Nan Sherwood at Palm Beach; Or, Strange Adventures Among The Orange Groves

by Annie Roe Carr

  CHAPTER XVI

  FUN AND NONSENSE

  In her impatience Bess Harley thought she had never known a crowd tomove so slowly. Of course all the people on the train were getting outat New York, for the simple reason that the train did not go anyfarther.

  At any other time the girls would have been tremendously pleased aboutgoing to New York. But now, with the even more wonderful prospect ofFlorida looming up, New York appealed to them simply as a means to anend.

  "It's that fat man at the end," hissed Bess in Nan's ear. "He's holdingup the whole procession. What's he talking about, anyway?"

  "Sh-h," whispered Nan. "He may hear you. Are you sure you haveeverything, honey?" she added, making a mental count of Bess'sbelongings to make certain that her careless chum had left nothingbehind.

  "For goodness' sake, Nan Sherwood, I wonder you don't have a record madeof that question and then turn it on every five minutes or so," saidBess, whose temper was beginning to be ruffled by the delay. "That'sall I hear from morning to night. 'Are you sure you have everything?' Ithink I'll try it on you and see how you like it."

  "Oh, I'd love it," cried Nan, with such fervor that Bess looked at herin surprise. "It's this bag," explained Nan, looking down at her ownhandsome suitcase. "I'm certain it will be stolen or I'll lose it orsomething before we can get to Florida."

  "Well, it is an expensive suitcase," Bess admitted, as the fat man atthe front of the car finished his argument with the conductor and theline of passengers moved slowly on toward the door. "But you never usedto lie awake at night worrying about it."

  It was Nan's turn to look her amazement.

  "It isn't the bag I'm worrying about, and you ought to know that," shesaid in a low voice. "It's what is in the bag."

  "Oh!" said Bess, suddenly remembering, "you mean those papers Mrs.Bragley gave you? Well, I wouldn't worry about them," she addedcarelessly. "I don't believe they are really worth anything, anyway."

  "Oh, hush," Nan begged her as they stepped upon the platform and a manturned to look at them curiously. "Please don't mention any names, Bess.It might make trouble."

  "Why, Nan Sherwood, how you talk!" cried Bess, turning to lookcuriously at her chum. "You might really think those old papers wereworth something."

  "I believe they are," said Nan seriously, as, with bag clutched tightlyin her hand, she started with Bess down the long bustling platform."Anyway, I want to do my best to help the poor woman. I felt dreadfullysorry for her."

  "I feel sorry for everybody who isn't going to Palm Beach," cried Bessgaily, as she looked about her with sparkling eyes. "Oh, Nan, isn't thisa lark?"

  "You'd better look out," cried Nan sharply, as Bess stepped directly infront of a heaped-up baggage truck that was being trundled heavily downthe platform, "or it will be a tragedy instead."

  The girls had supposed they had become accustomed to the noise andconfusion of a big city during their visit in Chicago, but as theystepped from the great Pennsylvania Station on to the crowded New Yorkstreet they felt disconcertingly like startled country girls arriving inthe city for the first time.

  "Goodness! I thought Chicago was awful," whispered Bess in Nan's ear."But this is worse. What shall we do?"

  "That's easy," said Nan, taking command of the situation as usual. "PapaSherwood told me to take a taxi straight over to the dock and not tospeak to any one on the way."

  "Well, I think we'll have our choice of taxis," remarked Bess, with achuckle, as several chauffeurs standing by or sitting in cabs drawn upalong the curb espied the well-dressed girls and immediately set up acry of "Taxi, taxi! Right this way, lady!"

  Looking as if she had been used to riding around in taxicabs in strangeand noisy cities all her life, Nan walked forward, still clutching theprecious bag that held Mrs. Bragley's papers and calmly selected abrilliant yellow cab whose driver opened the door to her respectfully.

  Bess followed, all eyes and ears for the noise and confusion of thestreet. Nan gave instructions to the chauffeur, who touched his cap,slammed the door shut on the girls and sprang to his seat in front.

  "I think you are just wonderful, Nan Sherwood," said Bess, when theywere gliding swiftly off through the bewildering traffic. "I wasfrightened to death when all those men started shouting at us at once. Iwanted to run back into the station and hide. But _you_ didn't, and ofcourse _I_ didn't, and here we are!" She gave an excited little bounceon the seat. "Only," she added reproachfully, "I don't see why youpicked out a yellow taxi. You know I hate yellow."

  "Goodness! I didn't even notice the color," said Nan, feeling hersuitcase with one foot to be sure it was still there. "If you will justtell me what color you like best I'll send a note to the governor andask him to have them painted that way."

  "How sweet of you," mocked Bess, and a moment later grasped her chum'sarm in fright. "Did you see that?" she cried, as the driver put on hisbrakes and they stopped within about two inches of the back of a greatlumbering truck. "I'm afraid this driver is going to kill us before everwe can get to the dock."

  "Never mind, honey," said Nan soothingly, though she herself had beenconsiderably startled at the close call. "Papa Sherwood says all thedrivers are like that in New York, and yet there are very few accidents.We must be near the dock, anyway."

  "Isn't that horrid?" cried Bess with one of her quick changes ofinterest. "Just think, we'll have to go and leave New York before wehave really seen anything of it."

  Nan shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

  "I thought you weren't enjoying your ride," she said, "and here you arebemoaning the fact that it is nearly over. Bess, I give you up."

  Bess merely chuckled, and a few minutes later insisted upon stopping themachine while she got out and bought some oranges from a temptingfruit-stand.

  "Now," she said, proudly exhibiting her purchase to Nan when the car wasonce more bumping onward over cobblestones toward the dock, "we sha'n'tstarve on our trip, anyway. Oh, look, Nan; we're there!" she cried,pointing excitedly out of the window. "See that thing over there thatlooks like something between a cave and a barn with a sign over it? Thatmust be the entrance to one of the docks. Yes, see the people going in?And there's another and another. Oh, oh!"

  "For goodness' sake, sit still," commanded Nan. "You're spilling all theoranges."

  "My, what a joy killer you are, Nan Sherwood," sighed Bess, as sherebelliously stuffed the bag of oranges into her already over-filledsuitcase. "What are a few oranges more or less at a glorious time likethis?"

  Then the taxicab left the rough pavement and rolled along over thesmooth asphalt. On all sides of them were trucks and autos, with hereand there a horse-drawn vehicle. The noise was something awful.

  "Goodness gracious, how different from the quietness at the Hall!"remarked Bess.

  "And how different even from Tillbury," returned Nan.

  "What a lot of foreigners here, Nan."

  "I guess they come from the ships. The docks are all along here, so I'vebeen told."

  "I wouldn't want to come down here after dark and all alone."

  "No, I'd not like that myself, Bess."

  "Some of those men look like regular Italian brigands."

  "Yes, and others look like Russian anarchists."

  Suddenly the machine came to a standstill and the man in front lookedabout at Nan and repeated the instructions she had given him to makesure he had them correctly.

  "That's right," answered Nan, nodding. "We must be almost there, aren'twe?"

  "Yes, Miss," said the man, as he started the car again. "See that dockover yonder? That's it." And he swung the machine about in a semicircleand headed for one of the openings which Bess had described as"something between a cave and a barn."

  "Nan, I never felt so funny before," Bess confided to her chum. "I thinkI am going to faint or something."

  "And I think you had better not," said Nan, in alarm. "I have all I cando to carry my own luggage without having you piled on top of it."

  "You wouldn't
have to carry me," giggled Bess incorrigibly. "I'd ask thegood-looking chauffeur to do it."

  "How could you ask him anything if you had fainted?" asked Nan,beginning systematically to get her things together. "Hurry up, Bess. Iguess this is where we get off. Are you sure----"

  "You have everything?" finished the irrepressible Bess with anothergiggle. "I was just waiting for that. Look out, Nan. You stepped on mytoe."

  "I know it," said Nan calmly. "I did it on purpose."

  Nan seized the opportunity to make good her escape, and Bess, followingclose upon her heels, whispered dramatically in her ear: "Take care,woman! You shall not again escape me. Next time I will spit thee like agoose."

  "All right," said Nan, turning calmly to the driver who was waiting forhis fee. "Only wait a minute, will you? I have to pay the fare."