She stood blushing beside Mr. Kingley at the big table on the dais, which ran across the end of the room, and faced them all, trembling with excitement. There they were, her former a.s.sociates of the Evergreen. The employment manager, who had hired her; Miss Murphy, who had snapped at her when she asked for help in making out a sales-slip; Mr. Walker, who was always nagging at her for something. And there was Joe Cary beside Norah Lee at the table with the advertising staff and--How funny!--He was frowning at her. Every one else was smiling and Joe's frown stood out like a black thundercloud in a clear blue sky. She smiled and waved her hand to him, and he nodded coldly, but he did not wave back. She shrugged her shoulders impatiently. Why did Joe have to have a grouch to-night of all nights? She wouldn't look at him again. He could frown as much as he pleased, but she would only look at the smiling faces.

There were plenty of them.

"Well?" She became conscious that Mr. Bill was murmuring in her left ear, and she turned to him. Mr. Bill was not frowning. His face wore a radiant smile. "Well," he repeated, as Ka-kee-ta took his place behind his queen much to the annoyance of the waitresses. "We're all set."

"Oh!" Tessie's heart was thumping so fast it was difficult for her to speak. "How grand to have you beside me!"

If Tessie looked down on her former a.s.sociates with frank delight, they looked up at her with open or secret envy. Miss Allen of the gowns told her neighbors in a whisper how much the cream lace frock had cost, and Mr. Swenson of the boots and shoes murmured the price of the silver slippers, and Miss Bartle of the hosiery laughed indulgently when she said that the silk stockings the queen wore had cost not less than nine dollars a pair.

"Not a cent less, and cheap at that. Every thread silk!"

No wonder they were pleased with Tessie. She was their queen. They had clothed her. And if there was more envy in their hearts than there was admiration in their eyes, it was not strange. It was only natural for them to wish to be in Tessie's silver slippers with a frizzle-headed native in blue denim to hold a shining ax behind them. It was romance, their share--not Tessie's--that they wanted, and every one has a right to a full portion of romance. A birthright into this big world includes a full portion of romance.

The chef had spent a sleepless night preparing a royal menu. He had ransacked the store encyclopedia for names which would honor Tessie's kingdom, and then had to fall back on the good old French menu. There was _potage a la Sunshine_, there was _poisson a la Pacific_, there was _poulet a la reine_, and goodness knows what else. It was all very delicious, although Tessie was so excited to find herself between old Mr. Kingley and young Mr. Kingley, and facing all the Evergreen employees and a moving picture machine, that she could scarcely eat a mouthful. Granny peered at her around Mr. Bill and told her she must eat something, that it would be a shame to waste good food.

"And this is good!" she said, pleased that Mr. Kingley had not skimped the menu for the banquet in honor of her granddaughter.

At last the ice cream and cake had been eaten, the tables cleared, and every gla.s.s filled with sparkling ginger ale. The waitresses and the cooks gathered in a corner with gla.s.ses of ginger ale in their hands.

Mr. Kingley rose to his feet and made a speech, in which he extolled Tessie and the Evergreen and the Sunshine Islands, and the Evergreen--; and when he was all tangled up in the Evergreen, and Mr. Bill reached behind Tessie and pulled his dinner coat, he asked every one to drink the toast to their former a.s.sociate: "Our little queen, Her Majesty of the Sunshine Islands!"

The band broke into the stirring strains of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." There were cheers and much hand-clapping as the toast was drunk with hearty good will.

"You'll have to respond," Mr. Kingley, flushed and important, told Tessie. "You'll have to say something!"

"A speech! I couldn't!" Tessie shrank back appalled at the mere thought of making a speech before Mr. Kingley and the department managers. She could not do it.

But the clamor on the floor would not subside, and at last she rose up and stood looking at them. How kind they were! How dear! Involuntarily she stretched out her arms as if she would embrace them all.

"You dear, dear folks!" she cried, and her voice quivered with emotion.

"I love you every one!"

There was more applause, a perfect fury, and then suddenly the lights went out, and the room was plunged in darkness.

"What--what the devil's this?" spluttered Mr. Kingley. "Where's the electrician? I wouldn't have had this happen for a million dollars!

What's the matter?" For there was the sound of a scuffle, a muttered curse behind him. He could not see a thing, but he could feel something brush by him. "Bring a light!" he shouted, pale with fright as he thought of what might happen if Ka-kee-ta should use his ax in the darkness. "Can't some one bring a light?"

It was really only a couple of moments, although it seemed hours, before some one found the b.u.t.tons and turned on the light. When every one blinked and turned to smile rea.s.suringly at Tessie to let her know that it was all right--just a little vagary of the electricity--there were startled shrieks from several hundred throats, for Tessie had disappeared. The place between old Mr. Kingley and young Mr. Kingley was vacant.

"Why--why--" stammered old Mr. Kingley, who had arranged many banquets, but had never lost his guest of honor before.

"Where's Tessie?" shouted Granny. "Where's my granddaughter, the Queen?"

"Where's Tessie?" demanded Joe Cary, who found himself at the royal table, staring into the purple face of old Mr. Kingley.

"I'm here, Granny!" And there she was, behind her big bodyguard clutching the Tear of G.o.d which hung about her neck. "Ka-kee-ta s.n.a.t.c.hed me and made me stand behind him. What was the matter, Mr. Kingley? Did some one really try to choke me?" She rubbed her neck with her fingers as if to feel if some one had tried to choke her.

"Matter!" exclaimed Mr. Bill. He caught her hand and held it tight to a.s.sure himself that she was there beside him again. "Look at that!" He pointed to Ka-kee-ta's left hand, from which hung a black string tie. It dangled limply from the yellow-brown fingers. Mr. Bill looked suspiciously around the room. "Has any man lost a tie?" he asked sharply.

There was an uncomfortable pause in which every man raised a hand to make sure that his tie at least was around his neck. One of the maids by the door stepped forward.

"I think the man who lost his tie has gone," she said in much confusion.

"At least some one pushed by me and ran out of the door."

"Why didn't you hold him?" demanded Mr. Bill.

"I thought he was the electrician," stammered the maid. "I thought he was going to see about the lights, and anyway I couldn't have held him.

It isn't fair to blame me!" She burst into tears.

"Dear, dear!" fussed Mr. Kingley, too confused by the unexpected number on the banquet program to be considerate of weeping maids. "I hope the watchman holds him. I'm sorry," he turned to Tessie. "I wouldn't have had this happen for a million dollars! I should have said you would be perfectly safe here among so many friends, but a man can learn that he doesn't know everything about his own store. I suppose it was that crown--tiara, I mean. Some one thought it was real, and tried to steal it. It looks real!"

"It wasn't the tiara that they tried to steal," guessed Mr. Bill grimly.

"It was the Queen!"

"It was the Tear of G.o.d!" contradicted Joe Cary, who had moved up until he stood beside Tessie. "Those Sunshine Island rebels don't want Tessie.

They want the royal jewel!"

"Bless me!" murmured Mr. Kingley, turning the back of his dinner coat to Joe; for what could Joe Cary, an artist in the advertising department, know? "I'm glad you weren't stolen!" he told Tessie fervently.

"I'm glad, too," ventured Tessie, tearfully tremulous, and she clung tight to Joe's hand. "It might have spoiled the party," she added politely.

"But if the watchman gets the thief what publicity it will make!"

gloated Mr. Kingley, true to form. The Evergreen was getting wonderful publicity every day, thanks to Tessie, and the store was thronged as it never had been before a queen was found in its bas.e.m.e.nt. "So long as you are safe, we have nothing to regret. We can leave the rest to the watchman and the store detectives. They will find the thief. I am sure he was not one of our own men. He must have been some miscreant who forced himself in. We will not think of him again. Have you finished your speech?" he asked courteously.

"Long ago!" exclaimed Tessie, taking her fingers from Joe and giving them to Granny to hold.

"Well!" Granny drew a long, long breath. "I'm glad now we have Ka-kee-ta and his ax, even if they do make me nervous. If you had been kidnaped, Tessie Gilfooly, I should never have forgiven myself!"

"I'd have found her!" declared Joe. "No matter where she was hidden, I'd have found her for you, Granny Gilfooly!"

Tessie, listening eagerly to Mr. Bill's plans for catching the miscreant who had dared to interrupt the banquet, never heard him. But Granny heard him, and she smiled at him kindly.

"I believe you would, Joe, I believe you would. You're a good friend to little Tessie."

"You bet I am!" Joe cried eagerly. "And I'm going to look after her! I'm not going to have her fooled by any one!" And he looked indignantly at Mr. Kingley.

XIII

Although Mr. Kingley posted a notice where every one could see it, to the effect that the man who had lost a black string tie at the banquet could obtain the same by calling at the office and explaining how it came to be in Ka-kee-ta's fist, no one appeared to claim the silk.

Indeed, it was not long before Mr. Kingley and a majority of the guests thought that Tessie must have imagined that some one had tried to choke her, in an attempt to steal the Tear of G.o.d.

"She was excited!" they said indulgently. "And no wonder! But it is ridiculous to think that any one would try to steal the royal jewel, when the queen was surrounded by friends and with her bodyguard and his ax behind her."

"You can't tell friend from foe in the dark, and when you are with friends you are not looking for enemies," Joe Cary told them bluntly. He was perhaps the only one who believed that Tessie was telling the truth, when she said that when the lights went out a strong arm had caught her and pulled her from the table, and then Ka-kee-ta had s.n.a.t.c.hed her and thrust her behind him.

"He can see in the dark!" she insisted with a shiver. "Just like a cat!"