The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia ScarlettMacKenzie, Compton
General
The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett
MacKenzie, Compton
Fiction
"Too many cooks drink up the soup, which means you're one too many, my
lad, and a rolling stone doesn't let the grass grow under its feet,
which means as that Monkley's got some game on."
Sylvia did not agree with Clara's point of view; she still felt
aggrieved by being left out of everything. Luckily, when life in Lillie
Road was becoming utterly dull again, a baboon escaped from Earl's Court
Exhibition, climbed up the drain-pipe outside the house, and walked into
Mrs. Meares's bedroom; so that for some time after this she had
palpitations whenever a bell rang. Mr. Morgan was very unkind about her
adventure, for he declared that the baboon looked so much like an
Irishman that she must have thought it was her husband come back; Mr.
Morgan had been practising the Waldstein Sonata at the time, and had
been irritated by the interruption of a wandering ape.
A fortnight after this there was a scene in the house that touched
Sylvia more sharply, for Maudie Tilt arrived one morning and begged to
speak with Mr. Monkley, who, being in the Scarletts' room at the moment,
looked suddenly at Sylvia's father with a question in his eyes.
"I told you not to take them all," Henry said.
"I'll soon calm her down," Monkley promised. "If you hadn't insisted on
taking those bottles of hair-wash she'd never have thought of looking to
see if the other things were still there."
Henry indicated his daughter with a gesture.
"Rot! The kid's got to stand in on this," Monkley said, with a laugh.
"After all, it was he who introduced us. I'll bring her up here to talk
it out," he added.
Presently he returned with Maudie, who had very red eyes and a
frightened expression.
"Oh, Jimmy!" she burst out. "Whatever did you want to take that jewelry
for? I only found out last night, and they'll be home to-morrow.
Whatever am I going to say?"
"Jewelry?" repeated Monkley, in a puzzled voice. "Harry took some
hair-wash, if that's what you mean."
"Jewelry?" Henry murmured, taking the cue from his friend. "Was there
any jewelry?"
"Oh, don't pretend you don't know nothing about it," Maudie cried,
dissolving into tears. "For the love of God give it to me, so as I can
put it back. If you're hard up, Jimmy, you can take what I saved for the
stage; but give us back that jewelry."
"If you act like that you'll make your fortune as a professional,"
Monkley sneered.
Maudie turned to Sylvia in desperation. "Sil," she cried, "make them
give it back. It'll be the ruin of me. Why, it's burglary! Oh, whatever
shall I do?"
Maudie flung herself down on the bed and wept convulsively. Sylvia felt
her heart beating fast, but she strung herself up to the encounter and
faced Monkley.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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