Artists -- Juvenile fiction; France -- Juvenile fiction; Voyages and travels -- Juvenile fiction; Young women -- Juvenile fiction
Cynthia was too weary to utter more than a feeble protest. “It seems
kind of funny to break into a stranger’s house, eat their hash and go
to sleep in their bed,” she murmured as she slipped off her shoes.
“Take off your dress. That’s right. I’ll just throw a blanket over you
and open this window a little. Sleep _doucement!_”
Cynthia started to call, “Don’t fail to wake me,” but must have been
asleep before she could speak the words. At least when she awoke an
apparent few minutes later the sentence still hung unuttered, in her
mind. She stretched, blinked, fumbled for her thoughts, then glared at
the window. It was full daylight!
Frantically she bent to look at her watch. It had stopped. Then it
_was_ next day? The little clock on the bureau said “eight o’clock” and
then Alice, tousle headed, in bright pink candy-striped pyjamas peeped
round the edge of the door.
“Hello you! Gosh how you did sleep! Are you by any chance a descendant
of the Sleeping Beauty? I phoned your hotel so they wouldn’t think you
had got run over, and went in to sleep with Mother.”
She pranced into the room and perched on the foot of the bed. “It’s a
swell day. And things started to move again today. You’ll find your
little editor chap, no doubt. Will you have your breakfast on a tray in
here, milady, and go back to sleep again?”
“Goodness no! Oh, I feel fine.” Cynthia swung her feet out of bed.
It was nearly noon, however, when Cynthia sent her name to Mr. Culbert,
the editor of _Little Ones’ Magazine_. He came out immediately, a plump
little man with a round jolly face and held out both hands, beaming his
welcome.
“Such a shame you landed here in the middle of the holiday. I was down
in the south of France with the owner of the magazine, but got back
last night. Now, my dear child, about those covers of yours, I suppose
you want to get right at them. About models ... that’s going to be a
bit difficult. Children, you know. ...”
“Not a bit difficult.” Cynthia’s eyes were dancing. “I’ve been
working,” she said demurely.
“What, not already? Well, you are a wonder! Oh, you’ve got something
there? Come into the office, will you? This is just a borrowed place
and I hate it. Drat these French chairs. I like a good old swivel chair
I can lean back in. Shall be glad to get back to the States myself. Now
let’s see. ...”
He had chatted incessantly as he led the way into a room resembling
more a window display of a decorator’s shop than an office. Cynthia
perched on the corner of the elaborate inlaid desk and slipped the
wrapper off her drawing, the one Nono, over her second breakfast, had
finished posing for, just a half hour ago.
“Here you are.” She knew it was good. Would he think so too? Gosh, he
liked it! She could tell by his face.
“Sa ... ay, that’s fine. My dear child, you have certainly surpassed
anything you have done yet.” He set it on the floor, propped against
the wall and leaned back to squint at it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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