Читать книгу The House with the Blue Door - Footner Hulbert - Страница 7

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At five o’clock Sandra, in one of the effulgent Cassells limousines, picked up Lee Mappin at his office on lower Madison Avenue. Lee, as an author, didn’t really require an office, but he said it helped to promote habits of industry. Sandra had asked him if he could give her an hour of his time without specifying what for. As they drove away he said:

“I assume that this has something to do with Messrs. Ammon and Farren.”

“More or less,” said Sandra, toying with a bracelet.

“Where have you got them domiciled?”

“Sieg and Letty are at the Madison.”

“And Blondy?”

Sandra shrugged impatiently. “Oh, Blondy’s got a job driving a lumber truck.”

“Bravo Blondy!”

Sandra frowned. “Really, Lee, it’s very hard to understand you sometimes. Why is it a merit in Blondy to insist on being rough and common when I offer him a chance to better himself?”

Lee took a generous pinch of snuff and ignored the question. “Well, what about Sieg and Letty?” he asked.

“It’s apparent that you don’t like them,” she said huffily.

“Not for you, darling.”

“Why not for me?”

“They’re dangerous.”

“Ah,” breathed Sandra. “If they only were! I adore danger!”

“I’m not speaking of romantic danger, darling, but a very vulgar danger, such as having your throat cut and your diamonds stolen.”

“My diamonds are insured,” she said calmly. “If anybody demanded them, I should turn them over and collect the insurance next day.”

“If the robber didn’t know how reasonable you are, he might shoot you first and take the diamonds afterward.”

“Don’t be silly, Lee. I know these young people are no paragons of virtue. They’re human and passionate. They live close to the earth. That’s why they interest me. As long as I give them everything they want, they’re not going to turn on me. They look on me as a kind of princess. Indeed, that’s the trouble. They won’t let me be real pals with them.”

Lee took another pinch of snuff.

“You just took snuff,” she said irritably. “In a minute you’ll be sneezing your head off! It’s just a silly affectation, anyhow. You think you’re registering superiority that way, but it doesn’t fool anybody!”

“My darling,” said Lee, “I’m sure you didn’t ask me to go driving just for the purpose of scolding me.”

“Why don’t you like Sieg Ammon!” she demanded.

“Too slick, too smooth for my taste.”

“That’s only the small change he pays his way with. Under his slick exterior there is a real man, believe me. There is fire, savagery.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, don’t sentimentalize over him!” Lee broke out. “That is more than I can stand!”

“I assure you that I feel anything but sentimental toward Sieg,” she said stiffly.

“I don’t know whether you do or not. It is possible for a woman to get just as sentimental over savagery and crime as over sweetness and light!”

“And if you think that I am in danger of getting involved with him,” she went on, “that is nonsense, too. He and Letty are completely wrapped up in each other.”

“What has developed about the girl?”

“Nothing. I don’t get anywhere with her. She won’t let herself go with me. Not that I blame her especially. I suppose she feels she has to guard her secret from the world. She saves every bit of herself for him. They are living in a private paradise.”

“I hope it doesn’t prove to be a fool’s paradise for her.”

“Oh, you’re impossible today, Lee!”

Lee, noticing that they were still heading downtown, asked where they were bound for. Sandra mentioned a number on Henry Street.

“Henry Street?” said Lee. “Isn’t that rather a tough neighborhood?”

“Not tough,” said Sandra, “but plain.”

Lee touched one of her gleaming bracelets. “Just the same,” he said, “this is hardly suitable for Henry Street.”

“Don’t be absurd,” said Sandra. “I would feel undressed if I didn’t wear any jewels.”

“What is our business in Henry Street?” asked Lee resignedly.

“I want you to look at a house I am thinking of buying.”

“How can you use a house in Henry Street?”

“My attorney tells me it is a very good investment,” said Sandra in a dignified tone that assured Lee she was equivocating. “Property is depressed there at present and is sure to rise.”

“I see,” he said.

The part of Henry Street that they turned into was lined as far as one could see with rows of modest, old-fashioned brick buildings which had been single-family dwellings long ago. There were even a few skinny trees struggling for existence among the paving stones.

“The Henry Street Settlement plants them,” said Sandra. “The Settlement has improved the neighborhood wonderfully.”

They drew up before a house that was overflowing with carpenters, plasterers and painters. “I thought I was to be consulted before you took any definite step,” said Lee mildly.

Sandra shrugged elaborately. “That would only have meant hours of futile argument, darling. It was simpler to present you with an accomplished fact.”

“Quite,” said Lee. “Are you going to live here?”

“Certainly not. I shall just be an occasional guest.”

“I see. But why should I be brought into it now?”

“Oh, if you don’t wish to help me, Martin can drive you right uptown and come back for me.”

“Not at all,” said Lee resignedly. “Lead on!”

They got out of the car and, picking their way up the steps, entered the littered hall. Lee perceived at a glance that the old house had been charming and would be so again. The rooms were spacious and well-proportioned; the woodwork and mantels of good early nineteenth-century design. A graceful stairway wound up to the second floor.

“Some house,” said Lee. “Twelve rooms or more.”

“Fourteen,” said Sandra proudly.

“Isn’t that a lot of space for our lovebirds to flutter around in? Wouldn’t an apartment have been more suitable?”

“You don’t understand my plans. Sieg and Letty are only a part of it. I am establishing a sort of—what shall I call it?—a sort of hostel. Yes, that’s the word, a hostel. Sieg and Letty will run it for me.”

“What kind of hostel?” asked Lee grimly.

“For released prisoners,” said Sandra brightly.

“Merciful Heaven!” murmured Lee.

“Isn’t it a swell idea?” said Sandra with her big blue eyes shining. “One of the worst social problems is what to do with released prisoners. Of course, one house like this is only a drop in the bucket. But it’s a beginning, a beginning! It will provide a few men with a decent home until they can adjust themselves. Now you see why I had to have a house in a plain neighborhood. An apartment would never do.”

“A swell idea,” groaned Lee, “but, my dear friend, you’re going to get into trouble—just what kind of trouble I can’t foresee; many kinds, I fear!”

“You’re just an old croaker!” said Sandra. “My enthusiasm will solve all problems.”

“I don’t suppose anything I could say to you now would make any difference.”

“Not a bit! Everything is settled. But you don’t have to be in it if you don’t want to.”

“Sure, I want to,” said Lee. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything. But I must drop one word of warning. I will stand by you until the end, darling, but I cannot guarantee to get you out of whatever trouble you are going to get into. The possibilities are staggering!”

“Oh, you’re just talking,” she said calmly. “Men have to talk!”

They were mounting the stairs. “Sieg and Letty’s suite will be in the front,” said Sandra. “There’s a nice big room, an alcove that they can use for a dressing room or a private sitting room, and a bathroom.”

“Sing Sing was never like this!” murmured Lee.

“There are two more large bedrooms on this floor,” Sandra went on, “each with a bath; upstairs four smaller rooms and two baths. Do you think five baths will be sufficient?”

“Ample,” said Lee dryly.

“It’s important that the house should have the atmosphere of a good home. There is a nice bedroom and bath in the basement for a couple of servants.”

“Servants, too?”

“Oh, do be sensible!” said Sandra impatiently. “Can you see Letty in the kitchen, or Sieg sweeping the halls?”

“Frankly, darling, I cannot,” said Lee.

“There is one thing that troubles me a good deal,” she went on. “You could help me with it if you would.”

“What is that, dear one?”

“I suspect that Blondy is in love with Letty.”

“I am certain of it.”

“Then they should not all live together under the same roof. I shall depend on you to get Blondy a job out of town—a good, long way out of town.”

“I will see to it.”

“If you get him a job, I’ll give him an automobile to salve his feelings. I don’t suppose he’s ever had a car of his own.”

“Not unless he stole it.”

“A car will help him to forget Letty.”

As they returned to the main floor, they met Sieg Ammon coming in from the street with two girls; one was Letty, the other a tall, dazzling brunette in a silver fox jacket and a fantastic hat. She had annexed Sieg and Letty was following them, a little paler than usual and tight-lipped. Sieg introduced his friend as Miss Queenie Deane.

“She’s a singer,” he said to Sandra. “Perhaps you’ve heard her in one of the night clubs.”

“Haven’t had the pleasure,” said Sandra dryly.

Queenie took her in from top to toe with eyes as bright and hard as jet buttons. “The Mrs. Cassells?” she asked.

“As far as I know,” said Sandra, looking bored.

“Sieg and I are old pals,” Queenie said in a loud voice, looking fondly in the young man’s face. “We put on a dancing act in Chicago four years ago. I haven’t danced since.” She laughed excessively. “My God! you could have knocked me down with a feather when I heard he was married! I never thought of Sieg in connection with marriage!”

“Really!” said Sandra.

Sandra took possession of Sieg and they moved toward the rear of the house, the two girls following. They did not look at each other but their mutual hatred was so apparent that it was like a baleful lightning playing back and forth between them. Lee, behind them, picked his way between ends of lumber.

“I want you to see the tree in the back yard,” Sandra was saying. “Fancy, a real tree in this part of town! We can sit under it on warm evenings!”

Lee smiled to himself at the picture this called up; Sandra laden with diamonds, sitting in a back yard on Henry Street.

A large, pleasant room occupied the rear extension with a row of windows looking to the south. “I’m going to have this room paneled in pine,” Sandra said, “and call it the taproom.”

“And will you furnish the drinks?” asked Lee.

“I hadn’t thought of that yet. I suppose so.”

“I wouldn’t.”

Sieg spoke up. “Mr. Mappin is right, Mrs. Cassells. It would be better to let everybody do their drinking outside.”

“Oh, very well,” said Sandra shrugging. “Then we’ll call it the game room and not have a bar.”

“But you’ll put in a good floor for dancing,” suggested Queenie. “Oh, Sieg, wouldn’t this be a lovely room for dancing?” Whenever she addressed him, voice and glance were frankly seductive; Sieg lapped it up grinning, and the other women bristled. Queenie must be pretty dense, Lee thought, or else very sure of herself. She was dense, he decided, when he presently heard her saying to Sandra:

“Oh, Mrs. Cassells, I hope you’re going to let me come here and live! Of course, I haven’t served time, but I could make myself so useful. I could sing to the boys every night.”

“That would be lovely, I’m sure,” said Sandra in a voice as musical as breaking icicles. “Write me a little letter of application, won’t you? There are only six bedrooms available, you know, and I already have a pile of applications so high. I’m taking them up one by one.”

Even Queenie understood that she had been snubbed. “Oh, well, I don’t suppose you want girls in the house,” she said, laughing too loudly.

“That depends,” said Sandra.

To revenge herself, Queenie went to Sieg and, slipping her hand under his arm, looked up at him fondly. She was letting the other women see what they had been to each other. Sieg pressed her hand against his ribs and returned her glance. Letty bit her lip.

“Well, ta-ta, Handsome,” said Queenie. “I have a dinner date and I must go and array myself ... Good-by, Mr. Mappin. It’s been a pleasure to meet you. I’m showing at Le Coq Noir; do drop in some night ... ‘By Letty. You and I must have a heart-to-heart talk one of these days ... Mrs. Cassells, your house is going to be perfectly lovely. I do hope you’ll accept me as an inmate. Good-by, all.”

She sailed out, leaving a strong smell of French perfume behind her. Sieg went with her.

“For God’s sake, open a window!” said Sandra.

Letty threw up a sash and stood with her back to the others looking down into the yard. Sandra was watching the figure of Queenie disappearing through the hall. She couldn’t see much at the distance.

“That woman is an unmitigated you-know-what,” she said to Lee. “Word of four letters.”

“It has five, darling,” said Lee.

“Well, I never could spell. She ought to be put to torture. Lord! how I would enjoy stretching her on the rack ... slowly.”

When Sieg returned, the atmosphere was decidedly chilly, but he did not immediately notice it. He was exuding self-satisfaction. “Everything is going well,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “The workmen have promised to be out of the house in a week.”

“Where did you run into her?” asked Sandra coldly.

Letty answered for him from the window. “She came to our hotel.”

“Why did you bring her here?” asked Sandra.

Sieg began to look uneasy. “She wanted to see the house. I didn’t think there would be any harm in it.”

“No harm in it, certainly,” said Sandra. “But why do you permit her to act as if she owned you?”

Sieg laughed uncomfortably. “How can a man side-step that sort of thing?”

“Are you asking me?”

Sieg, perceiving that he was in very wrong, quickly changed his tactics. Going to Letty and flinging an arm around her, he drew her close. “Letty, darling, did you mind?” he asked. “I’m damned sorry! You see, Queenie carries on like that with every man. She’s a man-eater. Nobody takes her seriously, and that’s why it never occurred to me that you would mind.”

Letty, unable to resist him, lifted her beseeching face to be kissed. Sandra, however, was far from being placated. She moved around the room, affecting to examine the carpenter work, pushing out her painted lips and frowning. Lee saw a glance of intelligence pass between Sieg and Letty. Sieg, dropping the girl, went quickly to Sandra.

“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Cassells,” he said cajolingly. “Queenie’s a bad egg and I should have known better than to bring her here. I thought she might interest you as a character. I wouldn’t offend you for the world! I owe everything to you!” He lowered his voice and Lee could not hear the rest. There was honey on his tongue, while his hard eyes commanded Sandra. She melted. Laying a gloved hand on his arm, she said:

“Say no more about it, Sieg. What bills have you got for me to pay?”

Lee thought crossly: How easy it is to bring women to heel when you’re six feet tall and have all your hair!

Sieg said to Sandra: “First, there’s a man waiting to see you. He’s out at the door.”

“Who is he?”

“His name is Sam Souter. They call him Jimpson, I don’t know why. He’s just down from the Big House. Seems the word about our place here has already traveled from cell to cell by grapevine and Sam wants a berth here.”

“What was he in for?” asked Sandra.

“Shooting a man over a game of cards.”

Sandra’s eyes widened. “Did the man die?” she asked breathlessly.

“No, he got better ... Sam thinks he’s got a claim on me,” he went on, “because Blondy and me bummed across the continent with him seven years ago. He likes to say he taught us all we know.”

“Well, why not take him?” said Sandra, “an old friend of yours ...”

“No!” said Sieg. “You want men here that you can help. Jimpson is an old died-in-the-wool con; been in half the prisons in the country. You couldn’t change him. He came from a good home long ago; they’re the worst sort. Besides, he’s hard to get along with. He’d make trouble in the house.”

Lee was a little surprised at Sieg’s good sense.

“Then send him away,” said Sandra.

“It would come better from you,” said Sieg. “He thinks he has a claim on me.”

“Very well, bring him in.”

Sieg grinned. “Don’t let him know that I’m against having him or I may wake up some morning with a knife between my ribs. That’s the kind Jimpson is.”

Sandra shivered. Nevertheless she looked eagerly for the appearance of Jimpson.

Sieg went to fetch him. When he was brought in, Lee saw a man in his late forties who was already considerably decayed. He was neatly dressed and he still had an indefinable air of breeding and education, but Lee thought he had never seen a more unpleasant specimen. His expression was both mean and base; he looked equally ready to be humble and abusive. Lee was nearest the door and Sieg paused to introduce Souter. The man started at the sound of Lee’s name, and his lip lifted in a sneer.

“The detective?” he said.

“Not exactly a detective,” said Lee good-humoredly. “I study crime and write books about it.”

“Yeah, I’ve read some of your books,” said Souter.

Sandra graciously offered him her hand. Souter took it with an extraordinary expression. He hated her for her diamonds, her elegant clothes, her assured air, but he fawned on her. Sandra said:

“Always glad to meet a friend of Sieg’s.”

“Yes, Sieg and I have been pals for many a year,” Souter said with a horrible smile. “I helped bring him up.”

“Sieg tells me that you’d like to come and stay here until you get on your feet. I wish I could say yes at once, but we only have a few rooms and already the applications are piling up. If you’ll leave your address, we’ll keep in touch with you.”

Souter, perfectly aware that he was being let down easily, sneered. “Sieg knows where to find me any time.”

“In the meantime, how are you fixed?” asked Sandra frankly. Lee always admired the way Sandra could give alms without shaming the recipient.

“Well, they give you ten dollars when they let you out,” said Souter.

Sandra folded a bill small and pressed it into his hand. “Let me add a little to it until you get a job.”

Souter tried to mold his features into an expression of gratitude. “Thank you kindly, ma’am.” As he looked around the room, his ugly face really softened for a moment. “You certainly are going to have things nice here. I’d like to live nice.” Then he sneered. “Much too nice for the likes of me, I reckon.”

“Not at all!” said Sandra quickly. “Everybody is entitled to a decent living.”

Souter’s lip lifted. “Yeah? Try and get it!” he muttered under his breath as he went out.

Sandra shivered. “Brrh! what a horrible man!” she murmured. “He seems to poison the air! How could you ever have associated with such a creature, Sieg.”

“It’s prison life that has done it to him,” said Sieg carelessly. “Years ago he wasn’t so bad.”

It was a mild night in early spring and Lee, after the opera and a little supper in the Iridium Room, decided to walk home in order to clear his brain for sleep. Walking east in Fifty-fifth Street, he was faced with the sign of Le Coq Noir and, following an impulse of curiosity, he turned in. The wide, low room was crowded to the doors and foggy with tobacco smoke. He found a place at the end of the bar where he could obtain an oblique view of the dancing floor, and ordered a highball.

After a troupe of clown harmonica players had finished their act, Queenie Deane swam out on the floor wearing a costume consisting mostly of a black taffeta skirt and that was split up to the hip on one side. A handsome, long-legged wench, thought Lee, for those who like them that way. She sang three songs which were more than suggestive. She had no voice but plenty of bounce and brass and an infinite suggestiveness. A popular performer at two in the morning.

When the furious clapping and the cries of approval died down, Lee followed Queenie with his eyes as she made her way toward a little table against the wall. At that moment some intervening figures moved, and Lee saw that Sieg Ammon was occupying the table. Lee was hardly surprised. Queenie leaned across the table and planted a kiss on Sieg’s lips, then slid into the place beside him. Other men in the neighborhood looked envious.

Lee swallowed his drink and left the place. How sweet was the air of the street! He walked along debating whether or not to tell Sandra what he had seen, and decided that he would not. Women being what they were, Sandra would jump to the conclusion that he had been following and spying upon Sieg. And anyway, she would not blame Sieg but only the woman.