamp of love that continues to shine through 
 all sorts of tribulations to final happiness. 
 
 GREATHEART 
 
 The story of a cripple whose deformed body conceals 
 a noble soul. 
 
 THE HUNDREDTH CHANCE 
 
 A hero who worked to win even when there was only 
 " a hundredth chance." 
 
 THE SWINDLER 
 
 The story of a "baa man's" soul revealed by a 
 woman's faith. 
 
 THE TIDAL WAVE 
 
 Tales of love and of women who learned to know the 
 true from the false. 
 
 THE SAFETY CURTAIN 
 
 A very vivid love story of India. The volume also 
 contains four other long stories of equal interest. 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
 
 FLORENCE L. BARCLAY'S 
 NOVELS 
 
 May bt hid wlwtvtr books tn sold. Ask fof Sromt 4 DimUp' Hrt. 
 
 THE WHITE LADIES OF WORCESTER 
 
 A novel of tne l^th Century. The heroine, believing she 
 had lost her lover, enters a convent. He returns, and in- 
 teresting developments follow. 
 
 THE UPAS TREE 
 
 A love story of rare charm. It deals with a successful 
 author and his wife. 
 
 THROUGH THE POSTERN GATE 
 
 The story of a seven day courtship, in which the dis- 
 crepancy in ages vanished into insignificance before the 
 convincing demonstration of abiding love. 
 
 THE ROSARY 
 
 The story of a young artist who is reputed to love beauty 
 above all else in the world, but who, when blinded through 
 an accident, gains life's greatest happiness. A rare story 
 of the great passion of two real people superbly capable of 
 love, its sacrifices and its exceeding reward. 
 
 THE MISTRESS OF SHENSTONE 
 
 The lovely young Lady Ingleby, recently widowed by the 
 death of a husband who never understood her, meets a fine, 
 clean young chap who is ignorant of her title and they fall 
 deeply in love with each other. When he learns her real 
 identity a situation of singular power is developed. 
 
 THE BROKEN HALO 
 
 The story of a young man whose religious belief was 
 shattered in childhood and restored to him by the little 
 white lady, many years older than himself, to whom he is 
 passionately devoted. 
 
 THE FOLLOWING OF THE STAR 
 
 The story of a young missionary, who, about to start for 
 Africa, marries wealthy Diana Rivers, in order to help her 
 fulfill the conditions of her uncle's will, and how they finally 
 come to love each other and are reunited after experiences 
 that soften and purify. 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
 
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