The Last Woman

"Suit me to death, girl. Glad you thought of it. Whom will you ask? And what is the game?"

"I have made out a list," replied Sally, meditatively. "I shall read it off to you, if you will listen."

"Go ahead."

"It includes Beatrice and Patricia, of course; Dick Morton and--"

"Wait a moment, Sally. I've got a sort of a notion in my head that neither Beatrice nor Patricia, will care to go to Cedarcrest on such an expedition as that, under the present circumstances."

"My dear John"--she sometimes called him John when she was particularly in earnest, and when she attempted to be especially dignified--"you may leave all the details of this arrangement to me. I merely wished your consent to the plan."

"Oh, well, if you can manage it, Sally, you've got my consent, all right. What do you want me to do about it? You didn't have to consult me, you know."

"I want you, first, to listen to the list I have made out, and, after that, to carry out my directions in regard to it."

"Good girl; I can do that, too."

"Patricia and Beatrice, Roderick Duncan and the Houston girls, Richard Morton, Nesbit Farnham; and, to supply the other two men who will be necessary to make up the party, you yourself may make the selection. I only wish them to be the right sort."

"What's the scheme, Sally?"

"I want to get these warring elements together, under one roof."

"Whew! You've got more pluck than I thought you had, Sally."

"Listen, Jack: When you go out this evening, find Roderick, and send him here, to me. I have written him not to come here, but that won't make any difference. He'll come if you give him my message. Afterward, you may look up Dick Morton, and the other two men you are to ask, and give them the invitation."

"For when?"

"For to-morrow. Tell them all to be at Cedarcrest before dark, to-morrow. That is all. As I said before, I'll attend to the details."

Jack Gardner left his chair, and, having kissed his wife, was on the point of departure when he paused a moment on the threshold, and, looking back over his shoulder, said, laughingly: "Sally, I always gave you credit for having more sand than any three ordinary women I've ever known, but, I'll give you my word, I never supposed you had grit enough to undertake any such thing as this one. Talk about me getting things into a mess! Great Scott! if you don't get into one, out at Cedarcrest, with that sort of a mix-up to take care of, I'm a sheep-herder. Maybe you haven't got on to the fact, my girl, but, as sure as you're the best little woman in all New York, Dick Morton is so dead stuck on Patricia Langdon that he can't forget it for a minute. If you bring all that bunch together, you'll have Rod Duncan and Dick at each other's throat, before you get through with it. And besides--"