CHAPTER 12 THE GREEN CARD
“Do you always talk to yourself?” inquired an amused voice from behind Penny.
Glancing up from the newspaper, the girl saw Maxine Miller standing beside her chair. For an instant she failed to recognize the actress, so elegant did the woman appear in a sealskin coat and matching hat. The outfit was so new that the fur had lost none of its glaze, an observation which caused Penny to wonder if Miss Miller had misled her regarding the state of her finances.
“Good evening, Miss Miller,” she smiled. “I didn’t know you for a moment.”
“How do you like it?” inquired the actress, turning slowly about.
“Your new fur coat? It’s very beautiful. And you’re looking well, too. You didn’t by chance get that role from David Balantine?”
Miss Miller’s painted lips drew into a pout. “No, he left the hotel this morning.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I suppose you’ll be going soon, then?”
The actress shook her head, and laughed in a mysterious way.
“No, I’ve decided to stay here for awhile. I like Pine Top.”
Penny was puzzled by Miss Miller’s sudden change in manner and appearance. The woman acted as if she were the possessor of an important secret which she longed to reveal.
“You must have fallen heiress to a vast fortune,” Penny ventured lightly.
“Better than that,” beamed Miss Miller. “I’ve acquired a new job. Take dinner with me and I’ll tell you all about it.”
“Well—” Penny deliberated and said honestly, “I didn’t bring very much money with me, and I’m not dressed up.”
Miss Miller brushed aside both objections as if they were of no consequence.
“You’ll be my guest, dearie. And your clothes don’t matter.”
She caught Penny’s hand and pulled her to her feet. Her curiosity aroused, the girl allowed herself to be escorted to the dining room.
Miss Miller walked ahead, strutting a bit as she brushed past the crowded tables. Heads lifted and envious feminine eyes focused upon the actress’ stunning fur coat. Penny felt awkward and embarrassed, clomping along behind in her big heavy ski boots.
The head waiter gave them a choice table near the orchestra. Miss Miller threw back her coat, exposing a form-fitting black satin gown with a brilliant blue stone pin at the neck line. She knew that she was creating an impression and thoroughly enjoyed herself.
A waiter brought menu cards. The actress proceeded to order for both herself and Penny. She selected the most expensive dishes offered, stumbling over their long French names.
“How nice it is to have money again,” she remarked languidly when the waiter had gone. “Do you really like my new wardrobe, dearie?”
“Indeed, I do, Miss Miller. Your dress is very becoming, and the fur coat is stunning. Isn’t it new?”
“Exactly two days old.”
“Then you must have acquired it since coming to Pine Top. I had no idea such lovely skins could be bought anywhere near here.”
“We’re very close to the Canadian border, you know.” Again the actress flashed her mysterious smile. “But the duty is frightful unless one is able to avoid it.”
Penny gazed thoughtfully across the table at her companion.
“And do you know how to avoid it?” she asked as casually as she could manage.
Miss Miller steered skilfully away from the subject.
“Oh, this coat was given to me. It didn’t cost me a cent.”
“And how does one go about acquiring a free coat? You’ve not become a professional model?”
“No,” the actress denied, “but your guess is fairly warm. I do have a nice figure for displaying clothes. No doubt that was why I was given the job.”
“Who is your employer, Miss Miller? Someone connected with the hotel?”
The waiter had brought a loaded tray to the table, and the actress used his arrival as a pretext for not answering Penny’s question. After the man went away she began to chat glibly about other subjects. However, with the serving of dessert, she once more switched to the topic of her wardrobe.
“You were asking me about my fur coat, dearie,” she said. “Would you like to have one like it?”
“Who wouldn’t? What must I do to acquire one—rob a bank?”
Miss Miller laughed in a forced way. “You will have your little joke. From what you’ve told me, I imagine your father has plenty of money.”
“I don’t remember saying anything about it,” responded Penny dryly. “As a matter of fact, my father isn’t wealthy.”
“At least your family is comfortably fixed or you wouldn’t be at this expensive winter resort,” Miss Miller went on, undisturbed. “Now would you be able to pay as much as a hundred dollars for a coat?”
“I hadn’t even thought of buying one,” replied Penny, trying not to disclose her astonishment. “Can you really get a good fur coat for as little as a hundred dollars?”
“You could through my friend.”
“Your friend?” asked Penny bluntly. “Do you mean your new employer?”
“Well, yes,” the actress admitted with a self-conscious laugh. “He is a fur salesman. You’ve been very nice to me and I might be able to get a coat for you at cost.”
“That’s most kind,” remarked Penny dryly. “Where could I see these coats?”
“My employer has a salesroom here at the hotel,” Miss Miller declared. “I can arrange an appointment for you. Say tomorrow at two?”
“I haven’t enough money with me to buy a coat even if I wanted one.”
“But if you liked the furs you could wire your parents for more,” the actress wheedled. “It is a wonderful opportunity. You’ll never have another chance to buy a beautiful coat at cost.”
“I’ll have to think it over,” Penny returned. “I suppose you get a commission on every garment sold?”
“A small one. In your case, I’ll not take it. I truly am interested in seeing you get your coat, dearie. You have just the figure for it, you’re so slim and svelte.”
Penny was not deceived by the flattery. She knew very well that the actress had treated her to dinner for the purpose of making her feel under obligation and as a build-up to the suggestion that she purchase a fur coat.
Glancing at the bill she was relieved to see that she had enough money to pay for her share of the meal.
“No, no, I won’t hear of it,” Miss Miller protested grandly.
Summoning the waiter, she gave him a twenty dollar bill.
“Let me know if you decide you would like to see the coats,” she said to Penny as they left the dining room together. “It won’t cost you anything to look, you know.”
“I’ll think it over. Thanks for the dinner.”
Penny looked about the crowded lobby for Ralph Fergus or Harvey Maxwell, but neither man was to be seen. While at the hotel she would have liked to acquire a little more information about the Green Room. With the actress hovering at her elbow it was out of the question.
She considered speaking of the matter to Miss Miller, and then abandoned the idea. However, it had occurred to her that the mysterious room of the hotel might have some connection with the actress’ present employment, and so she ventured one rather direct question.
“Miss Miller, you’re not by chance working for Ralph Fergus or the hotel?”
“Dear me, no!” the actress denied. “Whatever put such an idea in your head?”
“It just occurred to me. Well, good-bye.”
Penny left the hotel and ventured out into the cold. After so much cigarette smoke, the pure air was a pleasant relief. She broke off a long icicle from the doorway, and stood thoughtfully chewing at it.
“Miss Miller must be working for some dishonest outfit,” she mused. “Her talk about getting a fur coat at cost doesn’t fool me one bit. If I were in her shoes I’d be more than a little worried lest I tangled with the law.”
A remark by the actress to the effect that the Canadian border was close by had set Penny’s active mind to working. It was not too fantastic to believe that Miss Miller might be employed by an unscrupulous man whose business concerned the sale of furs obtained duty free. She had even dared hope that Ralph Fergus or Harvey Maxwell might be implicated in the dishonest affair. What a break that would be for her father if only she could prove such a connection! But the actress’ outright denial that either man was her employer had put an end to such pleasant speculation.
Penny bent down to pick up her skis which had been left at the side of the hotel building. As she leaned over, she noticed a small object lying on top of the snow in the square of light made from one of the windows. It appeared to be a small piece of colored cardboard.
Curiously, Penny picked it up and carried it closer to the window. The card was green. Her pulse quickened as she turned it over. On its face were six engraved words:
“Admit Bearer Through The Green Door.”
