Astra by Grace Livingston Hill Read Free Book Online Page A

it over. There were two garment bags containing some evening dresses. One her cousin Miriam had sent up for her a little over a week ago, insisting she should have it for the Christmas party they were expecting to give. That was before they suddenly decided to go to California for Christmas instead.
    It wasn’t a dress that Astra particularly liked, but Cousin Miriam said it was smart, and that was what she wanted Astra to have, so she had finally succumbed and bought it. Astra had bought it herself, paid for it with her own money. It wasn’t a gift from the family, and so she felt free to get rid of it.
    Carefully she folded it and laid it in a suit box, the very box it had come in. And then she gathered out a few unnecessary embroidered silk trifles of underwear. They were all bought about the same time and had not been worn. They probably were all returnable.
    Breathlessly, she folded and boxed them, and at last she had quite a little assemblage that she hoped would bring her at least enough to buy a ticket back to her hometown. For surely, once there, there would be some of her father’s old friends who would lend her enough to get her through until her next allowance was due. She could probably go to her father’s friend, Mr. Sargent, and ask him to advance her a little. Perhaps she could tell him that someone had stolen her money in the absence of her cousin. Well, at least she would go step by step, as the day’s need became evident.
    Telling the maids that she was going downtown to attend some errands, she boarded a bus with her array of bundles and went first to the stores where she hoped to return her dresses. There was great relief in her eyes when in response to her request she was merely told to go to a certain desk and her money would be refunded. Then, with a roll of nice crisp bills in her purse, and a burden that was much lightened, she went on her way to sell her old gold.
    When she finally got back to the house, she had enough money to buy a ticket, enough over for incidentals, and a night’s lodging at least when she got there. So she felt that it was right for her to go. There would surely be some friends when she got to the city that was still home to her who would help her out until she could find Mr. Sargent.
    She paid little heed to eating that day. She had too much to do. She went to the trunk room and got out her trunk and suitcases. Then, rapidly, she began to pack. She wanted to waste no time in getting started. As she folded her garments and stowed them in the trunk and suitcases, her mind was going over and over what she should do. There were some books and pictures, and things that were dear to her heart. If she left them there, Clytie would make short work of them, and there was little likelihood that she would ever see them again unless she took them with her. So she went down to the cellar and found a box which she smuggled up to her room while the maids were out on their own errands. She packed her things carefully, and even nailed up the box securely. She didn’t want to waste money paying a man to do what she could do herself.
    But while she was packing her books, she came across a few that she did not care to keep and realized that she might get a little more money from them. Also, there was a whole lovely set of her favorite poets, done in fine binding. She had bought them only a short time ago. Could she get the man to take them back and give her the money? She hated to give them up, but she could surely get them again somewhere, sometime, when money was not so scarce; so she ventured to telephone and found that the book dealer would take them back if they were still in good condition.
    So she took her books down to the dealer and got a little more money for her journey, which made her feel much easier in her mind and quite satisfied that God was helping her.
    That evening, tired as she was, she wrote a note to her cousin.
    Dear Miriam:
    I hope you will not disapprove when you