CHAPTER XXVIIIA DINNER-PARTY.
That evening a jolly party gathered at the home of Fairfax Lee, Winnie’s father. Browning, Hodge, Starbright, Dashleigh, and Merriwell were there. Winnie and Inza, together with two girl friends, sought to entertain them. But one person was missing; and in vain they waited for Elsie Bellwood, who did not come.
Frank tried to conceal the agitated state of his feelings as best he could, and he succeeded so well that the others enjoyed themselves. Not till dinner-time came and passed and it was impossible to wait longer did Merry give up hope of Elsie’s arrival. At last he whispered to Winnie, telling her that it was useless to wait longer, and they went down to the dining-room, which was beautifully decorated with flowers and college flags and trophies.
Badger sat at the head of the table, and his beautiful little wife smiled at him from the foot. Inza was placed between Frank and Dick Starbright, Winnie having slyly whispered to Merry that he would have a fair chance to hold his own against the big freshman.
Winnie’s girl friends fell to Browning and Dashleigh. Bert was the soul of ease and politeness, but big, lumbering Bruce was restless and awkward, although he did his best to be entertaining.
Bart Hodge, alone, did not seem to enter fully and heartily into the spirit of the occasion, though it was evident that he did his best to make Badger and Winnie feel that all old animosities had been buried and forgotten.
In course of time the little party grew very merry, chatting of things that interested them, from football, baseball, rowing, and kindred sports, to ranch life and the glorious freedom of the plains and mountains. Badger was supremely happy. He seemed to radiate good nature.
“Look here, Hodge!” he exclaimed, suddenly shaking his finger at Bart, “be careful down there! That’s my wife! You and I have tried to lift each other’s scalps before this, but I’m willing to bury the hatchet if you don’t flirt too hard with Mrs. Badger.”
Hodge started a little, but Buck broke into a hearty laugh, and Bart smiled a little.
“Don’t mind him,” said Winnie. “I suppose you’ll marry, Mr. Hodge, when the golden opportunity offers, won’t you?”
“Well,” answered Bart deliberately, “that will depend on how much gold there is in the opportunity.”
“Oh, you mercenary wretch!” Winnie gasped, while Frank stared, wondering to hear Hodge crack a joke.
Browning was heard saying to the girl at his side:
“I wonder why it is that the most beautiful girls are the stupid ones?”
“Sir!” she exclaimed, giving him a cutting look; “am I to understand that you desire to cast reflections on my mental capacity?”
“Oh, no!” gasped the big fellow, wishing to put himself right in her eyes; “I think you are one of the brightest girls I ever met.”
Then, realizing he had said the wrong thing, and could never straighten it out, he hemmed and hawed and nearly exploded in consternation and confusion, causing the entire party to break into a shout of laughter. As the merriment subsided, the jolly girl exclaimed:
“You flatter me, sir! After all, though, beauty is but skin-deep.”
“Just so,” gurgled Bruce, “but just think what a host of girls there are who haven’t it half that deep.”
“That lets you out, Browning,” said Merry. “You were in so deep that I thought you’d go under sure.”
“The trouble with me,” explained the lazy giant, “is that I’m bothered with sleepless nights, and I sometimes talk in my sleep daytimes. Now, what is a good thing for sleeplessness?”
“A shotgun,” replied Badger.
“Shotgun?”
“Yes. I was troubled that way till I shot five or six cats. Now I am completely cured.”
“What troubles me more than anything else,” put in Dashleigh, “is thoughts of the coming exams. It’s a constant horror to me.”
“Do the questions bother you?” asked Badger.
“Oh, no!” declared Bert. “The questions are quite clear. It’s the answers that bother me.”
They could not restrain their laughter, for Dashleigh had said this in a most mirth-provoking manner.
So, with joking and laughter, the feast progressed; but for Frank the one person who would have made the occasion a perfect one was absent; and, although he tried to conceal the fact, his thoughts were turning to Elsie. At length Inza spoke of her.
“Why do you suppose she is not here, Frank?” she asked, in a low tone, under cover of the chatter of conversation. “I do not understand it.”
“I’m afraid,” confessed Frank, “that she has been hurt or offended by something.”
“How?” whispered the dark-eyed girl. “I don’t understand——”
“You know she ran up-stairs ahead of Buck and Winnie.”
“Yes.”
“And one of the doors to my rooms was open.”
“Yes.”
“We were in that room, looking at some pictures by the window.”
“And she saw us; that may be true,” said Inza. “She is a sensitive little soul. Frank, you must find her—you must bring her to me. She is somewhere in New Haven. Find her to-night. Just because we happened to be speaking of the past, which is gone forever, is no reason why we should make Elsie unhappy. I’ll give her cause for happiness, Frank. Bring her to me.”
“I will!” he exclaimed, with suppressed earnestness. “I’ll make my excuses and leave as soon as dinner is over.”
Badger was on his feet, making a speech in his blunt, straightforward way. He extolled Yale and Frank Merriwell. He spoke of the grand victories of the eleven under command of Merry. Then he told how much he owed to the friendship and influence of Merriwell, till, at last, Frank laughingly entreated him to stop.
“Well, I’ll stop,” said Buck, “but I want everybody here to drink with me to the health of Frank Merriwell, the squarest, whitest, manliest man that ever lived!”
The glasses had been filled with punch, and they all rose to drink the toast. Frank bowed his thanks, feeling his face grow warm, despite the fact that he had seen much of the world and been greeted with applause and admiration in many places.
“My friends,” he said, “nothing could touch me more than such a tribute of esteem from a Yale man, one who has been an open and honorable foe in the past and is now just as enthusiastic in his friendship toward me. From the lips of any other man the compliment could not mean as much.”
“When Buck says a thing he means it,” declared Winnie, with a look of admiration toward her husband.
Then Merry made a brief speech, in which he referred to the days of toil and struggle and ambition at college—happy days, now nearly over for him.
“One of the greatest and proudest achievements,” he asserted, “something I prize above all things, is the fact that I have made here at Yale so many stanch, true friends.”
When dinner was over, they returned to the parlor, where Dashleigh tuned up his mandolin, and there were music and singing and a good time generally. Winnie sat down to the piano, and the others gathered round. The old college songs were sung one after another, Starbright joining in with his magnificent bass voice.
Frank had excused himself to Winnie, telling her why he was going to leave, and, in the midst of the singing, he went out quietly with Buck, who helped him on with his coat in the hall, gave him a hearty hand-clasp, and wished him luck in his search for Elsie.
As he was about to leave, Merry glanced back on the happy party in the parlor. He saw Starbright bending over Inza to look through some music, saw her smile up at him when he said something in a low tone; and, with this picture in his mind, he went out into the frosty December night.