Granny had had a wonderful time herself. She was sure that no Gilfooly had ever had a better time.

"Oh, Granny!" Tessie threw her arms around Granny's neck, and hid her face in the soft lace of Granny's gown.

Granny was startled and a bit frightened. "What is it? What is it?" She looked at Mr. Bill and at Bert. "What has happened to my lamb?"

"It's--it's the Tear of G.o.d!" sobbed Tessie. "I've--I've lost i-it!"

"Lost it! Stand up, Tessie Gilfooly, and remember queens don't cry before folks. Lost! Nothing of the sort! Ka-kee-ta!" And when Ka-kee-ta had stepped forward with a salute of his ax, she said imperiously, "The Tear of G.o.d!"

Ka-kee-ta held out his left hand and opened it, and there on his yellow brown palm was the Tear of G.o.d.

"Well, I'll be darned!" exclaimed Mr. Bill.

"My word!" muttered Bert Douglas.

"Oh!" squealed Tessie, absolutely forgetting Granny's hint that queens must keep their emotions to themselves. "Where did Ka-kee-ta get it?"

Her face was as pink now as it had been white a moment before.

"I took it off your neck, my dear, when you were dancing," explained Granny proudly. "The folks here were all strangers to me," she told the astonished officers of the Junior League, "and though I knew of course they would be all right or they wouldn't be here, I thought it was just as well not to take any chances. So when Tessie was dancing I slipped the Tear of G.o.d from her neck and gave it to Ka-kee-ta to hold. With his ax in his other hand, I knew he could take care of it. It wasn't lost at all, you see, dearie," she smiled at Tessie. "I took it after you came back to the ballroom with Mr. Douglas."

"Oh!" exclaimed Tessie, feeling rather flat and small because she had made such a fuss over a robbery that was not a robbery at all.

XII

Mr. Kingley decided to give a banquet to the employees of the Evergreen in honor of their former a.s.sociate, who had been made Queen of the Sunshine Islands by Fate--and her Uncle Pete. Mrs. Kingley looked unutterable words when she heard his plan.

"Bill can run down and ask Miss Gilfooly if it will be all right for Thursday evening," went on Mr. Kingley, much pleased with his idea.

"Bill!" Mrs. Kingley's voice was full of disgust and indignation, about fifty per cent, of each, perhaps. "Do you want Bill to marry Miss Gilfooly?" she asked caustically.

"Marry!" It was Mr. Kingley's turn to stare, and he did it with bulging, questioning eyes. "I don't know as that would be such a bad thing," he muttered after a moment's intensive thought. "I believe it would be a mighty good plan!" he decided emphatically, when he had given it a second moment's thought.

"William Kingley! Your only son--our only son!" Mrs. Kingley angrily claimed a share of Mr. Bill. "And a clerk!" It was quite clear that Mrs.

Kingley believed that her only son and the clerks dwelt on vastly different planes, and equally clear that she did not want them on the same plane.

"The Queen of the Sunshine Islands," corrected Mr. Kingley. "A queen is not the same as a clerk, my dear. I believe that such a marriage would be a good thing for the Evergreen. You have no idea," he went on hurriedly as she gave a little snap of scorn, "how the story of Queen Teresa has helped sales. We were feeling the pinch of the business depression, which has been so general, when we found this little queen in our bas.e.m.e.nt. I made the most of the incident, and the papers carried the story all over the country. We have had requests for samples from Chicago and New York and even Denver, Colorado, already. If Bill should marry Miss Gilfooly," he went on thoughtfully, "I actually believe we would have to increase our mail order department. I am sure that it would be an excellent thing for the store."

Mrs. Kingley was so angry at the thought of her only son marrying Miss Gilfooly that she could scarcely speak. Her anger painted her face an unbecoming scarlet, and her eyes flashed furiously. "You think of nothing but the store!" she managed to stammer at last. The words were not at all what she had meant to say. She had meant to wither him with her scorn--and she could only stammer.

Mr. Kingley regarded her with surprise. Of course he thought of the store. "It feeds, clothes and shelters you," he reminded her. "And mighty good food, clothes and shelter," he decided as he looked around the s.p.a.cious room, so attractively furnished, and at her smart dinner gown, and remembered the excellent dinner he had just eaten. "Mighty good food, clothes and shelter!" he repeated firmly.

"William Kingley!" She towered above him. "You--you--" She stopped and glared at him for a full second. "There is such a thing as a telephone,"

she finally controlled herself to say majestically. "You could talk to your ex-clerk yourself, instead of sending your only son into danger!"

And she sailed from the room to find Ethel and ask her if she ever knew any one as unreasonable and one-idead as her father.

"What's Dad done now?" asked Ethel, who knew of several things her father might have done. "Oh that!" she exclaimed carelessly, when she was told that her father thought it would be a good thing for the Evergreen should her brother and Queen Teresa marry. "I expect he is right. It would be a good thing for the store."

"Ethel! Ethel Kingley!" sputtered Mrs. Kingley. Her voice had seventy-five per cent of disgust in it now. "How can you! Bill and a clerk! an ex-clerk!"

"She seems a nice little thing," went on Ethel, as if she were looking at Tessie and actually saw that she was a nice little thing. "I dare say she would make Bill a good wife, and really, Mother, Bill should be allowed to choose his own wife. I know I mean to choose my own husband!"

"Oh, you!" But Mrs. Kingley was not interested in Ethel's husband. She was still too disturbed over Mr. Bill's wife.

"I dare say Miss Gilfooly will be quite crazy over Dad's banquet," went on Ethel, before she returned to her book, a story of married life which her mother declared no girl should read, but which every girl was reading.

Miss Gilfooly was pleased when she was told of the banquet. She thought it was quite too sweet of Mr. Kingley. She was a bit awed when she was told also that she would have to sit at Mr. Kingley's right hand during the banquet.

"I wish I could sit beside you," she was bold enough to say to Mr. Bill.

"I'm scared to death of your father."

"Pooh!" exclaimed Mr. Bill, who could not imagine why any one should be scared of his father. Why, his father was just an old man chockfull of old-fashioned ideas and prejudices. "Dad's probably scared of you. He hasn't met many queens in the course of his straight and upright fifty years. And even if he had, he has never met a queen like you!" he declared with unrestrained admiration.

But still Tessie looked dissatisfied. "In what way," she asked quickly, "am I different from other queens?"

Mr. Bill looked at her. Didn't she know? "Glance at them!" he said scornfully. "Just glance at the old frumps and then look in your own mirror. You won't need any one to tell you the answer. The difference, as you will quickly see, is entirely in your favor!"

"Oh!" murmured Tessie, all dimples and blushes, so that she looked less than ever like Mary of England or Marie of Roumania, or even Victoria of Spain.

In spite of Mr. Bill's declaration that old Mr. Kingley, which was the way Tessie always spoke of her former employer, was afraid of her, Tessie did feel a little timid, and a thrill ran down her spine when Mr.

Kingley took her hand to lead her into the big tea-room which had been rearranged and elaborately decorated in honor of the banquet for Queen Teresa. An army of men and women had been at work in the room ever since the last luncheon patron had been hurriedly served.

Tessie had a new frock which she had bought at the Evergreen. It was of cream lace and net with silvery blue ribbons and pink roses. The man who designed it must have thought of a young queen or a young princess when he conceived it. It really was an adorable frock, and Tessie looked adorable in it as she smiled shyly at Mr. Kingley. Her blue eyes sparkled, her cheeks were pink, and her red lips were parted in a tremulous smile. But adorable as she looked, Mr. Kingley shook his head.

She did not satisfy him.

"Where's your crown?" he demanded abruptly. "I thought queens wore crowns."

"Not until after their coronation," suggested Mr. Bill, who could find no flaws in Tessie at all. From her head to her heels, she was perfect to his admiring eyes. It was just as well that his mother could not see him as he stood gazing at his father's ex-clerk. Mr. Bill looked very handsome himself in his dinner coat. Tessie was sure he was the handsomest man in the world.

"I don't think they wear crowns at all in the Sunshine Islands," she ventured to say shyly. "I think they wear only this." And she touched the jewel which hung from her neck, the royal jewel of the Sunshine Islands.

Mr. Kingley grunted. The royal jewel was not enough, not when there were to be reporters from all the newspapers at the banquet, and a moving picture man as well. His queen must look like a queen. He turned to the store superintendent.

"Julius, isn't there a crown of some kind down in the jewelry department? I'm sure I saw one the other day. It was high in front and dwindled down to nothing in the back." He showed them with his pudgy hands how the crown he had seen ran from high to low.

"You mean a tiara," suggested Julius with a little superiority in his voice, because he knew a tiara when he saw it and his employer didn't.

"Yes, Miss Luckins has a couple of tiaras in stock. They are only imitation--paste--you know." He was apologetic because he did not have a crown of real diamonds to offer Mr. Kingley. "We really have no sale for real crowns in Waloo. But this tiara is a very good imitation. Not one in twenty would know it wasn't real," he boasted.

"It will be better than nothing. Go and get it. We can't go in without a crown." And he delayed the banquet until Mr. Julius could find Miss Luckins, go down to the jewelry department and bring back the most elaborate paste tiara which Miss Luckins herself fastened in Tessie's hair.

"There!" Miss Luckins stepped back to get the effect.

"That's better! A lot better!" grunted Mr. Kingley. "Far more royal, you know. Any one can see now that you are a queen. Tell the orchestra we're coming. Everybody ready?" He looked back at Granny and Mr. Bill, who were to follow him when he led the queen. "Don't let that native with the ax stumble against me," he hissed with a shake of his head at Ka-kee-ta, who stood behind his queen. "Allow me, Your Majesty!" And he smiled proudly as he offered his hand to Tessie.

The doors into the banquet-room were thrown wide open, the store orchestra began to play "Hail, the Conquering Hero Comes." Every one jumped up to look at Queen Teresa as she walked in led by Mr. Kingley.

Hands were clapped, and there were many cheers. Several of the department buyers called loudly "_Vive la reine!_" to show that they had been in Paris and knew what was what. The color deepened in Tessie's cheeks, and the tears flew to her eyes. She did hope that she wouldn't cry, but she was woefully afraid she would. It was so sweet of every one to be so kind to her. Never, not if she were crowned a hundred times, would she know as proud a moment as this.