CRIMSON MOUNTAIN (15 page)

“Yes, I know,” said Laurel seriously. “I haven’t been going to church much lately. Somehow the ones I chanced on didn’t seem to mean much. They were just eager about how many came and how much money they raised.”

“Yes, that’s the way they impressed me,” said Pilgrim. “I couldn’t seem to get anything out of them. Perhaps I didn’t find the right ones. But lately, since I went to camp, I’ve been going to the meetings we have there. There’s a crackerjack chaplain down there, and he seems to be real as far as I can find out. He talks about being ‘saved’ as if it is something you can be sure of. I don’t know. If all Christians were like that, I might take stock in it. Maybe I’ll have time to think it over while I’m in the army. Seems like a thing one ought to take some thought about if one is going out to possibly be shot, you know.”

“Oh, don’t talk that way,” said Laurel with a sudden shiver. “Please don’t!” She laid her hand gently on his arm for an instant.

“Why! Would
you
care?” he asked, looking down at her in a kind of wonder.

“Yes! Yes, of course,” she said with almost a sob. “Of course I would care. You saved my life! And you’ve been wonderful to me. Don’t spoil this lovely day by talking about being shot.”

He was very still for a moment, and then he said, “Thank you for that. I never really thought about anybody caring what would happen to me.”

And then they suddenly arrived at the boardinghouse, with lights blazing forth from over the front door and from most of the windows. Three young men were getting out of a car in front of them and marching up the walk to the steps.

Laurel suddenly looked up and recognized the shoulders of two of those young men and drew back into the car out of sight, clutching fiercely the hand that still held hers.

“Oh, do I have to go in there just yet?” she asked, annoyed. “Couldn’t we drive on for a little? I don’t want to go in there right in front of all those men.”

“Of course we’ll drive on a little farther,” said Pilgrim, a ring of satisfaction in his voice. “It’s only eleven o’clock yet. And where, by the way, did you arrange to keep your car?”

“Just around the corner there. It’s only a step. There’s a way out the back gate.”

“I see,” said Pilgrim, “that’s not so bad. Suppose we drive around a block or two and watch when their car goes away. I might get a glimpse of those men and see if I know any of them.”

“I thought
I
did,” said Laurel in a small voice.

“You
did?
Are they men you know and can trust?”

“I know them—I guess,” said Laurel. “That is, I’ve met them in the city among my cousin’s friends. But they are not my kind of people. I would rather not meet them just now, anyway. They know nothing about my life and would only laugh and jeer at my trying to earn a living. They are people who like to play a lot. They don’t take life seriously. Anyway, I’d rather not see them at present. About trusting them, I wouldn’t know. I never had to. They are pleasant enough and polite at a party. That is all I’ve seen of them. One was a war correspondent in Germany until a short time ago. His name is Winter. I’m not sure, but the other one was a writer, too. His name is Rainey.”

“I see,” said Pilgrim thoughtfully. “Now, what could we do about this? Would you rather get a room at the tearoom for tonight? Do you dislike meeting them as much as that?”

“I couldn’t,” said Laurel. “All my things are locked in my room. No, of course it’s not as important as that. I just would rather be forgotten. They don’t need to know where I am. Unless of course they are staying here for a while. Then I couldn’t very well help myself. But maybe they only dropped in to see somebody and will go on pretty soon.”

“Perhaps,” he said. “We’ll see.”

So they drove around for a little longer, too much under the spell of their recent words and the silver night to make much conversation. Perhaps, too, a little occupied with the thought of the intruding men. Phil Pilgrim was troubled that his companion of the day was planning to abide in a house that was open to strange boarders. It was no place for her to be staying.

He spoke out his thought presently.

“I know,” said Laurel. “It may not be as pleasant as I would like, but perhaps I’d better try it out. The room is very pleasant and convenient. There is an upper porch opening off it that attracted me.”

“But I don’t like to leave you in a place like that. You seem so unprotected.”

“Thank you. It’s nice to think someone cares.” She smiled. “But you see, I took the room for a week and left a deposit. I think I had better try to stay if possible and see what it’s like. Of course if those men are the ones I know, they are quite all right as far as safety is concerned. But they are just not the kind I care to choose for friends. And I imagine it would be hard to live in the close quarters of a boardinghouse without a certain degree of intimacy.”

“Rather!” said Pilgrim dryly. She had never had much experience of boardinghouses, and he had and spoke out of his wider knowledge.

“I feel,” he said with slow hesitation, “as if I were somehow responsible for you, and I don’t like to go far away and leave you in a place that I am not perfectly sure about.”

He looked down at her through the moonlight, and an answer of utter trust and confidence flashed between them.

And just then they turned again into the street of the boardinghouse and saw two of the men, the two that Laurel thought she knew, coming out of the house, while the third stood at the top of the steps and waved a hand as in farewell.

The two men who looked like Winter and Rainey came out to their car and hurriedly drove away in the direction they would take if they were returning to the city. The third man went back in, and as they pulled up before the house, they could see him mounting the stairs with his suitcase.

“Well, thank goodness, that hazard is past for the night anyway,” said Laurel. “I don’t know why I was such a silly about those two men. They were nice enough, even quite attentive, and I didn’t dislike them. I just didn’t want to have the whole mob of people I left behind me find out where I am and come howling after me every time they have a party or anything. I don’t want to live their kind of life, and they can make it mighty uncomfortable for me if they find out where I am right now at the beginning, especially if they go back and get Cousin Carolyn started after me. But I suppose that is foolish. If I take and stick to it they’ll soon learn.”

“I understand,” said Pilgrim with a soft little touch of reassurance on the hand that lay next to him on the seat.

“Thank you,” said the girl happily. “I sort of knew you would. And now, shall we put the car in the garage? I have the key of my cubby hole here. And then I can slip in the side door of the house.”

He put the car away for her and walked with her to the side door.

“Suppose you meet me in front of the tearoom at nine thirty in the morning. Will that be too early?” he said quietly.

“That will be quite all right for me,” she answered in a whisper, “and thanks for everything—all day!”

He grasped her hand, giving it a quick little squeeze, and then he brought it swiftly up to his lips and laid them reverently upon it. “Good night,” he said and opened the door for her, disappearing quickly into the shadows of the path.

Laurel went hurriedly into the office and asked for her key from the sleepy clerk who was lolling in a big chair with a movie magazine. She was thankful that there was no one else in the office. She accomplished the distance to her own room without meeting anyone and was glad when the door was locked between herself and the world, and she could sit down for a minute and take in the thought of those lips upon her hand. What had come over her that a thing like that should produce such a tumult inside her? She had had her hand kissed before, but not like this. Not with such reverence, such tenderness! There was a quality to that caress that went deep into her soul, stirred her almost to tears, as if she had unexpectedly found something great and dependable. Somehow the experiences of yesterday and today had changed her outlook on life, and it would never be the same again.

S
unday morning when Laurel awoke, she found her room flooded with sunshine. It was really a very pleasant room. Two windows looked toward Crimson Mountain, its glorious blending of color plainly visible. After all, perhaps this was as good a boarding place as she could find.

The breakfast was fairly good, though Laurel was not critical this particular morning. She was full of the anticipation of the day, her mind dwelling on little things that had been said and done the day before. That reverent kiss on her fingers, nothing silly about it the way so many people of the world fooled around with kissing. It was almost an homage done her, and it stirred her even in memory more than she had yet owned to herself. This was the most interesting young man she had ever yet met. Were there others like him? He seemed so different. Oh, perhaps she was just silly and would snap out of it pretty soon, but she was enjoying it all and didn’t want to miss a single minute of this lovely day that was before her.

She had the dining room almost to herself, for the other boarders, if any, had not chosen to arise so early. There was just one young man over at the table in the corner, eating stolidly with downcast eyes. He was thickset, low-browed, and broad-shouldered, with large hands, blunt fingers, and small, sharp eyes boring into her, as if he were trying to pierce through her personality, but as she turned away, his eyes seemed to fade out like a moving picture, as if they had not been lifted at all. Yet she knew they had. It was uncanny. She had a distinct photographic vision on her own retina of how those eyes had looked, like ruthless gimlets boring into her life and examining it. She didn’t like it. It was weird. She felt as if he had torn away all reserve in herself, examined every cranny of her soul, and would be able now to understand everything she did. Oh, she didn’t want to be near him! Maybe it was silly, but definitely, if he was going to be a regular boarder here, she would find some other place. And she would do it so unobtrusively that he would never find out where she was gone, if that was possible.

She brought her breakfast to a hasty finish and went out to the office to inform the landlady that she would not be at dinner that day.

“Oh, all right,” said that person, studying her almost insolently. “Well, I was going to tell you that you can’t count meals out unless I have plenty of notice beforehand. Two days if possible. They have to be paid for whether they’re et or not. Understand?”

“Yes?” said Laurel lifting her eyebrows amusedly. “Well, all right. That seems fair enough. I’ll remember.”

The landlady pursed her lips as if offended and prepared another economic blast. “Well, I’m glad you understand that point. And now there’s another. You said you weren’t sure about taking your room for the winter, and I just wanted to let you know that I’ve had an application for it. It seems that’s true about the big munitions works going to be built here in this neighborhood, and that means housing conditions are going to be crowded. I had three men come in last night, and they wanted the three rooms. They just left a few minutes before you come in. That is, two of them did. The other man stayed and is here now. They wanted the three rooms together and liked yours best of all. They will take them for the winter, so if you wantta keep that room you took, you’ll have ta give me an answer at once or run the risk of losing it altogether. I couldn’t afford ta lose a rent fer the winter just fer one week’s rent.”

“I beg your pardon, Mrs. Price. I understood that you rented me the room for a week and accepted a down payment with that idea in mind. Are you telling me that you would like me to leave tonight?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m only saying I can’t afford to let a chance go fer renting the room fer the winter in case you decide not to stay. But that wasn’t saying you hadta leave tanight. I just want a quick decision.”

“I can’t possibly give you a decision tomorrow,” said Laurel firmly. “I may have time to look around further on Monday afternoon, but I’m not sure. If you are in as much of a hurry as that, I had better get my things and go elsewhere tonight, and you can refund me the money I gave you.”

Mrs. Price gave a quick little gasp.

“Oh no. I ain’t in as much of a hurry as that. Of course you can stay till Tuesday or mebbe Wednesday if nobody else don’t come in a hurry and want your room right away.”

“All right, Mrs. Price. I wanted to try out this location and see whether it suits me in every respect before I take the room indefinitely, but since you have other renters waiting, I’ll see what I can do about a decision as much before the week is up as possible.”

Laurel spoke coolly and decidedly, and Mrs. Price began to hedge a little. She didn’t want to lose this good-looking girl. With a lot of young men in the place, such a girl would be an asset.

“Well, I’ll do me best for ye,” she called after the girl as she mounted the stairs to get ready to meet Phil Pilgrim. But the landlady looked after her with a bit of worry on her brow. Had she gone the least bit too far in endeavoring to make a profitable deal with this young woman?

But Laurel did not stop to talk further. She marched on to her room and was soon ready for the day, thankful that there was still bright sunshine.

She looked very pretty as she came down the stairs a few minutes later, dressed in a blue suit that just matched her eyes and a little hat that was most attractive. Mrs. Price looked after her worriedly and thought again that as good-looking a young woman as that ought to be a great attraction in a boardinghouse where there would likely be a lot of young men coming. Maybe she would try to make her a little better offer after all, when she came back. Then she heard the girl’s car driving out of the garage and turned with a sigh to answer that new Mr. Byrger’s questions about how far it was to the top of Crimson Mountain.

That was a notable day to both the young people who drove off together to get their hostess and take her to church.

In the first place, the church was different from any church Phil or Laurel had ever attended. They felt the atmosphere as they entered the door. It was not a large, handsome church. Just a little, old-fashioned place that had the air of a good many years ago. The carpet was worn, the seats were a bit narrow and hard, and the windows wore no stained glass. But everything was clean and attractive, and the sun was shining in across the heads of the people, touching them with a sort of glory look, and there seemed to be loving-kindness in every face. The two young people sat down and looked around them curiously. What was it that made this simple gathering so different from other worshiping places? It seemed as if God was here. As if they could almost see Him if they could only get the earth mist brushed away from their eyes.