Treasured Brides Collection (44 page)

Chris was down in the cellar, piling up a lot of boxes that had been thrown downstairs in a hurry that afternoon. He did not like his orderly basement to get in a mess for the next morning.

The boss came down the stairs and spoke to him.

“Walton, they’re all gone but Miss Halsey, and I think she’s almost through. She has three cents too much in her balance sheet and is trying to find her mistake, but I think it won’t take her long. Would you two mind closing up the store tonight? I promised my wife I’d meet her and take her out tonight! Do you mind?”

Chris promised with a smile, proud that he was trusted to close up. The boss usually wouldn’t let anybody but himself do it.

He heard the manager say good night to Natalie and go out the door. He put the last box in place, shoved back some tins of canned goods that had been disarranged, picked up some scattered wood shavings, snapped out the light, and came upstairs.

He was wearing old shoes with soft pliable soles, and his footsteps made no sound as he came. He enjoyed the thought of getting a glimpse of Natalie before she saw him. Her sweet face always filled him with exultation that there could be a girl so lovely and unspoiled.

Then he stepped into the store and came within sight of the little glass cage where Natalie sat, and his blood froze with horror. For there, straight within range, standing in front of Natalie was a tall man wearing a small black mask on the upper part of his face and pointing a revolver straight at her!

F
or an instant Chris stood paralyzed with horror. Without stopping to think it out, he knew instinctively that Natalie would not be the one to give up easily, throw up her hands, and hand over the cash register. She would not think of herself, and she would fight to the last hope.

And there wasn’t any hope. He could see that this man was a hard one who didn’t care what he did. It seemed incredible that this could happen, only half past six in the evening, on a street that an hour earlier would have been crowded with passersby, in a store that five short minutes before would have been well protected by a large force of men. Every one of them gone, and he the only one left! Doubtless the bandit knew that—or bandits, for there were probably at least two of them. They must have thought that he was gone, too. He had been down in the cellar for some little time, and the store would seem empty to an onlooker from the street. He must not let them know of his presence till he could first do something to protect Natalie, to protect the cash in the register and safe. He happened to know there was a larger amount of money than usual in the safe, brought in that afternoon after the bank had closed.

And now Natalie would be required to open that safe and quickly, too. Would she do it? He felt afraid that she might stand out against it. Indeed, she seemed to be doing so now.

She was sitting up straight and pale in her little glass room, her eyes big and frightened, looking into that ugly, menacing gun. But she had not put her hands up as she had been told to do.

“Put ’em up, girlie, and dontcha touch that telephone,” came the ugly command. “Up with ’em an’ you march out here. You gotta open that safe in the back room and do it good and quick, see? Up with ’em, I say! I ain’t got time to waste. I’ll count three, see? An’ ef they ain’t up when I gets to three I shoots, see? And when I shoots, I
shoots
. I ain’t no softie. I don’t mind layin’ out a little pretty one like you. I shoots ta kill! One—”

The store was awfully still and Chris felt as if his heart had stopped. It was up to him to do something before it was too late. Could he get out and call for help? He had no weapon. He could not hope to handle a man with a gun, single-handed.

“Two!” The word fell like a bullet deep into his heart. Natalie had not stirred. She had not lifted her hands. Her sweet mouth was set firmly, and she was white as death. Oh there must be something he could do. He glanced around and saw close at his side a big basket of hard green apples. Could he do it? All those years of his boyhood when he had practiced pitching baseball came to his mind, but quicker than any thought came an earlier practice to his lips, a practice learned at his mother’s knee in babyhood.
Oh, God, help me save her!

Silently, he seized an apple, crouched in the old position, and swung his arm. Could he hit that gun out of the man’s hand? And if he did, would it perhaps go off and kill Natalie?
Oh, God! Oh, God!
And suddenly he knew that he believed there was a God.

The hard green missile whizzed through the air like a bullet. There was a crash and an explosion, but Chris could not stop to see what had happened. Another apple went whizzing and struck the enemy on the temple. He had started for the door but it dazed him, and as he looked back, Chris gave him another apple, full in the nose, with another in the eyes.

Oh God! Oh, God! Help me!
Prayed Chris in his heart, and aimed another apple, when suddenly to his surprise he saw the man crumple to the floor. Could just apples knock a man out? He plunged across the room and was upon him with a wrestling hold he had learned in high school days. The man struggled and kicked out at him, then smashed a blinding blow across Chris’s eyes, so that the room was full of stars, bright, hard stars, and his head was swimming, but still he kept his grip on the man’s throat. And where was Natalie? She had disappeared from sight. What voice was that he heard? And how did all these people get into the store?

He opened one swollen eye and saw brass buttons. Of course, the police headquarters was almost next door, but how did they know to come? They have heard the report of the gun. Oh, was Natalie killed?

They loosened his hold upon the throat of the bandit, set him upon his feet, wiped the blood from his nose, and patted him on his shoulder.

“Good work, boy!” they said, and he could hear the clink of handcuffs on the arms of the man on the floor, who was struggling for his breath.

“Where is she?” Chris cried out wildly, his heart bursting with fear.

“Where’s who? What? You mean the one that telephoned us? Why, who was she anyway? The cashier?”

They jerked the door of the little glass cage open, and there was Natalie, lying on the floor in a heap, with the telephone in her limp hand and her mouth to the instrument, but she did not stir. She was quite unconscious.

Chris was down on his knees at once, lifting her out as if she had been a baby, staggering up with her in his arms.

“He must have got her after all!” he groaned.

“No such thing!” said a man in the crowd, coming closer. “She’s just fainted. I seen that gun fall. It went off in the corner, quite harmless. I was just coming by the store on my way, an’ I seen that first apple come flyin’ an’ hit that guy just as pretty! Man, that was some pitchin’! I couldn’t rightly make out what was doing. I thought ta myself the men here were kiddin’ each other in the absence of a manager. I thought they was wastin’ good apples an’ oughtta be reported, till I heard that there gun go off in the corner down by the door, almost next ta me. An’ then right away I heard the p’lice whistle, and they come flyin’ from headquarters, an’ I knowed somethin’ was doin’, but how’d you get onta it? Some buddy come an’ tell ya?”

“Call came over the wire, ‘Grocery store! Hold up!’ that was all,” said the chief of police shortly. “It was a woman’s voice. Guess she done it.” And he nodded toward Natalie. “Boys, get some water,” he ordered sharply. “She’s gotta be brought to. She’s some brave little girl, she is.”

Chris laid her gently upon the floor and put water to her lips, took a clean handkerchief from his pocket and bathed her face, and presently she opened her eyes and stared around in amazement at the crowd.

“Oh, are you all right, Chris?” she murmured.

“Sure thing!” grinned Chris in relief. “Don’t talk now. Wait. I’m heating you some coffee. There was some left over from what the men had at noon. No, don’t get up till I bring it.”

More people were gathering now. A woman who occupied the apartment over the drug store across the way said she was sitting at the window, watching for her husband’s train to come in and had seen the whole thing. She said the store was light enough for her to see the apples come flying across the room, and it seemed as if there were a bushel of them.

A small boy, who scarcely ever was known to miss a great thrill like that, testified that he heard the gun go off and got on the spot while the apples were flying. He said he saw the big guy get hit in the nose and go down.

The confusion quieted down after a few minutes. Chris brought Natalie a cup of coffee and made her drink it. And when she was able to sit up, they sent her home in a taxi, though she would look after putting her cash register in the safe first, herself.

Chris took her home but insisted that he was coming right back.

“I was put in charge. I think I’ll just come back and stay here till I can get the manager on the telephone. He won’t likely be back to his house till late this evening, but I’d feel better just to stay here till I get word from him.”

He was holding his handkerchief to his bruised cheek now, but he was happy. Boy! he was happy, he told himself, looking across from Natalie, who had her hat and coat on now.

“I think I ought to stay, too,” she protested. “Mr. Foster left me here, too, and told me what to do about the money.”

“No, Miss Halsey. You gotta get some rest after that bout. You been some brave lady, but it ain’t fer a woman to go through them things like you done and then try ta sit up on a stiff, hard stool all evenin’ till yer boss comes. You go home an’ get some rest or you won’t be on hand tamorra, and you’ll be needed then, see?” said the natty young policeman who had ordered the taxi.

“Yes, you two done good work,” said another policeman, coming up. “We been watchin’ that there guy fer about three weeks. He’s been hangin’ around o’ suspicious like, but we couldn’t get nothin’ on him, an’ now we caught him in the act, with plenty o’ witnesses. ‘Course I ain’t sure, but he looks ta me like one o’ them guys that’s got his mug in the rogue’s gallery. If so, you two done even better than you expected. Don’t you worry, lady. We’ll stick around an’ guard this little old store right careful tanight. You just take yer rest till tamorra.”

So Chris put Natalie carefully into the taxi, as if she had been a glass vase of priceless value, and climbed joyously in after her.

F
or an instant they looked at one another in the darkness, then his hand sought hers and clasped it close.

“Oh, you were
wonderful
!” said Natalie softly, letting her hand lie happily in his. “I stayed conscious long enough to see the first two apples go straight to the mark, and then I felt myself going down and had just sense enough to grab the telephone and take it with me.”

“Thank the great God you are safe!” said Chris. “Safe! Oh, I’ll never doubt Him again! I prayed, Natalie! All the time I was firing apples at that sucker, I prayed to God to help me!”

“Oh, Chris!” said Natalie, bringing her other hand around and putting it over their clasped ones with a caressing motion, and never realizing at all what she did, “that’s the dearest thing of all. I’ve prayed so much that you might believe.”

“You prayed for me, Natalie?” he asked wonderingly.

“Oh, yes. I’ve been praying for you ever since the day you talked to me about getting a raw deal. I’m so glad, so glad, that you’ve found Him. Why, I’d have been willing to go through much more terrible things to have you come to see that. It’s been the dearest wish of my heart.”

“Natalie, darling—” Chris reached over and drew her close to his heart, folding his arms about her reverently. “Oh, you wonderful, beautiful little girl. I love you. I thank God that He has saved you from that devil’s gun. Oh, Natalie, I thought he had killed you!” He buried his face on her shoulder, and when she put her hands up caressingly, she found there were tears on his cheek.

Natalie laid her face against his then and touched his wet eyelids softly with her lips. And then Chris lifted his head and put his own lips on hers, and such joy went over him as he had never thought to know on earth. Was love like this?

Then suddenly he sat upright again, his arms still about her, and spoke, eagerly, earnestly.

“Natalie, dear … I suppose I haven’t any business to be talking about love—in my position. A mere clerk in a grocery store on a starvation salary, with family responsibilities and a burden of debt to help out with, but oh, my darling! If you’ll just say that you think you might sometime in the future care for me, I’ll work like a fiend. And I’ll get somewhere just as soon as I can, where I can discharge all the responsibility and take care of you, too. Do you think you could ever care?”

He held her off anxiously and searched her face in the semidarkness as the taxi whirled around the corner into Cromar Street.

“Oh,” said Natalie softly, catching her breath, “I care
now
. I care with all my heart! It may sound dreadful, but I think I’ve cared ever since you were a boy in school, and I used to love listening to you reciting.”

Then she hid her confusion against his coat, and they clung together.

It was only the taxi stopping in front of Natalie’s home that brought them back to earth again.

Chris helped her out, and they made quite a promenade of the walk from the street to the porch, twelve feet by actual measurement.

“But I’ve got a family, too, and responsibilities,” said Natalie, coming to her senses. “I couldn’t—”

“Well, of course we couldn’t now,” said Chris, slipping his arm around her and holding her close to his side. “But with God’s help, we’ll get where we can. I’ll get where I can take care of my responsibilities and yours, too, and then you won’t have to stay in a store and work any longer. A store—
our
store is all right, of course,” he added loyally, “but it isn’t the place for the woman I love, you know, and I want you taken care of, my darling! And now, you ought to get right in and go to bed. I can feel you are trembling. Should I go in and tell your mother what’s happened?”