She looked at it now with a little gasp. She had carried the key in that little purse just—well, just because! She had never expected to use it again but now—
The key reminded her of Granny. What would Granny think? She must find some way to let Granny know that she was safe. Oh, wasn't it awful to think how helpless and unfortunate a queen could be! Here she was a fugitive and penniless in the streets of Waloo. And only yesterday she had been riding the streets of Waloo in her own car, and with her own chauffeur and her own bodyguard, and with a purse full of money. Could you believe that twenty-four hours would make such a change? She did not remember where she had dropped her bag. Perhaps Mr. Pracht had it. When she became a queen, she had thought that she had said good-by to Trouble and Care, and here were Trouble and Care at her very elbow. Joe Cary had said they would be there. He had declared she would find that being a queen wouldn't be all fun. And she had laughed at him! Mr. Bill had laughed, too. Mr. Bill had called Joe an old grouch—a croaking old grouch. Mr. Bill was so wonderful! But Joe Cary was right. It wasn't all fun to be a queen. There were many disagreeable moments. She shivered as she recalled some of the disagreeable moments. But at least she had learned one thing. A queen would have to take care of herself just as any girl did, even a salesgirl at the Evergreen. A queen couldn't depend entirely on her bodyguard. She wondered if Ka-kee-ta were in the house with Mr. Pracht, or if the frizzled head she had seen belonged to a savage Son of Sunshine.
She was tired—more tired than she had ever been in her life. The big anniversary sale at the Evergreen had not left her as tired as she was now. And she was hungry. What wouldn't she give for some of Granny's liver and onions and a big cup of Granny's hot coffee. And after she had eaten the liver and onions, she would like to tumble into bed and sleep forever. She would, too, after she had sent word to Granny that she was safe. She would telephone, and then she remembered that she had no money, not even a nickel, to pay the telephone charges. There was nothing in the gay red purse but the old key. She couldn't telephone! She couldn't even ride in the street car! She would have to walk. In the old days when she was just a clerk, she had never been without at least carfare, but now that she was a queen she was penniless. Could you believe it? Oh, Joe Cary was right! It wasn't all fun to be a queen!
The tears rushed to her eyes again as she went slowly around the corner. She didn't care if she was a queen, she said with a sob, she was the most miserable girl in Waloo. Where would she be safe now?
[XXII]
Joe took matters into his own hands at the Waloo. He sent peremptory orders over the telephone, and received unsatisfactory reports from the policemen, who were scouring the city for the Queen of the Sunshine Islands. Granny fluttered helplessly about, blaming herself for ever letting Tessie be a queen, and scolding Johnny, when he told her to stop worrying and leave Tessie to the Boy Scouts. They would find Tessie.
Granny pushed Johnny aside and fluttered over to Joe to ask him if it wasn't time to hear something from Mr. Bill, who was driving frantically here and there, following up every clue. The Kingley limousine had been abandoned in Southeast Waloo, but it could not tell where it had been, and so did not furnish any help at all.
Norah Lee tried to soothe Granny, to tell her that Tessie was all right. Of course she was all right! Nothing could happen to Tessie in Waloo in broad daylight! But Norah's heart did not feel half so hopeful as her lips sounded. Norah read the daily papers, and she knew that many things can happen to a pretty girl in a big city in broad daylight. But she kept on patting Granny's arm encouragingly, and told her again that Tessie was all right. It was the only thing Norah could do.