CHAPTER XIII
THE NEW LINK
Steingall and Clancy were highly amused by Carshaw’s account of the “second burning of Fairfield,” as the little man described the struggle between Winifred’s abductors and her rescuer. The latter, not so well versed in his country’s history as every young American ought to be, had to consult a history of the Revolution to learn that Fairfield was burned by the British in 1777. The later burning, by the way, created a pretty quarrel between two insurance companies, the proprietors of two garages and the owner of a certain bullock, with Carshaw’s lawyer and a Bridgeport lawyer, instructed by “Mr. Ralph Voles,” as interveners.
“And where is the young lady now?” inquired Steingall, when Carshaw’s story reached its end.
“Living in rooms in a house in East Twenty-seventh Street, a quiet place kept by a Miss Goodman.”
“Ah! Too soon for any planning as to the future, I suppose?”
“We talked of that in the train. Winifred has a voice, so the stage offers an immediate opening. But I don’t like the notion of musical comedy, and the concert platform demands a good deal of training, since a girl starts there practically as a principal. There is no urgency. Winifred might well enjoy a fortnight’s rest. I have counseled that.”
“A stage wait, in fact,” put in Clancy, sarcastically.