When he returned to the Freemans, Henderson flung aside his book and complained of Bruce’s prolonged absence. “I had begun to think you’d got yourself kidnapped. Go ahead and talk,” he said, yawning and stretching himself.
“Well, I’ve had a mild adventure,” said Bruce, lighting a cigarette; and he described his meeting with the two young women.
“Not so bad!” remarked Henderson placidly. “Such little adventures never happen to me. The incident would make good first page stuff for a newspaper; society girls shipwrecked. You ought to have taken the flask as a souvenir. Leila is an obstreperous little kid; she really ought to behave herself. Right the first time. Leila Mills, of course; I think I mentioned her the other day. Her friend is Millicent Harden. Guess I omitted Millicent in my review of our citizens. Quite a remarkable person. She plays the rôle of big sister to Leila; they’re neighbors on Jefferson Avenue. That’s just a boathouse on the Styx that Mills built for Leila’s delectation. She pulls a cocktail tea there occasionally. Millicent’s pop made a fortune out of an asthma cure—the joy of all cut-rate druggists. Not viewed with approval by medical societies. Socially the senior Hardens are outside the breastworks, but Millicent is asked to very large functions, where nobody knows who’s there. They live in that whopping big house just north of the Mills place, and old Doc Harden gives Millicent everything she wants. Hence a grand organ, and the girl is a regular Cecelia at the keys. Really plays. Strong artistic bent. We can’t account for people like the Hardens having such a daughter. There’s a Celtic streak in the girl, I surmise—that odd sort of poetic strain that’s so beguiling in the Irish. She models quite wonderfully, they tell me. Well, well! So you were our little hero on the spot!”
“But Leila?” said Bruce seriously. “You don’t quite expect to find the daughter of a prominent citizen tipsy on a river, and rather profane at that.”
“Oh, thunder!” exclaimed Henderson easily. “Leila’s all right. You needn’t worry about her. She’s merely passing through a phase and will probably emerge safely. Leila’s hardly up to your standard, but Millicent is a girl you’ll like. I ought to have told Dale to ask Millicent here. Dale’s a broad-minded woman and doesn’t mind it at all that old Harden’s rolled up a million by being smart enough to scamper just a nose length ahead of the Federal grand jury carrying his rotten dope in triumph.”
“Miss Mills, I suppose, is an acceptable member of the Freemans’ group?” Bruce inquired.
“Acceptable enough, but this is all too tame for Leila. Curious sort of friendship—Leila and Millicent. Socially Millicent is, in a manner of speaking, between the devil and the deep sea. She’s just a little too superior to train with the girls of the Longview Country Club set and the asthma cure keeps her from being chummy with the Faraway gang. But I’ll say that Leila’s lucky to have a friend like Millicent.”
“Um—yes,” Bruce assented. “I’m beginning to see that your social life here has a real flavor.”
“Well, it’s not all just plain vanilla,” Bud agreed with a yawn.