“I am glad she is here. It is most fortunate for us. We shall be able to decide what we can do that much the sooner.” The builder bowed abstracted acknowledgment as Marjorie excused herself and hurried upstairs. Peter Graham’s mind had dwelt upon nothing else but what might be done to clear away the ugly situation resulting from Leslie Cairns’s malice.
She found Robin in the midst of the party group in Ronny’s room. Under Jerry’s laughable supervision the eats had been transferred without accident to the immediate scene of the festivity. Ronny, as hostess-guest of honor, was in high feather. She was hospitably concocting a delectable mixture which she called “Encanta Manaña” as she chatted animatedly with her friends. It was a fruit punch founded on lemons and oranges and further improved by a blending of fruit syrups. These syrups had been made from the fruits of her ranch home and put up in the ranch laboratory. They were as welcome at a spread as was Leila’s imported ginger ale.
Her own little coterie of friends had remembered her birthday that morning with lavish giving. The top of her chiffonier was covered with affectionate remembrances, each one selected with a view to Ronny’s peculiarly strong, attractive individuality.
“I can’t stay up here one minute, girls,” Marjorie hastily told the revelers. They had listened in blank silence to her as she acquainted Robin with the dismaying situation. “Go ahead, and have a good time, minus Page and Dean. We’ll be back within an hour, I think; perhaps before then.”
A buzzing murmur arose from the group as the partners exchanged eye messages of undying loyalty, linked arms and marched together from the room. Page and Dean would fight gallantly beside Peter Graham for the good of the dormitory.
Entering the living room Peter Graham shook hands with Robin. The partners seated themselves side by side on a small settee, while Peter Graham drew a wicker rocker close enough to them to permit of low-toned conversation.
The builder then began an account of the chief happenings on the day before the trouble became evident. He followed it with a more detailed description of the desertion, first of the three or four Italians, then the rest of the force, except the four Hamilton carpenters.
“When I saw those fellows I had tried to do well by over on the other lot I knew there was only one thing had taken them there. They’d been offered a good deal more money than we were paying them. I knew Thorne & Foster hadn’t offered it to them.” The builder smiled, a quiet, scornful smile. “They are niggards.
“I decided to go over and have a talk with Pedro Tomasi, one of the older men of the quarter. He had always seemed very well disposed toward me. I went only as far as the edge of the garage excavation.” He laughed, but in his laugh he showed his deep-lying indignation. “I was ordered off the lot by Thorne & Foster’s foreman. What construction would you place on such an act on their part after what I just remarked of them.” He looked levelly from Marjorie to Robin.
“There is only one can be placed upon it,” Marjorie said tranquilly. “They are simply obeying Miss Cairns’s orders and pocketing more of her money.”