The Mandie Collection (33 page)

Sometime later Mandie was awakened by Snowball's loud growling on her bed. She reached for him but he moved down the counterpane.

“Snowball, what is wrong with you?” she asked sleepily, pulling the covers up around her shoulders.

Snowball leaped off the bed and landed with a thud on the carpet as he continued to growl. Mandie sat up to see what he was doing. She fumbled with the switch on the electric lamp by the bed and blinked when the bright light came on. The cat was crouched by the bottom of the door to the hall and still growling.

“What is it?” Celia asked in a whisper as she, too, sat up.

“There is something or some person outside that door,” Mandie replied, swinging her legs over the side of the high bed and sliding to her feet.

“Mandie, you are not going to open the door, are you?” Celia asked in fright. She huddled under the covers as she watched.

“How are we going to know what's out there if I don't open the door?” Mandie whispered back. She slowly crept toward the door.

Just as Mandie put her hand on the doorknob to open it, Snowball suddenly hushed and jumped back onto the bed and began washing his face. She slowly opened the door far enough to peep out. There was no one in sight. The light was burning in the lamp at the far end of the hallway and there was no noise.

“Well, I don't know what's going on,” Mandie said to herself as she started to close the door. Then a glimpse of movement at the intersection of the corridor with the cross hall caught her eye. She frowned, trying to see better.

“Mandie, please close that door,” Celia whispered from the bed.

Suddenly Mandie made out the figure lurking in the shadows. She quickly reached behind the door to grab her robe from the chair where she had left it, and as she hastily put it on she called to Celia, “Come on. It's that girl, Angelina.”

Mandie raced out the door and down the hallway. Looking back she saw Celia following, putting on her robe as she ran. But by glancing back she lost sight of Angelina, and when she came to the intersection of the two corridors, she couldn't decide which way to go.

“She's disappeared,” Mandie whispered to Celia who had caught up with her. “You go that way and I'll go this way. Holler if you see her.” Mandie went to the right and motioned Celia to the left.

Celia hesitated a moment and then went running down the other hallway. Mandie was careful to look behind the various pieces of furniture that were sitting along the wide corridor, but the only thing she found was Snowball who had somehow got ahead of her. She snatched him up and held him tightly in her arms.

After turning more corners, Mandie and Celia eventually caught up with each other and stopped to catch their breath.

“She got away,” Mandie said with a disappointed sigh.

Suddenly the white dog came running toward them. Angelina was in hot pursuit. Evidently she didn't see the two girls, who immediately ducked behind a settee sitting in an alcove in the hallway.

“Let's stop her,” Mandie whispered to Celia as she held on to Snowball. “When she gets even with that door over there, we'll grab her.”

Celia didn't have time to agree because the girl came near them and was so intent on capturing the dog she didn't see Mandie. Letting go of Snowball, Mandie leaped out and grabbed the girl's skirt.

“Stop that!” Angelina cried out loudly as Mandie pulled her to the floor and Celia helped hold her there.

“What are you doing in this house again?” Mandie demanded, holding tightly to the girl's arm.

The white dog had stopped and came toward them, loudly barking.

“My dog!” the girl insisted as she tried to break loose from Mandie's hands.

“What's going on?” Jonathan called to them as he came running down the hallway. Seeing Angelina, he didn't wait for an answer but added, “Well now, I suppose I will have to call the police just like I told you I would if you came back into this house again.” He stooped to look at her as Mandie and Celia held her on the floor.

“Jonathan, how did the dog get out of your room?” Mandie asked.

“I don't know,” he answered in puzzlement, looking at the white dog that was happily licking his lips and watching the commotion. “I do know I closed the door because Celia reminded me to do that.”

“My dog!” Angelina insisted as she tried to get up.

“Did you open my door and let the dog out?” Jonathan asked.

“That's my dog, not yours!” the girl told him angrily.

“So we know how the dog got out of my room,” Jonathan said, looking at Mandie and Celia.

Suddenly there was a voice down the hallway. “Angelina, where are you?” As the person got closer and turned the corner toward them, the three young people saw Jens hurrying in their direction. At the same time he saw them and rushed forward to say, “Master Jonathan, I see you have caught up with Angelina. I tried to put her out of the house but lost her in the hallways.”

Jonathan stood up and looked at the butler. He was dressed in his usual uniform. “And how did you know Angelina was in the house?” Jonathan asked.

“Why, I saw her fleeing down the hallway,” Jens replied. “Do you wish me to remove her now?”

“Of course, Jens. You know she should not be in this house,” Jonathan told the man. “I want you to see that she is put outside and all the windows and doors are locked so she cannot get back in. And if you do see her again, I want you to call the police. Is this understood?”

“Yes, Master Jonathan,” Jens replied, bending down to grasp one of Angelina's hands and pull her to her feet.

Mandie and Celia released the girl and stood up.

Jonathan leaned over to look closer at the pocket of Angelina's coat, and he suddenly snatched a handkerchief hanging half out. Angelina tried to grab it, but Jonathan moved out of reach. As he unfolded the
lace-trimmed square of white material, a small metal tag fell into his hands.

“Is this what you stole from this house?” Jonathan asked, holding up the handkerchief and flipping over the metal tag to read the inscription.

“I did not steal it. Jens said I could have it,” Angelina insisted.

Jonathan looked at Jens and asked, “Is this what you were talking about when you said this girl and that man stole something?”

“I believe so, Master Jonathan. Now I shall get rid of this urchin,” Jens said and began walking down the corridor, practically dragging the girl with him.

Jonathan didn't say anything else but stood there smoothing out the handkerchief.

Mandie moved closer and looked at it. “Why, that's my handkerchief!” she exclaimed. “See my name on it? Amanda. She must have taken that from my room. Only, I am not sure I brought any of those handkerchiefs with me.”

Jonathan looked at her and grinned as he said, “You certainly didn't bring this one with you. Don't you remember where this came from?”

Celia quickly said, “From the ship, Mandie.”

Mandie became flustered and said, “From the ship. When I waved good-bye to you and your father from the ship we sailed on from England last summer, I accidentally dropped my handkerchief.”

“And I caught it,” Jonathan added with a slight blush.

“You mean you kept it all this time?” Mandie stammered as she couldn't think of anything else to say.

“Of course. I wouldn't throw away such a dainty thing as this,” he said, still grinning.

“I think I'd better go back to bed,” Celia said, turning to walk back down the hallway.

“I'm coming,” Mandie said, quickly snatching up Snowball.

“Wait. This tag may belong to the dog,” Jonathan said, stopping the girls. He held it out. “See what it says. On one side, ‘My name is Whitey,' and on the other side is the name Titus with an address.”

Mandie took it, and Celia turned back to join her in reading it.

Mandie looked at Jonathan and said, “Angelina probably removed this tag from the dog's collar. What are you going to do about it?”

Jonathan shifted his feet and didn't look at her as he replied, “I suppose I'll have to go to that address and ask if they have a dog missing.”

“Oh, Jonathan, and you wanted to keep the dog so badly,” Celia said.

“I do, but the right thing to do would be to return him to his owner if I can find whoever that is,” Jonathan said as Mandie handed the tag back to him. “I'll speak to my father about it in the morning.”

“We'd better all get some sleep. It must be almost morning now,” Celia reminded them.

“If you look up that address on the tag, I'd like to go with you, Jonathan,” Mandie told him.

Jonathan grinned and said, “We might have to walk some more elevated railroad tracks.”

“Oh, good night, Jonathan,” Mandie said, laughing as she and Celia walked toward their room and Jonathan and the dog went in the opposite direction.

Mandie and Celia went straight to bed, but when Mandie opened her sleepy eyes in the morning, she felt like the night had been awfully short. She lay there a few minutes thinking about the events that had taken place in the wee hours.

“Good morning, Mandie,” Celia called to her from her bed.

“Good morning, Celia,” Mandie replied, propping up on the pillows. “I wonder if your mother had already come back and gone to bed when all that happened last night.”

“No, Mandie, she had not. I looked in her room when I went in the bathroom after we came back to our room,” Celia replied. “And I looked at the clock. It was only five minutes to midnight, so we had not been asleep very long.”

Mandie jumped out of bed and went to sit on the carpet in front of the fireplace. Someone had made a fire even though the room was warm with heat from the furnace. Snowball followed her and curled up in the warmth.

“Don't you think we ought to get dressed and see if Jonathan is up?” Celia asked as she slid off her bed. “We don't want to be late for breakfast.”

“Right,” Mandie agreed, going to the wardrobe to take down a dress. “And I want to go with Jonathan to that address on the dog's tag.”

“My mother will have to give us permission, so I hope she comes to breakfast on time,” Celia remarked as the two began getting dressed.

And when they got to the parlor downstairs, the girls were surprised to see that Mr. Guyer, Mrs. Hamilton, and Jonathan were all there and waiting for them.

“Father says I may go check out this address provided Hodson takes me in the carriage, and Mrs. Hamilton has agreed for you girls to go along if you wish,” Jonathan told them as they came into the room.

“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Hamilton,” Mandie said.

“I appreciate your letting me go, Mother,” Celia told her.

Mr. Guyer looked at the girls and said, “You will have to hurry through breakfast, get over there, and hurry back. Just in case you all have forgotten, today is Thanksgiving, and Miss Amanda, your doctor friend and his nephew are coming to eat with us.”

“Oh, that's right,” Mandie said. “Jonathan, is that address close enough for us to get over there and back before Dr. Plumbley and Moses arrive? Remember, he said they would be here about ten o'clock.”

“Oh, sure, with Hodson driving us it won't take very long,” Jonathan told her. “Now that we're all here, let's eat.”

As soon as they finished breakfast, the three young people climbed into the carriage that Hodson had waiting and drove to the address on the dog tag.

Mandie looked out the window as the vehicle came into a clean middle-class neighborhood of brownstone houses and stopped in front of one with lace curtains in the windows.

“Here it is,” Jonathan told the girls as Hodson opened the carriage door and the three stepped down from the carriage.

“I hope the people are home,” Mandie said as she and Celia followed Jonathan up the front steps.

Jonathan looked at the house number on the single front door and said, “Must be just one family living here.” He rang the bell in the door.

Almost immediately the door opened. A middle-aged man stood there looking at them. He was tall and slim, his dark hair was slightly gray, and he smiled at them. “May I help you?” he asked.

“Sir, I am Jonathan Guyer, and I live just a few blocks over that way,” Jonathan said, waving his hand back in the direction from which
they had come. “I wanted to inquire ... ah ... do you have—have you lost a—ah, dog lately, sir?”

The man frowned slightly and said, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I have. But that's nothing unusual. You see, I live alone and I work long hours. The dog gets lonely and manages to break out of his pen in the backyard and run away. He comes back after a while. Why do you ask?”

“Are you Mister Titus?” Jonathan asked.

“That's my name, Jonathan Titus. You see, we have the same first name,” the man said with a smile.

“Yes, sir,” Jonathan agreed. “Would you please tell me what your dog looks like?”

“He's white, a mixed breed, but very intelligent, I must say, and he's about two years old, I believe,” Mr. Titus told him. “And, oh, he wears a tag on his collar with his name on it. I call him Whitey. Have you seen him?”

Jonathan opened his fist and held out the tag on the palm of his hand. “Is this his tag, sir?”

The man took the tag and turned it over, looking alarmed. “Where did you get this? Did something happen to Whitey?”

“Oh no, sir, that is, nothing bad. You see, he turned up in our garden a few days ago, and we just found the tag last night. But if he's your dog, we'll bring him home,” Jonathan said with a sad look on his face.

“Oh, Jonathan, you won't be able to keep him after all,” Mandie said.

“We'll help you find another dog, Jonathan, one that you can buy and keep,” Celia added.

The man looked at the three young people and then asked, “Did you want to keep him, Jonathan?”

Jonathan smiled and said, “He and I have become pretty good friends, and I've never had a dog before.”