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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/32185-8.txt b/32185-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..05f11d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/32185-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7916 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lord Stranleigh Abroad, by Robert Barr + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Lord Stranleigh Abroad + + +Author: Robert Barr + + + +Release Date: April 30, 2010 [eBook #32185] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD*** + + +E-text prepared by D Alexander and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images +generously made available by Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 32185-h.htm or 32185-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32185/32185-h/32185-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32185/32185-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://www.archive.org/details/lordstranleighab00barruoft + + + + + +LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD + +by + +ROBERT BARR + +Author of "Young Lord Stranleigh," "Lord Stranleigh, +Philanthropist," "The Mutable Many," etc. + + + + + + + +Ward, Locke & Co., Limited +London, Melbourne, and Toronto +1913 + + + + +[Illustration: "'Why did you wish to murder me?'" (Page 189.) +_Frontispiece_] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + I.--LORD STRANLEIGH ALL AT SEA 7 + + II.--AN AUTOMOBILE RIDE 49 + + III.--THE GOD IN THE CAR 87 + + IV.--THE MAD MISS MATURIN 125 + + V.--IN SEARCH OF GAME 164 + + VI.--THE BUNK HOUSE PRISONER 209 + + VII.--THE END OF THE CONTEST 259 + + + + +LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD. + + + + +I.--LORD STRANLEIGH ALL AT SEA. + + +A few minutes before noon on a hot summer day, Edmund Trevelyan +walked up the gang-plank of the steamship, at that moment the largest +Atlantic liner afloat. Exactly at the stroke of twelve she would leave +Southampton for Cherbourg, then proceed across to Queenstown, and +finally would make a bee-line west for New York. Trevelyan was costumed +in rough tweed of subdued hue, set off by a cut so well-fitting and +distinguished that it seemed likely the young man would be looked upon +by connoisseurs of tailoring as the best-dressed passenger aboard. He +was followed by Ponderby, his valet, whose usually expressionless face +bore a look of dissatisfaction with his lot, as though he had been +accustomed to wait upon the nobility, and was now doomed to service with +a mere commoner. His lack of content, however, was caused by a dislike +to ocean travel in the first place, and his general disapproval of +America in the second. A country where all men are free and equal +possessed no charms for Ponderby, who knew he had no equal, and was not +going to demean himself by acknowledging the possibility of such. + +Once on deck, his master turned to him and said-- + +"You will go, Ponderby, to my suite of rooms, and see that my luggage is +placed where it should be, and also kindly satisfy yourself that none of +it is missing." + +Ponderby bowed in a dignified manner, and obeyed without a word, while +Trevelyan mounted the grand staircase, moving with an easy nonchalance +suited to a day so inordinately hot. The prospect of an ocean voyage in +such weather was in itself refreshing, and so prone is mankind to live +in the present, and take no thought of the morrow, that Trevelyan +had quite forgotten the cablegrams he read in the papers on his way +down from London, to the effect that New York was on the grill, its +inhabitants sweltering--sleeping on the house-tops, in the parks, on +the beach at Coney Island, or wherever a breath of air could be had. +On the upper deck his slow steps were arrested by an exclamation-- + +"Isn't this Mr. Trevelyan?" + +The man who made the enquiry wore the uniform of the ship's company. + +"Ah, doctor, I was thinking of you at this moment. I read in the papers +that you had been promoted, and I said to myself: 'After all, this is +not an ungrateful world, when the most skilful and most popular medical +officer on the Atlantic is thus appreciated.'" + +"Ah, you put it delightfully, Trevelyan, but I confess I hesitated about +adding, at my time of life, to the burden I carry." + +"Your time of life, doctor! Why you always make me feel an old man by +comparison with yourself; yet you'll find me skipping about the decks +like a boy." + +"If you'll take the right-hand seat at my table, I'll keep an eye on +you, and prevent you from skipping overboard," laughed the doctor. + +"Indeed, that was the boon I intended to crave." + +"Then the seat is yours, Trevelyan. By the way, I read in the newspapers +that Evelyn Trevelyan is none other than Lord Stranleigh; but then, of +course, you can never believe what you see in the press, can you?" + +"Personally, I make no effort to do so. I get my news of the day from +Ponderby, who is an inveterate reader of the principal journals favoured +by what he calls the 'upper classes.' But I assure you that Evelyn +Trevelyan is a name that belongs to me, and I wear it occasionally like +an old, comfortable-fitting coat." + +"Ah, well, I'll not give you away. I'll see you at lunch between here +and Cherbourg." And the doctor hurried away to his duties. + +The young man continued his stroll, smiling as he remembered some of the +doctor's excellent stories. He regarded his meeting with that friendly +officer as a good omen, but hoped he would encounter no one else who +knew him. + +The next interruption of his walk proved to be not so pleasant. There +came up the deck with nervous tread a shabbily-dressed man, who appeared +from ten to fifteen years older than Stranleigh, although in reality +there was no great disparity in their ages. His face was haggard and +lined with anxiety, and his eyes had that furtive, penetrating glance +which distinguishes the inveterate gambler. Stranleigh watched his +oncoming with amazement. + +The Hon. John Hazel had been a member of some of the most exclusive +clubs in London; but whether or not Nature had endowed him with a useful +talent, he had become notorious as a reckless cardsharper, quite +unscrupulous when it came to obtaining money. No one knew this better +than Lord Stranleigh, who had been so often his victim, yet had regarded +his losses lightly, and forgiven the Hon. John time and again. But +recently this younger son of an ancient and honourable house had +committed the unpardonable sin--he had been found out, and had been +permitted to resign from all his clubs but one, and from which he was +expelled by a committee not so lenient. After that he disappeared. He +was done for, so far as England was concerned, and he knew it. + +"John, is this possible?" cried Lord Stranleigh, as the other +approached. + +Hazel stopped, his eyes veiling over, as though he held a hand at poker +that was unbeatable. + +"I haven't the pleasure of knowing you, sir," he said haughtily. + +"I'm glad of that, because I'm Edmund Trevelyan at the moment, and was +just hoping I should meet no one on board who would recognise me." + +"I don't know Edmund Trevelyan, and have no wish to make his +acquaintance," returned the other coldly. + +"That's quite all right, and your wish does you credit. Trevelyan has no +desire to force his friendship on any man. Nevertheless, Jack, time was +when I helped you out of a hole, and, if occasion arose, I should be +glad to do it again." + +"You could have prevented my expulsion from the Camperdown Club, had you +but cared to raise a finger," said the other hotly. + +"Hazel, you are mistaken. I did all I could for you, as in other crises +of the same nature. The committee proved to be adamant, and rather +prided themselves on their independence, as if they were a group of +blooming Radicals. The House of Lords isn't what it was, Jack, as, alas, +you may learn, should you ever come into the title of your family, +although many people stand between you and it at the present moment. +Indeed, Jack, it has been on my conscience that my urgent advocacy +prejudiced your case instead of helping it." + +"Ah, well, that's all past; it doesn't matter now," said the other, with +a sigh. "I have shaken the dust of England for ever from my feet." + +"The mud, you mean." + +"Oh, I admit I wallowed in the mud, but it was dust when I left London +this morning. Ah, we're off! I must be going." And he moved away from +the rail of the ship, where he had been gazing over the side. + +"Going? Where?" + +"Where I belong. I'm travelling third-class. The moment the steamer gets +under way, I have no right on the cabin deck. Before she left, I took +the liberty of a sightseer to wander over the steamship." + +"My dear Jack," said his former friend, in a grave voice, "this will +never do; you cannot cross the Atlantic in the steerage." + +"I have visited my quarters, and find them very comfortable. I have been +in much worse places recently. Steerage is like everything else +maritime--like this bewilderingly immense steamer, for example--vastly +improved since Robert Louis Stevenson took his trip third-class to New +York." + +"Well, it is a change for a luxury-loving person like my friend the Hon. +John Hazel." + +"It is very condescending of you to call me your friend. Nobody else +would do it," replied the Hon. John bitterly. + +"Condescension be hanged! I'm rather bewildered, that's all, and wish +for further particulars. Are you turning over a new leaf, then?" + +"A new leaf? A thousand of them! I have thrown away the old book, with +its blotches and ink-stains. I'm starting a blank volume that I hope +will bear inspection and not shock even the rectitude of the Camperdown +Committee." + +"What's the programme?" + +"I don't quite know yet; it will depend on circumstances. I think it's +the West for me--sort of back-to-the-land business. I yearn to become a +kind of moral cowboy. It seems the only thing I'm at all equipped for. I +can ride well and shoot reasonably straight." + +"I thought," said Stranleigh, "that phase of life had disappeared with +Bret Harte. Is there any money in your inside pocket?" + +"How could there be?" + +"Then why not let me grub-stake you, which I believe is the correct +Western term." + +"As how, for instance?" + +"I'll secure for you a comfortable cabin, and you will pay the damage +when you strike oil out West, so, you see, there's no humiliating +condescension about the offer." + +"I'm sure there isn't, and it's very good of you, Stranleigh, but I +can't dress the part." + +"That's easily arranged. Ponderby always over-dresses me. His idea of +this world is that there is London, and the rest of the planet is a +wilderness. You could no more persuade him that a decent suit might be +made in New York than that I am the worst-dressed man in London. You and +I are about the same height and build. Ponderby will have in my +mountainous luggage anywhere from twenty-five to forty suits never yet +worn by me. I don't know on what principle he goes, but as the last time +we went to America he took twenty-five new suits, and we crossed in a +twenty-five thousand ton boat, he is likely to have at least forty-five +suits for this forty-five thousand ton steamship, and he will feel as +much pleasure in rigging you out as he took in the crowning of the new +King." + +"Very good of you, Stranleigh, but I cannot accept." + +"I am pleading for Ponderby's sake. Besides, there's one practical +point you have overlooked. If you attempt to land from the +steerage--travelling under an assumed name, I suppose----" + +"Like yourself, Stranleigh." + +"No, I own the name 'Trevelyan.' But, as I was saying, if you attempt to +land rather shabbily dressed and almost penniless, you will find +yourself turned back as an undesirable alien, whereas you can go ashore +from the first cabin unquestioned, save for those amazing queries the +U.S.A. Government puts to one, the answers to which Ponderby will be +charmed to write out for you." + +Hazel without reply walked back to the rail, leaned his arms on it, and +fell into deep thought. Stranleigh followed him. + +"Give me your ticket," he said. + +Hazel took it from his pocket and handed it over. + +"Have you any luggage?" + +"Only a portmanteau, which I placed in my bunk. It contains a certain +amount of necessary linen." + +"Wait here until I find out what there is to be had in the first cabin." + +Stranleigh went down to the purser, and that overworked official threw +him a friendly glance, which nevertheless indicated that his time was +valuable. + +"My name is Trevelyan," said the young man. + +"Oh, yes, Mr. Trevelyan. You have our premier suite. How do you like +your accommodation?" + +"I haven't seen it yet. I have just discovered a friend, a rather +eccentric man, who had made up his mind to cross the Atlantic in the +steerage. One of those silly bets, you know, which silly young men make +in our silly London clubs, and I have persuaded him out of it." + +"Our steerage is supposed to be rather comfortable, Mr. Trevelyan." + +"So he says, but I want his company on deck, and not on the steerage +deck at that. Have you got anything vacant along my avenue?" + +The purser consulted his written list. + +"Nobody with him?" + +"He's quite alone." + +"All the larger cabins are taken, but I can give him No. 4390." + +"I suppose, like your steerage, it is comfortable?" said Stranleigh, +with a smile. + +"It is, yet it's not a private hotel like your quarters." + +"Oh, he'll not grumble. Will you send a steward to carry his portmanteau +from the number indicated on this steerage ticket to his new room? +Meanwhile, I'll have transferred to him his luggage that I brought from +London." + +The purser rapidly wrote out a new ticket, and took the difference in +five-pound notes. + +"Are you going to your quarters now?" the purser asked. + +"Yes, I must give some instructions to my man." + +"Then it will give me great pleasure to show you the way there," said +the purser, rising and locking the door; and in spite of Stranleigh's +protest against his taking the trouble, he led him to a series of rooms +that would have satisfied a much more exacting person than his young +lordship. When the purser had returned to his duties, Stranleigh said to +Ponderby-- + +"The Hon. John Hazel is aboard, and his cabin is No. 4390. He had to +leave London in a great hurry and without the necessary luggage." + +Ponderby's eyes lit up with an expression which said--"I knew that would +happen sooner or later." But he uttered no word, and cast down his eyes +when he saw his master had noticed the glance. Stranleigh spoke coldly +and clearly. + +"How many new suits have you provided for me?" + +"Thirty-seven, my lord." + +"Very well. Clear out one or two boxes, and pack a dress-suit and two +or three ordinary suits; in fact, costume the Hon. John Hazel just as +you would costume me. Call a steward, and order the box to be taken to +his room. Lay out for him an everyday garb, and get all this done as +quickly as possible." + +His lordship proceeded leisurely to the upper deck once more, and found +Hazel just as he had left him, except that he was now gazing at the +fleeting shore, green and village-studded, of the Isle of Wight. + +"Here you are," said Stranleigh breezily, handing the Hon. John the +cabin ticket. + +There was a weak strain in Hazel's character, otherwise he would never +had come to the position in which he found himself, and he now exhibited +the stubbornness which has in it the infallible signs of giving way. + +"I really cannot accept it," he said, his lower lip trembling +perceptibly. + +"Tut, tut! It's all settled and done with. Your room is No. 4390. You +will find your bag there, and also a box from my habitation. Come +along--I'll be your valet. Luncheon will be on shortly, and I want your +company." + +Stranleigh turned away, and Hazel followed him. + +Cabin 4390 could not be compared with the luxurious suite that +Stranleigh was to occupy, yet, despite the purser's hesitation to +overpraise it, the cabin was of a size and promise of comfort that would +have been found in few liners a decade ago. Ponderby was on hand, and +saved his master the fag of valeting, and when finally the Hon. John +emerged, he was quite his old jaunty self again--a well-dressed man who +would not have done discredit even to the Camperdown Club. + +"I have secured a place for you," said Stranleigh, "next to myself at +the doctor's table. I flatter myself on having made this transfer with +more tact than I usually display, for I am somewhat stupid in the main, +trusting others to carry out my ideas rather than endeavouring to shine +as a diplomatist myself. The purser--the only official aware of the +change--thinks you made a bet to go over steerage, and will probably +forget all about the matter. The question is, under what name shall I +introduce you to the doctor?" + +"What would you advise?" asked Hazel. "The name on my steerage ticket is +William Jones." + +"Oh, that's no good as a _nom de guerre_--too palpably a name chosen by +an unimaginative man. I should sail under your own colours if I were +you." + +"Good! Then John Hazel I am, and so will remain. As a guarantee of good +faith, I promise you not to touch a card all the way across." + +"A good resolution; see that you keep it." And thus they enjoyed an +appetising lunch together, and were regaled with one of the doctor's +best salads. + +They got away from Cherbourg before the dinner hour, and after that meal +Stranleigh and Hazel walked together on the main deck, until the latter, +admitting he was rather fagged after the exciting events of the day, +went off to his cabin, and Stranleigh was left alone to smoke a final +cigar. He leaned on the rail and gazed meditatively at the smooth sea. + +It was an ideal evening, and Stranleigh felt at peace with all the +world. There exists a popular belief that the rich are overburdened with +care. This may be true while they are in the money-making struggle, but +it is not a usual fault when the cash is in the bank or safely invested. +Stranleigh occasionally lost money, but an immense amount had been +bequeathed him, and he made many millions more than he had parted with, +although he claimed this was merely because of a series of flukes, +maintaining that, whenever he set to work that part of him known as his +brains, he invariably came a cropper. + +"You are Mr. Trevelyan, are you not?" said a very musical feminine voice +at his elbow. Stranleigh turned in surprise, and seeing there a most +charming young woman, he flung his partially consumed cigar into the +sea. + +"Yes," he replied, "my name is Trevelyan. How did you know?" + +That rare smile came to his lips--a smile, people said, which made you +feel instinctively you could trust him; and many ladies who were quite +willing to bestow their trust, called it fascinating. + +"I am afraid," said the girl, whose beautiful face was very serious, and +whose large dark eyes seemed troubled--"I am afraid that I enacted the +part of unintentional eavesdropper. I had some business with the +purser--business that I rather shrank from executing. You came to his +window just before I did, for I was hesitating." + +"I am sorry," said Stranleigh, "if I obtruded myself between you and +that official. Being rather limited in intelligence, my mind can attend +to only one thing at a time, and I must confess I did not see you." + +"I know you did not," retorted the girl. "There was no obtrusion. You +were first comer, and therefore should have been first served, as was +the case." + +"I would willingly have given up my place and whatever rights I +possessed in the matter, had I known a lady was waiting." + +"I am sure of it. However, your conversation with the purser gave me a +welcome respite, and, thinking over the crisis, I determined to consult +you before I spoke to him; thus I have taken the unusual step of +bringing myself to your notice." + +"In what way can I assist you, madam?" asked Stranleigh, a return of his +usual caution showing itself in the instant stiffening of manner and +coldness of words. + +"I learned you were exchanging, on behalf of a friend, a third-class +ticket for a place in the cabin. I judged from this that you are a +good-hearted man, and my attention was attracted when you introduced +yourself to the purser as Trevelyan, because Trevelyan is my own name." + +"Really?" ejaculated his lordship. "Have you relatives near Wychwood? +You are English, are you not?" + +"I am English, and a distant connection with the family of Trevelyan, +near Wychwood, none of whom, however, I have yet met, unless you happen +to belong to that branch." + +"I do," said Stranleigh. "And now tell me, if you please, what is your +difficulty?" + +"I wish to ask you if the steerage ticket you gave the purser was taken +in part payment for the cabin ticket, or did you forfeit it altogether?" + +"That I can't tell you," said Stranleigh, with a laugh. "I am not +accustomed to the transaction of business, and this little arrangement +had to be made quickly." + +Although his lordship spoke lightly and pleasantly the girl appeared to +have some difficulty in proceeding with her story. The large eyes were +quite evidently filling with tears, and of all things in the world +Stranleigh loathed an emotional scene. The girl was obviously deeply +depressed, whatever the cause. + +"Well," he said jauntily and indeed encouragingly, "we were talking of +first and third-class tickets. What have you to say about them?" + +"I speak of the steerage ticket only. If you haven't forfeited it, you +have the right to demand its return." + +"I suppose so. Still, it is of no particular use to me." + +"No, but it would be vital to me. Coming down in the train from London, +my purse was stolen, or perhaps I lost it when giving up my railway +ticket. So I am now without either money or transportation voucher." + +"Was it for cabin passage?" + +"Yes." + +"In that case you will have no difficulty; your name will be on the +purser's list. Do you know the number of your state-room?" + +"No, I do not, and, so far as my name goes, I can expect no help from +that quarter, because the name I travel under is not Miss Trevelyan." + +"Good gracious," cried Stranleigh, "there are three of us! This ship +should be called _Incognita_. Was your money also in that purse?" + +"Yes, all my gold and bank-notes, and I am left with merely some silver +and coppers." + +"Then the third-class ticket would not be of the slightest use to you. +As I had to point out to another person on a similar occasion, you would +not be allowed to land, so we will let that third-class ticket drop into +oblivion. If you are even distantly related to the Trevelyan family, I +could not think of allowing you to travel steerage. Are you alone?" + +"Yes," she murmured almost inaudibly. + +"Well, then, it is better that you should make all arrangements with the +purser yourself. As I told you, I am not particularly good at business +affairs. You give to him the name under which you purchased your ticket. +You bought it in London, I suppose?" + +"Yes," she murmured again. + +"Mention to him the name you used then. He will look up his list, and +allot you the state-room you paid for. It is probable he may have the +power to do this without exacting any excess fare; but if such is not +the case, settle with him for your passage, and take his receipt. The +money will doubtless be refunded at New York. Here is a fifty-pound +note, and you can carry out the transaction much better than I. But +stop a moment. Do you remember how much you paid for the room?" + +"Twenty-five pounds." + +"That will leave you only the remaining twenty-five for New York, which +is an expensive place, so we must make the loan a hundred pounds. Leave +me your address, and if you do not hear from your people before that +loan is expended, you may have whatever more you need. You will, of +course, repay me at your convenience. I will give you the name of my New +York agents." + +The eyes had by this time brimmed over, and the girl could not speak. +Stranleigh took from his pocket-book several Bank of England notes. +Selecting two for fifty pounds each, he handed them to her. + +"Good-night!" he said hurriedly. + +"Good-night!" she whispered. + +After dinner on the day the liner left Queenstown, Lord Stranleigh sat +in a comfortable chair in the daintily furnished drawing-room of his +suite. A shaded electric light stood on the table at his elbow, and he +was absorbed in a book he had bought before leaving London. Stranleigh +was at peace with all the world, and his reading soothed a mind which he +never allowed to become perturbed if he could help it. He now thanked +his stars that he was sure of a week undisturbed by callers and free +from written requests. Just at this moment he was amazed to see the door +open, and a man enter without knock or other announcement. His first +thought was to wonder what had become of Ponderby--how had the stranger +eluded him? It was a ruddy-faced, burly individual who came in, and, as +he turned round to shut the door softly, Stranleigh saw that his thick +neck showed rolls of flesh beneath the hair. His lordship placed the +open book face downwards on the table, but otherwise made no motion. + +"Lord Stranleigh, I presume?" said the stranger. + +Stranleigh made no reply, but continued gazing at the intruder. + +"I wish to have a few words with you, and considered it better to come +to your rooms than to accost you on deck. What I have to say is serious, +and outside we might have got into an altercation, which you would +regret." + +"You need have no fear of any altercation with me," said Stranleigh. + +"Well, at least you desire to avoid publicity, otherwise you would not +be travelling under an assumed name." + +"I am not travelling under an assumed name." + +The stout man waved his hand in deprecation of unnecessary talk. + +"I will come to the point at once," he said, seating himself without any +invitation. + +"I shall be obliged if you do so." + +The new-comer's eyes narrowed, and a threatening expression overspread +his rather vicious face. + +"I want to know, Lord Stranleigh, and I have a right to ask, why you +gave a hundred pounds to my wife." + +"To your wife?" echoed Stranleigh in amazement. + +"Yes. I have made a memorandum of the numbers, and here they are--two +fifty-pound notes. Bank of England. Do you deny having given them to +her?" + +"I gave two fifty-pound notes to a young lady, whose name, I understood, +was Trevelyan--a name which I also bear. She informed me, and somehow I +believed her, that her purse containing steamship ticket and money, had +been lost or stolen." + +A wry smile twisted the lips of the alleged husband. + +"Oh, that's the story is it? Would you be surprised if the young lady in +question denied that _in toto_?" + +"I should not be astonished at anything," replied his lordship, "if you +are in possession of the actual bank-notes I gave to her." + +"She describes your having taken these flimsies from a number of others +you carry in your pocket. Would you mind reading me the number of others +you carry in your pocket. Would you mind reading me the number of the +next note in your collection?" + +"Would you mind reading me the numbers on the notes you hold?" asked +Stranleigh, in cool, even tones, making no sign of producing his own +assets. + +"Not at all," replied the other; whereupon he read them. The notes were +evidently two of a series, and the numbers differed only by a single +unit. Stranleigh nonchalantly took out his pocket-book, and the +intruder's eyes glistened as he observed its bulk. Stranleigh glanced at +the number on the top bank-note, and replaced his pocket-book, leaning +back in his easy chair. + +"You are quite right," he said. "Those are the notes I gave to Miss +Trevelyan." + +"I asked why." + +"I told you why." + +"That cock-and-bull story won't go down," said the other. "Even the +richest men do not fling money about in such reckless fashion. They do +it only for a favour given or a favour expected." + +"I dare say you are right. But come to the point, as you said you +would." + +"Is that necessary?" + +"I don't know that it is. You want money--as large an amount as can be +squeezed from a man supposedly wealthy. You use your good-looking wife +as a decoy----" + +"You are casting aspersion on a lady quite unknown to you!" cried his +visitor, with well-assumed indignation. + +"Pardon me, you seem to be casting aspersion on her whom you say is your +wife. I don't know how these notes got into your hands, but I'd be +willing to stake double the amount that the lady is quite innocent in +the matter. She certainly is so far as I am concerned. If the lady is +your wife, what is her name? She told me she was travelling under a +different title from that written on the lost ticket." + +"I am not ashamed of my name, if you are of yours. My name is Branksome +Poole." + +"Ah, then she is Mrs. Branksome Poole?" + +"Naturally." + +Stranleigh reached out and drew towards him a passenger list. Running +his eye down the column of cabin passengers, he saw there the names: +"Mr. and Mrs. Branksome Poole." + +"Well, Mr. Poole, we come to what is the final question--how much?" + +"If you give me the roll of Bank of England notes which you exhibited +a moment ago, I shall say nothing further about the matter, and, +understand me, there is no coercion about my request. You may accept or +decline, just as you like. I admit that my wife and I do not get along +well together, and although I consider I have a grievance against you, +I am not assuming the injured husband _rôle_ at all. If you decline, I +shall make no scandal aboard ship, but will wait and take action against +you the moment we arrive in New York." + +"Very considerate of you, Mr. Poole. I understand that in New York the +fountains of justice are perfectly pure, and that the wronged are +absolutely certain of obtaining redress. I congratulate you on your +choice of a battle-ground. Of course, you haven't the slightest thought +of levying blackmail, but I prefer to spend my money on the best legal +talent in America rather than trust any of it to you. It's a mere +case of obstinacy on my part. And now, if you will kindly take your +departure, I will get on with my book; I am at a most interesting +point." + +"I shall not take my departure," said Poole doggedly, "until we have +settled this matter." + +"The matter is settled." Stranleigh touched an electric button. An +inside door opened, and Ponderby entered, looking in amazement at his +master's visitor. + +"Ponderby," said Lord Stranleigh, "in future I desire you to keep this +outer door locked, so that whoever wishes to see me may come through +your room. Take a good look at this gentleman, and remember he is not to +be allowed within my suite again on any pretext. Meanwhile, show him +into the corridor. Take him through your room, and afterwards return and +lock this other door." + +Then occurred an extraordinary thing. Ponderby, for the first time in +his life, disobeyed his master's instructions. Approaching the seated +Poole, he said-- + +"Will you go quietly?" + +"I'll not go, quietly or otherwise," answered the man stubbornly. + +Ponderby opened the door by which Poole had entered, then, seizing him +by the collar, lifted him, led him to the door, and pitched him out of +the room across the corridor. Returning, he closed, locked, and bolted +the door. + +"I beg your pardon, my lord," said the panting Ponderby to his amazed +master, "but I dare not take him through my room. His wife is there. She +appears to have followed him. Anyhow, she recognised his voice, and told +me hurriedly why she came. I locked the door to the passage, for, as I +heard her story, I felt it might be serious, and at least you ought to +hear what she has to say before you acted. I hope you will excuse the +liberty I have taken, my lord." + +"Ponderby, as I have often told you, you are a gem! I will go into your +room, but you must remain there while I talk to this lady. No more +_tête-à-tête_ conversations with the unprotected for me." + +"I think she is honest, my lord, but in deep trouble." + + [Illustration: "Reeling off what she had to say as if it were a task + learned by rote."] + +"I am glad to have my opinion corroborated by so good a judge of +character as yourself, Ponderby." + +They went together to the valet's sitting-room, and there sat the woman, +with her dark head bowed upon arms outstretched along the table, her +shoulders shaking. She was plainly on the verge of hysterics, if, +indeed, she had not already crossed the boundary line. + +"Here is Mr. Trevelyan, madam," said Ponderby. "You wanted to speak with +him." + +She raised her head, dabbed her wet eyes nervously with her +handkerchief, and made an effort to pull herself together. When she +spoke, it was with rapid utterance, reeling off what she had to say as +if it were a task learned by rote. + +"I have at last come to the end of my tether, and to-night, if there is +no prospect of freedom, I shall destroy myself. Before this I have often +thought of suicide, but I am a cowardly person, and cling to life. Five +years ago my father went out to America bent on a motor tour; he took me +with him. Among other servants he engaged Charles Branksome, who had +proved himself an expert chauffeur. He was English, and came to us well +recommended. He intimated that he was of good family, but had his living +to earn. He was handsome then, and had a most ingratiating manner. The +person who called on you to-night bears little resemblance to the +Branksome of five years ago. I had often gone motoring with him while +in America, and I was young, and rather flighty: a foolish person +altogether. Perhaps you read about it in the papers. I cannot dwell on +the appalling mistake I made. + +"We became very well acquainted, and at last he professed to have fallen +in love with me, and I believed him. We were secretly married before a +justice of the peace in America, and I was not long left in doubt as to +the disaster that had befallen me. His sole desire was money. My father +being wealthy, he hoped to get all he cared to demand. My father, +however, is a very stubborn man, and, after his first shock on finding +the episode made much of by the American papers, he refused to pay +Branksome a penny, and returned forthwith to England. I never saw him +again, nor could I get into communication with him. Two years after my +mad act he died, and never even mentioned me in his will. + +"My husband is a liar, a thief, a forger, a gambler, and a brute. He has +maltreated me so that I have been left once or twice for dead, but +finally he broke me to his will. He is known as a cheat in every +gambling resort in Europe, and on the Atlantic liners. Lately I have +been used as a decoy in the way of which you have had experience. +Somehow he learned--indeed, that is his business--who were the rich +travellers on this boat. He thought, as this was the newest and largest +steamship on the ocean, its staff would not at first be thoroughly +organised, and that he might escape detection. He pointed you out to me +as you came on board, and said you were Lord Stranleigh, travelling as +Mr. Trevelyan. The rest you know. He forced me to hand to him the money +you had given, and told me it might be necessary for me to go on the +witness-stand when we reached New York, but, as you were very wealthy, +it is not likely you would allow it to go so far as that. His plan +was to demand a very moderate sum at first, which was to be a mere +beginning, and each exaction would be but a prelude for the next. He is +old at the game, and is wanted now by the authorities in New York for +blackmailing a very well-known millionaire." + +"Do you know the name of the millionaire?" + +She gave him the information. + +"Very well, madam. In the first place, you must do nothing reckless or +foolish. I shall see that this man is detained at New York on some +pretext or other--in fact, I shall arrange for this by wireless. You +should journey to one of the states where divorces are easily obtained. +If you will permit me, I shall be your banker. Even if Branksome +got free in New York, it will cost him dear, and his supplies are +precarious. You should experience no difficulty in evading him with +money in your possession. Do you agree?" + +"Oh, yes!" + +"That's settled, then. Ponderby, look into the corridor, and see that +the way of escape is clear." + +"I am sorry, my lord," she said, rising, "to cause you such trouble and +inconvenience." + +"No inconvenience at all," said Stranleigh, with his usual nonchalance, +"and I never allow myself to be troubled." + +Ponderby reported the way open, and the lady disappeared silently along +the passage. Stranleigh betook himself to Room 4390, and had a long talk +with the Hon. John Hazel, who, for the first time during the voyage, +seemed to be enjoying himself. + +Next morning the Hon. John paced up and down one deck after another, as +if in search of someone. On an almost deserted lower deck he met the +person whom he sought. + +"I beg your pardon," said Hazel in his suavest manner, "but I am trying +to find three men as tired of this journey as I am. I have never been on +a voyage before, and I confess I miss London and the convenience of its +clubs. A quiet little game of poker in the smoking-room might help to +while away the time." + +The keen eyes of Mr. Branksome Poole narrowed, as was a custom of +theirs, and he took in the points of the man who addressed him. + +"I am not much of a hand at poker," he said hesitatingly and +untruthfully. + +The Hon. John laughed. + +"Don't mind that in the least," he said. "The requirement for this game +is cash. I have approached several men, and they object to playing for +money; but I confess I don't give a rap for sitting at a card-table +unless there's something substantial on." + +"I'm with you there," agreed the stout man, his eyes glistening at the +thought of handling a pack of cards once more. His momentary hesitation +had been because he feared someone might recognise him, for he felt +himself quite able to cope with anyone when it came to the shuffle and +the deal. They were a strangely contrasted pair as they stood there, +the pleb and the patrician--the pleb grim and serious, the patrician +carrying off the situation with a light laugh--yet it was hard to say +which was the more expert scoundrel when it came to cards. + +A little later four men sat down to a table. Hazel ordered a new pack of +cards from the smoke-room steward, broke the seal, and pulled off the +wrapper. + +It is not worth while to describe the series of games: only the one +matters. At first Poole played very cautiously, watching out of the +tail of his eye for any officer who might spot him as one who had +been ordered off the green, and so expose him for what he was. The +consequence of this divided attention was soon apparent. He lost +heavily, and finally he drew a couple of fifty-pound notes from his +pocket-book. He fingered them for a moment as if loath to part with +paper so valuable. + +"Where's that steward?" he asked. + +"What do you want?" demanded Hazel, as though impatient for the game to +go on. + +"Change for a fifty." + +"I'll change it for you." And the Hon. John drew from his pocket a +handful of gold and five-pound bank-notes, counted out fifty pounds, and +shoved them across the table to Poole, who, still hesitating, was forced +reluctantly to give up the big bank-note. Now Poole began to play in +earnest, but still luck was against him, and soon the second fifty-pound +note was changed, for they were playing reasonably high. Hazel, after +glancing at the number on the note, thrust it carelessly into his +waistcoat pocket alongside its brother, as if it were of no more +account than a cigarette paper. Little did the pleb dream that he was up +against a man of brains. Hazel now possessed the two bank-notes that +could have been used in evidence against Lord Stranleigh, and he drew a +sigh of satisfaction. Poole only saw that here was a man, evidently +careless of money, possessing plenty of it, and extremely good-natured. +He had already recognised him as an aristocrat, and expected that, +whatever happened, he would treat it with a laugh, and perhaps leave the +table, so the pleb now began some fine work. Two games were played in +silence, and in the third it was the deal of Branksome Poole. Hazel +watched him like a beast of prey, conscious of every crooked move, yet +he did not seem in the least to be looking. He gazed at the cards dealt +him, rose to his feet, and spread the hand face upward on the table. + +"Sir, you are cheating," he said crisply. + +"You lie!" roared Branksome Poole, turning, nevertheless, a greenish +yellow, and moistening his parched lips. At the sound of the loud voice, +a steward came hurrying in. + +"Show your hand, if you dare!" challenged Hazel. "You have dealt +yourself----" And here he named the concealed cards one after another. +Poole made an effort to fling his hand into the rest of the pack, but +Hazel stopped him. + +"Show your hand! Show your hand!" he demanded. "These two gentlemen will +witness whether I have named the cards correctly or not. Steward, ask +the chief officer to come here, or, if he is not on duty, speak to the +captain." + +The steward disappeared, and shortly returned with the chief officer, to +whom Hazel briefly and graphically related what had happened. + +"Will you come with me to the captain's room?" requested the chief +officer. + +Branksome Poole had been through the mill before, and he offered no +resistance. + +When the wireless came in touch with the American shore, a dispatch +reached police headquarters in New York, informing them that Charles +Branksome, wanted for blackmailing Erasmus Blank, the millionaire, was +detained by the ship's authority for cheating at cards. + +When the great vessel arrived at her berth, Mrs. Branksome Poole was +quite unmolested as she took her ticket for the West. She was amply +supplied with money, and among her newly-acquired funds were two +fifty-pound notes which had been previously in her possession. + + + + +II.--AN AUTOMOBILE RIDE. + + +When Lord Stranleigh of Wychwood came to New York under his family name +of Trevelyan, he had intended to spend several weeks in that interesting +metropolis, but newspaper men speedily scattered his incognito to the +winds, and, what with interviewers, photographers, funny paragraphists +and the like, the young lord's life was made a burden to him. Despite +his innate desire to be polite to everyone, he soon found it impossible +to receive even a tenth part of those who desired speech with him. This +caused no diminution of interviews or special articles regarding his +plans, and his object in revisiting America. The sensational papers +alleged that he had untold millions to invest; that he had placed cash +on all the available projects in Europe, and now proposed to exploit +the United States in his insatiable desire to accumulate more wealth. + +Stranleigh changed his quarters three times, and with each move adopted +a new name. He endured it all with imperturbable good-nature, despite +the intense heat, but Ponderby was disgusted with the state of affairs, +and wished himself and his master back once more in that quiet village +known as London. + +"By Jove! Ponderby," said Stranleigh, "they say three moves are as bad +as a fire, and the temperature to-day seems to corroborate this, for we +are making our third move. Have you anything to suggest?" + +"I should suggest, my lord," said Ponderby, with as much dignity as the +sweltering day would allow, "that we return to London." + +"A brilliant and original idea, Ponderby. Many thanks. Go down at once +to the steamship office, and book the best accommodation you can get on +the first big liner leaving New York." + +Ponderby departed instantly, with a deep sigh of relief. + +Stranleigh's life had been made more of a burden to him than was +necessary through the indefatigable exertions of a fellow countryman, +whose name was Wentworth Parkes. This individual brought with him a +letter of introduction from the Duke of Rattleborough. Rattleborough +was an acquaintance, but not a particular friend of Stranleigh's; +nevertheless, a Duke overtops a mere Earl in social eminence, much as +the Singer building overtops the structure next to it. + +Wentworth Parkes told Stranleigh he had been in America for something +more than a year. He had been very successful, making plenty of money, +but expending it with equal celerity. Now he determined to get hold of +something that contained princely possibilities for the future. This he +had secured by means of an option on the Sterling Motor Company at +Detroit, and the plant alone, he alleged, was worth more than the +capital needed to bring the factory up to its full output. J. E. +Sterling, he went on to explain, knew more about automobile designing +than anyone else in the world, notwithstanding the fact that he was +still a young man. He would undoubtedly prove to be the true successor +of Edison, and everyone knew what fortunes had come to those who +interested themselves in the products of the great Thomas Alva, who up +to date had proved to be the most successful money-making inventor the +world had ever seen, to which Lord Stranleigh calmly agreed. Well, J. E. +Sterling was just such another, and all a man required to enter the +combination, was the small sum of one hundred thousand dollars. This +would purchase a share in the business which might be sold within a year +or two for millions. Detroit was the centre of automobile manufacturing +in America; a delightful city to live in; the finest river in the world +running past its doors, with a greater tonnage of shipping than passed +through the Suez Canal. + +Mr. Parkes was a glib and efficient talker, who might have convinced +anyone with money to spare, but he felt vaguely that his fluency was not +producing the intended effect on Lord Stranleigh. His difficulty +heretofore had been to obtain access to men of means, and now that he +had got alongside the most important of them all, he was nonplussed to +notice that his eloquence somehow missed its mark. Stranleigh remained +scrupulously courteous, but was quite evidently not in the least +interested. So shrewd a man as Parkes might have known that it is not +easy to arouse enthusiasm in a London clubman under the most favourable +auspices, and this difficulty is enormously increased when the person +attacked is already so rich that any further access of wealth offers no +temptation to him. + +Parkes had come to believe that the accumulation of gold was the only +thing the average man really cared about, so he failed, by moving +against the dead wall of Stranleigh's indifference towards money, +whereas he might have succeeded had he approached the sentimental side +of the young man. Indeed, Mr. Wentworth Parkes seemed to catch a +glimmering of this idea as his fairy visions of the future fell flat, so +he reversed his automobile talk, and backed slowly out. + +Conversation lagging, his lordship asked a few casual questions about +the Duke of Rattleborough and other persons he knew in London, but +if any of these queries were intended to embarrass his visitor, +Stranleigh's failure was equal to that of Parkes himself. The latter +answered all enquiries so promptly and correctly that Stranleigh +inwardly chided himself for his latent distrust of the man who now, +quick to see how the land lay, got his motor car in position once +more, but took another direction. He mopped his forehead with his +handkerchief, and drew a slight sigh. + +"You see," he said, in a discouraged tone, "a person brought up as I +have been, to do nothing in particular that is of any use to the world, +finds himself at a great disadvantage in a hustling land like the United +States, where the fellows are all so clever, and have been trained from +their very boyhood to be alert business men. I have a good thing in this +option, and if once I got upon my feet, I could soon build up a great +and profitable business. My chief trouble is to convince any capitalist +of this, and if he asks me whether or not the scheme will produce a +fortune within six months or a year, I am forced to admit there is +little chance of it. An American wishes to turn over his money quickly; +a long look into futurity is not for him. He wishes to buy one railway +on Monday, another on Tuesday, amalgamate them on Wednesday, and sell +out the stock to the public at several millions profit on Thursday, then +rake in the boodle on Friday, which proves an unlucky day for the +investors. When I truthfully confess it will be a year before I get +fairly under way, I am immediately at a discount. Capitalists won't +listen any further." + +Parkes saw that for the first time during the interview Lord Stranleigh +began to show interest, reserved though it was. + +"Do you know anything about cars?" asked his lordship. + +"I can take apart any motor in the market, and put it together again, +always leaving it a little better than when I found it." + +"And this machine--invented by the Detroit man--does it fill the bill?" + +"It's the best motor in the world to-day," asserted Parkes, with a +return of his old confidence. + +Stranleigh smiled slightly. + +"I think," he said, "you have been very successful in catching the +enthusiasm of America. You deal glibly with superlatives. Mr. Sterling +is the most remarkable man on earth, Detroit the most beautiful city on +the globe, and your motor-car beats the universe." + +"Well, my lord, I don't disclaim the superlatives, but I insist on their +truth. As I said, I deal in truth, and have suffered somewhat in pocket +by doing so." + +A slight shade of perplexity came into the young earl's face. There was +something deferential in the tone used by Parkes when he enunciated the +phrase "my lord," which Stranleigh did not like. Neither phrase nor tone +would have been used by any person in his own circle of acquaintance +addressing another in the same set. His former distrust was again +aroused. As he remained silent, Parkes went on-- + +"You need not take my word for the automobile, which after all is the +crux of the situation. I have one of them here in New York. I tested it +very fully on the way from Detroit to this city, travelling in it the +whole distance. Let me take you for a drive. You doubtless know all +about a motor-car, for I was told in London that you owned at least a +dozen of them." + +"I daresay it's true. I'm not sure. Nevertheless, I am so unfortunate as +to have only a slight knowledge of their mechanics. I have driven a good +deal, but not being so energetic as Prince Henry of Prussia, I leave +details to my chauffeurs." + +"Very good. You are doubtless well acquainted with the merits of a car +from the owner's point of view. Come out with me in this Detroit motor, +and I will be your chauffeur, or you may drive the machine yourself, if +you remember that in this country you keep to the right side of the +road." + +Thus the appointment was made, and was kept by Lord Stranleigh. At the +end of his run, he said to Parkes-- + +"The car seems to be a satisfactory piece of construction, but I own two +or three American cars in London, any one of which, I think, is equally +good; in fact, as Mark Twain said about his Jumping Frog--'I see no +points about this frog different from any other frog.' However, I will +consider your proposal, and will let you know the result. Meanwhile, +many thanks for a most interesting ride." + +Stranleigh sauntered down town, and entered a cable office. + +"Can I send a message to London, and leave a deposit here for the reply, +that it may not cost my London friend anything?" + +"Certainly, sir." + +Stranleigh wrote-- + + "Duke of Rattleborough, Camperdown Club, London. + + "A man calling himself Wentworth Parkes presented a letter + of introduction from you to me. Please cable whether or not + he is reliable." + +Two days later, Stranleigh received a reply-- + + "Letter a forgery. Parkes was my valet for three years, then + bolted, leaving a lot of little things behind him, but not + if they were portable and valuable. Believe he is now + abroad, though the London police are yearning for him. + RATTLEBOROUGH." + +Now began the persistent pursuit of Stranleigh, which culminated in his +sending Ponderby down to the steamship office to buy tickets for +England. The young man said nothing to anyone of the cablegram he had +received, nor did he inform the police of London the whereabouts of +their quarry. He rather pitied the poor wretch, as he called him, but he +had no use for a thief and a liar, so he refused to hold further +communication with him, or to make any explanation. Parkes, finding he +could not gain admission to Stranleigh, took to sending letters by +special messenger, first adopting an aggrieved tone, a reproachful +suggestion of injured innocence running through his correspondence +like a minor note in a piece of music; then he became the victim of +an unscrupulous millionaire, asserting that Stranleigh had promised +to finance the proposed company, and breathing threats of legal +proceedings. Indeed, as the recipient read these later communications, +he realised they were evidently written with a view to publicity in law +courts, for there emanated from them sentiments of great patriotism. The +United States, Stranleigh learned, would not put up with his villainy, +as would have been the case with legal proceedings in decadent England, +where judges were under the thumb of a debased aristocracy. + +Stranleigh had no ambition to appear in the courts of either country, so +he removed from one hotel to another, but apparently he was watched, for +Parkes ran him down wherever he betook himself. Thus we come to the +moment when the sedate but overjoyed Ponderby returned with the +steamship tickets, which Stranleigh thrust into his pocket. + +"Shall I pack up now, my lord?" + +"I wish you would. The valet of the hotel will assist you. Prepare three +boxes; one for yourself and two for me, filling mine with such clothing +as I should take were I going to visit a friend in the country for a +week or two. Place the other luggage in charge of the manager of the +hotel, and say I will telegraph when I make up my mind where it is to be +sent." + +And then, to Ponderby's amazement, the young man left for Boston, and +took passage in the steamer for St. John, New Brunswick. + +"You see, Ponderby," said his lordship, when they got out into the +ocean, "the estimable Parkes, if he is watching us, is already aware +that you have booked for Southampton. He may possibly set the law in +motion, and appear with some emissaries thereof aboard the liner before +she sails, so we might be compelled to remain in this country which he +so ardently loves." + +"But the steamship tickets, my lord? They cost a lot of money." + +"Quite so, my economical Ponderby, but remember for your consolation +that when you step ashore from this boat, you will be under the British +flag. You may telegraph to the company and tell them to sell the +tickets, meanwhile sending them by post to New York. Here they are. +Whatever money the company returns, is to be retained by you further to +mitigate your disappointment. I have no doubt that in thus bolting for +Canada you feel like a culprit escaping from justice, but we are only +escaping from Parkes. Having pestered me as much about Detroit as he has +done, that city will be the last place in which he is likely to look for +me. We are making for Detroit, Ponderby, by the most roundabout route I +could choose, seeing that the Panama Canal is not yet open, and thus I +am unable to reach the autometropolis by way of San Francisco." + +After passing through Canada, Lord Stranleigh settled himself very +comfortably in a luxurious suite of rooms situated near the top storey +of a luxurious hotel in the city of the Straits, under the assumed +commonplace name of Henry Johnson. The windows of his apartment afforded +wide and interesting views of skyscrapers and noble public edifices, +with a wilderness of roofs extending towards the misty horizon to the +west, north, and east, while to the south flowed the majestic river, its +blue surface enlivened by stately steamers and picturesque sailing +craft. + +The gloomy valet did not share his master's admiration of the scene. +Ponderby was heart and soul a Londoner, and although forced to admit +that the Thames was grey and muddy, and its shipping for the most part +sombre and uncouth, that tidal water remained for him the model of all +other streams. He was only partially consoled by the fact that five +cents brought him across to the Canadian shore, where he might inhale +deep breaths of air that fluttered the Union Jack. + +Stranleigh, confident that he had shaken off pursuit, enjoyed himself in +a thoroughly democratic manner, sailing up stream and down, on one of +the pearl white passenger boats, that carried bands which played the +immortal airs of Sousa. + +He began his second week in Detroit by engaging a motor to make a tour +of the motor manufacturing district. He was amazed at the size and +extent of the buildings, and recognised, among the names painted +thereon, the designation of cars that were familiar to him. He had come +to believe Parkes such an untruthful person, that he had taken a big +discount from everything he said, and so was unprepared to find the +reality far in advance of the description. However, he saw no sign +bearing the name of the Sterling Motor Company, so asked his chauffeur +to convey him thither. The chauffeur, pondering a moment, was forced to +admit that he had never heard of the firm. + +"Then be so good," requested Stranleigh, "as to drop into one of these +offices and enquire. It is likely that someone will know the names of +all other companies in the same line of manufacture." + +"I don't doubt," said the chauffeur, "that they know all about it, but +it wouldn't be business to direct a possible customer to a rival firm." + +Stranleigh smiled. + +"I have not been in this country so long as you have," he said, "but I +think you will find an American business man ignores rivalry when he has +an opportunity of doing an act of courtesy." + +The chauffeur drew up at a huge factory and went inside. Returning very +promptly, he informed his fare that they knew of no Sterling Motor +Company, but there was in Woodbridge Street a young engineer named J. E. +Sterling, who, they believed, made motor-cars. + +"J. E. Sterling! That's the man I want. Where is Woodbridge Street?" + +"Right away down town; next door, as you might say, to the river front." + +"Very good; we'll go there. Just drive past Mr. Sterling's place, for if +I do not like the look of it I shall not go in." + +By and by they turned into Woodward Avenue, and raced down town at a +speed which Stranleigh thought must surely exceed the legal limit, if +there was one. Woodbridge Street proved to be crowded with great +lumbering trucks, loaded with vegetables for the most part, and among +these vehicles the chauffeur threaded his way cautiously. They passed a +small, rather insignificant shop, above whose window was painted-- + + "J. E. STERLING. Motor Engineer. Repairs + promptly executed. Satisfaction guaranteed." + +When the chauffeur came to a halt a little further on, Stranleigh said-- + +"The place doesn't look very inviting, but as Mr. Sterling guarantees +satisfaction, I think it but right to call upon him. I sha'n't need you +any more to-day." + +The door being open, Stranleigh walked in unannounced. A two-seated +runabout, evidently brand new, stood by the window, where it could be +viewed by passers-by. Further down the room rested a chassis, over which +two men, one middle-aged and the other probably twenty-five, were +bending, with tools in their hands. They were dressed in grease-stained +blue overalls, and they looked up as Stranleigh entered. + +"I wish to see Mr. J. E. Sterling," he said. + +"My name is Sterling," replied the younger man, putting down his tools, +and coming forward. + +"I understood," went on Stranleigh, "that there was a Sterling Motor Car +Company." + +"There will be," answered the young man confidently, "but that's in the +sweet by and by. It hasn't materialised so far. What can I do for you?" + +"Well, you can give me some information regarding J. E. Sterling. I want +to learn if it tallies with what I have heard." + +The young man laughed. + +"It depends on who has been talking about me. I daresay you have been +told things that might require explanation." + +"I heard nothing but praise," his lordship assured him. "It was said you +were the true successor of Thomas Alva Edison." + +Sterling laughed even more heartily than before. + +"I'm afraid they were getting at you. A man may be a creditable +inventor, and a good, all-round engineer without being able to hold a +candle to Edison. Are you looking for an automobile?" + +"No; as I told you at first, I am looking for J. E. Sterling." + +"I was going to say that I am not yet prepared to supply cars. I do +repairing and that sort of thing, merely to keep the wolf from the door, +and leave me a little surplus to expend in my business. My real work, +however, is experimenting, and when I am able to turn out a machine that +satisfies me, my next business will be to form a company, for one can't +do anything in this trade without capital." + +"The competition must be intense." + +"It is, but there's always room for a first-rate article, and the +production of a first-rate article is my ambition." + +"Is that your work in the window?" + +"Yes." + +"Does it come up to your expectations?" + +The young man's face grew serious; his brow wrinkled almost into a +frown, and he remained silent for a few moments. + +"Well, I can't exactly say that it does," he answered at last, "still, I +think the faults I have found can be remedied with a little patience. On +the other hand, I fear the improvement I have put in this car may not +be as great as I thought when I was working at it." + +Lord Stranleigh looked at the young man with evident approval; his +frankness and honesty commended themselves to him. + +"Do you mind showing me your improvement and explaining its function?" + +"Not at all. You will remember, however, that this exhibition is +confidential, for I have not yet patented the mechanism." + +"I shall not mention to anyone what you show me. You asked me a moment +ago if I wished to buy an automobile, and I said I did not. I have made +a little money in my time, but mostly, it seems to me, by flukes. I do +not pretend to be a business man, yet such is the conceit of humanity +that I wish to invest some of my money to back my own judgment. If I +lose the cash, it won't cripple me to any appreciable extent. On the +other hand, should the investment prove satisfactory, I shall have more +faith in my judgment than has hitherto been the case. In any event, I +promise to assist you in the formation of your company." + +"That's all right!" cried the young engineer, with enthusiasm. "My own +judgment of men is frequently at fault, but somehow I'd stake my bottom +dollar on you. Come over to the window, and I'll show you how the wheels +go round." + +The two men approached the car in the window, and as they did so a third +person on the pavement outside stopped suddenly, and regarded them with +evident astonishment. Neither of those inside saw him, but if one or the +other had looked through the glass, he would have recognised the +sinister face of Wentworth Parkes who, having satisfied himself as to +the visitor's identity, turned away and retraced his steps. + +Sterling lifted up a leather curtain which hung down in front from the +passenger's seat and disclosed a line of three upright pegs, rising two +or three inches from the floor of the car. They were concealed when the +curtain was lowered. + +"If you give the matter any thought," said Sterling, "you will discover +that the passenger in an automobile is in rather a helpless position. +His chauffeur may faint, or even die at his wheel from heart failure, as +has been the case in several instances I know of, or he may be drunk, +and therefore unreasonable or obstinate, driving the car with danger to +all concerned, yet if his master attempt to displace him while the car +is going at high speed, disaster is certain. Now, the centre peg here +will stop the engine and put on the brakes. A pressure by the foot on +the right-hand peg turns the car to the right; and on the left-hand to +the left. In the ordinary car the passenger can do nothing to save +himself, but here he may stop the car dead, or, if he prefers it, may +disconnect the steering wheel, and guide the car at his will." + +"Why, I think that's an excellent device!" cried Stranleigh. + +"I thought so, too, but there are disadvantages. The crises in which it +could be brought to play are rare. As a general rule, a chauffeur is +much more to be trusted than the owner, and if the owner happens to be a +nervous man, he might interfere, with deplorable results." + +"Yes," said Stranleigh, "it's like the pistol in Texas. You may not need +it, but when you do you want it very badly. Has anyone else seen this +contrivance?" + +"No one except my assistant." + +"Could you lend me this car to-morrow?" + +"Certainly." + +"Then place the car in charge of a competent chauffeur, who knows +nothing of your safety device, and send it up to my hotel at eleven +o'clock. Tell him to ask for Henry Johnson. I'll take a little trip into +the country, where I can test the car on some unfrequented road." + +"Better cross the river to Canada," said Sterling, with a smile. "Things +are quiet over there." + +"Very well," agreed Stranleigh. "You are a busy man, and I have taken up +a considerable amount of your time. You must allow me to pay you for +it." + +The young man's face grew red underneath its spots of grease, and he +drew back a step. + +"You have spent your own time to an equal amount, so we'll allow one +expenditure to balance the other." + +"My time is of no account. I'm a loafer." + +"I could not accept any money, sir." + +The two looked at one another for a moment, and gentlemen understand +each other even though one wears the greasy clothes of a mechanic. + +"I beg your pardon," said Stranleigh, softly. "Now, let me ask you one +question. Have you given an option on this business to anyone?" + +Sterling glanced up in surprise. + +"Why, yes, I did give an option to an Englishman. By the way, you're +English, are you not?" + +"I was born over there." + +"This Englishman wasn't your sort. He was a most plausible talker, and +as I told you, my judgment of men is sometimes at fault. I gave him +an option for two months, but I think all he wanted was to get an +automobile for nothing. He said he represented a syndicate of English +capitalists, some of whom were in New York, and he borrowed the only car +I had completed at that time. That was four months ago. Like the +preacher after the futile collection, I wanted to get back my hat at +least, but although I wrote letter after letter, I never received any +answer. It wasn't worth my while to set the police on his track, so I +tried to forget him, and succeeded until you spoke of an option just +now." + +"That agreement lapsed two months ago?" + +"Yes." + +"Then write out an option for me, good for a week. I'll pay you five +hundred dollars down, to be forfeited if I fail to do what I promise." + +"I'll give you the document with pleasure, but it is unnecessary to make +a deposit." + +"This is business, you know, Mr. Sterling. You are pretending you are as +bad a business man as I am. I don't know much about the law of America, +but I think you will find that unless a deposit is made, your instrument +would be invalid in a court of law. There must be value received, I +believe, when a bargain is made." + +"All right," said Sterling, "but I'll give you back your money if you +regret the deal." + +He went to a desk in the corner, and wrote out the agreement, in which +he acknowledged the receipt of five hundred dollars. Stranleigh selected +from his wallet five bills for a hundred dollars each, and handed them +over, then bidding farewell to the engineer, walked to his hotel, +followed at a discreet distance by Mr. Wentworth Parkes. + +Having located his quarry, Parkes retraced his steps to Woodbridge +Street, deep in thought. His first resolution was to try bluster, but he +abandoned that idea for two reasons, each conclusive in its way. His +slight acquaintance with the engineer had convinced him that while much +could be done with Sterling by persuasion, he would not yield to force, +and secondly, the motor builder had no money. Whatever gold he was to +acquire in his deal must come from Lord Stranleigh. It was, therefore, a +mild and innocent lamb of a man who entered the machine shop of +Woodbridge Street. + +"Hello!" cried Sterling, who seemed taken aback by the encounter. "What +have you done with my automobile, and why did you not answer my +letters?" + +"Your automobile is here in Detroit; a little the worse for wear, +perhaps, but there is nothing wrong with it that you cannot put right in +short order. As for letters, I never received any. I thought I had +notified you of my changed address." + +"As a matter of fact, you didn't." + +"In that case, I apologise most humbly. The truth is, Mr. Sterling, +I have been working practically night and day, often under very +discouraging circumstances. Until quite recently there was nothing +hopeful to tell, and the moment I struck a bit of good luck, I came on +here in the car to let you know. You see, it was very difficult to +interest capital in a proposition that apparently has no substantiality +behind it. If you had possessed a big factory in going order, that I +could have shown a man over, the company would have been formed long +ago. It therefore surprised me exceedingly, when I passed your shop +less than a hour ago, to see standing in this window, while you were +explaining the car to him, the man on whom I chiefly depended. You must +put it down to my credit that instead of coming in as I had intended, +thus embarrassing him, and perhaps spoiling a deal by my interference, I +passed on, waited until he came out, and followed him to his hotel." + +Sterling was plainly nonplussed. + +"I wish you had come in an hour earlier," he said. "You couldn't have +interfered with a deal, because your option ran out two months ago." + +"I know that," said Parkes regretfully, "but I thought the good work +on my part would have made up for a legal lapse. Indeed, Mr. Sterling, +if you will allow me to say so, I had such supreme faith in your +own honesty, that I believed you would not hesitate to renew our +arrangement." + +"That's just the point," said Sterling. "Had you come in an hour sooner, +you would have been in time. As it is, I have granted a new option to +the man you saw here with me." + +"What name did he give you? Trevelyan?" + +"No; the name he mentioned was Henry Johnson." + +Parkes laughed a little, then checked himself. + +"He went under the name of Trevelyan in New York, but I know neither +that nor Johnson is his true title. Well, is he going in with you, +then?" + +"He has asked for a week to decide." + +Now Parkes laughed more heartily. + +"I took him out in your motor in New York, and there also he asked for a +week in which to decide. He seems to have taken the opportunity to come +West, and try to forestall me." + +"Oh, I don't believe he's that sort of man," cried Sterling, +impatiently. + +"Perhaps I do him an injustice. I sincerely hope so. Of course you're +not compelled to show your hand, but I think, in the circumstances, you +might let me know just how far you've got." + +"Yes, I think you are entitled to that. I remember I was rather +astonished when I learned he knew I had given a former option, but I +shall be very much disappointed if he doesn't run straight. Still, I +have been mistaken in men before. He took an option for a week, and paid +me five hundred dollars down in cash, to be forfeited if he does not +exercise it." + +"Well, if the money is not counterfeit, that certainly looks like +running straight. And meanwhile, what are you to do?" + +"I am to do nothing, except send this car up to his hotel with a +suitable chauffeur, at eleven o'clock to-morrow. He is going to test +it along the Canadian roads." + +"Was anything said about the amount of capital he was to put up?" + +"Not a word; we didn't get that far." + +Parkes took a few turns up and down the room then he said suddenly: + +"Have you any particular chauffeur in mind?" + +"No; I was just going out to make arrangements." + +"You don't need to make any arrangements. I'll be your chauffeur, and +can show off this car better than a stranger, who perhaps might be +interested in some other automobile, and try to get your customer away. +It's to my interest, having spent so much time on it, to see the deal +put through. Besides, I know your man, and now that I have encountered +him here in Detroit, he cannot deny that I sent him to your shop. I +think he owes me at least a commission for bringing you together. I +realise, of course, that I have no legal claim on either of you, yet I +am sure, if the facts were proved, any court would allow me an agent's +commission." + +"I'll pay your commission," said Sterling. + +"You haven't got the money, and he has." + +"Very well; I will let you go as chauffeur, but I must inform him who +you are." + +Parkes shook his head. + +"My dear Sterling, you are the most honest and impractical man I ever +met. If you give him warning, he'll merely leave you in the lurch as he +did me." + +"Do you intend to disguise yourself?" + +"Certainly not." + +"Then he will recognise you at once." + +"I understand that class of Englishman much better than you do. He will +never see me, and I don't know that I shall call myself to his attention +at all. My own idea is to let the deal go through, claiming only +the privilege of being your adviser, and keeping altogether in the +background. I can give you valuable hints about dealing with this sort +of man. He will regard me as a servant, and unless I said to him: 'Lord +Stranleigh of Wychwood, why did you bolt so suddenly from New York?' he +would never have the least idea who was sitting beside him, and even +then he would exhibit no surprise." + +"Lord Stranleigh?" echoed Sterling in amazement. + +"Yes; that's the man you're dealing with, and he's worth untold +millions. I'll go up to this hotel now, and see him, if you prefer that +I should do so." + +"No; you may take him out to-morrow, but I advise you to say nothing to +him about me or my business. Whatever arrangement we come to finally, +you shall be recompensed for your share in the negotiations." + +Parkes' prediction regarding Stranleigh's non-recognition of him proved +accurate. The young man simply said-- + +"We will cross the ferry, and run up along the Canadian shore as far as +Lake St. Clair." + +The road continued along the river bank, with no fences on the left +side. Although residences were fairly numerous, there was little +traffic on the highway. The car was running at a moderate pace when +the chauffeur suddenly diverted it towards the river, and with an +exceedingly narrow margin escaped tumbling down the bank. + +"I say," murmured Stranleigh, "I don't like that you know." + +"There's worse to come," said the chauffeur menacingly. "You will +promise to pay me a hundred thousand dollars, or I will dash you and the +car over the edge into the river. If you consider your life worth that +sum, speak quickly." + +"Ah, it is you, Parkes? I hope you realise that you will dash yourself +over at the same time?" + +"I know that, but I'm a desperate man. Just get that through your head." + +"You are aware that a promise given under duress is not binding?" + +"Stow talk!" roared Parkes. "Say 'yes' or 'no.'" + +"I say 'No!'" replied Stranleigh, so quietly that the other was +unprepared for the prompt action which followed. Stranleigh flung his +arms around the man, and jerked him backward from his wheel. His +lordship was in good athletic condition; the ex-valet had looked too +much on the wine when it was red, and on the highball when it sparkled +in the glass. He felt helpless as a child. + +"Now," said Stranleigh, "we will see who is the coward. I'll lay a wager +with you that this car tumbles off the bank before five minutes are +past." + +Stranleigh with his heels was working the two outside pegs, and the car +acted as if it were drunker than a lord, and almost as drunk as the +valet. + +"In God's name," cried the latter, "let me go. We shall be wrecked in a +moment." + +"No, we won't." + +"I implore you, Lord Stranleigh!" + +"I'll save your life, but will give you a lesson against attempted +blackmail." + +He steered to the edge of the bank, then pressed the middle peg, and +stopped the car. Rising and carrying Parkes with him, he hurled him +headlong over the slight earthy precipice into the water, which was +shallow at that point. Parkes arose spluttering, and found Stranleigh +had turned the car round, and with a smile on his face, was looking +down at his dripping victim. + +"You'll suffer for this!" cried Parkes, shaking his fist at him. "We're +in a country, thank God, where we think very little of lords." + +"Oh, I don't think much of lords myself, in any country," replied +Stranleigh suavely, "and even less of their valets, notwithstanding I've +a very good one myself. Now listen to my advice. I shall be in the +United States before you can reach a telephone, and I don't see how you +can get me back unless I wish to return. I advise you not to stir up the +police. The Duke of Rattleborough cabled to me that a certain section of +that useful body is anxious to hear of you. Call on Mr. Sterling, and +whatever he thinks is just compensation for your introduction I will +pay, but before you get the money, you must ensure both of us against +further molestation in any way." + +Stranleigh drove up to the shop on Woodbridge Street, and listened to +the account Sterling gave of Parkes' visit and conversation, and his +explanation of how he had come to allow him to drive the car. + +"That's quite all right and satisfactory," said his lordship. "I never +for a moment distrusted you. Still, I did get your name from Parkes, and +I owe him something for that. What do you think would be a fair payment +to make? I threw him into the river, but though it's clean, clear water, +I expect no reward." + +"If you'll allow me to pay him the five hundred dollars you gave me +yesterday, I think the rogue will get much more than he deserves." + +"Very good; I'll add another five hundred, but see that he signs some +legal promise not to molest us further. I'll capitalise your company to +the extent of any amount between a hundred thousand dollars and half a +million." + + + + +III.--THE GOD IN THE CAR. + + +Young Lord Stranleigh always proved a disappointment to a thorough-going +Radical, for he differed much from the conventional idea of what a +hereditary proud peer should be. He was not overbearing on the one hand, +nor condescending on the other, being essentially a shy, unassuming +person, easily silenced by any controversialist who uttered statements +of sufficient emphasis. He never seemed very sure about anything, +although undoubtedly he was a judge of well-fitting clothes, and the +tailoring of even the remoter parts of America rather pleased him. + +One thing that met his somewhat mild disapproval was undue publicity. He +shrank from general notice, and tried to efface himself when reporters +got on his track. In order, then, to live the quiet and simple life, +his lordship modified a stratagem he had used on a previous occasion +with complete success. He arranged that the obedient but unwilling +Ponderby should enact the country gentleman of England, bent on +enlarging his mind, and rounding out his experiences by residence in +the United States. Ponderby wished to get back to the old country, but +was too well-trained to say so. Lord Stranleigh, under the humble +designation of Henry Johnson, set for himself the part of Ponderby's +chauffeur, a _rôle_ he was well fitted to fill, because of his love for +motoring, and his expertness in the art. He dressed the character to +perfection, being always particular in the matter of clothes, and was +quite admirable in raising his forefinger deferentially to the edge of +his cap, a salute whose effect Ponderby endangered by his unfortunate +habit of blushing. + +Accustomed to self-suppression though he was, Ponderby could not +altogether conceal from Lord Stranleigh his dislike of the metamorphosis +that was proposed. He had been born a servant and brought up a servant, +with the result that he was a capable one, and posing as a gentleman was +little to his taste. Of course, he would do anything Lord Stranleigh +commanded, and that without consciously hinting disapproval, but the +earl shrank from giving a command as much as he would have disliked +receiving one. He was suave enough with the general public, but just a +little more so in dealing with those who depended on him. + +"Did you ever visit the ancient village of Burford, Ponderby?" he asked +on this occasion. + +"Burford in England, my lord?" + +"Ponderby," pleaded Stranleigh, "kindly oblige me by omitting the +appellation." + +"Burford in England, sir?" + +"That's better," said the earl with a smile, "but we will omit the 'sir' +in future, also. I am a chauffeur, you know. Yes, I do mean Burford in +Oxfordshire, nestling cosily beside the brown river Windrush, a village +of very ancient houses." + +"I have never been there." Ponderby swallowed the phrase "my lord" just +in time. + +"Then you have not seen the priory of that place; the ruins of a +beautiful old English manor-house? It forms the background of a +well-known modern picture by Waller--'The Empty Saddle.' The estate was +purchased by Lenthall, Speaker of the House of Commons during the Long +Parliament. Kings have put up at the Priory, the last being William the +Third. Think of that, Ponderby! Royalty! I know how you will respect the +house on that account. One of Lenthall's descendants was served by an +ideal butler, who was happy, contented, well-paid; therefore, to all +outward appearances, satisfied. One day he fell heir to three thousand +pounds, which at present would be not quite fifteen thousand dollars, +but at that time was a good deal more. Against his master's protests, he +resigned his butlership. + +"'I have always wished to live,' he confessed, 'at the rate of three +thousand a year; to live as a gentleman for that period. I will return +to you a year from to-day, and if you wish to engage me, I shall be +happy to re-enter your service.' + +"He spent his long-coveted year and the three thousand pounds, returning +and taking up his old service again on the date he had set. Now, +Ponderby, there's a precedent for you, and I know how you love +precedents. Remembering this historical fact, I have placed in the bank +of Altonville fifteen thousand dollars to your credit. You cannot +return to old England just yet, but you may enjoy New England. Already +constituting myself your servant, I have taken a furnished house for +you, and all I ask in return is that I may officiate as your chauffeur. +I hope to make some interesting experiments with the modern American +automobile." + +And so it was arranged. Lord Stranleigh at the wheel saw much of a +charming country; sometimes with Ponderby in the back seat, but more +often without him, for the inestimable valet was quite evidently +ill-at-ease through this change of their relative positions. + +One balmy, beautiful day during the exceptionally mild Indian summer of +that year, Stranleigh left Altonville alone in his motor, and turned +into a road that led northward, ultimately reaching the mountains to be +seen dimly in the autumn haze far to the north. It was a favourite drive +of his, for it led along the uplands within sight of a group of crystal +lakes with well-wooded banks on the opposite shore. The district was +practically untouched by commerce, save that here and there along the +valley stood substantial mills, originally built to take advantage of +the water power from the brawling river connecting the lakes. Some +of these factories had been abandoned, and were slowly becoming as +picturesque as an old European castle. Others were still in going order, +and doubtless the valley had once been prosperous, but lagging behind +an age of tremendous progress, had lost step, as it were, with the +procession. Lack of adequate railway connection with the outside world +was the alleged cause, but the conservatism of the mill-owners, who, in +an age of combination, had struggled on individually to uphold the +gospel of letting well alone, a campaign that resulted in their being +left alone, had probably more to do with bringing about adversity than +the absence of railways. Some of the mills had been purchased by the +Trusts, and closed up. One or two still struggled on, hopelessly +battling for individualism and independence, everyone but themselves +recognising that the result was a foregone conclusion. + +Yet for a man who wished to rest, and desired, like the old-fashioned +millers, to be left alone, this countryside was indeed charming. The +summer visitors had all departed, missing the sublimest time of the +year. Stranleigh had the road to himself, and there was no annoying +speed limit to hamper the energy of his machine. Without any thought of +his disconsolate valet moping about an unnecessarily large and +well-furnished house, the selfish young man breathed the exhilarating +air, and revelled in his freedom. + +He passed a young couple, evidently lovers, standing on a grassy knoll, +gazing across a blue lake at the wooded banks on the other side, +seemingly at a fine old colonial mansion which stood in an opening of +the woods, with well-kept grounds sloping down to the water's edge. + +A man driving a car enjoys small opportunity for admiring scenery and +architecture, so Stranleigh paid little regard to the view, but caught a +fleeting glimpse of a beautiful girl, in whose expression there appeared +a tinge of sadness which enhanced her loveliness; then he was past, with +the empty road before him. He fell into a reverie, a most dangerous +state of mind for a chauffeur, since a fall into a reverie on the part +of a driver may mean a fall into a ravine on the part of the machine. +The reverie, however, was interrupted by a shout, and then by another. +He slowed down, and looking back over his shoulder saw that the young +man was sprinting towards him at a record-breaking speed. Stranleigh +declutched his automobile, and applying the brakes came to a standstill. +The young man ran up breathlessly. + +"You are the chauffeur of that Englishman in Altonville, are you not?" +he panted, breathing hard. + +"Yes." + +"Are you going to meet him, or anything of that sort?" + +"No; I'm out for my own pleasure." + +"I'll give you a dollar if you take my wife and me back to Altonville." + +Stranleigh smiled. + +"I'll go, my chief; I'm ready," he murmured. "It is not for your silver +bright, but for your winsome lady." + +"My wife has sprained her ankle, and cannot walk," explained the young +man. + +"I am sorry to hear that," replied Lord Stranleigh. "Get in, and we will +go back to her in a jiffy." + +The young man sprang into the car, which the amateur chauffeur turned +very deftly, and in a few moments they drew up close to the grassy bank +where the girl was sitting. The young husband very tenderly lifted her +to the back seat, and the polite chauffeur, after again expressing his +regret at the accident, drove the car swiftly to Altonville, stopping at +the office of the only doctor. + +The young man rang the bell, and before the door was opened, he had +carried the girl up the steps. Presently he returned, and found +Stranleigh still sitting in the chauffeur's seat, meditatively +contemplating the trafficless street. His late passenger thrust hand +in pocket, and drew forth a silver dollar. + +"I am ever so much obliged," he said, "and am sorry to have detained you +so long." + +"The detention was nothing. To be of assistance, however slight, is a +pleasure, marred only by the fact of the lady's misadventure. I hope to +hear that her injury is not serious, and then I shall be well repaid." + +"You will not be repaid," returned the young man, with a slight frown on +his brow, "until you have accepted this dollar." + +Stranleigh laughed gently. + +"I told you at the beginning that I was not working for coin." + +The young man came closer to the automobile. + +"To tell the truth," he said earnestly, "I fear that now we are in +Altonville that pompous gentleman, your boss, may come along, and you +will get into trouble. Masters do not like their motors used for other +people's convenience." + +"Don't worry about Mr. Ponderby. He is a very good-hearted person, and +his pomposity merely a mannerism. I am waiting to take madame and +yourself to your residence." + +"It isn't much of a residence," laughed the young man rather grimly, +"only a couple of rooms and a small kitchen, and is less than a hundred +yards from this spot." + +"Then I'll take you that hundred yards." + +"I work in Fulmer's grist mill," explained the husband, "and business is +not very good, so I had the day off. This is a time of year when we +ought to be busy, but the trade is merely local. The huge concerns down +east, and further west, do practically all the grinding nowadays." + +The door opened, and the doctor appeared at the top of the steps. + +"It's all right, Mr. Challis," he said encouragingly. "Mrs. Challis must +stay indoors for a few days, and be careful to rest her foot. The cure +may be tedious, but not painful, thanks to prompt treatment." + +Challis brought out his wife, and Stranleigh took them to the +two-storied frame house, of which they occupied part. When the young +man came out to thank the chauffeur, he found the street empty. + +A week later, Stranleigh's passengers heard the purr of an automobile +outside the cottage. Challis opened the door in response to the +chauffeur's knock. + +"Good morning," said Stranleigh, shaking hands cheerfully. "What a +lovely day! I am delighted to know that Mrs. Challis has completely +recovered. I did not care to trouble you with repeated calls, but the +doctor has been very kind, and has kept me informed of her progress. It +is with his permission that I come to offer you a spin in the car. I'll +take you anywhere you wish to go, and this invitation is extended with +the concurrence of Mr. Ponderby, so you may enjoy the run to the full. +My name's Johnson; not Jack, the celebrated, but Henry, the unknown." + +Challis laughed. + +"I'm delighted to meet you again," he said. "Come in and see my wife. +Her worry has been that she has never had the opportunity to thank you +for your former kindness. Yes; I shall be glad of a ride. I have been +too much in the house lately." + +"Another day off, eh?" + +"All days are off days now," growled Challis. "The grist mill has shut +down." + +Mrs. Challis received the alleged Johnson with a graciousness that was +quite charming. She thanked him in a manner so winning that Stranleigh +sat there overcome with an attack of the shyness he had never been able +to shake off. He could not help noticing the subtle melancholy of her +beautiful face, a hint of which he had received in that brief first +glance as he passed in the automobile. He attributed it then to her +mishap, but now realised its cause was something deeper and more +permanent. He was astonished later to find her so resolute in refusing +his invitation. She wished her husband to go for a drive, but would not +avail herself of that pleasure. In vain Stranleigh urged the doctor's +dictum that it would be good for her especially as the day was so fine, +and she had endured a week of enforced idleness indoors. + +"Some other day perhaps," she said, "but not now," and he speedily +recognised that her firmness was not to be shaken. + +All her own powers of persuasiveness, however were turned upon her +husband. + +"You must go, Jim," she insisted. "I have kept you a prisoner for a +week, and you need the fresh air much more than I do." + +James Challis, protesting more and more faintly at last gave way, +and the two men drove off together while Mrs. Challis fluttered a +handkerchief from her window in adieu. + +Challis had refused to sit in the back seat, and took his place beside +the chauffeur. + +"Where shall we go?" asked the latter. + +"Drive to the place where you found us," said his passenger, and there +they went. On the way thither, neither spoke, but at a sign from +Challis, Stranleigh stopped the car. + +"You must not think," began the former, "that my wife did not wish to +come. I know from the expression of her eyes that she did. Her reason +for declining was one that I imagine any woman would consider adequate, +and any man the reverse." + +"I am an exception so far as the men are concerned," said Stranleigh, +coming much nearer the truth than he suspected, "for I am sure that +whatever motive actuated Mrs. Challis, it was commendable and right." + +"Thank you," responded the other. "I am with you there. It is all a +matter of clothes. My wife possesses no costume suitable for a motor +excursion." + +"In that case," cried Stranleigh impulsively, "the defect is easily +remedied. I have saved a bit from the ample salary Mr. Ponderby allows +me, and if I may offer you----" + +"I could not accept anything," interrupted Challis. + +"Merely a temporary loan, until the grist mill begins operations." + +Challis shook his head. + +"That mill will never grind again with the water that is past, nor the +water that is to come. Fulmer has gone smash, and I could not accept a +loan that I do not see my way to repay. Nevertheless, I appreciate fully +the kindness of your offer, and if you don't mind, I will tell you how I +got myself entangled, for there is no use in concealing from you what +you must already have seen--that I am desperately poor, so much so that +I sometimes lose courage, and consider myself a failure, which is not a +pleasant state of mind to get into." + +"Oh, I've often felt that way myself," said Stranleigh, "but nobody's a +failure unless he thinks he is. You strike me as a capable man. You have +youth and energy, and added to that, great good luck. I'm a believer in +luck myself." + +This commendation did not chase the gloom from the face of Challis. + +"You have knocked from under me," he said, "the one frail prop on which +I leaned. I have been excusing myself by blaming the run of horrid bad +luck I have encountered." + +Stranleigh shook his head. + +"You can't truthfully say that," he rejoined quietly, "while you have +had the supreme good fortune to enlist the affection of so clever and +charming a wife." + +The gloom disappeared from Challis's countenance as the shadow of a +cloud at that moment flitted from the surface of the lake. He thrust +forth his hand, and there being no onlookers, Stranleigh grasped it. + +"Shake!" cried Challis. "I'll never say 'ill-luck' again! I wish she +had come with us." + +"So do I," agreed Stranleigh. + +"I'd like her to have heard you talk." + +"Oh, not for that reason. I'd like her to enjoy this scenery." + +"Yes, and the deuce of it is, she practically owns the scene. Look at +that house across the lake." + +"A mansion, I should call it." + +"A mansion it is. That's where my wife came from. Think of my +selfishness in taking her from such a home to wretched rooms in a +cottage, and abject poverty." + +"I prefer not to think of your selfishness, but rather of her nobility +in going. It revives in a cynical man like myself his former belief in +the genuine goodness of the world." + +"It all came about in this way," continued Challis. "I graduated at a +technical college--engineering. I began work at the bottom of the +ladder, and started in to do my best, being ambitious. This was +appreciated, and I got on." + +"In what line?" asked Stranleigh. + +"In a line which at that time was somewhat experimental. The firm for +which I worked might be called a mechanical-medical association, or +perhaps 'surgical' would be a better term. We had no plant, no factory; +nothing but offices. We were advisers. I was sent here and there all +over the country, to mills that were not in a good state of health; +dividends falling off, business declining, competition too severe, and +what-not. I looked over the works, talked with managers and men, formed +conclusions, then sent a report to my firm containing details, and such +suggestions as I had to offer. My firm communicated with the proprietor +of the works accordingly, and collected its bill." + +"That should be an interesting occupation," said Stranleigh, whose +attention was enlisted. + +"It was. One day, I was sent up here to inspect the factory of Stanmore +Anson, a large stone structure which you could see from here were it not +concealed by that hill to the right. It has been in the Anson family for +three generations, and had earned a lot of money in its time, but is now +as old-fashioned as Noah's Ark. It was cruelly wasteful of human energy +and mechanical power. It should have had a set of turbines, instead of +the ancient, moss-grown, overshot waterwheels. The machinery was out of +date, and ill-placed. The material in course of manufacture had to go +upstairs and downstairs, all over the building, handled and re-handled, +backward and forward, instead of passing straight through the factory, +entering as raw material, and coming out the finished product. +I reported to my firm that the establishment needed a complete +overhauling; that it ought to have new machinery, but that if it +was compulsory to keep the old machines at work, they should be +entirely rearranged in accordance with the sketch I submitted, so that +unnecessary handling of the product might be avoided. I set down the +minimum expense that must be incurred, and also submitted an estimate +covering the cost of turbines and new machinery, which I admit was +large in the bulk, but really the most economical thing to do." + +"I see. And the old man objected to the expense, or perhaps had not the +necessary capital to carry out your suggestion? What sort of a person +is he? Unreasonable, I suppose you consider him?" + +"Strangely enough, I never met him in my life." + +"And you married his daughter?" + +"Had to. I was determined to take the girl away, whether I reformed +the factory or not, and here you see where good luck and the reverse +mingled. When I arrived at Mr. Anson's factory, the old man was in New +York, for the purpose, as I learned, of raising a loan, or of selling +the property, neither of which projects was he able to carry out." + +"That was his misfortune, rather than his fault, wasn't it?" + +"In a way, yes; still, the Trust had offered him a reasonable figure for +his factory. He not only refused, but he fought the Trust tooth and +nail, thinking that with low taxation, and country wages, he could meet +the competition, which, of course, with the factory in its present +state, he could not do. The fact that he was up against the Trust became +well known, so that he could neither borrow nor sell. While in New York, +he called several times on Langdon, Bliss, and Co., the firm that +employed me. When my report came in and was read to him, I understand he +fell into a tremendous rage, and characterised our company as a body of +swindlers. Mr. Langdon ordered him out of the office. + +"That was the first spoke in my wheel. Mr. Langdon was a capable man, +always courteous and very calm when dealing with his fellows, so I am +sure that my father-in-law must have been exceedingly violent when he +provoked Langdon to vocal wrath. I judge that Langdon, when he recovered +from his outbreak, regretted it extremely, and was inclined to blame me +for rather muddling the affair of Anson's mill. I may say that I had +been placed in rather a difficult position. The proprietor was absent, +and had not taken his foreman into his confidence, therefore this +foreman put difficulties in the way of investigation. The employees were +suspicious, not knowing what this research by a stranger meant, so I +went to Anson's house, hoping to find there someone with sufficient +authority to enable me to get the information I must have. + +"I met Mrs. Anson, a kindly woman, but realised in a moment that no +authority had been delegated to her. She appeared afraid to suggest +anything, but called in her only daughter to assist at our conference. +The girl at once said she would accompany me to the mill, and did so. I +shall never forget with what infinite tact and persuasiveness she won +over the foreman, and it was quite evident that the workmen all knew and +liked her, for her very presence appeared to dissipate distrust. I saw +Miss Anson home, and it seemed, as my investigations progressed, many +conferences became more and more necessary. You're a young man, and +doubtless you know how it is yourself." + +"As a matter of fact, I don't," interjected Stranleigh, "but I can +guess." + +"Well--your guess is right. We had no difficulty with Mrs. Anson, but +both mother and daughter were uneasy about how the father would take it. +I wrote him what I hoped was a straightforward letter, putting the case +to him as man to man. He answered with a very brief and terse letter +that left me no doubt regarding his opinion, but my own communication +had arrived at an unfortunate time; the day after he had been ordered +out of our office. He at once enclosed my letter to Mr. Langdon, saying +in effect:-- + +"'This is the sort of man you sent like a wolf in sheep's clothing to my +home.'" + +"Langdon telegraphed, asking if this was true. I, of course, had to +admit it was, with the result of instant dismissal. I never would have +let either mother or daughter know about this, but my reticence was +vain, for Mr. Anson wrote a stinging letter to his daughter saying she +could do what she pleased about marrying me, but that he had secured my +dismissal. It is strange," Challis murmured reflectively, speaking more +to himself than to his companion, "it is strange that a father rarely +recognises that when he comes to a difference with one of his children, +he is meeting, in part at least, some of his own characteristics. I +wonder if I shall ever be so unreasonable as----" + +Stranleigh's eye twinkled as he remembered how firm the girl had been in +refusing the automobile invitation, yet giving no explanation of that +refusal. + +"What Gertrude said to me was, holding her head very proudly: 'I have +received my father's permission to marry you, and if you are ready for +an immediate ceremony, I am willing.' + +"We were married before the old man returned from New York." + +"Has there been no further communication between Mr. Anson and +yourself?" + +"On my part, yes; ignored by him. It was Gertrude who wished to stay in +Altonville. She knew a financial crisis was threatening her father, and +she hoped that in some way I should be able to advise him. That was not +to be. She requested permission to take away her belongings. This was +refused. Everything she possessed, Mr. Anson said, had been purchased +with his money. They remained at his home, and she was welcome to use +them at his house, any time she chose to return, but having exchanged +his care for that of another man, it was the other man's duty to provide +what she needed. This ended our communication, and brings us to the +present moment." + +"Can you drive a car?" asked Stranleigh. + +"Yes." + +"The immediate question strikes me as being that of wearing apparel. I +propose to return with at least a box full. I don't like to be baffled, +and I wish Mrs. Challis to come out with us for a run. Will you +exchange seats, and drive me down to the mill?" + +"You're up against a tough proposition," demurred Challis. + +"A proposition usually gives way if you approach it tactfully, as Miss +Anson approached the manager. If you have never seen her father, he will +not recognise you, so let us call at the mill." + +"He would not recognise me, but the foreman would, also many of the +men." + +"We must chance that." + +The two young men exchanged seats, and Challis at the wheel, with more +caution than ever Stranleigh used, sent the car spinning down the +slightly descending road by the margin of the lake, until they came to +the water level. No word was spoken between them, but his lordship +studied with keen scrutiny from the corner of his eye, the profile of +the intent driver. He was immensely taken with the young man, and +meditated on the story to which he had listened. The effect left on his +mind by that recital surprised him. It was a feeling of sympathy with +the old man who had acted so obstreperously, and gradually he placed +this feeling to the credit of Challis, who had shown no rancour against +his father-in-law, either in word or tone. Yes; he liked Challis, and +was sorry for the elderly Anson, one evidently advanced in years, +battling against forces that were too much for him, stubbornly using +antiquated methods in a world that had out-grown them; the muzzle-loader +against the repeating rifle. These two men should be pulling together. + +"There's the factory," said Challis, at last, and Stranleigh, looking +up, beheld further down the valley a three-storied structure, +unexpectedly huge, built apparently for all the ages. There was no sign +of activity about it; but the roar of waters came to their ears; idle +waters, nevertheless, that were turning no wheels, the muffled sound of +an unimpeded minor cataract. + +"By Jove!" cried Stranleigh, jumping out as the car stopped. + +Challis said nothing, but an expression of deep anxiety darkened his +countenance. There were plastered here and there on the stone walls +great white posters, bearing printing like the headings of a +sensational newspaper, magnified several hundred times. + + AUCTION SALE. + BY ORDER OF THE BANKRUPTCY COURT, + + that desirable property known as Anson's Mill, fully + equipped with machinery, in condition for immediate use, + with never-failing water power, which at slight expense may + be enormously increased; together with ten acres of freehold + land; without reserve to the highest bidder; on the + Seventeenth of November! + +"A desirable property," said Challis, sadly, "which nobody desires +except the Trust, and probably _it_ cares nothing about it now." + +"You forget that it is desired by Stanmore Anson." + +"I am afraid that even he is tired of it by this time. I am sorry, but +I feared it was inevitable." + +Stranleigh looked up at him. + +"Could you make this factory pay, if it were given into your charge?" + +"Not in its present condition." + +"I mean, of course, with your recommendations carried out. If the mill, +free from all encumbrances, filled with modern machinery, rightly +placed, were put under your management, could you make it pay?" + +Challis did not answer for some moments. His brow was wrinkled in +thought, and he seemed making some mental calculations. + +"There would need to be a suitable amount of working capital----" + +"Yes, yes; all that is understood. Could you make it pay?" + +"I am almost sure I could, but there is that incalculable factor, the +opposition of the Trust." + +"Damn the Trust!" cried Stranleigh. "I beg your pardon; I should have +said, blow the Trust! I thought I had lost the power of becoming +excited, not to say profane. It must be the exhilarating air of America. +The sale is a good way off yet, and I think it will be further off +before I get through with it. If you will accept the management, and +your father-in-law proves at all reasonable, I guarantee to find the +necessary money." + +"You mean that, Mr. Ponderby----" + +"Exactly. I am his chief business adviser, as well as his only +chauffeur. But we are forgetting the matter in hand. We must rescue the +wardrobe of Mrs. Challis. Drive on to the mansion. You know the way, and +I don't." + +"I'm a warned-off trespasser, but here goes." + +"You won't be called on to trespass very much. You're my chauffeur, _pro +tem_. Perhaps you won't need to enter the house at all. I shall see Mrs. +Anson before I meet her husband, if possible, and will try to persuade +her to give me the wardrobe." + +"She would not have the courage to do that without her husband's +permission, and he will never give it." + +"We'll see about that. Ah, the mill is not the only piece of property to +be sold!" + +They had turned into a well-shaded avenue, to the massive stone +gate-pillars of which were attached posters similar to those at the +mill, only in this case it was "This valuable, desirable and palatial +residence," with the hundreds of acres of land attached, that were to be +knocked down by the auctioneer's hammer. + +"I might have known," commented Stranleigh, "that if Mr. Anson was +bankrupt at his mill, he was also bankrupt at his house." + +They drew up at the entrance. Stranleigh stepped down, and rang the +bell, Challis remaining in the car. Shown into the drawing-room, the +visitor was greeted by a sad-looking, elderly woman. + +"Mrs. Anson," said the young man, very deferentially, "I expect your +forgiveness for this intrusion on my part when I say that I am here in +some sense as an ambassador from your daughter." + +"From my daughter!" gasped the old lady in astonishment. "Is she well, +and where is she?" + +"She is very well, I am glad to say, and is living with her husband over +in the village." + +"In her last letter she said her husband was taking her to New York. +There had been a--misunderstanding." The old lady hesitated for a moment +before using that mild term. "On the day her letter was received, I went +to the hotel at which they were stopping, and was told by the landlord +they had gone, he did not know where. Do you tell me they have been +living in Altonville all the time?" + +"I think so, but cannot be sure. I met Mr. and Mrs. Challis for the +first time only a week ago." + +"I hope she is happy." + +"She is," said Stranleigh confidently, "and before the day is done her +mother will be happy also." + +Mrs. Anson shook her head. She was on the verge of tears, which +Stranleigh saw and dreaded. So he said hurriedly: + +"You will select me what you think she should have at once, and I will +take the box or parcel to Altonville in my car." + +"When at last her father saw that everything we possessed must be sold," +rejoined Mrs. Anson, "he packed up in trunks what belonged to Gertrude, +and as we could not learn where to send them, Mr. Asa Perkins, a friend +of ours, who lives in Boston, lent us a room in which to store the +things, and they are there now." + +"How odd!" exclaimed Stranleigh. "I met Mr. Perkins just before he left +his summer residence, and took the place furnished, acting for the +present tenant. It is much too large for him, and some of the rooms are +locked. Do you happen to have the key?" + +"No; it is in the possession of the housekeeper. She is there still, is +she not?" + +"Yes; I took the house as it stood, servants and all." + +"I'll write a note to the housekeeper, then. What name shall I say?" + +"Please write it in the name of Mr. Challis. He's outside now, in my +car." + +"May I bring him in?" she asked, eagerly. + +"Certainly," said Stranleigh, with a smile. "It's your house, you know." + +"Not for long," she sighed. + +"Ah,----" drawled Stranleigh, "Mr. Challis and I propose that this sale +shall not take place. If I may have a short conversation with your +husband, I think we shall come to terms." + +An expression of anxiety overspread her face. + +"Perhaps I had better not ask Jim to come in," she hesitated. + +"Your husband does not know him, and I would rather you did not tell him +who is with me. Just say that Henry Johnson and a friend wish to +negotiate about the factory." + +Stanmore Anson proved to be a person of the hale old English yeoman +type, as portrayed by illustrators, although his ancestors originally +came from Sweden. His face was determined, his lips firm, and despite +his defeats, the lurking sparkle of combat still animated his eyes. + +"Before we begin any conversation regarding a sale," he said, "you must +answer this question, Mr. Johnson. Are you connected in any way, +directly or indirectly, with the G.K.R. Trust?" + +"I am not connected with it, directly or indirectly." + +"You state that on your honour as a man?" + +"No; I simply state it." + +"You wouldn't swear it?" + +"Not unless compelled by force of law." + +"Then I have nothing further to say to you, sir." + +The old man seemed about to withdraw, then hesitated, remembering he was +in his own house. Stranleigh sat there unperturbed. + +"You have nothing further to say, Mr. Anson, because two thoughts are +sure to occur to you. First, a man whose word you would not accept +cannot be believed, either on his honour or his oath. Second, the Trust +doesn't need to send an emissary to you; it has only to wait until +November, and acquire your factory at its own figure. No one except +myself would bid against the Trust." + +"That's quite true," agreed Anson. "I beg your pardon. What have you to +propose?" + +"I wish to know the sum that will see you clear and enable you to tear +down those white posters at the gates, and those on the mill." + +Stanmore Anson drew a sheet of paper from his pocket, glanced over it, +then named the amount. + +"Very good," said Stranleigh, decisively. "I'll pay that for the mill +and the ten acres." + +"They are not worth it," said Anson. "Wait till November, and even +though you outbid the Trust, you'll get it at a lower figure." + +"We'll make the mill worth it. You may retain the residence and the rest +of the property." + +"There is but one proviso," said the old man. "I wish to name the +manager." + +"I regret I cannot agree to that, Mr. Anson, I have already chosen the +manager, and guarantee that he will prove efficient." + +"I'll forego your generous offer of the house and property if you will +allow me to appoint the manager." + +"I am sorry, Mr. Anson, but you touch the only point on which I cannot +give way." + +"Very well," cried Anson, angrily, his eyes ablaze. "The arrangement is +off." + +Both young men saw that Stanmore Anson was indeed difficult to deal +with, as his ancestors had been in many a hard-fought battle. + +"Wait a moment! Wait a moment!" exclaimed Challis. "This will never do. +It is absurd to wreck everything on a point so trivial. I am the man +whom Mr. Johnson wishes to make manager. I now refuse to accept the +position, but if the bargain is completed, I'll give Mr. Anson and his +manager all the assistance and advice they care to receive from me, and +that without salary." + +"Be quiet, Challis!" cried Stranleigh. + +"Challis! Challis!" interrupted the old man, gazing fiercely at his +junior. "Is your name Challis?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You're not my son-in-law?" + +"I am, sir." + +"I did you a great injustice," admitted Anson. "No man has a right to +deprive another of his livelihood. I have bitterly regretted it. It is +you I wish appointed manager." + +"Challis," said Stranleigh, "take the car, and bring your wife. Say her +father wishes to see her." + +Challis disappeared, and in an incredibly short space of time, during +which Anson and Stranleigh chatted together, the door opened, and +Gertrude Challis came in. + +"Father," she cried, "Jim says he's going to scrap all the machinery in +the factory. Shall we throw our differences on that scrap-heap?" + +The old man gathered her to his breast, and kissed her again and again. +He could not trust his voice. + +[Illustration: "'Shall we throw our differences on that scrap-heap?'"] + + + + +IV.--THE MAD MISS MATURIN. + + +"Would you like to meet the most beautiful woman in America?" asked +Edward Trenton of his guest. + +Lord Stranleigh drew a whiff or two from the favourite pipe he was +smoking, and the faint suggestion of a smile played about his lips. + +"The question seems to hint that I have not already met her," he said at +last. + +"Have you?" + +"Of course." + +"Where?" + +"In every town of any size I ever visited." + +"Oh, I daresay you have met many pretty girls, but only one of them is +the most beautiful in America." + +Again Stranleigh smiled, but this time removed his pipe, which had gone +out, and gently tapped it on the ash tray. + +"My dear Ned," he said at last, "on almost any other subject I should +hesitate to venture an opinion that ran counter to your own experience, +yet in this instance I think you wrong the great Republic. I am not +very good at statistics, but if you will tell me how many of your +fellow-countrymen are this moment in love, I'll make a very accurate +estimate regarding the number of most beautiful women there are in the +United States." + +"Like yourself, Stranleigh, I always defer to the man of experience, and +am glad to have hit on one subject in which you are qualified to be my +teacher." + +"I like that! Ned Trenton depreciating his own conquests is a popular +actor in a new _rôle_. But you are evading the point. I was merely trying +in my awkward way to show that every woman is the most beautiful in the +world to the man in love with her." + +"Very well; I'll frame my question differently. Would you like to meet +one of the most cultured of her sex?" + +"Bless you, my boy, of course not! Why, I'm afraid of her already. It is +embarrassing enough to meet a bright, alert man, but in the presence of +a clever woman, I become so painfully stupid that she thinks I'm putting +it on." + +"Then let me place the case before you in still another form. Would your +highness like to meet the richest woman in Pennsylvania?" + +"Certainly I should," cried Stranleigh, eagerly. + +Trenton looked at him with a shade of disapproval on his brow. + +"I thought wealth was the very last qualification a man in your position +would care for in a woman, yet hardly have I finished the sentence, than +you jump at the chance I offer." + +"And why not? A lady beautiful and talented would likely strike me dumb, +but if she is hideously rich, I may be certain of one thing, that I +shall not be asked to invest money in some hare-brained scheme or +other." + +"You are quite safe from that danger, or indeed from any other danger, +so far as Miss Maturin is concerned. Nevertheless, it is but just that +you should understand the situation, so that if you scent danger of any +kind, you may escape while there is yet time." + +"Unobservant though I am," remarked Stranleigh, "certain signs have not +escaped my notice. This commodious and delightful mansion is being +prepared for a house-party. I know the symptoms, for I have several +country places of my own. If, as I begin to suspect, I am in the way +here, just whisper the word and I'll take myself off in all good humour, +hoping to receive an invitation for some future time." + +"If that's your notion of American hospitality, Stranleigh, you've got +another guess coming. You're a very patient man; will you listen to a +little family history? Taking your consent for granted, I plunge. My +father possessed a good deal of landed property in Pennsylvania. This +house is the old homestead, as they would call it in a heart-throb +drama. My father died a very wealthy man, and left his property +conjointly to my sister and myself. He knew we wouldn't quarrel over the +division, and we haven't. My activity has been mainly concentrated in +coal mines and in the railways which they feed, and financially I have +been very fortunate. I had intended to devote a good deal of attention +to this estate along certain lines which my father had suggested, but I +have never been able to do so, living, as I did, mostly in Philadelphia, +absorbed in my own business. My sister, however, has in a measure +carried out my father's plans, aided and abetted by her friend, Miss +Constance Maturin. My sister married a man quite as wealthy as herself, +a dreamy, impractical, scholarly person who once represented his country +as Minister to Italy, in Rome. She enjoyed her Italian life very much, +and studied with great interest the progress North Italy was making in +utilising the water-power coming from the Alps. In this she was ably +seconded by Miss Maturin, who is owner of forests and farms and +factories further down the river which flows past our house. Her +property, indeed, adjoins our own, but she does not possess that +unlimited power over it which Sis and I have over this estate, for her +father, having no faith in the business capacity of woman, formed his +undertakings into a limited liability company where, although he owned +the majority of stock during his life, he did not leave his daughter +with untrammelled control. Had the old man known what trouble he was +bequeathing to his sole heir, I imagine he would have arranged things a +little differently. Miss Maturin has had to endure several expensive +law-suits, which still further restricted her power and lessened her +income. So she has ceased to take much interest in her own belongings, +and has constituted herself adviser-in-chief to my dear sister, who has +blown in a good deal of money on this estate in undertakings that, +however profitable they may be in the future, are unproductive up to +date. I am not criticising Sis at all, and have never objected to what +she has done, although I found myself involved in a very serious action +for damages, which I had the chagrin of losing, and which ran me into a +lot of expense, covering me with injunctions and things of that sort. No +rogue e'er felt the halter draw, with a good opinion of the law, and +perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently +broken it. If this long diatribe bores you, just say so, and I'll cut it +short." + +"On the contrary," said Stranleigh, with evident honesty, "I'm very much +interested. These two ladies, as I understand the case, have been +unsuccessful in law----" + +"Completely so." + +"And unsuccessful in the projects they have undertaken?" + +"From my point of view, yes. That is to say, they are sinking pots of +money, and I don't see where any of it is coming back." + +"Of what do these enterprises consist?" + +"Do you know anything about the conservation controversy now going on +in this country?" + +"I fear I do not. I am a woefully ignorant person." + +"My father had ideas about conservation long before the United States +took it up. It is on these ideas that Sis has been working. You preserve +water in times of flood and freshet to be used for power or for +irrigation throughout the year. Her first idea was to make a huge lake, +extending several miles up the valley of this river. That's where I got +into my law-suit. The commercial interests down below held that we had +no right to put a huge concrete dam across this river." + +"Couldn't you put a dam on your own property?" + +"It seems not. If the river ran entirely through my own property, I +could. Had I paid more attention to what was being done, I might perhaps +have succeeded, by getting a bill through the Legislature. When I tried +that, I was too late. The interests below had already applied to the +courts for an injunction, which, quite rightly, they received. +Attempting to legalise the action, not only did I find the Legislature +hostile, but my clever opponents got up a muck-raking crusade against +me, and I was held up by the Press of this State as a soulless +monopolist, anxious to increase my already great wealth by grabbing what +should belong to the whole people. The campaign of personal calumny was +splendidly engineered, and, by Jupiter! they convinced me that I was +unfit for human intercourse. Tables of statistics were published to +prove how through railway and coal-mine manipulation I had robbed +everybody, and they made me out about a hundred times richer than +I am, although I have never been able to get any of the excess cash. +Sermons were preached against me, the Pulpit joining the Press in +denunciation. I had no friends, and not being handy with my pen, I +made no attempt at defence. I got together a lot of dynamite, blew up +the partially-constructed dam, and the river still flows serenely on." + +"But surely," said Stranleigh, "I saw an immense dam on this very river, +when you met me at Powerville railway station the other day?" + +Trenton laughed. + +"Yes; that was Miss Maturin's dam." + +"Miss Maturin's!" cried Stranleigh in astonishment. + +"It was built years ago by her father, who went the right way about it, +having obtained in a quiet, effective way, the sanction of legislature. +Of course, when I say it belongs to Miss Maturin, I mean that it is +part of the estate left by her father, and the odd combination of +circumstances brought it about that she was one of my opponents in the +action-at-law, whereas in strict justice, she should have been a +defendant instead of a plaintiff. The poor girl was horrified to learn +her position in the matter, and my sister was dumbfounded to find in +what a dilemma she had placed me. Of course, the two girls should have +secured the advice of some capable, practical lawyer in the first place, +but they were very self-confident in those days, and Sis knew it was no +use consulting her husband, while her brother was too deeply immersed in +his own affairs to be much aid as a counsellor. + +"Well, they kept on with their conservation scheme after a time, and +both on this property and on Miss Maturin's, dams have been erected on +all the streams that empty into the river; streams on either side that +take their rise from outlying parts of the estate. They have built roads +through the forest, and have caused to be formed innumerable lakes, all +connected by a serviceable highway that constitutes one of the most +interesting automobile drives there is in all the United States; a drive +smooth as a floor, running for miles through private property, and +therefore overshadowed by no speed limit." + +"By Jove, Ned," exclaimed Stranleigh, "you must take me over that +course." + +"I'll do better than that, my boy. Constance Maturin is one of the best +automobilists I know, and she will be your guide, for these dams are of +the most modern construction, each with some little kink of its own that +no one understands better than she does. There is a caretaker living in +a picturesque little cottage at the outlet of every lake, and in each +cottage hangs a telephone, so that no matter how far you penetrate +into the wilderness, you are in touch with civilisation. From this +house I could call up any one of these water-wardens, or send out a +general alarm, bringing every man of the corps to the 'phone, and the +instructions given from here would be heard simultaneously by the whole +force. I think the organisation is admirable, but it runs into a lot of +money." + + "'But what good came of it at last, + Quoth little Peterkin,'" + +asked Stranleigh. "Do these artificial lakes run any dynamos, or turn +any spindles? Now tell me all about the war, and what they dammed each +streamlet for." + +"Ah, you have me there! The ladies have not taken me into their counsel: +I've got troubles enough of my own. One phase of the subject especially +gratifies me: their activities have in no instance despoiled the +landscape; rather the contrary. These lakes, wooded to their brims, are +altogether delightful, and well stocked with fish. A great many of them +overflow, causing admirable little cascades, which, although not quite +so impressive as Niagara, are most refreshing on a hot day, while the +cadence of falling waters serves as an acoustic background to the songs +of the birds; a musical accompaniment, as one might call it." + +"Bravo, Ned; I call that quite poetical, coming as it does from a +successful man of business. I find myself eager for that automobile ride +through this forest lakeland. When do you say Miss Maturin will arrive?" + +"I don't know. I expect my sister will call me up by telephone. Sis +regards this house as her own. She is fond of leaving the giddy whirl of +society, and settling down here in the solitude of the woods. I clear +out or I stay in obedience to her commands. You spoke of a house-party a +while ago. There is to be no house-party, but merely my sister and her +husband, with Miss Maturin as their guest. If you would rather not meet +any strangers, I suggest that we plunge further into the wilderness. At +the most remote lake on this property, about seven miles away, quite a +commodious keeper's lodge has been built, with room for, say, half a +dozen men who are not too slavishly addicted to the resources of +civilisation. Yet life there is not altogether pioneering. We could take +an automobile with us, and the telephone would keep us in touch with +the outside world. Fond of fishing?" + +"Very." + +"Then that's all right. I can offer you plenty of trout, either in pond +or stream, while in a large natural lake, only a short distance away, is +excellent black bass. I think you'll enjoy yourself up there." + +Stranleigh laughed. + +"You quite overlook the fact that I am not going. Unless ejected by +force, I stay here to meet your sister and Miss Maturin." + +For a moment Trenton seemed taken aback. He had lost the drift of things +in his enthusiasm over the lakes. + +"Oh, yes; I remember," he said at last. "You objected to meet anyone who +might wish you to invest good money in wild-cat schemes. Well, you're +quite safe as far as those two ladies are concerned, as I think I +assured you." + +Ned was interrupted, and seemed somewhat startled by a sound of murmured +conversation ending in a subdued peal of musical laughter. + +"Why, there's Sis now," he said, "I can tell her laugh anywhere." + +As he rose from his chair, the door opened, and there entered a most +comely young woman in automobile garb, noticeably younger than Trenton, +but bearing an unmistakable likeness to him. + +"Hello, Ned!" she cried. "I thought I'd find you here," then seeing his +visitor, who had risen, she paused. + +"Lord Stranleigh," said Trenton. "My sister, Mrs. Vanderveldt." + +"I am very glad to meet you, Lord Stranleigh," she said, advancing from +the door and shaking hands with him. + +"Why didn't you telephone?" asked her brother. + +His sister laughed merrily. + +"I came down like a wolf on the fold, didn't I? Why didn't I telephone? +Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack, and I'd no +wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. I am sure, Lord +Stranleigh, that he has been descanting on the distraction of the woods +and the camp, or perhaps the metropolitan dissipation of Philadelphia, +depending on whether the yearning for sport, or his business in town was +uppermost in his mind." + +"My dear Sis," cried Ned with indignation, "that is a libellous +statement. I never so much as mentioned Philadelphia, did I, Stranleigh? +You can corroborate what I say." + +"I'm not so sure about that," said Stranleigh, lightly. "Your attempt +to drag me into your family differences at this point of the game is +futile. I'm going to lie low, and say nothing, as Brer Rabbit did, until +I learn which of you two is the real ruler of this house. I shall then +boldly announce myself on the side of the leader. My position here is +much too comfortable to be jeopardised by an injudicious partisanship." + +"As for who's boss," growled Ned, "I cravenly admit at once that Sis +here is monarch of all she surveys." + +"In that case," rejoined Stranleigh, heaving a deep sigh of apparent +relief, "I'm on the side of the angels. Mrs. Vanderveldt, he did +mention Philadelphia and his office there, speaking much about business +interests, coal-mines, and what not, during which recital I nearly went +to sleep, for I'm no business man. He also descanted on the lakes and +the waterfalls and the fishing, and on trout and black bass, and would +doubtless have gone on to whales and sea-serpents had you not come in at +the opportune moment. Please accept me as your devoted champion, Mrs. +Vanderveldt." + +"I do, I do, with appreciation and gratitude," cried the lady merrily. +"I've long wished to meet you, Lord Stranleigh, for I heard such glowing +accounts of you from my brother here, with most fascinating descriptions +of your estates in England, and the happy hours he spent upon them while +he was your guest in the old country. I hope we may be able to make some +slight return for your kindness to this frowning man. He is always on +nettles when I am talking; so different from my husband in that +respect." + +"Poor man, he never has a chance to get a word in edgewise," growled +Ned. "My soul is my own, I'm happy to say." + +"Ah, yes," laughed the lady, "_pro tem_. But although I am saying so +much for myself, I speak with equal authority for my friend Constance +Maturin." + +"Did you bring her with you, or is she coming later?" asked Trenton with +some anxiety. + +"She is here, dear brother, but I could not induce her to enter this +room with me. Doubtless she wishes to meet you alone. She is a dear +girl, Lord Stranleigh, and it will be my greatest joy to welcome her as +a sister-in-law." + +A warm flush was added to the frown on her brother's brow, but he made +no remark. + +"Gracious me!" cried the lady, laughing again "have I once more put my +foot in it? Why Ned, what a fine confidential friend you are. If I were +a young man, and so sweet a girl had promised to marry me, I should +proclaim the fact from the house-tops." + +"You wouldn't need to," groaned Ned, "if you had a sister." + +"Never mind him," said Stranleigh, "you have betrayed no secret, Mrs. +Vanderveldt. His own confused utterances when referring to the young +lady, rendered any verbal confession unnecessary. I suspected how the +land lay at a very early stage of our conversation." + +"Well, I think he may congratulate himself that you do not enter the +lists against him. You possess some tact, which poor Ned has never +acquired, and now I'll make him sit up by informing him that Connie +Maturin took a special trip over to England recently, in order to meet +you." + +"To meet me?" cried Stranleigh in astonishment. + +"Yes, indeed, and an amazed girl she was to learn that you had sailed +for America. She came right back by the next boat. She has a great plan +in her mind which requires heavy financing. My brother here isn't rich +enough, and I, of course, am much poorer than he is, so she thought if +she could interest you, as the leading capitalist of England----" + +"Good heavens, girl," interrupted Ned, the perspiration standing out on +his brow, "do show some consideration for what you are saying! Why, you +rattle on without a thought to your words. Lord Stranleigh just made it +a proviso that----. Oh, hang it all, Sis; you've put your foot in it +this time, sure enough." + +The lady turned on him now with no laughter on her lips, or merriment in +her tone. + +"Why, Ned, you're actually scolding me. I promised Connie Maturin to +help her, and my way of accomplishing anything is to go directly for +it." + +"Oh, heaven help me," murmured Ned, "the law courts have already taught +me that." + +"Mrs. Vanderveldt," said the Earl of Stranleigh, very quietly, "please +turn to your champion, and ignore this wretched man, whose unnecessary +reticence is finding him out." + +The only person to be embarrassed by this tangle of concealments and +revelations was Constance Maturin, who had indulged in neither the one +nor the other. The Earl of Stranleigh found it difficult to become +acquainted with her. She seemed always on her guard, and never even +approached the subject which he had been given to understand chiefly +occupied her thoughts. + +On the day set for their automobile ride, Miss Maturin appeared at the +wheel of the very latest thing in runabouts; a six-cylindered machine +of extraordinary power, that ran as silently and smoothly as an +American watch, and all merely for the purpose of carrying two persons. +Stranleigh ran his eye over the graceful proportions of the new car with +an expert's keen appreciation, walking round it slowly and critically, +quite forgetting the girl who regarded him with an expression of +amusement. Looking up at last, he saw a smile playing about her pretty +lips. + +"I beg your pardon," he said. + +"I'm not sure that I shall grant it," she replied, laughing. "To be +ignored in this callous fashion for even the latest project of +engineering, is not in the least flattering." + +"Not ignored, Miss Maturin," said Stranleigh, "for I was thinking of +you, although I may have appeared absorbed in the machine." + +"Thinking of me!" she cried. "You surely can't expect me to believe +that! The gaze of a man fascinated by a piece of machinery is quite +different from that of a man fascinated by a woman. I know, because I +have seen both." + +"I am sure you have seen the latter, Miss Maturin. But what I have just +been regarding is an omen." + +"Really? How mysterious! I thought you saw only an automobile." + +"No, I was looking through the automobile, and beyond, if I may put +it that way. I am quite familiar with the plan of this car, although +this is the first specimen that I have examined. The car is yours by +purchase, I suppose, but it is mine by manufacture. Your money bought +it, but mine made it, in conjunction with the genius of a young engineer +in whom I became interested. Perhaps you begin to see the omen. Some +time ago I was fortunate enough to be of assistance to a young man, and +the result has been an unqualified success. To-day perhaps I may be +permitted to aid a young woman with a success that will be equally +gratifying." + +Stranleigh gazed steadily into the clear, honest eyes of the girl, who +returned his look with a half-amused smile. Now she seemed suddenly +covered with confusion, and flushing slightly, turned her attention to +the forest that surrounded them. Presently she said-- + +"Do you men worship only the god of success? You have used the word +three or four times." + +"Most men wish to be successful, I suppose, but we all worship a +goddess, too." + +"I'm sorry," said Miss Maturin, "that Mrs. Vanderveldt mentioned my +search for a capitalist. I have abandoned the quest. I am now merely +your guide to the lakes. Please take a seat in this automobile of yours, +Lord Stranleigh, and I will be your conductor." + +The young man stepped in beside her, and a few moments later they were +gliding, rather than running over a perfect road, under the trees, in a +machine as noiseless as the forest. The Earl of Stranleigh had seen many +beautiful regions of this world, but never any landscape just like this. +Its artificiality and its lack of artificiality interested him. Nothing +could be more businesslike than the construction of the stout dams, and +nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old +forest trees marshalled round their margins like a veteran army that had +marched down to drink, only to be stricken motionless at the water's +edge. + +It seemed that the silence of the motor-car had enchanted into silence +its occupants. The girl devoted her whole attention to the machine and +its management. Stranleigh sat dumb, and gave himself up to the full +enjoyment of the Vallombrosic tour. + +For more than half an hour no word had been spoken; finally the +competent chauffeur brought the auto to a standstill at a view-point +near the head of the valley, which offered a prospect of the brawling +main stream. + +"We have now reached the last of the lakes in this direction," she said +quietly. "I think your automobile is admirable, Lord Stranleigh." + +The young man indulged in a deep sigh of satisfaction. + +"As a landscape gardener on a marvellous scale, you are without a +competitor, Miss Maturin." + +The girl laughed very sweetly. + +"That is a compliment to nature rather than to me. I have merely let +the wilderness alone, so far as road-making and dam-building would +allow me." + +"In that very moderation lies genius--the leaving alone. Will you +forgive the inquisitiveness of a mere man whom you suspected at our +outset of success-worship, if he asks what practical object you have in +view?" + +"Oh, I should have thought that was self-evident to an observant person +like yourself," she said airily. "These lakes conserve the water, +storing it in time of flood for use in time of scarcity. By means of +sluices we obtain partial control of the main stream." + +"You flatter me by saying I am observant. I fear that I am rather the +reverse, except where my interest is aroused, as is the case this +morning. Is conservation your sole object, then?" + +"Is not that enough?" + +"I suppose it is. I know little of civil engineering, absorbing craft +though it is. I have seen its marvels along your own lines in America, +Egypt, India, and elsewhere. As we progressed I could not help noticing +that the dams built to restrain these lakes seemed unnecessarily +strong." + +A slight shadow of annoyance flitted across the expressive countenance +of Constance Maturin, but was gone before he saw it. + +"You are shrewder than you admit, Lord Stranleigh, but you forget what I +said about freshets. The lakes are placid enough now, but you should see +them after a cloud-burst back in the mountains." + +"Nevertheless, the dams look bulky enough to hold back the Nile." + +"Appearances are often deceitful. They are simply strong enough for the +work they have to do. American engineering practice does not go in for +useless encumbrance. Each dam serves two purposes. It holds back the +water and it contains a power-house. In some of these power-houses +turbines and dynamoes are already placed." + +"Ah, now I understand. You must perceive that I am a very stupid +individual." + +"You are a very persistent person," said the young woman decisively. + +Stranleigh laughed. + +"Allow me to take advantage of that reputation by asking you what you +intend to do with the electricity when you have produced it?" + +"We have no plans." + +"Oh, I say!" + +"_What_ do you say?" + +"That was merely an Anglicised expression of astonishment." + +"Don't you believe me?" + +"No." + +They were sitting together on the automobile seat, deep in the shade +of the foliage above them, but when he caught sight of the indignant +face which she turned towards him, it almost appeared as if the sun +shone upon it. She seemed about to speak, thought better of it, and +reached forward to the little lever that controlled the self-starting +apparatus. She found his hand there before she could carry out her +intention. + +"I am returning, Lord Stranleigh," she said icily. + +"Not yet." + +She leaned back in the seat. + +"Mr. Trenton told me that you were the most polite man he had ever met. +I have seldom found him so mistaken in an impression." + +"Was it a polite man you set out to find in your recent trip to Europe?" + +As the girl made no reply, Stranleigh went on-- + +"My politeness is something like the dams we have been considering. It +contains more than appears on the surface. There is concealed power +within it. You may meet myriads of men well qualified to teach me +courtesy, but when this veneer of social observance is broken, you come +to pretty much the same material underneath. I seldom permit myself the +luxury of an escape from the conventions, but on rare occasions I break +through. For that I ask your pardon. Impressed by your sincerity, I +forgot for the moment everything but your own need in the present +crisis." + +"What crisis?" she asked indignantly. + +"The financial crisis caused by your spending every available resource +on this so-called conservation policy. To all intents and purposes you +are now a bankrupt. Mrs. Vanderveldt has contributed all she can, and +both you and she are afraid to tell her brother the true state of the +case. You fear you will get little sympathy from him, for he is absorbed +in coal-mines and railways, and both of you have already felt his +annoyance at the law-suit in which you have involved him. Hence your +desperate need of a capitalist. A really polite man would be a more +pleasant companion than I, but he is not worth that, Miss Maturin!" + +Stranleigh removed his hand from the lever long enough to snap fingers +and thumb, but he instantly replaced it when he saw her determination to +start the machine. + +"The man of the moment, Miss Maturin, is a large and reckless +capitalist. I am that capitalist." + +He released his hold of the lever, and sat upright. The sternness of his +face relaxed. + +"Now, Miss Maturin, turn on the power; take me where you like; dump me +into any of those lakes you choose; the water is crystal clear, and I'm +a good swimmer," and with this Stranleigh indulged in a hearty laugh, +his own genial self once more. + +"You are laughing at me," she said resentfully. + +"Indeed I am not. Another contradiction, you see! I am laughing at +myself. There's nothing I loathe so much as strenuousness, and here I +have fallen into the vice. It is the influence of that brawling river +below us, I think. But the river becomes still enough, and useful +enough, when it reaches the great lake at Powerville, which is big +enough to swallow all these little ponds." + +The girl made no motion towards the lever, but sat very still, lost in +thought. When she spoke, her voice was exceedingly quiet. + +"You complimented Nature a while ago, intending, as I suppose, to +compliment me, but I think after all the greater compliment is your +straight talk, which I admire, although I received it so petulantly. +I shall make no apology, beyond saying that my mind is very much +perturbed. Your surmise is absolutely correct. It isn't that I've spent +the whole of my fortune and my friend's fortune in this conservation +scheme. It is because I have built a model city on the heights above +Powerville. I was promised assistance from the banks, which is now +withheld, largely, I suspect, through the opposition of John L. +Boscombe, a reputed millionaire. To all intents and purposes Boscombe +and I are the owners of Powerville and the mills there, but although +this place was founded and built up by my father, I am a minority +stock-holder, and powerless. Boscombe exercises control. Any suggestions +or protests of mine are ignored, for Boscombe, like my father, has +little faith--no faith at all, in fact--in the business capacity of a +woman. + +"I have tried, as I hinted, to enlist the co-operation of other +capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that +does not impinge directly upon cupidity. If there is the least hint of +philanthropy in the project, every man of money fights shy of it." + +"I am an exception," said Stranleigh, eagerly. "Philanthropy used to be +a strong point with me, though I confess I was never very successful in +its exercise. What humanitarian scheme is in your mind, Miss Maturin?" + +Again she sat silent for some moments, indecision and doubt on her fair +brow. Presently she said, as if pulling herself together-- + +"I will not tell you, Lord Stranleigh. You yourself have just admitted +disbelief, and my plan is so fantastic that I dare not submit it to +criticism." + +"I suppose your new city is in opposition to the old town down in the +valley? You alone are going to compete with Boscombe and yourself." + +"That is one way of putting it." + +"Very well, I am with you. Blow Boscombe! say I. I've no head for +business, so I sha'n't need to take any advice. I shall do exactly what +you tell me. What is the first move?" + +"The first move is to set your brokers in New York at work, and buy a +block of Powerville stock." + +"I see; so that you and I together have control, instead of Boscombe?" + +"Yes." + +"That shall be done as quick as telegraph can give instructions. What +next?" + +"There will be required a large sum of money to liquidate the claims +upon me incurred through the building of the city." + +"Very good. That money shall be at your disposal within two or three +days." + +"As for security, I regret----" + +"Don't mention it. My security is my great faith in Ned Trenton, also in +yourself. Say no more about it." + +"You are very kind, Lord Stranleigh, but there is one thing I must say. +This may involve you in a law-suit so serious that the litigation of +which Ned complains will appear a mere amicable arrangement by +comparison." + +"That's all right and doesn't disturb me in the least. I love a legal +contest, because I have nothing to do but place it in the hands of +competent lawyers. No personal activity is required of me, and I am an +indolent man." + +The second part of the programme was accomplished even sooner than +Stranleigh had promised, but the first part hung fire. The brokers in +New York could not acquire any Powerville stock, as was shown by their +application to Miss Maturin herself, neither had their efforts been +executed with that secrecy which Stranleigh had enjoined. He realised +this when John L. Boscombe called upon him. He went directly to the +point. + +"I am happy to meet you, Lord Stranleigh, and if you'll excuse me, I'd +like to say that you are more greatly in need of advice at this moment +than any man in America." + +"You are perfectly right, Mr. Boscombe. I am always in need of good +advice, and I appreciate it." + +"An application was made to me from New York for a block of stock. That +stock is not for sale, but I dallied with the brokers, made +investigations, and traced the inquiry to you." + +"Very clever of you, Mr. Boscombe." + +"I learn that you propose to finance Miss Constance Maturin, who is a +junior partner in my business." + +"I should not think of contradicting so shrewd a man as yourself, Mr. +Boscombe. What do you advise in the premises?" + +"I advise you to get out, and quick, too." + +"If I don't, what are you going to do to me?" + +"Oh, I shall do nothing. She will do all that is necessary. That woman +is stark mad, Lord Stranleigh. Her own father recognised it when he +bereft her of all power in the great business he founded. If she had her +way, she'd ruin the company inside a year with her hare-brained schemes; +love of the dear people, and that sort of guff." + +"I am sorry to hear that. I noticed no dementia on the part of Miss +Maturin, who seemed to me a most cultivated and very charming young +lady. You will permit me, I hope, to thank you for your warning, and +will not be surprised that I can give you no decision on the spur of the +moment. I am a slow-minded person, and need time to think over things." + +"Certainly, certainly; personally I come to sudden conclusions, and once +I make up my mind, I never change it." + +"A most admirable gift. I wish I possessed it." + +Lord Stranleigh said nothing of this interview to Constance Maturin, +beyond telling her that the acquisition of stock appeared to be +hopeless, as indeed proved to be the case. + +"Boscombe must be a stubborn person," he said. + +"Oh, he's all that," the girl replied, with a sigh. "He cares for one +thing only, the making of money, and in that I must admit he has been +very successful." + +"Well, we've got a little cash of our own," said Stranleigh, with a +laugh. + +Miss Maturin and Mrs. Vanderveldt celebrated a national holiday by the +greatest entertainment ever given in that district. The mills had been +shut down for a week, and every man, woman and child in the valley city +had been invited up to the new town on the heights. There was a brass +band, and a sumptuous spread of refreshments, all free to the immense +crowd. The ladies, for days before, visited everyone in the valley, and +got a promise of attendance, but to make assurance doubly sure, an +amazing corps of men was organised, equipped with motor cars, which +scoured the valley from Powerville downwards, gathering in such remnants +of humanity as for any reason had neglected to attend the show. Miss +Maturin said she was resolved this entertainment should be a feature +unique in the history of the State. + +The shutting down of the mills had caused the water in the immense dam +to rise, so that now the sluices at the top added to the picturesqueness +of the scene by supplying waterfalls more than sixty feet high, a +splendid view of which was obtainable from the new city on the heights. +Suddenly it was noticed that these waterfalls increased in power, until +their roar filled the valley. At last the whole lip of the immense dam +began to trickle, and an ever augmenting Niagara of waters poured over. + +"Great heavens!" cried Boscombe, who was present to sneer at these +activities, "there must have been a cloud-burst in the mountains!" + +He shouted for the foreman. + +"Where are the tenders of the dam?" he cried. "Send them to lower those +sluices, and let more water out." + +"Wait a moment," said Constance Maturin, who had just come out of the +main telephone building. "There can be no danger, Mr. Boscombe. You +always said that dam was strong enough, when I protested it wasn't." + +"So it is strong enough, but not----" + +"Look!" she cried, pointing over the surface of the lake. "See that +wave!" + +"Suffering Noah and the Flood!" exclaimed Boscombe. + +As he spoke, the wave burst against the dam, and now they had Niagara +in reality. There was a crash, and what seemed to be a series of +explosions, then the whole structure dissolved away, and before the +appalled eyes of the sight-seers, the valley town crumpled up like a +pack of cards, and even the tall mills themselves, that staggered at the +impact of the flood, slowly settled down, and were engulfed in the +seething turmoil of maddened waters. + +[Illustration: "'This,' he cried, 'is murder.'"] + +For a time no voice could be heard in the deafening uproar. It was +Boscombe who spoke when the waters began to subside. + +"This," he cried, "is murder!" + +He glared at Constance Maturin, who stood pale, silent and trembling. + +"I told you she was mad," he roared at Stranleigh. "It is your money +that in some devilish way has caused this catastrophe. If any lives are +lost, it is rank murder!" + +"It is murder," agreed Stranleigh, quietly. "Whoever is responsible for +the weakness of that dam should be hanged!" + + + + +V.--IN SEARCH OF GAME. + + +The warm morning gave promise of a blistering hot day, as Lord +Stranleigh strolled, in his usual leisurely fashion, up Fifth Avenue. +High as the thermometer already stood, the young man gave no evidence +that he was in the least incommoded by the temperature. In a welter of +heated, hurrying people, he produced the effect of an iceberg that had +somehow drifted down into the tropics. The New York tailor entrusted +with the duty of clothing him quite outdistanced his London rival, who +had given Lord Stranleigh the reputation of being the best-dressed man +in England. Now his lordship was dangerously near the point where he +might be called the best-dressed man in New York, an achievement worthy +of a Prince's ambition. + +His lordship, with nothing to do, and no companionship to hope for, +since everyone was at work, strolled into the splendour of the +University Club and sought the comparative coolness of the smoking room, +where, seating himself in that seductive invitation to laziness, a +leather-covered arm chair, he began to glance over the illustrated +English weeklies. He had the huge room to himself. These were business +hours, and a feeling of loneliness crept over him, perhaps germinated by +his sight of the illustrated papers, and accentuated by an attempted +perusal of them. They were a little too stolid for a hot day, so +Stranleigh turned to the lighter entertainment of the American humorous +press. + +Presently there entered this hall of silence the stout figure of Mr. +John L. Banks, senior attorney for the Ice Trust, a man well known to +Stranleigh, who had often sought his advice, with profit to both of +them. The lawyer approached the lounger. + +"Hello, Banks, I was just thinking of you, reflecting how delightful it +must be in this weather to be connected, even remotely, with the ice +supply of New York." + +Mr. Banks's panama hat was in one hand, while the other drew a +handkerchief across his perspiring brow. + +"Well, Stranleigh, you're looking very cool and collected. Enacting the +part of the idle rich, I suppose?" + +"No, I'm a specimen of labour unrest." + +"Perhaps I can appease that. I'm open to a deal at fair compensation for +you. If you will simply parade the streets in that leisurely fashion we +all admire, bearing a placard 'Pure Ice Company,' I'll guarantee you a +living wage and an eight hours' day." + +"Should I be required to carry about crystal blocks of the product?" + +"No; you're frigid enough as it is. Besides, ice at the present moment +is too scarce to be expended on even so important a matter as +advertisement." + +Banks wheeled forward an arm chair, and sat down opposite his lordship. +A useful feature of a panama hat is its flexibility. You may roll one +brim to fit the hand, and use the other as a fan, and this Banks did +with the perfection of practice. + +"What's the cause of the unrest, Stranleigh?" + +"Thinking. That's the cause of unrest all the world over. Whenever +people begin to think, there is trouble." + +"I've never noticed any undue thoughtfulness in you, Stranleigh." + +"That's just it. Thinking doesn't agree with me, and as you hint, I +rarely indulge in it, but this is a land that somehow stimulates +thought, and thought compels action. Action is all very well in +moderation, but in these United States of yours it is developed into +a fever, or frenzy rather, curable only by a breakdown or death." + +"Do you think it's as bad as all that?" + +"Yes, I do. You call it enterprise; I call it greed. I've never yet met +an American who knew when he'd had enough." + +"Did you ever meet an Englishman who knew that?" + +"Thousands of them." + +Banks laughed. + +"I imagine," he said, "it's all a matter of nomenclature. You think us +fast over here, and doubtless you are wrong; _we_ think _you_ slow over +there, and doubtless we are wrong. I don't think we're greedy. No man is +so lavish in his expenditure as an American, and no man more generous. A +greedy man does not spend money. Our motive power is interest in the +game." + +"Yes; everyone has told me that, but I regard the phrase as an excuse, +not as a reason." + +"Look here, Stranleigh, who's been looting you? What deal have you lost? +I warned you against mixing philanthropy with business, you remember." + +Stranleigh threw back his head and laughed. + +"There you have it. According to you a man cannot form an opinion that +is uninfluenced by his pocket. As a matter of fact, I have won all +along the line. I tried the game, as you call it, hoping to find it +interesting, but it doesn't seem to me worth while. I pocket the stakes, +and I am going home, in no way elated at my success, any more than I +should have been discouraged had I failed." + +Leaning forward, Mr. Banks spoke as earnestly as the weather permitted. + +"What you need, Stranleigh, is a doctor's advice, not a lawyer's. You +have been just a little too long in New York, and although New Yorkers +don't believe it, there are other parts of the country worthy of +consideration. Your talk, instead of being an indictment of life as you +find it, has been merely an exposition of your own ignorance, a sample +of that British insularity which we all deplore. I hope you don't mind +my stating the case as I see it?" + +"Not at all," said Stranleigh. "I am delighted to hear your point of +view. Go on." + +"Very well; here am I plugging away during this hot weather in this hot +city. Greed, says you." + +"I say nothing of the kind," replied his lordship calmly. "I am merely +lost in admiration of a hard-working man, enduring the rigours of toil +in the most luxurious club of which I have ever been an honorary +member. Let me soften the asperities of labour by ordering something +with ice in it." + +The good-natured attorney accepted the invitation, and then went on-- + +"We have a saying regarding any futile proposition to the effect that it +cuts no ice. This is the position of the Trust in which I am interested. +In this hot weather we cut no ice, but we sell it. Winter is a peaceable +season with us, and the harder the winter, the better we are pleased, +but summer is a time of trouble. It is a period of complaints and +law-suits, and our newspaper reading is mostly articles on the greed and +general villainy of the Trust. So my position is literally that of +what-you-may-call-him on the burning deck, whence almost all but he have +fled to the lakes, to the mountains, to the sea shore. Now, I don't +intend to do this always. I have set a limit of accumulated cash, and +when I reach it I quit. It would be high falutin' if I said duty held me +here, so I will not say it." + +"A lawyer can always out-talk a layman," said Stranleigh, wearily, "and +I suppose all this impinges on my ignorance." + +"Certainly," said Banks. "It's a large subject, you know. But I'll leave +theory, and come down to practice. As I said before, you've had too much +of New York. You are known to have a little money laid by against a +rainy day, so everybody wants you to invest in something, and you've got +tired of it. Have you ever had a taste of ranch life out West?" + +"I've never been further West than Chicago." + +"Good. When you were speaking of setting a limit to financial ambition, +I remembered my old friend, Stanley Armstrong, the best companion on a +shooting or fishing expedition I ever encountered. It is not to be +wondered at that he is an expert in sport, for often he has had to +depend on rod and gun for sustenance. He was a mining engineer, and very +few know the mining west as well as he does. He might have been a +millionaire or a pauper, but he chose a middle course, and set his limit +at a hundred thousand pounds. When land was cheap he bought a large +ranch, partly plain and partly foothills, with the eternal snow +mountains beyond. Now, if you take with you an assortment of guns and +fishing rods, and spend a month with Stanley Armstrong, your pessimism +will evaporate." + +"A good idea," said Stranleigh. "If you give me a letter of introduction +to Mr. Armstrong, I'll telegraph at once to be sure of accommodation." + +"Telegraph?" cried the lawyer. "He'd never get your message. I don't +suppose there's a telegraph office within fifty miles. You don't need a +letter of introduction, but I'll write you one, and give your name +merely as Stranleigh. You won't have any use for a title out there; in +fact, it is a necessary part of my prescription that you should get away +from yours, with the consequences it entails. Not that you're likely to +come across would-be investors, or any one with designs on your wealth. +As for accommodation, take a tent with you, and be independent. When I +return to my office, I'll dictate full instructions for reaching the +ranch." + +"Is it so difficult of access as all that?" + +"You might find it so. When you reach the nearest railway station, which +is a couple of days' journey from the ranch, you can acquire a horse for +yourself, and two or three men with pack mules for your belongings. +They'll guide you to Armstrong's place." + +Stranleigh found no difficulty in getting a cavalcade together at +Bleachers' station, an amazingly long distance west of New York. A man +finds little trouble in obtaining what he wants, if he never cavils at +the price asked, and is willing to pay in advance. The party passed +through a wild country, though for a time the road was reasonably good. +It degenerated presently into a cart-track, however, and finally became +a mere trail through the wilderness. As night fell, the tent was put up +by the side of a brawling stream, through which they had forded. + +Next morning the procession started early, but it was noon before it +came to the clearing which Stranleigh rightly surmised was the outskirts +of the ranch. The guide, who had been riding in front, reined in, and +allowed Stranleigh to come alongside. + +"That," he said, pointing down the valley, "is Armstrong's ranch." + +Before Stranleigh could reply, if he had intended doing so, a shot rang +out from the forest, and he felt the sharp sting of a bullet in his left +shoulder. The guide flung himself from the saddle with the speed of +lightning, and stood with both hands upraised, his horse between himself +and the unseen assailant. + +"Throw up your hands!" he shouted to Stranleigh. + +"Impossible!" was the quiet answer, "my left is helpless." + +"Then hold up your right." + +Stranleigh did so. + +"Slide off them packs," roared the guide to his followers, whereupon +ropes were untied on the instant, and the packs slid to the ground, +while the mules shook themselves, overjoyed at this sudden freedom. + +"Turn back!" cried the guide. "Keep your hand up, and they won't shoot. +They want the goods." + +"Then you mean to desert me?" asked Stranleigh. + +"Desert nothing!" rejoined the guide, gruffly. + +"We can't stand up against these fellows, whoever they are. We're no +posse. To fight them is the sheriff's business. I engaged to bring you +and your dunnage to Armstrong's ranch. I've delivered the goods, and now +it's me for the railroad." + +"I'm going to that house," said Stranleigh. + +"The more fool you," replied the guide, "but I guess you'll get there +safe enough, if you don't try to save the plunder." + +The unladen mules, now bearing the men on their backs, had disappeared. +The guide washed his hands of the whole affair, despite the fact that +his hands were upraised. He whistled to his horse, and marched up the +trail for a hundred yards or so, still without lowering his arms, then +sprang into the saddle, fading out of sight in the direction his men +had taken. Stranleigh sat on his horse, apparently the sole inhabitant +of a lonely world. + +"That comes of paying in advance," he muttered, looking round at his +abandoned luggage. Then it struck him as ridiculous that he was enacting +the part of an equestrian statue, with his arm raised aloft. Still, he +remembered enough of the pernicious literature that had lent enchantment +to his early days, to know that in certain circumstances the holding up +of hands was a safeguard not to be neglected, so he lowered his right +hand, and took in it the forefinger of his left, and thus raised both +arms over his head, turning round in the saddle to face the direction +from whence the shots had come. Then he released the forefinger, and +allowed the left arm to drop as if it had been a semaphore. He winced +under the pain that this pantomime cost him, then in a loud voice he +called out: + +"If there is anyone within hearing, I beg to inform him that I am +wounded slightly; that I carry no firearms; that my escort has vanished, +and that I'm going to the house down yonder to have my injury looked +after. Now's the opportunity for a parley, if he wants it." + +He waited for some moments, but there was no response, then he gathered +up the reins, and quite unmolested proceeded down the declivity until he +came to the homestead. + +The place appeared to be deserted, and for the first time it crossed +Stranleigh's mind that perhaps the New York lawyer had sent him on this +expedition as a sort of practical joke. He couldn't discover where the +humour of it came in, but perhaps that might be the density with which +his countrymen were universally credited. Nevertheless, he determined to +follow the adventure to an end, and slipped from his horse, making an +ineffectual attempt to fasten the bridle rein to a rail of the fence +that surrounded the habitation. The horse began placidly to crop the +grass, so he let it go at that, and advancing to the front door, +knocked. + +Presently the door was opened by an elderly woman of benign appearance, +who nevertheless regarded him with some suspicion. She stood holding +the door, without speaking, seemingly waiting for her unexpected +visitor to proclaim his mission. + +"Is this the house of Stanley Armstrong?" he asked. + +"Yes." + +"Is he at home? I have a letter of introduction to him." + +"No; he is not at home." + +"Do you expect him soon?" + +"He is in Chicago," answered the woman. + +"In Chicago?" echoed Stranleigh. "We must have passed one another on the +road. I was in Chicago myself, but it seems months ago; in fact, I can +hardly believe such a place exists." The young man smiled a little +grimly, but there was no relaxation of the serious expression with which +the woman had greeted him. + +"What was your business with my husband?" + +"No business at all; rather the reverse. Pleasure, it might be called. I +expected to do a little shooting and fishing. A friend in New York +kindly gave me a letter of introduction to Mr. Armstrong, who, he said, +would possibly accompany me." + +"Won't you come inside?" was her reluctant invitation. "I don't think +you told me your name." + +"My name is Stranleigh, madam. I hope you will excuse my persistence, +but the truth is I have been slightly hurt, and if, as I surmise, it is +inconvenient to accept me as a lodger, I should be deeply indebted for +permission to remain here while I put a bandage on the wound. I must +return at once to Bleachers, where I suppose I can find a physician more +or less competent." + +"Hurt?" cried the woman in amazement, "and I've been keeping you +standing there at the door. Why didn't you tell me at once?" + +"Oh, I think it's no great matter, and the pain is not as keen as I +might have expected. Still, I like to be on the safe side, and must +return after I have rested for a few minutes." + +"I'm very sorry to hear of your accident," said Mrs. Armstrong, with +concern. "Sit down in that rocking-chair until I call my daughter." + +The unexpected beauty of the young woman who entered brought an +expression of mild surprise to Stranleigh's face. In spite of her homely +costume, a less appreciative person than his lordship must have been +struck by Miss Armstrong's charm, and her air of intelligent refinement. + +"This is Mr. Stranleigh, who has met with an accident," said Mrs. +Armstrong to her daughter. + +"Merely a trifle," Stranleigh hastened to say, "but I find I cannot +raise my left arm." + +"Is it broken?" asked the girl, with some anxiety. + +"I don't think so; I fancy the trouble is in the shoulder. A rifle +bullet has passed through it." + +"A rifle bullet?" echoed the girl, in a voice of alarm. "How did that +happen? But--never mind telling me now. The main thing is to attend to +the wound. Let me help you off with your coat." + +Stranleigh stood up. + +"No exertion, please," commanded the girl. "Bring some warm water and a +sponge," she continued, turning to her mother. + +She removed Stranleigh's coat with a dexterity that aroused his +admiration. The elder woman returned with dressings and sponge, which +she placed on a chair. Stranleigh's white shirt was stained with blood, +and to this Miss Armstrong applied the warm water. + +"I must sacrifice your linen," she said calmly. "Please sit down again." + +In a few moments his shoulder was bare; not the shoulder of an athlete, +but nevertheless of a young man in perfect health. The girl's soft +fingers pressed it gently. + +"I shall have to hurt you a little," she said. + +Stranleigh smiled. + +"It is all for my good, as they say to little boys before whipping +them." + +The girl smiled back at him. + +"Yes; but I cannot add the complementary fiction that it hurts me more +than it does you. There! Did you feel that?" + +"Not more than usual." + +"There are no bones broken, which is a good thing. After all, it is a +simple case, Mr. Stranleigh. You must remain quiet for a few days, and +allow me to put this arm in a sling. I ought to send you off to bed, but +if you promise not to exert yourself, you may sit out on the verandah +where it is cool, and where the view may interest you." + +"You are very kind, Miss Armstrong, but I cannot stay. I must return to +Bleachers." + +"I shall not allow you to go back," she said with decision. + +Stranleigh laughed. + +"In a long and comparatively useless life I have never contradicted a +lady, but on this occasion I must insist on having my own way." + +"I quite understand your reason, Mr. Stranleigh, though it is very +uncomplimentary to me. It is simply an instance of man's distrust of a +woman when it comes to serious work. Like most men, you would be content +to accept me as a nurse, but not as a physician. There are two doctors +in Bleachers, and you are anxious to get under the care of one of them. +No--please don't trouble to deny it. You are not to blame. You are +merely a victim of the universal conceit of man." + +"Ah, it is you who are not complimentary now! You must think me a very +commonplace individual." + +She had thrown the coat over his shoulders, after having washed and +dressed the wound. The bullet had been considerate enough to pass right +through, making all probing unnecessary. With a safety-pin she attached +his shirt sleeve to his shirt front. + +"That will do," she said, "until I prepare a regular sling. And now come +out to the verandah. No; don't carry the chair. There are several on the +platform. Don't try to be polite, and remember I have already ordered +you to avoid exertion." + +He followed her to the broad piazza, and sat down, drawing a deep breath +of admiration. Immediately in front ran a broad, clear stream of water; +swift, deep, transparent. + +"An ideal trout stream," he said to himself. + +A wide vista of rolling green fields stretched away to a range of +foothills, overtopped in the far distance by snow mountains. + +"By Jove!" he cried. "This is splendid. I have seen nothing like it out +of Switzerland." + +"Talking of Switzerland," said Miss Armstrong, seating herself opposite +him, "have you ever been at Thun?" + +"Oh, yes." + +"You stopped at the _Thunerhof_, I suppose?" + +"I don't remember what it was called, but it was the largest hotel in +the place, I believe." + +"That would be the _Thunerhof_," she said. "I went to a much more modest +inn, the _Falken_, and the stream that runs in front of it reminded me +of this, and made me quite lonesome for the ranch. Of course, you had +the river opposite you at the _Thunerhof_, but there the river is half a +dozen times as wide as the branch that runs past the _Falken_. I used to +sit out on the terrace watching that stream, murmuring to its +accompaniment 'Home, sweet Home.'" + +"You are by way of being a traveller, then?" + +"Not a traveller, Mr. Stranleigh," said the girl, laughing a little, +"but a dabbler. I took dabs of travel, like my little visit to Thun. For +more than a year I lived in Lausanne, studying my profession, and during +that time I made brief excursions here and there." + +"Your profession," asked Stranleigh, with evident astonishment. + +"Yes; can't you guess what it is, and why I am relating this bit of +personal history on such very short acquaintance?" + +The girl's smile was beautiful. + +"Don't you know Europe?" she added. + +"I ought to; I'm a native." + +"Then you are aware that Lausanne is a centre of medical teaching and +medical practice. I am a doctor, Mr. Stranleigh. Had your wound been +really serious, which it is not, and you had come under the care of +either physician in Bleachers, he would have sent for me, if he knew I +were at home." + +"What you have said interests me very much, Miss Armstrong, or should I +say Doctor Armstrong?" + +"I will answer to either designation, Mr. Stranleigh, but I should +qualify the latter by adding that I am not a practising physician. +'Professor,' perhaps, would be the more accurate title. I am a member of +the faculty in an eastern college of medicine, but by and by I hope to +give up teaching, and devote myself entirely to research work. It is my +ambition to become the American Madame Curie." + +"A laudable ambition, Professor, and I hope you will succeed. Do you +mind if I tell you how completely wrong you are in your diagnosis of the +subject now before you?" + +"In my surgical diagnosis I am not wrong. Your wound will be cured in a +very few days." + +"Oh, I am not impugning your medical skill. I knew the moment you spoke +about your work that you were an expert. It is your diagnosis of me that +is all astray. I have no such disbelief in the capacity of woman as you +credit me with. I have no desire to place myself under the ministrations +of either of those doctors in Bleachers. My desire for the metropolitan +delights of that scattered town is of the most commonplace nature. I +must buy for myself an outfit of clothes. I possess nothing in the way +of raiment except what I am wearing, and part of that you've cut up with +your scissors." + +"Surely you never came all this distance without being well provided in +that respect?" + +"No; I had ample supplies, and I brought them with me safely to a point +within sight of this house. In fact, I came hither like a sheik of the +desert, at the head of a caravan, only the animals were mules instead of +camels. All went well until we came to the edge of the forest, but the +moment I emerged a shot rang out, and it seemed to me I was stung by a +gigantic bee, as invisible as the shooter. The guide said there was a +band of robbers intent on plunder, and he and the escort acted as +escorts usually do in such circumstances. They unloaded the mules with +most admirable celerity, and then made off much faster than they came. I +never knew a body of men so unanimous in action. They would make a +splendid board of directors in a commercial company that wished to get +its work accomplished without undue discussion." + +The girl had risen to her feet. + +"And your baggage?" she asked. + +"I suppose it is in the hands of the brigands by this time. I left it +scattered along the trail." + +"But, Mr. Stranleigh, what you say is incredible. There are no brigands, +thieves or road agents in this district." + +"The wound that you dressed so skilfully is my witness, and a witness +whose testimony cannot be impugned on cross-examination." + +"There is a mistake somewhere. Why, just think of it; the most energetic +bandit would starve in this locality! There is no traffic. If your +belongings were scattered along the trail, they are there yet." + +"Then why shoot the belonger of those belongings?" + +"That's just what I must discover. Excuse me for a moment." + +She passed through the house, and the young man heard a shrill whistle +blown, which was answered by a call some distance away. The girl +returned, and sat down again, her brow perplexed, and presently there +came on to the platform a stalwart, good-natured looking man, dressed in +what Stranleigh took to be a cowboy costume; at least, it was the kind +of apparel he had read about in books of the Wild West. His head was +covered with a broad-brimmed slouch hat, which he swept off in deference +to the lady. + +"Jim," she said, "did you hear any shooting out by the Bleachers trail +about an hour ago?" + +"No, Ma'am; I can't say that I did, except a rifle I shot off." + +"That _you_ shot off! What were you shooting at?" + +"Well," said Jim, with a humorous chuckle, "I guess perhaps it was this +gentleman." + +"Why did you wish to murder _me_?" asked Stranleigh, with pardonable +concern. + +"Murder you, sir? Why, I didn't try to murder you. I could have winged +you a dozen times while you were riding down to the house, if I'd wanted +to. Where were you hit?" + +"In the left shoulder." + +"Then that's all right. That's what I aimed to do. I just set out to nip +you, and scare you back where you came from." + +"But why?" insisted the perplexed Stranleigh. + +"You came along with a posse behind you, and I thought you were the +sheriff, but I wouldn't kill even a sheriff unless I had to. I'm the +peaceablest man on earth, as Miss Armstrong there will tell you." + +"If that's your idea of peace," said Stranleigh, puzzled, "I hope next +time I'll fall among warlike people." + +Jim grinned. It was Miss Armstrong who spoke, and, it seemed to +Stranleigh, with unexpected mildness, considering she knew so much of +the Eastern States and Europe. + +"I understand," she said, "but next time, Jim, it will be as well merely +to fire the gun, without hitting anybody." + +"Oh," explained Jim, in an off-hand manner, "our folk don't pay any +attention to the like of that. You've got to show them you mean +business. If this gentleman had come on, the next shot would have hit +him where it would hurt, but seeing he was peaceable minded, he was safe +as in a church." + +"Is the baggage where he left it?" + +"Certainly, Ma'am; do you wish it brought here?" + +"Yes; I do." + +"All right, Ma'am; I'll see to that. It's all a little mistake, sir," he +said amiably, as he turned to Stranleigh. "Accidents will happen in the +best regulated family, as the saying goes," and with a flourish of the +hat he departed. + +Miss Armstrong rose as if to leave the verandah. As she did so +Stranleigh said in a tone of mild reproach: + +"I confess I am puzzled." + +"So am I," replied the girl, brightly. "I'm puzzled to know what I can +offer you in the way of books. Our stock is rather limited." + +"I don't want to read, Miss Armstrong, but I do want to know why there +is such a prejudice here against a sheriff. In the land I came from a +sheriff is not only regarded with great respect, but even with +veneration. He rides about in a gilded coach, and wears magnificent +robes, decorated with gold lace. I believe that he develops ultimately +into a Lord Mayor, just as a grub, if one may call so glorious a +personage as a sheriff a grub, ultimately becomes a butterfly. We'd +never think of shooting a sheriff. Why, then, do you pot at sheriffs, +and hit innocent people, out here?" + +The girl laughed. + +"I saw the Lord Mayor of London once in his carriage, and behind it were +two most magnificent persons. Were they sheriffs?" + +"Oh, dear no; they were merely flunkeys." + +"_Our_ sheriffs are elected persons, drawn from the politician class, +and if you know America, you will understand what that means. Among the +various duties of a sheriff is that of seizing property and selling it, +if the owner of that property hasn't paid his debts." + +"They act as bailiffs, then?" + +"Very likely; I am not acquainted with legal procedure. But I must go, +Mr. Stranleigh, for whatever the position of a sheriff may be, mine is +that of assistant to my mother, who is just now preparing the dinner, a +meal that, further East, is called lunch. And now, what would you prefer +to read? The latest magazine or a pharmaceutical journal?" + +"Thank you, Miss Armstrong; I prefer gazing at the scenery to either of +them." + +"Then good-bye until dinner time," whereupon she disappeared into the +house. + +The meal proved unexpectedly good. There was about it an enticing +freshness, and a variety that was surprising when the distance from the +house to the nearest market was considered. Stranleigh could not +remember any repast he had enjoyed so much, although he suspected that +horseback exercise in the keen air had helped his appreciation of it. +When he mentioned his gratification at so satisfactory a menu, the girl +smiled. + +"Plain living and lofty thought is our motto on the ranch," she said. + +"This is anything but plain living," he replied, "and I consider myself +no mean judge in such matters. How far away is your market town?" + +"Oh, a market is merely one of those effete contrivances of +civilisation. What you buy in a market has been handled and re-handled, +and artificially made to look what it is not. The basis of our provender +is the farm. All round us here is what economists call, in a double +sense of the term, raw material. Farm house fare is often what it should +not be because art belongs to the city while nature belongs to the farm. +To produce a good result, the two must be united. We were speaking just +now of Thun. If, leaving that town, you proceed along the left hand road +by the lake, you will arrive at a large institution which is devoted +entirely to the art of cookery. The more I progressed with my studies at +Lausanne, the more I realised that the basis of health is good food, +properly prepared. So I interrupted my medical studies for a time, +entered that establishment, and learned to cook." + +"Miss Armstrong, you are the most efficient individual I ever met." + +"You are very complimentary, Mr. Stranleigh, because, like the various +meals you have enjoyed in different parts of the world, you must have +met a great many people. To enhance myself further in your eyes, I may +add that I have brought another much-needed accomplishment to the farm. +I am an expert accountant, and can manage business affairs in a way that +would startle you, and regarding this statement of mine, I should like +to ask you, hoping you won't think I am impertinent, are you a rich +man?" + +Stranleigh was indeed startled--she had succeeded in that--and he +hesitated before he answered-- + +"I am considered reasonably well off." + +"I am very glad to hear it, for it has been the custom of my father, who +is not a good business man, to charge boarders two or three dollars a +week when they come with their guns and fishing tackle. Now, we are in a +unique position. We have the advantage of being free from competition. +The hotels of New York are as thick as blackberries. They meet +competition in its fiercest form, yet the prices they charge are much +more per day than we charge for a month. I am determined that our prices +shall be equal to New York prices, but I think it is only fair to let +any customer know the fact before he is called upon to pay his bill." + +"A very excellent arrangement," said Stranleigh, heartily, "and in my +case there will be an additional account for medical services. Will that +be on the basis of professional charges in London, New York, Vienna, +Berlin, or Lausanne?" + +"Not on the basis of Lausanne, certainly, for there an excellent doctor +is contented with a fee of five francs, so if you don't object, I'll +convert francs into dollars." + +"My admiration for your business capacity is waning, Miss Armstrong. If +this is to be an international matter, why choose your own country +instead of mine? Transpose your francs into pounds, Professor. There are +five francs in a dollar, but five dollars in a pound sterling. Let me +recommend to you my own currency." + +"A very good idea, Mr. Stranleigh," rejoined Miss Armstrong, promptly. +"I shall at once take it into consideration, but I hope you won't be +shocked when the final round-up arrives." + +"I shall have no excuse for astonishment, being so honestly forewarned, +and now that we are conversing so internationally, I'd like to carry it +a little further. In Italy they call an accident a 'disgrazia,' and when +you read in an Italian paper that a man is 'disgraced,' you realise that +he has met with an accident. Then the account ends by saying that the +patient is guaranteed curable in two days, or a week, or a month, as the +case may be. How long, then, doctor, must I rest under this 'disgrace'?" + +"I should say a week, but that's merely an off-hand guess, as I suppose +is the case with the estimate of an Italian physician." + +"I hope your orders won't be too strict. By the way, has my luggage +arrived?" + +"It is all in the large room upstairs, but if you have any designs upon +it, you are disobeying orders." + +"I must get at a portmanteau that is in one of the bundles." + +"I will fetch what you want, so don't worry about that, but come and sit +on the verandah once more." + +Stranleigh protested, and finally a compromise was arrived at. Miss +Armstrong would whistle for Jim, and he would do the unpacking. She saw +a shade of distrust pass over Stranleigh's face, and she reassured him +that Jim was the most honest and harmless man in the world, except, +perhaps, where sheriffs were concerned. + +"Now," she continued, when he had seated himself, "you have talked +enough for one day, so you must keep quiet for the rest of the +afternoon. I will do the talking, giving you an explanation of our +brigandish conduct." + +"I shall be an interested listener," said Stranleigh, resignedly. "But +permit me, before silence falls, to ask what you may regard an +impertinent question. Do you smoke?" + +"Goodness, no!" she replied, with widely opened eyes. + +"Many ladies do, you know, and I thought you might have acquired the +habit during your travels abroad. In that case, I should have been +delighted to offer you some excellent cigarettes from my portmanteau." + +Jumping up, the girl laughed brightly. + +"Poor man! I understand at last. You shall have the cigarettes in less +than five minutes. Give me your keys, please." + +"That particular piece of luggage is not locked. I am so sorry to +trouble you, but after such a memorable dinner----" + +"Yes, yes; I know, I know!" she cried, as she vanished. + +"Interesting girl, that," murmured Stranleigh to himself, "and unusually +accomplished." + +He listened for a whistle, but the first break in the silence was the +coming of Miss Armstrong, holding a box of cigars in one hand and a +packet of cigarettes in the other. + +"Then you didn't call for help, after all," said Stranleigh, a shade of +reproach in his tone. + +"Oh, it was quite easy. By punching the bundles I guessed what they +contained, and soon found where the portmanteau was concealed. Now, +light up," she continued, "lean back, and smoke. I'll do the talking. +My father, as I've told you, is a very poor business man, and that is +why I endeavoured to acquire some knowledge of affairs. He is generous +and sympathetic, believing no evil of anyone, consequently he is often +imposed upon to his financial disadvantage. Our position as father +and daughter is the reverse of what is usual in such relationships. I +attempt to guide him in the way he should go, and as a general thing +he accepts my advice and acts upon it, but on the occasion of which I +speak, I was at work in New York, and knew nothing of the disastrous +contract into which he had entered, until it was too late. + +"I always come West and spend the vacation on the ranch, and this time +brought with me all the money I had saved, but it proved insufficient +to cope with the situation. In his early days my father was a mining +engineer. He was successful, and might have been a very rich man to-day +if---- But that 'if' always intervened. Nevertheless, he accumulated +money, and bought this ranch, determined to retire. + +"The lower part of the ranch is good grazing ground, but the upper or +western part is rocky, rising to the foothills. My father was not a +success as a rancher, partly because we are too far from the markets, +and partly because he chose as cowboys men who did not understand their +business. I told you that my father is a sympathetic man. No one ever +appealed to him in vain. He has always been very popular, but it seems +to me that his friends are always poorer than himself. Thus it came +about that miners who knew him, and were out of work, applied for +something to do, and he engaged them as cowboys, until he had half a +dozen on his pay roll, and thus began the gradual loss of his money. +These men were excellent as miners, but useless as cowboys, and there +was no one here to teach them their duties, my father being himself a +miner. It seemed, then, a dispensation of Providence that as he rambled +over the western part of his property he struck signs of silver. He was +not mistaken in his prospecting. He and the cowboys took hilariously to +their old trade, and worked away at the rocks until all his money was +gone." + +"Did they find any real silver?" asked Stranleigh, interested. + +"Oh yes, plenty of it," answered the girl. "It is evident they have +opened a very rich mine." + +"Then where is the difficulty?" + +"The difficulty is the want of machinery, which there is no capital to +purchase. My father tried to get that capital in this district, but +there is very little ready money to be obtained out here. He enlisted +the interest of Mr. Ricketts, a lawyer in Bleachers, and reputed the +only rich man in the town. Ricketts came to the ranch with a mining +engineer, and they examined the opening. Seemingly they were not +impressed with the contents, and Ricketts advised my father to go East +and form a company. + +"My father explained his financial situation, and Ricketts, with +apparent generosity, offered to lend him five thousand dollars on his +note, to be paid on demand, with the ranch as security. Thus my father +put himself entirely in the other's power. Ricketts gave him the +address of a lawyer in Chicago, who, he said, would be of assistance to +him. The latest word we received from my father is that this lawyer, in +one way or another, has got hold of all his money. Father telegraphed to +Ricketts for help, which was refused. So he left Chicago on foot, +determined to walk home, since he had not even money enough left to pay +his fare home. Where he is at present, we have no idea, except that he +is making for this ranch. + +"Ricketts at once took action to sell the ranch. Apparently he is quite +within his legal rights, but there are formalities to be gone through, +and one of these is the arrival of the sheriff to seize the property. +That arrival the men, headed by Jim, are determined to prevent, and now, +perhaps, you understand why you rode into danger when you came from +Bleachers this morning. + +"When I learnt of my father's predicament, I went out to Bleachers to +see Mr. Ricketts, offering him what money I had brought from New York if +he would hold his hand for a year. He refused, and from his conversation +I realised he was determined to secure the ranch for himself, and I +believe the whole transaction is a plot toward that end." + +"Then the mine must be a valuable one?" + +"I am sure it is; indeed, my father could make no mistake in that +matter." + +"Well, the position seems very simple after all. What you need, Miss +Armstrong, is a change of creditors. You want a creditor who is not in a +hurry for his money. In other words, if you could transfer that debt, +you would be out of immediate danger. Would you allow me to go into +Bleachers to-morrow, and see Mr. Ricketts?" + +"Most decidedly not!" + +"How much money did you bring with you from New York?" + +"Two thousand dollars." + +"I brought just twice that amount, so I think the affair may be +arranged, and you can go to Ricketts to-morrow, and take up the note. I +think perhaps you had better have five thousand five hundred dollars +with you, as there will certainly be some interest and expenses to pay, +for if the case is as you state it, Ricketts will be reluctant to part +with the document. Is there another lawyer in Bleachers?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, get him to accompany you, and make formal tender of the money." + +The girl had reddened while he was speaking, and now she said, in tones +of distress-- + +"I fear you completely misunderstood my object in telling you of my +difficulties. My object was not to borrow money, but to explain why Jim +Dean shot at you." + +"Oh, I understand perfectly why you spoke as frankly as you did, and I +am very much obliged to you for doing so, but you must have no +diffidence in accepting the money. It is purely a business transaction, +and, as you say, you are a business woman. Therefore, as a matter of +business, it would be folly to reject an offer that is to our mutual +advantage. The security is ample." + +"That is true, Mr. Stranleigh, but, you see, I have no power, no +authority, to give this ranch as security; it belongs to my father." + +"True; but you are not nearly so competent a business woman as you would +have me believe. You will receive from Ricketts your father's promissory +note. That you will hand to me, then I shall be your debtor for two +thousand dollars. Those two thousand dollars I shall pay as soon as I +get some money from New York, and your father will become my debtor for +five thousand dollars. All perfectly simple, you see. In the first +instance I trust you for three thousand dollars, and in the second +instance you trust me for two thousand dollars. After I have paid you +the two thousand dollars, I hold the note, and can sell you up whenever +I please. I give you my word I won't do that, though even if I did you +would be no worse off than you are now." + +"Very well, Mr. Stranleigh; I will take the money." + +It was several days later when Miss Armstrong returned from Bleachers. +Her first interest was to satisfy herself of the patient's progress. He +had been getting on well. + +"You are an admirable physician, Miss Armstrong," he said. "Now let me +know whether you are equally capable as a financier." + +"I have failed completely," she answered, dejectedly. "Mr. Ricketts has +refused the money." + +"Did you take the other lawyer with you?" + +"Yes." + +"What did he say?" + +"He said Ricketts had no right to refuse, but a different question has +arisen. The guide who accompanied you to the ranch brought back news of +the shooting. Ricketts guessed at once why you were shot at, and the +sheriff has signed an affidavit, or some such instrument, to show that +his life, and his men's lives, are in danger if they go to seize the +property, so this complication has been overcome by some order from the +legislature, and the personal seizure is waived. The sale is announced +to take place in Bleachers two weeks from to-day. Mr. Timmins--that is +the other lawyer--fears that Ricketts is within his rights in refusing +the money at this stage." + +"This is all very interesting, Miss Armstrong, but we have a fortnight +to turn round in." + +"Yes; that is so." + +"I am delighted, for now I shall have the pleasure of trying a fall with +the estimable Mr. Ricketts." + + + + +VI.--THE BUNK HOUSE PRISONER. + + +As the wound in his shoulder healed, Stranleigh began to enjoy himself +on the ranch. He was experiencing a life entirely new to him, and being +always a lover of waving woods and rushing waters, even in the tamed +state which England presents, he keenly appreciated these natural +beauties in the wilderness, where so-called human improvements had not +interfered with them. Without attempting to indulge in the sport for +which he had come, he wandered about the ranch a good deal, studying its +features, and at the same time developing an appetite that did justice +to the excellent meals prepared for him. He visited Jim Dean, who had +shot him, and tried to scrape acquaintance with his five aiders and +abettors in that drastic act, but they met his advances with suspicion, +naturally regarding him as a tenderfoot, nor were they satisfied that +his long residence among them was as friendly as he evidently wished it +to appear. + +The men resided in a huge bunk house, which consisted of one room only, +with a shack outside where the cooking was done. In the large room were +a dozen bunks; half of them in a very dishevelled state, giving sleeping +accommodation for the company, while the other half were ready in case +of an accession of help, should the mine prosper. + +The cabin was as securely built as a fortress, of the rugged stone which +had been blasted from the rocks in opening the mine. The mine itself was +situated about five hundred yards to the south of this edifice, but +instead of being dug downwards, as Stranleigh expected, it extended +westward on the level toward the heart of the mountain, so that a rudely +built truck could carry out the débris, and dump it down the steep hill. +To his æsthetic fancy this seemed a pity, because a short distance south +from the opening of the mine, the river formed a cascade descending a +hundred feet or more; a cascade of entrancing beauty, whose loveliness +would be more or less destroyed as the mining operations progressed. + +The rising sun illumined the tunnel to its final wall, and Stranleigh +found no difficulty in exploring it to the remotest corner. He passed +the abandoned truck partly turned over beside an assortment of picks, +shovels, hand-drills and the like. To his unpractised eye there was no +sign of silver on walls, floor or ceiling. At the extreme end was piled +up a quantity of what appeared to be huge cartridges. + +Before entering the cavern he had noticed three or four of the miners +standing in front of the bunk house, evidently watching him, but he paid +no attention to them, and while he was inside, the roar of the cataract +prevented him from hearing approaching footsteps. As he came out to the +lip of the mine, he found Jim and three others waiting for him. Each had +a rifle on his shoulder. + +"Inspecting the property?" said Jim, casually. + +"Yes," replied Stranleigh. + +"What do you think of it?" + +"My opinion would be of very little value. I know nothing of mining." + +"The deuce you don't!" said Jim. "What are you doing with that lump of +rock in your hand?" + +"Oh, that," said Stranleigh, "I happened to pick up. I wanted to examine +it in clear daylight. Is there silver in it?" + +"How should I know?" replied Jim, gruffly. "I'm not a mining engineer. I +only take a hand at the drill or the pick, as the case may be. But when +you throw that back where you got it, throw it carefully, and not too +far." + +"I don't intend to throw it," said Stranleigh. "I'm going to take it +down to the house." + +"Oh, you think you're not going to throw it, but you are. We've just +come up to explain that to you." + +"I see. If it is compulsory, why shouldn't I throw it as far as I can?" + +"Because," explained Jim, politely, "there's a lot of dynamite stored +in the end of that hole, and dynamite isn't a thing to fool with, you +know." + +Stranleigh laughed. + +"I rather fancy you're right, though I know as little about dynamite as +I do about mines. But to be sure of being on the right side, I will +leave the tossing of the stone to you. Here it is," whereupon he handed +the lump of rock to Jim, who flung it carelessly into the mine again, +but did not join in his visitor's hilarity. + +"You seem to regard me as a dangerous person?" + +"Oh, not at all, but we do love a man that attends to his own business. +We understood that you came here for shooting and fishing." + +"So I did, but other people were out shooting before I got a chance. A +man who's had a bullet through his shoulder neither hunts nor fishes." + +"That's so," admitted Jim, with the suavity of one who recognises a +reasonable statement, "but now that you are better, what do you come +nosing round the mine for? Why don't you go on with your shooting and +your fishing?" + +"Because Mr. Armstrong was to be my guide, and he, I regret to say, has +not yet returned home. As he is tramping from Chicago to the ranch, no +one knows when he will put in an appearance." + +"Well, Mr. Stranleigh, we are plain, ordinary backwoods folks, that have +no reason for loving or trusting people who come from the city, as you +do. You say that shooting is your game. Now, we can do a bit of shooting +ourselves, and I tell you plainly that if any stranger was found +prowling around here, he'd have got a bullet in a more vital spot than +you did. Do you understand me?" + +"Your meaning, sir, is perfectly plain. What do you want me to do? Go +away from here before Mr. Armstrong returns?" + +"No; we don't say that, but we draw an imaginary line, such as they tell +me the equator is, past this end of the farm house, and we ask you not +to cross it westward. There's all the fishing you want down stream, but +there's none up here by the waterfall, neither is there any game to +shoot, so you see we're proposing no hardship if your intentions are +what you say they are." + +"Sir, you speak so beautifully that I must address you less familiarly +than I am doing. My own name is Ned, but few take the liberty of calling +me by that title. I don't know that I should like it if they did. You +are already aware, perhaps, that I answer to the name of Stranleigh. May +I enquire what your name is?" + +"I'm James Dean." + +"Ah, the Dean of the Faculty? You are leader of this band of brothers?" + +"In a manner of speaking, yes." + +"Are they unanimous in restricting my liberty on this ranch?" + +"You bet!" + +"You've no right to do such a thing, and besides, it is inhospitable. I +came to this ranch properly accredited, with a letter of introduction to +Mr. Armstrong. He happens to be away; if he had been here, and I had +seen that my visit was unwelcome to him, I should instantly have taken +my leave, but I refuse to have my liberty restricted by Mr. Armstrong's +hired men." + +"That's exactly where you're wrong, Mr. Stranleigh. In the first place, +we're not hired men; we're Mr. Armstrong's partners, and we don't +restrict your liberty on the ranch." + +"A partner contributes his share to the expenses of the combination. I +understand Mr. Armstrong bears the burden alone." + +"We contribute our labour, which is cash in another form, therefore +whether Mr. Armstrong is here, or whether he is away, we mean to defend +our property. So when you cross the imaginary line I spoke of, you are +trespassing, and no jury will convict a man who shoots a trespasser +after he has been fully warned, as we warn you." + +"Well, Mr. Dean, I admit that you have right on your side, even if there +is not much wisdom at the back of it. There is just one more thing I +should like to know. Why do you treat me as an enemy?" + +"As a possible enemy," corrected Dean. + +"As a possible enemy, then?" + +"Because we don't like your actions, and we don't think much of you. +You're a city man, and we don't trust any such." + +"But Mr. Banks, who gave me the letter to your chief, is not only a city +man, but a lawyer. He has been here, and spoke highly of his reception." + +"That was before the mine was opened, and as for being a lawyer, we hate +'em, of course, but they're like rattlesnakes. In some seasons of the +year they are harmless. The opening of the silver mine opened the +rattlesnake season, and that's why this lawyer snake in Bleachers is +trying to cheat Armstrong out of his ranch. He came over here with a +mining engineer and learnt the whole value of the ground. How do we know +you're not a mining engineer?" + +"I regret to say I'm nothing so useful." + +"And didn't you send Miss Armstrong into Bleachers to see that villain +Ricketts? What connection have you with him?" + +"None at all, Mr. Dean. I never saw Ricketts in my life, and never heard +of him before the day you mistook me for the sheriff." + +Dean glanced at his companions, who had taken no part in the colloquy, +but who listened with an interest at once critical and suspicious. It +was evident that their distrust could not be dissipated, or even +mitigated, by strenuous talk, and for a moment Stranleigh was tempted to +tell them that he had lent three thousand dollars to Miss Armstrong, in +the hope that this money, added to her own, would gain some sort of +concession from the obdurate lawyer. But he remembered that the girl was +in constant communication with these men, and if she had not already +informed them of his futile assistance, it was because she did not want +them to know. + +Dean pondered for a few moments before he spoke. He seemed to have +gathered in the purport of his men's thoughts without the necessity for +words. At last he said: + +"May I take it you agree hereafter to attend to your own business?" + +Stranleigh laughed. + +"There would be no use in my making that promise, for I have never in my +life attended to my own business. My business affairs are all looked +after by men who are experts. They live in New York and in London, and +although I make a decision now and then, I do that as seldom as +possible. It fatigues me." + +"So you are a loafer?" + +"That's it exactly, Mr. Dean, and I freely give you my promise not to +loaf about your silver mine." + +"Are you so rich as all that?" + +"You are not consistent, Mr. Dean. How can you ask me to attend to my +business if you do not attend to yours? Whether I am rich or poor is +none of your affair?" + +"Quite true," agreed Jim, nonchalantly, "we will let it go at that." + +Stranleigh, with a smile, bowed courteously to the group. + +"I wish you a very good day," he said, and turning, strolled down to the +house at a leisurely gait, quite in keeping with his self-declared +character of loafer. His back offered an excellent target, but no man +raised his rifle, and Stranleigh never looked over his shoulder, never +hurried a step, but walked as one very sure of himself, and in no fear +of attack. + +"Stuck up cuss," said Jim to his comrades. "I'd like to take that chap +down a peg. Let's get back to the bunk house and talk it over," so they, +too, left the pit mouth, and returned to their cabin. + +When the Earl of Stranleigh entered the house, he was accosted by Miss +Armstrong, on whose fair face were traces of deep anxiety, which his +lordship thought were easily accounted for by the fact that the +homestead was to be sold in less than a fortnight. + +"I have been anxious to see you, Mr. Stranleigh," she said. "Won't you +come out on the verandah where we can talk?" + +"With great pleasure, Miss Armstrong." + +When they were seated, she continued-- + +"You have been talking with the men?" + +"Yes; we had a little chat together." + +"Did they tell you anything of their intentions?" + +"No; except in so far as they were determined not to let me examine the +mine." + +"Ah; they have distrusted you from the first. Did you insist on visiting +it?" + +"I have visited it." + +"Without asking one of them to accompany you?" + +"I regarded them as hired men. They say they are your father's +partners." + +"So they are." + +"Ah, well, if that is really the case, I must apologise to them. I +thought when you ordered Dean to bring in my luggage, and he obeyed with +such docility, that he was your servant. I intended to offer him some +money for that service, but I suppose I must not." + +"Certainly not. Those men will do anything for a friend, but nothing for +one of whom they are suspicious. Their distrust, once aroused, is not +easily removed. I am sure, however, you were tactful with them." + +Stranleigh smiled ruefully. + +"I am not so certain of that myself. I fear I failed in diplomacy." + +"I do wish my father were here," she said, ignoring his last remark. "I +am very much worried about the men." + +"What do they know of your trouble with that man Ricketts?" + +"They know all about it, and they now threaten to march into Bleachers +in a body and, as we say, shoot up the town, including Ricketts, of +course." + +"When do they intend to do this?" + +"On the day of the auction sale." + +"Don't they understand that that would be futile?" + +"It would cause an infinite amount of harm, and ultimately might result +in their being wiped out themselves. Not that Bleachers could do such a +thing, but because they would be pitting themselves against the United +States Government, which is a mere name to those men, carrying no +authority. All their lives have been spent in camps, where the only law +is that of the mob. I have tried my best to influence them, but they +regard me merely as a woman, and a woman from the East at that, who has +no knowledge of practical affairs, so I have every reason for wishing my +father were here." + +"I should not trouble about that if I were you, Miss Armstrong. If they +intended to carry out their resolution to-morrow, or next day, there +might be reason for anxiety, but we have luckily plenty of time in which +to act. The one immediate thing is to find your father. I'll undertake +that task. He's travelling somewhere between here and Chicago, on foot. +May I see the latest letter he wrote you?" + +The girl brought it to him. + +"Might I take this with me?" + +"Yes. What do you intend to do?" + +Stranleigh smiled. + +"Oh, I never do anything. As I was telling your men, who wished me to +mind my own business, I always have people to do that for me. I am a +great believer in the expert. Now, America seems to be the land of +experts, and the man to deal with this case is Detective Burns, of New +York. I shall get into touch with him by telegraph, and if he cannot +attend to the matter himself, he will select the best substitute that is +to be had, and as Burns and his men invariably track down anyone they +want, even though he be seeking to elude them, it will be an easy task +to find your father, who is tramping the straightest possible line +between Chicago and this ranch. I shall give instructions for two or +three hundred dollars to be handed to Mr. Armstrong, with directions to +take the next train to Bleachers, as we need his presence here. I shall +do nothing but send a telegram, and Mr. Burns will do the rest. Now, if +you will assist me by ordering out my horse, I shall be ready to start +within ten minutes. I'd order the horse myself, but I don't think your +men would obey me." + +In less than the time mentioned, Jim brought the horse to the door. +All his men were standing in front of their cabin, looking on. They +quite naturally believed that their guest had taken alarm, and was +making off to some district where he would be in less danger. When his +lordship came downstairs and out to the front, Jim was overcome with +astonishment. His lordship was accoutred amazingly, after the fashion of +the English horseman. He had dressed himself in a riding costume such as +an English gentleman would wear at home. Jim and his comrades had never +seen such an outfit before, and they greeted his appearance with a roar +of laughter. + +Stranleigh sprang into his saddle with the agility of a cowboy, and +smiling good-humouredly at his audience, raised his hat to them, and +rode off. + +As Stranleigh's horse entered the forest the young man began to ponder +over the problem that confronted him. When the unfortunate Armstrong +borrowed money from Ricketts, he had, of course, fully explained the +situation. The lender had examined the property in company with a mining +engineer, and this expert doubtless took away with him some ore to +analyse at his leisure. Ricketts, being in possession of the engineer's +estimate of the pit's value, had probably formed a syndicate, or +perhaps made arrangements with other capitalists, to see him through +with the speculation. Undoubtedly Ricketts expected no competition when +the estate was put up at auction, but if he was a shrewd man, as was +almost certain to be the case, events had occurred which might stimulate +thought regarding his position. + +Miss Armstrong had ridden out to Bleachers, having in her possession +five thousand dollars, the face value of the notes. Ricketts would +wonder how she had obtained the money. She possessed only two thousand +dollars on her first visit, as he knew from the fact that she had +offered it to him for refraining from action until her father returned. +Who could have given her the extra three thousand? Whoever had done so +must have known the girl could offer no security for its repayment. He +was therefore a rich man, or he could not afford to throw away a sum so +considerable. + +It was likely that such reflections as these had put Ricketts on the +alert, and the sudden advent in Bleachers of a smartly costumed +stranger, a stranger coming from the direction of the ranch, would +almost certainly convince Ricketts that here was his opponent. In +Bleachers, too, each inhabitant very probably knew every one else's +business. That he could elude the astute Ricketts was therefore +exceedingly doubtful, and Stranleigh already knew enough about the +lawlessness of the district to believe that he might ride into +considerable danger. In that sparsely-settled country, people were not +too scrupulous in their methods of getting rid of an enemy. + +He wondered how far down the line the next town was, for he was certain +that any telegraphing he did from Bleachers would speedily be known to +Ricketts. Would it be possible to deflect his course, and make for the +next station eastwards? He possessed no map of the State, however, and +there was little chance of meeting anyone, so there seemed nothing for +it but to push on to Bleachers. + +At this point his meditations were interrupted by the dimly heard sound +of horses' hoofs on the trail behind him. He pulled up and listened. +Pausing for a few minutes, he heard nothing more, and so went on again, +with an uneasy feeling of being followed. He determined not to camp out +when night overtook him, but to hurry on until he reached Bleachers. He +had made a two days' journey to reach the ranch, but that was because +the laden mules were slow. Before dark he would be on the high road, and +after that he could not lose his way. After all, perhaps it was better +to reach Bleachers at night, and trust to rousing up the people in the +one tavern of the place. + +It was after midnight when his task was accomplished, and having seen to +the accommodation of a very tired and hungry horse, Stranleigh threw +himself down, dressed as he was, upon the bed to which he was shown by a +sleepy ostler. He had had quite enough equestrian exercise for one day. + +Ten o'clock had struck next morning before he woke, and went down to +breakfast. His mind had become clarified, and he knew now exactly what +he meant to do. To avoid the cognizance of Ricketts was impossible; of +that he was certain. His first object, then, was to draw a red herring +across the trail, so he enquired from the hotel-keeper the whereabouts +of Ricketts' office, and was directed to it. + +He crossed the street and ascended a stair. Ricketts kept neither clerk +nor office boy, so Stranleigh knocked at the door, was gruffly commanded +to enter, and obeyed. + +Silas A. Ricketts was seated at a large table strewn with books and +legal-looking documents, and he stared in astonishment at the figure +which presented itself. He, like the men on the ranch, had never seen +such a costume before. + +"Are you Mr. Ricketts?" asked his lordship. + +"Yes, sir." + +"My name is Stranleigh. I took the liberty of calling upon you to learn, +if possible, the whereabouts of Mr. Stanley Armstrong." + +"Why should I know anything of his whereabouts?" demanded Ricketts. + +"Permit me to explain----" + +"Now, before we go any further," interrupted the lawyer, "I want you to +know that this is a business office, and I'm a business man. My time is +valuable. I thought when you came in that you were a client. If you +have come here for aimless gossip, I'm not your man. I have my own +affairs to look after." + +"You state the case very lucidly, Mr. Ricketts, and I congratulate your +clients. My own time is far from precious, for I'm here after sport. How +valuable is your time? How much does an hour's conference with you +cost?" + +"It all depends on the business transacted." + +"I can't agree with you, Mr. Ricketts. An hour is an hour. I want to buy +sixty minutes of your time and attention. What do you ask for it?" + +"Five dollars!" snapped Ricketts. + +Stranleigh drew forth a five-dollar bill, and placed it on the table. + +"May I sit down?" he enquired. "No healthy man should be tired in the +morning, but I endured a long horseback ride yesterday, and had an +indifferent night's rest." + +"Where did you come from?" + +"I have been living for the past few days at Armstrong's ranch." + +"Are you the man who was shot last week?" + +"Yes; by mistake for your estimable sheriff I understand. You see, I +came here from New York with a letter of introduction to Mr. Armstrong, +being told that I might enjoy some good fishing and a little shooting, +while Armstrong was described as a most admirable guide to these sports. +I waited at the ranch day after day, hoping that Armstrong would return, +but nobody seems to know yet where he is, or when he will return, so I +came out here, hoping to get into telegraphic communication with him. +I'm well enough now to take part in the chase, and I am loth to return +to New York without having had any sport." + +"I still don't understand why you come to me about the matter." + +"I was told by his daughter that Armstrong had written to you. She does +not know in the least where he is, and so on the chance of your having +received a recent letter, I have called to enquire." + +"I see. Armstrong's letter to me was written from Chicago. It was a +request for money. I had already loaned him a considerable sum and was +unable to accede to his further demand. I answered to this effect, but +have heard no more from him. It is likely that his own people have +received word since the letter to me was written. Of course, you don't +know the date of their last letter from him?" + +"Yes, I do," said Stranleigh, "I have the letter with me. It contains +all the data of which Miss Armstrong is possessed, and she gave me the +letter to assist me in my search." + +He drew the letter from his pocket, and showed the date to the lawyer, +who consulted his file, and then said-- + +"It is just as I expected. That letter was written ten days later than +the one I received. Sorry I am unable to give you any definite +assistance, Mr. Stranleigh." + +Stranleigh rose. + +"I am sorry also. I suppose there wouldn't be much use in telegraphing +to the address he gives in Chicago?" + +"I see no object in that. The place is probably a boarding-house, and +he's not there." + +"Thank you, Mr. Ricketts. Good morning." + +Stranleigh went slowly down the steep stairs, and reaching the sidewalk, +almost fell into the arms of Jim Dean. Here, then, was the man who had +been following him. + +"Good morning, Mr. Dean." + +"Morning," snarled Jim, briefly. + +"I've just been up to see Mr. Ricketts, whom I think you mentioned the +other day." + +"So I supposed," agreed Dean. + +"I expected to get some information from him about Mr. Armstrong, but he +doesn't appear to know very much." + +"Well, you're the first man I ever heard say that S. A. Ricketts doesn't +know very much, but I think by and by you will find that others know a +great deal." + +"Perhaps they know a great deal that is not so; there's a lot of +knowledge of that kind lying around loose." + +"Very likely," remarked Jim, laconically, then turned on his heel and +walked down the street, while Stranleigh went towards the depôt to +enlist the services of a telegraph operator, and learn when the next +train left for the east. + +Stranleigh found the telegraph operator dozing in a wooden chair tilted +back against the wall, his soft hat drawn over his eyes, his feet +resting on a rung of the chair. It was a hot day, and the commercial +inactivity of Bleachers called for very little exertion on the part of +the telegraphist. The young man slowly roused himself as the door opened +and shut. His unexpected customer nodded good morning to him. + +"Could you oblige me with some forms?" asked the newcomer. + +"Forms? Forms of what?" The operator's feet came down with a crash on +the board floor as he rose from his chair. + +"Well, telegraph blanks, perhaps I should have said." + +"Oh, certainly." + +The young man fished one out from a drawer, and flung it on the counter. + +"This will do excellently for a beginning," said Stranleigh, "but you'd +better let me have a dozen to go on with." + +The young man was waking up. He supplied the demand, and with +ever-increasing amazement, watched his client write. + +Stranleigh gave the New York detective particulars in great detail so +far as he possessed them, asked him to spare no expense, and requested +that Armstrong, when found, should be presented with two hundred dollars +or more, as he required, with admonition to take the first train home, +where his presence was urgently needed. + +"Great Scott!" cried the operator, "is that all one message?" + +"Yes," said Stranleigh. + +"Where is it going?" + +"I've written the address as plainly as I can. It's going to New York." + +"I say, stranger," protested the telegraphist, "have you any idea what +it costs to send a message across the Continent to New York?" + +"No, I haven't, but I expect to be in possession of that information as +soon as you have mastered my handwriting, and counted the words." + +The operator was practically speechless when he reached the end of his +enumeration, but after making a note on the pad, he was sufficiently +recovered to remark-- + +"Say, stranger, you'll have to dig up a pretty big wad to pay for this. +We don't give credit in a Western Union office." + +"I shouldn't think of asking credit from a downtrodden monopoly," said +Stranleigh, pulling out his pocket book, and liquidating his debt. "You +ought to be happy if you get a percentage." + +"Worse luck, I don't." + +"Well, I think you're entitled to one. I've given a fee this morning and +received no particular equivalent for it. Do you, being a useful man, +object to accepting a five-dollar bill?" + +"Not on your life!" assented the operator with great earnestness. + +Stranleigh passed it over. + +"I'm expecting a reply. At what time shall I call for it?" + +"You don't need to call, Mr. Stranleigh. When it comes, I'll lock up the +office, and find you if you're anywhere in town." + +"I'm stopping over at the tavern." + +"All right; you'll get it." + +"Thanks. Good morning." + +"See you later," said the now thoroughly-awakened operator, and +Stranleigh proceeded to the railway station. He took the next train to +the nearest town east, and there did some more telegraphing, but this +time the message was in cypher, and it was addressed to his agent in New +York. Translated, it read-- + +"Send me at once by express, registered and insured, twenty thousand +dollars in currency, made up of five dollar, ten dollar, and hundred +dollar bills." + +The address was fully written out in plain English. He found there was +time for a satisfactory lunch before the west-bound train arrived, and +he partook of it in the chief hotel, whose accommodation was much +superior to that of the Bleachers tavern. + +On his return to headquarters, he called in at the telegraph office. The +young man in charge, at once recognising him, announced-- + +"Nothing doing. The moment anything comes I'll take it over to the +tavern. Say, is there anything secret about that telegram you sent?" + +"No; why do you ask?" + +"Well, Mr. Ricketts, a lawyer here, came in about ten minutes ago, and +described you, and wanted to know if you had sent a telegram." + +"What did you say to him?" + +"I said nobody had sent a telegram, and that I knew nothing of you. He +seemed powerful anxious, and offered me a dollar to let him know if you +telegraphed anything. I went over to the tavern to tell you about it, +but they said you hadn't been in since breakfast." + +"I suppose you haven't many chances of picking up an extra dollar in +Bleachers?" + +"No; I haven't. Ricketts is always mighty curious about anyone who +arrives here, but I never knew him offer a cent for information before." + +"I'm very much obliged to you. You go right over to Ricketts' office and +pick up his dollar, but don't say _I_ gave you the advice. By the way, +wouldn't you be breaking the rules of the Western Telegraph Company if +you divulged the purport of any message that passed through your hands?" + +A look of trouble, almost of fear, came over the young man's face. + +"If a telegram is secret," he said, "the sender usually writes it in +cypher." + +"Quite so, but even in that case wouldn't you be punished if it became +known that you had shown Mr. Ricketts a private despatch entrusted to +your care?" + +"Certainly," admitted the telegraphist, exhibiting more and more +uneasiness, "but I have not shown your telegram to anybody, and what I +told you was entirely in confidence." + +"Oh, you need have no fear of my rounding on you. I am merely +endeavouring to put you in possession of that dollar without getting +your neck in a noose. Don't you see that you are placing yourself +entirely at Mr. Ricketts' mercy?" + +"But you," protested the frightened young man, "advised me to do so." + +"Undoubtedly. I want you to get that dollar, but not to place yourself +in jeopardy. From what I saw of Ricketts this morning, I should not like +to be in his power, yet his dollar is just as good as any other man's +dollar, and I want you to detach it from him with safety, and profit to +yourself. Let me have another telegraph blank." + +Stranleigh wrote rapidly-- + + "Pinkerton Detective Agency, Chicago. + + "I want to be put into communication with Stanley Armstrong, + who left Chicago on foot ten days ago, for the West, and I + am willing to pay one hundred dollars for the job. + + "EDMUND STRANLEIGH. + + "White's Hotel, Bleachers." + +"There," said Stranleigh, passing over the sheet to the operator, "you +show that to our inquisitive friend Ricketts, but don't send it over the +line." + +Stranleigh slept that night at White's Hotel, and shortly after +breakfast next morning the telegraph clerk came across with a very +satisfactory telegram from New York. The sender could not positively +predict the finding of Armstrong, but anticipated no difficulty in the +task. + +Stranleigh paid his bill at the hotel, ordered out his horse, and +trotted off towards the ranch. He saw no more of Ricketts, who, if on +any trail, was following the wrong one. + +Dusk had fallen as he was about to emerge into the clearing which in +daylight would have afforded him a sight of Armstrong's house. Suddenly +and stealthily he was surrounded by six armed men, and the voice of Jim +Dean broke the stillness. + +"Good evening, Mr. Stranleigh. I must ask you to get down from your +horse." + +"Willingly," replied the rider. "I confess I have had enough equestrian +exercise for one day." + +"We have supper ready for you at the bunk house." + +"Why at the bunk house? I am perfectly satisfied with the fare that Mr. +Armstrong's family provides." + +"We'd like a little conversation with you, and the conversation must +take place in private." + +"In that case, Mr. Dean, you could hardly find a better spot than this." + +"We're a kindly set of chaps, and couldn't think of keeping a hungry man +out here." + +"But I'm not very hungry. I took a pocketful of sandwiches with me from +the tavern." + +"Nevertheless, you are coming with us, either peaceably, or by force, +whichever you choose." + +"Oh, quite willingly, of course. I should be ungrateful if I gave you +any unnecessary trouble, while accepting your hospitality. I may add +that I am unarmed, so if you keep your guns in readiness you need fear +no reprisal on my part." + +"That's all right," responded Jim. "We're not easily scared, but are +prepared to protect ourselves should you try any funny business." + +"Is Peter going to take my horse to the farm?" + +"Sure; your horse will be put in its old quarters, and will be well +taken care of." + +"Then I should be glad if Peter would oblige me by telling Miss +Armstrong that I have arrived safely, and will give her an account of my +journey when next I have the pleasure of meeting her." + + [Illustration: "'I may add that I am unarmed, so if you keep your guns + in readiness you need fear no reprisal on my part.'"] + +"I'm afraid Peter can't carry any messages; indeed, it's not at all +necessary. I've told Miss Armstrong that your horse will be brought +back, and that I saw you off on the east-bound train, which is quite +true. You've brought back the horse, and you did go east on the train. +Miss Armstrong thinks you have become tired of waiting for her father, +and that you've gone either to Chicago or New York." + +"Am I to regard myself as your prisoner, then?" + +"Prisoner is an ugly word, and we are not entitled to call ourselves +gaolers, but if you wouldn't mind looking on it in that way, it's all +the same to us." + +"Well, truthful Jim, I'm your man in every sense of the word. Let us +begin our amicable journey. I yearn for the bunk house." + +"You will keep silent? No shouting or calling for help? There's no help +to be had anyhow, and a noise would merely alarm the women." + +"I recognise the necessity for silence, and I shall make no outcry. +Indeed, my whole future conduct while with you will be governed by the +strictest secrecy. When I get tired of the bunk house I shall merely +cut all your throats while you are asleep, and will do it in the +quietest and gentlest manner." + +Jim laughed. + +"I guess we can take care of our throats, but I'm much obliged for the +suggestion, which may come in handy if you get funny, as I said before." + +They reached the bunk house by a circuitous route. A fine fire of logs +was blazing on the ample hearth, for even in summer a fire was good to +look at when night came on, at that elevation. + +When Stranleigh sat down to supper, he regretted more than ever the +civilised fare of the farm house. The menu was rough, but plentiful, and +they all sat together at the long table. A meal was a serious event, and +they partook of it in silence. It was evident that the men were going to +adopt full precautions, for while they supped one of them sat by the +door, a rifle over his knees. He came in for the second course, and +another took his place. After the table was cleared, they all sat round +the big fire, and smoked. + +Remembering that the best tobacco in the world came from the south-east +of their country, the aroma of the weed they had chosen was not as +grateful to Stranleigh's nostrils as might have been expected, so partly +for good fellowship, and partly for his own protection, he presented +each with a fine Havana cigar, such as would be welcomed in a London +club, where pipes are not permitted. The men amiably accepted this +contribution, but each put the cigar in his pocket against a future +occasion, and went on with his pipe. Cheap as was the tobacco they were +using, it was naturally scarce among men who had received no money for +some months. + +"I don't wish to appear unduly inquisitive," began their guest, "but now +that we have all night before us, would you mind telling me why I am +thus taken charge of by strangers on whom I have no claim?" + +"There are several reasons," replied Jim, who was always the spokesman +for the company, "and we are quite willing to mention them. You appear +to be a person of some intelligence----" + +"Thanks," interjected Stranleigh. + +Jim went on, unheeding the interruption--"and so perhaps you know that +we suspect you of being in cohoots with Ricketts." + +"Does 'cohoots' mean co-partnership?" + +"Something of that sort. You partly persuaded us that wasn't so, but I +followed you to make sure. Perhaps you remember that I caught you coming +out from Ricketts' office. You made for that office the moment you +reached Bleachers." + +"Pardon me, but I went first to the hotel." + +"Yes; and you enquired there where Ricketts hung out." + +"Certainly; but that's in my favour. It showed that so far from being in +the employ of the lawyer, I didn't even know where he lived." + +"It was a good bluff." + +"It's very circumstantial evidence of my innocence. But for the sake of +argument, I will admit that I am in 'cohoots,' as you call it, with the +estimable Ricketts. What next?" + +"The next thing is that you learnt from Miss Armstrong of our intention +to go into Bleachers and shoot up the town, including Ricketts." + +"That is true." + +"You didn't like the plan and said so." + +"That also is correct." + +"You said it should be stopped, not knowing the ways of this country." + +"Certainly. Desirable as may be the shooting up of Bleachers, the odds +are too strongly against you." + +"Oh, we'll chance that. But the next thing you do is to put your funny +clothes on, get out your horse, and ride directly to Mr. Ricketts. You +are an informer." + +"An informer is always a despicable character, Mr. Dean. What's the next +item in the indictment?" + +"Don't you think that's enough? Men have been hanged for less. An +informer is the most poisonous wretch in the world except a horse +thief." + +"Then I am in danger of being hanged?" + +"You sure are." + +"Isn't there any way in which I can compound my felony?" + +"Well, I don't quite know what confounding a felony is, but you're the +sleekest fellow I ever met, and if you think you can palaver us to let +you go, you've made the mistake of your life." + +"I shouldn't think of attempting such a thing. I am merely endeavouring +to discover your state of mind. You're strong on muscle, Jim, and I +admire your build, but I'm beginning to doubt whether your brain equals +your frame. There was a time when your equipment would have been +victorious, but those days are long since past. Nowadays it's brain that +wins every time, and in every country. Physical force has had to give +way before it. Jimmy, my boy, you're out of date." + +"Brain isn't going to help you any," said Dean, evidently annoyed by +these strictures on his mentality. + +"Perhaps it won't, but if there was a corresponding brain in your head, +I'd appeal to it, and probably win. Are all your men here as stupid as +you, Jim?" + +Jim rose up from his chair, a forbidding frown on his brow. + +"Look here, stranger," he called out, "I've had enough of that line of +talk." + +"Oh no, you haven't. Please sit down. This line of talk is only +beginning, and I say, Jim, lay aside that pipe, and smoke the Havana +cigar. It will put reason into your head if anything will." + +Some of the company laughed, and Jim sat down, seeing that his opponent +failed to show any fear at his captors' threatening attitude. He tried +to change the course of the conversation into a less personal channel. + +"You see, Mr. Stranleigh, we're short on tobacco, and I want to keep +this cigar until to-morrow. I can tell by the smell it's a good one." + +"That's all right," said Stranleigh, "I have plenty more of them down at +the house, and when they are finished, I'll telegraph east for a fresh +supply. If you will let me know your favourite brand of tobacco, I'll +order a ton of it at the same time." + +For a moment Jim's eyes twinkled, then they narrowed into their usual +caution. + +"Was that what you meant by confusing a penalty? Well, stranger, it +doesn't go here. We ain't to be bought, even by a ton of tobacco." + +"I hadn't thought of either buying or bribing you," said Stranleigh, +"therefore we will get back to our original subject, the difference +between brain and muscle. I see here on the table a pack of cards in a +deplorably greasy condition. If you were playing a game with an opponent +who was beating you, would you shoot him?" + +"Yes," promptly replied Jim, "if I found he was cheating." + +"Whereupon his friends would lynch you." + +"A cheater hasn't any friends." + +"Jim, I shouldn't like to sit down to a game with you. You would shoot +first, and think afterwards, while I, being unarmed, should be at a +disadvantage. That, indeed, is just what you are doing now. If you +succeed in holding me here you will spoil my game. What I propose to do +is not to attack Ricketts with a gun, but to learn his style of play, +and beat him at it. Any confounded fool can shoot off a gun; there's no +credit in that. It's a coward's trick." + +"You say we'll spoil your game. You may bet your life we will. You +daren't tell us what it is." + +"Oh yes, I dare, because I have a trick that will quite delude you." + +"I know you'll try to do that." + +"Exactly. Well, my trick is to tell the truth. The situation is very +simple. That morning when from the pit mouth you warned me off the +premises, I found Miss Armstrong very much worried because she had +learned of your intention to shoot up the town, and could not persuade +you to abandon so foolish a project. It then became my duty to prevent +you doing what you proposed." + +"Do you think you can?" + +"Of course; I knew it was no use attempting to reason with you, so the +instant necessity was to get one man of common sense to counteract the +stupidity of the bunk house. That I set out to do. I rode to Bleachers, +called on Lawyer Ricketts, paid him five dollars down for whatever +knowledge he could give me concerning the whereabouts of Mr. Armstrong. +He could give me none that I did not already possess. He kept the five +dollars, though. You saw me go off in the train. I merely went to the +next town, to do some telegraphing that might be more or less secret +from Ricketts. A detective agency will find Mr. Armstrong, and hand him +two hundred dollars, asking him at the same time to make for home by +the earliest train. Then, unless I'm much mistaken, Mr. Armstrong will +see the idiocy of what you propose, and will prevent you from carrying +out your scheme." + +Jim pondered over this announcement for some minutes. At last he broke +the silence. + +"What you say may be true, but I don't believe a word of it. It's more +likely Ricketts is your boss, and you went in to report to him and tell +him what we intended to do. Then he'll see that Bleachers is prepared to +meet us." + +"Yes; that would be a simple way of turning the trick. There are good +points about it, but it happens not to be my way, as you will learn in a +few days when Mr. Armstrong returns." + +Again Jim meditated for a while, and finally rose, walked to the further +end of the room, and engaged for some minutes in earnest cogitation with +his fellows, carried on in tones so low that Stranleigh could not hear. +Resuming his seat, he spoke with deliberation-- + +"You want us to believe that you are a friend of Mr. Armstrong?" + +"I don't care whether you believe it or not. I can hardly be a friend of +Stanley Armstrong, because I've never seen him." + +"Well, we'll put your good intentions to the test. When Mr. Armstrong +gets here, he will have no money. Stony broke, that's what he is. Now, +unless we shoot 'em up in Bleachers when they try to sell his place, +Armstrong will lose it. We take it you are a rich man. Will you promise +to lend him enough money to hold this ranch, and run the mine?" + +"No; I won't," said Stranleigh, with decision. + +"All right. Then you stay here until you cough up that cash. Even if +Armstrong comes, he will never know you're here, because we shall tell +him that you've gone East. Nobody else knows where you are, so there +isn't any chance of a search being made." + +"This is rank brigandage," remarked Stranleigh. + +"I guess that's the right title, but a man who brags so much of his +brains as you do, ought to see that if we're ready to shoot up a town, +we won't stop at such a trifle as brigandage." + +"That's so. And now, gentlemen, I'm tired after my long journey, and I +think we've talked a great deal to very little purpose, so if you'll +show me what bunk I am to occupy, I'll turn in." + +"There are six unused bunks, Mr. Stranleigh, and you can take your +choice. There's nothing mean about us." + +Stranleigh made his selection, and rough as the accommodation was, he +slept as soundly as ever he had done in his London palace, or his +luxurious yacht. + +Although the Earl of Stranleigh was naturally an indolent man, the +enforced rest of the next few days grew very irksome. He had expected +the guard set over him to relax as time went on, but this was not the +case. The genial Jim saw to that, and it was soon evident to Stranleigh +that Dean ruled his company with an iron hand. Such casual examination +of the premises as he was able to make impressed him more and more with +the difficulty of escape. Had the structure been built of logs, there +might have been some hope, but the imperviousness of the thick stone +walls was evident to the most stupid examiner. The place was lit in +daytime by two slits, one at each gable, which were without panes, and +narrow, so that they might as much as possible keep out the rain. No man +could creep through, even if he could reach the height at which they +were placed. During the day the stout door, fit to encounter a battering +ram, was open, but a guard sat constantly at the sill, with a rifle +across his knees. At night it was strongly locked. Stranleigh was +handicapped by the fact that heretofore he had never been required to +think out any difficult problem for himself. He had merely to give the +order, and other people did his thinking for him, and when a plan was +formed, there were others to carry it out, being well paid for doing so. +Thus it happened that the means of escape were so obvious that a ten +year old boy might have discovered them. + +Each evening passed very pleasantly, for Stranleigh was a good +story-teller, and had many interesting tales to relate. In spite of the +fact that his gaolers were unanimous in their opinion that Stranleigh +was a useless encumbrance upon earth, they began rather to like him. +One night Stranleigh asked Jim if anything had yet been heard of Mr. +Armstrong, and Dean, after hesitating a moment, replied that there was +so far no news of him or from him. + +"I'm sorry for Armstrong," said Stranleigh, more as if talking to +himself than to anyone else. "Poor fellow, away from home all this time, +and yet compelled to support six stalwart loafers without commonsense +enough to do the obvious thing." + +"What is the obvious thing?" asked Dean. + +"Why, to work, of course. There's your mine; you've got plenty of +dynamite to go on with, and yet you lounge about here not earning enough +to keep yourselves in tobacco. If there is silver in that hole, you +could by this time have had enough out to buy the ranch and furnish your +own working capital. You say you are partners in the scheme, but you +seem to be merely a blunderheaded lot of hired men, determined not to do +any work." + +Jim answered with acerbity-- + +"If you weren't a fool you'd know we'd gone already as far as hand work +can go. We need a steam engine and a crusher." + +"A steam engine?" echoed Stranleigh. "What on earth would you have to +pay for coal, with railway haulage, and the cost of getting it out here +from the line? Why, right there, rushing past you, is all the power you +need. You've only to make a water-wheel, with a straight log, thrown +across the falls as axle, and there you are. Pioneers have done that +sort of thing since civilisation began, and here you don't need even to +build a dam." + +Jim was about to make an angry retort when the company were scattered by +a roar and a heavy fall of soot on the log fire. The chimney was ablaze, +but that didn't matter in the least, as the house was fireproof. In a +short time the flames had died out, and the party gathered round the +fire once more. + +"Well," said Jim, "go on with your pretty advice." + +Stranleigh replied dreamily, gazing into the fire. + +"Oh, well, I think my advice doesn't amount to much, as you hinted. It +is none of my affair. You are a most capable body of men, I have no +doubt, only the fact has been concealed from me up to date. I find I am +developing the vice of talking too much, so I'm going to turn in. +Good-night!" + +But the fall of soot had suggested to Stranleigh a method of escape. + + + + +VII.--THE END OF THE CONTEST. + + +A wood fire is an evanescent thing, having none of the calm +determination of coal combustion. A wood fire requires constant +replenishing, and that in the bunk house did not receive this attention. +When the men, tired with doing nothing, overcome by the lassitude +enduring an empty day had caused, turned into sleep, the wood fire, left +to itself, crumbled into a heap of ashes. The guarding of Stranleigh +became more perfunctory as time passed. He proved to be a model +prisoner, and usually the sentinel at the door fell into peaceful +slumber as night wore on. On the particular evening Stranleigh chose for +his attempt, Jim Dean sat on the chair against the door. Jim's jaw +worked so much during the day, he talked so incessantly, emptying his +mind of all it contained, that he was naturally exhausted when his turn +for watching came. Each of the men slumbered more or less soundly at his +post, but the confident Jim outdid them all, so Stranleigh selected him +as the man destined to hold the empty bag. + +It was two hours after midnight when his lordship slipped down from his +bunk. The fire had long since gone out, and the stone chimney was +reasonably cool. The climbing of that ample flue presented no difficulty +to an athletic young man who in his time had ascended the Matterhorn. +The inside of the chimney offered to the amateur sweep walls of rough +stone, which projected here and there, forming an effective, if unequal +ladder. He attained the top with such ease that he wondered he had +remained so long a prisoner. Descending the roof silently, he let +himself down to the top of the lean-to which acted as kitchen and supply +store, and dropped from that elevation lightly to the ground. It was a +night of clear moonlight, and Stranleigh smiled to think how nearly he +must represent the popular idea of the devil, covered as he was with +soot from head to foot. + +He made directly down the hill to the farm house by the stream, and +risked a few minutes of time in washing his face in the rapid current. +He now took off his boots, the better to enact the part of burglar. The +doors of the house, he knew, were never locked. First he secured his +favourite magazine rifle and a large quantity of cartridges, then as, +after all, he was entitled to the board he paid for, he penetrated +softly to the kitchen. Here he secured a couple of loaves of bread and a +cooked ham, together with some other things he wanted, including a +supply of tobacco, and thus overloaded as he had rarely been in his life +before, he stole softly outside, slipped his feet into his boots, and +slowly climbed the hill to the silver cavern. Depositing within his +goods and chattels, he examined his store carefully to learn whether +there was anything more he needed to stand a siege. + +Bright as was the moonlight outside, the cavern was pitch dark, so +Stranleigh determined on another expedition to the house, and he brought +back a bunch of candles and an armful of bedclothes. + +"Now for the night's work," he said to himself, and having lit a candle, +which he placed at the remote end of the cave, he began picking up +stones, and with them building a wall across the mouth of the pit. No +Roman wall was ever built with such care, and no Roman wall ever +contained within itself such possibilities of wholesale obliteration, +because the structure was intersticed with sticks of dynamite, which +Stranleigh carried with the most cautious tenderness from the rear to +the front of the cavern. When his task was completed the moon had gone +down, and the misty, luminous grey of the eastern sky betokened the +approach of dawn. The young man was thoroughly tired, and with a sigh of +relief he stretched himself out on the bedclothes he had brought from +the house. + +The early sun shining on his face awakened him. He knew from experience +that the bunk house men were not afflicted with the vice of early +rising. There was no aperture in their habitation, unless the door was +open, through which the sun might shine upon them. He was therefore not +surprised that no one was visible anywhere near the sleeping quarters. +So he breakfasted in peace, alternating slices of bread with slices of +ham, thus constructing some admirable sandwiches. + +A providential jug, which doubtless in its time had contained whisky, +was one of the utensils left when the mine was abandoned. Stranleigh +took this, and stepping over the dangerous wall, filled it three or four +times at the rushing cataract, rinsing out all indication of its former +use. He brought it back, filled with very clear and cold water. He could +not help thinking as he returned what an excellent place the waterfall +would be for the washing of dishes, if a person ran the risk of standing +upon spray-drenched, slippery rock ledges. + +Stranleigh sat down where he could see the enemy's quarters, and +carefully examined his rifle, assured himself that the magazine was +full, then with the weapon over his knees in the fashion adopted by his +recent gaolers, watched the bunk house patiently, wishing he had a +morning paper to while away the time. + +The laggard sentinel was the first to rouse himself. The broad door +opened, and Jim Dean, palpably bewildered, stepped out. With hand +shading his eyes he minutely examined the landscape, slowly turning his +head from left to right as he scrutinised the distant horizon and the +ground intervening. Stranleigh, kneeling, rested his rifle on the top of +the wall, and as Jim's left ear, a rather prominent feature, became +fully visible, the young man fired. + +Jim's action instantaneously verified the Indian romances of +Stranleigh's youth. He sprang clear up into the air and clapped a hand +upon his wounded ear. He was at that moment the most astonished man on +the western hemisphere. His first instinct being to bolt for cover, he +did so without pausing to close the door, which opened outwards, and +this broad piece of woodwork now offered a much more prominent target +than Jim's ear had done a moment before. + +Stranleigh, exercising a care that seemed unnecessary with so big a +target, fired out the cartridges of his magazine, then immediately +restocked it, and shot away the second charge. Putting in a third load, +he sat there with his customary nonchalance, awaiting the turn of +events. In that clear atmosphere, and with his sharp vision, he saw +that he had accomplished his intention, and had punctured the letter "S" +on the panel of the open door. + +Meanwhile, there was commotion in the bunk house. The first sharp +report, accompanied by Jim's yell, woke every man within. The subsequent +fusilade engendered a belief that the enemy was in possession of a Maxim +gun, and brought every man to the floor, thankful that he was under +better cover than if he stood behind the door, through the panel of +which all the bullets had penetrated. + +"How did he escape?" demanded one, addressing Jim, who was holding his +left hand to his ear. + +"I don't know," said the wounded man ruefully. "You can search me." + +"Seems from that shooting that we'd better search outside. What in the +fiend's name made him batter the door?" + +"Sorry he left us, I suppose," muttered Dean, grimly. "Knocking because +he wanted to come in again." + +"How did he get his gun?" + +"Hanged if I know," said the questioned man, impatiently. + +"But you were on guard. You ought to know something about it." + +"Look here," said Jim. "There's no use in talking. He got out some way, +and he's got his gun some way. He's holding us up, and we must make +terms with him." + +"But where is he?" + +"I tell you I don't know! The bullet came from the direction of the +mine. Now, one of you boys throw up your hands, and go outside and hail +him." + +At this command, Jim met the first rebellion against his authority. + +"Go outside yourself. It is you who have brought all this upon us. You +shot him through the shoulder; you proposed capturing him, and it was +you who fell asleep last night and let him escape." + +Jim did not combat their charges. + +"All right," he said. "I'll go out, and you sit here and shiver while I +enjoy a little conversation with him." + +Raising his hands above his head, Dean stepped across the threshold +into the open, and stood like an oriental about to begin his prayers. He +saw at once the wall that had been built during the night, and then +caught sight of Stranleigh standing behind it. Pulling out a white +handkerchief, and waving it, Dean proceeded towards the mine. + +"Have you got a revolver?" shouted Stranleigh. + +"No," answered Dean. + +"Then put down your hands, and approach as a Christian should." + +Jim obeyed. + +"Now stand where you are," said Stranleigh, when the other was within +four or five yards of the wall. "I see your ear is bleeding. That was +rather a neat shot of mine, don't you think?" + +"It was," admitted Dean, without enthusiasm. + +"When you shot at my shoulder, you had a bigger mark." + +"Oh, not so very much," growled Dean. "My ears are celebrated for their +size." + +"You'd better wrap it up in this handkerchief," commented Stranleigh, +rolling it up in a ball, and flinging it towards Jim. The wounded man +tied it round his voluminous ear. + +"And now," said Stranleigh, "get through with your parley as soon as +possible, then go to Miss Armstrong, who will very expertly attend to +your hurt. But in order to win the privilege of surgical treatment, you +must recognise that you are a prisoner." + +"A prisoner?" echoed Dean. + +"Certainly. You must give me your word you will say nothing to Miss +Armstrong to show that I have had a hand in the game. Make whatever +excuse you like for the disaster, and then get back to the bunk house, +tell your fellows the condition of the game as far as we have gone. I +will allow you five minutes after your return to show those chaps the +letter 'S' I have perforated in the door. They are a very unbelieving +lot, and I wish to gain their affection and respect. Without hurting +anybody I mean to prove that I am a dead shot. I'm well provisioned +here, and prepared to stand a siege. Until Mr. Armstrong returns, not +one of you will be allowed outside the châlet. Don't be misled by the +fact that you outnumber me six to one. I hold a magazine rifle, possess +an ample supply of ammunition, and have just given evidence of the +rapidity with which reloading can be performed." + +"Yes," said Dean, meditatively, "your position would be bull strong and +hog tight, if you had a chum with you who could shoot as well as you do. +But as it is, you've nobody to relieve you, and a man must sleep. It +will only take one of us to defeat you. We've no magazine rifles and +don't need none. I'll undertake the job myself." + +"How do you propose to do it?" + +"That would be telling," said Jim, craftily. + +"Why not?" answered Stranleigh. "I'm placing my cards on the table. Why +don't you do the same? I'm not yearning for war and bloodshed, but have +inaugurated a sort of Hague tribunal. There were two things I determined +to accomplish when I broke jail. I hope that wounded ear hasn't impaired +your hearing, so that you may listen with attention. It's always as well +to know what your enemy desires." + +"I'm listening," said Jim. + +"The first thing was to shoot you through the leg or the arm or the ear, +choosing some spot that was not vital. This in return for your shooting +me. One good turn deserves another, you know. That part of my programme +I have accomplished." + +"What's the other part?" + +"The second is to keep you gentlemen in prison just as long as you kept +me in prison. One good imprisonment deserves another. Now will you tell +me what you intend to do?" + +"No; I won't." + +"That's mean of you, Jim; secretive, over-cautious and that sort of +thing. I'm not so chary and so will give you the information. There are +only two portions of the night during which you can come out unnoticed; +before the moon rises and after it sets. You will steal out and take up +a position where you can see the barricade when day begins to dawn. +You'll need to chose a spot a long way off, because the explosion, when +it comes, will wreck everything in the neighbourhood." + +"What explosion?" + +"The dynamite explosion. This wall is built of rock intersticed with +those dynamite cartridges of yours. It is very likely you will +obliterate the farm-house." + +"I'll obliterate you, anyway." + +"Quite so, but at a tremendous cost, because whatever the fate of Mr. +Armstrong's residence, the doom of the bunk house is certain. You may be +outside that danger, but you won't be free of another. You suppose, +doubtless, that I shall be asleep in the cavern. As a matter of fact I +shall be sleeping placidly under the stars, quite out of reach of the +main disaster. Your first shot will awaken me. Now, it is by no means +certain that your first shot will send off the dynamite. You may have to +fire half a dozen times, and your best rifle is an old breech-loader. I +use smokeless powder, and you don't. I could pepper away at you for half +an hour and you'd never know where the bullets were coming from. The +smoke from your rifle would give _you_ away at once. When I fire at you +next time, Jim, I shall aim at a more vital point, because, my dear boy, +the person who sets off that dynamite is a murderer. So before you put +your plan into operation, just consult your comrades and explain to them +its disadvantages." + +Dean stood there meditating for a few moments before he spoke. + +"I'm very much obliged to you," he said at last, "for telling me what +you mean to do. We'll change that plan a little, and come out of the +bunk house together. We'll search the country for you, and so won't need +to blow up the mine." + +"That's a much more humane expedient, and will prevent unnecessary loss +of life. I shall be lying quiet under whatever cover I can find. Your +crowd will perambulate the locality, and I may remind you that you are +no lightfooted Cinderellas. A herd of elephants would make less noise. I +shall see you long before you see me, and I leave the result to your own +imagination. And now, Jimmy, take the advice of a true friend. Your time +to act was when you were snoring at that door and I was climbing the +chimney. Once you allowed me to get my rifle, you had permitted +opportunity to pass you, because I am a good shot, and I came West in +order to shoot. When a person accustomed to downy beds of ease slumbers +peacefully, as I did this morning, on hard and jagged rocks thinly +disguised by a blanket, with my right ear against a dynamite cartridge, +there's nothing the matter with his nerves, is there?" + +"No; there isn't," said Dean, with conviction. + +"Now, what you chaps want is not a battle, but an armistice. Leave well +enough alone, I say, and accept the _status quo_. If you remain in the +bunk house, you are as safe as in a Presbyterian church." + +Jim did not reply, but deliberated, his open palm against his bandaged +ear. + +"Hurt?" asked Stranleigh. + +"Yes, it does," admitted Jim, ruefully. + +"Well, my shoulder hurt a good deal after you fired at me. Now, I'll +tell you what I'll do, Jim. Next time I shoot at you, I'll take the +other ear. You're determined to prove yourself a brigand, or a pirate, +or something of that sort, and as pirates always wear earrings, that +will put you in a position to adopt them. What do you say to my proposal +for an armistice?" + +"I can't answer for the rest of the boys without consulting them. If we +need an armistice or a _status quo_, why, I suppose we ought to have +them." + +"All right. If your ear hurts, the sooner you get it attended to, the +better. You go directly down to the house and see Miss Armstrong, and +you can reflect upon the situation while she is dressing the wound. +Deep thinking will take your mind from the pain. Then go up and consult +the company. Come and let me know what they decide. Meanwhile, I'll +guarantee that no one comes out of that bunk house without being shot +at." + +"Mr. Stranleigh, I'll do what you say, but I'll change the order. I'll +go first to our shack, and warn the boys. That's only fair, for they're +watching from that door, and if they see me going to the house they may +think it's all right, and come outside. After talking with them, I'll +visit Miss Armstrong, and then come back here to tell you what the boys +say." + +"Yes, Jim; that's a better plan than mine. But first give me your word +that you will take no advantage of this respite until war. An armistice, +you know, is a cessation of hostilities." + +"You mean that there will be no shenanigan? I give you my word." + +The wounded man made his way to the bunk house. Shortly afterwards +Stranleigh saw him emerge, and go towards the homestead. After a longer +interval he came slowly up towards the fortress, his ear neatly +bandaged in white linen, which showed up, as one might say, like a small +flag of truce. + +"Well, what did Miss Armstrong say about the wounded ear?" + +"She says it's about as serious as the sting of a bee, and won't hurt +much longer than that would, and will be cured nearly as soon." + +"That's first-rate, and relieves my conscience, which has been troubling +me, because I'd much rather smite a man on the ear with my fist than +with a bullet. For the same reason I hope you found your messmates +undergoing a spasm of common sense." + +"They agreed with me that it wasn't very healthy to take outdoor +exercise for a while. If we decide to begin fighting again, we'll give +you twelve hours' notice. Will that suit you?" + +"I don't know that it does, quite. I want you to promise that you will +not break loose either until Mr. Armstrong returns, or the auction is +over." + +"The boys wouldn't agree to that, Mr. Stranleigh. We're bound to attend +that auction." + +Stranleigh sighed. + +"Very good," he conceded. "I must content myself with what you offer. I +accept your proposal, for I feel certain that Mr. Armstrong will return +before the ranch is sold. So good-bye. Give my love to the boys." + +Stranleigh watched the retreating figure until it disappeared into the +bunk house. A moment later the perforated door was drawn shut, and then +he rolled up the bedclothes into a bundle, and deposited it at the +further end of the cavern. This done, he took his rifle under his arm, +crossed the barricade, and strolled down to the farm-house. Miss +Armstrong greeted him with surprise. + +"I thought you had gone to New York," she said. + +"I took the train east, but only to the next station from Bleachers." + +"You've not been stopping at that wretched hotel in Bleachers ever +since?" + +"Oh no; I received a pressing invitation from some friends of mine to be +their guest, with a prospect of a little shooting, so I've been staying +with them ever since." + +"Did you have a pleasant time?" + +"Oh, excellent, and I heard more entertaining stories than ever I +listened to in a similar period." + +"Good shooting?" + +"First rate. Limited in quantity, but of finest quality. Indeed, I may +boast of a record; I hit everything I aimed at. Camp fare, however, left +a good deal to be desired, so you may imagine how glad I am to return." + +"I'm very pleased to have an opportunity of giving you something better. +How would you like some nice broiled trout, freshly caught this +morning?" + +"Oh, heavenly!" cried Stranleigh, enthusiastically. "I haven't had +anything but bread and salt pork since I saw you. Who caught the trout?" + +"I did. I went down the river early this morning. I must have had a +premonition that you would return, famished for trout, and I had quite +an adventure, or rather, plunged into a mystery which I have not yet +solved. I heard the sound of firing; first a single shot, then a +fusilade. I could not tell from whence the sound came. I hurried home +with my basket, but there was no one in sight. After a while Jim came +in, very much crestfallen, it seemed to me, with his ear tied up +clumsily in a handkerchief. He had been shot through the ear, and of +course I came to his aid at once. With a woman's curiosity, I asked him +how the accident happened. Now, one of Jim's infirmities is that he can +only tell the truth when it suits his convenience." + +"Many of us are like that," said Stranleigh. + +"Well, this time it didn't suit his convenience." + +"What did he say?" + +"That the boys were having a sort of shooting match. I told him I had +heard the firing, and feared that there had been a battle of some sort. +He said it was the first shot that did for him. They had some bet on as +to who could fire the quickest at a flying mark. In his hurry to get +ready he had mishandled his gun, and sent a bullet through his ear. The +other men had then fired almost simultaneously." + +"Miss Armstrong, I fear you are too sceptical. Why shouldn't that be a +true story?" + +"Mr. Stranleigh, you quite underrate my intelligence. The wound in +Jim's ear was not caused by the gun he held. In the first place, his ear +would have been blackened with gunpowder, and likely would have been +partly torn off. Secondly, a mishandled gun would have fired upwards. +The bullet that wounded him was fired from a distance by someone higher +up than the spot where Jim stood. The wound was clean cut, slightly +inclining downwards. Besides all that, Jim's bullet, coming from an +old-fashioned rifle, would make a bigger hole. I know that, for you +remember I tended your shoulder, through which his bullet had gone." + +"By Jove, Miss Armstrong, if Sherlock Holmes had a daughter, she would +be just about your age. Was there anything else?" + +"Yes; I looked at the handkerchief in which he had bound his ear. It was +of a finer cambric than we have ever seen in this district, or indeed, +than I have seen anywhere else. The corner was embroidered with a very +delicately-worked crest." + +"A crest?" said Stranleigh, rather breathlessly. + +"I asked Jim where he had got this handkerchief. He seemed confused, but +said he had always had it. Bought it once at a five-cent store in +Denver." + +Stranleigh could not refrain from laughing. + +"You think it cost more than five cents?" + +"Yes; I am sure it cost more than twenty-five." + +"Perhaps he stole it?" + +"Jim might shoot a man, but he'd never steal." + +"I think that when you discover the owner of that handkerchief, you will +have solved the mystery," remarked Stranleigh calmly. + +"I think so, too," said the girl quietly. "Now I am going to cook your +trout." + +The three days following were among the most enjoyable Stranleigh had +ever spent. He asked Miss Armstrong to show him the portion of the river +in which she had caught those delicious trout. Heretofore, she had used +a baited hook when fishing, landing her spoil with a trout pole, but now +she was to be initiated in the delicate mysteries of fly fishing. +Stranleigh remembered the story told of an English official sent to view +the debateable land adjoining the far western boundary of Canada who +reported the territory useless, because the fish wouldn't rise to the +fly. He wondered what lure the official used, for here they rose readily +enough, and fought like demons until Miss Armstrong deftly lifted them +from the water in the new-fangled landing net, the like of which she had +never seen before. + +But in spite of the excellent sport he was enjoying, Stranleigh became +more and more anxious as time went on. Nothing had been heard from +Stanley Armstrong. The fisher began to fear that the detective had +failed in his search. On the morning of the fourth day he dressed in his +ordinary tweed suit. The riding costume attracted more attention than +was altogether convenient. He put in his pocket an automatic revolver of +the latest construction; light, accurate and deadly. The day of the +auction was drawing uncomfortably near, and he was determined that his +journey should not be interrupted, as his former ride had been. Aside +from this, he expected to carry with him a large amount of money, and if +any word of that got abroad, he knew a holdup was quite within the range +of possibility. The coterie confined in the bunk house would doubtless +learn that they were their own gaolers, and with that gang once free +upon the landscape, he anticipated interruption which, if successful, +would completely nullify his plans. + +"Are you going fishing to-day?" asked Miss Armstrong, when he came +downstairs. He had appeared unexpectedly soon that morning. The young +woman was always an early riser. + +"Fishing!" echoed Stranleigh. "Yes, in a manner of speaking. Isn't there +a text which refers to fishers of men? I'm going fishing for your +father. We should have had him here before this, but now the need of him +becomes imperative. I imagine that a telegram awaits me in Bleachers. If +not, I must communicate with New York, and wait for a reply." + +Stranleigh walked up the hill to the bunk house, and rapped at the panel +with the butt of his riding whip. Dean himself threw open the door, and +he could not conceal his astonishment at seeing the young man standing +there, apparently unarmed. + +"Good morning, Jim," said Stranleigh cordially. + +"I wish to enjoy a few minutes' conversation with the company before +leaving for Bleachers." + +"None of the company are out of their bunks yet, except myself, but I +guess they're wide enough awake to hear what you say. Won't you come +inside?" + +"Thank you," said Stranleigh, stepping across the threshold; then, to +the sleeping beauties--"The top of the morning to you! Early to bed and +late to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. Has wisdom come to +you since I left? Do you still intend to shoot up Bleachers on auction +day?" + +"You bet we do," said Dean. + +Stranleigh seated himself upon the chair he had formerly occupied. + +"How did you propose to get out?" + +"By the same way you escaped," responded Dean with determination. + +"What an inconvenient exit! I speak from sooty experience. Why not have +gone by the doorway?" + +"We didn't want to get shot," said Jim. + +"There was no danger of that. I have been spending my days in fishing, +and my nights in sound sleep." + +"Do you mean to say," cried Jim, "that there's been nobody on guard?" + +"No; you've been as free as air to go where you pleased." + +Dean laughed heartily, and the others joined him. The joke was on them, +but they seemed to enjoy rather than resent it. + +"You were right about brain and muscle," observed Jim at last. + +Stranleigh ignored the compliment. + +"I've got a proposal to make to you men," he went on. "I'm off to +Bleachers to do some telegraphing, trying to learn the whereabouts of +Mr. Armstrong, who has not yet put in an appearance. The sale takes +place day after to-morrow." + +[Illustration: "'Put down your hands and approach as a Christian +should.'"] + +Stranleigh paused in his recital. He noticed a stealthy movement among +the bunkers. He had observed that the first to sit up cast a longing +glance at the rifles stacked in the corner, and it seemed to him that +a simultaneous rush towards them was going to take place. + +"As you know, gentlemen," he went on, "I have an objection to shooting +as a settlement of any legal question, but if shooting has to be done, I +am quite prepared for it, and the inhabitants of Bleachers will regret +provoking me to a fusilade." + +He took from his pocket the neat little automatic pistol. + +"I don't suppose," he went on, "that you ever saw anything exactly like +this. It will simply rain bullets, and I can re-load before any of those +Bleachers men can get his hand to his hip pocket. Next to the Maxim gun, +it's the most deadly object in existence." Casually he cast his eye +along the bunks. Each man had withdrawn the leg that had been quietly +reaching for the floor. Stranleigh still fondled his weapon. + +"Just before you captured me, I had sent to New York for a considerable +sum of money, which was to reach me by express. I thought it better to +have no dealings with the bank, as I didn't wish Ricketts to learn what +I was doing. I expect that sum of money is at this moment resting in +the express office, and on the day of the sale I shall have more +currency on my person than is perhaps quite safe to carry. I therefore +wish to engage you as a bodyguard, if you agree to certain conditions. I +shall expect you all in Bleachers day after to-morrow, and shall pay +each of you fifty dollars for the day, and so that there may be no +mistake, I tender you the money now. Do you agree?" + +"What are the conditions?" asked Jim, cautiously. + +"First, you will keep clear of the tavern, and not drink." + +"That's easy. What next?" + +"You will not shoot until I give the word of command, and until I have +emptied my pistol." + +Jim consulted with his fellows, then turned to Stranleigh. + +"We agree," he said. + +"Right you are." Stranleigh rose, took from his pocket-book six +fifty-dollar bills, and laid them on the table. + +"Look here," cried Dean, "we don't want any money for this job." + +"I'm quite sure of that, but six honest men are as much entitled to +their pay as is a dishonest lawyer like Ricketts. So good-bye, until I +see you at Bleachers day after to-morrow." + +Stranleigh went down to the house, mounted his horse, and rode away. + +He had accomplished little more than half the distance when he perceived +a horseman coming towards him. They approached one another with some +caution. Stranleigh would have passed in silence had not the other +accosted him. + +"Hello, stranger!" he said. "You from the ranch?" + +"Yes." + +"Been stopping there?" + +"Yes." + +"How's everything? Folks all well?" + +"Yes; they were when I left. Is there any chance that you are Mr. +Armstrong?" + +"That's my name." + +"I'm very glad to meet you, sir. I'm Stranleigh, who telegraphed the +detective to find you and hand you two hundred dollars, begging you to +get home in a hurry." + +"Well, Mr. Stranleigh, all that was done, and here I am, but as for +paying back that two hundred dollars and expenses, I don't see how I am +to do it. I'm broke." + +"So I understand. Do you know your place is to be disposed of by forced +sale day after to-morrow?" + +"Yes; they've got me with my hands up." + +"I don't think so. I'm going to attend that sale, and probably our +friend Ricketts will regret the fact. Now, you turn your horse round and +accompany me to the settlement. I've got some money coming by express, +and being rather a stupid sort of person, it never occurred to me until +half an hour ago that I'd need to be identified before I got my hands on +that express package. So if you'll take my word that I am Stranleigh, +we'll collar the currency and attend the sale. I have a letter of +introduction to you from Mr. Banks, of New York, but I left it at your +house." + +"That's all right. I'll go surety that you're the man. I'd like mighty +well to see a little money, even if it belongs to another fellow." + +Armstrong turned his horse, who was not loth to set his face in the +other direction, because he belonged to White's Tavern. As the two men +jogged along together, Stranleigh explained the situation. Armstrong was +silent for some time, evidently in a state of dejection. + +"Well, Mr. Stranleigh," he said at last, "as you know, I am quite +helpless. I haven't a cent to bless myself nor curse an enemy with. I'm +no good as a business man, and the slick way in which those rascals in +Chicago separated me from what cash I had would make you laugh at me if +you knew how it was done." + +"I shouldn't be inclined to laugh. We read in Scripture of the man who +fell among thieves, and I imagine Chicago is a good place to find such +cattle, although I believe there are a few of them further west. I think +that Ricketts, in refusing the money when it was offered to him, +exceeded his legal rights." + +"Our sharpers out here," said Armstrong, "are always exceeding their +legal rights, but they get rich all the same. I confess I haven't so +much dependence on legality as a law-abiding citizen should have." + +"Your men on the ranch seem to hold the same opinion. In spite of all I +could say, they were determined to make a raid on Bleachers." + +"Did you manage to stop them?" enquired Armstrong eagerly. + +"I think I did," was the reply. + +There had been a flash of hope in Armstrong's eyes, but it now died down +to dejection again. + +"I am sorry for that," he said. + +Stranleigh gazed at him in astonishment. + +"You don't mean to say that you approve of such violence?" + +"Oh, well," said Armstrong nonchalantly, "when a man's in a corner, +he'll do most anything, and at such times a little gun play is not out +of place. I'll bet the boys would have stopped that sale." + +"Doubtless, but what good would that do?" + +"We should gain breathing space, and perhaps Ricketts wouldn't go on +with his villainy." + +"But it would land all your men in gaol." + +"Don't you believe it. The sheriff would have to catch the boys first, +and they know every ravine and stream and gully in the mountains, and +every trail in the woods, and if Ricketts was sacrificed in the +scrimmage, I, for one, wouldn't be chief mourner. These boys might not +be much good in Chicago, but they are very useful out here. A scoundrel +like Ricketts, who tries legally to steal a man's property, takes big +chances and runs a lot of risks, and no one knows that better than +himself. He has taken advantage of my being away from home." + +"It's not too late yet to carry out your plan. Although your men hold to +their resolve to visit Bleachers on the day of the sale, they have +promised not to shoot until I give the word of command." + +"They will be there, then, after all?" cried Armstrong, eagerly. + +"Certainly; I have engaged them as bodyguard, because, as I told you, I +shall have a considerable sum of money in my possession, and I don't +wish to be detached from that cash, either by Chicago methods, or those +of Bleachers. I want the sale to go on without any disturbance." + +"What's your plan?" + +"I intend to buy the ranch." + +"Do you imagine for a moment that you'll be allowed to?" + +"How can they prevent me if I've got the cash in my pocket?" + +"Why, first thing they'll do is to postpone the sale." + +"Has Ricketts power to do that?" + +"No; but the sheriff has, and the sheriff is Ricketts' man." + +"Official bribery, eh? Are you personally acquainted with the sheriff?" + +"Yes; I voted for him." + +"Is he a man who would rather do right than wrong?" + +"It depends how much money there is in either course." + +"Then I think our path is reasonably clear. If Ricketts can bribe him to +do wrong, we can bribe him to do right." + +Armstrong shook his head doubtfully. + +"It's not so easy as you think. He would take our money all right, but +he might not deliver the goods. He wouldn't stay bought." + +"That is a useful thing to know. We'll pay him half the money cash down, +and the other half when he _has_ delivered the goods. Would a hundred +dollars be sufficient?" + +"Oh, lord, yes! It gives Ricketts a pain when he parts with a ten-dollar +bill, so it won't take very much money to compete with him." + +"As you know the man, and as it's your ranch that is in jeopardy, you +can carry out the negotiations better than a stranger like myself." + +"That's so; if I have the cash. A hundred dollars would turn the trick." + +"Better take five hundred dollars and be sure of it." + +They stopped their horses and made the transfer of money where they +stood, as being safer than in the tavern. + +Arriving at Bleachers, they found the express office closed for the +night, but next day his lordship, with Armstrong as his identifier, +secured the package. + +The land sale took place in the Agricultural Hall, the largest building +in town. Stanley Armstrong's six armed followers arrived in good time, +and quite unobtrusively seated themselves in a row on a bench at the +rear of the hall. When Stranleigh, accompanied by Armstrong, came in, +the half dozen shook hands with their chief, and expressed no more +surprise at meeting him than if he had left them the week before. Large +as the hall was, it speedily filled up, but Lawyer Ricketts, on +entering, as he cast his eye over the assemblage, knew there were few +moneyed men among the crowd gathered there, and so anticipated no +serious opposition when the bidding began. + +The lawyer was accompanied by two friends; strangers in Bleachers, +who took their places beside him on the chairs provided near the +auctioneer's desk. Ricketts was an important man, and quite entitled to +reserved seats for himself and his friends. Last of all the sheriff +entered, and mounted the platform, bowing graciously to the meeting, +which was composed of constituents whose votes he would need next year. +It was quite evident that the sheriff was a popular man, for there was a +round of applause the moment he appeared. + +He got down to business without any unnecessary loss of time, reading +the documents giving the conditions of the sale, the item on which +Stranleigh was relying being that no cheques would be accepted, +or credit allowed. Payment must be cash down on the fall of the +auctioneer's gavel. This the clever lawyer had insisted upon, to +prevent all possibility of his being outbid by someone who desired +time for payment. Thus he dug a pit for his own undoing. + +Having finished this reading, the sheriff took a sip from the glass +supposed to hold water, and promptly began-- + +"You all know the property, gentlemen, so I need not detain you by any +lengthy description of it. How much am I offered for Armstrong's ranch?" + +"Three thousand dollars," said Ricketts. + +"Five thousand," promptly outbid the Earl of Stranleigh. + +There was a buzz of interest in the crowd, as if some one had stirred up +a nest of bees. They had not expected competition. Ricketts stood up and +scrutinised the numerous faces turned towards him, endeavouring to +discover from whom the bid came. Then he sat down, and whispered to +each of the men beside him. They nodded, and one of them stole quietly +out through the door by which the sheriff had entered. + +"He's gone for more money," said Stranleigh quietly to Armstrong. + +"Five thousand dollars I am bid," went on the sheriff. "Is there any +advance on five thousand dollars?" + +His gavel hovered over the table. + +"Six thousand," said Ricketts. + +"Ten thousand," offered Stranleigh, realising that his opponent was +playing for time. + +"Ten thousand dollars!" echoed the sheriff, then, glancing at the +lawyer; "It's against you, Mr. Ricketts." + +The lawyer hesitated. + +"Eleven thousand!" he said at last. + +"Fifteen thousand," bid Stranleigh, promptly. + +There were two anxious men in that hall. Stranleigh was wishing he had +sent for a hundred thousand dollars. It was evident that Ricketts +possessed good backing, but he had no means of knowing whether or not +these men had the necessary money actually in hand. Ricketts was the +second anxious man, and he was now gazing with apprehension at the door +through which his companion had disappeared. He was called to attention +by the strident voice of the sheriff. + +"Fifteen thousand dollars is the last bid. Going at fifteen thousand +once; going at fifteen thousand twice----" + +"Wait a moment, Mr. Sheriff: there's no hurry." + +"The sale must go on, Mr. Ricketts." + +"Certainly," replied the lawyer, "but it's your duty to get as much +as you can for the property. We all sympathise very much with our +neighbour, Mr. Armstrong, and whatever is paid over and above his debt +to me, goes to him." + +"I am aware of that, Mr. Ricketts, and your compassion for Mr. Armstrong +does you credit. Still, as I have said before, the sale must go on, and +unless there is another bid, I am compelled to knock the property down +to the last offer. Fifteen thousand dollars I am bid, and for the third +time----" + +"Sixteen thousand," cried Ricketts, taking out a handkerchief, and +mopping his brow. + +The missing man now re-appeared, and took his place beside the lawyer. +The three heads came closer together, and Stranleigh watched them with +half-closed eyes, apparently indifferent. + +"The bid is against you, sir," said the Sheriff. "By the way, what name, +please?" + +"Stranleigh." + +"Well, Mr. Stranleigh, I'm waiting for your bid." + +"Don't wait any longer, Mr. Sheriff. I'm anxious to know how much money +Mr. Ricketts possesses at the present moment. The ranch belongs to him +if he can hand over to you sixteen thousand dollars." + +Down came the gavel on the table. + +"Mr. Ricketts, the ranch is yours." + +Mr. Ricketts rose to his feet. + +"I ask for a postponement of this sale for a week from to-day." + +"I have no objection," said the Sheriff, "as of course I shall earn +another fee." + +There was a laugh at this, then the Sheriff continued-- + +"But I cannot postpone the sale without the consent of Mr. Stranleigh. +What do you say, Mr. Stranleigh?" + +"A postponement would be very inconvenient to me, much as I should like +to oblige Mr. Ricketts. I therefore refuse my consent." + +"If the Sheriff is willing," roared Ricketts, "we will postpone without +your consent, even if we have to turn you out by force." + +"I shouldn't try that if I were you, Mr. Ricketts. There are six friends +of mine sitting beside me, who are dead shots, and I don't think this +crowd would stand in the way if the first gun were levelled at you. I +ask that the sale go peacefully on, Mr. Sheriff." + +"There must be a postponement! The Sheriff has control over this +meeting!" + +"I am counting on that," said Stranleigh, "and I am sure that the +Sheriff will adhere strictly to the law. How much money have you +collected, Mr. Ricketts?" + +"That's none of your business." + +"Perhaps not; and so to make everything easy and agreeable to all +concerned, I bid seventeen thousand dollars for the property." + +"Show your money," demanded Ricketts. + +"You wouldn't show yours, so why should I show mine?" + +"Knock it down to him, Sheriff. I don't believe he has the cash." + +"Seventeen thousand I am offered. Going at seventeen thousand once; +going at seventeen thousand twice; going at seventeen thousand third +and last time. Going! Gone!" + +Down came the mallet. + +"I shall be obliged if you will hand over to me seventeen thousand +dollars, Mr. Stranleigh." + +"Certainly. With your permission, gentlemen!" and the crowd parted +good-naturedly. Stranleigh counted out the money on the Sheriff's table. + +Armstrong and his men went home directly the sale was over, but +Stranleigh remained until all the legal business was finished, and the +documents were in his possession. As he rode back to the ranch, he +meditated upon the situation in which he found himself. The object of +his trip to the West had been achieved. He had left New York tired of +its noise, its heated pavements and other uncomfortable disadvantages. +He had thought he would never care to see the metropolis again, but now +he was yearning for the atmosphere of a large city; London for choice. +He determined to bid farewell at once to the Armstrongs and the bunk +house men, then turn his face eastwards. + +Miss Armstrong was amazed to learn his decision. + +"But you haven't had even one day's shooting!" she protested. + +"Oh, I'll come for that another time," he assured her. + +"Before you go away, my father would like to make some arrangement with +you about this ranch." + +"I shall be very glad to come to an agreement with him." + +The girl sped up to the silver mine, where her father was superintending +the removal of the dynamite to its proper place, a job requiring some +little care. Armstrong accompanied his daughter down to the house, and +greeted Stranleigh with eagerness. + +"I am anxious to lease this place from you, Mr. Stranleigh, with the +option of buying it later on. I am sure I can make money from the silver +mine." + +"You must apply to the owner of the ranch, Mr. Armstrong." + +"The owner!" echoed Armstrong, in some alarm. "You haven't sold the +ranch since I saw you, I hope?" + +"No; but like most other men, I am in debt, and I intend to use this +property in payment of my obligation." + +Armstrong was taken aback by this declaration. Turning to Miss +Armstrong, Stranleigh took from his pocket a long, well-filled envelope. + +"These, Professor, are all the legal documents necessary to make you the +owner of the ranch, including deed and what-not. I am quite incapable of +understanding the red tape wound round the transaction, but I am assured +it is all right. I tender this in payment of my medical bill." + +"Oh," cried the girl, softly. Then she smiled. "As the sensational plays +have it, this is too much!" + +"Not a bit of it," returned Stranleigh. "You have no idea of the +appalling charges made by specialists in New York and London. Besides, +this includes payment of Jim's bill. You cured Jim's ear as well as my +shoulder, and I am responsible for Jim. His ear is the only shooting I +have had since I came to the ranch." + +The girl again began to protest, but Stranleigh interrupted. + +"As you are so loth to receive the property, I shall burden it with some +conditions. Your father will ask you to mortgage this land to raise +money for him. You must refuse that. Keep the ranch in your own name. +You have just seen how much trouble has been caused by Ricketts getting +his claws on the place. Your father has got, or will get, something +between ten and twelve thousand dollars from the proceeds of the sale. +Will you put that money into your daughter's hands, Mr. Armstrong?" + +"I suppose I'll have to if you say so," rather grudgingly conceded the +rancher. + +"Yes; I say so, because she is a good business woman. Now, Miss +Armstrong, you own the ranch, and with this money at your disposal, you +should be able to prove conclusively whether there is profitable ore in +that mine. When you are ready to demonstrate that fact, write to me, and +I'll get together the capital you need for the energetic development of +the mine. And now I must be off. Will you bid good-bye for me to my +friends, the bunk house men?" + +"Certainly; where shall I write to you when there is news of the mine to +send?" + +"Mr. Banks of New York always has my address." + +The girl held forward her hand. + +"Good-bye to you, Lord Stranleigh of Wychwood," she said. + +For the first time in his life, his lordship neglected to take the +proffered hand of a lady. + +"Are you making a guess, or stating a certainty, Miss Armstrong?" + +"I guess it's a certainty. I saw in a New York paper that Earl +Stranleigh of Wychwood was coming into this district to shoot. Then from +Jim's ear I unbound a handkerchief with a crest and a monogram on it." + +Stranleigh laughed, and took the hand still outstretched to him. + + +THE END. + +WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED, LONDON. + + + + +Ward, Lock & Co.'s POPULAR FICTION + + +A. E. W. MASON + +LAWRENCE CLAVERING. + +A remarkably powerful and stirring historical romance, full of life and +movement. + + +STANLEY WEYMAN + +MY LADY ROTHA. + +A Romance of the Thirty Years' War + +THE SATURDAY REVIEW.--"No one who begins will lay it down before the +end, it is so extremely well carried on from adventure to adventure." + + +EDEN PHILLPOTTS + +THE LOVERS. + +A brilliant tale of love and adventure. A true Phillpotts in every +respect, and should rank high among his works. + +THE MOTHER. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"This is Mr. Phillpotts' best book. Whatever may +be the value of some fiction, it will do every man and woman good to +read this book. Its perusal should leave the reader in a higher air." + + +H. RIDER HAGGARD + +AYESHA. + +THE COURT JOURNAL.--"A stupendous effort of imagination, and provides a +narrative as enthralling and as realistic as anything Mr. Haggard has +written." + +KEBLE HOWARD + +ONE OF THE FAMILY. + +EVENING STANDARD.--"We are again indebted to Mr. Keble Howard for giving +us a most amusing and cleverly written book." + + +S. R. CROCKETT + +JOAN OF THE SWORD HAND. + +THE DAILY MAIL.--"A triumph of cheery, resolute narration. The story +goes along like a wave, and the reader with it." + +STRONG MAC. + +THE MORNING POST.--"So vividly is the story told that it often reads +like a narrative of things that have actually happened." + +LITTLE ESSON. + +THE SCARBOROUGH POST.--"One of the most popular of Mr. Crockett's books +since 'Lilac Sunbonnet.'" + + +MAX PEMBERTON + +PRO PATRIA. + +THE LIVERPOOL MERCURY.--"A fine and distinguished piece of imaginative +writing; one that should shed a new lustre upon the clever author of +'Kronstadt.'" + +CHRISTINE OF THE HILLS. + +THE DAILY MAIL.--"Assuredly he has never written anything more fresh, +more simple, more alluring, or more artistically perfect." + +A GENTLEMAN'S GENTLEMAN. + +THE DAILY CHRONICLE.--"This is very much the best book Mr. Pemberton has +so far given us." + +THE GOLD WOLF. + +ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS.--"From the beginning Mr. Pemberton weaves his +romance with such skill that the tangled skein remains for long +unravelled." + +THE LODESTAR. + +THE STANDARD.--"It impresses us as an exceedingly poignant and effective +story, true to real life. Written with cleverness and charm." + +WHITE WALLS. + +THE LADY.--"A melodrama cleverly imagined, written in the author's +happiest and most spirited style, and well illustrated by Maurice +Greiffenhagen." + +LEILA AND HER LOVER. + +Shows the author in his most romantic and emotional manner. + + +ROBERT BARR + +LORD STRANLEIGH, PHILANTHROPIST. + +THE MANCHESTER COURIER.--"Mr. Barr's spirits never flag, his stories +have all point, and one may recommend the latest exploits of Lord +Stranleigh as being as amusing as ever." + +LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD. + +The last adventures of one of the breeziest and most notable characters +in modern fiction. + + +JUSTUS MILES FORMAN + +THE ISLAND OF ENCHANTMENT. + +MADAME.--"Rather should this delightful volume have been titled 'The +Book of Enchantment.'" + +THE UNKNOWN LADY. + +OBSERVER.--"This is the best work its author has ever attempted or +achieved. There is charm in every line of it." + +BIANCA'S DAUGHTER. + +THE ATHENÆUM.--"Mr. Forman is one of the most distinctively romantic +writers of to-day. He has a fund of fine sympathy." + +JOURNEY'S END. + +THE COURT JOURNAL.--"Surprisingly fresh, abounding in touches of +observation and sentiment." + +MONSIGNY: THE SOUL OF GOLD. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"The novel is admirable, the idea is very cleverly +worked out, and the book is worthy of much praise." + +THE GARDEN OF LIES. + +THE DAILY NEWS.--"This novel is far in advance of anything that Mr. +Forman has hitherto accomplished. 'The Garden of Lies' belongs to that +class of story which touches the heart from the first. It is a real +romance, full of vigour and a clean, healthy life." + +TOMMY CARTERET. + +THE DAILY CHRONICLE.--"This is a fine book, thoroughly fine from start +to finish." + +BUCHANAN'S WIFE. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"'Buchanan's Wife' may be regarded as another +success for an already successful author." + +A MODERN ULYSSES. + +PEOPLE'S SATURDAY JOURNAL.--"Full of exciting incidents handled in a +bright, crisp style." + +THE QUEST. + +WORLD.--"'The Quest' is every whit as good as its author's best known +story, 'The Garden of Lies.'" + +THE COURT OF THE ANGELS. + +THE ATHENÆUM.--"A gay, light-hearted, and pleasantly discursive book." + +THE HARVEST MOON. + +THE STANDARD.--"Mr. Forman is an accomplished writer of romance, as he +has shown us on many previous occasions, and once again he holds us with +his spell." + +THE OPENING DOOR. + +One of the best stories Justus Miles Forman has written since "The +Garden of Lies." + + +E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM + +FALSE EVIDENCE. + +WESTERN MAIL.--"One takes up a story by Mr. E. Phillips Oppenheim with +the certainty of enjoyment, and the reader is never disappointed." + +THE POSTMASTER OF MARKET DEIGNTON. + +FREEMAN'S JOURNAL.--"Mr. Oppenheim's undoubted genius for clever +construction and guarding his secret was never better shown than in this +story." + +THE PEER AND THE WOMAN. + +THE COVENTRY STANDARD.--"A thrilling story by that clever writer of +fiction, Mr. E. Phillips Oppenheim, which will add another work of +interest to the already long list of his delightful creations." + +BERENICE. + +THE YORKSHIRE OBSERVER.--"More sincere work than is to be found in this +novel Mr. Oppenheim has never written. The subject shows the author in a +new and unexpected light." + +MR. MARX'S SECRET. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"'Mr. Marx's Secret' has a wonderful power of +fascination: it is strongly written, and is certain to appeal to that +popular author's admirers." + +JEANNE OF THE MARSHES. + +BRISTOL MERCURY.--"'Jeanne of the Marshes' is charming and delightful in +the extreme; without a doubt it will be voted one of the best novels of +the season." + +THE LONG ARM. + +THE WORLD.--"'The Long Arm' is a clever story, which no one will lay +down till every line is read." + +THE GOVERNORS. + +THE GLOBE.--"'The Governors' is by Mr. E. P. Oppenheim--need more be +said to assure the reader that it is as full of ruses, politics, and +sensations as heart could desire." + +THE MISSIONER. + +THE HUDDERSFIELD EXAMINER.--"We have nothing but the very highest praise +for this book. Deeply engrossing as a novel, pure in style, and +practically faultless as a literary work." + +CONSPIRATORS. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"The author must be congratulated on having +achieved a story which is full of liveliness." + +THE SECRET. + +THE STANDARD.--"We have no hesitation in saying that this is the finest +and most absorbing story that Mr. Oppenheim has ever written. It glows +with feeling; it is curiously fertile in character and incident, and it +works its way onward to a most remarkable climax." + +A MAKER OF HISTORY. + +THE STANDARD.--"Those who read 'A Maker of History' will revel in the +plot, and will enjoy all those numerous deft touches of actuality that +have gone to make the story genuinely interesting and exciting." + +THE MASTER MUMMER. + +THE DUNDEE ADVERTISER.--"It is a beautiful story that is here set within +a story." + +THE BETRAYAL. + +THE DUNDEE ADVERTISER.--"Mr. Oppenheim's skill has never been displayed +to better advantage than here.... He has excelled himself, and to assert +this is to declare the novel superior to nine out of ten of its +contemporaries." + +ANNA, THE ADVENTURESS. + +THE DAILY NEWS.--"Mr. Oppenheim keeps his readers on the alert from +cover to cover, and the story is a fascinating medley of romance and +mystery." + +THE YELLOW CRAYON. + +THE DAILY EXPRESS.--"Mr. Oppenheim has a vivid imagination and much +sympathy, fine powers of narrative, and can suggest a life history in a +sentence." + +A PRINCE OF SINNERS. + +VANITY FAIR.--"A vivid and powerful story. Mr. Oppenheim knows the +world, and the unusual nature of the setting in which his leading +characters live gives this book distinction among the novels of the +season." + +THE TRAITORS. + +THE ATHENÆUM.--"Its interest begins on the first page and ends on the +last. The plot is ingenious and well managed, the movement of the story +is admirably swift, and the characters are exceedingly vivacious." + +A LOST LEADER. + +THE DAILY GRAPHIC.--"Mr. Oppenheim almost treats us to a romance which +is full of originality and interest from first to last." + +MR. WINGRAVE, MILLIONAIRE. + +THE BRITISH WEEKLY.--"Like good wine Mr. Oppenheim's novels need no +bush. They attract by their own charm, and are unrivalled in +popularity." + +AS A MAN LIVES. + +THE SKETCH.--"The interest of the book, always keen and absorbing, is +due to some extent to a puzzle so admirably planned as to defy the +penetration of the most experienced novel reader." + +A DAUGHTER OF THE MARIONIS. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"Mr. Oppenheim's stories always display much melodramatic +power and considerable originality and ingenuity of construction. These +and other qualities of the successful writer of romance are manifest in +'A Daughter of the Marionis.'" + +THE MYSTERY OF MR. BERNARD BROWN. + +THE ABERDEEN DAILY JOURNAL.--"The story is rich in sensational incident +and dramatic situations. It is seldom, indeed, that we meet with a novel +of such power and fascination." + +THE MAN AND HIS KINGDOM. + +THE FREEMAN'S JOURNAL.--"The story is worthy of Merriman at his very +best. It is a genuine treat for the ravenous and often disappointed +novel reader." + +THE WORLD'S GREAT SNARE. + +THE WORLD.--"It is full of dramatic incidents, thoroughly exciting and +realistic. There is not one dull page from beginning to end." + +A MONK OF CRUTA. + +THE BOOKMAN.--"Intensely dramatic. The book is an achievement at which +the author may well be gratified." + +MYSTERIOUS MR. SABIN. + +THE LITERARY WORLD.--"As a story of interest, with a deep-laid and +exciting plot, this of the 'Mysterious Mr. Sabin' can hardly be +surpassed." + +A MILLIONAIRE OF YESTERDAY. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"We cannot but welcome with enthusiasm a really +well-told story like 'A Millionaire of Yesterday.'" + +THE SURVIVOR. + +THE NOTTINGHAM GUARDIAN.--"We must give a conspicuous place on its +merits to this excellent story. It is only necessary to read a page or +two in order to become deeply interested." + +THE GREAT AWAKENING. + +THE YORKSHIRE POST.--"A weird and fascinating story, which for real +beauty and originality, ranks far above the ordinary novel." + +FOR THE QUEEN. + +MODERN SOCIETY.--"The fame of Mr. Oppenheim is world wide, and in 'For +the Queen' the author lives up to the highest traditions of his +reputation as a writer of fiction." + +THOSE OTHER DAYS. + +Mr. Oppenheim ranges with assured mastery from grave to gay, while +diplomatic scandals and political intrigues are woven with that delicate +skill which we expect from him as a sort of right. + +EXPIATION. + +Mr. Oppenheim is one of the cleverest weavers of plots who write the +English language, and he has many examples of his skill. "Expiation" is +quite one of his best. + + +FRED M. WHITE + +THE OPEN DOOR. + +An absorbing tale of unusual interest and mystery. Mr. White's high +reputation for sensationalism is well known, and "The Open Door" will +certainly uphold it. + +THE FIVE KNOTS. + +WESTERN DAILY PRESS.--"Mr. White has written several books, all of which +have been enjoyed by a large number of readers, who will probably agree +that it is the best." + +THE LAW OF THE LAND. + +DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"Mr. White's new novel may be strongly recommended. It +contains enough surprises to whip the interest at every turn." + +THE MYSTERY OF THE RAVENSPURS. + +MODERN SOCIETY.--"As the plot is unfolded the reader becomes more and +more fascinated, the interest being powerfully held until the close." + +THE SECRET OF THE SANDS. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"Mr. Fred M. White has written a story full of dramatic +surprises. Mr. White is a master of sensations, and his introduction of +the incident of the Italian Vendetta gives point to a good tale." + +THE GOLDEN ROSE. + +IRISH INDEPENDENT.--"This latest book possesses all those +characteristics which go to make Mr. White's novels so readable and so +popular." + + +PAUL TRENT + +THE FOUNDLING. + +DAILY GRAPHIC.--"The character of Strand is an excellent study, cleverly +and strongly drawn, and the book is a very interesting and readable +work." + +THE SECOND CHANCE. + +Mr. Paul Trent's stories, "The Vow" and "The Foundling," were powerful +tales with a motive. "The Second Chance," as its title indicates, is of +the same school. + + +LOUIS TRACY + +SYLVIA'S CHAUFFEUR. + +MORNING LEADER.--"'Sylvia's Chauffeur' is as pleasant a piece of light +reading as any one could desire." + +RAINBOW ISLAND. + +THE LITERARY WORLD.--"Those who delight in tales of adventure should +hail 'Rainbow Island' with joyous shouts of welcome. Rarely have we met +with more satisfying fare of this description than in its pages." + +THE ALBERT GATE AFFAIR. + +THE BIRMINGHAM POST.--"Will worthily rank with 'The Fatal Legacy' and +'Rainbow Island,' both books full of wholesome excitement." + +THE PILLAR OF LIGHT. + +THE EVENING STANDARD.--"So admirable, so living, so breathlessly +exciting a book. The magnificent realism of the lighthouse and its +perils are worthy of praise from the most jaded reader." + +A SON OF THE IMMORTALS. + +THE MORNING POST.--"Mr. Tracy's new book 'A Son of the Immortals' is of +a highly sensational character, and adventures and stirring situations +follow closely upon one another's heels all through it." + +MIRABEL'S ISLAND. + +A delightfully exciting and fascinating romance of love and adventure, +comparable to its author's famous success, "Rainbow Island." + +NO OTHER WAY. + +FINANCIAL TIMES.--"Mr. Tracy's latest novel provides an absorbing +narrative which is not likely to be cast aside prematurely." + + +HEADON HILL + +THE COTTAGE IN THE CHINE. + +Will make a strong appeal to lovers of sensational fiction; every page +has its incident or adventure, and the most exacting reader will not +find a dull moment until the last page is turned. + +MY LORD THE FELON. + +THE BOOKSELLER.--"Every page of this book has its incident or adventure, +while the reader's interest is kept up to the last chapter." + +THE CRIMSON HONEYMOON. + +"The Crimson Honeymoon" is a really fascinating sensation story, well +written and cleverly put together. + + +HAROLD BINDLOSS + +THE TRUSTEE. + +Another powerful and well-written story of hardihood, love and adventure +in Canada. The clean, fresh atmosphere which pervades it is distinctly +exhilarating. + +PUNCH.--"Mr. Bindloss is an author who can deftly use sensationalism to +his purpose without forcing it for mere effect, and who can also depict +the character of a strong man as honest as determined in love with a +sweet woman. He tells a story with rare skill." + +THE PIONEER. + +THE BOOKMAN.--"Altogether a fresh, stimulating, wholesome story, and one +which should only be banned by parents who do not wish their fledglings +to succumb to the fascinating lure of the wilds." + +ACADEMY.--"His novels are terse, powerful, yet graceful, showing +intimate knowledge and acute observation, never overweighted with +description, yet containing many delightful pictures." + +THE PROTECTOR. + +MORNING POST.--"Mr. Bindloss is always a sure find for a good story, and +in this one he has, if possible, excelled himself." + +THE LIBERATIONIST + +MORNING LEADER.--"This is the author's best novel, and is one which no +lover of healthy excitement ought to miss." + +HAWTREY'S DEPUTY. + +THE WESTERN DAILY MERCURY.--"The whole story is told with the most +spontaneous verve, and is tinged with a delightful element of romance." + +THE IMPOSTOR. + +THE QUEEN.--"Mr. Bindloss writes books which are always good to read. +His writing is uniformly good, and his books are always sane, intensely +interesting, and dealing with subjects that cannot fail to concern a +wide public." + +THE WASTREL. + +THE TIMES.--"Mr. Bindloss's books are unchangeably true to type; and in +the distracting medley of modern fiction they calm and regulate the +mind." + + +J. C. SNAITH + +MISTRESS DOROTHY MARVIN. + +THE NOTTINGHAM GUARDIAN.--"Mr. Snaith stirs the blood, from the first +page to the last, and all the characters live, move, and have their +being." + +LADY BARBARITY. + +BLACK AND WHITE says:--"'Lady Barbarity' would cheer a pessimist in a +November fog. It is so gay, so good humoured, so full of the influence +of youth and beauty." + + +GUY BOOTHBY + +THE RACE OF LIFE. + +THE ENGLISH REVIEW.--"Ahead even of Mr. Cutcliffe Hyne and Conan Doyle, +Mr. Boothby may be said to have topped popularity's pole." + +THE CRIME OF THE UNDER SEAS. + +THE SPEAKER.--"Is quite the equal in art, observation, and dramatic +intensity to any of Mr. Guy Boothby's numerous other romances." + +A BID FOR FREEDOM. + +THE SHEFFIELD TELEGRAPH.--"A fully written romance, which bristles with +thrilling passages, exciting adventures, and hairbreadth escapes." + +A TWO-FOLD INHERITANCE. + +PUNCH.--"Just the very book that a hard-working man should read for +genuine relaxation." + +CONNIE BURT. + +THE BIRMINGHAM GAZETTE.--"One of the best stories we have seen of Mr. +Boothby's." + +THE KIDNAPPED PRESIDENT. + +PUBLIC OPINION.--"Brighter, crisper, and more entertaining than any of +its predecessors from the same pen." + +MY STRANGEST CASE. + +THE YORKSHIRE POST.--"No work of Mr. Boothby's seems to us to have +approached in skill his new story." + +FAREWELL, NIKOLA. + +THE DUNDEE ADVERTISER.--"Guy Boothby's famous creation of Dr. Nikola has +become familiar to every reader of fiction." + +MY INDIAN QUEEN. + +THE SUNDAY SPECIAL.--"A vivid story of adventure and daring, bearing all +the characteristics of careful workmanship." + +LONG LIVE THE KING. + +THE ABERDEEN FREE PRESS.--"It is marvellous that Mr. Boothby's novels +should all be so uniformly good." + +A PRINCE OF SWINDLERS. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"Of absorbing interest. The exploits are described in an +enthralling vein." + +A MAKER OF NATIONS. + +THE SPECTATOR.--"'A Maker of Nations' enables us to understand Mr. +Boothby's vogue. It has no lack of movement or incident." + +THE RED RAT'S DAUGHTER. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"Mr. Guy Boothby's name on the title-page of a +novel carries with it the assurance of a good story to follow." + +LOVE MADE MANIFEST. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"One of those tales of exciting adventure in the +confection of which Mr. Boothby is not excelled by any novelist of the +day." + +PHAROS THE EGYPTIAN. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"This powerful novel is weird and soul-thrilling. There +never was in this world so strange and wonderful a love story." + +ACROSS THE WORLD FOR A WIFE. + +THE BRITISH WEEKLY.--"This stirring tale ranks next to 'Dr. Nikola' in +the list of Mr. Boothby's novels." + +THE LUST OF HATE. + +THE DAILY GRAPHIC.--"Whoever wants dramatic interest let him read 'The +Lust of Hate.'" + +THE FASCINATION OF THE KING. + +THE BRISTOL MERCURY.--"Unquestionably the best work we have yet seen +from the pen of Mr. Guy Boothby." + +DR. NIKOLA. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"One hairbreadth escape succeeds another with rapidity +that scarce leaves the reader breathing space." + +THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE DEVIL. + +THE YORKSHIRE POST.--"A more exciting romance no man could reasonably +ask for." + +A BID FOR FORTUNE. + +THE MANCHESTER COURIER.--"It is impossible to give any idea of the verve +with which the story is told. The most original novel of the year." + +IN STRANGE COMPANY. + +THE WORLD.--"A capital novel. It has the quality of life and stir, and +will carry the reader with curiosity unabated to the end." + +THE MARRIAGE OF ESTHER. + +THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN.--"There is a vigour and a power of illusion +about it that raises it quite above the level of the ordinary novel of +adventure." + +BUSHIGRAMS. + +THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN.--"Intensely interesting. Forces from us, by its +powerful artistic realism, those choky sensations which it should be the +aim of the human writer to elicit, whether in comedy or tragedy." + +SHEILAH MCLEOD. + +MR. W. L. ALDEN IN THE NEW YORK TIMES.--"Mr. Boothby can crowd more +adventure into a square foot of canvas than any other novelist." + +DR. NIKOLA'S EXPERIMENT. + +Illustrated by Sidney Cowell. + +THE MAN OF THE CRAG. + + +ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT + +IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE. + +NORTH DEVON JOURNAL.--"A novel of absorbing interest. The plot is +developed very cleverly, and there is a delightful love theme." + +IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"A well-sustained and thrilling narrative." + +THE LITTLE ANARCHIST. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"A romance brimful of incident and arousing in the reader +a healthy interest that carries him along with never a pause." + +AN IMPERIAL MARRIAGE. + +SCOTSMAN.--"The action never flags, the romantic element is always +paramount, so that the production is bound to appeal successfully to all +lovers of spirited fiction." + + +BERTRAM MITFORD + +SELMIN OF SELMINGFOLD. + +FINANCIAL TIMES.--"A combination of sentiment and love interest with the +more practical and serious side of life unite to make this novel of a +singularly interesting nature, and we are confident that it will meet +with great popularity." + +THE RIVER OF UNREST. + +SCOTSMAN.--"Mr. Mitford brings forward with excellent effect his +knowledge of nature, customs and tradition. The product is a tale rich +in incident and character, set against an effective background of +savagery and mystery." + +A DUAL RESURRECTION. + +READING STANDARD.--"The novel reader who loves a really good novel full +of desperate adventure will never be disappointed when Mr. Mitford's +books are in question. This is a strong and clever piece of work, the +plot is ingenious and the characterization uncommonly well done." + +SEAFORD'S SNAKE. + +MADAME.--"If you like well-written stories of adventure you should get +Mr. Mitford's latest novel. The characters are well portrayed, the story +written in a brisk, virile style that proves very attractive." + +HEATH HOVER MYSTERY. + +TIMES.--"A capital mystery and detective story, with some exciting +scenes in India." + + +JOSEPH HOCKING + +THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD. + +THE FINANCIAL TIMES.--"A strong knowledge of human nature, for which Mr. +Hocking is famous, is well portrayed in the pages of this novel, and +this, in conjunction with the interesting nature of the plot, renders it +particularly successful. The book will be appreciated by novel readers." + +ROGER TREWINION. + +T P'S WEEKLY.--"It is a foregone conclusion that Mr. Hocking will always +have a good story to tell. 'Roger Trewinion' can stand forth with the +best, a strong love interest, plenty of adventure, an atmosphere of +superstition, and Cornwall as the scene." + +THE COMING OF THE KING. + +THE GLASGOW HERALD.--"Mr. Hocking's imagination is fertile, and his +skill in the arrangement of incident far above the average, and there is +an air of reality in all his writing which is peculiarly charming." + +ESAU. + +THE OUTLOOK.--"Remarkable for the dramatic power with which the scenes +are drawn and the intense human interest which Mr. Hocking has woven +about his characters. 'Esau' is sure to be one of the novels of the +season." + +GREATER LOVE. + +THE NEWCASTLE CHRONICLE.--"Though of a totally different character from +'Lest We Forget,' Mr. Hocking's latest story is entitled to take rank +along with that fine romance." + +LEST WE FORGET. + +PUBLIC OPINION.--"His story is quite as good as any we have read of the +Stanley Weyman's school, and presents an excellent picture of the +exciting times of Gardiner and Bonner." + +AND SHALL TRELAWNEY DIE? + +THE WEEKLY SUN.--"An engaging and fascinating romance. The reader puts +the story down with a sigh, and wishes there were more of these breezy +Cornish uplands, for Mr. Joseph Hocking's easy style of narrative does +not soon tire." + +JABEZ EASTERBROOK. + +THE ROCK.--"Real strength is shown in the sketches, of which that of +Brother Bowman is most prominent. In its way it is delightful." + +THE WEAPONS OF MYSTERY. + +"Weapons of Mystery" is a singularly powerful story of occult influences +and of their exertion for evil purposes. + +ZILLAH: A ROMANCE. + +THE SPECTATOR.--"The drawing of some of the characters indicates the +possession by Mr. Hocking of a considerable gift of humour. The contents +of his book indicate that he takes a genuine interest in the deeper +problems of the day." + +THE MONK OF MAR-SABA. + +THE STAR.--"Great power and thrilling interest.... The scenery of the +Holy Land has rarely been so vividly described as in this charming book +of Mr. Hocking's." + +THE PURPLE ROBE. + +THE QUEEN.--"It is exceedingly clever, and excites the reader's interest +and brings out the powerful nature of the clever young minister. This +most engrossing book challenges comparison with the brilliance of +Lothair." + +THE SCARLET WOMAN. + +THE METHODIST RECORDER.--"This is Mr. Hocking's strongest and best book. +We advise every one to read it. The plot is simple, compact and +strenuous; the writing powerful." + +ALL MEN ARE LIARS. + +THE CHRISTIAN WORLD.--"This is a notable book. Thoughtful people will be +fascinated by its actuality, its fearlessness, and the insight it gives +into the influence of modern thought and literature upon the minds and +morals of our most promising manhood." + +ISHMAEL PENGELLY: AN OUTCAST. + +THE ATHENÆUM.--"The book is to be recommended for the dramatic +effectiveness of some of the scenes. The wild, half-mad woman is always +picturesque wherever she appears, and the rare self-repression of her +son is admirably done." + +THE STORY OF ANDREW FAIRFAX. + +THE MANCHESTER EXAMINER.--"Rustic scenes and characters are drawn with +free, broad touches, without Mr. Buchanan's artificiality, and, if we +may venture to say it, with more realism than Mr. Hardy's country +pictures." + +THE BIRTHRIGHT. + +THE SPECTATOR.--"'The Birthright' is, in its way, quite as well +constructed, as well written, and as full of incident as any story that +has come from the pen of Sir Conan Doyle or Mr. Stanley Weyman." + +MISTRESS NANCY MOLESWORTH. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"'Mistress Nancy Molesworth' is as charming a story of +the kind as could be wished, and it excels in literary workmanship as +well as in imaginative vigour and daring invention." + +FIELDS OF FAIR RENOWN. + +THE DUNDEE ADVERTISER.--"Mr. Hocking has produced a work which his +readers of all classes will appreciate.... There are exhibited some of +the most beautiful aspects of disposition." + +GOD AND MAMMON. + +THE LITERARY WORLD.--"The hero of Mr. Hocking's latest novel is a clever +young country lawyer. The story is vigorously told, his struggles, his +success and his love affairs are vividly described, while a strong +religious tone pervades the book." + + +MARIE CONNOR LEIGHTON + +HER CONVICT HUSBAND. + +Although Mrs. Leighton's work is often spoken of as "melodramatic," it +is of the kind that one enthuses over by reason of its emotional +interest and unusual realism. + +HER MARRIAGE LINES. + +Can be safely recommended to those who like their fiction hot and strong +and full of sensation of the more robust sort. Marie Connor Leighton has +proved herself one of our cleanest and most prolific weavers of +sensational novels, and "Her Marriage Lines" shows no diminution of her +inventive faculties. + +DUCKS AND DRAKES. + +A tale comparable to "Convict 99" in its actuality and holding interest. + +THE MISSING MISS RANDOLPH. + +Marie C. Leighton has done full justice to her reputation as a writer of +highly sensational and dramatic fiction. + +THE TRIANGLE. + +THE COMMENTATOR.--"Altogether a most powerful and well-written novel; +and one likely to maintain a permanently conspicuous position upon every +library list." + + +EDGAR WALLACE. + +GREY TIMOTHY. + +DAILY NEWS AND LEADER.--"Mr. Wallace has written one of the most +exciting and sensational stories we have read for some time." + +SANDERS OF THE RIVER. + +THE SPORTSMAN.--"Mr. Wallace is an artist. He lifts us out of ourselves +into another world, and makes it not less real than the one we are in +daily contact with." + +THE PEOPLE OF THE RIVER. + +THE GENTLEMAN'S JOURNAL.--"There is masculine virility in every line, +and from first to last our attention is closely gripped; a grand book, +unaffected and sincere." + +PRIVATE SELBY. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"The story is always attractive by the cleverness with +which it keeps fantastic history persuasive, and it goes so quickly that +it is over before one realizes that it is unreal." + +THE RIVER OF STARS. + +Another of Mr. Edgar Wallace's strenuous tales of crime and adventure. + + +CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS' + +NATURE BOOKS. + +"Picturesque, full of character, instructive, entertaining, often +thrilling--the stories are sure to be received with the same pleasure as +their predecessors have been by both the naturalist and the lover of +good literature."--ILLUSTRATED SPORTING AND DRAMATIC NEWS. + +"Under the guidance of Mr. Roberts we have often adventured among the +wild beasts of the land and sea, and we hope to do so many times in the +future. It is an education not to be missed by those who have the +chance, and the chance is every one's."--THE ATHENÆUM. + + + THE HOUSE IN THE WATER. + MORE KINDRED OF THE WILD. + THE BACKWOODSMEN. + KINGS IN EXILE. + NEIGHBOURS UNKNOWN. + THE FEET OF THE FURTIVE. + + +L. G. MOBERLY + +FORTUNE'S FOUNDLING. + +MORNING LEADER.--"Miss L. G. Moberly is, as our readers are aware, an +extremely skilful weaver of mysteries, and remarkably successful in +keeping up interest in them." + +CHRISTINA. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"Mrs. L. G. Moberley's story runs very pleasantly +along familiar grooves. It is a pretty, simply-told tale, which will +delight this popular author's many readers." + +HIS LITTLE GIRL. + +THE DERBYSHIRE TIMES.--"It is charmingly written, a robust story, with a +well-defined plot through which runs a vein of mystery and romance." + +VIOLET DUNSTAN. + +A distinctly pleasing romance, full of incident and cleverly told, which +will delight this popular author's many readers. + + +EFFIE ADELAIDE ROWLANDS + +IN LOVE'S LAND. + +THE READING STANDARD.--"The many readers of Miss Rowlands' stories will +find her latest volume even more delightful than its predecessors. It is +a well-written romance, wholesome and pleasant to read, and decidedly +entertaining, for the interest is well sustained to the end." + +THE ROSE OF LIFE. + +A remarkably fine love story, cleverly developed, and fascinating +throughout. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber’s note: + +Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters’ errors; +otherwise, every effort has been made to remain true to the +author’s words and intent. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD*** + + +******* This file should be named 32185-8.txt or 32185-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/1/8/32185 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Lord Stranleigh Abroad</p> +<p>Author: Robert Barr</p> +<p>Release Date: April 30, 2010 [eBook #32185]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4>E-text prepared by D Alexander<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net/c/">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org/">http://www.archive.org</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/lordstranleighab00barruoft"> + http://www.archive.org/details/lordstranleighab00barruoft</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 315px;"> +<img src="images/icover.jpg" width="315" height="500" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h1>LORD STRANLEIGH<br /> +ABROAD</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>ROBERT BARR</h2> + +<p class="smallgap"> </p> + +<p class="center"><i>Author of “Young Lord Stranleigh,” “Lord Stranleigh,<br /> +Philanthropist,” “The Mutable Many,” etc.</i></p> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<h3>WARD, LOCKE & CO., LIMITED</h3> +<h4>LONDON, MELBOURNE, AND TORONTO</h4> +<p class="center">1913</p> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 322px;"> +<img src="images/i003.jpg" class="ispace" width="322" height="500" alt="“‘Why did you wish to murder me?’” (Page 189.) +Frontispiece" title="" /> +<span class="caption">“‘Why did you wish to murder me?’” (Page <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.)</span> +</div> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="34%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="Frontispiece"> +<tr><td align="left"><i><small><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lord Stranleigh Abroad]</span></small></i></td> +<td align="right"><i><small><span style="font-weight: bold;">[Frontispiece.</span></small></i></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS"> + +<tr><td align="right" colspan="2"> </td> +<td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">I.—</td> +<td><span class="smcap"><span style="margin-left: -0.2em;">Lord Stranleigh all at Sea</span></span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#LORD_STRANLEIGH_ABROAD">7</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">II.—</td> +<td><span class="smcap">An Automobile Ride</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#II_AN_AUTOMOBILE_RIDE">49</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">III.—</td> +<td><span class="smcap">The God in the Car</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#III_THE_GOD_IN_THE_CAR">87</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">IV.—</td> +<td><span class="smcap">The Mad Miss Maturin</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#IV_THE_MAD_MISS_MATURIN">125</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">V.—</td> +<td><span class="smcap">In Search of Game</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#V_IN_SEARCH_OF_GAME">164</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VI.—</td> +<td><span class="smcap">The Bunk House Prisoner</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#VI_THE_BUNK_HOUSE_PRISONER">209</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VII.—</td> +<td><span class="smcap">The End of the Contest</span></td> +<td align="right"><a href="#VII_THE_END_OF_THE_CONTEST">259</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="LORD_STRANLEIGH_ABROAD" id="LORD_STRANLEIGH_ABROAD"></a>LORD STRANLEIGH<br /> ABROAD.</h2> + +<p class="center">——◆——</p> + +<h3>I.—LORD STRANLEIGH ALL AT SEA.</h3> + +<p>A few minutes before noon on a hot summer day, Edmund Trevelyan walked +up the gang-plank of the steamship, at that moment the largest Atlantic +liner afloat. Exactly at the stroke of twelve she would leave +Southampton for Cherbourg, then proceed across to Queenstown, and +finally would make a bee-line west for New York. Trevelyan was costumed +in rough tweed of subdued hue, set off by a cut so well-fitting and +distinguished that it seemed likely the young man would be looked upon +by connoisseurs of tailoring as the best-dressed passenger aboard. He +was followed by Ponderby, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>his valet, whose usually expressionless face +bore a look of dissatisfaction with his lot, as though he had been +accustomed to wait upon the nobility, and was now doomed to service with +a mere commoner. His lack of content, however, was caused by a dislike +to ocean travel in the first place, and his general disapproval of +America in the second. A country where all men are free and equal +possessed no charms for Ponderby, who knew he had no equal, and was not +going to demean himself by acknowledging the possibility of such.</p> + +<p>Once on deck, his master turned to him and said—</p> + +<p>“You will go, Ponderby, to my suite of rooms, and see that my luggage is +placed where it should be, and also kindly satisfy yourself that none of +it is missing.”</p> + +<p>Ponderby bowed in a dignified manner, and obeyed without a word, while +Trevelyan mounted the grand staircase, moving with an easy nonchalance +suited to a day so inordinately hot. The prospect of an ocean voyage in +such weather was in itself refreshing, and so prone is mankind to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>live +in the present, and take no thought of the morrow, that Trevelyan had +quite forgotten the cablegrams he read in the papers on his way down +from London, to the effect that New York was on the grill, its +inhabitants sweltering—sleeping on the house-tops, in the parks, on the +beach at Coney Island, or wherever a breath of air could be had. On the +upper deck his slow steps were arrested by an exclamation—</p> + +<p>“Isn’t this Mr. Trevelyan?”</p> + +<p>The man who made the enquiry wore the uniform of the ship’s company.</p> + +<p>“Ah, doctor, I was thinking of you at this moment. I read in the papers +that you had been promoted, and I said to myself: ‘After all, this is +not an ungrateful world, when the most skilful and most popular medical +officer on the Atlantic is thus appreciated.’”</p> + +<p>“Ah, you put it delightfully, Trevelyan, but I confess I hesitated about +adding, at my time of life, to the burden I carry.”</p> + +<p>“Your time of life, doctor! Why you always make me feel an old man by +comparison with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>yourself; yet you’ll find me skipping about the decks +like a boy.”</p> + +<p>“If you’ll take the right-hand seat at my table, I’ll keep an eye on +you, and prevent you from skipping overboard,” laughed the doctor.</p> + +<p>“Indeed, that was the boon I intended to crave.”</p> + +<p>“Then the seat is yours, Trevelyan. By the way, I read in the newspapers +that Evelyn Trevelyan is none other than Lord Stranleigh; but then, of +course, you can never believe what you see in the press, can you?”</p> + +<p>“Personally, I make no effort to do so. I get my news of the day from +Ponderby, who is an inveterate reader of the principal journals favoured +by what he calls the ‘upper classes.’ But I assure you that Evelyn +Trevelyan is a name that belongs to me, and I wear it occasionally like +an old, comfortable-fitting coat.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, well, I’ll not give you away. I’ll see you at lunch between here +and Cherbourg.” And the doctor hurried away to his duties.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p><p>The young man continued his stroll, smiling as he remembered some of the +doctor’s excellent stories. He regarded his meeting with that friendly +officer as a good omen, but hoped he would encounter no one else who +knew him.</p> + +<p>The next interruption of his walk proved to be not so pleasant. There +came up the deck with nervous tread a shabbily-dressed man, who appeared +from ten to fifteen years older than Stranleigh, although in reality +there was no great disparity in their ages. His face was haggard and +lined with anxiety, and his eyes had that furtive, penetrating glance +which distinguishes the inveterate gambler. Stranleigh watched his +oncoming with amazement.</p> + +<p>The Hon. John Hazel had been a member of some of the most exclusive +clubs in London; but whether or not Nature had endowed him with a useful +talent, he had become notorious as a reckless cardsharper, quite +unscrupulous when it came to obtaining money. No one knew this better +than Lord Stranleigh, who had been so often his victim, yet had regarded +his losses lightly, and forgiven <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>the Hon. John time and again. But +recently this younger son of an ancient and honourable house had +committed the unpardonable sin—he had been found out, and had been +permitted to resign from all his clubs but one, and from which he was +expelled by a committee not so lenient. After that he disappeared. He +was done for, so far as England was concerned, and he knew it.</p> + +<p>“John, is this possible?” cried Lord Stranleigh, as the other +approached.</p> + +<p>Hazel stopped, his eyes veiling over, as though he held a hand at poker +that was unbeatable.</p> + +<p>“I haven’t the pleasure of knowing you, sir,” he said haughtily.</p> + +<p>“I’m glad of that, because I’m Edmund Trevelyan at the moment, and was +just hoping I should meet no one on board who would recognise me.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know Edmund Trevelyan, and have no wish to make his +acquaintance,” returned the other coldly.</p> + +<p>“That’s quite all right, and your wish does you credit. Trevelyan has no +desire to force his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>friendship on any man. Nevertheless, Jack, time was +when I helped you out of a hole, and, if occasion arose, I should be +glad to do it again.”</p> + +<p>“You could have prevented my expulsion from the Camperdown Club, had you +but cared to raise a finger,” said the other hotly.</p> + +<p>“Hazel, you are mistaken. I did all I could for you, as in other crises +of the same nature. The committee proved to be adamant, and rather +prided themselves on their independence, as if they were a group of +blooming Radicals. The House of Lords isn’t what it was, Jack, as, alas, +you may learn, should you ever come into the title of your family, +although many people stand between you and it at the present moment. +Indeed, Jack, it has been on my conscience that my urgent advocacy +prejudiced your case instead of helping it.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, well, that’s all past; it doesn’t matter now,” said the other, with +a sigh. “I have shaken the dust of England for ever from my feet.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p><p>“The mud, you mean.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I admit I wallowed in the mud, but it was dust when I left London +this morning. Ah, we’re off! I must be going.” And he moved away from +the rail of the ship, where he had been gazing over the side.</p> + +<p>“Going? Where?”</p> + +<p>“Where I belong. I’m travelling third-class. The moment the steamer gets +under way, I have no right on the cabin deck. Before she left, I took +the liberty of a sightseer to wander over the steamship.”</p> + +<p>“My dear Jack,” said his former friend, in a grave voice, “this will +never do; you cannot cross the Atlantic in the steerage.”</p> + +<p>“I have visited my quarters, and find them very comfortable. I have been +in much worse places recently. Steerage is like everything else +maritime—like this bewilderingly immense steamer, for example—vastly +improved since Robert Louis Stevenson took his trip third-class to New +York.”</p> + +<p>“Well, it is a change for a luxury-loving person like my friend the Hon. +John Hazel.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p><p>“It is very condescending of you to call me your friend. Nobody else +would do it,” replied the Hon. John bitterly.</p> + +<p>“Condescension be hanged! I’m rather bewildered, that’s all, and wish +for further particulars. Are you turning over a new leaf, then?”</p> + +<p>“A new leaf? A thousand of them! I have thrown away the old book, with +its blotches and ink-stains. I’m starting a blank volume that I hope +will bear inspection and not shock even the rectitude of the Camperdown +Committee.”</p> + +<p>“What’s the programme?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t quite know yet; it will depend on circumstances. I think it’s +the West for me—sort of back-to-the-land business. I yearn to become a +kind of moral cowboy. It seems the only thing I’m at all equipped for. I +can ride well and shoot reasonably straight.”</p> + +<p>“I thought,” said Stranleigh, “that phase of life had disappeared with +Bret Harte. Is there any money in your inside pocket?”</p> + +<p>“How could there be?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p><p>“Then why not let me grub-stake you, which I believe is the correct +Western term.”</p> + +<p>“As how, for instance?”</p> + +<p>“I’ll secure for you a comfortable cabin, and you will pay the damage +when you strike oil out West, so, you see, there’s no humiliating +condescension about the offer.”</p> + +<p>“I’m sure there isn’t, and it’s very good of you, Stranleigh, but I +can’t dress the part.”</p> + +<p>“That’s easily arranged. Ponderby always over-dresses me. His idea of +this world is that there is London, and the rest of the planet is a +wilderness. You could no more persuade him that a decent suit might be +made in New York than that I am the worst-dressed man in London. You and +I are about the same height and build. Ponderby will have in my +mountainous luggage anywhere from twenty-five to forty suits never yet +worn by me. I don’t know on what principle he goes, but as the last time +we went to America he took twenty-five new suits, and we crossed in a +twenty-five thousand ton boat, he is likely to have at least forty-five +suits for this forty-five thousand ton steamship, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>he will feel as +much pleasure in rigging you out as he took in the crowning of the new +King.”</p> + +<p>“Very good of you, Stranleigh, but I cannot accept.”</p> + +<p>“I am pleading for Ponderby’s sake. Besides, there’s one practical +point you have overlooked. If you attempt to land from the +steerage—travelling under an assumed name, I suppose——”</p> + +<p>“Like yourself, Stranleigh.”</p> + +<p>“No, I own the name ‘Trevelyan.’ But, as I was saying, if you attempt to +land rather shabbily dressed and almost penniless, you will find +yourself turned back as an undesirable alien, whereas you can go ashore +from the first cabin unquestioned, save for those amazing queries the +U.S.A. Government puts to one, the answers to which Ponderby will be +charmed to write out for you.”</p> + +<p>Hazel without reply walked back to the rail, leaned his arms on it, and +fell into deep thought. Stranleigh followed him.</p> + +<p>“Give me your ticket,” he said.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p><p>Hazel took it from his pocket and handed it over.</p> + +<p>“Have you any luggage?”</p> + +<p>“Only a portmanteau, which I placed in my bunk. It contains a certain +amount of necessary linen.”</p> + +<p>“Wait here until I find out what there is to be had in the first cabin.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh went down to the purser, and that overworked official threw +him a friendly glance, which nevertheless indicated that his time was +valuable.</p> + +<p>“My name is Trevelyan,” said the young man.</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes, Mr. Trevelyan. You have our premier suite. How do you like +your accommodation?”</p> + +<p>“I haven’t seen it yet. I have just discovered a friend, a rather +eccentric man, who had made up his mind to cross the Atlantic in the +steerage. One of those silly bets, you know, which silly young men make +in our silly London clubs, and I have persuaded him out of it.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p><p>“Our steerage is supposed to be rather comfortable, Mr. Trevelyan.”</p> + +<p>“So he says, but I want his company on deck, and not on the steerage +deck at that. Have you got anything vacant along my avenue?”</p> + +<p>The purser consulted his written list.</p> + +<p>“Nobody with him?”</p> + +<p>“He’s quite alone.”</p> + +<p>“All the larger cabins are taken, but I can give him No. 4390.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose, like your steerage, it is comfortable?” said Stranleigh, +with a smile.</p> + +<p>“It is, yet it’s not a private hotel like your quarters.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, he’ll not grumble. Will you send a steward to carry his portmanteau +from the number indicated on this steerage ticket to his new room? +Meanwhile, I’ll have transferred to him his luggage that I brought from +London.”</p> + +<p>The purser rapidly wrote out a new ticket, and took the difference in +five-pound notes.</p> + +<p>“Are you going to your quarters now?” the purser asked.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p><p>“Yes, I must give some instructions to my man.”</p> + +<p>“Then it will give me great pleasure to show you the way there,” said +the purser, rising and locking the door; and in spite of Stranleigh’s +protest against his taking the trouble, he led him to a series of rooms +that would have satisfied a much more exacting person than his young +lordship. When the purser had returned to his duties, Stranleigh said to +Ponderby—</p> + +<p>“The Hon. John Hazel is aboard, and his cabin is No. 4390. He had to +leave London in a great hurry and without the necessary luggage.”</p> + +<p>Ponderby’s eyes lit up with an expression which said—“I knew that would +happen sooner or later.” But he uttered no word, and cast down his eyes +when he saw his master had noticed the glance. Stranleigh spoke coldly +and clearly.</p> + +<p>“How many new suits have you provided for me?”</p> + +<p>“Thirty-seven, my lord.”</p> + +<p>“Very well. Clear out one or two boxes, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>pack a dress-suit and two +or three ordinary suits; in fact, costume the Hon. John Hazel just as +you would costume me. Call a steward, and order the box to be taken to +his room. Lay out for him an everyday garb, and get all this done as +quickly as possible.”</p> + +<p>His lordship proceeded leisurely to the upper deck once more, and found +Hazel just as he had left him, except that he was now gazing at the +fleeting shore, green and village-studded, of the Isle of Wight.</p> + +<p>“Here you are,” said Stranleigh breezily, handing the Hon. John the +cabin ticket.</p> + +<p>There was a weak strain in Hazel’s character, otherwise he would never +had come to the position in which he found himself, and he now exhibited +the stubbornness which has in it the infallible signs of giving way.</p> + +<p>“I really cannot accept it,” he said, his lower lip trembling +perceptibly.</p> + +<p>“Tut, tut! It’s all settled and done with. Your room is No. 4390. You +will find your bag there, and also a box from my habitation. Come +along—I’ll <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>be your valet. Luncheon will be on shortly, and I want your +company.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh turned away, and Hazel followed him.</p> + +<p>Cabin 4390 could not be compared with the luxurious suite that +Stranleigh was to occupy, yet, despite the purser’s hesitation to +overpraise it, the cabin was of a size and promise of comfort that would +have been found in few liners a decade ago. Ponderby was on hand, and +saved his master the fag of valeting, and when finally the Hon. John +emerged, he was quite his old jaunty self again—a well-dressed man who +would not have done discredit even to the Camperdown Club.</p> + +<p>“I have secured a place for you,” said Stranleigh, “next to myself at +the doctor’s table. I flatter myself on having made this transfer with +more tact than I usually display, for I am somewhat stupid in the main, +trusting others to carry out my ideas rather than endeavouring to shine +as a diplomatist myself. The purser—the only official aware of the +change—thinks you made a bet to go over steerage, and will probably +forget all about the matter. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>question is, under what name shall I +introduce you to the doctor?”</p> + +<p>“What would you advise?” asked Hazel. “The name on my steerage ticket is +William Jones.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, that’s no good as a <i>nom de guerre</i>—too palpably a name chosen by +an unimaginative man. I should sail under your own colours if I were +you.”</p> + +<p>“Good! Then John Hazel I am, and so will remain. As a guarantee of good +faith, I promise you not to touch a card all the way across.”</p> + +<p>“A good resolution; see that you keep it.” And thus they enjoyed an +appetising lunch together, and were regaled with one of the doctor’s +best salads.</p> + +<p>They got away from Cherbourg before the dinner hour, and after that meal +Stranleigh and Hazel walked together on the main deck, until the latter, +admitting he was rather fagged after the exciting events of the day, +went off to his cabin, and Stranleigh was left alone to smoke a final +cigar. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>leaned on the rail and gazed meditatively at the smooth sea.</p> + +<p>It was an ideal evening, and Stranleigh felt at peace with all the +world. There exists a popular belief that the rich are overburdened with +care. This may be true while they are in the money-making struggle, but +it is not a usual fault when the cash is in the bank or safely invested. +Stranleigh occasionally lost money, but an immense amount had been +bequeathed him, and he made many millions more than he had parted with, +although he claimed this was merely because of a series of flukes, +maintaining that, whenever he set to work that part of him known as his +brains, he invariably came a cropper.</p> + +<p>“You are Mr. Trevelyan, are you not?” said a very musical feminine voice +at his elbow. Stranleigh turned in surprise, and seeing there a most +charming young woman, he flung his partially consumed cigar into the +sea.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he replied, “my name is Trevelyan. How did you know?”</p> + +<p>That rare smile came to his lips—a smile, people <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>said, which made you +feel instinctively you could trust him; and many ladies who were quite +willing to bestow their trust, called it fascinating.</p> + +<p>“I am afraid,” said the girl, whose beautiful face was very serious, and +whose large dark eyes seemed troubled—“I am afraid that I enacted the +part of unintentional eavesdropper. I had some business with the +purser—business that I rather shrank from executing. You came to his +window just before I did, for I was hesitating.”</p> + +<p>“I am sorry,” said Stranleigh, “if I obtruded myself between you and +that official. Being rather limited in intelligence, my mind can attend +to only one thing at a time, and I must confess I did not see you.”</p> + +<p>“I know you did not,” retorted the girl. “There was no obtrusion. You +were first comer, and therefore should have been first served, as was +the case.”</p> + +<p>“I would willingly have given up my place and whatever rights I +possessed in the matter, had I known a lady was waiting.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p><p>“I am sure of it. However, your conversation with the purser gave me a +welcome respite, and, thinking over the crisis, I determined to consult +you before I spoke to him; thus I have taken the unusual step of +bringing myself to your notice.”</p> + +<p>“In what way can I assist you, madam?” asked Stranleigh, a return of his +usual caution showing itself in the instant stiffening of manner and +coldness of words.</p> + +<p>“I learned you were exchanging, on behalf of a friend, a third-class +ticket for a place in the cabin. I judged from this that you are a +good-hearted man, and my attention was attracted when you introduced +yourself to the purser as Trevelyan, because Trevelyan is my own name.”</p> + +<p>“Really?” ejaculated his lordship. “Have you relatives near Wychwood? +You are English, are you not?”</p> + +<p>“I am English, and a distant connection with the family of Trevelyan, +near Wychwood, none of whom, however, I have yet met, unless you happen +to belong to that branch.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p><p>“I do,” said Stranleigh. “And now tell me, if you please, what is your +difficulty?”</p> + +<p>“I wish to ask you if the steerage ticket you gave the purser was taken +in part payment for the cabin ticket, or did you forfeit it altogether?”</p> + +<p>“That I can’t tell you,” said Stranleigh, with a laugh. “I am not +accustomed to the transaction of business, and this little arrangement +had to be made quickly.”</p> + +<p>Although his lordship spoke lightly and pleasantly the girl appeared to +have some difficulty in proceeding with her story. The large eyes were +quite evidently filling with tears, and of all things in the world +Stranleigh loathed an emotional scene. The girl was obviously deeply +depressed, whatever the cause.</p> + +<p>“Well,” he said jauntily and indeed encouragingly, “we were talking of +first and third-class tickets. What have you to say about them?”</p> + +<p>“I speak of the steerage ticket only. If you haven’t forfeited it, you +have the right to demand its return.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p><p>“I suppose so. Still, it is of no particular use to me.”</p> + +<p>“No, but it would be vital to me. Coming down in the train from London, +my purse was stolen, or perhaps I lost it when giving up my railway +ticket. So I am now without either money or transportation voucher.”</p> + +<p>“Was it for cabin passage?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“In that case you will have no difficulty; your name will be on the +purser’s list. Do you know the number of your state-room?”</p> + +<p>“No, I do not, and, so far as my name goes, I can expect no help from +that quarter, because the name I travel under is not Miss Trevelyan.”</p> + +<p>“Good gracious,” cried Stranleigh, “there are three of us! This ship +should be called <i>Incognita</i>. Was your money also in that purse?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, all my gold and bank-notes, and I am left with merely some silver +and coppers.”</p> + +<p>“Then the third-class ticket would not be of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>slightest use to you. +As I had to point out to another person on a similar occasion, you would +not be allowed to land, so we will let that third-class ticket drop into +oblivion. If you are even distantly related to the Trevelyan family, I +could not think of allowing you to travel steerage. Are you alone?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” she murmured almost inaudibly.</p> + +<p>“Well, then, it is better that you should make all arrangements with the +purser yourself. As I told you, I am not particularly good at business +affairs. You give to him the name under which you purchased your ticket. +You bought it in London, I suppose?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” she murmured again.</p> + +<p>“Mention to him the name you used then. He will look up his list, and +allot you the state-room you paid for. It is probable he may have the +power to do this without exacting any excess fare; but if such is not +the case, settle with him for your passage, and take his receipt. The +money will doubtless be refunded at New York. Here is a fifty-pound +note, and you can carry out the transaction much <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>better than I. But +stop a moment. Do you remember how much you paid for the room?”</p> + +<p>“Twenty-five pounds.”</p> + +<p>“That will leave you only the remaining twenty-five for New York, which +is an expensive place, so we must make the loan a hundred pounds. Leave +me your address, and if you do not hear from your people before that +loan is expended, you may have whatever more you need. You will, of +course, repay me at your convenience. I will give you the name of my New +York agents.”</p> + +<p>The eyes had by this time brimmed over, and the girl could not speak. +Stranleigh took from his pocket-book several Bank of England notes. +Selecting two for fifty pounds each, he handed them to her.</p> + +<p>“Good-night!” he said hurriedly.</p> + +<p>“Good-night!” she whispered.</p> + +<p>After dinner on the day the liner left Queenstown, Lord Stranleigh sat +in a comfortable chair in the daintily furnished drawing-room of his +suite. A shaded electric light stood on the table at his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>elbow, and he +was absorbed in a book he had bought before leaving London. Stranleigh +was at peace with all the world, and his reading soothed a mind which he +never allowed to become perturbed if he could help it. He now thanked +his stars that he was sure of a week undisturbed by callers and free +from written requests. Just at this moment he was amazed to see the door +open, and a man enter without knock or other announcement. His first +thought was to wonder what had become of Ponderby—how had the stranger +eluded him? It was a ruddy-faced, burly individual who came in, and, as +he turned round to shut the door softly, Stranleigh saw that his thick +neck showed rolls of flesh beneath the hair. His lordship placed the +open book face downwards on the table, but otherwise made no motion.</p> + +<p>“Lord Stranleigh, I presume?” said the stranger.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh made no reply, but continued gazing at the intruder.</p> + +<p>“I wish to have a few words with you, and considered it better to come +to your rooms than to accost you on deck. What I have to say is serious, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>and outside we might have got into an altercation, which you would +regret.”</p> + +<p>“You need have no fear of any altercation with me,” said Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“Well, at least you desire to avoid publicity, otherwise you would not +be travelling under an assumed name.”</p> + +<p>“I am not travelling under an assumed name.”</p> + +<p>The stout man waved his hand in deprecation of unnecessary talk.</p> + +<p>“I will come to the point at once,” he said, seating himself without any +invitation.</p> + +<p>“I shall be obliged if you do so.”</p> + +<p>The new-comer’s eyes narrowed, and a threatening expression overspread +his rather vicious face.</p> + +<p>“I want to know, Lord Stranleigh, and I have a right to ask, why you +gave a hundred pounds to my wife.”</p> + +<p>“To your wife?” echoed Stranleigh in amazement.</p> + +<p>“Yes. I have made a memorandum of the numbers, and here they are—two +fifty-pound notes. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>Bank of England. Do you deny having given them to +her?”</p> + +<p>“I gave two fifty-pound notes to a young lady, whose name, I understood, +was Trevelyan—a name which I also bear. She informed me, and somehow I +believed her, that her purse containing steamship ticket and money, had +been lost or stolen.”</p> + +<p>A wry smile twisted the lips of the alleged husband.</p> + +<p>“Oh, that’s the story is it? Would you be surprised if the young lady in +question denied that <i>in toto</i>?”</p> + +<p>“I should not be astonished at anything,” replied his lordship, “if you +are in possession of the actual bank-notes I gave to her.”</p> + +<p>“She describes your having taken these flimsies from a number of others +you carry in your pocket. Would you mind reading me the number of others +you carry in your pocket. Would you mind reading me the number of the +next note in your collection?”</p> + +<p>“Would you mind reading me the numbers on the notes you hold?” asked +Stranleigh, in cool, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>even tones, making no sign of producing his own +assets.</p> + +<p>“Not at all,” replied the other; whereupon he read them. The notes were +evidently two of a series, and the numbers differed only by a single +unit. Stranleigh nonchalantly took out his pocket-book, and the +intruder’s eyes glistened as he observed its bulk. Stranleigh glanced at +the number on the top bank-note, and replaced his pocket-book, leaning +back in his easy chair.</p> + +<p>“You are quite right,” he said. “Those are the notes I gave to Miss +Trevelyan.”</p> + +<p>“I asked why.”</p> + +<p>“I told you why.”</p> + +<p>“That cock-and-bull story won’t go down,” said the other. “Even the +richest men do not fling money about in such reckless fashion. They do +it only for a favour given or a favour expected.”</p> + +<p>“I dare say you are right. But come to the point, as you said you +would.”</p> + +<p>“Is that necessary?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know that it is. You want money—as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>large an amount as can be +squeezed from a man supposedly wealthy. You use your good-looking wife +as a decoy——”</p> + +<p>“You are casting aspersion on a lady quite unknown to you!” cried his +visitor, with well-assumed indignation.</p> + +<p>“Pardon me, you seem to be casting aspersion on her whom you say is your +wife. I don’t know how these notes got into your hands, but I’d be +willing to stake double the amount that the lady is quite innocent in +the matter. She certainly is so far as I am concerned. If the lady is +your wife, what is her name? She told me she was travelling under a +different title from that written on the lost ticket.”</p> + +<p>“I am not ashamed of my name, if you are of yours. My name is Branksome +Poole.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, then she is Mrs. Branksome Poole?”</p> + +<p>“Naturally.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh reached out and drew towards him a passenger list. Running +his eye down the column of cabin passengers, he saw there the names: +“Mr. and Mrs. Branksome Poole.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p><p>“Well, Mr. Poole, we come to what is the final question—how much?”</p> + +<p>“If you give me the roll of Bank of England notes which you exhibited a +moment ago, I shall say nothing further about the matter, and, +understand me, there is no coercion about my request. You may accept or +decline, just as you like. I admit that my wife and I do not get along +well together, and although I consider I have a grievance against you, I +am not assuming the injured husband <i>rôle</i> at all. If you decline, I +shall make no scandal aboard ship, but will wait and take action against +you the moment we arrive in New York.”</p> + +<p>“Very considerate of you, Mr. Poole. I understand that in New York the +fountains of justice are perfectly pure, and that the wronged are +absolutely certain of obtaining redress. I congratulate you on your +choice of a battle-ground. Of course, you haven’t the slightest thought +of levying blackmail, but I prefer to spend my money on the best legal +talent in America rather than trust any of it to you. It’s a mere case +of obstinacy on my part. And now, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>if you will kindly take your +departure, I will get on with my book; I am at a most interesting +point.”</p> + +<p>“I shall not take my departure,” said Poole doggedly, “until we have +settled this matter.”</p> + +<p>“The matter is settled.” Stranleigh touched an electric button. An +inside door opened, and Ponderby entered, looking in amazement at his +master’s visitor.</p> + +<p>“Ponderby,” said Lord Stranleigh, “in future I desire you to keep this +outer door locked, so that whoever wishes to see me may come through +your room. Take a good look at this gentleman, and remember he is not to +be allowed within my suite again on any pretext. Meanwhile, show him +into the corridor. Take him through your room, and afterwards return and +lock this other door.”</p> + +<p>Then occurred an extraordinary thing. Ponderby, for the first time in +his life, disobeyed his master’s instructions. Approaching the seated +Poole, he said—</p> + +<p>“Will you go quietly?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p><p>“I’ll not go, quietly or otherwise,” answered the man stubbornly.</p> + +<p>Ponderby opened the door by which Poole had entered, then, seizing him +by the collar, lifted him, led him to the door, and pitched him out of +the room across the corridor. Returning, he closed, locked, and bolted +the door.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon, my lord,” said the panting Ponderby to his amazed +master, “but I dare not take him through my room. His wife is there. She +appears to have followed him. Anyhow, she recognised his voice, and told +me hurriedly why she came. I locked the door to the passage, for, as I +heard her story, I felt it might be serious, and at least you ought to +hear what she has to say before you acted. I hope you will excuse the +liberty I have taken, my lord.”</p> + +<p>“Ponderby, as I have often told you, you are a gem! I will go into your +room, but you must remain there while I talk to this lady. No more +<i>tête-à-tête</i> conversations with the unprotected for me.”</p> + +<p>“I think she is honest, my lord, but in deep trouble.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 331px;"> +<img src="images/i036.jpg" class="ispace" width="331" height="500" alt="“Reeling off what she had to say as if it were a task +learned by rote.”" title="" /> +<span class="caption">“Reeling off what she had to say as if it were a task +learned by rote.”</span> +</div> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="34%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="Illustration 1"> +<tr><td align="left"><i><small><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lord Stranleigh Abroad]</span></small></i></td> +<td align="right"><i><small><span style="font-weight: bold;">[Page <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</span></small></i></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p><p>“I am glad to have my opinion corroborated by so good a judge of +character as yourself, Ponderby.”</p> + +<p>They went together to the valet’s sitting-room, and there sat the woman, +with her dark head bowed upon arms outstretched along the table, her +shoulders shaking. She was plainly on the verge of hysterics, if, +indeed, she had not already crossed the boundary line.</p> + +<p>“Here is Mr. Trevelyan, madam,” said Ponderby. “You wanted to speak with +him.”</p> + +<p>She raised her head, dabbed her wet eyes nervously with her +handkerchief, and made an effort to pull herself together. When she +spoke, it was with rapid utterance, reeling off what she had to say as +if it were a task learned by rote.</p> + +<p>“I have at last come to the end of my tether, and to-night, if there is +no prospect of freedom, I shall destroy myself. Before this I have often +thought of suicide, but I am a cowardly person, and cling to life. Five +years ago my father went out to America bent on a motor tour; he took me +with him. Among other servants he engaged Charles Branksome, who had +proved himself an expert <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>chauffeur. He was English, and came to us well +recommended. He intimated that he was of good family, but had his living +to earn. He was handsome then, and had a most ingratiating manner. The +person who called on you to-night bears little resemblance to the +Branksome of five years ago. I had often gone motoring with him while in +America, and I was young, and rather flighty: a foolish person +altogether. Perhaps you read about it in the papers. I cannot dwell on +the appalling mistake I made.</p> + +<p>“We became very well acquainted, and at last he professed to have fallen +in love with me, and I believed him. We were secretly married before a +justice of the peace in America, and I was not long left in doubt as to +the disaster that had befallen me. His sole desire was money. My father +being wealthy, he hoped to get all he cared to demand. My father, +however, is a very stubborn man, and, after his first shock on finding +the episode made much of by the American papers, he refused to pay +Branksome a penny, and returned forthwith to England. I never saw him +again, nor could I get into communication with him. Two years after <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>my +mad act he died, and never even mentioned me in his will.</p> + +<p>“My husband is a liar, a thief, a forger, a gambler, and a brute. He has +maltreated me so that I have been left once or twice for dead, but +finally he broke me to his will. He is known as a cheat in every +gambling resort in Europe, and on the Atlantic liners. Lately I have +been used as a decoy in the way of which you have had experience. +Somehow he learned—indeed, that is his business—who were the rich +travellers on this boat. He thought, as this was the newest and largest +steamship on the ocean, its staff would not at first be thoroughly +organised, and that he might escape detection. He pointed you out to me +as you came on board, and said you were Lord Stranleigh, travelling as +Mr. Trevelyan. The rest you know. He forced me to hand to him the money +you had given, and told me it might be necessary for me to go on the +witness-stand when we reached New York, but, as you were very wealthy, +it is not likely you would allow it to go so far as that. His plan was +to demand a very moderate sum at first, which was to be a mere +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>beginning, and each exaction would be but a prelude for the next. He is +old at the game, and is wanted now by the authorities in New York for +blackmailing a very well-known millionaire.”</p> + +<p>“Do you know the name of the millionaire?”</p> + +<p>She gave him the information.</p> + +<p>“Very well, madam. In the first place, you must do nothing reckless or +foolish. I shall see that this man is detained at New York on some +pretext or other—in fact, I shall arrange for this by wireless. You +should journey to one of the states where divorces are easily obtained. +If you will permit me, I shall be your banker. Even if Branksome got +free in New York, it will cost him dear, and his supplies are +precarious. You should experience no difficulty in evading him with +money in your possession. Do you agree?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes!”</p> + +<p>“That’s settled, then. Ponderby, look into the corridor, and see that +the way of escape is clear.”</p> + +<p>“I am sorry, my lord,” she said, rising, “to cause you such trouble and +inconvenience.”</p> + +<p>“No inconvenience at all,” said Stranleigh, with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>his usual nonchalance, +“and I never allow myself to be troubled.”</p> + +<p>Ponderby reported the way open, and the lady disappeared silently along +the passage. Stranleigh betook himself to Room 4390, and had a long talk +with the Hon. John Hazel, who, for the first time during the voyage, +seemed to be enjoying himself.</p> + +<p>Next morning the Hon. John paced up and down one deck after another, as +if in search of someone. On an almost deserted lower deck he met the +person whom he sought.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon,” said Hazel in his suavest manner, “but I am trying +to find three men as tired of this journey as I am. I have never been on +a voyage before, and I confess I miss London and the convenience of its +clubs. A quiet little game of poker in the smoking-room might help to +while away the time.”</p> + +<p>The keen eyes of Mr. Branksome Poole narrowed, as was a custom of +theirs, and he took in the points of the man who addressed him.</p> + +<p>“I am not much of a hand at poker,” he said hesitatingly and +untruthfully.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><p>The Hon. John laughed.</p> + +<p>“Don’t mind that in the least,” he said. “The requirement for this game +is cash. I have approached several men, and they object to playing for +money; but I confess I don’t give a rap for sitting at a card-table +unless there’s something substantial on.”</p> + +<p>“I’m with you there,” agreed the stout man, his eyes glistening at the +thought of handling a pack of cards once more. His momentary hesitation +had been because he feared someone might recognise him, for he felt +himself quite able to cope with anyone when it came to the shuffle and +the deal. They were a strangely contrasted pair as they stood there, the +pleb and the patrician—the pleb grim and serious, the patrician +carrying off the situation with a light laugh—yet it was hard to say +which was the more expert scoundrel when it came to cards.</p> + +<p>A little later four men sat down to a table. Hazel ordered a new pack of +cards from the smoke-room steward, broke the seal, and pulled off the +wrapper.</p> + +<p>It is not worth while to describe the series of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>games: only the one +matters. At first Poole played very cautiously, watching out of the tail +of his eye for any officer who might spot him as one who had been +ordered off the green, and so expose him for what he was. The +consequence of this divided attention was soon apparent. He lost +heavily, and finally he drew a couple of fifty-pound notes from his +pocket-book. He fingered them for a moment as if loath to part with +paper so valuable.</p> + +<p>“Where’s that steward?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“What do you want?” demanded Hazel, as though impatient for the game to +go on.</p> + +<p>“Change for a fifty.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll change it for you.” And the Hon. John drew from his pocket a +handful of gold and five-pound bank-notes, counted out fifty pounds, and +shoved them across the table to Poole, who, still hesitating, was forced +reluctantly to give up the big bank-note. Now Poole began to play in +earnest, but still luck was against him, and soon the second fifty-pound +note was changed, for they were playing reasonably high. Hazel, after +glancing at the number on the note, thrust it carelessly into his +waistcoat <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>pocket alongside its brother, as if it were of no more +account than a cigarette paper. Little did the pleb dream that he was up +against a man of brains. Hazel now possessed the two bank-notes that +could have been used in evidence against Lord Stranleigh, and he drew a +sigh of satisfaction. Poole only saw that here was a man, evidently +careless of money, possessing plenty of it, and extremely good-natured. +He had already recognised him as an aristocrat, and expected that, +whatever happened, he would treat it with a laugh, and perhaps leave the +table, so the pleb now began some fine work. Two games were played in +silence, and in the third it was the deal of Branksome Poole. Hazel +watched him like a beast of prey, conscious of every crooked move, yet +he did not seem in the least to be looking. He gazed at the cards dealt +him, rose to his feet, and spread the hand face upward on the table.</p> + +<p>“Sir, you are cheating,” he said crisply.</p> + +<p>“You lie!” roared Branksome Poole, turning, nevertheless, a greenish +yellow, and moistening his parched lips. At the sound of the loud voice, +a steward came hurrying in.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p><p>“Show your hand, if you dare!” challenged Hazel. “You have dealt +yourself——” And here he named the concealed cards one after another. +Poole made an effort to fling his hand into the rest of the pack, but +Hazel stopped him.</p> + +<p>“Show your hand! Show your hand!” he demanded. “These two gentlemen will +witness whether I have named the cards correctly or not. Steward, ask +the chief officer to come here, or, if he is not on duty, speak to the +captain.”</p> + +<p>The steward disappeared, and shortly returned with the chief officer, to +whom Hazel briefly and graphically related what had happened.</p> + +<p>“Will you come with me to the captain’s room?” requested the chief +officer.</p> + +<p>Branksome Poole had been through the mill before, and he offered no +resistance.</p> + +<p>When the wireless came in touch with the American shore, a dispatch +reached police headquarters in New York, informing them that Charles +Branksome, wanted for blackmailing Erasmus Blank, the millionaire, was +detained by the ship’s authority for cheating at cards.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p><p>When the great vessel arrived at her berth, Mrs. Branksome Poole was +quite unmolested as she took her ticket for the West. She was amply +supplied with money, and among her newly-acquired funds were two +fifty-pound notes which had been previously in her possession.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="II_AN_AUTOMOBILE_RIDE" id="II_AN_AUTOMOBILE_RIDE"></a>II.—AN AUTOMOBILE RIDE.</h3> + +<p>When Lord Stranleigh of Wychwood came to New York under his family name +of Trevelyan, he had intended to spend several weeks in that interesting +metropolis, but newspaper men speedily scattered his incognito to the +winds, and, what with interviewers, photographers, funny paragraphists +and the like, the young lord’s life was made a burden to him. Despite +his innate desire to be polite to everyone, he soon found it impossible +to receive even a tenth part of those who desired speech with him. This +caused no diminution of interviews or special articles regarding his +plans, and his object in revisiting America. The sensational papers +alleged that he had untold millions to invest; that he had placed cash +on all the available projects in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>Europe, and now proposed to exploit +the United States in his insatiable desire to accumulate more wealth.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh changed his quarters three times, and with each move adopted +a new name. He endured it all with imperturbable good-nature, despite +the intense heat, but Ponderby was disgusted with the state of affairs, +and wished himself and his master back once more in that quiet village +known as London.</p> + +<p>“By Jove! Ponderby,” said Stranleigh, “they say three moves are as bad +as a fire, and the temperature to-day seems to corroborate this, for we +are making our third move. Have you anything to suggest?”</p> + +<p>“I should suggest, my lord,” said Ponderby, with as much dignity as the +sweltering day would allow, “that we return to London.”</p> + +<p>“A brilliant and original idea, Ponderby. Many thanks. Go down at once +to the steamship office, and book the best accommodation you can get on +the first big liner leaving New York.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p><p>Ponderby departed instantly, with a deep sigh of relief.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh’s life had been made more of a burden to him than was +necessary through the indefatigable exertions of a fellow countryman, +whose name was Wentworth Parkes. This individual brought with him a +letter of introduction from the Duke of Rattleborough. Rattleborough was +an acquaintance, but not a particular friend of Stranleigh’s; +nevertheless, a Duke overtops a mere Earl in social eminence, much as +the Singer building overtops the structure next to it.</p> + +<p>Wentworth Parkes told Stranleigh he had been in America for something +more than a year. He had been very successful, making plenty of money, +but expending it with equal celerity. Now he determined to get hold of +something that contained princely possibilities for the future. This he +had secured by means of an option on the Sterling Motor Company at +Detroit, and the plant alone, he alleged, was worth more than the +capital needed to bring the factory up to its full output. J. E. +Sterling, he went on to explain, knew more about automobile <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>designing +than anyone else in the world, notwithstanding the fact that he was +still a young man. He would undoubtedly prove to be the true successor +of Edison, and everyone knew what fortunes had come to those who +interested themselves in the products of the great Thomas Alva, who up +to date had proved to be the most successful money-making inventor the +world had ever seen, to which Lord Stranleigh calmly agreed. Well, J. E. +Sterling was just such another, and all a man required to enter the +combination, was the small sum of one hundred thousand dollars. This +would purchase a share in the business which might be sold within a year +or two for millions. Detroit was the centre of automobile manufacturing +in America; a delightful city to live in; the finest river in the world +running past its doors, with a greater tonnage of shipping than passed +through the Suez Canal.</p> + +<p>Mr. Parkes was a glib and efficient talker, who might have convinced +anyone with money to spare, but he felt vaguely that his fluency was not +producing the intended effect on Lord Stranleigh. His difficulty +heretofore had been to obtain access to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>men of means, and now that he +had got alongside the most important of them all, he was nonplussed to +notice that his eloquence somehow missed its mark. Stranleigh remained +scrupulously courteous, but was quite evidently not in the least +interested. So shrewd a man as Parkes might have known that it is not +easy to arouse enthusiasm in a London clubman under the most favourable +auspices, and this difficulty is enormously increased when the person +attacked is already so rich that any further access of wealth offers no +temptation to him.</p> + +<p>Parkes had come to believe that the accumulation of gold was the only +thing the average man really cared about, so he failed, by moving +against the dead wall of Stranleigh’s indifference towards money, +whereas he might have succeeded had he approached the sentimental side +of the young man. Indeed, Mr. Wentworth Parkes seemed to catch a +glimmering of this idea as his fairy visions of the future fell flat, so +he reversed his automobile talk, and backed slowly out.</p> + +<p>Conversation lagging, his lordship asked a few <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>casual questions about +the Duke of Rattleborough and other persons he knew in London, but if +any of these queries were intended to embarrass his visitor, +Stranleigh’s failure was equal to that of Parkes himself. The latter +answered all enquiries so promptly and correctly that Stranleigh +inwardly chided himself for his latent distrust of the man who now, +quick to see how the land lay, got his motor car in position once more, +but took another direction. He mopped his forehead with his +handkerchief, and drew a slight sigh.</p> + +<p>“You see,” he said, in a discouraged tone, “a person brought up as I +have been, to do nothing in particular that is of any use to the world, +finds himself at a great disadvantage in a hustling land like the United +States, where the fellows are all so clever, and have been trained from +their very boyhood to be alert business men. I have a good thing in this +option, and if once I got upon my feet, I could soon build up a great +and profitable business. My chief trouble is to convince any capitalist +of this, and if he asks me whether or not the scheme will produce a +fortune within six months or a year, I am <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>forced to admit there is +little chance of it. An American wishes to turn over his money quickly; +a long look into futurity is not for him. He wishes to buy one railway +on Monday, another on Tuesday, amalgamate them on Wednesday, and sell +out the stock to the public at several millions profit on Thursday, then +rake in the boodle on Friday, which proves an unlucky day for the +investors. When I truthfully confess it will be a year before I get +fairly under way, I am immediately at a discount. Capitalists won’t +listen any further.”</p> + +<p>Parkes saw that for the first time during the interview Lord Stranleigh +began to show interest, reserved though it was.</p> + +<p>“Do you know anything about cars?” asked his lordship.</p> + +<p>“I can take apart any motor in the market, and put it together again, +always leaving it a little better than when I found it.”</p> + +<p>“And this machine—invented by the Detroit man—does it fill the bill?”</p> + +<p>“It’s the best motor in the world to-day,” <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>asserted Parkes, with a +return of his old confidence.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh smiled slightly.</p> + +<p>“I think,” he said, “you have been very successful in catching the +enthusiasm of America. You deal glibly with superlatives. Mr. Sterling +is the most remarkable man on earth, Detroit the most beautiful city on +the globe, and your motor-car beats the universe.”</p> + +<p>“Well, my lord, I don’t disclaim the superlatives, but I insist on their +truth. As I said, I deal in truth, and have suffered somewhat in pocket +by doing so.”</p> + +<p>A slight shade of perplexity came into the young earl’s face. There was +something deferential in the tone used by Parkes when he enunciated the +phrase “my lord,” which Stranleigh did not like. Neither phrase nor tone +would have been used by any person in his own circle of acquaintance +addressing another in the same set. His former distrust was again +aroused. As he remained silent, Parkes went on—</p> + +<p>“You need not take my word for the automobile, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>which after all is the +crux of the situation. I have one of them here in New York. I tested it +very fully on the way from Detroit to this city, travelling in it the +whole distance. Let me take you for a drive. You doubtless know all +about a motor-car, for I was told in London that you owned at least a +dozen of them.”</p> + +<p>“I daresay it’s true. I’m not sure. Nevertheless, I am so unfortunate as +to have only a slight knowledge of their mechanics. I have driven a good +deal, but not being so energetic as Prince Henry of Prussia, I leave +details to my chauffeurs.”</p> + +<p>“Very good. You are doubtless well acquainted with the merits of a car +from the owner’s point of view. Come out with me in this Detroit motor, +and I will be your chauffeur, or you may drive the machine yourself, if +you remember that in this country you keep to the right side of the +road.”</p> + +<p>Thus the appointment was made, and was kept by Lord Stranleigh. At the +end of his run, he said to Parkes—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p><p>“The car seems to be a satisfactory piece of construction, but I own two +or three American cars in London, any one of which, I think, is equally +good; in fact, as Mark Twain said about his Jumping Frog—‘I see no +points about this frog different from any other frog.’ However, I will +consider your proposal, and will let you know the result. Meanwhile, +many thanks for a most interesting ride.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh sauntered down town, and entered a cable office.</p> + +<p>“Can I send a message to London, and leave a deposit here for the reply, +that it may not cost my London friend anything?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly, sir.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh wrote—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“Duke of Rattleborough, Camperdown Club, London.</p> + +<p>“A man calling himself Wentworth Parkes presented a letter +of introduction from you to me. Please cable whether or not +he is reliable.”</p></div> + +<p>Two days later, Stranleigh received a reply—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p><div class="blockquot"><p>“Letter a forgery. Parkes was my valet for three years, then +bolted, leaving a lot of little things behind him, but not +if they were portable and valuable. Believe he is now +abroad, though the London police are yearning for him. +      <span class="smcap">Rattleborough.</span>”</p></div> + +<p>Now began the persistent pursuit of Stranleigh, which culminated in his +sending Ponderby down to the steamship office to buy tickets for +England. The young man said nothing to anyone of the cablegram he had +received, nor did he inform the police of London the whereabouts of +their quarry. He rather pitied the poor wretch, as he called him, but he +had no use for a thief and a liar, so he refused to hold further +communication with him, or to make any explanation. Parkes, finding he +could not gain admission to Stranleigh, took to sending letters by +special messenger, first adopting an aggrieved tone, a reproachful +suggestion of injured innocence running through his correspondence like +a minor note in a piece of music; then he became the victim of an +unscrupulous millionaire, asserting that Stranleigh had promised to +finance the proposed company, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>and breathing threats of legal +proceedings. Indeed, as the recipient read these later communications, +he realised they were evidently written with a view to publicity in law +courts, for there emanated from them sentiments of great patriotism. The +United States, Stranleigh learned, would not put up with his villainy, +as would have been the case with legal proceedings in decadent England, +where judges were under the thumb of a debased aristocracy.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh had no ambition to appear in the courts of either country, so +he removed from one hotel to another, but apparently he was watched, for +Parkes ran him down wherever he betook himself. Thus we come to the +moment when the sedate but overjoyed Ponderby returned with the +steamship tickets, which Stranleigh thrust into his pocket.</p> + +<p>“Shall I pack up now, my lord?”</p> + +<p>“I wish you would. The valet of the hotel will assist you. Prepare three +boxes; one for yourself and two for me, filling mine with such clothing +as I should take were I going to visit a friend in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>country for a +week or two. Place the other luggage in charge of the manager of the +hotel, and say I will telegraph when I make up my mind where it is to be +sent.”</p> + +<p>And then, to Ponderby’s amazement, the young man left for Boston, and +took passage in the steamer for St. John, New Brunswick.</p> + +<p>“You see, Ponderby,” said his lordship, when they got out into the +ocean, “the estimable Parkes, if he is watching us, is already aware +that you have booked for Southampton. He may possibly set the law in +motion, and appear with some emissaries thereof aboard the liner before +she sails, so we might be compelled to remain in this country which he +so ardently loves.”</p> + +<p>“But the steamship tickets, my lord? They cost a lot of money.”</p> + +<p>“Quite so, my economical Ponderby, but remember for your consolation +that when you step ashore from this boat, you will be under the British +flag. You may telegraph to the company and tell them to sell the +tickets, meanwhile sending them by post <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>to New York. Here they are. +Whatever money the company returns, is to be retained by you further to +mitigate your disappointment. I have no doubt that in thus bolting for +Canada you feel like a culprit escaping from justice, but we are only +escaping from Parkes. Having pestered me as much about Detroit as he has +done, that city will be the last place in which he is likely to look for +me. We are making for Detroit, Ponderby, by the most roundabout route I +could choose, seeing that the Panama Canal is not yet open, and thus I +am unable to reach the autometropolis by way of San Francisco.”</p> + +<p>After passing through Canada, Lord Stranleigh settled himself very +comfortably in a luxurious suite of rooms situated near the top storey +of a luxurious hotel in the city of the Straits, under the assumed +commonplace name of Henry Johnson. The windows of his apartment afforded +wide and interesting views of skyscrapers and noble public edifices, +with a wilderness of roofs extending towards the misty horizon to the +west, north, and east, while to the south flowed the majestic river, its +blue <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>surface enlivened by stately steamers and picturesque sailing +craft.</p> + +<p>The gloomy valet did not share his master’s admiration of the scene. +Ponderby was heart and soul a Londoner, and although forced to admit +that the Thames was grey and muddy, and its shipping for the most part +sombre and uncouth, that tidal water remained for him the model of all +other streams. He was only partially consoled by the fact that five +cents brought him across to the Canadian shore, where he might inhale +deep breaths of air that fluttered the Union Jack.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh, confident that he had shaken off pursuit, enjoyed himself in +a thoroughly democratic manner, sailing up stream and down, on one of +the pearl white passenger boats, that carried bands which played the +immortal airs of Sousa.</p> + +<p>He began his second week in Detroit by engaging a motor to make a tour +of the motor manufacturing district. He was amazed at the size and +extent of the buildings, and recognised, among the names <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>painted +thereon, the designation of cars that were familiar to him. He had come +to believe Parkes such an untruthful person, that he had taken a big +discount from everything he said, and so was unprepared to find the +reality far in advance of the description. However, he saw no sign +bearing the name of the Sterling Motor Company, so asked his chauffeur +to convey him thither. The chauffeur, pondering a moment, was forced to +admit that he had never heard of the firm.</p> + +<p>“Then be so good,” requested Stranleigh, “as to drop into one of these +offices and enquire. It is likely that someone will know the names of +all other companies in the same line of manufacture.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t doubt,” said the chauffeur, “that they know all about it, but +it wouldn’t be business to direct a possible customer to a rival firm.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh smiled.</p> + +<p>“I have not been in this country so long as you have,” he said, “but I +think you will find an American business man ignores rivalry when he has +an opportunity of doing an act of courtesy.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p><p>The chauffeur drew up at a huge factory and went inside. Returning very +promptly, he informed his fare that they knew of no Sterling Motor +Company, but there was in Woodbridge Street a young engineer named J. E. +Sterling, who, they believed, made motor-cars.</p> + +<p>“J. E. Sterling! That’s the man I want. Where is Woodbridge Street?”</p> + +<p>“Right away down town; next door, as you might say, to the river front.”</p> + +<p>“Very good; we’ll go there. Just drive past Mr. Sterling’s place, for if +I do not like the look of it I shall not go in.”</p> + +<p>By and by they turned into Woodward Avenue, and raced down town at a +speed which Stranleigh thought must surely exceed the legal limit, if +there was one. Woodbridge Street proved to be crowded with great +lumbering trucks, loaded with vegetables for the most part, and among +these vehicles the chauffeur threaded his way cautiously. They passed a +small, rather insignificant shop, above whose window was painted—</p> + +<p class="center"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>“<span class="smcap">J. E. Sterling.</span> Motor Engineer. Repairs<br /> + promptly executed. Satisfaction guaranteed.”</p> + +<p>When the chauffeur came to a halt a little further on, Stranleigh said—</p> + +<p>“The place doesn’t look very inviting, but as Mr. Sterling guarantees +satisfaction, I think it but right to call upon him. I sha’n’t need you +any more to-day.”</p> + +<p>The door being open, Stranleigh walked in unannounced. A two-seated +runabout, evidently brand new, stood by the window, where it could be +viewed by passers-by. Further down the room rested a chassis, over which +two men, one middle-aged and the other probably twenty-five, were +bending, with tools in their hands. They were dressed in grease-stained +blue overalls, and they looked up as Stranleigh entered.</p> + +<p>“I wish to see Mr. J. E. Sterling,” he said.</p> + +<p>“My name is Sterling,” replied the younger man, putting down his tools, +and coming forward.</p> + +<p>“I understood,” went on Stranleigh, “that there was a Sterling Motor Car +Company.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p><p>“There will be,” answered the young man confidently, “but that’s in the +sweet by and by. It hasn’t materialised so far. What can I do for you?”</p> + +<p>“Well, you can give me some information regarding J. E. Sterling. I want +to learn if it tallies with what I have heard.”</p> + +<p>The young man laughed.</p> + +<p>“It depends on who has been talking about me. I daresay you have been +told things that might require explanation.”</p> + +<p>“I heard nothing but praise,” his lordship assured him. “It was said you +were the true successor of Thomas Alva Edison.”</p> + +<p>Sterling laughed even more heartily than before.</p> + +<p>“I’m afraid they were getting at you. A man may be a creditable +inventor, and a good, all-round engineer without being able to hold a +candle to Edison. Are you looking for an automobile?”</p> + +<p>“No; as I told you at first, I am looking for J. E. Sterling.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p><p>“I was going to say that I am not yet prepared to supply cars. I do +repairing and that sort of thing, merely to keep the wolf from the door, +and leave me a little surplus to expend in my business. My real work, +however, is experimenting, and when I am able to turn out a machine that +satisfies me, my next business will be to form a company, for one can’t +do anything in this trade without capital.”</p> + +<p>“The competition must be intense.”</p> + +<p>“It is, but there’s always room for a first-rate article, and the +production of a first-rate article is my ambition.”</p> + +<p>“Is that your work in the window?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“Does it come up to your expectations?”</p> + +<p>The young man’s face grew serious; his brow wrinkled almost into a +frown, and he remained silent for a few moments.</p> + +<p>“Well, I can’t exactly say that it does,” he answered at last, “still, I +think the faults I have found can be remedied with a little patience. On +the other hand, I fear the improvement I have put <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>in this car may not +be as great as I thought when I was working at it.”</p> + +<p>Lord Stranleigh looked at the young man with evident approval; his +frankness and honesty commended themselves to him.</p> + +<p>“Do you mind showing me your improvement and explaining its function?”</p> + +<p>“Not at all. You will remember, however, that this exhibition is +confidential, for I have not yet patented the mechanism.”</p> + +<p>“I shall not mention to anyone what you show me. You asked me a moment +ago if I wished to buy an automobile, and I said I did not. I have made +a little money in my time, but mostly, it seems to me, by flukes. I do +not pretend to be a business man, yet such is the conceit of humanity +that I wish to invest some of my money to back my own judgment. If I +lose the cash, it won’t cripple me to any appreciable extent. On the +other hand, should the investment prove satisfactory, I shall have more +faith in my judgment than has hitherto been the case. In any event, I +promise to assist you in the formation of your company.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p><p>“That’s all right!” cried the young engineer, with enthusiasm. “My own +judgment of men is frequently at fault, but somehow I’d stake my bottom +dollar on you. Come over to the window, and I’ll show you how the wheels +go round.”</p> + +<p>The two men approached the car in the window, and as they did so a third +person on the pavement outside stopped suddenly, and regarded them with +evident astonishment. Neither of those inside saw him, but if one or the +other had looked through the glass, he would have recognised the +sinister face of Wentworth Parkes who, having satisfied himself as to +the visitor’s identity, turned away and retraced his steps.</p> + +<p>Sterling lifted up a leather curtain which hung down in front from the +passenger’s seat and disclosed a line of three upright pegs, rising two +or three inches from the floor of the car. They were concealed when the +curtain was lowered.</p> + +<p>“If you give the matter any thought,” said Sterling, “you will discover +that the passenger in an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>automobile is in rather a helpless position. +His chauffeur may faint, or even die at his wheel from heart failure, as +has been the case in several instances I know of, or he may be drunk, +and therefore unreasonable or obstinate, driving the car with danger to +all concerned, yet if his master attempt to displace him while the car +is going at high speed, disaster is certain. Now, the centre peg here +will stop the engine and put on the brakes. A pressure by the foot on +the right-hand peg turns the car to the right; and on the left-hand to +the left. In the ordinary car the passenger can do nothing to save +himself, but here he may stop the car dead, or, if he prefers it, may +disconnect the steering wheel, and guide the car at his will.”</p> + +<p>“Why, I think that’s an excellent device!” cried Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“I thought so, too, but there are disadvantages. The crises in which it +could be brought to play are rare. As a general rule, a chauffeur is +much more to be trusted than the owner, and if the owner happens to be a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>nervous man, he might interfere, with deplorable results.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Stranleigh, “it’s like the pistol in Texas. You may not need +it, but when you do you want it very badly. Has anyone else seen this +contrivance?”</p> + +<p>“No one except my assistant.”</p> + +<p>“Could you lend me this car to-morrow?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly.”</p> + +<p>“Then place the car in charge of a competent chauffeur, who knows +nothing of your safety device, and send it up to my hotel at eleven +o’clock. Tell him to ask for Henry Johnson. I’ll take a little trip into +the country, where I can test the car on some unfrequented road.”</p> + +<p>“Better cross the river to Canada,” said Sterling, with a smile. “Things +are quiet over there.”</p> + +<p>“Very well,” agreed Stranleigh. “You are a busy man, and I have taken up +a considerable amount of your time. You must allow me to pay you for +it.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p><p>The young man’s face grew red underneath its spots of grease, and he +drew back a step.</p> + +<p>“You have spent your own time to an equal amount, so we’ll allow one +expenditure to balance the other.”</p> + +<p>“My time is of no account. I’m a loafer.”</p> + +<p>“I could not accept any money, sir.”</p> + +<p>The two looked at one another for a moment, and gentlemen understand +each other even though one wears the greasy clothes of a mechanic.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon,” said Stranleigh, softly. “Now, let me ask you one +question. Have you given an option on this business to anyone?”</p> + +<p>Sterling glanced up in surprise.</p> + +<p>“Why, yes, I did give an option to an Englishman. By the way, you’re +English, are you not?”</p> + +<p>“I was born over there.”</p> + +<p>“This Englishman wasn’t your sort. He was a most plausible talker, and +as I told you, my judgment of men is sometimes at fault. I gave him an +option for two months, but I think all he wanted was to get an +automobile for nothing. He said he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>represented a syndicate of English +capitalists, some of whom were in New York, and he borrowed the only car +I had completed at that time. That was four months ago. Like the +preacher after the futile collection, I wanted to get back my hat at +least, but although I wrote letter after letter, I never received any +answer. It wasn’t worth my while to set the police on his track, so I +tried to forget him, and succeeded until you spoke of an option just +now.”</p> + +<p>“That agreement lapsed two months ago?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“Then write out an option for me, good for a week. I’ll pay you five +hundred dollars down, to be forfeited if I fail to do what I promise.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll give you the document with pleasure, but it is unnecessary to make +a deposit.”</p> + +<p>“This is business, you know, Mr. Sterling. You are pretending you are as +bad a business man as I am. I don’t know much about the law of America, +but I think you will find that unless a deposit is made, your instrument +would be invalid in a court of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>law. There must be value received, I +believe, when a bargain is made.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” said Sterling, “but I’ll give you back your money if you +regret the deal.”</p> + +<p>He went to a desk in the corner, and wrote out the agreement, in which +he acknowledged the receipt of five hundred dollars. Stranleigh selected +from his wallet five bills for a hundred dollars each, and handed them +over, then bidding farewell to the engineer, walked to his hotel, +followed at a discreet distance by Mr. Wentworth Parkes.</p> + +<p>Having located his quarry, Parkes retraced his steps to Woodbridge +Street, deep in thought. His first resolution was to try bluster, but he +abandoned that idea for two reasons, each conclusive in its way. His +slight acquaintance with the engineer had convinced him that while much +could be done with Sterling by persuasion, he would not yield to force, +and secondly, the motor builder had no money. Whatever gold he was to +acquire in his deal must come from Lord Stranleigh. It was, therefore, a +mild and innocent lamb of a man who entered the machine shop of +Woodbridge Street.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p><p>“Hello!” cried Sterling, who seemed taken aback by the encounter. “What +have you done with my automobile, and why did you not answer my +letters?”</p> + +<p>“Your automobile is here in Detroit; a little the worse for wear, +perhaps, but there is nothing wrong with it that you cannot put right in +short order. As for letters, I never received any. I thought I had +notified you of my changed address.”</p> + +<p>“As a matter of fact, you didn’t.”</p> + +<p>“In that case, I apologise most humbly. The truth is, Mr. Sterling, I +have been working practically night and day, often under very +discouraging circumstances. Until quite recently there was nothing +hopeful to tell, and the moment I struck a bit of good luck, I came on +here in the car to let you know. You see, it was very difficult to +interest capital in a proposition that apparently has no substantiality +behind it. If you had possessed a big factory in going order, that I +could have shown a man over, the company would have been formed long +ago. It therefore surprised me exceedingly, when I passed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>your shop +less than a hour ago, to see standing in this window, while you were +explaining the car to him, the man on whom I chiefly depended. You must +put it down to my credit that instead of coming in as I had intended, +thus embarrassing him, and perhaps spoiling a deal by my interference, I +passed on, waited until he came out, and followed him to his hotel.”</p> + +<p>Sterling was plainly nonplussed.</p> + +<p>“I wish you had come in an hour earlier,” he said. “You couldn’t have +interfered with a deal, because your option ran out two months ago.”</p> + +<p>“I know that,” said Parkes regretfully, “but I thought the good work on +my part would have made up for a legal lapse. Indeed, Mr. Sterling, if +you will allow me to say so, I had such supreme faith in your own +honesty, that I believed you would not hesitate to renew our +arrangement.”</p> + +<p>“That’s just the point,” said Sterling. “Had you come in an hour sooner, +you would have been in time. As it is, I have granted a new option to +the man you saw here with me.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p><p>“What name did he give you? Trevelyan?”</p> + +<p>“No; the name he mentioned was Henry Johnson.”</p> + +<p>Parkes laughed a little, then checked himself.</p> + +<p>“He went under the name of Trevelyan in New York, but I know neither +that nor Johnson is his true title. Well, is he going in with you, +then?”</p> + +<p>“He has asked for a week to decide.”</p> + +<p>Now Parkes laughed more heartily.</p> + +<p>“I took him out in your motor in New York, and there also he asked for a +week in which to decide. He seems to have taken the opportunity to come +West, and try to forestall me.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I don’t believe he’s that sort of man,” cried Sterling, +impatiently.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps I do him an injustice. I sincerely hope so. Of course you’re +not compelled to show your hand, but I think, in the circumstances, you +might let me know just how far you’ve got.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I think you are entitled to that. I remember I was rather +astonished when I learned he knew <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>I had given a former option, but I +shall be very much disappointed if he doesn’t run straight. Still, I +have been mistaken in men before. He took an option for a week, and paid +me five hundred dollars down in cash, to be forfeited if he does not +exercise it.”</p> + +<p>“Well, if the money is not counterfeit, that certainly looks like +running straight. And meanwhile, what are you to do?”</p> + +<p>“I am to do nothing, except send this car up to his hotel with a +suitable chauffeur, at eleven o’clock to-morrow. He is going to test it +along the Canadian roads.”</p> + +<p>“Was anything said about the amount of capital he was to put up?”</p> + +<p>“Not a word; we didn’t get that far.”</p> + +<p>Parkes took a few turns up and down the room then he said suddenly:</p> + +<p>“Have you any particular chauffeur in mind?”</p> + +<p>“No; I was just going out to make arrangements.”</p> + +<p>“You don’t need to make any arrangements. I’ll be your chauffeur, and +can show off this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>car better than a stranger, who perhaps might be +interested in some other automobile, and try to get your customer away. +It’s to my interest, having spent so much time on it, to see the deal +put through. Besides, I know your man, and now that I have encountered +him here in Detroit, he cannot deny that I sent him to your shop. I +think he owes me at least a commission for bringing you together. I +realise, of course, that I have no legal claim on either of you, yet I +am sure, if the facts were proved, any court would allow me an agent’s +commission.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll pay your commission,” said Sterling.</p> + +<p>“You haven’t got the money, and he has.”</p> + +<p>“Very well; I will let you go as chauffeur, but I must inform him who +you are.”</p> + +<p>Parkes shook his head.</p> + +<p>“My dear Sterling, you are the most honest and impractical man I ever +met. If you give him warning, he’ll merely leave you in the lurch as he +did me.”</p> + +<p>“Do you intend to disguise yourself?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p><p>“Certainly not.”</p> + +<p>“Then he will recognise you at once.”</p> + +<p>“I understand that class of Englishman much better than you do. He will +never see me, and I don’t know that I shall call myself to his attention +at all. My own idea is to let the deal go through, claiming only the +privilege of being your adviser, and keeping altogether in the +background. I can give you valuable hints about dealing with this sort +of man. He will regard me as a servant, and unless I said to him: ‘Lord +Stranleigh of Wychwood, why did you bolt so suddenly from New York?’ he +would never have the least idea who was sitting beside him, and even +then he would exhibit no surprise.”</p> + +<p>“Lord Stranleigh?” echoed Sterling in amazement.</p> + +<p>“Yes; that’s the man you’re dealing with, and he’s worth untold +millions. I’ll go up to this hotel now, and see him, if you prefer that +I should do so.”</p> + +<p>“No; you may take him out to-morrow, but I advise you to say nothing to +him about me or my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>business. Whatever arrangement we come to finally, +you shall be recompensed for your share in the negotiations.”</p> + +<p>Parkes’ prediction regarding Stranleigh’s non-recognition of him proved +accurate. The young man simply said—</p> + +<p>“We will cross the ferry, and run up along the Canadian shore as far as +Lake St. Clair.”</p> + +<p>The road continued along the river bank, with no fences on the left +side. Although residences were fairly numerous, there was little traffic +on the highway. The car was running at a moderate pace when the +chauffeur suddenly diverted it towards the river, and with an +exceedingly narrow margin escaped tumbling down the bank.</p> + +<p>“I say,” murmured Stranleigh, “I don’t like that you know.”</p> + +<p>“There’s worse to come,” said the chauffeur menacingly. “You will +promise to pay me a hundred thousand dollars, or I will dash you and the +car over the edge into the river. If you consider your life worth that +sum, speak quickly.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p><p>“Ah, it is you, Parkes? I hope you realise that you will dash yourself +over at the same time?”</p> + +<p>“I know that, but I’m a desperate man. Just get that through your head.”</p> + +<p>“You are aware that a promise given under duress is not binding?”</p> + +<p>“Stow talk!” roared Parkes. “Say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”</p> + +<p>“I say ‘No!’” replied Stranleigh, so quietly that the other was +unprepared for the prompt action which followed. Stranleigh flung his +arms around the man, and jerked him backward from his wheel. His +lordship was in good athletic condition; the ex-valet had looked too +much on the wine when it was red, and on the highball when it sparkled +in the glass. He felt helpless as a child.</p> + +<p>“Now,” said Stranleigh, “we will see who is the coward. I’ll lay a wager +with you that this car tumbles off the bank before five minutes are +past.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh with his heels was working the two outside <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>pegs, and the car +acted as if it were drunker than a lord, and almost as drunk as the +valet.</p> + +<p>“In God’s name,” cried the latter, “let me go. We shall be wrecked in a +moment.”</p> + +<p>“No, we won’t.”</p> + +<p>“I implore you, Lord Stranleigh!”</p> + +<p>“I’ll save your life, but will give you a lesson against attempted +blackmail.”</p> + +<p>He steered to the edge of the bank, then pressed the middle peg, and +stopped the car. Rising and carrying Parkes with him, he hurled him +headlong over the slight earthy precipice into the water, which was +shallow at that point. Parkes arose spluttering, and found Stranleigh +had turned the car round, and with a smile on his face, was looking down +at his dripping victim.</p> + +<p>“You’ll suffer for this!” cried Parkes, shaking his fist at him. “We’re +in a country, thank God, where we think very little of lords.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I don’t think much of lords myself, in any country,” replied +Stranleigh suavely, “and even less of their valets, notwithstanding I’ve +a very good one myself. Now listen to my advice. I shall be in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>United States before you can reach a telephone, and I don’t see how you +can get me back unless I wish to return. I advise you not to stir up the +police. The Duke of Rattleborough cabled to me that a certain section of +that useful body is anxious to hear of you. Call on Mr. Sterling, and +whatever he thinks is just compensation for your introduction I will +pay, but before you get the money, you must ensure both of us against +further molestation in any way.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh drove up to the shop on Woodbridge Street, and listened to +the account Sterling gave of Parkes’ visit and conversation, and his +explanation of how he had come to allow him to drive the car.</p> + +<p>“That’s quite all right and satisfactory,” said his lordship. “I never +for a moment distrusted you. Still, I did get your name from Parkes, and +I owe him something for that. What do you think would be a fair payment +to make? I threw him into the river, but though it’s clean, clear water, +I expect no reward.”</p> + +<p>“If you’ll allow me to pay him the five hundred <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>dollars you gave me +yesterday, I think the rogue will get much more than he deserves.”</p> + +<p>“Very good; I’ll add another five hundred, but see that he signs some +legal promise not to molest us further. I’ll capitalise your company to +the extent of any amount between a hundred thousand dollars and half a +million.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="III_THE_GOD_IN_THE_CAR" id="III_THE_GOD_IN_THE_CAR"></a>III.—THE GOD IN THE CAR.</h3> + +<p>Young Lord Stranleigh always proved a disappointment to a thorough-going +Radical, for he differed much from the conventional idea of what a +hereditary proud peer should be. He was not overbearing on the one hand, +nor condescending on the other, being essentially a shy, unassuming +person, easily silenced by any controversialist who uttered statements +of sufficient emphasis. He never seemed very sure about anything, +although undoubtedly he was a judge of well-fitting clothes, and the +tailoring of even the remoter parts of America rather pleased him.</p> + +<p>One thing that met his somewhat mild disapproval was undue publicity. He +shrank from general notice, and tried to efface himself when reporters +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>got on his track. In order, then, to live the quiet and simple life, +his lordship modified a stratagem he had used on a previous occasion +with complete success. He arranged that the obedient but unwilling +Ponderby should enact the country gentleman of England, bent on +enlarging his mind, and rounding out his experiences by residence in the +United States. Ponderby wished to get back to the old country, but was +too well-trained to say so. Lord Stranleigh, under the humble +designation of Henry Johnson, set for himself the part of Ponderby’s +chauffeur, a <i>rôle</i> he was well fitted to fill, because of his love for +motoring, and his expertness in the art. He dressed the character to +perfection, being always particular in the matter of clothes, and was +quite admirable in raising his forefinger deferentially to the edge of +his cap, a salute whose effect Ponderby endangered by his unfortunate +habit of blushing.</p> + +<p>Accustomed to self-suppression though he was, Ponderby could not +altogether conceal from Lord Stranleigh his dislike of the metamorphosis +that was proposed. He had been born a servant and brought <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>up a servant, +with the result that he was a capable one, and posing as a gentleman was +little to his taste. Of course, he would do anything Lord Stranleigh +commanded, and that without consciously hinting disapproval, but the +earl shrank from giving a command as much as he would have disliked +receiving one. He was suave enough with the general public, but just a +little more so in dealing with those who depended on him.</p> + +<p>“Did you ever visit the ancient village of Burford, Ponderby?” he asked +on this occasion.</p> + +<p>“Burford in England, my lord?”</p> + +<p>“Ponderby,” pleaded Stranleigh, “kindly oblige me by omitting the +appellation.”</p> + +<p>“Burford in England, sir?”</p> + +<p>“That’s better,” said the earl with a smile, “but we will omit the ‘sir’ +in future, also. I am a chauffeur, you know. Yes, I do mean Burford in +Oxfordshire, nestling cosily beside the brown river Windrush, a village +of very ancient houses.”</p> + +<p>“I have never been there.” Ponderby swallowed the phrase “my lord” just +in time.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p><p>“Then you have not seen the priory of that place; the ruins of a +beautiful old English manor-house? It forms the background of a +well-known modern picture by Waller—‘The Empty Saddle.’ The estate was +purchased by Lenthall, Speaker of the House of Commons during the Long +Parliament. Kings have put up at the Priory, the last being William the +Third. Think of that, Ponderby! Royalty! I know how you will respect the +house on that account. One of Lenthall’s descendants was served by an +ideal butler, who was happy, contented, well-paid; therefore, to all +outward appearances, satisfied. One day he fell heir to three thousand +pounds, which at present would be not quite fifteen thousand dollars, +but at that time was a good deal more. Against his master’s protests, he +resigned his butlership.</p> + +<p>“‘I have always wished to live,’ he confessed, ‘at the rate of three +thousand a year; to live as a gentleman for that period. I will return +to you a year from to-day, and if you wish to engage me, I shall be +happy to re-enter your service.’</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p><p>“He spent his long-coveted year and the three thousand pounds, returning +and taking up his old service again on the date he had set. Now, +Ponderby, there’s a precedent for you, and I know how you love +precedents. Remembering this historical fact, I have placed in the bank +of Altonville fifteen thousand dollars to your credit. You cannot return +to old England just yet, but you may enjoy New England. Already +constituting myself your servant, I have taken a furnished house for +you, and all I ask in return is that I may officiate as your chauffeur. +I hope to make some interesting experiments with the modern American +automobile.”</p> + +<p>And so it was arranged. Lord Stranleigh at the wheel saw much of a +charming country; sometimes with Ponderby in the back seat, but more +often without him, for the inestimable valet was quite evidently +ill-at-ease through this change of their relative positions.</p> + +<p>One balmy, beautiful day during the exceptionally mild Indian summer of +that year, Stranleigh left Altonville alone in his motor, and turned +into a road that led northward, ultimately reaching the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>mountains to be +seen dimly in the autumn haze far to the north. It was a favourite drive +of his, for it led along the uplands within sight of a group of crystal +lakes with well-wooded banks on the opposite shore. The district was +practically untouched by commerce, save that here and there along the +valley stood substantial mills, originally built to take advantage of +the water power from the brawling river connecting the lakes. Some of +these factories had been abandoned, and were slowly becoming as +picturesque as an old European castle. Others were still in going order, +and doubtless the valley had once been prosperous, but lagging behind an +age of tremendous progress, had lost step, as it were, with the +procession. Lack of adequate railway connection with the outside world +was the alleged cause, but the conservatism of the mill-owners, who, in +an age of combination, had struggled on individually to uphold the +gospel of letting well alone, a campaign that resulted in their being +left alone, had probably more to do with bringing about adversity than +the absence of railways. Some of the mills had been purchased by the +Trusts, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>and closed up. One or two still struggled on, hopelessly +battling for individualism and independence, everyone but themselves +recognising that the result was a foregone conclusion.</p> + +<p>Yet for a man who wished to rest, and desired, like the old-fashioned +millers, to be left alone, this countryside was indeed charming. The +summer visitors had all departed, missing the sublimest time of the +year. Stranleigh had the road to himself, and there was no annoying +speed limit to hamper the energy of his machine. Without any thought of +his disconsolate valet moping about an unnecessarily large and +well-furnished house, the selfish young man breathed the exhilarating +air, and revelled in his freedom.</p> + +<p>He passed a young couple, evidently lovers, standing on a grassy knoll, +gazing across a blue lake at the wooded banks on the other side, +seemingly at a fine old colonial mansion which stood in an opening of +the woods, with well-kept grounds sloping down to the water’s edge.</p> + +<p>A man driving a car enjoys small opportunity for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>admiring scenery and +architecture, so Stranleigh paid little regard to the view, but caught a +fleeting glimpse of a beautiful girl, in whose expression there appeared +a tinge of sadness which enhanced her loveliness; then he was past, with +the empty road before him. He fell into a reverie, a most dangerous +state of mind for a chauffeur, since a fall into a reverie on the part +of a driver may mean a fall into a ravine on the part of the machine. +The reverie, however, was interrupted by a shout, and then by another. +He slowed down, and looking back over his shoulder saw that the young +man was sprinting towards him at a record-breaking speed. Stranleigh +declutched his automobile, and applying the brakes came to a standstill. +The young man ran up breathlessly.</p> + +<p>“You are the chauffeur of that Englishman in Altonville, are you not?” +he panted, breathing hard.</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“Are you going to meet him, or anything of that sort?”</p> + +<p>“No; I’m out for my own pleasure.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p><p>“I’ll give you a dollar if you take my wife and me back to Altonville.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh smiled.</p> + +<p>“I’ll go, my chief; I’m ready,” he murmured. “It is not for your silver +bright, but for your winsome lady.”</p> + +<p>“My wife has sprained her ankle, and cannot walk,” explained the young +man.</p> + +<p>“I am sorry to hear that,” replied Lord Stranleigh. “Get in, and we will +go back to her in a jiffy.”</p> + +<p>The young man sprang into the car, which the amateur chauffeur turned +very deftly, and in a few moments they drew up close to the grassy bank +where the girl was sitting. The young husband very tenderly lifted her +to the back seat, and the polite chauffeur, after again expressing his +regret at the accident, drove the car swiftly to Altonville, stopping at +the office of the only doctor.</p> + +<p>The young man rang the bell, and before the door was opened, he had +carried the girl up the steps. Presently he returned, and found +Stranleigh still <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>sitting in the chauffeur’s seat, meditatively +contemplating the trafficless street. His late passenger thrust hand in +pocket, and drew forth a silver dollar.</p> + +<p>“I am ever so much obliged,” he said, “and am sorry to have detained you +so long.”</p> + +<p>“The detention was nothing. To be of assistance, however slight, is a +pleasure, marred only by the fact of the lady’s misadventure. I hope to +hear that her injury is not serious, and then I shall be well repaid.”</p> + +<p>“You will not be repaid,” returned the young man, with a slight frown on +his brow, “until you have accepted this dollar.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh laughed gently.</p> + +<p>“I told you at the beginning that I was not working for coin.”</p> + +<p>The young man came closer to the automobile.</p> + +<p>“To tell the truth,” he said earnestly, “I fear that now we are in +Altonville that pompous gentleman, your boss, may come along, and you +will get into trouble. Masters do not like their motors used for other +people’s convenience.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p><p>“Don’t worry about Mr. Ponderby. He is a very good-hearted person, and +his pomposity merely a mannerism. I am waiting to take madame and +yourself to your residence.”</p> + +<p>“It isn’t much of a residence,” laughed the young man rather grimly, +“only a couple of rooms and a small kitchen, and is less than a hundred +yards from this spot.”</p> + +<p>“Then I’ll take you that hundred yards.”</p> + +<p>“I work in Fulmer’s grist mill,” explained the husband, “and business is +not very good, so I had the day off. This is a time of year when we +ought to be busy, but the trade is merely local. The huge concerns down +east, and further west, do practically all the grinding nowadays.”</p> + +<p>The door opened, and the doctor appeared at the top of the steps.</p> + +<p>“It’s all right, Mr. Challis,” he said encouragingly. “Mrs. Challis must +stay indoors for a few days, and be careful to rest her foot. The cure +may be tedious, but not painful, thanks to prompt treatment.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p><p>Challis brought out his wife, and Stranleigh took them to the +two-storied frame house, of which they occupied part. When the young man +came out to thank the chauffeur, he found the street empty.</p> + +<p>A week later, Stranleigh’s passengers heard the purr of an automobile +outside the cottage. Challis opened the door in response to the +chauffeur’s knock.</p> + +<p>“Good morning,” said Stranleigh, shaking hands cheerfully. “What a +lovely day! I am delighted to know that Mrs. Challis has completely +recovered. I did not care to trouble you with repeated calls, but the +doctor has been very kind, and has kept me informed of her progress. It +is with his permission that I come to offer you a spin in the car. I’ll +take you anywhere you wish to go, and this invitation is extended with +the concurrence of Mr. Ponderby, so you may enjoy the run to the full. +My name’s Johnson; not Jack, the celebrated, but Henry, the unknown.”</p> + +<p>Challis laughed.</p> + +<p>“I’m delighted to meet you again,” he said. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>“Come in and see my wife. +Her worry has been that she has never had the opportunity to thank you +for your former kindness. Yes; I shall be glad of a ride. I have been +too much in the house lately.”</p> + +<p>“Another day off, eh?”</p> + +<p>“All days are off days now,” growled Challis. “The grist mill has shut +down.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Challis received the alleged Johnson with a graciousness that was +quite charming. She thanked him in a manner so winning that Stranleigh +sat there overcome with an attack of the shyness he had never been able +to shake off. He could not help noticing the subtle melancholy of her +beautiful face, a hint of which he had received in that brief first +glance as he passed in the automobile. He attributed it then to her +mishap, but now realised its cause was something deeper and more +permanent. He was astonished later to find her so resolute in refusing +his invitation. She wished her husband to go for a drive, but would not +avail herself of that pleasure. In vain Stranleigh urged the doctor’s +dictum that it would be good for her especially as the day <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>was so fine, +and she had endured a week of enforced idleness indoors.</p> + +<p>“Some other day perhaps,” she said, “but not now,” and he speedily +recognised that her firmness was not to be shaken.</p> + +<p>All her own powers of persuasiveness, however were turned upon her +husband.</p> + +<p>“You must go, Jim,” she insisted. “I have kept you a prisoner for a +week, and you need the fresh air much more than I do.”</p> + +<p>James Challis, protesting more and more faintly at last gave way, and +the two men drove off together while Mrs. Challis fluttered a +handkerchief from her window in adieu.</p> + +<p>Challis had refused to sit in the back seat, and took his place beside +the chauffeur.</p> + +<p>“Where shall we go?” asked the latter.</p> + +<p>“Drive to the place where you found us,” said his passenger, and there +they went. On the way thither, neither spoke, but at a sign from +Challis, Stranleigh stopped the car.</p> + +<p>“You must not think,” began the former, “that my wife did not wish to +come. I know from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>expression of her eyes that she did. Her reason +for declining was one that I imagine any woman would consider adequate, +and any man the reverse.”</p> + +<p>“I am an exception so far as the men are concerned,” said Stranleigh, +coming much nearer the truth than he suspected, “for I am sure that +whatever motive actuated Mrs. Challis, it was commendable and right.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” responded the other. “I am with you there. It is all a +matter of clothes. My wife possesses no costume suitable for a motor +excursion.”</p> + +<p>“In that case,” cried Stranleigh impulsively, “the defect is easily +remedied. I have saved a bit from the ample salary Mr. Ponderby allows +me, and if I may offer you——”</p> + +<p>“I could not accept anything,” interrupted Challis.</p> + +<p>“Merely a temporary loan, until the grist mill begins operations.”</p> + +<p>Challis shook his head.</p> + +<p>“That mill will never grind again with the water <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>that is past, nor the +water that is to come. Fulmer has gone smash, and I could not accept a +loan that I do not see my way to repay. Nevertheless, I appreciate fully +the kindness of your offer, and if you don’t mind, I will tell you how I +got myself entangled, for there is no use in concealing from you what +you must already have seen—that I am desperately poor, so much so that +I sometimes lose courage, and consider myself a failure, which is not a +pleasant state of mind to get into.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I’ve often felt that way myself,” said Stranleigh, “but nobody’s a +failure unless he thinks he is. You strike me as a capable man. You have +youth and energy, and added to that, great good luck. I’m a believer in +luck myself.”</p> + +<p>This commendation did not chase the gloom from the face of Challis.</p> + +<p>“You have knocked from under me,” he said, “the one frail prop on which +I leaned. I have been excusing myself by blaming the run of horrid bad +luck I have encountered.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p><p>Stranleigh shook his head.</p> + +<p>“You can’t truthfully say that,” he rejoined quietly, “while you have +had the supreme good fortune to enlist the affection of so clever and +charming a wife.”</p> + +<p>The gloom disappeared from Challis’s countenance as the shadow of a +cloud at that moment flitted from the surface of the lake. He thrust +forth his hand, and there being no onlookers, Stranleigh grasped it.</p> + +<p>“Shake!” cried Challis. “I’ll never say ‘ill-luck’ again! I wish she had +come with us.”</p> + +<p>“So do I,” agreed Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“I’d like her to have heard you talk.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, not for that reason. I’d like her to enjoy this scenery.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, and the deuce of it is, she practically owns the scene. Look at +that house across the lake.”</p> + +<p>“A mansion, I should call it.”</p> + +<p>“A mansion it is. That’s where my wife came from. Think of my +selfishness in taking her from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>such a home to wretched rooms in a +cottage, and abject poverty.”</p> + +<p>“I prefer not to think of your selfishness, but rather of her nobility +in going. It revives in a cynical man like myself his former belief in +the genuine goodness of the world.”</p> + +<p>“It all came about in this way,” continued Challis. “I graduated at a +technical college—engineering. I began work at the bottom of the +ladder, and started in to do my best, being ambitious. This was +appreciated, and I got on.”</p> + +<p>“In what line?” asked Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“In a line which at that time was somewhat experimental. The firm for +which I worked might be called a mechanical-medical association, or +perhaps ‘surgical’ would be a better term. We had no plant, no factory; +nothing but offices. We were advisers. I was sent here and there all +over the country, to mills that were not in a good state of health; +dividends falling off, business declining, competition too severe, and +what-not. I looked over the works, talked with managers and men, formed +conclusions, then sent a report to my firm <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>containing details, and such +suggestions as I had to offer. My firm communicated with the proprietor +of the works accordingly, and collected its bill.”</p> + +<p>“That should be an interesting occupation,” said Stranleigh, whose +attention was enlisted.</p> + +<p>“It was. One day, I was sent up here to inspect the factory of Stanmore +Anson, a large stone structure which you could see from here were it not +concealed by that hill to the right. It has been in the Anson family for +three generations, and had earned a lot of money in its time, but is now +as old-fashioned as Noah’s Ark. It was cruelly wasteful of human energy +and mechanical power. It should have had a set of turbines, instead of +the ancient, moss-grown, overshot waterwheels. The machinery was out of +date, and ill-placed. The material in course of manufacture had to go +upstairs and downstairs, all over the building, handled and re-handled, +backward and forward, instead of passing straight through the factory, +entering as raw material, and coming out the finished product. I +reported to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>my firm that the establishment needed a complete +overhauling; that it ought to have new machinery, but that if it was +compulsory to keep the old machines at work, they should be entirely +rearranged in accordance with the sketch I submitted, so that +unnecessary handling of the product might be avoided. I set down the +minimum expense that must be incurred, and also submitted an estimate +covering the cost of turbines and new machinery, which I admit was large +in the bulk, but really the most economical thing to do.”</p> + +<p>“I see. And the old man objected to the expense, or perhaps had not the +necessary capital to carry out your suggestion? What sort of a person is +he? Unreasonable, I suppose you consider him?”</p> + +<p>“Strangely enough, I never met him in my life.”</p> + +<p>“And you married his daughter?”</p> + +<p>“Had to. I was determined to take the girl away, whether I reformed the +factory or not, and here you see where good luck and the reverse +mingled. When I arrived at Mr. Anson’s factory, the old man <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>was in New +York, for the purpose, as I learned, of raising a loan, or of selling +the property, neither of which projects was he able to carry out.”</p> + +<p>“That was his misfortune, rather than his fault, wasn’t it?”</p> + +<p>“In a way, yes; still, the Trust had offered him a reasonable figure for +his factory. He not only refused, but he fought the Trust tooth and +nail, thinking that with low taxation, and country wages, he could meet +the competition, which, of course, with the factory in its present +state, he could not do. The fact that he was up against the Trust became +well known, so that he could neither borrow nor sell. While in New York, +he called several times on Langdon, Bliss, and Co., the firm that +employed me. When my report came in and was read to him, I understand he +fell into a tremendous rage, and characterised our company as a body of +swindlers. Mr. Langdon ordered him out of the office.</p> + +<p>“That was the first spoke in my wheel. Mr. Langdon was a capable man, +always courteous and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>very calm when dealing with his fellows, so I am +sure that my father-in-law must have been exceedingly violent when he +provoked Langdon to vocal wrath. I judge that Langdon, when he recovered +from his outbreak, regretted it extremely, and was inclined to blame me +for rather muddling the affair of Anson’s mill. I may say that I had +been placed in rather a difficult position. The proprietor was absent, +and had not taken his foreman into his confidence, therefore this +foreman put difficulties in the way of investigation. The employees were +suspicious, not knowing what this research by a stranger meant, so I +went to Anson’s house, hoping to find there someone with sufficient +authority to enable me to get the information I must have.</p> + +<p>“I met Mrs. Anson, a kindly woman, but realised in a moment that no +authority had been delegated to her. She appeared afraid to suggest +anything, but called in her only daughter to assist at our conference. +The girl at once said she would accompany me to the mill, and did so. I +shall never forget with what infinite tact and persuasiveness she <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>won +over the foreman, and it was quite evident that the workmen all knew and +liked her, for her very presence appeared to dissipate distrust. I saw +Miss Anson home, and it seemed, as my investigations progressed, many +conferences became more and more necessary. You’re a young man, and +doubtless you know how it is yourself.”</p> + +<p>“As a matter of fact, I don’t,” interjected Stranleigh, “but I can +guess.”</p> + +<p>“Well—your guess is right. We had no difficulty with Mrs. Anson, but +both mother and daughter were uneasy about how the father would take it. +I wrote him what I hoped was a straightforward letter, putting the case +to him as man to man. He answered with a very brief and terse letter +that left me no doubt regarding his opinion, but my own communication +had arrived at an unfortunate time; the day after he had been ordered +out of our office. He at once enclosed my letter to Mr. Langdon, saying +in effect:—</p> + +<p>“‘This is the sort of man you sent like a wolf in sheep’s clothing to my +home.’”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p><p>“Langdon telegraphed, asking if this was true. I, of course, had to +admit it was, with the result of instant dismissal. I never would have +let either mother or daughter know about this, but my reticence was +vain, for Mr. Anson wrote a stinging letter to his daughter saying she +could do what she pleased about marrying me, but that he had secured my +dismissal. It is strange,” Challis murmured reflectively, speaking more +to himself than to his companion, “it is strange that a father rarely +recognises that when he comes to a difference with one of his children, +he is meeting, in part at least, some of his own characteristics. I +wonder if I shall ever be so unreasonable as——”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh’s eye twinkled as he remembered how firm the girl had been in +refusing the automobile invitation, yet giving no explanation of that +refusal.</p> + +<p>“What Gertrude said to me was, holding her head very proudly: ‘I have +received my father’s permission to marry you, and if you are ready for +an immediate ceremony, I am willing.’</p> + +<p>“We were married before the old man returned from New York.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p><p>“Has there been no further communication between Mr. Anson and +yourself?”</p> + +<p>“On my part, yes; ignored by him. It was Gertrude who wished to stay in +Altonville. She knew a financial crisis was threatening her father, and +she hoped that in some way I should be able to advise him. That was not +to be. She requested permission to take away her belongings. This was +refused. Everything she possessed, Mr. Anson said, had been purchased +with his money. They remained at his home, and she was welcome to use +them at his house, any time she chose to return, but having exchanged +his care for that of another man, it was the other man’s duty to provide +what she needed. This ended our communication, and brings us to the +present moment.”</p> + +<p>“Can you drive a car?” asked Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“The immediate question strikes me as being that of wearing apparel. I +propose to return with at least a box full. I don’t like to be baffled, +and I wish Mrs. Challis to come out with us for a run. Will you +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>exchange seats, and drive me down to the mill?”</p> + +<p>“You’re up against a tough proposition,” demurred Challis.</p> + +<p>“A proposition usually gives way if you approach it tactfully, as Miss +Anson approached the manager. If you have never seen her father, he will +not recognise you, so let us call at the mill.”</p> + +<p>“He would not recognise me, but the foreman would, also many of the +men.”</p> + +<p>“We must chance that.”</p> + +<p>The two young men exchanged seats, and Challis at the wheel, with more +caution than ever Stranleigh used, sent the car spinning down the +slightly descending road by the margin of the lake, until they came to +the water level. No word was spoken between them, but his lordship +studied with keen scrutiny from the corner of his eye, the profile of +the intent driver. He was immensely taken with the young man, and +meditated on the story to which he had listened. The effect left on his +mind by that recital surprised him. It was a feeling of sympathy with +the old man who had acted so obstreperously, and gradually he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>placed +this feeling to the credit of Challis, who had shown no rancour against +his father-in-law, either in word or tone. Yes; he liked Challis, and +was sorry for the elderly Anson, one evidently advanced in years, +battling against forces that were too much for him, stubbornly using +antiquated methods in a world that had out-grown them; the muzzle-loader +against the repeating rifle. These two men should be pulling together.</p> + +<p>“There’s the factory,” said Challis, at last, and Stranleigh, looking +up, beheld further down the valley a three-storied structure, +unexpectedly huge, built apparently for all the ages. There was no sign +of activity about it; but the roar of waters came to their ears; idle +waters, nevertheless, that were turning no wheels, the muffled sound of +an unimpeded minor cataract.</p> + +<p>“By Jove!” cried Stranleigh, jumping out as the car stopped.</p> + +<p>Challis said nothing, but an expression of deep anxiety darkened his +countenance. There were plastered here and there on the stone walls +great white posters, bearing printing like the headings <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>of a +sensational newspaper, magnified several hundred times.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><h3><span style="font-weight: normal;">AUCTION SALE.</span></h3> + +<p class="center">BY ORDER OF THE BANKRUPTCY COURT,</p> + +<p>that desirable property known as Anson’s Mill, fully +equipped with machinery, in condition for immediate use, +with never-failing water power, which at slight expense may +be enormously increased; together with ten acres of freehold +land; without reserve to the highest bidder; on the +Seventeenth of November!</p></div> + +<p>“A desirable property,” said Challis, sadly, “which nobody desires +except the Trust, and probably <i>it</i> cares nothing about it now.”</p> + +<p>“You forget that it is desired by Stanmore Anson.”</p> + +<p>“I am afraid that even he is tired of it by this time. I am sorry, but I +feared it was inevitable.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh looked up at him.</p> + +<p>“Could you make this factory pay, if it were given into your charge?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p><p>“Not in its present condition.”</p> + +<p>“I mean, of course, with your recommendations carried out. If the mill, +free from all encumbrances, filled with modern machinery, rightly +placed, were put under your management, could you make it pay?”</p> + +<p>Challis did not answer for some moments. His brow was wrinkled in +thought, and he seemed making some mental calculations.</p> + +<p>“There would need to be a suitable amount of working capital——”</p> + +<p>“Yes, yes; all that is understood. Could you make it pay?”</p> + +<p>“I am almost sure I could, but there is that incalculable factor, the +opposition of the Trust.”</p> + +<p>“Damn the Trust!” cried Stranleigh. “I beg your pardon; I should have +said, blow the Trust! I thought I had lost the power of becoming +excited, not to say profane. It must be the exhilarating air of America. +The sale is a good way off yet, and I think it will be further off +before I get through with it. If you will accept the management, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>your father-in-law proves at all reasonable, I guarantee to find the +necessary money.”</p> + +<p>“You mean that, Mr. Ponderby——”</p> + +<p>“Exactly. I am his chief business adviser, as well as his only +chauffeur. But we are forgetting the matter in hand. We must rescue the +wardrobe of Mrs. Challis. Drive on to the mansion. You know the way, and +I don’t.”</p> + +<p>“I’m a warned-off trespasser, but here goes.”</p> + +<p>“You won’t be called on to trespass very much. You’re my chauffeur, <i>pro +tem</i>. Perhaps you won’t need to enter the house at all. I shall see Mrs. +Anson before I meet her husband, if possible, and will try to persuade +her to give me the wardrobe.”</p> + +<p>“She would not have the courage to do that without her husband’s +permission, and he will never give it.”</p> + +<p>“We’ll see about that. Ah, the mill is not the only piece of property to +be sold!”</p> + +<p>They had turned into a well-shaded avenue, to the massive stone +gate-pillars of which were attached posters similar to those at the +mill, only in this case <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>it was “This valuable, desirable and palatial +residence,” with the hundreds of acres of land attached, that were to be +knocked down by the auctioneer’s hammer.</p> + +<p>“I might have known,” commented Stranleigh, “that if Mr. Anson was +bankrupt at his mill, he was also bankrupt at his house.”</p> + +<p>They drew up at the entrance. Stranleigh stepped down, and rang the +bell, Challis remaining in the car. Shown into the drawing-room, the +visitor was greeted by a sad-looking, elderly woman.</p> + +<p>“Mrs. Anson,” said the young man, very deferentially, “I expect your +forgiveness for this intrusion on my part when I say that I am here in +some sense as an ambassador from your daughter.”</p> + +<p>“From my daughter!” gasped the old lady in astonishment. “Is she well, +and where is she?”</p> + +<p>“She is very well, I am glad to say, and is living with her husband over +in the village.”</p> + +<p>“In her last letter she said her husband was taking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>her to New York. +There had been a—misunderstanding.” The old lady hesitated for a moment +before using that mild term. “On the day her letter was received, I went +to the hotel at which they were stopping, and was told by the landlord +they had gone, he did not know where. Do you tell me they have been +living in Altonville all the time?”</p> + +<p>“I think so, but cannot be sure. I met Mr. and Mrs. Challis for the +first time only a week ago.”</p> + +<p>“I hope she is happy.”</p> + +<p>“She is,” said Stranleigh confidently, “and before the day is done her +mother will be happy also.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Anson shook her head. She was on the verge of tears, which +Stranleigh saw and dreaded. So he said hurriedly:</p> + +<p>“You will select me what you think she should have at once, and I will +take the box or parcel to Altonville in my car.”</p> + +<p>“When at last her father saw that everything we possessed must be sold,” +rejoined Mrs. Anson, “he packed up in trunks what belonged to Gertrude, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>and as we could not learn where to send them, Mr. Asa Perkins, a friend +of ours, who lives in Boston, lent us a room in which to store the +things, and they are there now.”</p> + +<p>“How odd!” exclaimed Stranleigh. “I met Mr. Perkins just before he left +his summer residence, and took the place furnished, acting for the +present tenant. It is much too large for him, and some of the rooms are +locked. Do you happen to have the key?”</p> + +<p>“No; it is in the possession of the housekeeper. She is there still, is +she not?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; I took the house as it stood, servants and all.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll write a note to the housekeeper, then. What name shall I say?”</p> + +<p>“Please write it in the name of Mr. Challis. He’s outside now, in my +car.”</p> + +<p>“May I bring him in?” she asked, eagerly.</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” said Stranleigh, with a smile. “It’s your house, you know.”</p> + +<p>“Not for long,” she sighed.</p> + +<p>“Ah,——” drawled Stranleigh, “Mr. Challis and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>I propose that this sale +shall not take place. If I may have a short conversation with your +husband, I think we shall come to terms.”</p> + +<p>An expression of anxiety overspread her face.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps I had better not ask Jim to come in,” she hesitated.</p> + +<p>“Your husband does not know him, and I would rather you did not tell him +who is with me. Just say that Henry Johnson and a friend wish to +negotiate about the factory.”</p> + +<p>Stanmore Anson proved to be a person of the hale old English yeoman +type, as portrayed by illustrators, although his ancestors originally +came from Sweden. His face was determined, his lips firm, and despite +his defeats, the lurking sparkle of combat still animated his eyes.</p> + +<p>“Before we begin any conversation regarding a sale,” he said, “you must +answer this question, Mr. Johnson. Are you connected in any way, +directly or indirectly, with the G.K.R. Trust?”</p> + +<p>“I am not connected with it, directly or indirectly.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p><p>“You state that on your honour as a man?”</p> + +<p>“No; I simply state it.”</p> + +<p>“You wouldn’t swear it?”</p> + +<p>“Not unless compelled by force of law.”</p> + +<p>“Then I have nothing further to say to you, sir.”</p> + +<p>The old man seemed about to withdraw, then hesitated, remembering he was +in his own house. Stranleigh sat there unperturbed.</p> + +<p>“You have nothing further to say, Mr. Anson, because two thoughts are +sure to occur to you. First, a man whose word you would not accept +cannot be believed, either on his honour or his oath. Second, the Trust +doesn’t need to send an emissary to you; it has only to wait until +November, and acquire your factory at its own figure. No one except +myself would bid against the Trust.”</p> + +<p>“That’s quite true,” agreed Anson. “I beg your pardon. What have you to +propose?”</p> + +<p>“I wish to know the sum that will see you clear and enable you to tear +down those white posters at the gates, and those on the mill.”</p> + +<p>Stanmore Anson drew a sheet of paper from his pocket, glanced over it, +then named the amount.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p><p>“Very good,” said Stranleigh, decisively. “I’ll pay that for the mill +and the ten acres.”</p> + +<p>“They are not worth it,” said Anson. “Wait till November, and even +though you outbid the Trust, you’ll get it at a lower figure.”</p> + +<p>“We’ll make the mill worth it. You may retain the residence and the rest +of the property.”</p> + +<p>“There is but one proviso,” said the old man. “I wish to name the +manager.”</p> + +<p>“I regret I cannot agree to that, Mr. Anson, I have already chosen the +manager, and guarantee that he will prove efficient.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll forego your generous offer of the house and property if you will +allow me to appoint the manager.”</p> + +<p>“I am sorry, Mr. Anson, but you touch the only point on which I cannot +give way.”</p> + +<p>“Very well,” cried Anson, angrily, his eyes ablaze. “The arrangement is +off.”</p> + +<p>Both young men saw that Stanmore Anson was indeed difficult to deal +with, as his ancestors had been in many a hard-fought battle.</p> + +<p>“Wait a moment! Wait a moment!” exclaimed Challis. “This will never do. +It is absurd <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>to wreck everything on a point so trivial. I am the man +whom Mr. Johnson wishes to make manager. I now refuse to accept the +position, but if the bargain is completed, I’ll give Mr. Anson and his +manager all the assistance and advice they care to receive from me, and +that without salary.”</p> + +<p>“Be quiet, Challis!” cried Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“Challis! Challis!” interrupted the old man, gazing fiercely at his +junior. “Is your name Challis?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> + +<p>“You’re not my son-in-law?”</p> + +<p>“I am, sir.”</p> + +<p>“I did you a great injustice,” admitted Anson. “No man has a right to +deprive another of his livelihood. I have bitterly regretted it. It is +you I wish appointed manager.”</p> + +<p>“Challis,” said Stranleigh, “take the car, and bring your wife. Say her +father wishes to see her.”</p> + +<p>Challis disappeared, and in an incredibly short space of time, during +which Anson and Stranleigh chatted together, the door opened, and +Gertrude Challis came in.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p><p>“Father,” she cried, “Jim says he’s going to scrap all the machinery in +the factory. Shall we throw our differences on that scrap-heap?”</p> + +<p>The old man gathered her to his breast, and kissed her again and again. +He could not trust his voice.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 333px;"> +<img src="images/i123.jpg" class="ispace" width="333" height="500" alt="“‘Shall we throw our differences on that scrap-heap?’”" title="" /> +<span class="caption">“‘Shall we throw our differences on that scrap-heap?’”</span> +</div> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="34%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="Illustration 2"> +<tr><td align="left"><i><small><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lord Stranleigh Abroad]</span></small></i></td> +<td align="right"><i><small><span style="font-weight: bold;">[Page <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</span></small></i></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="IV_THE_MAD_MISS_MATURIN" id="IV_THE_MAD_MISS_MATURIN"></a>IV.—THE MAD MISS MATURIN.</h3> + +<p>“Would you like to meet the most beautiful woman in America?” asked +Edward Trenton of his guest.</p> + +<p>Lord Stranleigh drew a whiff or two from the favourite pipe he was +smoking, and the faint suggestion of a smile played about his lips.</p> + +<p>“The question seems to hint that I have not already met her,” he said at +last.</p> + +<p>“Have you?”</p> + +<p>“Of course.”</p> + +<p>“Where?”</p> + +<p>“In every town of any size I ever visited.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I daresay you have met many pretty girls, but only one of them is +the most beautiful in America.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p><p>Again Stranleigh smiled, but this time removed his pipe, which had gone +out, and gently tapped it on the ash tray.</p> + +<p>“My dear Ned,” he said at last, “on almost any other subject I should +hesitate to venture an opinion that ran counter to your own experience, +yet in this instance I think you wrong the great Republic. I am not very +good at statistics, but if you will tell me how many of your +fellow-countrymen are this moment in love, I’ll make a very accurate +estimate regarding the number of most beautiful women there are in the +United States.”</p> + +<p>“Like yourself, Stranleigh, I always defer to the man of experience, and +am glad to have hit on one subject in which you are qualified to be my +teacher.”</p> + +<p>“I like that! Ned Trenton depreciating his own conquests is a popular +actor in a new <i>rôle</i>. But you are evading the point. I was merely trying +in my awkward way to show that every woman is the most beautiful in the +world to the man in love with her.”</p> + +<p>“Very well; I’ll frame my question differently. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>Would you like to meet +one of the most cultured of her sex?”</p> + +<p>“Bless you, my boy, of course not! Why, I’m afraid of her already. It is +embarrassing enough to meet a bright, alert man, but in the presence of +a clever woman, I become so painfully stupid that she thinks I’m putting +it on.”</p> + +<p>“Then let me place the case before you in still another form. Would your +highness like to meet the richest woman in Pennsylvania?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly I should,” cried Stranleigh, eagerly.</p> + +<p>Trenton looked at him with a shade of disapproval on his brow.</p> + +<p>“I thought wealth was the very last qualification a man in your position +would care for in a woman, yet hardly have I finished the sentence, than +you jump at the chance I offer.”</p> + +<p>“And why not? A lady beautiful and talented would likely strike me dumb, +but if she is hideously rich, I may be certain of one thing, that I +shall not be asked to invest money in some hare-brained scheme or +other.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p><p>“You are quite safe from that danger, or indeed from any other danger, +so far as Miss Maturin is concerned. Nevertheless, it is but just that +you should understand the situation, so that if you scent danger of any +kind, you may escape while there is yet time.”</p> + +<p>“Unobservant though I am,” remarked Stranleigh, “certain signs have not +escaped my notice. This commodious and delightful mansion is being +prepared for a house-party. I know the symptoms, for I have several +country places of my own. If, as I begin to suspect, I am in the way +here, just whisper the word and I’ll take myself off in all good humour, +hoping to receive an invitation for some future time.”</p> + +<p>“If that’s your notion of American hospitality, Stranleigh, you’ve got +another guess coming. You’re a very patient man; will you listen to a +little family history? Taking your consent for granted, I plunge. My +father possessed a good deal of landed property in Pennsylvania. This +house is the old homestead, as they would call it in a heart-throb +drama. My father died a very wealthy man, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>left his property +conjointly to my sister and myself. He knew we wouldn’t quarrel over the +division, and we haven’t. My activity has been mainly concentrated in +coal mines and in the railways which they feed, and financially I have +been very fortunate. I had intended to devote a good deal of attention +to this estate along certain lines which my father had suggested, but I +have never been able to do so, living, as I did, mostly in Philadelphia, +absorbed in my own business. My sister, however, has in a measure +carried out my father’s plans, aided and abetted by her friend, Miss +Constance Maturin. My sister married a man quite as wealthy as herself, +a dreamy, impractical, scholarly person who once represented his country +as Minister to Italy, in Rome. She enjoyed her Italian life very much, +and studied with great interest the progress North Italy was making in +utilising the water-power coming from the Alps. In this she was ably +seconded by Miss Maturin, who is owner of forests and farms and +factories further down the river which flows past our house. Her +property, indeed, adjoins our own, but she does not possess that +unlimited power <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>over it which Sis and I have over this estate, for her +father, having no faith in the business capacity of woman, formed his +undertakings into a limited liability company where, although he owned +the majority of stock during his life, he did not leave his daughter +with untrammelled control. Had the old man known what trouble he was +bequeathing to his sole heir, I imagine he would have arranged things a +little differently. Miss Maturin has had to endure several expensive +law-suits, which still further restricted her power and lessened her +income. So she has ceased to take much interest in her own belongings, +and has constituted herself adviser-in-chief to my dear sister, who has +blown in a good deal of money on this estate in undertakings that, +however profitable they may be in the future, are unproductive up to +date. I am not criticising Sis at all, and have never objected to what +she has done, although I found myself involved in a very serious action +for damages, which I had the chagrin of losing, and which ran me into a +lot of expense, covering me with injunctions and things of that sort. No +rogue e’er felt the halter draw, with a good <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>opinion of the law, and +perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently +broken it. If this long diatribe bores you, just say so, and I’ll cut it +short.”</p> + +<p>“On the contrary,” said Stranleigh, with evident honesty, “I’m very much +interested. These two ladies, as I understand the case, have been +unsuccessful in law——”</p> + +<p>“Completely so.”</p> + +<p>“And unsuccessful in the projects they have undertaken?”</p> + +<p>“From my point of view, yes. That is to say, they are sinking pots of +money, and I don’t see where any of it is coming back.”</p> + +<p>“Of what do these enterprises consist?”</p> + +<p>“Do you know anything about the conservation controversy now going on in +this country?”</p> + +<p>“I fear I do not. I am a woefully ignorant person.”</p> + +<p>“My father had ideas about conservation long before the United States +took it up. It is on these ideas that Sis has been working. You preserve +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>water in times of flood and freshet to be used for power or for +irrigation throughout the year. Her first idea was to make a huge lake, +extending several miles up the valley of this river. That’s where I got +into my law-suit. The commercial interests down below held that we had +no right to put a huge concrete dam across this river.”</p> + +<p>“Couldn’t you put a dam on your own property?”</p> + +<p>“It seems not. If the river ran entirely through my own property, I +could. Had I paid more attention to what was being done, I might perhaps +have succeeded, by getting a bill through the Legislature. When I tried +that, I was too late. The interests below had already applied to the +courts for an injunction, which, quite rightly, they received. +Attempting to legalise the action, not only did I find the Legislature +hostile, but my clever opponents got up a muck-raking crusade against +me, and I was held up by the Press of this State as a soulless +monopolist, anxious to increase my already great wealth by grabbing what +should belong to the whole <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>people. The campaign of personal calumny was +splendidly engineered, and, by Jupiter! they convinced me that I was +unfit for human intercourse. Tables of statistics were published to +prove how through railway and coal-mine manipulation I had robbed +everybody, and they made me out about a hundred times richer than I am, +although I have never been able to get any of the excess cash. Sermons +were preached against me, the Pulpit joining the Press in denunciation. +I had no friends, and not being handy with my pen, I made no +attempt at defence. I got together a lot of dynamite, blew up the +partially-constructed dam, and the river still flows serenely on.”</p> + +<p>“But surely,” said Stranleigh, “I saw an immense dam on this very river, +when you met me at Powerville railway station the other day?”</p> + +<p>Trenton laughed.</p> + +<p>“Yes; that was Miss Maturin’s dam.”</p> + +<p>“Miss Maturin’s!” cried Stranleigh in astonishment.</p> + +<p>“It was built years ago by her father, who went the right way about it, +having obtained in a quiet, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>effective way, the sanction of legislature. +Of course, when I say it belongs to Miss Maturin, I mean that it is part +of the estate left by her father, and the odd combination of +circumstances brought it about that she was one of my opponents in the +action-at-law, whereas in strict justice, she should have been a +defendant instead of a plaintiff. The poor girl was horrified to learn +her position in the matter, and my sister was dumbfounded to find in +what a dilemma she had placed me. Of course, the two girls should have +secured the advice of some capable, practical lawyer in the first place, +but they were very self-confident in those days, and Sis knew it was no +use consulting her husband, while her brother was too deeply immersed in +his own affairs to be much aid as a counsellor.</p> + +<p>“Well, they kept on with their conservation scheme after a time, and +both on this property and on Miss Maturin’s, dams have been erected on +all the streams that empty into the river; streams on either side that +take their rise from outlying parts of the estate. They have built roads +through the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>forest, and have caused to be formed innumerable lakes, all +connected by a serviceable highway that constitutes one of the most +interesting automobile drives there is in all the United States; a drive +smooth as a floor, running for miles through private property, and +therefore overshadowed by no speed limit.”</p> + +<p>“By Jove, Ned,” exclaimed Stranleigh, “you must take me over that +course.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll do better than that, my boy. Constance Maturin is one of the best +automobilists I know, and she will be your guide, for these dams are of +the most modern construction, each with some little kink of its own that +no one understands better than she does. There is a caretaker living in +a picturesque little cottage at the outlet of every lake, and in each +cottage hangs a telephone, so that no matter how far you penetrate into +the wilderness, you are in touch with civilisation. From this house I +could call up any one of these water-wardens, or send out a general +alarm, bringing every man of the corps to the ’phone, and the +instructions given from here would be heard simultaneously by the whole +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>force. I think the organisation is admirable, but it runs into a lot of +money.”</p> + +<div class="bbox centerbox"><p>“‘But what good came of it at last,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Quoth little Peterkin,’”</span></p></div> + +<p>asked Stranleigh. “Do these artificial lakes run any dynamos, or turn +any spindles? Now tell me all about the war, and what they dammed each +streamlet for.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, you have me there! The ladies have not taken me into their counsel: +I’ve got troubles enough of my own. One phase of the subject especially +gratifies me: their activities have in no instance despoiled the +landscape; rather the contrary. These lakes, wooded to their brims, are +altogether delightful, and well stocked with fish. A great many of them +overflow, causing admirable little cascades, which, although not quite +so impressive as Niagara, are most refreshing on a hot day, while the +cadence of falling waters serves as an acoustic background to the songs +of the birds; a musical accompaniment, as one might call it.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p><p>“Bravo, Ned; I call that quite poetical, coming as it does from a +successful man of business. I find myself eager for that automobile ride +through this forest lakeland. When do you say Miss Maturin will arrive?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know. I expect my sister will call me up by telephone. Sis +regards this house as her own. She is fond of leaving the giddy whirl of +society, and settling down here in the solitude of the woods. I clear +out or I stay in obedience to her commands. You spoke of a house-party a +while ago. There is to be no house-party, but merely my sister and her +husband, with Miss Maturin as their guest. If you would rather not meet +any strangers, I suggest that we plunge further into the wilderness. At +the most remote lake on this property, about seven miles away, quite a +commodious keeper’s lodge has been built, with room for, say, half a +dozen men who are not too slavishly addicted to the resources of +civilisation. Yet life there is not altogether pioneering. We could take +an automobile with us, and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>telephone would keep us in touch with +the outside world. Fond of fishing?”</p> + +<p>“Very.”</p> + +<p>“Then that’s all right. I can offer you plenty of trout, either in pond +or stream, while in a large natural lake, only a short distance away, is +excellent black bass. I think you’ll enjoy yourself up there.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh laughed.</p> + +<p>“You quite overlook the fact that I am not going. Unless ejected by +force, I stay here to meet your sister and Miss Maturin.”</p> + +<p>For a moment Trenton seemed taken aback. He had lost the drift of things +in his enthusiasm over the lakes.</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes; I remember,” he said at last. “You objected to meet anyone who +might wish you to invest good money in wild-cat schemes. Well, you’re +quite safe as far as those two ladies are concerned, as I think I +assured you.”</p> + +<p>Ned was interrupted, and seemed somewhat startled by a sound of murmured +conversation ending in a subdued peal of musical laughter.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p><p>“Why, there’s Sis now,” he said, “I can tell her laugh anywhere.”</p> + +<p>As he rose from his chair, the door opened, and there entered a most +comely young woman in automobile garb, noticeably younger than Trenton, +but bearing an unmistakable likeness to him.</p> + +<p>“Hello, Ned!” she cried. “I thought I’d find you here,” then seeing his +visitor, who had risen, she paused.</p> + +<p>“Lord Stranleigh,” said Trenton. “My sister, Mrs. Vanderveldt.”</p> + +<p>“I am very glad to meet you, Lord Stranleigh,” she said, advancing from +the door and shaking hands with him.</p> + +<p>“Why didn’t you telephone?” asked her brother.</p> + +<p>His sister laughed merrily.</p> + +<p>“I came down like a wolf on the fold, didn’t I? Why didn’t I telephone? +Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack, and I’d no +wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. I am sure, Lord +Stranleigh, that he has been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>descanting on the distraction of the woods +and the camp, or perhaps the metropolitan dissipation of Philadelphia, +depending on whether the yearning for sport, or his business in town was +uppermost in his mind.”</p> + +<p>“My dear Sis,” cried Ned with indignation, “that is a libellous +statement. I never so much as mentioned Philadelphia, did I, Stranleigh? +You can corroborate what I say.”</p> + +<p>“I’m not so sure about that,” said Stranleigh, lightly. “Your attempt to +drag me into your family differences at this point of the game is +futile. I’m going to lie low, and say nothing, as Brer Rabbit did, until +I learn which of you two is the real ruler of this house. I shall then +boldly announce myself on the side of the leader. My position here is +much too comfortable to be jeopardised by an injudicious partisanship.”</p> + +<p>“As for who’s boss,” growled Ned, “I cravenly admit at once that Sis +here is monarch of all she surveys.”</p> + +<p>“In that case,” rejoined Stranleigh, heaving a deep sigh of apparent +relief, “I’m on the side of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>the angels. Mrs. Vanderveldt, he did +mention Philadelphia and his office there, speaking much about business +interests, coal-mines, and what not, during which recital I nearly went +to sleep, for I’m no business man. He also descanted on the lakes and +the waterfalls and the fishing, and on trout and black bass, and would +doubtless have gone on to whales and sea-serpents had you not come in at +the opportune moment. Please accept me as your devoted champion, Mrs. +Vanderveldt.”</p> + +<p>“I do, I do, with appreciation and gratitude,” cried the lady merrily. +“I’ve long wished to meet you, Lord Stranleigh, for I heard such glowing +accounts of you from my brother here, with most fascinating descriptions +of your estates in England, and the happy hours he spent upon them while +he was your guest in the old country. I hope we may be able to make some +slight return for your kindness to this frowning man. He is always on +nettles when I am talking; so different from my husband in that +respect.”</p> + +<p>“Poor man, he never has a chance to get a word <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>in edgewise,” growled +Ned. “My soul is my own, I’m happy to say.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, yes,” laughed the lady, “<i>pro tem</i>. But although I am saying so +much for myself, I speak with equal authority for my friend Constance +Maturin.”</p> + +<p>“Did you bring her with you, or is she coming later?” asked Trenton with +some anxiety.</p> + +<p>“She is here, dear brother, but I could not induce her to enter this +room with me. Doubtless she wishes to meet you alone. She is a dear +girl, Lord Stranleigh, and it will be my greatest joy to welcome her as +a sister-in-law.”</p> + +<p>A warm flush was added to the frown on her brother’s brow, but he made +no remark.</p> + +<p>“Gracious me!” cried the lady, laughing again “have I once more put my +foot in it? Why Ned, what a fine confidential friend you are. If I were +a young man, and so sweet a girl had promised to marry me, I should +proclaim the fact from the house-tops.”</p> + +<p>“You wouldn’t need to,” groaned Ned, “if you had a sister.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p><p>“Never mind him,” said Stranleigh, “you have betrayed no secret, Mrs. +Vanderveldt. His own confused utterances when referring to the young +lady, rendered any verbal confession unnecessary. I suspected how the +land lay at a very early stage of our conversation.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I think he may congratulate himself that you do not enter the +lists against him. You possess some tact, which poor Ned has never +acquired, and now I’ll make him sit up by informing him that Connie +Maturin took a special trip over to England recently, in order to meet +you.”</p> + +<p>“To meet me?” cried Stranleigh in astonishment.</p> + +<p>“Yes, indeed, and an amazed girl she was to learn that you had sailed +for America. She came right back by the next boat. She has a great plan +in her mind which requires heavy financing. My brother here isn’t rich +enough, and I, of course, am much poorer than he is, so she thought if +she could interest you, as the leading capitalist of England——”</p> + +<p>“Good heavens, girl,” interrupted Ned, the perspiration standing out on +his brow, “do show <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>some consideration for what you are saying! Why, you +rattle on without a thought to your words. Lord Stranleigh just made it +a proviso that——. Oh, hang it all, Sis; you’ve put your foot in it +this time, sure enough.”</p> + +<p>The lady turned on him now with no laughter on her lips, or merriment in +her tone.</p> + +<p>“Why, Ned, you’re actually scolding me. I promised Connie Maturin to +help her, and my way of accomplishing anything is to go directly for +it.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, heaven help me,” murmured Ned, “the law courts have already taught +me that.”</p> + +<p>“Mrs. Vanderveldt,” said the Earl of Stranleigh, very quietly, “please +turn to your champion, and ignore this wretched man, whose unnecessary +reticence is finding him out.”</p> + +<p>The only person to be embarrassed by this tangle of concealments and +revelations was Constance Maturin, who had indulged in neither the one +nor the other. The Earl of Stranleigh found it difficult to become +acquainted with her. She seemed always on her guard, and never even +approached the subject <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>which he had been given to understand chiefly +occupied her thoughts.</p> + +<p>On the day set for their automobile ride, Miss Maturin appeared at the +wheel of the very latest thing in runabouts; a six-cylindered machine of +extraordinary power, that ran as silently and smoothly as an American +watch, and all merely for the purpose of carrying two persons. +Stranleigh ran his eye over the graceful proportions of the new car with +an expert’s keen appreciation, walking round it slowly and critically, +quite forgetting the girl who regarded him with an expression of +amusement. Looking up at last, he saw a smile playing about her pretty +lips.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon,” he said.</p> + +<p>“I’m not sure that I shall grant it,” she replied, laughing. “To be +ignored in this callous fashion for even the latest project of +engineering, is not in the least flattering.”</p> + +<p>“Not ignored, Miss Maturin,” said Stranleigh, “for I was thinking of +you, although I may have appeared absorbed in the machine.”</p> + +<p>“Thinking of me!” she cried. “You surely <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>can’t expect me to believe +that! The gaze of a man fascinated by a piece of machinery is quite +different from that of a man fascinated by a woman. I know, because I +have seen both.”</p> + +<p>“I am sure you have seen the latter, Miss Maturin. But what I have just +been regarding is an omen.”</p> + +<p>“Really? How mysterious! I thought you saw only an automobile.”</p> + +<p>“No, I was looking through the automobile, and beyond, if I may put it +that way. I am quite familiar with the plan of this car, although this +is the first specimen that I have examined. The car is yours by +purchase, I suppose, but it is mine by manufacture. Your money bought +it, but mine made it, in conjunction with the genius of a young engineer +in whom I became interested. Perhaps you begin to see the omen. Some +time ago I was fortunate enough to be of assistance to a young man, and +the result has been an unqualified success. To-day perhaps I may be +permitted to aid a young woman with a success that will be equally +gratifying.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh gazed steadily into the clear, honest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>eyes of the girl, who +returned his look with a half-amused smile. Now she seemed suddenly +covered with confusion, and flushing slightly, turned her attention to +the forest that surrounded them. Presently she said—</p> + +<p>“Do you men worship only the god of success? You have used the word +three or four times.”</p> + +<p>“Most men wish to be successful, I suppose, but we all worship a +goddess, too.”</p> + +<p>“I’m sorry,” said Miss Maturin, “that Mrs. Vanderveldt mentioned my +search for a capitalist. I have abandoned the quest. I am now merely +your guide to the lakes. Please take a seat in this automobile of yours, +Lord Stranleigh, and I will be your conductor.”</p> + +<p>The young man stepped in beside her, and a few moments later they were +gliding, rather than running over a perfect road, under the trees, in a +machine as noiseless as the forest. The Earl of Stranleigh had seen many +beautiful regions of this world, but never any landscape just like this. +Its artificiality and its lack of artificiality interested him. Nothing +could be more businesslike than the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>construction of the stout dams, and +nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old +forest trees marshalled round their margins like a veteran army that had +marched down to drink, only to be stricken motionless at the water’s +edge.</p> + +<p>It seemed that the silence of the motor-car had enchanted into silence +its occupants. The girl devoted her whole attention to the machine and +its management. Stranleigh sat dumb, and gave himself up to the full +enjoyment of the Vallombrosic tour.</p> + +<p>For more than half an hour no word had been spoken; finally the +competent chauffeur brought the auto to a standstill at a view-point +near the head of the valley, which offered a prospect of the brawling +main stream.</p> + +<p>“We have now reached the last of the lakes in this direction,” she said +quietly. “I think your automobile is admirable, Lord Stranleigh.”</p> + +<p>The young man indulged in a deep sigh of satisfaction.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p><p>“As a landscape gardener on a marvellous scale, you are without a +competitor, Miss Maturin.”</p> + +<p>The girl laughed very sweetly.</p> + +<p>“That is a compliment to nature rather than to me. I have merely let the +wilderness alone, so far as road-making and dam-building would allow +me.”</p> + +<p>“In that very moderation lies genius—the leaving alone. Will you +forgive the inquisitiveness of a mere man whom you suspected at our +outset of success-worship, if he asks what practical object you have in +view?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I should have thought that was self-evident to an observant person +like yourself,” she said airily. “These lakes conserve the water, +storing it in time of flood for use in time of scarcity. By means of +sluices we obtain partial control of the main stream.”</p> + +<p>“You flatter me by saying I am observant. I fear that I am rather the +reverse, except where my interest is aroused, as is the case this +morning. Is conservation your sole object, then?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p><p>“Is not that enough?”</p> + +<p>“I suppose it is. I know little of civil engineering, absorbing craft +though it is. I have seen its marvels along your own lines in America, +Egypt, India, and elsewhere. As we progressed I could not help noticing +that the dams built to restrain these lakes seemed unnecessarily +strong.”</p> + +<p>A slight shadow of annoyance flitted across the expressive countenance +of Constance Maturin, but was gone before he saw it.</p> + +<p>“You are shrewder than you admit, Lord Stranleigh, but you forget what I +said about freshets. The lakes are placid enough now, but you should see +them after a cloud-burst back in the mountains.”</p> + +<p>“Nevertheless, the dams look bulky enough to hold back the Nile.”</p> + +<p>“Appearances are often deceitful. They are simply strong enough for the +work they have to do. American engineering practice does not go in for +useless encumbrance. Each dam serves two purposes. It holds back the +water and it contains a power-house. In some of these power-houses +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>turbines and dynamoes are already placed.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, now I understand. You must perceive that I am a very stupid +individual.”</p> + +<p>“You are a very persistent person,” said the young woman decisively.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh laughed.</p> + +<p>“Allow me to take advantage of that reputation by asking you what you +intend to do with the electricity when you have produced it?”</p> + +<p>“We have no plans.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I say!”</p> + +<p>“<i>What</i> do you say?”</p> + +<p>“That was merely an Anglicised expression of astonishment.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t you believe me?”</p> + +<p>“No.”</p> + +<p>They were sitting together on the automobile seat, deep in the shade of +the foliage above them, but when he caught sight of the indignant face +which she turned towards him, it almost appeared as if the sun shone +upon it. She seemed about to speak, thought better of it, and reached +forward <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>to the little lever that controlled the self-starting +apparatus. She found his hand there before she could carry out her +intention.</p> + +<p>“I am returning, Lord Stranleigh,” she said icily.</p> + +<p>“Not yet.”</p> + +<p>She leaned back in the seat.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Trenton told me that you were the most polite man he had ever met. +I have seldom found him so mistaken in an impression.”</p> + +<p>“Was it a polite man you set out to find in your recent trip to Europe?”</p> + +<p>As the girl made no reply, Stranleigh went on—</p> + +<p>“My politeness is something like the dams we have been considering. It +contains more than appears on the surface. There is concealed power +within it. You may meet myriads of men well qualified to teach me +courtesy, but when this veneer of social observance is broken, you come +to pretty much the same material underneath. I seldom permit myself the +luxury of an escape from the conventions, but on rare occasions I break +through. For that I ask your pardon. Impressed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>by your sincerity, I +forgot for the moment everything but your own need in the present +crisis.”</p> + +<p>“What crisis?” she asked indignantly.</p> + +<p>“The financial crisis caused by your spending every available resource +on this so-called conservation policy. To all intents and purposes you +are now a bankrupt. Mrs. Vanderveldt has contributed all she can, and +both you and she are afraid to tell her brother the true state of the +case. You fear you will get little sympathy from him, for he is absorbed +in coal-mines and railways, and both of you have already felt his +annoyance at the law-suit in which you have involved him. Hence your +desperate need of a capitalist. A really polite man would be a more +pleasant companion than I, but he is not worth that, Miss Maturin!”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh removed his hand from the lever long enough to snap fingers +and thumb, but he instantly replaced it when he saw her determination to +start the machine.</p> + +<p>“The man of the moment, Miss Maturin, is a large and reckless +capitalist. I am that capitalist.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p><p>He released his hold of the lever, and sat upright. The sternness of his +face relaxed.</p> + +<p>“Now, Miss Maturin, turn on the power; take me where you like; dump me +into any of those lakes you choose; the water is crystal clear, and I’m +a good swimmer,” and with this Stranleigh indulged in a hearty laugh, +his own genial self once more.</p> + +<p>“You are laughing at me,” she said resentfully.</p> + +<p>“Indeed I am not. Another contradiction, you see! I am laughing at +myself. There’s nothing I loathe so much as strenuousness, and here I +have fallen into the vice. It is the influence of that brawling river +below us, I think. But the river becomes still enough, and useful +enough, when it reaches the great lake at Powerville, which is big +enough to swallow all these little ponds.”</p> + +<p>The girl made no motion towards the lever, but sat very still, lost in +thought. When she spoke, her voice was exceedingly quiet.</p> + +<p>“You complimented Nature a while ago, intending, as I suppose, to +compliment me, but I think after <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>all the greater compliment is your +straight talk, which I admire, although I received it so petulantly. I +shall make no apology, beyond saying that my mind is very much +perturbed. Your surmise is absolutely correct. It isn’t that I’ve spent +the whole of my fortune and my friend’s fortune in this conservation +scheme. It is because I have built a model city on the heights above +Powerville. I was promised assistance from the banks, which is now +withheld, largely, I suspect, through the opposition of John L. +Boscombe, a reputed millionaire. To all intents and purposes Boscombe +and I are the owners of Powerville and the mills there, but although +this place was founded and built up by my father, I am a minority +stock-holder, and powerless. Boscombe exercises control. Any suggestions +or protests of mine are ignored, for Boscombe, like my father, has +little faith—no faith at all, in fact—in the business capacity of a +woman.</p> + +<p>“I have tried, as I hinted, to enlist the co-operation of other +capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that +does not impinge <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>directly upon cupidity. If there is the least hint of +philanthropy in the project, every man of money fights shy of it.”</p> + +<p>“I am an exception,” said Stranleigh, eagerly. “Philanthropy used to be +a strong point with me, though I confess I was never very successful in +its exercise. What humanitarian scheme is in your mind, Miss Maturin?”</p> + +<p>Again she sat silent for some moments, indecision and doubt on her fair +brow. Presently she said, as if pulling herself together—</p> + +<p>“I will not tell you, Lord Stranleigh. You yourself have just admitted +disbelief, and my plan is so fantastic that I dare not submit it to +criticism.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose your new city is in opposition to the old town down in the +valley? You alone are going to compete with Boscombe and yourself.”</p> + +<p>“That is one way of putting it.”</p> + +<p>“Very well, I am with you. Blow Boscombe! say I. I’ve no head for +business, so I sha’n’t need to take any advice. I shall do exactly what +you tell me. What is the first move?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p><p>“The first move is to set your brokers in New York at work, and buy a +block of Powerville stock.”</p> + +<p>“I see; so that you and I together have control, instead of Boscombe?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“That shall be done as quick as telegraph can give instructions. What +next?”</p> + +<p>“There will be required a large sum of money to liquidate the claims +upon me incurred through the building of the city.”</p> + +<p>“Very good. That money shall be at your disposal within two or three +days.”</p> + +<p>“As for security, I regret——”</p> + +<p>“Don’t mention it. My security is my great faith in Ned Trenton, also in +yourself. Say no more about it.”</p> + +<p>“You are very kind, Lord Stranleigh, but there is one thing I must say. +This may involve you in a law-suit so serious that the litigation of +which Ned complains will appear a mere amicable arrangement by +comparison.”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right and doesn’t disturb me in the least. I love a legal +contest, because I have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>nothing to do but place it in the hands of +competent lawyers. No personal activity is required of me, and I am an +indolent man.”</p> + +<p>The second part of the programme was accomplished even sooner than +Stranleigh had promised, but the first part hung fire. The brokers in +New York could not acquire any Powerville stock, as was shown by their +application to Miss Maturin herself, neither had their efforts been +executed with that secrecy which Stranleigh had enjoined. He realised +this when John L. Boscombe called upon him. He went directly to the +point.</p> + +<p>“I am happy to meet you, Lord Stranleigh, and if you’ll excuse me, I’d +like to say that you are more greatly in need of advice at this moment +than any man in America.”</p> + +<p>“You are perfectly right, Mr. Boscombe. I am always in need of good +advice, and I appreciate it.”</p> + +<p>“An application was made to me from New York for a block of stock. That +stock is not for sale, but I dallied with the brokers, made +investigations, and traced the inquiry to you.”</p> + +<p>“Very clever of you, Mr. Boscombe.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p><p>“I learn that you propose to finance Miss Constance Maturin, who is a +junior partner in my business.”</p> + +<p>“I should not think of contradicting so shrewd a man as yourself, Mr. +Boscombe. What do you advise in the premises?”</p> + +<p>“I advise you to get out, and quick, too.”</p> + +<p>“If I don’t, what are you going to do to me?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I shall do nothing. She will do all that is necessary. That woman +is stark mad, Lord Stranleigh. Her own father recognised it when he +bereft her of all power in the great business he founded. If she had her +way, she’d ruin the company inside a year with her hare-brained schemes; +love of the dear people, and that sort of guff.”</p> + +<p>“I am sorry to hear that. I noticed no dementia on the part of Miss +Maturin, who seemed to me a most cultivated and very charming young +lady. You will permit me, I hope, to thank you for your warning, and +will not be surprised that I can give you no decision on the spur of the +moment. I am a slow-minded person, and need time to think over things.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p><p>“Certainly, certainly; personally I come to sudden conclusions, and once +I make up my mind, I never change it.”</p> + +<p>“A most admirable gift. I wish I possessed it.”</p> + +<p>Lord Stranleigh said nothing of this interview to Constance Maturin, +beyond telling her that the acquisition of stock appeared to be +hopeless, as indeed proved to be the case.</p> + +<p>“Boscombe must be a stubborn person,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Oh, he’s all that,” the girl replied, with a sigh. “He cares for one +thing only, the making of money, and in that I must admit he has been +very successful.”</p> + +<p>“Well, we’ve got a little cash of our own,” said Stranleigh, with a +laugh.</p> + +<p>Miss Maturin and Mrs. Vanderveldt celebrated a national holiday by the +greatest entertainment ever given in that district. The mills had been +shut down for a week, and every man, woman and child in the valley city +had been invited up to the new town on the heights. There was a brass +band, and a sumptuous spread of refreshments, all free to the immense +crowd. The ladies, for days before, visited everyone <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>in the valley, and +got a promise of attendance, but to make assurance doubly sure, an +amazing corps of men was organised, equipped with motor cars, which +scoured the valley from Powerville downwards, gathering in such remnants +of humanity as for any reason had neglected to attend the show. Miss +Maturin said she was resolved this entertainment should be a feature +unique in the history of the State.</p> + +<p>The shutting down of the mills had caused the water in the immense dam +to rise, so that now the sluices at the top added to the picturesqueness +of the scene by supplying waterfalls more than sixty feet high, a +splendid view of which was obtainable from the new city on the heights. +Suddenly it was noticed that these waterfalls increased in power, until +their roar filled the valley. At last the whole lip of the immense dam +began to trickle, and an ever augmenting Niagara of waters poured over.</p> + +<p>“Great heavens!” cried Boscombe, who was present to sneer at these +activities, “there must have been a cloud-burst in the mountains!”</p> + +<p>He shouted for the foreman.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p><p>“Where are the tenders of the dam?” he cried. “Send them to lower those +sluices, and let more water out.”</p> + +<p>“Wait a moment,” said Constance Maturin, who had just come out of the +main telephone building. “There can be no danger, Mr. Boscombe. You +always said that dam was strong enough, when I protested it wasn’t.”</p> + +<p>“So it is strong enough, but not——”</p> + +<p>“Look!” she cried, pointing over the surface of the lake. “See that +wave!”</p> + +<p>“Suffering Noah and the Flood!” exclaimed Boscombe.</p> + +<p>As he spoke, the wave burst against the dam, and now they had Niagara in +reality. There was a crash, and what seemed to be a series of +explosions, then the whole structure dissolved away, and before the +appalled eyes of the sight-seers, the valley town crumpled up like a +pack of cards, and even the tall mills themselves, that staggered at the +impact of the flood, slowly settled down, and were engulfed in the +seething turmoil of maddened waters.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;"> +<img src="images/i162.jpg" class="jpg ispace" width="353" height="500" alt="“‘This,’ he cried, ‘is murder.’”" title="" /> +<span class="caption">“‘This,’ he cried, ‘is murder.’”</span> +</div> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="36%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="Illustration 3"> +<tr><td align="left"><i><small><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lord Stranleigh Abroad]</span></small></i></td> +<td align="right"><i><small><span style="font-weight: bold;">[Page <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</span></small></i></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>For a time no voice could be heard in the deafening +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> uproar. It was Boscombe who spoke when the waters began to subside.</p> + +<p>“This,” he cried, “is murder!”</p> + +<p>He glared at Constance Maturin, who stood pale, silent and trembling.</p> + +<p>“I told you she was mad,” he roared at Stranleigh. “It is your money +that in some devilish way has caused this catastrophe. If any lives are +lost, it is rank murder!”</p> + +<p>“It is murder,” agreed Stranleigh, quietly. “Whoever is responsible for +the weakness of that dam should be hanged!”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="V_IN_SEARCH_OF_GAME" id="V_IN_SEARCH_OF_GAME"></a>V.—IN SEARCH OF GAME.</h3> + +<p>The warm morning gave promise of a blistering hot day, as Lord +Stranleigh strolled, in his usual leisurely fashion, up Fifth Avenue. +High as the thermometer already stood, the young man gave no evidence +that he was in the least incommoded by the temperature. In a welter of +heated, hurrying people, he produced the effect of an iceberg that had +somehow drifted down into the tropics. The New York tailor entrusted +with the duty of clothing him quite outdistanced his London rival, who +had given Lord Stranleigh the reputation of being the best-dressed man +in England. Now his lordship was dangerously near the point where he +might be called the best-dressed man in New York, an achievement worthy +of a Prince’s ambition.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p><p>His lordship, with nothing to do, and no companionship to hope for, +since everyone was at work, strolled into the splendour of the +University Club and sought the comparative coolness of the smoking room, +where, seating himself in that seductive invitation to laziness, a +leather-covered arm chair, he began to glance over the illustrated +English weeklies. He had the huge room to himself. These were business +hours, and a feeling of loneliness crept over him, perhaps germinated by +his sight of the illustrated papers, and accentuated by an attempted +perusal of them. They were a little too stolid for a hot day, so +Stranleigh turned to the lighter entertainment of the American humorous +press.</p> + +<p>Presently there entered this hall of silence the stout figure of Mr. +John L. Banks, senior attorney for the Ice Trust, a man well known to +Stranleigh, who had often sought his advice, with profit to both of +them. The lawyer approached the lounger.</p> + +<p>“Hello, Banks, I was just thinking of you, reflecting how delightful it +must be in this weather <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>to be connected, even remotely, with the ice +supply of New York.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Banks’s panama hat was in one hand, while the other drew a +handkerchief across his perspiring brow.</p> + +<p>“Well, Stranleigh, you’re looking very cool and collected. Enacting the +part of the idle rich, I suppose?”</p> + +<p>“No, I’m a specimen of labour unrest.”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps I can appease that. I’m open to a deal at fair compensation for +you. If you will simply parade the streets in that leisurely fashion we +all admire, bearing a placard ‘Pure Ice Company,’ I’ll guarantee you a +living wage and an eight hours’ day.”</p> + +<p>“Should I be required to carry about crystal blocks of the product?”</p> + +<p>“No; you’re frigid enough as it is. Besides, ice at the present moment +is too scarce to be expended on even so important a matter as +advertisement.”</p> + +<p>Banks wheeled forward an arm chair, and sat down opposite his lordship. +A useful feature of a panama <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>hat is its flexibility. You may roll one +brim to fit the hand, and use the other as a fan, and this Banks did +with the perfection of practice.</p> + +<p>“What’s the cause of the unrest, Stranleigh?”</p> + +<p>“Thinking. That’s the cause of unrest all the world over. Whenever +people begin to think, there is trouble.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve never noticed any undue thoughtfulness in you, Stranleigh.”</p> + +<p>“That’s just it. Thinking doesn’t agree with me, and as you hint, I +rarely indulge in it, but this is a land that somehow stimulates +thought, and thought compels action. Action is all very well in +moderation, but in these United States of yours it is developed into a +fever, or frenzy rather, curable only by a breakdown or death.”</p> + +<p>“Do you think it’s as bad as all that?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I do. You call it enterprise; I call it greed. I’ve never yet met +an American who knew when he’d had enough.”</p> + +<p>“Did you ever meet an Englishman who knew that?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p><p>“Thousands of them.”</p> + +<p>Banks laughed.</p> + +<p>“I imagine,” he said, “it’s all a matter of nomenclature. You think us +fast over here, and doubtless you are wrong; <i>we</i> think <i>you</i> slow over +there, and doubtless we are wrong. I don’t think we’re greedy. No man is +so lavish in his expenditure as an American, and no man more generous. A +greedy man does not spend money. Our motive power is interest in the +game.”</p> + +<p>“Yes; everyone has told me that, but I regard the phrase as an excuse, +not as a reason.”</p> + +<p>“Look here, Stranleigh, who’s been looting you? What deal have you lost? +I warned you against mixing philanthropy with business, you remember.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh threw back his head and laughed.</p> + +<p>“There you have it. According to you a man cannot form an opinion that +is uninfluenced by his pocket. As a matter of fact, I have won all along +the line. I tried the game, as you call it, hoping to find it +interesting, but it doesn’t seem to me worth while. I pocket the stakes, +and I am going home, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>in no way elated at my success, any more than I +should have been discouraged had I failed.”</p> + +<p>Leaning forward, Mr. Banks spoke as earnestly as the weather permitted.</p> + +<p>“What you need, Stranleigh, is a doctor’s advice, not a lawyer’s. You +have been just a little too long in New York, and although New Yorkers +don’t believe it, there are other parts of the country worthy of +consideration. Your talk, instead of being an indictment of life as you +find it, has been merely an exposition of your own ignorance, a sample +of that British insularity which we all deplore. I hope you don’t mind +my stating the case as I see it?”</p> + +<p>“Not at all,” said Stranleigh. “I am delighted to hear your point of +view. Go on.”</p> + +<p>“Very well; here am I plugging away during this hot weather in this hot +city. Greed, says you.”</p> + +<p>“I say nothing of the kind,” replied his lordship calmly. “I am merely +lost in admiration of a hard-working man, enduring the rigours of toil +in the most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>luxurious club of which I have ever been an honorary +member. Let me soften the asperities of labour by ordering something +with ice in it.”</p> + +<p>The good-natured attorney accepted the invitation, and then went on—</p> + +<p>“We have a saying regarding any futile proposition to the effect that it +cuts no ice. This is the position of the Trust in which I am interested. +In this hot weather we cut no ice, but we sell it. Winter is a peaceable +season with us, and the harder the winter, the better we are pleased, +but summer is a time of trouble. It is a period of complaints and +law-suits, and our newspaper reading is mostly articles on the greed and +general villainy of the Trust. So my position is literally that of +what-you-may-call-him on the burning deck, whence almost all but he have +fled to the lakes, to the mountains, to the sea shore. Now, I don’t +intend to do this always. I have set a limit of accumulated cash, and +when I reach it I quit. It would be high falutin’ if I said duty held me +here, so I will not say it.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p><p>“A lawyer can always out-talk a layman,” said Stranleigh, wearily, “and +I suppose all this impinges on my ignorance.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” said Banks. “It’s a large subject, you know. But I’ll leave +theory, and come down to practice. As I said before, you’ve had too much +of New York. You are known to have a little money laid by against a +rainy day, so everybody wants you to invest in something, and you’ve got +tired of it. Have you ever had a taste of ranch life out West?”</p> + +<p>“I’ve never been further West than Chicago.”</p> + +<p>“Good. When you were speaking of setting a limit to financial ambition, +I remembered my old friend, Stanley Armstrong, the best companion on a +shooting or fishing expedition I ever encountered. It is not to be +wondered at that he is an expert in sport, for often he has had to +depend on rod and gun for sustenance. He was a mining engineer, and very +few know the mining west as well as he does. He might have been a +millionaire or a pauper, but he chose a middle course, and set his limit +at a hundred thousand pounds. When land <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>was cheap he bought a large +ranch, partly plain and partly foothills, with the eternal snow +mountains beyond. Now, if you take with you an assortment of guns and +fishing rods, and spend a month with Stanley Armstrong, your pessimism +will evaporate.”</p> + +<p>“A good idea,” said Stranleigh. “If you give me a letter of introduction +to Mr. Armstrong, I’ll telegraph at once to be sure of accommodation.”</p> + +<p>“Telegraph?” cried the lawyer. “He’d never get your message. I don’t +suppose there’s a telegraph office within fifty miles. You don’t need a +letter of introduction, but I’ll write you one, and give your name +merely as Stranleigh. You won’t have any use for a title out there; in +fact, it is a necessary part of my prescription that you should get away +from yours, with the consequences it entails. Not that you’re likely to +come across would-be investors, or any one with designs on your wealth. +As for accommodation, take a tent with you, and be independent. When I +return to my office, I’ll dictate full instructions for reaching the +ranch.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p><p>“Is it so difficult of access as all that?”</p> + +<p>“You might find it so. When you reach the nearest railway station, which +is a couple of days’ journey from the ranch, you can acquire a horse for +yourself, and two or three men with pack mules for your belongings. +They’ll guide you to Armstrong’s place.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh found no difficulty in getting a cavalcade together at +Bleachers’ station, an amazingly long distance west of New York. A man +finds little trouble in obtaining what he wants, if he never cavils at +the price asked, and is willing to pay in advance. The party passed +through a wild country, though for a time the road was reasonably good. +It degenerated presently into a cart-track, however, and finally became +a mere trail through the wilderness. As night fell, the tent was put up +by the side of a brawling stream, through which they had forded.</p> + +<p>Next morning the procession started early, but it was noon before it +came to the clearing which Stranleigh rightly surmised was the outskirts +of the ranch. The guide, who had been riding in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>front, reined in, and +allowed Stranleigh to come alongside.</p> + +<p>“That,” he said, pointing down the valley, “is Armstrong’s ranch.”</p> + +<p>Before Stranleigh could reply, if he had intended doing so, a shot rang +out from the forest, and he felt the sharp sting of a bullet in his left +shoulder. The guide flung himself from the saddle with the speed of +lightning, and stood with both hands upraised, his horse between himself +and the unseen assailant.</p> + +<p>“Throw up your hands!” he shouted to Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“Impossible!” was the quiet answer, “my left is helpless.”</p> + +<p>“Then hold up your right.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh did so.</p> + +<p>“Slide off them packs,” roared the guide to his followers, whereupon +ropes were untied on the instant, and the packs slid to the ground, +while the mules shook themselves, overjoyed at this sudden freedom.</p> + +<p>“Turn back!” cried the guide. “Keep your <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>hand up, and they won’t shoot. +They want the goods.”</p> + +<p>“Then you mean to desert me?” asked Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“Desert nothing!” rejoined the guide, gruffly.</p> + +<p>“We can’t stand up against these fellows, whoever they are. We’re no +posse. To fight them is the sheriff’s business. I engaged to bring you +and your dunnage to Armstrong’s ranch. I’ve delivered the goods, and now +it’s me for the railroad.”</p> + +<p>“I’m going to that house,” said Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“The more fool you,” replied the guide, “but I guess you’ll get there +safe enough, if you don’t try to save the plunder.”</p> + +<p>The unladen mules, now bearing the men on their backs, had disappeared. +The guide washed his hands of the whole affair, despite the fact that +his hands were upraised. He whistled to his horse, and marched up the +trail for a hundred yards or so, still without lowering his arms, then +sprang into the saddle, fading out of sight in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>direction his men +had taken. Stranleigh sat on his horse, apparently the sole inhabitant +of a lonely world.</p> + +<p>“That comes of paying in advance,” he muttered, looking round at his +abandoned luggage. Then it struck him as ridiculous that he was enacting +the part of an equestrian statue, with his arm raised aloft. Still, he +remembered enough of the pernicious literature that had lent enchantment +to his early days, to know that in certain circumstances the holding up +of hands was a safeguard not to be neglected, so he lowered his right +hand, and took in it the forefinger of his left, and thus raised both +arms over his head, turning round in the saddle to face the direction +from whence the shots had come. Then he released the forefinger, and +allowed the left arm to drop as if it had been a semaphore. He winced +under the pain that this pantomime cost him, then in a loud voice he +called out:</p> + +<p>“If there is anyone within hearing, I beg to inform him that I am +wounded slightly; that I carry no firearms; that my escort has vanished, +and that I’m <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>going to the house down yonder to have my injury looked +after. Now’s the opportunity for a parley, if he wants it.”</p> + +<p>He waited for some moments, but there was no response, then he gathered +up the reins, and quite unmolested proceeded down the declivity until he +came to the homestead.</p> + +<p>The place appeared to be deserted, and for the first time it crossed +Stranleigh’s mind that perhaps the New York lawyer had sent him on this +expedition as a sort of practical joke. He couldn’t discover where the +humour of it came in, but perhaps that might be the density with which +his countrymen were universally credited. Nevertheless, he determined to +follow the adventure to an end, and slipped from his horse, making an +ineffectual attempt to fasten the bridle rein to a rail of the fence +that surrounded the habitation. The horse began placidly to crop the +grass, so he let it go at that, and advancing to the front door, +knocked.</p> + +<p>Presently the door was opened by an elderly woman of benign appearance, +who nevertheless regarded him with some suspicion. She stood holding +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>the door, without speaking, seemingly waiting for her unexpected +visitor to proclaim his mission.</p> + +<p>“Is this the house of Stanley Armstrong?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“Is he at home? I have a letter of introduction to him.”</p> + +<p>“No; he is not at home.”</p> + +<p>“Do you expect him soon?”</p> + +<p>“He is in Chicago,” answered the woman.</p> + +<p>“In Chicago?” echoed Stranleigh. “We must have passed one another on the +road. I was in Chicago myself, but it seems months ago; in fact, I can +hardly believe such a place exists.” The young man smiled a little +grimly, but there was no relaxation of the serious expression with which +the woman had greeted him.</p> + +<p>“What was your business with my husband?”</p> + +<p>“No business at all; rather the reverse. Pleasure, it might be called. I +expected to do <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>a little shooting and fishing. A friend in New York +kindly gave me a letter of introduction to Mr. Armstrong, who, he said, +would possibly accompany me.”</p> + +<p>“Won’t you come inside?” was her reluctant invitation. “I don’t think +you told me your name.”</p> + +<p>“My name is Stranleigh, madam. I hope you will excuse my persistence, +but the truth is I have been slightly hurt, and if, as I surmise, it is +inconvenient to accept me as a lodger, I should be deeply indebted for +permission to remain here while I put a bandage on the wound. I must +return at once to Bleachers, where I suppose I can find a physician more +or less competent.”</p> + +<p>“Hurt?” cried the woman in amazement, “and I’ve been keeping you +standing there at the door. Why didn’t you tell me at once?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I think it’s no great matter, and the pain is not as keen as I +might have expected. Still, I like to be on the safe side, and must +return after I have rested for a few minutes.”</p> + +<p>“I’m very sorry to hear of your accident,” said <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>Mrs. Armstrong, with +concern. “Sit down in that rocking-chair until I call my daughter.”</p> + +<p>The unexpected beauty of the young woman who entered brought an +expression of mild surprise to Stranleigh’s face. In spite of her homely +costume, a less appreciative person than his lordship must have been +struck by Miss Armstrong’s charm, and her air of intelligent refinement.</p> + +<p>“This is Mr. Stranleigh, who has met with an accident,” said Mrs. +Armstrong to her daughter.</p> + +<p>“Merely a trifle,” Stranleigh hastened to say, “but I find I cannot +raise my left arm.”</p> + +<p>“Is it broken?” asked the girl, with some anxiety.</p> + +<p>“I don’t think so; I fancy the trouble is in the shoulder. A rifle +bullet has passed through it.”</p> + +<p>“A rifle bullet?” echoed the girl, in a voice of alarm. “How did that +happen? But—never mind telling me now. The main thing is to attend to +the wound. Let me help you off with your coat.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh stood up.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p><p>“No exertion, please,” commanded the girl. “Bring some warm water and a +sponge,” she continued, turning to her mother.</p> + +<p>She removed Stranleigh’s coat with a dexterity that aroused his +admiration. The elder woman returned with dressings and sponge, which +she placed on a chair. Stranleigh’s white shirt was stained with blood, +and to this Miss Armstrong applied the warm water.</p> + +<p>“I must sacrifice your linen,” she said calmly. “Please sit down again.”</p> + +<p>In a few moments his shoulder was bare; not the shoulder of an athlete, +but nevertheless of a young man in perfect health. The girl’s soft +fingers pressed it gently.</p> + +<p>“I shall have to hurt you a little,” she said.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh smiled.</p> + +<p>“It is all for my good, as they say to little boys before whipping +them.”</p> + +<p>The girl smiled back at him.</p> + +<p>“Yes; but I cannot add the complementary fiction that it hurts me more +than it does you. There! Did you feel that?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p><p>“Not more than usual.”</p> + +<p>“There are no bones broken, which is a good thing. After all, it is a +simple case, Mr. Stranleigh. You must remain quiet for a few days, and +allow me to put this arm in a sling. I ought to send you off to bed, but +if you promise not to exert yourself, you may sit out on the verandah +where it is cool, and where the view may interest you.”</p> + +<p>“You are very kind, Miss Armstrong, but I cannot stay. I must return to +Bleachers.”</p> + +<p>“I shall not allow you to go back,” she said with decision.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh laughed.</p> + +<p>“In a long and comparatively useless life I have never contradicted a +lady, but on this occasion I must insist on having my own way.”</p> + +<p>“I quite understand your reason, Mr. Stranleigh, though it is very +uncomplimentary to me. It is simply an instance of man’s distrust of a +woman when it comes to serious work. Like most men, you would be content +to accept me as a nurse, but not as a physician. There are two doctors +in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>Bleachers, and you are anxious to get under the care of one of them. +No—please don’t trouble to deny it. You are not to blame. You are +merely a victim of the universal conceit of man.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, it is you who are not complimentary now! You must think me a very +commonplace individual.”</p> + +<p>She had thrown the coat over his shoulders, after having washed and +dressed the wound. The bullet had been considerate enough to pass right +through, making all probing unnecessary. With a safety-pin she attached +his shirt sleeve to his shirt front.</p> + +<p>“That will do,” she said, “until I prepare a regular sling. And now come +out to the verandah. No; don’t carry the chair. There are several on the +platform. Don’t try to be polite, and remember I have already ordered +you to avoid exertion.”</p> + +<p>He followed her to the broad piazza, and sat down, drawing a deep breath +of admiration. Immediately in front ran a broad, clear stream of water; +swift, deep, transparent.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p><p>“An ideal trout stream,” he said to himself.</p> + +<p>A wide vista of rolling green fields stretched away to a range of +foothills, overtopped in the far distance by snow mountains.</p> + +<p>“By Jove!” he cried. “This is splendid. I have seen nothing like it out +of Switzerland.”</p> + +<p>“Talking of Switzerland,” said Miss Armstrong, seating herself opposite +him, “have you ever been at Thun?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes.”</p> + +<p>“You stopped at the <i>Thunerhof</i>, I suppose?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t remember what it was called, but it was the largest hotel in +the place, I believe.”</p> + +<p>“That would be the <i>Thunerhof</i>,” she said. “I went to a much more modest +inn, the <i>Falken</i>, and the stream that runs in front of it reminded me +of this, and made me quite lonesome for the ranch. Of course, you had +the river opposite you at the <i>Thunerhof</i>, but there the river is half a +dozen times as wide as the branch that runs past the <i>Falken</i>. I used to +sit out on the terrace watching that stream, murmuring to its +accompaniment ‘Home, sweet Home.’”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p><p>“You are by way of being a traveller, then?”</p> + +<p>“Not a traveller, Mr. Stranleigh,” said the girl, laughing a little, +“but a dabbler. I took dabs of travel, like my little visit to Thun. For +more than a year I lived in Lausanne, studying my profession, and during +that time I made brief excursions here and there.”</p> + +<p>“Your profession,” asked Stranleigh, with evident astonishment.</p> + +<p>“Yes; can’t you guess what it is, and why I am relating this bit of +personal history on such very short acquaintance?”</p> + +<p>The girl’s smile was beautiful.</p> + +<p>“Don’t you know Europe?” she added.</p> + +<p>“I ought to; I’m a native.”</p> + +<p>“Then you are aware that Lausanne is a centre of medical teaching and +medical practice. I am a doctor, Mr. Stranleigh. Had your wound been +really serious, which it is not, and you had come under the care of +either physician in Bleachers, he would have sent for me, if he knew I +were at home.”</p> + +<p>“What you have said interests me very <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>much, Miss Armstrong, or should I +say Doctor Armstrong?”</p> + +<p>“I will answer to either designation, Mr. Stranleigh, but I should +qualify the latter by adding that I am not a practising physician. +‘Professor,’ perhaps, would be the more accurate title. I am a member of +the faculty in an eastern college of medicine, but by and by I hope to +give up teaching, and devote myself entirely to research work. It is my +ambition to become the American Madame Curie.”</p> + +<p>“A laudable ambition, Professor, and I hope you will succeed. Do you +mind if I tell you how completely wrong you are in your diagnosis of the +subject now before you?”</p> + +<p>“In my surgical diagnosis I am not wrong. Your wound will be cured in a +very few days.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I am not impugning your medical skill. I knew the moment you spoke +about your work that you were an expert. It is your diagnosis of me that +is all astray. I have no such disbelief in the capacity of woman as you +credit me with. I have no desire to place myself under the ministrations +of either of those doctors in Bleachers. My desire for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>the metropolitan +delights of that scattered town is of the most commonplace nature. I +must buy for myself an outfit of clothes. I possess nothing in the way +of raiment except what I am wearing, and part of that you’ve cut up with +your scissors.”</p> + +<p>“Surely you never came all this distance without being well provided in +that respect?”</p> + +<p>“No; I had ample supplies, and I brought them with me safely to a point +within sight of this house. In fact, I came hither like a sheik of the +desert, at the head of a caravan, only the animals were mules instead of +camels. All went well until we came to the edge of the forest, but the +moment I emerged a shot rang out, and it seemed to me I was stung by a +gigantic bee, as invisible as the shooter. The guide said there was a +band of robbers intent on plunder, and he and the escort acted as +escorts usually do in such circumstances. They unloaded the mules with +most admirable celerity, and then made off much faster than they came. I +never knew a body of men so unanimous in action. They would make a +splendid board of directors in a commercial <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>company that wished to get +its work accomplished without undue discussion.”</p> + +<p>The girl had risen to her feet.</p> + +<p>“And your baggage?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“I suppose it is in the hands of the brigands by this time. I left it +scattered along the trail.”</p> + +<p>“But, Mr. Stranleigh, what you say is incredible. There are no brigands, +thieves or road agents in this district.”</p> + +<p>“The wound that you dressed so skilfully is my witness, and a witness +whose testimony cannot be impugned on cross-examination.”</p> + +<p>“There is a mistake somewhere. Why, just think of it; the most energetic +bandit would starve in this locality! There is no traffic. If your +belongings were scattered along the trail, they are there yet.”</p> + +<p>“Then why shoot the belonger of those belongings?”</p> + +<p>“That’s just what I must discover. Excuse me for a moment.”</p> + +<p>She passed through the house, and the young man heard a shrill whistle +blown, which was answered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>by a call some distance away. The girl +returned, and sat down again, her brow perplexed, and presently there +came on to the platform a stalwart, good-natured looking man, dressed in +what Stranleigh took to be a cowboy costume; at least, it was the kind +of apparel he had read about in books of the Wild West. His head was +covered with a broad-brimmed slouch hat, which he swept off in deference +to the lady.</p> + +<p>“Jim,” she said, “did you hear any shooting out by the Bleachers trail +about an hour ago?”</p> + +<p>“No, Ma’am; I can’t say that I did, except a rifle I shot off.”</p> + +<p>“That <i>you</i> shot off! What were you shooting at?”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Jim, with a humorous chuckle, “I guess perhaps it was this +gentleman.”</p> + +<p>“Why did you wish to murder <i>me</i>?” asked Stranleigh, with pardonable +concern.</p> + +<p>“Murder you, sir? Why, I didn’t try to murder you. I could have winged +you a dozen times while you were riding down to the house, if I’d wanted +to. Where were you hit?”</p> + +<p>“In the left shoulder.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p><p>“Then that’s all right. That’s what I aimed to do. I just set out to nip +you, and scare you back where you came from.”</p> + +<p>“But why?” insisted the perplexed Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“You came along with a posse behind you, and I thought you were the +sheriff, but I wouldn’t kill even a sheriff unless I had to. I’m the +peaceablest man on earth, as Miss Armstrong there will tell you.”</p> + +<p>“If that’s your idea of peace,” said Stranleigh, puzzled, “I hope next +time I’ll fall among warlike people.”</p> + +<p>Jim grinned. It was Miss Armstrong who spoke, and, it seemed to +Stranleigh, with unexpected mildness, considering she knew so much of +the Eastern States and Europe.</p> + +<p>“I understand,” she said, “but next time, Jim, it will be as well merely +to fire the gun, without hitting anybody.”</p> + +<p>“Oh,” explained Jim, in an off-hand manner, “our folk don’t pay any +attention to the like of that. You’ve got to show them you mean +business. If this gentleman had come on, the next <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>shot would have hit +him where it would hurt, but seeing he was peaceable minded, he was safe +as in a church.”</p> + +<p>“Is the baggage where he left it?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly, Ma’am; do you wish it brought here?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; I do.”</p> + +<p>“All right, Ma’am; I’ll see to that. It’s all a little mistake, sir,” he +said amiably, as he turned to Stranleigh. “Accidents will happen in the +best regulated family, as the saying goes,” and with a flourish of the +hat he departed.</p> + +<p>Miss Armstrong rose as if to leave the verandah. As she did so +Stranleigh said in a tone of mild reproach:</p> + +<p>“I confess I am puzzled.”</p> + +<p>“So am I,” replied the girl, brightly. “I’m puzzled to know what I can +offer you in the way of books. Our stock is rather limited.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t want to read, Miss Armstrong, but I do want to know why there +is such a prejudice here against a sheriff. In the land I came from a +sheriff is not only regarded with great respect, but even <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>with +veneration. He rides about in a gilded coach, and wears magnificent +robes, decorated with gold lace. I believe that he develops ultimately +into a Lord Mayor, just as a grub, if one may call so glorious a +personage as a sheriff a grub, ultimately becomes a butterfly. We’d +never think of shooting a sheriff. Why, then, do you pot at sheriffs, +and hit innocent people, out here?”</p> + +<p>The girl laughed.</p> + +<p>“I saw the Lord Mayor of London once in his carriage, and behind it were +two most magnificent persons. Were they sheriffs?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, dear no; they were merely flunkeys.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Our</i> sheriffs are elected persons, drawn from the politician class, +and if you know America, you will understand what that means. Among the +various duties of a sheriff is that of seizing property and selling it, +if the owner of that property hasn’t paid his debts.”</p> + +<p>“They act as bailiffs, then?”</p> + +<p>“Very likely; I am not acquainted with legal procedure. But I must go, +Mr. Stranleigh, for whatever the position of a sheriff may be, mine is +that of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>assistant to my mother, who is just now preparing the dinner, a +meal that, further East, is called lunch. And now, what would you prefer +to read? The latest magazine or a pharmaceutical journal?”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, Miss Armstrong; I prefer gazing at the scenery to either of +them.”</p> + +<p>“Then good-bye until dinner time,” whereupon she disappeared into the +house.</p> + +<p>The meal proved unexpectedly good. There was about it an enticing +freshness, and a variety that was surprising when the distance from the +house to the nearest market was considered. Stranleigh could not +remember any repast he had enjoyed so much, although he suspected that +horseback exercise in the keen air had helped his appreciation of it. +When he mentioned his gratification at so satisfactory a menu, the girl +smiled.</p> + +<p>“Plain living and lofty thought is our motto on the ranch,” she said.</p> + +<p>“This is anything but plain living,” he replied, “and I consider myself +no mean judge <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>in such matters. How far away is your market town?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, a market is merely one of those effete contrivances of +civilisation. What you buy in a market has been handled and re-handled, +and artificially made to look what it is not. The basis of our provender +is the farm. All round us here is what economists call, in a double +sense of the term, raw material. Farm house fare is often what it should +not be because art belongs to the city while nature belongs to the farm. +To produce a good result, the two must be united. We were speaking just +now of Thun. If, leaving that town, you proceed along the left hand road +by the lake, you will arrive at a large institution which is devoted +entirely to the art of cookery. The more I progressed with my studies at +Lausanne, the more I realised that the basis of health is good food, +properly prepared. So I interrupted my medical studies for a time, +entered that establishment, and learned to cook.”</p> + +<p>“Miss Armstrong, you are the most efficient individual I ever met.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p><p>“You are very complimentary, Mr. Stranleigh, because, like the various +meals you have enjoyed in different parts of the world, you must have +met a great many people. To enhance myself further in your eyes, I may +add that I have brought another much-needed accomplishment to the farm. +I am an expert accountant, and can manage business affairs in a way that +would startle you, and regarding this statement of mine, I should like +to ask you, hoping you won’t think I am impertinent, are you a rich +man?”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh was indeed startled—she had succeeded in that—and he +hesitated before he answered—</p> + +<p>“I am considered reasonably well off.”</p> + +<p>“I am very glad to hear it, for it has been the custom of my father, who +is not a good business man, to charge boarders two or three dollars a +week when they come with their guns and fishing tackle. Now, we are in a +unique position. We have the advantage of being free from competition. +The hotels of New York are as thick as blackberries. They meet +competition in its fiercest form, yet the prices they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>charge are much +more per day than we charge for a month. I am determined that our prices +shall be equal to New York prices, but I think it is only fair to let +any customer know the fact before he is called upon to pay his bill.”</p> + +<p>“A very excellent arrangement,” said Stranleigh, heartily, “and in my +case there will be an additional account for medical services. Will that +be on the basis of professional charges in London, New York, Vienna, +Berlin, or Lausanne?”</p> + +<p>“Not on the basis of Lausanne, certainly, for there an excellent doctor +is contented with a fee of five francs, so if you don’t object, I’ll +convert francs into dollars.”</p> + +<p>“My admiration for your business capacity is waning, Miss Armstrong. If +this is to be an international matter, why choose your own country +instead of mine? Transpose your francs into pounds, Professor. There are +five francs in a dollar, but five dollars in a pound sterling. Let me +recommend to you my own currency.”</p> + +<p>“A very good idea, Mr. Stranleigh,” rejoined Miss Armstrong, promptly. +“I shall at once take it into <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>consideration, but I hope you won’t be +shocked when the final round-up arrives.”</p> + +<p>“I shall have no excuse for astonishment, being so honestly forewarned, +and now that we are conversing so internationally, I’d like to carry it +a little further. In Italy they call an accident a ‘disgrazia,’ and when +you read in an Italian paper that a man is ‘disgraced,’ you realise that +he has met with an accident. Then the account ends by saying that the +patient is guaranteed curable in two days, or a week, or a month, as the +case may be. How long, then, doctor, must I rest under this ‘disgrace’?”</p> + +<p>“I should say a week, but that’s merely an off-hand guess, as I suppose +is the case with the estimate of an Italian physician.”</p> + +<p>“I hope your orders won’t be too strict. By the way, has my luggage +arrived?”</p> + +<p>“It is all in the large room upstairs, but if you have any designs upon +it, you are disobeying orders.”</p> + +<p>“I must get at a portmanteau that is in one of the bundles.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p><p>“I will fetch what you want, so don’t worry about that, but come and sit +on the verandah once more.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh protested, and finally a compromise was arrived at. Miss +Armstrong would whistle for Jim, and he would do the unpacking. She saw +a shade of distrust pass over Stranleigh’s face, and she reassured him +that Jim was the most honest and harmless man in the world, except, +perhaps, where sheriffs were concerned.</p> + +<p>“Now,” she continued, when he had seated himself, “you have talked +enough for one day, so you must keep quiet for the rest of the +afternoon. I will do the talking, giving you an explanation of our +brigandish conduct.”</p> + +<p>“I shall be an interested listener,” said Stranleigh, resignedly. “But +permit me, before silence falls, to ask what you may regard an +impertinent question. Do you smoke?”</p> + +<p>“Goodness, no!” she replied, with widely opened eyes.</p> + +<p>“Many ladies do, you know, and I thought you might have acquired the +habit during your travels <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>abroad. In that case, I should have been +delighted to offer you some excellent cigarettes from my portmanteau.”</p> + +<p>Jumping up, the girl laughed brightly.</p> + +<p>“Poor man! I understand at last. You shall have the cigarettes in less +than five minutes. Give me your keys, please.”</p> + +<p>“That particular piece of luggage is not locked. I am so sorry to +trouble you, but after such a memorable dinner——”</p> + +<p>“Yes, yes; I know, I know!” she cried, as she vanished.</p> + +<p>“Interesting girl, that,” murmured Stranleigh to himself, “and unusually +accomplished.”</p> + +<p>He listened for a whistle, but the first break in the silence was the +coming of Miss Armstrong, holding a box of cigars in one hand and a +packet of cigarettes in the other.</p> + +<p>“Then you didn’t call for help, after all,” said Stranleigh, a shade of +reproach in his tone.</p> + +<p>“Oh, it was quite easy. By punching the bundles I guessed what they +contained, and soon found where <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>the portmanteau was concealed. Now, +light up,” she continued, “lean back, and smoke. I’ll do the talking. My +father, as I’ve told you, is a very poor business man, and that is why I +endeavoured to acquire some knowledge of affairs. He is generous and +sympathetic, believing no evil of anyone, consequently he is often +imposed upon to his financial disadvantage. Our position as father and +daughter is the reverse of what is usual in such relationships. I +attempt to guide him in the way he should go, and as a general thing he +accepts my advice and acts upon it, but on the occasion of which I +speak, I was at work in New York, and knew nothing of the disastrous +contract into which he had entered, until it was too late.</p> + +<p>“I always come West and spend the vacation on the ranch, and this time +brought with me all the money I had saved, but it proved insufficient to +cope with the situation. In his early days my father was a mining +engineer. He was successful, and might have been a very rich man to-day +if—— But that ‘if’ always intervened. Nevertheless, he accumulated +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>money, and bought this ranch, determined to retire.</p> + +<p>“The lower part of the ranch is good grazing ground, but the upper or +western part is rocky, rising to the foothills. My father was not a +success as a rancher, partly because we are too far from the markets, +and partly because he chose as cowboys men who did not understand their +business. I told you that my father is a sympathetic man. No one ever +appealed to him in vain. He has always been very popular, but it seems +to me that his friends are always poorer than himself. Thus it came +about that miners who knew him, and were out of work, applied for +something to do, and he engaged them as cowboys, until he had half a +dozen on his pay roll, and thus began the gradual loss of his money. +These men were excellent as miners, but useless as cowboys, and there +was no one here to teach them their duties, my father being himself a +miner. It seemed, then, a dispensation of Providence that as he rambled +over the western part of his property he struck signs of silver. He was +not mistaken in his prospecting. He and the cowboys took hilariously to +their old <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>trade, and worked away at the rocks until all his money was +gone.”</p> + +<p>“Did they find any real silver?” asked Stranleigh, interested.</p> + +<p>“Oh yes, plenty of it,” answered the girl. “It is evident they have +opened a very rich mine.”</p> + +<p>“Then where is the difficulty?”</p> + +<p>“The difficulty is the want of machinery, which there is no capital to +purchase. My father tried to get that capital in this district, but +there is very little ready money to be obtained out here. He enlisted +the interest of Mr. Ricketts, a lawyer in Bleachers, and reputed the +only rich man in the town. Ricketts came to the ranch with a mining +engineer, and they examined the opening. Seemingly they were not +impressed with the contents, and Ricketts advised my father to go East +and form a company.</p> + +<p>“My father explained his financial situation, and Ricketts, with +apparent generosity, offered to lend him five thousand dollars on his +note, to be paid on demand, with the ranch as security. Thus my father +put himself entirely in the other’s power. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>Ricketts gave him the +address of a lawyer in Chicago, who, he said, would be of assistance to +him. The latest word we received from my father is that this lawyer, in +one way or another, has got hold of all his money. Father telegraphed to +Ricketts for help, which was refused. So he left Chicago on foot, +determined to walk home, since he had not even money enough left to pay +his fare home. Where he is at present, we have no idea, except that he +is making for this ranch.</p> + +<p>“Ricketts at once took action to sell the ranch. Apparently he is quite +within his legal rights, but there are formalities to be gone through, +and one of these is the arrival of the sheriff to seize the property. +That arrival the men, headed by Jim, are determined to prevent, and now, +perhaps, you understand why you rode into danger when you came from +Bleachers this morning.</p> + +<p>“When I learnt of my father’s predicament, I went out to Bleachers to +see Mr. Ricketts, offering him what money I had brought from New York if +he would hold his hand for a year. He refused, and from his conversation +I realised he was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>determined to secure the ranch for himself, and I +believe the whole transaction is a plot toward that end.”</p> + +<p>“Then the mine must be a valuable one?”</p> + +<p>“I am sure it is; indeed, my father could make no mistake in that +matter.”</p> + +<p>“Well, the position seems very simple after all. What you need, Miss +Armstrong, is a change of creditors. You want a creditor who is not in a +hurry for his money. In other words, if you could transfer that debt, +you would be out of immediate danger. Would you allow me to go into +Bleachers to-morrow, and see Mr. Ricketts?”</p> + +<p>“Most decidedly not!”</p> + +<p>“How much money did you bring with you from New York?”</p> + +<p>“Two thousand dollars.”</p> + +<p>“I brought just twice that amount, so I think the affair may be +arranged, and you can go to Ricketts to-morrow, and take up the note. I +think perhaps you had better have five thousand five hundred dollars +with you, as there will certainly be some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>interest and expenses to pay, +for if the case is as you state it, Ricketts will be reluctant to part +with the document. Is there another lawyer in Bleachers?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“Well, get him to accompany you, and make formal tender of the money.”</p> + +<p>The girl had reddened while he was speaking, and now she said, in tones +of distress—</p> + +<p>“I fear you completely misunderstood my object in telling you of my +difficulties. My object was not to borrow money, but to explain why Jim +Dean shot at you.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I understand perfectly why you spoke as frankly as you did, and I +am very much obliged to you for doing so, but you must have no +diffidence in accepting the money. It is purely a business transaction, +and, as you say, you are a business woman. Therefore, as a matter of +business, it would be folly to reject an offer that is to our mutual +advantage. The security is ample.”</p> + +<p>“That is true, Mr. Stranleigh, but, you see, I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>have no power, no +authority, to give this ranch as security; it belongs to my father.”</p> + +<p>“True; but you are not nearly so competent a business woman as you would +have me believe. You will receive from Ricketts your father’s promissory +note. That you will hand to me, then I shall be your debtor for two +thousand dollars. Those two thousand dollars I shall pay as soon as I +get some money from New York, and your father will become my debtor for +five thousand dollars. All perfectly simple, you see. In the first +instance I trust you for three thousand dollars, and in the second +instance you trust me for two thousand dollars. After I have paid you +the two thousand dollars, I hold the note, and can sell you up whenever +I please. I give you my word I won’t do that, though even if I did you +would be no worse off than you are now.”</p> + +<p>“Very well, Mr. Stranleigh; I will take the money.”</p> + +<p>It was several days later when Miss Armstrong returned from Bleachers. +Her first interest was to satisfy herself of the patient’s progress. He +had been getting on well.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p><p>“You are an admirable physician, Miss Armstrong,” he said. “Now let me +know whether you are equally capable as a financier.”</p> + +<p>“I have failed completely,” she answered, dejectedly. “Mr. Ricketts has +refused the money.”</p> + +<p>“Did you take the other lawyer with you?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“What did he say?”</p> + +<p>“He said Ricketts had no right to refuse, but a different question has +arisen. The guide who accompanied you to the ranch brought back news of +the shooting. Ricketts guessed at once why you were shot at, and the +sheriff has signed an affidavit, or some such instrument, to show that +his life, and his men’s lives, are in danger if they go to seize the +property, so this complication has been overcome by some order from the +legislature, and the personal seizure is waived. The sale is announced +to take place in Bleachers two weeks from to-day. Mr. Timmins—that is +the other lawyer—fears that Ricketts is within his rights in refusing +the money at this stage.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p><p>“This is all very interesting, Miss Armstrong, but we have a fortnight +to turn round in.”</p> + +<p>“Yes; that is so.”</p> + +<p>“I am delighted, for now I shall have the pleasure of trying a fall with +the estimable Mr. Ricketts.”</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="VI_THE_BUNK_HOUSE_PRISONER" id="VI_THE_BUNK_HOUSE_PRISONER"></a>VI.—THE BUNK HOUSE PRISONER.</h3> + +<p>As the wound in his shoulder healed, Stranleigh began to enjoy himself +on the ranch. He was experiencing a life entirely new to him, and being +always a lover of waving woods and rushing waters, even in the tamed +state which England presents, he keenly appreciated these natural +beauties in the wilderness, where so-called human improvements had not +interfered with them. Without attempting to indulge in the sport for +which he had come, he wandered about the ranch a good deal, studying its +features, and at the same time developing an appetite that did justice +to the excellent meals prepared for him. He visited Jim Dean, who had +shot him, and tried to scrape acquaintance with his five aiders and +abettors in that drastic act, but they met <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>his advances with suspicion, +naturally regarding him as a tenderfoot, nor were they satisfied that +his long residence among them was as friendly as he evidently wished it +to appear.</p> + +<p>The men resided in a huge bunk house, which consisted of one room only, +with a shack outside where the cooking was done. In the large room were +a dozen bunks; half of them in a very dishevelled state, giving sleeping +accommodation for the company, while the other half were ready in case +of an accession of help, should the mine prosper.</p> + +<p>The cabin was as securely built as a fortress, of the rugged stone which +had been blasted from the rocks in opening the mine. The mine itself was +situated about five hundred yards to the south of this edifice, but +instead of being dug downwards, as Stranleigh expected, it extended +westward on the level toward the heart of the mountain, so that a rudely +built truck could carry out the débris, and dump it down the steep hill. +To his æsthetic fancy this seemed a pity, because a short distance south +from the opening of the mine, the river formed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>a cascade descending a +hundred feet or more; a cascade of entrancing beauty, whose loveliness +would be more or less destroyed as the mining operations progressed.</p> + +<p>The rising sun illumined the tunnel to its final wall, and Stranleigh +found no difficulty in exploring it to the remotest corner. He passed +the abandoned truck partly turned over beside an assortment of picks, +shovels, hand-drills and the like. To his unpractised eye there was no +sign of silver on walls, floor or ceiling. At the extreme end was piled +up a quantity of what appeared to be huge cartridges.</p> + +<p>Before entering the cavern he had noticed three or four of the miners +standing in front of the bunk house, evidently watching him, but he paid +no attention to them, and while he was inside, the roar of the cataract +prevented him from hearing approaching footsteps. As he came out to the +lip of the mine, he found Jim and three others waiting for him. Each had +a rifle on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Inspecting the property?” said Jim, casually.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” replied Stranleigh.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p><p>“What do you think of it?”</p> + +<p>“My opinion would be of very little value. I know nothing of mining.”</p> + +<p>“The deuce you don’t!” said Jim. “What are you doing with that lump of +rock in your hand?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, that,” said Stranleigh, “I happened to pick up. I wanted to examine +it in clear daylight. Is there silver in it?”</p> + +<p>“How should I know?” replied Jim, gruffly. “I’m not a mining engineer. I +only take a hand at the drill or the pick, as the case may be. But when +you throw that back where you got it, throw it carefully, and not too +far.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t intend to throw it,” said Stranleigh. “I’m going to take it +down to the house.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, you think you’re not going to throw it, but you are. We’ve just +come up to explain that to you.”</p> + +<p>“I see. If it is compulsory, why shouldn’t I throw it as far as I can?”</p> + +<p>“Because,” explained Jim, politely, “there’s a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>lot of dynamite stored +in the end of that hole, and dynamite isn’t a thing to fool with, you +know.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh laughed.</p> + +<p>“I rather fancy you’re right, though I know as little about dynamite as +I do about mines. But to be sure of being on the right side, I will +leave the tossing of the stone to you. Here it is,” whereupon he handed +the lump of rock to Jim, who flung it carelessly into the mine again, +but did not join in his visitor’s hilarity.</p> + +<p>“You seem to regard me as a dangerous person?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, not at all, but we do love a man that attends to his own business. +We understood that you came here for shooting and fishing.”</p> + +<p>“So I did, but other people were out shooting before I got a chance. A +man who’s had a bullet through his shoulder neither hunts nor fishes.”</p> + +<p>“That’s so,” admitted Jim, with the suavity of one who recognises a +reasonable statement, “but now that you are better, what do you come +nosing round <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>the mine for? Why don’t you go on with your shooting and +your fishing?”</p> + +<p>“Because Mr. Armstrong was to be my guide, and he, I regret to say, has +not yet returned home. As he is tramping from Chicago to the ranch, no +one knows when he will put in an appearance.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Mr. Stranleigh, we are plain, ordinary backwoods folks, that have +no reason for loving or trusting people who come from the city, as you +do. You say that shooting is your game. Now, we can do a bit of shooting +ourselves, and I tell you plainly that if any stranger was found +prowling around here, he’d have got a bullet in a more vital spot than +you did. Do you understand me?”</p> + +<p>“Your meaning, sir, is perfectly plain. What do you want me to do? Go +away from here before Mr. Armstrong returns?”</p> + +<p>“No; we don’t say that, but we draw an imaginary line, such as they tell +me the equator is, past this end of the farm house, and we ask you not +to cross it westward. There’s all the fishing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>you want down stream, but +there’s none up here by the waterfall, neither is there any game to +shoot, so you see we’re proposing no hardship if your intentions are +what you say they are.”</p> + +<p>“Sir, you speak so beautifully that I must address you less familiarly +than I am doing. My own name is Ned, but few take the liberty of calling +me by that title. I don’t know that I should like it if they did. You +are already aware, perhaps, that I answer to the name of Stranleigh. May +I enquire what your name is?”</p> + +<p>“I’m James Dean.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, the Dean of the Faculty? You are leader of this band of brothers?”</p> + +<p>“In a manner of speaking, yes.”</p> + +<p>“Are they unanimous in restricting my liberty on this ranch?”</p> + +<p>“You bet!”</p> + +<p>“You’ve no right to do such a thing, and besides, it is inhospitable. I +came to this ranch properly accredited, with a letter of introduction to +Mr. Armstrong. He happens to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>away; if he had been here, and I had +seen that my visit was unwelcome to him, I should instantly have taken +my leave, but I refuse to have my liberty restricted by Mr. Armstrong’s +hired men.”</p> + +<p>“That’s exactly where you’re wrong, Mr. Stranleigh. In the first place, +we’re not hired men; we’re Mr. Armstrong’s partners, and we don’t +restrict your liberty on the ranch.”</p> + +<p>“A partner contributes his share to the expenses of the combination. I +understand Mr. Armstrong bears the burden alone.”</p> + +<p>“We contribute our labour, which is cash in another form, therefore +whether Mr. Armstrong is here, or whether he is away, we mean to defend +our property. So when you cross the imaginary line I spoke of, you are +trespassing, and no jury will convict a man who shoots a trespasser +after he has been fully warned, as we warn you.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Mr. Dean, I admit that you have right on your side, even if there +is not much wisdom at the back of it. There is just one more thing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>I +should like to know. Why do you treat me as an enemy?”</p> + +<p>“As a possible enemy,” corrected Dean.</p> + +<p>“As a possible enemy, then?”</p> + +<p>“Because we don’t like your actions, and we don’t think much of you. +You’re a city man, and we don’t trust any such.”</p> + +<p>“But Mr. Banks, who gave me the letter to your chief, is not only a city +man, but a lawyer. He has been here, and spoke highly of his reception.”</p> + +<p>“That was before the mine was opened, and as for being a lawyer, we hate +’em, of course, but they’re like rattlesnakes. In some seasons of the +year they are harmless. The opening of the silver mine opened the +rattlesnake season, and that’s why this lawyer snake in Bleachers is +trying to cheat Armstrong out of his ranch. He came over here with a +mining engineer and learnt the whole value of the ground. How do we know +you’re not a mining engineer?”</p> + +<p>“I regret to say I’m nothing so useful.”</p> + +<p>“And didn’t you send Miss Armstrong into <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>Bleachers to see that villain +Ricketts? What connection have you with him?”</p> + +<p>“None at all, Mr. Dean. I never saw Ricketts in my life, and never heard +of him before the day you mistook me for the sheriff.”</p> + +<p>Dean glanced at his companions, who had taken no part in the colloquy, +but who listened with an interest at once critical and suspicious. It +was evident that their distrust could not be dissipated, or even +mitigated, by strenuous talk, and for a moment Stranleigh was tempted to +tell them that he had lent three thousand dollars to Miss Armstrong, in +the hope that this money, added to her own, would gain some sort of +concession from the obdurate lawyer. But he remembered that the girl was +in constant communication with these men, and if she had not already +informed them of his futile assistance, it was because she did not want +them to know.</p> + +<p>Dean pondered for a few moments before he spoke. He seemed to have +gathered in the purport of his men’s thoughts without the necessity for +words. At last he said:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p><p>“May I take it you agree hereafter to attend to your own business?”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh laughed.</p> + +<p>“There would be no use in my making that promise, for I have never in my +life attended to my own business. My business affairs are all looked +after by men who are experts. They live in New York and in London, and +although I make a decision now and then, I do that as seldom as +possible. It fatigues me.”</p> + +<p>“So you are a loafer?”</p> + +<p>“That’s it exactly, Mr. Dean, and I freely give you my promise not to +loaf about your silver mine.”</p> + +<p>“Are you so rich as all that?”</p> + +<p>“You are not consistent, Mr. Dean. How can you ask me to attend to my +business if you do not attend to yours? Whether I am rich or poor is +none of your affair?”</p> + +<p>“Quite true,” agreed Jim, nonchalantly, “we will let it go at that.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh, with a smile, bowed courteously to the group.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p><p>“I wish you a very good day,” he said, and turning, strolled down to the +house at a leisurely gait, quite in keeping with his self-declared +character of loafer. His back offered an excellent target, but no man +raised his rifle, and Stranleigh never looked over his shoulder, never +hurried a step, but walked as one very sure of himself, and in no fear +of attack.</p> + +<p>“Stuck up cuss,” said Jim to his comrades. “I’d like to take that chap +down a peg. Let’s get back to the bunk house and talk it over,” so they, +too, left the pit mouth, and returned to their cabin.</p> + +<p>When the Earl of Stranleigh entered the house, he was accosted by Miss +Armstrong, on whose fair face were traces of deep anxiety, which his +lordship thought were easily accounted for by the fact that the +homestead was to be sold in less than a fortnight.</p> + +<p>“I have been anxious to see you, Mr. Stranleigh,” she said. “Won’t you +come out on the verandah where we can talk?”</p> + +<p>“With great pleasure, Miss Armstrong.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p><p>When they were seated, she continued—</p> + +<p>“You have been talking with the men?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; we had a little chat together.”</p> + +<p>“Did they tell you anything of their intentions?”</p> + +<p>“No; except in so far as they were determined not to let me examine the +mine.”</p> + +<p>“Ah; they have distrusted you from the first. Did you insist on visiting +it?”</p> + +<p>“I have visited it.”</p> + +<p>“Without asking one of them to accompany you?”</p> + +<p>“I regarded them as hired men. They say they are your father’s +partners.”</p> + +<p>“So they are.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, well, if that is really the case, I must apologise to them. I +thought when you ordered Dean to bring in my luggage, and he obeyed with +such docility, that he was your servant. I intended to offer him some +money for that service, but I suppose I must not.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly not. Those men will do anything for a friend, but nothing for +one of whom they are suspicious. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>Their distrust, once aroused, is not +easily removed. I am sure, however, you were tactful with them.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh smiled ruefully.</p> + +<p>“I am not so certain of that myself. I fear I failed in diplomacy.”</p> + +<p>“I do wish my father were here,” she said, ignoring his last remark. “I +am very much worried about the men.”</p> + +<p>“What do they know of your trouble with that man Ricketts?”</p> + +<p>“They know all about it, and they now threaten to march into Bleachers +in a body and, as we say, shoot up the town, including Ricketts, of +course.”</p> + +<p>“When do they intend to do this?”</p> + +<p>“On the day of the auction sale.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t they understand that that would be futile?”</p> + +<p>“It would cause an infinite amount of harm, and ultimately might result +in their being wiped out themselves. Not that Bleachers could do such a +thing, but because they would be pitting themselves against the United +States Government, which is a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>mere name to those men, carrying no +authority. All their lives have been spent in camps, where the only law +is that of the mob. I have tried my best to influence them, but they +regard me merely as a woman, and a woman from the East at that, who has +no knowledge of practical affairs, so I have every reason for wishing my +father were here.”</p> + +<p>“I should not trouble about that if I were you, Miss Armstrong. If they +intended to carry out their resolution to-morrow, or next day, there +might be reason for anxiety, but we have luckily plenty of time in which +to act. The one immediate thing is to find your father. I’ll undertake +that task. He’s travelling somewhere between here and Chicago, on foot. +May I see the latest letter he wrote you?”</p> + +<p>The girl brought it to him.</p> + +<p>“Might I take this with me?”</p> + +<p>“Yes. What do you intend to do?”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh smiled.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I never do anything. As I was telling your men, who wished me to +mind my own business, I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>always have people to do that for me. I am a +great believer in the expert. Now, America seems to be the land of +experts, and the man to deal with this case is Detective Burns, of New +York. I shall get into touch with him by telegraph, and if he cannot +attend to the matter himself, he will select the best substitute that is +to be had, and as Burns and his men invariably track down anyone they +want, even though he be seeking to elude them, it will be an easy task +to find your father, who is tramping the straightest possible line +between Chicago and this ranch. I shall give instructions for two or +three hundred dollars to be handed to Mr. Armstrong, with directions to +take the next train to Bleachers, as we need his presence here. I shall +do nothing but send a telegram, and Mr. Burns will do the rest. Now, if +you will assist me by ordering out my horse, I shall be ready to start +within ten minutes. I’d order the horse myself, but I don’t think your +men would obey me.”</p> + +<p>In less than the time mentioned, Jim brought the horse to the door. All +his men were standing in front of their cabin, looking on. They quite +naturally <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>believed that their guest had taken alarm, and was making off +to some district where he would be in less danger. When his lordship +came downstairs and out to the front, Jim was overcome with +astonishment. His lordship was accoutred amazingly, after the fashion of +the English horseman. He had dressed himself in a riding costume such as +an English gentleman would wear at home. Jim and his comrades had never +seen such an outfit before, and they greeted his appearance with a roar +of laughter.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh sprang into his saddle with the agility of a cowboy, and +smiling good-humouredly at his audience, raised his hat to them, and +rode off.</p> + +<p>As Stranleigh’s horse entered the forest the young man began to ponder +over the problem that confronted him. When the unfortunate Armstrong +borrowed money from Ricketts, he had, of course, fully explained the +situation. The lender had examined the property in company with a mining +engineer, and this expert doubtless took away with him some ore to +analyse at his leisure. Ricketts, being in possession of the engineer’s +estimate of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>pit’s value, had probably formed a syndicate, or +perhaps made arrangements with other capitalists, to see him through +with the speculation. Undoubtedly Ricketts expected no competition when +the estate was put up at auction, but if he was a shrewd man, as was +almost certain to be the case, events had occurred which might stimulate +thought regarding his position.</p> + +<p>Miss Armstrong had ridden out to Bleachers, having in her possession +five thousand dollars, the face value of the notes. Ricketts would +wonder how she had obtained the money. She possessed only two thousand +dollars on her first visit, as he knew from the fact that she had +offered it to him for refraining from action until her father returned. +Who could have given her the extra three thousand? Whoever had done so +must have known the girl could offer no security for its repayment. He +was therefore a rich man, or he could not afford to throw away a sum so +considerable.</p> + +<p>It was likely that such reflections as these had put Ricketts on the +alert, and the sudden advent in Bleachers of a smartly costumed +stranger, a stranger <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>coming from the direction of the ranch, would +almost certainly convince Ricketts that here was his opponent. In +Bleachers, too, each inhabitant very probably knew every one else’s +business. That he could elude the astute Ricketts was therefore +exceedingly doubtful, and Stranleigh already knew enough about the +lawlessness of the district to believe that he might ride into +considerable danger. In that sparsely-settled country, people were not +too scrupulous in their methods of getting rid of an enemy.</p> + +<p>He wondered how far down the line the next town was, for he was certain +that any telegraphing he did from Bleachers would speedily be known to +Ricketts. Would it be possible to deflect his course, and make for the +next station eastwards? He possessed no map of the State, however, and +there was little chance of meeting anyone, so there seemed nothing for +it but to push on to Bleachers.</p> + +<p>At this point his meditations were interrupted by the dimly heard sound +of horses’ hoofs on the trail behind him. He pulled up and listened. +Pausing for a few minutes, he heard nothing more, and so went on again, +with an uneasy feeling of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>being followed. He determined not to camp out +when night overtook him, but to hurry on until he reached Bleachers. He +had made a two days’ journey to reach the ranch, but that was because +the laden mules were slow. Before dark he would be on the high road, and +after that he could not lose his way. After all, perhaps it was better +to reach Bleachers at night, and trust to rousing up the people in the +one tavern of the place.</p> + +<p>It was after midnight when his task was accomplished, and having seen to +the accommodation of a very tired and hungry horse, Stranleigh threw +himself down, dressed as he was, upon the bed to which he was shown by a +sleepy ostler. He had had quite enough equestrian exercise for one day.</p> + +<p>Ten o’clock had struck next morning before he woke, and went down to +breakfast. His mind had become clarified, and he knew now exactly what +he meant to do. To avoid the cognizance of Ricketts was impossible; of +that he was certain. His first object, then, was to draw a red herring +across the trail, so he enquired from the hotel-keeper the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>whereabouts +of Ricketts’ office, and was directed to it.</p> + +<p>He crossed the street and ascended a stair. Ricketts kept neither clerk +nor office boy, so Stranleigh knocked at the door, was gruffly commanded +to enter, and obeyed.</p> + +<p>Silas A. Ricketts was seated at a large table strewn with books and +legal-looking documents, and he stared in astonishment at the figure +which presented itself. He, like the men on the ranch, had never seen +such a costume before.</p> + +<p>“Are you Mr. Ricketts?” asked his lordship.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> + +<p>“My name is Stranleigh. I took the liberty of calling upon you to learn, +if possible, the whereabouts of Mr. Stanley Armstrong.”</p> + +<p>“Why should I know anything of his whereabouts?” demanded Ricketts.</p> + +<p>“Permit me to explain——”</p> + +<p>“Now, before we go any further,” interrupted the lawyer, “I want you to +know that this is a business office, and I’m a business man. My time is +valuable. I thought when you came in that you <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>were a client. If you +have come here for aimless gossip, I’m not your man. I have my own +affairs to look after.”</p> + +<p>“You state the case very lucidly, Mr. Ricketts, and I congratulate your +clients. My own time is far from precious, for I’m here after sport. How +valuable is your time? How much does an hour’s conference with you +cost?”</p> + +<p>“It all depends on the business transacted.”</p> + +<p>“I can’t agree with you, Mr. Ricketts. An hour is an hour. I want to buy +sixty minutes of your time and attention. What do you ask for it?”</p> + +<p>“Five dollars!” snapped Ricketts.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh drew forth a five-dollar bill, and placed it on the table.</p> + +<p>“May I sit down?” he enquired. “No healthy man should be tired in the +morning, but I endured a long horseback ride yesterday, and had an +indifferent night’s rest.”</p> + +<p>“Where did you come from?”</p> + +<p>“I have been living for the past few days at Armstrong’s ranch.”</p> + +<p>“Are you the man who was shot last week?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p><p>“Yes; by mistake for your estimable sheriff I understand. You see, I +came here from New York with a letter of introduction to Mr. Armstrong, +being told that I might enjoy some good fishing and a little shooting, +while Armstrong was described as a most admirable guide to these sports. +I waited at the ranch day after day, hoping that Armstrong would return, +but nobody seems to know yet where he is, or when he will return, so I +came out here, hoping to get into telegraphic communication with him. +I’m well enough now to take part in the chase, and I am loth to return +to New York without having had any sport.”</p> + +<p>“I still don’t understand why you come to me about the matter.”</p> + +<p>“I was told by his daughter that Armstrong had written to you. She does +not know in the least where he is, and so on the chance of your having +received a recent letter, I have called to enquire.”</p> + +<p>“I see. Armstrong’s letter to me was written from Chicago. It was a +request for money. I had already loaned him a considerable sum and was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>unable to accede to his further demand. I answered to this effect, but +have heard no more from him. It is likely that his own people have +received word since the letter to me was written. Of course, you don’t +know the date of their last letter from him?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I do,” said Stranleigh, “I have the letter with me. It contains +all the data of which Miss Armstrong is possessed, and she gave me the +letter to assist me in my search.”</p> + +<p>He drew the letter from his pocket, and showed the date to the lawyer, +who consulted his file, and then said—</p> + +<p>“It is just as I expected. That letter was written ten days later than +the one I received. Sorry I am unable to give you any definite +assistance, Mr. Stranleigh.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh rose.</p> + +<p>“I am sorry also. I suppose there wouldn’t be much use in telegraphing +to the address he gives in Chicago?”</p> + +<p>“I see no object in that. The place is probably a boarding-house, and +he’s not there.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, Mr. Ricketts. Good morning.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p><p>Stranleigh went slowly down the steep stairs, and reaching the sidewalk, +almost fell into the arms of Jim Dean. Here, then, was the man who had +been following him.</p> + +<p>“Good morning, Mr. Dean.”</p> + +<p>“Morning,” snarled Jim, briefly.</p> + +<p>“I’ve just been up to see Mr. Ricketts, whom I think you mentioned the +other day.”</p> + +<p>“So I supposed,” agreed Dean.</p> + +<p>“I expected to get some information from him about Mr. Armstrong, but he +doesn’t appear to know very much.”</p> + +<p>“Well, you’re the first man I ever heard say that S. A. Ricketts doesn’t +know very much, but I think by and by you will find that others know a +great deal.”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps they know a great deal that is not so; there’s a lot of +knowledge of that kind lying around loose.”</p> + +<p>“Very likely,” remarked Jim, laconically, then turned on his heel and +walked down the street, while Stranleigh went towards the depôt to +enlist the services of a telegraph <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>operator, and learn when the next +train left for the east.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh found the telegraph operator dozing in a wooden chair tilted +back against the wall, his soft hat drawn over his eyes, his feet +resting on a rung of the chair. It was a hot day, and the commercial +inactivity of Bleachers called for very little exertion on the part of +the telegraphist. The young man slowly roused himself as the door opened +and shut. His unexpected customer nodded good morning to him.</p> + +<p>“Could you oblige me with some forms?” asked the newcomer.</p> + +<p>“Forms? Forms of what?” The operator’s feet came down with a crash on +the board floor as he rose from his chair.</p> + +<p>“Well, telegraph blanks, perhaps I should have said.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, certainly.”</p> + +<p>The young man fished one out from a drawer, and flung it on the counter.</p> + +<p>“This will do excellently for a beginning,” said Stranleigh, “but you’d +better let me have a dozen to go on with.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p><p>The young man was waking up. He supplied the demand, and with +ever-increasing amazement, watched his client write.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh gave the New York detective particulars in great detail so +far as he possessed them, asked him to spare no expense, and requested +that Armstrong, when found, should be presented with two hundred dollars +or more, as he required, with admonition to take the first train home, +where his presence was urgently needed.</p> + +<p>“Great Scott!” cried the operator, “is that all one message?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“Where is it going?”</p> + +<p>“I’ve written the address as plainly as I can. It’s going to New York.”</p> + +<p>“I say, stranger,” protested the telegraphist, “have you any idea what +it costs to send a message across the Continent to New York?”</p> + +<p>“No, I haven’t, but I expect to be in possession of that information as +soon as you have mastered my handwriting, and counted the words.”</p> + +<p>The operator was practically speechless when he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>reached the end of his +enumeration, but after making a note on the pad, he was sufficiently +recovered to remark—</p> + +<p>“Say, stranger, you’ll have to dig up a pretty big wad to pay for this. +We don’t give credit in a Western Union office.”</p> + +<p>“I shouldn’t think of asking credit from a downtrodden monopoly,” said +Stranleigh, pulling out his pocket book, and liquidating his debt. “You +ought to be happy if you get a percentage.”</p> + +<p>“Worse luck, I don’t.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I think you’re entitled to one. I’ve given a fee this morning and +received no particular equivalent for it. Do you, being a useful man, +object to accepting a five-dollar bill?”</p> + +<p>“Not on your life!” assented the operator with great earnestness.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh passed it over.</p> + +<p>“I’m expecting a reply. At what time shall I call for it?”</p> + +<p>“You don’t need to call, Mr. Stranleigh. When it comes, I’ll lock up the +office, and find you if you’re anywhere in town.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p><p>“I’m stopping over at the tavern.”</p> + +<p>“All right; you’ll get it.”</p> + +<p>“Thanks. Good morning.”</p> + +<p>“See you later,” said the now thoroughly-awakened operator, and +Stranleigh proceeded to the railway station. He took the next train to +the nearest town east, and there did some more telegraphing, but this +time the message was in cypher, and it was addressed to his agent in New +York. Translated, it read—</p> + +<p>“Send me at once by express, registered and insured, twenty thousand +dollars in currency, made up of five dollar, ten dollar, and hundred +dollar bills.”</p> + +<p>The address was fully written out in plain English. He found there was +time for a satisfactory lunch before the west-bound train arrived, and +he partook of it in the chief hotel, whose accommodation was much +superior to that of the Bleachers tavern.</p> + +<p>On his return to headquarters, he called in at the telegraph office. The +young man in charge, at once recognising him, announced—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p><p>“Nothing doing. The moment anything comes I’ll take it over to the +tavern. Say, is there anything secret about that telegram you sent?”</p> + +<p>“No; why do you ask?”</p> + +<p>“Well, Mr. Ricketts, a lawyer here, came in about ten minutes ago, and +described you, and wanted to know if you had sent a telegram.”</p> + +<p>“What did you say to him?”</p> + +<p>“I said nobody had sent a telegram, and that I knew nothing of you. He +seemed powerful anxious, and offered me a dollar to let him know if you +telegraphed anything. I went over to the tavern to tell you about it, +but they said you hadn’t been in since breakfast.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose you haven’t many chances of picking up an extra dollar in +Bleachers?”</p> + +<p>“No; I haven’t. Ricketts is always mighty curious about anyone who +arrives here, but I never knew him offer a cent for information before.”</p> + +<p>“I’m very much obliged to you. You go right over to Ricketts’ office and +pick up his dollar, but don’t say <i>I</i> gave you the advice. By the way, +wouldn’t you be breaking the rules of the Western <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>Telegraph Company if +you divulged the purport of any message that passed through your hands?”</p> + +<p>A look of trouble, almost of fear, came over the young man’s face.</p> + +<p>“If a telegram is secret,” he said, “the sender usually writes it in +cypher.”</p> + +<p>“Quite so, but even in that case wouldn’t you be punished if it became +known that you had shown Mr. Ricketts a private despatch entrusted to +your care?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” admitted the telegraphist, exhibiting more and more +uneasiness, “but I have not shown your telegram to anybody, and what I +told you was entirely in confidence.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, you need have no fear of my rounding on you. I am merely +endeavouring to put you in possession of that dollar without getting +your neck in a noose. Don’t you see that you are placing yourself +entirely at Mr. Ricketts’ mercy?”</p> + +<p>“But you,” protested the frightened young man, “advised me to do so.”</p> + +<p>“Undoubtedly. I want you to get that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>dollar, but not to place yourself +in jeopardy. From what I saw of Ricketts this morning, I should not like +to be in his power, yet his dollar is just as good as any other man’s +dollar, and I want you to detach it from him with safety, and profit to +yourself. Let me have another telegraph blank.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh wrote rapidly—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“Pinkerton Detective Agency, Chicago.</p> + +<p>“I want to be put into communication with Stanley Armstrong, +who left Chicago on foot ten days ago, for the West, and I +am willing to pay one hundred dollars for the job.</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 1em;">“<span class="smcap">Edmund Stranleigh.</span></span></p> + +<p>“White’s Hotel, Bleachers.”</p></div> + +<p>“There,” said Stranleigh, passing over the sheet to the operator, “you +show that to our inquisitive friend Ricketts, but don’t send it over the +line.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh slept that night at White’s Hotel, and shortly after +breakfast next morning the telegraph clerk came across with a very +satisfactory telegram from New York. The sender could not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>positively +predict the finding of Armstrong, but anticipated no difficulty in the +task.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh paid his bill at the hotel, ordered out his horse, and +trotted off towards the ranch. He saw no more of Ricketts, who, if on +any trail, was following the wrong one.</p> + +<p>Dusk had fallen as he was about to emerge into the clearing which in +daylight would have afforded him a sight of Armstrong’s house. Suddenly +and stealthily he was surrounded by six armed men, and the voice of Jim +Dean broke the stillness.</p> + +<p>“Good evening, Mr. Stranleigh. I must ask you to get down from your +horse.”</p> + +<p>“Willingly,” replied the rider. “I confess I have had enough equestrian +exercise for one day.”</p> + +<p>“We have supper ready for you at the bunk house.”</p> + +<p>“Why at the bunk house? I am perfectly satisfied with the fare that Mr. +Armstrong’s family provides.”</p> + +<p>“We’d like a little conversation with you, and the conversation must +take place in private.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p><p>“In that case, Mr. Dean, you could hardly find a better spot than this.”</p> + +<p>“We’re a kindly set of chaps, and couldn’t think of keeping a hungry man +out here.”</p> + +<p>“But I’m not very hungry. I took a pocketful of sandwiches with me from +the tavern.”</p> + +<p>“Nevertheless, you are coming with us, either peaceably, or by force, +whichever you choose.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, quite willingly, of course. I should be ungrateful if I gave you +any unnecessary trouble, while accepting your hospitality. I may add +that I am unarmed, so if you keep your guns in readiness you need fear +no reprisal on my part.”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right,” responded Jim. “We’re not easily scared, but are +prepared to protect ourselves should you try any funny business.”</p> + +<p>“Is Peter going to take my horse to the farm?”</p> + +<p>“Sure; your horse will be put in its old quarters, and will be well +taken care of.”</p> + +<p>“Then I should be glad if Peter would oblige me by telling Miss +Armstrong that I have arrived safely, and will give her an account of my +journey when next I have the pleasure of meeting her.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 344px;"> +<img src="images/i243.jpg" class="ispace jpg" width="344" height="500" alt="“‘I may add that I am unarmed, so if you keep your guns in +readiness you need fear no reprisal on my part.’”" title="" /> +<span class="caption">“‘I may add that I am unarmed, so if you keep your guns in +readiness you need fear no reprisal on my part.’”</span> +</div> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="36%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="Illustration 4"> +<tr><td align="left"><i><small><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lord Stranleigh Abroad]</span></small></i></td> +<td align="right"><i><small><span style="font-weight: bold;">[Page <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</span></small></i></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p><p>“I’m afraid Peter can’t carry any messages; indeed, it’s not at all +necessary. I’ve told Miss Armstrong that your horse will be brought +back, and that I saw you off on the east-bound train, which is quite +true. You’ve brought back the horse, and you did go east on the train. +Miss Armstrong thinks you have become tired of waiting for her father, +and that you’ve gone either to Chicago or New York.”</p> + +<p>“Am I to regard myself as your prisoner, then?”</p> + +<p>“Prisoner is an ugly word, and we are not entitled to call ourselves +gaolers, but if you wouldn’t mind looking on it in that way, it’s all +the same to us.”</p> + +<p>“Well, truthful Jim, I’m your man in every sense of the word. Let us +begin our amicable journey. I yearn for the bunk house.”</p> + +<p>“You will keep silent? No shouting or calling for help? There’s no help +to be had anyhow, and a noise would merely alarm the women.”</p> + +<p>“I recognise the necessity for silence, and I shall make no outcry. +Indeed, my whole future conduct while with you will be governed by the +strictest secrecy. When I get tired of the bunk house I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>shall merely +cut all your throats while you are asleep, and will do it in the +quietest and gentlest manner.”</p> + +<p>Jim laughed.</p> + +<p>“I guess we can take care of our throats, but I’m much obliged for the +suggestion, which may come in handy if you get funny, as I said before.”</p> + +<p>They reached the bunk house by a circuitous route. A fine fire of logs +was blazing on the ample hearth, for even in summer a fire was good to +look at when night came on, at that elevation.</p> + +<p>When Stranleigh sat down to supper, he regretted more than ever the +civilised fare of the farm house. The menu was rough, but plentiful, and +they all sat together at the long table. A meal was a serious event, and +they partook of it in silence. It was evident that the men were going to +adopt full precautions, for while they supped one of them sat by the +door, a rifle over his knees. He came in for the second course, and +another took his place. After the table was cleared, they all sat round +the big fire, and smoked.</p> + +<p>Remembering that the best tobacco in the world <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>came from the south-east +of their country, the aroma of the weed they had chosen was not as +grateful to Stranleigh’s nostrils as might have been expected, so partly +for good fellowship, and partly for his own protection, he presented +each with a fine Havana cigar, such as would be welcomed in a London +club, where pipes are not permitted. The men amiably accepted this +contribution, but each put the cigar in his pocket against a future +occasion, and went on with his pipe. Cheap as was the tobacco they were +using, it was naturally scarce among men who had received no money for +some months.</p> + +<p>“I don’t wish to appear unduly inquisitive,” began their guest, “but now +that we have all night before us, would you mind telling me why I am +thus taken charge of by strangers on whom I have no claim?”</p> + +<p>“There are several reasons,” replied Jim, who was always the spokesman +for the company, “and we are quite willing to mention them. You appear +to be a person of some intelligence——”</p> + +<p>“Thanks,” interjected Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>Jim went on, unheeding the interruption—“and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>so perhaps you know that +we suspect you of being in cohoots with Ricketts.”</p> + +<p>“Does ‘cohoots’ mean co-partnership?”</p> + +<p>“Something of that sort. You partly persuaded us that wasn’t so, but I +followed you to make sure. Perhaps you remember that I caught you coming +out from Ricketts’ office. You made for that office the moment you +reached Bleachers.”</p> + +<p>“Pardon me, but I went first to the hotel.”</p> + +<p>“Yes; and you enquired there where Ricketts hung out.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly; but that’s in my favour. It showed that so far from being in +the employ of the lawyer, I didn’t even know where he lived.”</p> + +<p>“It was a good bluff.”</p> + +<p>“It’s very circumstantial evidence of my innocence. But for the sake of +argument, I will admit that I am in ‘cohoots,’ as you call it, with the +estimable Ricketts. What next?”</p> + +<p>“The next thing is that you learnt from Miss Armstrong of our intention +to go into Bleachers and shoot up the town, including Ricketts.”</p> + +<p>“That is true.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p><p>“You didn’t like the plan and said so.”</p> + +<p>“That also is correct.”</p> + +<p>“You said it should be stopped, not knowing the ways of this country.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly. Desirable as may be the shooting up of Bleachers, the odds +are too strongly against you.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, we’ll chance that. But the next thing you do is to put your funny +clothes on, get out your horse, and ride directly to Mr. Ricketts. You +are an informer.”</p> + +<p>“An informer is always a despicable character, Mr. Dean. What’s the next +item in the indictment?”</p> + +<p>“Don’t you think that’s enough? Men have been hanged for less. An +informer is the most poisonous wretch in the world except a horse +thief.”</p> + +<p>“Then I am in danger of being hanged?”</p> + +<p>“You sure are.”</p> + +<p>“Isn’t there any way in which I can compound my felony?”</p> + +<p>“Well, I don’t quite know what confounding a felony is, but you’re the +sleekest fellow I ever met, and if you think you can palaver us to let +you go, you’ve made the mistake of your life.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p><p>“I shouldn’t think of attempting such a thing. I am merely endeavouring +to discover your state of mind. You’re strong on muscle, Jim, and I +admire your build, but I’m beginning to doubt whether your brain equals +your frame. There was a time when your equipment would have been +victorious, but those days are long since past. Nowadays it’s brain that +wins every time, and in every country. Physical force has had to give +way before it. Jimmy, my boy, you’re out of date.”</p> + +<p>“Brain isn’t going to help you any,” said Dean, evidently annoyed by +these strictures on his mentality.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps it won’t, but if there was a corresponding brain in your head, +I’d appeal to it, and probably win. Are all your men here as stupid as +you, Jim?”</p> + +<p>Jim rose up from his chair, a forbidding frown on his brow.</p> + +<p>“Look here, stranger,” he called out, “I’ve had enough of that line of +talk.”</p> + +<p>“Oh no, you haven’t. Please sit down. This line of talk is only +beginning, and I say, Jim, lay <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>aside that pipe, and smoke the Havana +cigar. It will put reason into your head if anything will.”</p> + +<p>Some of the company laughed, and Jim sat down, seeing that his opponent +failed to show any fear at his captors’ threatening attitude. He tried +to change the course of the conversation into a less personal channel.</p> + +<p>“You see, Mr. Stranleigh, we’re short on tobacco, and I want to keep +this cigar until to-morrow. I can tell by the smell it’s a good one.”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right,” said Stranleigh, “I have plenty more of them down at +the house, and when they are finished, I’ll telegraph east for a fresh +supply. If you will let me know your favourite brand of tobacco, I’ll +order a ton of it at the same time.”</p> + +<p>For a moment Jim’s eyes twinkled, then they narrowed into their usual +caution.</p> + +<p>“Was that what you meant by confusing a penalty? Well, stranger, it +doesn’t go here. We ain’t to be bought, even by a ton of tobacco.”</p> + +<p>“I hadn’t thought of either buying or bribing you,” said Stranleigh, +“therefore we will get back to our original subject, the difference +between brain and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>muscle. I see here on the table a pack of cards in a +deplorably greasy condition. If you were playing a game with an opponent +who was beating you, would you shoot him?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” promptly replied Jim, “if I found he was cheating.”</p> + +<p>“Whereupon his friends would lynch you.”</p> + +<p>“A cheater hasn’t any friends.”</p> + +<p>“Jim, I shouldn’t like to sit down to a game with you. You would shoot +first, and think afterwards, while I, being unarmed, should be at a +disadvantage. That, indeed, is just what you are doing now. If you +succeed in holding me here you will spoil my game. What I propose to do +is not to attack Ricketts with a gun, but to learn his style of play, +and beat him at it. Any confounded fool can shoot off a gun; there’s no +credit in that. It’s a coward’s trick.”</p> + +<p>“You say we’ll spoil your game. You may bet your life we will. You +daren’t tell us what it is.”</p> + +<p>“Oh yes, I dare, because I have a trick that will quite delude you.”</p> + +<p>“I know you’ll try to do that.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p><p>“Exactly. Well, my trick is to tell the truth. The situation is very +simple. That morning when from the pit mouth you warned me off the +premises, I found Miss Armstrong very much worried because she had +learned of your intention to shoot up the town, and could not persuade +you to abandon so foolish a project. It then became my duty to prevent +you doing what you proposed.”</p> + +<p>“Do you think you can?”</p> + +<p>“Of course; I knew it was no use attempting to reason with you, so the +instant necessity was to get one man of common sense to counteract the +stupidity of the bunk house. That I set out to do. I rode to Bleachers, +called on Lawyer Ricketts, paid him five dollars down for whatever +knowledge he could give me concerning the whereabouts of Mr. Armstrong. +He could give me none that I did not already possess. He kept the five +dollars, though. You saw me go off in the train. I merely went to the +next town, to do some telegraphing that might be more or less secret +from Ricketts. A detective agency will find Mr. Armstrong, and hand him +two hundred dollars, asking him at the same time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>to make for home by +the earliest train. Then, unless I’m much mistaken, Mr. Armstrong will +see the idiocy of what you propose, and will prevent you from carrying +out your scheme.”</p> + +<p>Jim pondered over this announcement for some minutes. At last he broke +the silence.</p> + +<p>“What you say may be true, but I don’t believe a word of it. It’s more +likely Ricketts is your boss, and you went in to report to him and tell +him what we intended to do. Then he’ll see that Bleachers is prepared to +meet us.”</p> + +<p>“Yes; that would be a simple way of turning the trick. There are good +points about it, but it happens not to be my way, as you will learn in a +few days when Mr. Armstrong returns.”</p> + +<p>Again Jim meditated for a while, and finally rose, walked to the further +end of the room, and engaged for some minutes in earnest cogitation with +his fellows, carried on in tones so low that Stranleigh could not hear. +Resuming his seat, he spoke with deliberation—</p> + +<p>“You want us to believe that you are a friend of Mr. Armstrong?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p><p>“I don’t care whether you believe it or not. I can hardly be a friend of +Stanley Armstrong, because I’ve never seen him.”</p> + +<p>“Well, we’ll put your good intentions to the test. When Mr. Armstrong +gets here, he will have no money. Stony broke, that’s what he is. Now, +unless we shoot ’em up in Bleachers when they try to sell his place, +Armstrong will lose it. We take it you are a rich man. Will you promise +to lend him enough money to hold this ranch, and run the mine?”</p> + +<p>“No; I won’t,” said Stranleigh, with decision.</p> + +<p>“All right. Then you stay here until you cough up that cash. Even if +Armstrong comes, he will never know you’re here, because we shall tell +him that you’ve gone East. Nobody else knows where you are, so there +isn’t any chance of a search being made.”</p> + +<p>“This is rank brigandage,” remarked Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“I guess that’s the right title, but a man who brags so much of his +brains as you do, ought to see that if we’re ready to shoot up a town, +we won’t stop at such a trifle as brigandage.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p><p>“That’s so. And now, gentlemen, I’m tired after my long journey, and I +think we’ve talked a great deal to very little purpose, so if you’ll +show me what bunk I am to occupy, I’ll turn in.”</p> + +<p>“There are six unused bunks, Mr. Stranleigh, and you can take your +choice. There’s nothing mean about us.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh made his selection, and rough as the accommodation was, he +slept as soundly as ever he had done in his London palace, or his +luxurious yacht.</p> + +<p>Although the Earl of Stranleigh was naturally an indolent man, the +enforced rest of the next few days grew very irksome. He had expected +the guard set over him to relax as time went on, but this was not the +case. The genial Jim saw to that, and it was soon evident to Stranleigh +that Dean ruled his company with an iron hand. Such casual examination +of the premises as he was able to make impressed him more and more with +the difficulty of escape. Had the structure been built of logs, there +might have been some hope, but the imperviousness <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>of the thick stone +walls was evident to the most stupid examiner. The place was lit in +daytime by two slits, one at each gable, which were without panes, and +narrow, so that they might as much as possible keep out the rain. No man +could creep through, even if he could reach the height at which they +were placed. During the day the stout door, fit to encounter a battering +ram, was open, but a guard sat constantly at the sill, with a rifle +across his knees. At night it was strongly locked. Stranleigh was +handicapped by the fact that heretofore he had never been required to +think out any difficult problem for himself. He had merely to give the +order, and other people did his thinking for him, and when a plan was +formed, there were others to carry it out, being well paid for doing so. +Thus it happened that the means of escape were so obvious that a ten +year old boy might have discovered them.</p> + +<p>Each evening passed very pleasantly, for Stranleigh was a good +story-teller, and had many interesting tales to relate. In spite of the +fact that his gaolers were unanimous in their opinion that Stranleigh +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>was a useless encumbrance upon earth, they began rather to like him. +One night Stranleigh asked Jim if anything had yet been heard of Mr. +Armstrong, and Dean, after hesitating a moment, replied that there was +so far no news of him or from him.</p> + +<p>“I’m sorry for Armstrong,” said Stranleigh, more as if talking to +himself than to anyone else. “Poor fellow, away from home all this time, +and yet compelled to support six stalwart loafers without commonsense +enough to do the obvious thing.”</p> + +<p>“What is the obvious thing?” asked Dean.</p> + +<p>“Why, to work, of course. There’s your mine; you’ve got plenty of +dynamite to go on with, and yet you lounge about here not earning enough +to keep yourselves in tobacco. If there is silver in that hole, you +could by this time have had enough out to buy the ranch and furnish your +own working capital. You say you are partners in the scheme, but you +seem to be merely a blunderheaded lot of hired men, determined not to do +any work.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p><p>Jim answered with acerbity—</p> + +<p>“If you weren’t a fool you’d know we’d gone already as far as hand work +can go. We need a steam engine and a crusher.”</p> + +<p>“A steam engine?” echoed Stranleigh. “What on earth would you have to +pay for coal, with railway haulage, and the cost of getting it out here +from the line? Why, right there, rushing past you, is all the power you +need. You’ve only to make a water-wheel, with a straight log, thrown +across the falls as axle, and there you are. Pioneers have done that +sort of thing since civilisation began, and here you don’t need even to +build a dam.”</p> + +<p>Jim was about to make an angry retort when the company were scattered by +a roar and a heavy fall of soot on the log fire. The chimney was ablaze, +but that didn’t matter in the least, as the house was fireproof. In a +short time the flames had died out, and the party gathered round the +fire once more.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Jim, “go on with your pretty advice.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh replied dreamily, gazing into the fire.</p> + +<p>“Oh, well, I think my advice doesn’t amount to much, as you hinted. It +is none of my affair. You <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>are a most capable body of men, I have no +doubt, only the fact has been concealed from me up to date. I find I am +developing the vice of talking too much, so I’m going to turn in. +Good-night!”</p> + +<p>But the fall of soot had suggested to Stranleigh a method of escape.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="VII_THE_END_OF_THE_CONTEST" id="VII_THE_END_OF_THE_CONTEST"></a>VII.—THE END OF THE CONTEST.</h3> + +<p>A wood fire is an evanescent thing, having none of the calm +determination of coal combustion. A wood fire requires constant +replenishing, and that in the bunk house did not receive this attention. +When the men, tired with doing nothing, overcome by the lassitude +enduring an empty day had caused, turned into sleep, the wood fire, left +to itself, crumbled into a heap of ashes. The guarding of Stranleigh +became more perfunctory as time passed. He proved to be a model +prisoner, and usually the sentinel at the door fell into peaceful +slumber as night wore on. On the particular evening Stranleigh chose for +his attempt, Jim Dean sat on the chair against the door. Jim’s jaw +worked so much during the day, he talked so incessantly, emptying his +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>mind of all it contained, that he was naturally exhausted when his turn +for watching came. Each of the men slumbered more or less soundly at his +post, but the confident Jim outdid them all, so Stranleigh selected him +as the man destined to hold the empty bag.</p> + +<p>It was two hours after midnight when his lordship slipped down from his +bunk. The fire had long since gone out, and the stone chimney was +reasonably cool. The climbing of that ample flue presented no difficulty +to an athletic young man who in his time had ascended the Matterhorn. +The inside of the chimney offered to the amateur sweep walls of rough +stone, which projected here and there, forming an effective, if unequal +ladder. He attained the top with such ease that he wondered he had +remained so long a prisoner. Descending the roof silently, he let +himself down to the top of the lean-to which acted as kitchen and supply +store, and dropped from that elevation lightly to the ground. It was a +night of clear moonlight, and Stranleigh smiled to think how nearly he +must represent the popular <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>idea of the devil, covered as he was with +soot from head to foot.</p> + +<p>He made directly down the hill to the farm house by the stream, and +risked a few minutes of time in washing his face in the rapid current. +He now took off his boots, the better to enact the part of burglar. The +doors of the house, he knew, were never locked. First he secured his +favourite magazine rifle and a large quantity of cartridges, then as, +after all, he was entitled to the board he paid for, he penetrated +softly to the kitchen. Here he secured a couple of loaves of bread and a +cooked ham, together with some other things he wanted, including a +supply of tobacco, and thus overloaded as he had rarely been in his life +before, he stole softly outside, slipped his feet into his boots, and +slowly climbed the hill to the silver cavern. Depositing within his +goods and chattels, he examined his store carefully to learn whether +there was anything more he needed to stand a siege.</p> + +<p>Bright as was the moonlight outside, the cavern was pitch dark, so +Stranleigh determined on another expedition to the house, and he brought +back a bunch of candles and an armful of bedclothes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p><p>“Now for the night’s work,” he said to himself, and having lit a candle, +which he placed at the remote end of the cave, he began picking up +stones, and with them building a wall across the mouth of the pit. No +Roman wall was ever built with such care, and no Roman wall ever +contained within itself such possibilities of wholesale obliteration, +because the structure was intersticed with sticks of dynamite, which +Stranleigh carried with the most cautious tenderness from the rear to +the front of the cavern. When his task was completed the moon had gone +down, and the misty, luminous grey of the eastern sky betokened the +approach of dawn. The young man was thoroughly tired, and with a sigh of +relief he stretched himself out on the bedclothes he had brought from +the house.</p> + +<p>The early sun shining on his face awakened him. He knew from experience +that the bunk house men were not afflicted with the vice of early +rising. There was no aperture in their habitation, unless the door was +open, through which the sun might shine upon them. He was therefore not +surprised that no one was visible anywhere near the sleeping <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>quarters. +So he breakfasted in peace, alternating slices of bread with slices of +ham, thus constructing some admirable sandwiches.</p> + +<p>A providential jug, which doubtless in its time had contained whisky, +was one of the utensils left when the mine was abandoned. Stranleigh +took this, and stepping over the dangerous wall, filled it three or four +times at the rushing cataract, rinsing out all indication of its former +use. He brought it back, filled with very clear and cold water. He could +not help thinking as he returned what an excellent place the waterfall +would be for the washing of dishes, if a person ran the risk of standing +upon spray-drenched, slippery rock ledges.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh sat down where he could see the enemy’s quarters, and +carefully examined his rifle, assured himself that the magazine was +full, then with the weapon over his knees in the fashion adopted by his +recent gaolers, watched the bunk house patiently, wishing he had a +morning paper to while away the time.</p> + +<p>The laggard sentinel was the first to rouse himself. The broad door +opened, and Jim Dean, palpably <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>bewildered, stepped out. With hand +shading his eyes he minutely examined the landscape, slowly turning his +head from left to right as he scrutinised the distant horizon and the +ground intervening. Stranleigh, kneeling, rested his rifle on the top of +the wall, and as Jim’s left ear, a rather prominent feature, became +fully visible, the young man fired.</p> + +<p>Jim’s action instantaneously verified the Indian romances of +Stranleigh’s youth. He sprang clear up into the air and clapped a hand +upon his wounded ear. He was at that moment the most astonished man on +the western hemisphere. His first instinct being to bolt for cover, he +did so without pausing to close the door, which opened outwards, and +this broad piece of woodwork now offered a much more prominent target +than Jim’s ear had done a moment before.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh, exercising a care that seemed unnecessary with so big a +target, fired out the cartridges of his magazine, then immediately +restocked it, and shot away the second charge. Putting in a third load, +he sat there with his customary nonchalance, awaiting the turn of +events. In that clear <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>atmosphere, and with his sharp vision, he saw +that he had accomplished his intention, and had punctured the letter “S” +on the panel of the open door.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, there was commotion in the bunk house. The first sharp +report, accompanied by Jim’s yell, woke every man within. The subsequent +fusilade engendered a belief that the enemy was in possession of a Maxim +gun, and brought every man to the floor, thankful that he was under +better cover than if he stood behind the door, through the panel of +which all the bullets had penetrated.</p> + +<p>“How did he escape?” demanded one, addressing Jim, who was holding his +left hand to his ear.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know,” said the wounded man ruefully. “You can search me.”</p> + +<p>“Seems from that shooting that we’d better search outside. What in the +fiend’s name made him batter the door?”</p> + +<p>“Sorry he left us, I suppose,” muttered Dean, grimly. “Knocking because +he wanted to come in again.”</p> + +<p>“How did he get his gun?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p><p>“Hanged if I know,” said the questioned man, impatiently.</p> + +<p>“But you were on guard. You ought to know something about it.”</p> + +<p>“Look here,” said Jim. “There’s no use in talking. He got out some way, +and he’s got his gun some way. He’s holding us up, and we must make +terms with him.”</p> + +<p>“But where is he?”</p> + +<p>“I tell you I don’t know! The bullet came from the direction of the +mine. Now, one of you boys throw up your hands, and go outside and hail +him.”</p> + +<p>At this command, Jim met the first rebellion against his authority.</p> + +<p>“Go outside yourself. It is you who have brought all this upon us. You +shot him through the shoulder; you proposed capturing him, and it was +you who fell asleep last night and let him escape.”</p> + +<p>Jim did not combat their charges.</p> + +<p>“All right,” he said. “I’ll go out, and you sit here and shiver while I +enjoy a little conversation with him.”</p> + +<p>Raising his hands above his head, Dean stepped <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>across the threshold +into the open, and stood like an oriental about to begin his prayers. He +saw at once the wall that had been built during the night, and then +caught sight of Stranleigh standing behind it. Pulling out a white +handkerchief, and waving it, Dean proceeded towards the mine.</p> + +<p>“Have you got a revolver?” shouted Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“No,” answered Dean.</p> + +<p>“Then put down your hands, and approach as a Christian should.”</p> + +<p>Jim obeyed.</p> + +<p>“Now stand where you are,” said Stranleigh, when the other was within +four or five yards of the wall. “I see your ear is bleeding. That was +rather a neat shot of mine, don’t you think?”</p> + +<p>“It was,” admitted Dean, without enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>“When you shot at my shoulder, you had a bigger mark.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, not so very much,” growled Dean. “My ears are celebrated for their +size.”</p> + +<p>“You’d better wrap it up in this handkerchief,” commented Stranleigh, +rolling it up in a ball, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>flinging it towards Jim. The wounded man +tied it round his voluminous ear.</p> + +<p>“And now,” said Stranleigh, “get through with your parley as soon as +possible, then go to Miss Armstrong, who will very expertly attend to +your hurt. But in order to win the privilege of surgical treatment, you +must recognise that you are a prisoner.”</p> + +<p>“A prisoner?” echoed Dean.</p> + +<p>“Certainly. You must give me your word you will say nothing to Miss +Armstrong to show that I have had a hand in the game. Make whatever +excuse you like for the disaster, and then get back to the bunk house, +tell your fellows the condition of the game as far as we have gone. I +will allow you five minutes after your return to show those chaps the +letter ‘S’ I have perforated in the door. They are a very unbelieving +lot, and I wish to gain their affection and respect. Without hurting +anybody I mean to prove that I am a dead shot. I’m well provisioned +here, and prepared to stand a siege. Until Mr. Armstrong returns, not +one of you will be allowed outside the châlet. Don’t be misled by the +fact that you outnumber me six to one. I hold a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>magazine rifle, possess +an ample supply of ammunition, and have just given evidence of the +rapidity with which reloading can be performed.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Dean, meditatively, “your position would be bull strong and +hog tight, if you had a chum with you who could shoot as well as you do. +But as it is, you’ve nobody to relieve you, and a man must sleep. It +will only take one of us to defeat you. We’ve no magazine rifles and +don’t need none. I’ll undertake the job myself.”</p> + +<p>“How do you propose to do it?”</p> + +<p>“That would be telling,” said Jim, craftily.</p> + +<p>“Why not?” answered Stranleigh. “I’m placing my cards on the table. Why +don’t you do the same? I’m not yearning for war and bloodshed, but have +inaugurated a sort of Hague tribunal. There were two things I determined +to accomplish when I broke jail. I hope that wounded ear hasn’t impaired +your hearing, so that you may listen with attention. It’s always as well +to know what your enemy desires.”</p> + +<p>“I’m listening,” said Jim.</p> + +<p>“The first thing was to shoot you through the leg or the arm or the ear, +choosing some spot that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>was not vital. This in return for your shooting +me. One good turn deserves another, you know. That part of my programme +I have accomplished.”</p> + +<p>“What’s the other part?”</p> + +<p>“The second is to keep you gentlemen in prison just as long as you kept +me in prison. One good imprisonment deserves another. Now will you tell +me what you intend to do?”</p> + +<p>“No; I won’t.”</p> + +<p>“That’s mean of you, Jim; secretive, over-cautious and that sort of +thing. I’m not so chary and so will give you the information. There are +only two portions of the night during which you can come out unnoticed; +before the moon rises and after it sets. You will steal out and take up +a position where you can see the barricade when day begins to dawn. +You’ll need to chose a spot a long way off, because the explosion, when +it comes, will wreck everything in the neighbourhood.”</p> + +<p>“What explosion?”</p> + +<p>“The dynamite explosion. This wall is built of rock intersticed with +those dynamite cartridges of yours. It is very likely you will +obliterate the farm-house.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p><p>“I’ll obliterate you, anyway.”</p> + +<p>“Quite so, but at a tremendous cost, because whatever the fate of Mr. +Armstrong’s residence, the doom of the bunk house is certain. You may be +outside that danger, but you won’t be free of another. You suppose, +doubtless, that I shall be asleep in the cavern. As a matter of fact I +shall be sleeping placidly under the stars, quite out of reach of the +main disaster. Your first shot will awaken me. Now, it is by no means +certain that your first shot will send off the dynamite. You may have to +fire half a dozen times, and your best rifle is an old breech-loader. I +use smokeless powder, and you don’t. I could pepper away at you for half +an hour and you’d never know where the bullets were coming from. The +smoke from your rifle would give <i>you</i> away at once. When I fire at you +next time, Jim, I shall aim at a more vital point, because, my dear boy, +the person who sets off that dynamite is a murderer. So before you put +your plan into operation, just consult your comrades and explain to them +its disadvantages.”</p> + +<p>Dean stood there meditating for a few moments before he spoke.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p><p>“I’m very much obliged to you,” he said at last, “for telling me what +you mean to do. We’ll change that plan a little, and come out of the +bunk house together. We’ll search the country for you, and so won’t need +to blow up the mine.”</p> + +<p>“That’s a much more humane expedient, and will prevent unnecessary loss +of life. I shall be lying quiet under whatever cover I can find. Your +crowd will perambulate the locality, and I may remind you that you are +no lightfooted Cinderellas. A herd of elephants would make less noise. I +shall see you long before you see me, and I leave the result to your own +imagination. And now, Jimmy, take the advice of a true friend. Your time +to act was when you were snoring at that door and I was climbing the +chimney. Once you allowed me to get my rifle, you had permitted +opportunity to pass you, because I am a good shot, and I came West in +order to shoot. When a person accustomed to downy beds of ease slumbers +peacefully, as I did this morning, on hard and jagged rocks thinly +disguised by a blanket, with my right ear against a dynamite cartridge, +there’s nothing the matter with his nerves, is there?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p><p>“No; there isn’t,” said Dean, with conviction.</p> + +<p>“Now, what you chaps want is not a battle, but an armistice. Leave well +enough alone, I say, and accept the <i>status quo</i>. If you remain in the +bunk house, you are as safe as in a Presbyterian church.”</p> + +<p>Jim did not reply, but deliberated, his open palm against his bandaged +ear.</p> + +<p>“Hurt?” asked Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“Yes, it does,” admitted Jim, ruefully.</p> + +<p>“Well, my shoulder hurt a good deal after you fired at me. Now, I’ll +tell you what I’ll do, Jim. Next time I shoot at you, I’ll take the +other ear. You’re determined to prove yourself a brigand, or a pirate, +or something of that sort, and as pirates always wear earrings, that +will put you in a position to adopt them. What do you say to my proposal +for an armistice?”</p> + +<p>“I can’t answer for the rest of the boys without consulting them. If we +need an armistice or a <i>status quo</i>, why, I suppose we ought to have +them.”</p> + +<p>“All right. If your ear hurts, the sooner you get it attended to, the +better. You go directly down to the house and see Miss Armstrong, and +you can <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>reflect upon the situation while she is dressing the wound. +Deep thinking will take your mind from the pain. Then go up and consult +the company. Come and let me know what they decide. Meanwhile, I’ll +guarantee that no one comes out of that bunk house without being shot +at.”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Stranleigh, I’ll do what you say, but I’ll change the order. I’ll +go first to our shack, and warn the boys. That’s only fair, for they’re +watching from that door, and if they see me going to the house they may +think it’s all right, and come outside. After talking with them, I’ll +visit Miss Armstrong, and then come back here to tell you what the boys +say.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, Jim; that’s a better plan than mine. But first give me your word +that you will take no advantage of this respite until war. An armistice, +you know, is a cessation of hostilities.”</p> + +<p>“You mean that there will be no shenanigan? I give you my word.”</p> + +<p>The wounded man made his way to the bunk house. Shortly afterwards +Stranleigh saw him emerge, and go towards the homestead. After a longer +interval <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>he came slowly up towards the fortress, his ear neatly +bandaged in white linen, which showed up, as one might say, like a small +flag of truce.</p> + +<p>“Well, what did Miss Armstrong say about the wounded ear?”</p> + +<p>“She says it’s about as serious as the sting of a bee, and won’t hurt +much longer than that would, and will be cured nearly as soon.”</p> + +<p>“That’s first-rate, and relieves my conscience, which has been troubling +me, because I’d much rather smite a man on the ear with my fist than +with a bullet. For the same reason I hope you found your messmates +undergoing a spasm of common sense.”</p> + +<p>“They agreed with me that it wasn’t very healthy to take outdoor +exercise for a while. If we decide to begin fighting again, we’ll give +you twelve hours’ notice. Will that suit you?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know that it does, quite. I want you to promise that you will +not break loose either until Mr. Armstrong returns, or the auction is +over.”</p> + +<p>“The boys wouldn’t agree to that, Mr. Stranleigh. We’re bound to attend +that auction.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p><p>Stranleigh sighed.</p> + +<p>“Very good,” he conceded. “I must content myself with what you offer. I +accept your proposal, for I feel certain that Mr. Armstrong will return +before the ranch is sold. So good-bye. Give my love to the boys.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh watched the retreating figure until it disappeared into the +bunk house. A moment later the perforated door was drawn shut, and then +he rolled up the bedclothes into a bundle, and deposited it at the +further end of the cavern. This done, he took his rifle under his arm, +crossed the barricade, and strolled down to the farm-house. Miss +Armstrong greeted him with surprise.</p> + +<p>“I thought you had gone to New York,” she said.</p> + +<p>“I took the train east, but only to the next station from Bleachers.”</p> + +<p>“You’ve not been stopping at that wretched hotel in Bleachers ever +since?”</p> + +<p>“Oh no; I received a pressing invitation from some friends of mine to be +their guest, with a prospect of a little shooting, so I’ve been staying +with them ever since.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p><p>“Did you have a pleasant time?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, excellent, and I heard more entertaining stories than ever I +listened to in a similar period.”</p> + +<p>“Good shooting?”</p> + +<p>“First rate. Limited in quantity, but of finest quality. Indeed, I may +boast of a record; I hit everything I aimed at. Camp fare, however, left +a good deal to be desired, so you may imagine how glad I am to return.”</p> + +<p>“I’m very pleased to have an opportunity of giving you something better. +How would you like some nice broiled trout, freshly caught this +morning?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, heavenly!” cried Stranleigh, enthusiastically. “I haven’t had +anything but bread and salt pork since I saw you. Who caught the trout?”</p> + +<p>“I did. I went down the river early this morning. I must have had a +premonition that you would return, famished for trout, and I had quite +an adventure, or rather, plunged into a mystery which I have not yet +solved. I heard the sound of firing; first a single shot, then a +fusilade. I could not tell from whence the sound came. I hurried home +with my basket, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>but there was no one in sight. After a while Jim came +in, very much crestfallen, it seemed to me, with his ear tied up +clumsily in a handkerchief. He had been shot through the ear, and of +course I came to his aid at once. With a woman’s curiosity, I asked him +how the accident happened. Now, one of Jim’s infirmities is that he can +only tell the truth when it suits his convenience.”</p> + +<p>“Many of us are like that,” said Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“Well, this time it didn’t suit his convenience.”</p> + +<p>“What did he say?”</p> + +<p>“That the boys were having a sort of shooting match. I told him I had +heard the firing, and feared that there had been a battle of some sort. +He said it was the first shot that did for him. They had some bet on as +to who could fire the quickest at a flying mark. In his hurry to get +ready he had mishandled his gun, and sent a bullet through his ear. The +other men had then fired almost simultaneously.”</p> + +<p>“Miss Armstrong, I fear you are too sceptical. Why shouldn’t that be a +true story?”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Stranleigh, you quite underrate my intelligence. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>The wound in +Jim’s ear was not caused by the gun he held. In the first place, his ear +would have been blackened with gunpowder, and likely would have been +partly torn off. Secondly, a mishandled gun would have fired upwards. +The bullet that wounded him was fired from a distance by someone higher +up than the spot where Jim stood. The wound was clean cut, slightly +inclining downwards. Besides all that, Jim’s bullet, coming from an +old-fashioned rifle, would make a bigger hole. I know that, for you +remember I tended your shoulder, through which his bullet had gone.”</p> + +<p>“By Jove, Miss Armstrong, if Sherlock Holmes had a daughter, she would +be just about your age. Was there anything else?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; I looked at the handkerchief in which he had bound his ear. It was +of a finer cambric than we have ever seen in this district, or indeed, +than I have seen anywhere else. The corner was embroidered with a very +delicately-worked crest.”</p> + +<p>“A crest?” said Stranleigh, rather breathlessly.</p> + +<p>“I asked Jim where he had got this handkerchief. He seemed confused, but +said he had always <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>had it. Bought it once at a five-cent store in +Denver.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh could not refrain from laughing.</p> + +<p>“You think it cost more than five cents?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; I am sure it cost more than twenty-five.”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps he stole it?”</p> + +<p>“Jim might shoot a man, but he’d never steal.”</p> + +<p>“I think that when you discover the owner of that handkerchief, you will +have solved the mystery,” remarked Stranleigh calmly.</p> + +<p>“I think so, too,” said the girl quietly. “Now I am going to cook your +trout.”</p> + +<p>The three days following were among the most enjoyable Stranleigh had +ever spent. He asked Miss Armstrong to show him the portion of the river +in which she had caught those delicious trout. Heretofore, she had used +a baited hook when fishing, landing her spoil with a trout pole, but now +she was to be initiated in the delicate mysteries of fly fishing. +Stranleigh remembered the story told of an English official sent to view +the debateable land adjoining the far western boundary of Canada who +reported the territory useless, because the fish <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>wouldn’t rise to the +fly. He wondered what lure the official used, for here they rose readily +enough, and fought like demons until Miss Armstrong deftly lifted them +from the water in the new-fangled landing net, the like of which she had +never seen before.</p> + +<p>But in spite of the excellent sport he was enjoying, Stranleigh became +more and more anxious as time went on. Nothing had been heard from +Stanley Armstrong. The fisher began to fear that the detective had +failed in his search. On the morning of the fourth day he dressed in his +ordinary tweed suit. The riding costume attracted more attention than +was altogether convenient. He put in his pocket an automatic revolver of +the latest construction; light, accurate and deadly. The day of the +auction was drawing uncomfortably near, and he was determined that his +journey should not be interrupted, as his former ride had been. Aside +from this, he expected to carry with him a large amount of money, and if +any word of that got abroad, he knew a holdup was quite within the range +of possibility. The coterie confined in the bunk house would doubtless +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>learn that they were their own gaolers, and with that gang once free +upon the landscape, he anticipated interruption which, if successful, +would completely nullify his plans.</p> + +<p>“Are you going fishing to-day?” asked Miss Armstrong, when he came +downstairs. He had appeared unexpectedly soon that morning. The young +woman was always an early riser.</p> + +<p>“Fishing!” echoed Stranleigh. “Yes, in a manner of speaking. Isn’t there +a text which refers to fishers of men? I’m going fishing for your +father. We should have had him here before this, but now the need of him +becomes imperative. I imagine that a telegram awaits me in Bleachers. If +not, I must communicate with New York, and wait for a reply.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh walked up the hill to the bunk house, and rapped at the panel +with the butt of his riding whip. Dean himself threw open the door, and +he could not conceal his astonishment at seeing the young man standing +there, apparently unarmed.</p> + +<p>“Good morning, Jim,” said Stranleigh cordially.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p><p>“I wish to enjoy a few minutes’ conversation with the company before +leaving for Bleachers.”</p> + +<p>“None of the company are out of their bunks yet, except myself, but I +guess they’re wide enough awake to hear what you say. Won’t you come +inside?”</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” said Stranleigh, stepping across the threshold; then, to +the sleeping beauties—“The top of the morning to you! Early to bed and +late to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. Has wisdom come to +you since I left? Do you still intend to shoot up Bleachers on auction +day?”</p> + +<p>“You bet we do,” said Dean.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh seated himself upon the chair he had formerly occupied.</p> + +<p>“How did you propose to get out?”</p> + +<p>“By the same way you escaped,” responded Dean with determination.</p> + +<p>“What an inconvenient exit! I speak from sooty experience. Why not have +gone by the doorway?”</p> + +<p>“We didn’t want to get shot,” said Jim.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p><p>“There was no danger of that. I have been spending my days in fishing, +and my nights in sound sleep.”</p> + +<p>“Do you mean to say,” cried Jim, “that there’s been nobody on guard?”</p> + +<p>“No; you’ve been as free as air to go where you pleased.”</p> + +<p>Dean laughed heartily, and the others joined him. The joke was on them, +but they seemed to enjoy rather than resent it.</p> + +<p>“You were right about brain and muscle,” observed Jim at last.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh ignored the compliment.</p> + +<p>“I’ve got a proposal to make to you men,” he went on. “I’m off to +Bleachers to do some telegraphing, trying to learn the whereabouts of +Mr. Armstrong, who has not yet put in an appearance. The sale takes +place day after to-morrow.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 384px;"> +<img src="images/i286.jpg" width="384" class="ispace" height="500" alt="“‘Put down your hands and approach as a Christian should.’”" title="" /> +<span class="caption">“‘Put down your hands and approach as a Christian should.’”</span> +</div> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="38%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="Illustration 5"> +<tr><td align="left"><i><small><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lord Stranleigh Abroad]</span></small></i></td> +<td align="right"><i><small><span style="font-weight: bold;">[Page <a href="#VII_THE_END_OF_THE_CONTEST">Chapter VII</a>.</span></small></i></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Stranleigh paused in his recital. He noticed a stealthy movement among +the bunkers. He had observed that the first to sit up cast a longing +glance at the rifles stacked in the corner, and it seemed to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>him that a simultaneous rush towards them was going to take place.</p> + +<p>“As you know, gentlemen,” he went on, “I have an objection to shooting +as a settlement of any legal question, but if shooting has to be done, I +am quite prepared for it, and the inhabitants of Bleachers will regret +provoking me to a fusilade.”</p> + +<p>He took from his pocket the neat little automatic pistol.</p> + +<p>“I don’t suppose,” he went on, “that you ever saw anything exactly like +this. It will simply rain bullets, and I can re-load before any of those +Bleachers men can get his hand to his hip pocket. Next to the Maxim gun, +it’s the most deadly object in existence.” Casually he cast his eye +along the bunks. Each man had withdrawn the leg that had been quietly +reaching for the floor. Stranleigh still fondled his weapon.</p> + +<p>“Just before you captured me, I had sent to New York for a considerable +sum of money, which was to reach me by express. I thought it better to +have no dealings with the bank, as I didn’t wish Ricketts to learn what +I was doing. I expect that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>sum of money is at this moment resting in +the express office, and on the day of the sale I shall have more +currency on my person than is perhaps quite safe to carry. I therefore +wish to engage you as a bodyguard, if you agree to certain conditions. I +shall expect you all in Bleachers day after to-morrow, and shall pay +each of you fifty dollars for the day, and so that there may be no +mistake, I tender you the money now. Do you agree?”</p> + +<p>“What are the conditions?” asked Jim, cautiously.</p> + +<p>“First, you will keep clear of the tavern, and not drink.”</p> + +<p>“That’s easy. What next?”</p> + +<p>“You will not shoot until I give the word of command, and until I have +emptied my pistol.”</p> + +<p>Jim consulted with his fellows, then turned to Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>“We agree,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Right you are.” Stranleigh rose, took from his pocket-book six +fifty-dollar bills, and laid them on the table.</p> + +<p>“Look here,” cried Dean, “we don’t want any money for this job.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p><p>“I’m quite sure of that, but six honest men are as much entitled to +their pay as is a dishonest lawyer like Ricketts. So good-bye, until I +see you at Bleachers day after to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh went down to the house, mounted his horse, and rode away.</p> + +<p>He had accomplished little more than half the distance when he perceived +a horseman coming towards him. They approached one another with some +caution. Stranleigh would have passed in silence had not the other +accosted him.</p> + +<p>“Hello, stranger!” he said. “You from the ranch?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“Been stopping there?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“How’s everything? Folks all well?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; they were when I left. Is there any chance that you are Mr. +Armstrong?”</p> + +<p>“That’s my name.”</p> + +<p>“I’m very glad to meet you, sir. I’m Stranleigh, who telegraphed the +detective to find you and hand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>you two hundred dollars, begging you to +get home in a hurry.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Mr. Stranleigh, all that was done, and here I am, but as for +paying back that two hundred dollars and expenses, I don’t see how I am +to do it. I’m broke.”</p> + +<p>“So I understand. Do you know your place is to be disposed of by forced +sale day after to-morrow?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; they’ve got me with my hands up.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t think so. I’m going to attend that sale, and probably our +friend Ricketts will regret the fact. Now, you turn your horse round and +accompany me to the settlement. I’ve got some money coming by express, +and being rather a stupid sort of person, it never occurred to me until +half an hour ago that I’d need to be identified before I got my hands on +that express package. So if you’ll take my word that I am Stranleigh, +we’ll collar the currency and attend the sale. I have a letter of +introduction to you from Mr. Banks, of New York, but I left it at your +house.”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right. I’ll go surety that you’re the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>man. I’d like mighty +well to see a little money, even if it belongs to another fellow.”</p> + +<p>Armstrong turned his horse, who was not loth to set his face in the +other direction, because he belonged to White’s Tavern. As the two men +jogged along together, Stranleigh explained the situation. Armstrong was +silent for some time, evidently in a state of dejection.</p> + +<p>“Well, Mr. Stranleigh,” he said at last, “as you know, I am quite +helpless. I haven’t a cent to bless myself nor curse an enemy with. I’m +no good as a business man, and the slick way in which those rascals in +Chicago separated me from what cash I had would make you laugh at me if +you knew how it was done.”</p> + +<p>“I shouldn’t be inclined to laugh. We read in Scripture of the man who +fell among thieves, and I imagine Chicago is a good place to find such +cattle, although I believe there are a few of them further west. I think +that Ricketts, in refusing the money when it was offered to him, +exceeded his legal rights.”</p> + +<p>“Our sharpers out here,” said Armstrong, “are always exceeding their +legal rights, but they get rich <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>all the same. I confess I haven’t so +much dependence on legality as a law-abiding citizen should have.”</p> + +<p>“Your men on the ranch seem to hold the same opinion. In spite of all I +could say, they were determined to make a raid on Bleachers.”</p> + +<p>“Did you manage to stop them?” enquired Armstrong eagerly.</p> + +<p>“I think I did,” was the reply.</p> + +<p>There had been a flash of hope in Armstrong’s eyes, but it now died down +to dejection again.</p> + +<p>“I am sorry for that,” he said.</p> + +<p>Stranleigh gazed at him in astonishment.</p> + +<p>“You don’t mean to say that you approve of such violence?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, well,” said Armstrong nonchalantly, “when a man’s in a corner, +he’ll do most anything, and at such times a little gun play is not out +of place. I’ll bet the boys would have stopped that sale.”</p> + +<p>“Doubtless, but what good would that do?”</p> + +<p>“We should gain breathing space, and perhaps Ricketts wouldn’t go on +with his villainy.”</p> + +<p>“But it would land all your men in gaol.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t you believe it. The sheriff would have to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>catch the boys first, +and they know every ravine and stream and gully in the mountains, and +every trail in the woods, and if Ricketts was sacrificed in the +scrimmage, I, for one, wouldn’t be chief mourner. These boys might not +be much good in Chicago, but they are very useful out here. A scoundrel +like Ricketts, who tries legally to steal a man’s property, takes big +chances and runs a lot of risks, and no one knows that better than +himself. He has taken advantage of my being away from home.”</p> + +<p>“It’s not too late yet to carry out your plan. Although your men hold to +their resolve to visit Bleachers on the day of the sale, they have +promised not to shoot until I give the word of command.”</p> + +<p>“They will be there, then, after all?” cried Armstrong, eagerly.</p> + +<p>“Certainly; I have engaged them as bodyguard, because, as I told you, I +shall have a considerable sum of money in my possession, and I don’t +wish to be detached from that cash, either by Chicago methods, or those +of Bleachers. I want the sale to go on without any disturbance.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span></p><p>“What’s your plan?”</p> + +<p>“I intend to buy the ranch.”</p> + +<p>“Do you imagine for a moment that you’ll be allowed to?”</p> + +<p>“How can they prevent me if I’ve got the cash in my pocket?”</p> + +<p>“Why, first thing they’ll do is to postpone the sale.”</p> + +<p>“Has Ricketts power to do that?”</p> + +<p>“No; but the sheriff has, and the sheriff is Ricketts’ man.”</p> + +<p>“Official bribery, eh? Are you personally acquainted with the sheriff?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; I voted for him.”</p> + +<p>“Is he a man who would rather do right than wrong?”</p> + +<p>“It depends how much money there is in either course.”</p> + +<p>“Then I think our path is reasonably clear. If Ricketts can bribe him to +do wrong, we can bribe him to do right.”</p> + +<p>Armstrong shook his head doubtfully.</p> + +<p>“It’s not so easy as you think. He would take <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>our money all right, but +he might not deliver the goods. He wouldn’t stay bought.”</p> + +<p>“That is a useful thing to know. We’ll pay him half the money cash down, +and the other half when he <i>has</i> delivered the goods. Would a hundred +dollars be sufficient?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, lord, yes! It gives Ricketts a pain when he parts with a ten-dollar +bill, so it won’t take very much money to compete with him.”</p> + +<p>“As you know the man, and as it’s your ranch that is in jeopardy, you +can carry out the negotiations better than a stranger like myself.”</p> + +<p>“That’s so; if I have the cash. A hundred dollars would turn the trick.”</p> + +<p>“Better take five hundred dollars and be sure of it.”</p> + +<p>They stopped their horses and made the transfer of money where they +stood, as being safer than in the tavern.</p> + +<p>Arriving at Bleachers, they found the express office closed for the +night, but next day his lordship, with Armstrong as his identifier, +secured the package.</p> + +<p>The land sale took place in the Agricultural Hall, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>the largest building +in town. Stanley Armstrong’s six armed followers arrived in good time, +and quite unobtrusively seated themselves in a row on a bench at the +rear of the hall. When Stranleigh, accompanied by Armstrong, came in, +the half dozen shook hands with their chief, and expressed no more +surprise at meeting him than if he had left them the week before. Large +as the hall was, it speedily filled up, but Lawyer Ricketts, on +entering, as he cast his eye over the assemblage, knew there were few +moneyed men among the crowd gathered there, and so anticipated no +serious opposition when the bidding began.</p> + +<p>The lawyer was accompanied by two friends; strangers in Bleachers, who +took their places beside him on the chairs provided near the +auctioneer’s desk. Ricketts was an important man, and quite entitled to +reserved seats for himself and his friends. Last of all the sheriff +entered, and mounted the platform, bowing graciously to the meeting, +which was composed of constituents whose votes he would need next year. +It was quite evident that the sheriff was a popular man, for there was a +round of applause the moment he appeared.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p><p>He got down to business without any unnecessary loss of time, reading +the documents giving the conditions of the sale, the item on which +Stranleigh was relying being that no cheques would be accepted, or +credit allowed. Payment must be cash down on the fall of the +auctioneer’s gavel. This the clever lawyer had insisted upon, to prevent +all possibility of his being outbid by someone who desired time for +payment. Thus he dug a pit for his own undoing.</p> + +<p>Having finished this reading, the sheriff took a sip from the glass +supposed to hold water, and promptly began—</p> + +<p>“You all know the property, gentlemen, so I need not detain you by any +lengthy description of it. How much am I offered for Armstrong’s ranch?”</p> + +<p>“Three thousand dollars,” said Ricketts.</p> + +<p>“Five thousand,” promptly outbid the Earl of Stranleigh.</p> + +<p>There was a buzz of interest in the crowd, as if some one had stirred up +a nest of bees. They had not expected competition. Ricketts stood up and +scrutinised the numerous faces turned towards him, endeavouring to +discover from whom the bid came. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>Then he sat down, and whispered to +each of the men beside him. They nodded, and one of them stole quietly +out through the door by which the sheriff had entered.</p> + +<p>“He’s gone for more money,” said Stranleigh quietly to Armstrong.</p> + +<p>“Five thousand dollars I am bid,” went on the sheriff. “Is there any +advance on five thousand dollars?”</p> + +<p>His gavel hovered over the table.</p> + +<p>“Six thousand,” said Ricketts.</p> + +<p>“Ten thousand,” offered Stranleigh, realising that his opponent was +playing for time.</p> + +<p>“Ten thousand dollars!” echoed the sheriff, then, glancing at the +lawyer; “It’s against you, Mr. Ricketts.”</p> + +<p>The lawyer hesitated.</p> + +<p>“Eleven thousand!” he said at last.</p> + +<p>“Fifteen thousand,” bid Stranleigh, promptly.</p> + +<p>There were two anxious men in that hall. Stranleigh was wishing he had +sent for a hundred thousand dollars. It was evident that Ricketts +possessed good backing, but he had no means of knowing whether or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>not +these men had the necessary money actually in hand. Ricketts was the +second anxious man, and he was now gazing with apprehension at the door +through which his companion had disappeared. He was called to attention +by the strident voice of the sheriff.</p> + +<p>“Fifteen thousand dollars is the last bid. Going at fifteen thousand +once; going at fifteen thousand twice——”</p> + +<p>“Wait a moment, Mr. Sheriff: there’s no hurry.”</p> + +<p>“The sale must go on, Mr. Ricketts.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” replied the lawyer, “but it’s your duty to get as much as +you can for the property. We all sympathise very much with our +neighbour, Mr. Armstrong, and whatever is paid over and above his debt +to me, goes to him.”</p> + +<p>“I am aware of that, Mr. Ricketts, and your compassion for Mr. Armstrong +does you credit. Still, as I have said before, the sale must go on, and +unless there is another bid, I am compelled to knock the property down +to the last offer. Fifteen thousand dollars I am bid, and for the third +time——”</p> + +<p>“Sixteen thousand,” cried Ricketts, taking out a handkerchief, and +mopping his brow.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span></p><p>The missing man now re-appeared, and took his place beside the lawyer. +The three heads came closer together, and Stranleigh watched them with +half-closed eyes, apparently indifferent.</p> + +<p>“The bid is against you, sir,” said the Sheriff. “By the way, what name, +please?”</p> + +<p>“Stranleigh.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Mr. Stranleigh, I’m waiting for your bid.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t wait any longer, Mr. Sheriff. I’m anxious to know how much money +Mr. Ricketts possesses at the present moment. The ranch belongs to him +if he can hand over to you sixteen thousand dollars.”</p> + +<p>Down came the gavel on the table.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Ricketts, the ranch is yours.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Ricketts rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>“I ask for a postponement of this sale for a week from to-day.”</p> + +<p>“I have no objection,” said the Sheriff, “as of course I shall earn +another fee.”</p> + +<p>There was a laugh at this, then the Sheriff continued—</p> + +<p>“But I cannot postpone the sale without the consent of Mr. Stranleigh. +What do you say, Mr. Stranleigh?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p><p>“A postponement would be very inconvenient to me, much as I should like +to oblige Mr. Ricketts. I therefore refuse my consent.”</p> + +<p>“If the Sheriff is willing,” roared Ricketts, “we will postpone without +your consent, even if we have to turn you out by force.”</p> + +<p>“I shouldn’t try that if I were you, Mr. Ricketts. There are six friends +of mine sitting beside me, who are dead shots, and I don’t think this +crowd would stand in the way if the first gun were levelled at you. I +ask that the sale go peacefully on, Mr. Sheriff.”</p> + +<p>“There must be a postponement! The Sheriff has control over this +meeting!”</p> + +<p>“I am counting on that,” said Stranleigh, “and I am sure that the +Sheriff will adhere strictly to the law. How much money have you +collected, Mr. Ricketts?”</p> + +<p>“That’s none of your business.”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps not; and so to make everything easy and agreeable to all +concerned, I bid seventeen thousand dollars for the property.”</p> + +<p>“Show your money,” demanded Ricketts.</p> + +<p>“You wouldn’t show yours, so why should I show mine?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span></p><p>“Knock it down to him, Sheriff. I don’t believe he has the cash.”</p> + +<p>“Seventeen thousand I am offered. Going at seventeen thousand once; +going at seventeen thousand twice; going at seventeen thousand third and +last time. Going! Gone!”</p> + +<p>Down came the mallet.</p> + +<p>“I shall be obliged if you will hand over to me seventeen thousand +dollars, Mr. Stranleigh.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly. With your permission, gentlemen!” and the crowd parted +good-naturedly. Stranleigh counted out the money on the Sheriff’s table.</p> + +<p>Armstrong and his men went home directly the sale was over, but +Stranleigh remained until all the legal business was finished, and the +documents were in his possession. As he rode back to the ranch, he +meditated upon the situation in which he found himself. The object of +his trip to the West had been achieved. He had left New York tired of +its noise, its heated pavements and other uncomfortable disadvantages. +He had thought he would never care to see the metropolis again, but now +he was yearning for the atmosphere of a large city; London <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>for choice. +He determined to bid farewell at once to the Armstrongs and the bunk +house men, then turn his face eastwards.</p> + +<p>Miss Armstrong was amazed to learn his decision.</p> + +<p>“But you haven’t had even one day’s shooting!” she protested.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I’ll come for that another time,” he assured her.</p> + +<p>“Before you go away, my father would like to make some arrangement with +you about this ranch.”</p> + +<p>“I shall be very glad to come to an agreement with him.”</p> + +<p>The girl sped up to the silver mine, where her father was superintending +the removal of the dynamite to its proper place, a job requiring some +little care. Armstrong accompanied his daughter down to the house, and +greeted Stranleigh with eagerness.</p> + +<p>“I am anxious to lease this place from you, Mr. Stranleigh, with the +option of buying it later on. I am sure I can make money from the silver +mine.”</p> + +<p>“You must apply to the owner of the ranch, Mr. Armstrong.”</p> + +<p>“The owner!” echoed Armstrong, in some alarm. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>“You haven’t sold the +ranch since I saw you, I hope?”</p> + +<p>“No; but like most other men, I am in debt, and I intend to use this +property in payment of my obligation.”</p> + +<p>Armstrong was taken aback by this declaration. Turning to Miss +Armstrong, Stranleigh took from his pocket a long, well-filled envelope.</p> + +<p>“These, Professor, are all the legal documents necessary to make you the +owner of the ranch, including deed and what-not. I am quite incapable of +understanding the red tape wound round the transaction, but I am assured +it is all right. I tender this in payment of my medical bill.”</p> + +<p>“Oh,” cried the girl, softly. Then she smiled. “As the sensational plays +have it, this is too much!”</p> + +<p>“Not a bit of it,” returned Stranleigh. “You have no idea of the +appalling charges made by specialists in New York and London. Besides, +this includes payment of Jim’s bill. You cured Jim’s ear as well as my +shoulder, and I am responsible for Jim. His ear is the only shooting I +have had since I came to the ranch.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p><p>The girl again began to protest, but Stranleigh interrupted.</p> + +<p>“As you are so loth to receive the property, I shall burden it with some +conditions. Your father will ask you to mortgage this land to raise +money for him. You must refuse that. Keep the ranch in your own name. +You have just seen how much trouble has been caused by Ricketts getting +his claws on the place. Your father has got, or will get, something +between ten and twelve thousand dollars from the proceeds of the sale. +Will you put that money into your daughter’s hands, Mr. Armstrong?”</p> + +<p>“I suppose I’ll have to if you say so,” rather grudgingly conceded the +rancher.</p> + +<p>“Yes; I say so, because she is a good business woman. Now, Miss +Armstrong, you own the ranch, and with this money at your disposal, you +should be able to prove conclusively whether there is profitable ore in +that mine. When you are ready to demonstrate that fact, write to me, and +I’ll get together the capital you need for the energetic development of +the mine. And now I must be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>off. Will you bid good-bye for me to my +friends, the bunk house men?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly; where shall I write to you when there is news of the mine to +send?”</p> + +<p>“Mr. Banks of New York always has my address.”</p> + +<p>The girl held forward her hand.</p> + +<p>“Good-bye to you, Lord Stranleigh of Wychwood,” she said.</p> + +<p>For the first time in his life, his lordship neglected to take the +proffered hand of a lady.</p> + +<p>“Are you making a guess, or stating a certainty, Miss Armstrong?”</p> + +<p>“I guess it’s a certainty. I saw in a New York paper that Earl +Stranleigh of Wychwood was coming into this district to shoot. Then from +Jim’s ear I unbound a handkerchief with a crest and a monogram on it.”</p> + +<p>Stranleigh laughed, and took the hand still outstretched to him.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The End</span>.</p> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<p class="center"><small><span class="smcap">Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, London</span>.</small></p> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> +<h2>Ward, Lock & Co.’s<br /> +POPULAR FICTION</h2> + +<p class="double" /> + +<h3>A. E. W. MASON</h3> + +<p><b>LAWRENCE CLAVERING.</b></p> + +<p>A remarkably powerful and stirring historical romance, full of life and +movement.</p> + +<h3>STANLEY WEYMAN</h3> + +<p><b>MY LADY ROTHA.</b></p> + +<p class="center">A Romance of the Thirty Years’ War</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Saturday Review.</span>—“No one who begins will lay it down before the +end, it is so extremely well carried on from adventure to adventure.”</p> + +<h3>EDEN PHILLPOTTS</h3> + +<p><b>THE LOVERS.</b></p> + +<p>A brilliant tale of love and adventure. A true Phillpotts in every +respect, and should rank high among his works.</p> + +<p><b>THE MOTHER.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Telegraph.</span>—“This is Mr. Phillpotts’ best book. Whatever may +be the value of some fiction, it will do every man and woman good to +read this book. Its perusal should leave the reader in a higher air.”</p> + +<h3>H. RIDER HAGGARD</h3> + +<p><b>AYESHA.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Court Journal.</span>—“A stupendous effort of imagination, and provides a +narrative as enthralling and as realistic as anything Mr. Haggard has +written.”</p> + +<h3>KEBLE HOWARD</h3> + +<p><b>ONE OF THE FAMILY.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Evening Standard.</span>—“We are again indebted to Mr. Keble Howard for giving +us a most amusing and cleverly written book.”</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>S. R. CROCKETT</h3> + +<p><b>JOAN OF THE SWORD HAND.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Mail.</span>—“A triumph of cheery, resolute narration. The story +goes along like a wave, and the reader with it.”</p> + +<p><b>STRONG MAC.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Morning Post.</span>—“So vividly is the story told that it often reads +like a narrative of things that have actually happened.”</p> + +<p><b>LITTLE ESSON.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Scarborough Post.</span>—“One of the most popular of Mr. Crockett’s books +since ‘Lilac Sunbonnet.’”</p> + +<h3>MAX PEMBERTON</h3> + +<p><b>PRO PATRIA.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Liverpool Mercury.</span>—“A fine and distinguished piece of imaginative +writing; one that should shed a new lustre upon the clever author of +‘Kronstadt.’”</p> + +<p><b>CHRISTINE OF THE HILLS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Mail.</span>—“Assuredly he has never written anything more fresh, +more simple, more alluring, or more artistically perfect.”</p> + +<p><b>A GENTLEMAN’S GENTLEMAN.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Chronicle.</span>—“This is very much the best book Mr. Pemberton has +so far given us.”</p> + +<p><b>THE GOLD WOLF.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Illustrated London News.</span>—“From the beginning Mr. Pemberton weaves his +romance with such skill that the tangled skein remains for long +unravelled.”</p> + +<p><b>THE LODESTAR.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Standard.</span>—“It impresses us as an exceedingly poignant and effective +story, true to real life. Written with cleverness and charm.”</p> + +<p><b>WHITE WALLS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Lady.</span>—“A melodrama cleverly imagined, written in the author’s +happiest and most spirited style, and well illustrated by Maurice +Greiffenhagen.”</p> + +<p><b>LEILA AND HER LOVER.</b></p> +<p> Shows the author in his most romantic and emotional manner.</p> + +<h3>ROBERT BARR</h3> + +<p><b>LORD STRANLEIGH, PHILANTHROPIST.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Manchester Courier.</span>—“Mr. Barr’s spirits never flag, his stories +have all point, and one may recommend the latest exploits of Lord +Stranleigh as being as amusing as ever.”</p> + +<p><b>LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD.</b></p> + +<p>The last adventures of one of the breeziest and most notable characters +in modern fiction.</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>JUSTUS MILES FORMAN</h3> + +<p><b>THE ISLAND OF ENCHANTMENT.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Madame.</span>—“Rather should this delightful volume have been titled ‘The +Book of Enchantment.’”</p> + +<p><b>THE UNKNOWN LADY.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Observer.</span>—“This is the best work its author has ever attempted or +achieved. There is charm in every line of it.”</p> + +<p><b>BIANCA’S DAUGHTER.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Athenæum.</span>—“Mr. Forman is one of the most distinctively romantic +writers of to-day. He has a fund of fine sympathy.”</p> + +<p><b>JOURNEY’S END.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Court Journal.</span>—“Surprisingly fresh, abounding in touches of +observation and sentiment.”</p> + +<p><b>MONSIGNY: THE SOUL OF GOLD.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Telegraph.</span>—“The novel is admirable, the idea is very cleverly +worked out, and the book is worthy of much praise.”</p> + +<p><b>THE GARDEN OF LIES.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily News.</span>—“This novel is far in advance of anything that Mr. +Forman has hitherto accomplished. ‘The Garden of Lies’ belongs to that +class of story which touches the heart from the first. It is a real +romance, full of vigour and a clean, healthy life.”</p> + +<p><b>TOMMY CARTERET.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Chronicle.</span>—“This is a fine book, thoroughly fine from start +to finish.”</p> + +<p><b>BUCHANAN’S WIFE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Telegraph.</span>—“‘Buchanan’s Wife’ may be regarded as another +success for an already successful author.”</p> + +<p><b>A MODERN ULYSSES.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">People’s Saturday Journal.</span>—“Full of exciting incidents handled in a +bright, crisp style.”</p> + +<p><b>THE QUEST.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">World.</span>—“‘The Quest’ is every whit as good as its author’s best known +story, ‘The Garden of Lies.’”</p> + +<p><b>THE COURT OF THE ANGELS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Athenæum.</span>—“A gay, light-hearted, and pleasantly discursive book.”</p> + +<p><b>THE HARVEST MOON.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Standard.</span>—“Mr. Forman is an accomplished writer of romance, as he +has shown us on many previous occasions, and once again he holds us with +his spell.”</p> + +<p><b>THE OPENING DOOR.</b></p> + +<p>One of the best stories Justus Miles Forman has written since “The +Garden of Lies.”</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM</h3> + +<p><b>FALSE EVIDENCE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Western Mail.</span>—“One takes up a story by Mr. E. Phillips Oppenheim with +the certainty of enjoyment, and the reader is never disappointed.”</p> + +<p><b>THE POSTMASTER OF MARKET DEIGNTON.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Freeman’s Journal.</span>—“Mr. Oppenheim’s undoubted genius for clever +construction and guarding his secret was never better shown than in this +story.”</p> + +<p><b>THE PEER AND THE WOMAN.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Coventry Standard.</span>—“A thrilling story by that clever writer of +fiction, Mr. E. Phillips Oppenheim, which will add another work of +interest to the already long list of his delightful creations.”</p> + +<p><b>BERENICE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Yorkshire Observer.</span>—“More sincere work than is to be found in this +novel Mr. Oppenheim has never written. The subject shows the author in a +new and unexpected light.”</p> + +<p><b>MR. MARX’S SECRET.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Scotsman.</span>—“‘Mr. Marx’s Secret’ has a wonderful power of +fascination: it is strongly written, and is certain to appeal to that +popular author’s admirers.”</p> + +<p><b>JEANNE OF THE MARSHES.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Bristol Mercury.</span>—“‘Jeanne of the Marshes’ is charming and delightful in +the extreme; without a doubt it will be voted one of the best novels of +the season.”</p> + +<p><b>THE LONG ARM.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The World.</span>—“‘The Long Arm’ is a clever story, which no one will lay +down till every line is read.”</p> + +<p><b>THE GOVERNORS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Globe.</span>—“‘The Governors’ is by Mr. E. P. Oppenheim—need more be +said to assure the reader that it is as full of ruses, politics, and +sensations as heart could desire.”</p> + +<p><b>THE MISSIONER.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Huddersfield Examiner.</span>—“We have nothing but the very highest praise +for this book. Deeply engrossing as a novel, pure in style, and +practically faultless as a literary work.”</p> + +<p><b>CONSPIRATORS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Telegraph.</span>—“The author must be congratulated on having +achieved a story which is full of liveliness.”</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM—continued</h3> + +<p><b>THE SECRET.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Standard.</span>—“We have no hesitation in saying that this is the finest +and most absorbing story that Mr. Oppenheim has ever written. It glows +with feeling; it is curiously fertile in character and incident, and it +works its way onward to a most remarkable climax.”</p> + +<p><b>A MAKER OF HISTORY.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Standard.</span>—“Those who read ‘A Maker of History’ will revel in the +plot, and will enjoy all those numerous deft touches of actuality that +have gone to make the story genuinely interesting and exciting.”</p> + +<p><b>THE MASTER MUMMER.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Dundee Advertiser.</span>—“It is a beautiful story that is here set within +a story.”</p> + +<p><b>THE BETRAYAL.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Dundee Advertiser.</span>—“Mr. Oppenheim’s skill has never been displayed +to better advantage than here.... He has excelled himself, and to assert +this is to declare the novel superior to nine out of ten of its +contemporaries.”</p> + +<p><b>ANNA, THE ADVENTURESS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily News.</span>—“Mr. Oppenheim keeps his readers on the alert from +cover to cover, and the story is a fascinating medley of romance and +mystery.”</p> + +<p><b>THE YELLOW CRAYON.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Express.</span>—“Mr. Oppenheim has a vivid imagination and much +sympathy, fine powers of narrative, and can suggest a life history in a +sentence.”</p> + +<p><b>A PRINCE OF SINNERS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Vanity Fair.</span>—“A vivid and powerful story. Mr. Oppenheim knows the +world, and the unusual nature of the setting in which his leading +characters live gives this book distinction among the novels of the +season.”</p> + +<p><b>THE TRAITORS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Athenæum.</span>—“Its interest begins on the first page and ends on the +last. The plot is ingenious and well managed, the movement of the story +is admirably swift, and the characters are exceedingly vivacious.”</p> + +<p><b>A LOST LEADER.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Graphic.</span>—“Mr. Oppenheim almost treats us to a romance which +is full of originality and interest from first to last.”</p> + +<p><b>MR. WINGRAVE, MILLIONAIRE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The British Weekly.</span>—“Like good wine Mr. Oppenheim’s novels need no +bush. They attract by their own charm, and are unrivalled in +popularity.”</p> + +<p><b>AS A MAN LIVES.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Sketch.</span>—“The interest of the book, always keen and absorbing, is +due to some extent to a puzzle so admirably planned as to defy the +penetration of the most experienced novel reader.”</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM—continued</h3> + +<p><b>A DAUGHTER OF THE MARIONIS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Scotsman.</span>—“Mr. Oppenheim’s stories always display much melodramatic +power and considerable originality and ingenuity of construction. These +and other qualities of the successful writer of romance are manifest in +‘A Daughter of the Marionis.’”</p> + +<p><b>THE MYSTERY OF MR. BERNARD BROWN.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Aberdeen Daily Journal.</span>—“The story is rich in sensational incident +and dramatic situations. It is seldom, indeed, that we meet with a novel +of such power and fascination.”</p> + +<p><b>THE MAN AND HIS KINGDOM.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Freeman’s Journal.</span>—“The story is worthy of Merriman at his very +best. It is a genuine treat for the ravenous and often disappointed +novel reader.”</p> + +<p><b>THE WORLD’S GREAT SNARE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The World.</span>—“It is full of dramatic incidents, thoroughly exciting and +realistic. There is not one dull page from beginning to end.”</p> + +<p><b>A MONK OF CRUTA.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Bookman.</span>—“Intensely dramatic. The book is an achievement at which +the author may well be gratified.”</p> + +<p><b>MYSTERIOUS MR. SABIN.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Literary World.</span>—“As a story of interest, with a deep-laid and +exciting plot, this of the ‘Mysterious Mr. Sabin’ can hardly be +surpassed.”</p> + +<p><b>A MILLIONAIRE OF YESTERDAY.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Telegraph.</span>—“We cannot but welcome with enthusiasm a really +well-told story like ‘A Millionaire of Yesterday.’”</p> + +<p><b>THE SURVIVOR.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Nottingham Guardian.</span>—“We must give a conspicuous place on its +merits to this excellent story. It is only necessary to read a page or +two in order to become deeply interested.”</p> + +<p><b>THE GREAT AWAKENING.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Yorkshire Post.</span>—“A weird and fascinating story, which for real +beauty and originality, ranks far above the ordinary novel.”</p> + +<p><b>FOR THE QUEEN.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Modern Society.</span>—“The fame of Mr. Oppenheim is world wide, and in ‘For +the Queen’ the author lives up to the highest traditions of his +reputation as a writer of fiction.”</p> + +<p><b>THOSE OTHER DAYS.</b></p> + +<p>Mr. Oppenheim ranges with assured mastery from grave to gay, while +diplomatic scandals and political intrigues are woven with that delicate +skill which we expect from him as a sort of right.</p> + +<p><b>EXPIATION.</b></p> + +<p>Mr. Oppenheim is one of the cleverest weavers of plots who write the +English language, and he has many examples of his skill. “Expiation” is +quite one of his best.</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>FRED M. WHITE</h3> + +<p><b>THE OPEN DOOR.</b></p> + +<p>An absorbing tale of unusual interest and mystery. Mr. White’s high +reputation for sensationalism is well known, and “The Open Door” will +certainly uphold it.</p> + +<p><b>THE FIVE KNOTS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Western Daily Press.</span>—“Mr. White has written several books, all of which +have been enjoyed by a large number of readers, who will probably agree +that it is the best.”</p> + +<p><b>THE LAW OF THE LAND.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Daily Telegraph.</span>—“Mr. White’s new novel may be strongly recommended. It +contains enough surprises to whip the interest at every turn.”</p> + +<p><b>THE MYSTERY OF THE RAVENSPURS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Modern Society.</span>—“As the plot is unfolded the reader becomes more and +more fascinated, the interest being powerfully held until the close.”</p> + +<p><b>THE SECRET OF THE SANDS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Scotsman.</span>—“Mr. Fred M. White has written a story full of dramatic +surprises. Mr. White is a master of sensations, and his introduction of +the incident of the Italian Vendetta gives point to a good tale.”</p> + +<p><b>THE GOLDEN ROSE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Irish Independent.</span>—“This latest book possesses all those +characteristics which go to make Mr. White’s novels so readable and so +popular.”</p> + +<h3>PAUL TRENT</h3> + +<p><b>THE FOUNDLING.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Daily Graphic.</span>—“The character of Strand is an excellent study, cleverly +and strongly drawn, and the book is a very interesting and readable +work.”</p> + +<p><b>THE SECOND CHANCE.</b></p> + +<p>Mr. Paul Trent’s stories, “The Vow” and “The Foundling,” were powerful +tales with a motive. “The Second Chance,” as its title indicates, is of +the same school.</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>LOUIS TRACY</h3> + +<p><b>SYLVIA’S CHAUFFEUR.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Morning Leader.</span>—“‘Sylvia’s Chauffeur’ is as pleasant a piece of light +reading as any one could desire.”</p> + +<p><b>RAINBOW ISLAND.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Literary World.</span>—“Those who delight in tales of adventure should +hail ‘Rainbow Island’ with joyous shouts of welcome. Rarely have we met +with more satisfying fare of this description than in its pages.”</p> + +<p><b>THE ALBERT GATE AFFAIR.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Birmingham Post.</span>—“Will worthily rank with ‘The Fatal Legacy’ and +‘Rainbow Island,’ both books full of wholesome excitement.”</p> + +<p><b>THE PILLAR OF LIGHT.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Evening Standard.</span>—“So admirable, so living, so breathlessly +exciting a book. The magnificent realism of the lighthouse and its +perils are worthy of praise from the most jaded reader.”</p> + +<p><b>A SON OF THE IMMORTALS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Morning Post.</span>—“Mr. Tracy’s new book ‘A Son of the Immortals’ is of +a highly sensational character, and adventures and stirring situations +follow closely upon one another’s heels all through it.”</p> + +<p><b>MIRABEL’S ISLAND.</b></p> + +<p>A delightfully exciting and fascinating romance of love and adventure, +comparable to its author’s famous success, “Rainbow Island.”</p> + +<p><b>NO OTHER WAY.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Financial Times.</span>—“Mr. Tracy’s latest novel provides an absorbing +narrative which is not likely to be cast aside prematurely.”</p> + +<h3>HEADON HILL</h3> + +<p><b>THE COTTAGE IN THE CHINE.</b></p> + +<p>Will make a strong appeal to lovers of sensational fiction; every page +has its incident or adventure, and the most exacting reader will not +find a dull moment until the last page is turned.</p> + +<p><b>MY LORD THE FELON.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Bookseller.</span>—“Every page of this book has its incident or adventure, +while the reader’s interest is kept up to the last chapter.”</p> + +<p><b>THE CRIMSON HONEYMOON.</b></p> + +<p>“The Crimson Honeymoon” is a really fascinating sensation story, well +written and cleverly put together.</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>HAROLD BINDLOSS</h3> + +<p><b>THE TRUSTEE.</b></p> + +<p>Another powerful and well-written story of hardihood, love and adventure +in Canada. The clean, fresh atmosphere which pervades it is distinctly +exhilarating.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Punch.</span>—“Mr. Bindloss is an author who can deftly use sensationalism to +his purpose without forcing it for mere effect, and who can also depict +the character of a strong man as honest as determined in love with a +sweet woman. He tells a story with rare skill.”</p> + +<p><b>THE PIONEER.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Bookman.</span>—“Altogether a fresh, stimulating, wholesome story, and one +which should only be banned by parents who do not wish their fledglings +to succumb to the fascinating lure of the wilds.”</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Academy.</span>—“His novels are terse, powerful, yet graceful, showing +intimate knowledge and acute observation, never overweighted with +description, yet containing many delightful pictures.”</p> + +<p><b>THE PROTECTOR.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Morning Post.</span>—“Mr. Bindloss is always a sure find for a good story, and +in this one he has, if possible, excelled himself.”</p> + +<p><b>THE LIBERATIONIST</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Morning Leader.</span>—“This is the author’s best novel, and is one which no +lover of healthy excitement ought to miss.”</p> + +<p><b>HAWTREY’S DEPUTY.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Western Daily Mercury.</span>—“The whole story is told with the most +spontaneous verve, and is tinged with a delightful element of romance.”</p> + +<p><b>THE IMPOSTOR.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Queen.</span>—“Mr. Bindloss writes books which are always good to read. +His writing is uniformly good, and his books are always sane, intensely +interesting, and dealing with subjects that cannot fail to concern a +wide public.”</p> + +<p><b>THE WASTREL.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Times.</span>—“Mr. Bindloss’s books are unchangeably true to type; and in +the distracting medley of modern fiction they calm and regulate the +mind.”</p> + +<h3>J. C. SNAITH</h3> + +<p><b>MISTRESS DOROTHY MARVIN.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Nottingham Guardian.</span>—“Mr. Snaith stirs the blood, from the first +page to the last, and all the characters live, move, and have their +being.”</p> + +<p><b>LADY BARBARITY.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Black and White</span> says:—“‘Lady Barbarity’ would cheer a pessimist in a +November fog. It is so gay, so good humoured, so full of the influence +of youth and beauty.”</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>GUY BOOTHBY</h3> + +<p><b>THE RACE OF LIFE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The English Review.</span>—“Ahead even of Mr. Cutcliffe Hyne and Conan Doyle, +Mr. Boothby may be said to have topped popularity’s pole.”</p> + +<p><b>THE CRIME OF THE UNDER SEAS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Speaker.</span>—“Is quite the equal in art, observation, and dramatic +intensity to any of Mr. Guy Boothby’s numerous other romances.”</p> + +<p><b>A BID FOR FREEDOM.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Sheffield Telegraph.</span>—“A fully written romance, which bristles with +thrilling passages, exciting adventures, and hairbreadth escapes.”</p> + +<p><b>A TWO-FOLD INHERITANCE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Punch.</span>—“Just the very book that a hard-working man should read for +genuine relaxation.”</p> + +<p><b>CONNIE BURT.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Birmingham Gazette.</span>—“One of the best stories we have seen of Mr. +Boothby’s.”</p> + +<p><b>THE KIDNAPPED PRESIDENT.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Public Opinion.</span>—“Brighter, crisper, and more entertaining than any of +its predecessors from the same pen.”</p> + +<p><b>MY STRANGEST CASE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Yorkshire Post.</span>—“No work of Mr. Boothby’s seems to us to have +approached in skill his new story.”</p> + +<p><b>FAREWELL, NIKOLA.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Dundee Advertiser.</span>—“Guy Boothby’s famous creation of Dr. Nikola has +become familiar to every reader of fiction.”</p> + +<p><b>MY INDIAN QUEEN.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Sunday Special.</span>—“A vivid story of adventure and daring, bearing all +the characteristics of careful workmanship.”</p> + +<p><b>LONG LIVE THE KING.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Aberdeen Free Press.</span>—“It is marvellous that Mr. Boothby’s novels +should all be so uniformly good.”</p> + +<p><b>A PRINCE OF SWINDLERS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Scotsman.</span>—“Of absorbing interest. The exploits are described in an +enthralling vein.”</p> + +<p><b>A MAKER OF NATIONS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Spectator.</span>—“‘A Maker of Nations’ enables us to understand Mr. +Boothby’s vogue. It has no lack of movement or incident.”</p> + +<p><b>THE RED RAT’S DAUGHTER.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Telegraph.</span>—“Mr. Guy Boothby’s name on the title-page of a +novel carries with it the assurance of a good story to follow.”</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>GUY BOOTHBY—continued</h3> + +<p><b>LOVE MADE MANIFEST.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Telegraph.</span>—“One of those tales of exciting adventure in the +confection of which Mr. Boothby is not excelled by any novelist of the +day.”</p> + +<p><b>PHAROS THE EGYPTIAN.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Scotsman.</span>—“This powerful novel is weird and soul-thrilling. There +never was in this world so strange and wonderful a love story.”</p> + +<p><b>ACROSS THE WORLD FOR A WIFE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The British Weekly.</span>—“This stirring tale ranks next to ‘Dr. Nikola’ in +the list of Mr. Boothby’s novels.”</p> + +<p><b>THE LUST OF HATE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Graphic.</span>—“Whoever wants dramatic interest let him read ‘The +Lust of Hate.’”</p> + +<p><b>THE FASCINATION OF THE KING.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Bristol Mercury.</span>—“Unquestionably the best work we have yet seen +from the pen of Mr. Guy Boothby.”</p> + +<p><b>DR. NIKOLA.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Scotsman.</span>—“One hairbreadth escape succeeds another with rapidity +that scarce leaves the reader breathing space.”</p> + +<p><b>THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE DEVIL.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Yorkshire Post.</span>—“A more exciting romance no man could reasonably +ask for.”</p> + +<p><b>A BID FOR FORTUNE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Manchester Courier.</span>—“It is impossible to give any idea of the verve +with which the story is told. The most original novel of the year.”</p> + +<p><b>IN STRANGE COMPANY.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The World.</span>—“A capital novel. It has the quality of life and stir, and +will carry the reader with curiosity unabated to the end.”</p> + +<p><b>THE MARRIAGE OF ESTHER.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Manchester Guardian.</span>—“There is a vigour and a power of illusion +about it that raises it quite above the level of the ordinary novel of +adventure.”</p> + +<p><b>BUSHIGRAMS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Manchester Guardian.</span>—“Intensely interesting. Forces from us, by its +powerful artistic realism, those choky sensations which it should be the +aim of the human writer to elicit, whether in comedy or tragedy.”</p> + +<p><b>SHEILAH MCLEOD.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. W. L. Alden in The New York Times.</span>—“Mr. Boothby can crowd more +adventure into a square foot of canvas than any other novelist.”</p> + +<p><b>DR. NIKOLA’S EXPERIMENT.</b></p> + +<p>Illustrated by Sidney Cowell.</p> + +<p><b>THE MAN OF THE CRAG.</b></p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT</h3> + +<p><b>IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">North Devon Journal.</span>—“A novel of absorbing interest. The plot is +developed very cleverly, and there is a delightful love theme.”</p> + +<p><b>IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Telegraph.</span>—“A well-sustained and thrilling narrative.”</p> + +<p><b>THE LITTLE ANARCHIST.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Scotsman.</span>—“A romance brimful of incident and arousing in the reader +a healthy interest that carries him along with never a pause.”</p> + +<p><b>AN IMPERIAL MARRIAGE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Scotsman.</span>—“The action never flags, the romantic element is always +paramount, so that the production is bound to appeal successfully to all +lovers of spirited fiction.”</p> + +<h3>BERTRAM MITFORD</h3> + +<p><b>SELMIN OF SELMINGFOLD.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Financial Times.</span>—“A combination of sentiment and love interest with the +more practical and serious side of life unite to make this novel of a +singularly interesting nature, and we are confident that it will meet +with great popularity.”</p> + +<p><b>THE RIVER OF UNREST.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Scotsman.</span>—“Mr. Mitford brings forward with excellent effect his +knowledge of nature, customs and tradition. The product is a tale rich +in incident and character, set against an effective background of +savagery and mystery.”</p> + +<p><b>A DUAL RESURRECTION.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Reading Standard.</span>—“The novel reader who loves a really good novel full +of desperate adventure will never be disappointed when Mr. Mitford’s +books are in question. This is a strong and clever piece of work, the +plot is ingenious and the characterization uncommonly well done.”</p> + +<p><b>SEAFORD’S SNAKE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Madame.</span>—“If you like well-written stories of adventure you should get +Mr. Mitford’s latest novel. The characters are well portrayed, the story +written in a brisk, virile style that proves very attractive.”</p> + +<p><b>HEATH HOVER MYSTERY.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Times.</span>—“A capital mystery and detective story, with some exciting +scenes in India.”</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>JOSEPH HOCKING</h3> + +<p><b>THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Financial Times.</span>—“A strong knowledge of human nature, for which Mr. +Hocking is famous, is well portrayed in the pages of this novel, and +this, in conjunction with the interesting nature of the plot, renders it +particularly successful. The book will be appreciated by novel readers.”</p> + +<p><b>ROGER TREWINION.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">T P’s Weekly.</span>—“It is a foregone conclusion that Mr. Hocking will always +have a good story to tell. ‘Roger Trewinion’ can stand forth with the +best, a strong love interest, plenty of adventure, an atmosphere of +superstition, and Cornwall as the scene.”</p> + +<p><b>THE COMING OF THE KING.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Glasgow Herald.</span>—“Mr. Hocking’s imagination is fertile, and his +skill in the arrangement of incident far above the average, and there is +an air of reality in all his writing which is peculiarly charming.”</p> + +<p><b>ESAU.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Outlook.</span>—“Remarkable for the dramatic power with which the scenes +are drawn and the intense human interest which Mr. Hocking has woven +about his characters. ‘Esau’ is sure to be one of the novels of the +season.”</p> + +<p><b>GREATER LOVE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Newcastle Chronicle.</span>—“Though of a totally different character from +‘Lest We Forget,’ Mr. Hocking’s latest story is entitled to take rank +along with that fine romance.”</p> + +<p><b>LEST WE FORGET.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Public Opinion.</span>—“His story is quite as good as any we have read of the +Stanley Weyman’s school, and presents an excellent picture of the +exciting times of Gardiner and Bonner.”</p> + +<p><b>AND SHALL TRELAWNEY DIE?</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Weekly Sun.</span>—“An engaging and fascinating romance. The reader puts +the story down with a sigh, and wishes there were more of these breezy +Cornish uplands, for Mr. Joseph Hocking’s easy style of narrative does +not soon tire.”</p> + +<p><b>JABEZ EASTERBROOK.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Rock.</span>—“Real strength is shown in the sketches, of which that of +Brother Bowman is most prominent. In its way it is delightful.”</p> + +<p><b>THE WEAPONS OF MYSTERY.</b></p> + +<p>“Weapons of Mystery” is a singularly powerful story of occult influences +and of their exertion for evil purposes.</p> + +<p><b>ZILLAH: A ROMANCE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Spectator.</span>—“The drawing of some of the characters indicates the +possession by Mr. Hocking of a considerable gift of humour. The contents +of his book indicate that he takes a genuine interest in the deeper +problems of the day.”</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>JOSEPH HOCKING—continued</h3> +<p><b>THE MONK OF MAR-SABA.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Star.</span>—“Great power and thrilling interest.... The scenery of the +Holy Land has rarely been so vividly described as in this charming book +of Mr. Hocking’s.”</p> + +<p><b>THE PURPLE ROBE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Queen.</span>—“It is exceedingly clever, and excites the reader’s interest +and brings out the powerful nature of the clever young minister. This +most engrossing book challenges comparison with the brilliance of +Lothair.”</p> + +<p><b>THE SCARLET WOMAN.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Methodist Recorder.</span>—“This is Mr. Hocking’s strongest and best book. +We advise every one to read it. The plot is simple, compact and +strenuous; the writing powerful.”</p> + +<p><b>ALL MEN ARE LIARS.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Christian World.</span>—“This is a notable book. Thoughtful people will be +fascinated by its actuality, its fearlessness, and the insight it gives +into the influence of modern thought and literature upon the minds and +morals of our most promising manhood.”</p> + +<p><b>ISHMAEL PENGELLY: AN OUTCAST.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Athenæum.</span>—“The book is to be recommended for the dramatic +effectiveness of some of the scenes. The wild, half-mad woman is always +picturesque wherever she appears, and the rare self-repression of her +son is admirably done.”</p> + +<p><b>THE STORY OF ANDREW FAIRFAX.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Manchester Examiner.</span>—“Rustic scenes and characters are drawn with +free, broad touches, without Mr. Buchanan’s artificiality, and, if we +may venture to say it, with more realism than Mr. Hardy’s country +pictures.”</p> + +<p><b>THE BIRTHRIGHT.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Spectator.</span>—“‘The Birthright’ is, in its way, quite as well +constructed, as well written, and as full of incident as any story that +has come from the pen of Sir Conan Doyle or Mr. Stanley Weyman.”</p> + +<p><b>MISTRESS NANCY MOLESWORTH.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Scotsman.</span>—“‘Mistress Nancy Molesworth’ is as charming a story of +the kind as could be wished, and it excels in literary workmanship as +well as in imaginative vigour and daring invention.”</p> + +<p><b>FIELDS OF FAIR RENOWN.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Dundee Advertiser.</span>—“Mr. Hocking has produced a work which his +readers of all classes will appreciate.... There are exhibited some of +the most beautiful aspects of disposition.”</p> + +<p><b>GOD AND MAMMON.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Literary World.</span>—“The hero of Mr. Hocking’s latest novel is a clever +young country lawyer. The story is vigorously told, his struggles, his +success and his love affairs are vividly described, while a strong +religious tone pervades the book.”</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>MARIE CONNOR LEIGHTON</h3> + +<p><b>HER CONVICT HUSBAND.</b></p> + +<p>Although Mrs. Leighton’s work is often spoken of as “melodramatic,” it +is of the kind that one enthuses over by reason of its emotional +interest and unusual realism.</p> + +<p><b>HER MARRIAGE LINES.</b></p> + +<p>Can be safely recommended to those who like their fiction hot and strong +and full of sensation of the more robust sort. Marie Connor Leighton has +proved herself one of our cleanest and most prolific weavers of +sensational novels, and “Her Marriage Lines” shows no diminution of her +inventive faculties.</p> + +<p><b>DUCKS AND DRAKES.</b></p> + +<p>A tale comparable to “Convict 99” in its actuality and holding interest.</p> + +<p><b>THE MISSING MISS RANDOLPH.</b></p> + +<p>Marie C. Leighton has done full justice to her reputation as a writer of +highly sensational and dramatic fiction.</p> + +<p><b>THE TRIANGLE.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Commentator.</span>—“Altogether a most powerful and well-written novel; +and one likely to maintain a permanently conspicuous position upon every +library list.”</p> + +<h3>EDGAR WALLACE.</h3> + +<p><b>GREY TIMOTHY.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Daily News and Leader.</span>—“Mr. Wallace has written one of the most +exciting and sensational stories we have read for some time.”</p> + +<p><b>SANDERS OF THE RIVER.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Sportsman.</span>—“Mr. Wallace is an artist. He lifts us out of ourselves +into another world, and makes it not less real than the one we are in +daily contact with.”</p> + +<p><b>THE PEOPLE OF THE RIVER.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Gentleman’s Journal.</span>—“There is masculine virility in every line, +and from first to last our attention is closely gripped; a grand book, +unaffected and sincere.”</p> + +<p><b>PRIVATE SELBY.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Scotsman.</span>—“The story is always attractive by the cleverness with +which it keeps fantastic history persuasive, and it goes so quickly that +it is over before one realizes that it is unreal.”</p> + +<p><b>THE RIVER OF STARS.</b></p> + +<p>Another of Mr. Edgar Wallace’s strenuous tales of crime and adventure.</p></div> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="centerbox2 bbox"> + +<h4>WARD, LOCK & CO'S POPULAR FICTION</h4> + +<p class="double"> </p> + +<h3>CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS’</h3> +<h4>NATURE BOOKS.</h4> + +<p>“Picturesque, full of character, instructive, entertaining, often +thrilling—the stories are sure to be received with the same pleasure as +their predecessors have been by both the naturalist and the lover of +good literature.”—<span class="smcap">Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News.</span></p> + +<p>“Under the guidance of Mr. Roberts we have often adventured among the +wild beasts of the land and sea, and we hope to do so many times in the +future. It is an education not to be missed by those who have the +chance, and the chance is every one’s.”—<span class="smcap">The Athenæum.</span></p> + +<p><b>THE HOUSE IN THE WATER.<br /> +MORE KINDRED OF THE WILD.<br /> +THE BACKWOODSMEN.<br /> +KINGS IN EXILE.<br /> +NEIGHBOURS UNKNOWN.<br /> +THE FEET OF THE FURTIVE.</b></p> + +<h3>L. G. MOBERLY</h3> + +<p><b>FORTUNE’S FOUNDLING.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Morning Leader.</span>—“Miss L. G. Moberly is, as our readers are aware, an +extremely skilful weaver of mysteries, and remarkably successful in +keeping up interest in them.”</p> + +<p><b>CHRISTINA.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Daily Telegraph.</span>—“Mrs. L. G. Moberley’s story runs very pleasantly +along familiar grooves. It is a pretty, simply-told tale, which will +delight this popular author’s many readers.”</p> + +<p><b>HIS LITTLE GIRL.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Derbyshire Times.</span>—“It is charmingly written, a robust story, with a +well-defined plot through which runs a vein of mystery and romance.”</p> + +<p><b>VIOLET DUNSTAN.</b></p> + +<p>A distinctly pleasing romance, full of incident and cleverly told, which +will delight this popular author’s many readers.</p> + +<h3>EFFIE ADELAIDE ROWLANDS</h3> + +<p><b>IN LOVE’S LAND.</b></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Reading Standard.</span>—“The many readers of Miss Rowlands’ stories will +find her latest volume even more delightful than its predecessors. It is +a well-written romance, wholesome and pleasant to read, and decidedly +entertaining, for the interest is well sustained to the end.”</p> + +<p><b>THE ROSE OF LIFE.</b></p> + +<p>A remarkably fine love story, cleverly developed, and fascinating +throughout.</p></div> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">Transcriber’s Note:</span></h3> + +<p>Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters’ errors; otherwise, +every effort has been made to remain true to the author’s words and intent.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 32185-h.txt or 32185-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/1/8/32185">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/1/8/32185</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Lord Stranleigh Abroad + + +Author: Robert Barr + + + +Release Date: April 30, 2010 [eBook #32185] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD*** + + +E-text prepared by D Alexander and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images +generously made available by Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 32185-h.htm or 32185-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32185/32185-h/32185-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32185/32185-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://www.archive.org/details/lordstranleighab00barruoft + + + + + +LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD + +by + +ROBERT BARR + +Author of "Young Lord Stranleigh," "Lord Stranleigh, +Philanthropist," "The Mutable Many," etc. + + + + + + + +Ward, Locke & Co., Limited +London, Melbourne, and Toronto +1913 + + + + +[Illustration: "'Why did you wish to murder me?'" (Page 189.) +_Frontispiece_] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + I.--LORD STRANLEIGH ALL AT SEA 7 + + II.--AN AUTOMOBILE RIDE 49 + + III.--THE GOD IN THE CAR 87 + + IV.--THE MAD MISS MATURIN 125 + + V.--IN SEARCH OF GAME 164 + + VI.--THE BUNK HOUSE PRISONER 209 + + VII.--THE END OF THE CONTEST 259 + + + + +LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD. + + + + +I.--LORD STRANLEIGH ALL AT SEA. + + +A few minutes before noon on a hot summer day, Edmund Trevelyan +walked up the gang-plank of the steamship, at that moment the largest +Atlantic liner afloat. Exactly at the stroke of twelve she would leave +Southampton for Cherbourg, then proceed across to Queenstown, and +finally would make a bee-line west for New York. Trevelyan was costumed +in rough tweed of subdued hue, set off by a cut so well-fitting and +distinguished that it seemed likely the young man would be looked upon +by connoisseurs of tailoring as the best-dressed passenger aboard. He +was followed by Ponderby, his valet, whose usually expressionless face +bore a look of dissatisfaction with his lot, as though he had been +accustomed to wait upon the nobility, and was now doomed to service with +a mere commoner. His lack of content, however, was caused by a dislike +to ocean travel in the first place, and his general disapproval of +America in the second. A country where all men are free and equal +possessed no charms for Ponderby, who knew he had no equal, and was not +going to demean himself by acknowledging the possibility of such. + +Once on deck, his master turned to him and said-- + +"You will go, Ponderby, to my suite of rooms, and see that my luggage is +placed where it should be, and also kindly satisfy yourself that none of +it is missing." + +Ponderby bowed in a dignified manner, and obeyed without a word, while +Trevelyan mounted the grand staircase, moving with an easy nonchalance +suited to a day so inordinately hot. The prospect of an ocean voyage in +such weather was in itself refreshing, and so prone is mankind to live +in the present, and take no thought of the morrow, that Trevelyan +had quite forgotten the cablegrams he read in the papers on his way +down from London, to the effect that New York was on the grill, its +inhabitants sweltering--sleeping on the house-tops, in the parks, on +the beach at Coney Island, or wherever a breath of air could be had. +On the upper deck his slow steps were arrested by an exclamation-- + +"Isn't this Mr. Trevelyan?" + +The man who made the enquiry wore the uniform of the ship's company. + +"Ah, doctor, I was thinking of you at this moment. I read in the papers +that you had been promoted, and I said to myself: 'After all, this is +not an ungrateful world, when the most skilful and most popular medical +officer on the Atlantic is thus appreciated.'" + +"Ah, you put it delightfully, Trevelyan, but I confess I hesitated about +adding, at my time of life, to the burden I carry." + +"Your time of life, doctor! Why you always make me feel an old man by +comparison with yourself; yet you'll find me skipping about the decks +like a boy." + +"If you'll take the right-hand seat at my table, I'll keep an eye on +you, and prevent you from skipping overboard," laughed the doctor. + +"Indeed, that was the boon I intended to crave." + +"Then the seat is yours, Trevelyan. By the way, I read in the newspapers +that Evelyn Trevelyan is none other than Lord Stranleigh; but then, of +course, you can never believe what you see in the press, can you?" + +"Personally, I make no effort to do so. I get my news of the day from +Ponderby, who is an inveterate reader of the principal journals favoured +by what he calls the 'upper classes.' But I assure you that Evelyn +Trevelyan is a name that belongs to me, and I wear it occasionally like +an old, comfortable-fitting coat." + +"Ah, well, I'll not give you away. I'll see you at lunch between here +and Cherbourg." And the doctor hurried away to his duties. + +The young man continued his stroll, smiling as he remembered some of the +doctor's excellent stories. He regarded his meeting with that friendly +officer as a good omen, but hoped he would encounter no one else who +knew him. + +The next interruption of his walk proved to be not so pleasant. There +came up the deck with nervous tread a shabbily-dressed man, who appeared +from ten to fifteen years older than Stranleigh, although in reality +there was no great disparity in their ages. His face was haggard and +lined with anxiety, and his eyes had that furtive, penetrating glance +which distinguishes the inveterate gambler. Stranleigh watched his +oncoming with amazement. + +The Hon. John Hazel had been a member of some of the most exclusive +clubs in London; but whether or not Nature had endowed him with a useful +talent, he had become notorious as a reckless cardsharper, quite +unscrupulous when it came to obtaining money. No one knew this better +than Lord Stranleigh, who had been so often his victim, yet had regarded +his losses lightly, and forgiven the Hon. John time and again. But +recently this younger son of an ancient and honourable house had +committed the unpardonable sin--he had been found out, and had been +permitted to resign from all his clubs but one, and from which he was +expelled by a committee not so lenient. After that he disappeared. He +was done for, so far as England was concerned, and he knew it. + +"John, is this possible?" cried Lord Stranleigh, as the other +approached. + +Hazel stopped, his eyes veiling over, as though he held a hand at poker +that was unbeatable. + +"I haven't the pleasure of knowing you, sir," he said haughtily. + +"I'm glad of that, because I'm Edmund Trevelyan at the moment, and was +just hoping I should meet no one on board who would recognise me." + +"I don't know Edmund Trevelyan, and have no wish to make his +acquaintance," returned the other coldly. + +"That's quite all right, and your wish does you credit. Trevelyan has no +desire to force his friendship on any man. Nevertheless, Jack, time was +when I helped you out of a hole, and, if occasion arose, I should be +glad to do it again." + +"You could have prevented my expulsion from the Camperdown Club, had you +but cared to raise a finger," said the other hotly. + +"Hazel, you are mistaken. I did all I could for you, as in other crises +of the same nature. The committee proved to be adamant, and rather +prided themselves on their independence, as if they were a group of +blooming Radicals. The House of Lords isn't what it was, Jack, as, alas, +you may learn, should you ever come into the title of your family, +although many people stand between you and it at the present moment. +Indeed, Jack, it has been on my conscience that my urgent advocacy +prejudiced your case instead of helping it." + +"Ah, well, that's all past; it doesn't matter now," said the other, with +a sigh. "I have shaken the dust of England for ever from my feet." + +"The mud, you mean." + +"Oh, I admit I wallowed in the mud, but it was dust when I left London +this morning. Ah, we're off! I must be going." And he moved away from +the rail of the ship, where he had been gazing over the side. + +"Going? Where?" + +"Where I belong. I'm travelling third-class. The moment the steamer gets +under way, I have no right on the cabin deck. Before she left, I took +the liberty of a sightseer to wander over the steamship." + +"My dear Jack," said his former friend, in a grave voice, "this will +never do; you cannot cross the Atlantic in the steerage." + +"I have visited my quarters, and find them very comfortable. I have been +in much worse places recently. Steerage is like everything else +maritime--like this bewilderingly immense steamer, for example--vastly +improved since Robert Louis Stevenson took his trip third-class to New +York." + +"Well, it is a change for a luxury-loving person like my friend the Hon. +John Hazel." + +"It is very condescending of you to call me your friend. Nobody else +would do it," replied the Hon. John bitterly. + +"Condescension be hanged! I'm rather bewildered, that's all, and wish +for further particulars. Are you turning over a new leaf, then?" + +"A new leaf? A thousand of them! I have thrown away the old book, with +its blotches and ink-stains. I'm starting a blank volume that I hope +will bear inspection and not shock even the rectitude of the Camperdown +Committee." + +"What's the programme?" + +"I don't quite know yet; it will depend on circumstances. I think it's +the West for me--sort of back-to-the-land business. I yearn to become a +kind of moral cowboy. It seems the only thing I'm at all equipped for. I +can ride well and shoot reasonably straight." + +"I thought," said Stranleigh, "that phase of life had disappeared with +Bret Harte. Is there any money in your inside pocket?" + +"How could there be?" + +"Then why not let me grub-stake you, which I believe is the correct +Western term." + +"As how, for instance?" + +"I'll secure for you a comfortable cabin, and you will pay the damage +when you strike oil out West, so, you see, there's no humiliating +condescension about the offer." + +"I'm sure there isn't, and it's very good of you, Stranleigh, but I +can't dress the part." + +"That's easily arranged. Ponderby always over-dresses me. His idea of +this world is that there is London, and the rest of the planet is a +wilderness. You could no more persuade him that a decent suit might be +made in New York than that I am the worst-dressed man in London. You and +I are about the same height and build. Ponderby will have in my +mountainous luggage anywhere from twenty-five to forty suits never yet +worn by me. I don't know on what principle he goes, but as the last time +we went to America he took twenty-five new suits, and we crossed in a +twenty-five thousand ton boat, he is likely to have at least forty-five +suits for this forty-five thousand ton steamship, and he will feel as +much pleasure in rigging you out as he took in the crowning of the new +King." + +"Very good of you, Stranleigh, but I cannot accept." + +"I am pleading for Ponderby's sake. Besides, there's one practical +point you have overlooked. If you attempt to land from the +steerage--travelling under an assumed name, I suppose----" + +"Like yourself, Stranleigh." + +"No, I own the name 'Trevelyan.' But, as I was saying, if you attempt to +land rather shabbily dressed and almost penniless, you will find +yourself turned back as an undesirable alien, whereas you can go ashore +from the first cabin unquestioned, save for those amazing queries the +U.S.A. Government puts to one, the answers to which Ponderby will be +charmed to write out for you." + +Hazel without reply walked back to the rail, leaned his arms on it, and +fell into deep thought. Stranleigh followed him. + +"Give me your ticket," he said. + +Hazel took it from his pocket and handed it over. + +"Have you any luggage?" + +"Only a portmanteau, which I placed in my bunk. It contains a certain +amount of necessary linen." + +"Wait here until I find out what there is to be had in the first cabin." + +Stranleigh went down to the purser, and that overworked official threw +him a friendly glance, which nevertheless indicated that his time was +valuable. + +"My name is Trevelyan," said the young man. + +"Oh, yes, Mr. Trevelyan. You have our premier suite. How do you like +your accommodation?" + +"I haven't seen it yet. I have just discovered a friend, a rather +eccentric man, who had made up his mind to cross the Atlantic in the +steerage. One of those silly bets, you know, which silly young men make +in our silly London clubs, and I have persuaded him out of it." + +"Our steerage is supposed to be rather comfortable, Mr. Trevelyan." + +"So he says, but I want his company on deck, and not on the steerage +deck at that. Have you got anything vacant along my avenue?" + +The purser consulted his written list. + +"Nobody with him?" + +"He's quite alone." + +"All the larger cabins are taken, but I can give him No. 4390." + +"I suppose, like your steerage, it is comfortable?" said Stranleigh, +with a smile. + +"It is, yet it's not a private hotel like your quarters." + +"Oh, he'll not grumble. Will you send a steward to carry his portmanteau +from the number indicated on this steerage ticket to his new room? +Meanwhile, I'll have transferred to him his luggage that I brought from +London." + +The purser rapidly wrote out a new ticket, and took the difference in +five-pound notes. + +"Are you going to your quarters now?" the purser asked. + +"Yes, I must give some instructions to my man." + +"Then it will give me great pleasure to show you the way there," said +the purser, rising and locking the door; and in spite of Stranleigh's +protest against his taking the trouble, he led him to a series of rooms +that would have satisfied a much more exacting person than his young +lordship. When the purser had returned to his duties, Stranleigh said to +Ponderby-- + +"The Hon. John Hazel is aboard, and his cabin is No. 4390. He had to +leave London in a great hurry and without the necessary luggage." + +Ponderby's eyes lit up with an expression which said--"I knew that would +happen sooner or later." But he uttered no word, and cast down his eyes +when he saw his master had noticed the glance. Stranleigh spoke coldly +and clearly. + +"How many new suits have you provided for me?" + +"Thirty-seven, my lord." + +"Very well. Clear out one or two boxes, and pack a dress-suit and two +or three ordinary suits; in fact, costume the Hon. John Hazel just as +you would costume me. Call a steward, and order the box to be taken to +his room. Lay out for him an everyday garb, and get all this done as +quickly as possible." + +His lordship proceeded leisurely to the upper deck once more, and found +Hazel just as he had left him, except that he was now gazing at the +fleeting shore, green and village-studded, of the Isle of Wight. + +"Here you are," said Stranleigh breezily, handing the Hon. John the +cabin ticket. + +There was a weak strain in Hazel's character, otherwise he would never +had come to the position in which he found himself, and he now exhibited +the stubbornness which has in it the infallible signs of giving way. + +"I really cannot accept it," he said, his lower lip trembling +perceptibly. + +"Tut, tut! It's all settled and done with. Your room is No. 4390. You +will find your bag there, and also a box from my habitation. Come +along--I'll be your valet. Luncheon will be on shortly, and I want your +company." + +Stranleigh turned away, and Hazel followed him. + +Cabin 4390 could not be compared with the luxurious suite that +Stranleigh was to occupy, yet, despite the purser's hesitation to +overpraise it, the cabin was of a size and promise of comfort that would +have been found in few liners a decade ago. Ponderby was on hand, and +saved his master the fag of valeting, and when finally the Hon. John +emerged, he was quite his old jaunty self again--a well-dressed man who +would not have done discredit even to the Camperdown Club. + +"I have secured a place for you," said Stranleigh, "next to myself at +the doctor's table. I flatter myself on having made this transfer with +more tact than I usually display, for I am somewhat stupid in the main, +trusting others to carry out my ideas rather than endeavouring to shine +as a diplomatist myself. The purser--the only official aware of the +change--thinks you made a bet to go over steerage, and will probably +forget all about the matter. The question is, under what name shall I +introduce you to the doctor?" + +"What would you advise?" asked Hazel. "The name on my steerage ticket is +William Jones." + +"Oh, that's no good as a _nom de guerre_--too palpably a name chosen by +an unimaginative man. I should sail under your own colours if I were +you." + +"Good! Then John Hazel I am, and so will remain. As a guarantee of good +faith, I promise you not to touch a card all the way across." + +"A good resolution; see that you keep it." And thus they enjoyed an +appetising lunch together, and were regaled with one of the doctor's +best salads. + +They got away from Cherbourg before the dinner hour, and after that meal +Stranleigh and Hazel walked together on the main deck, until the latter, +admitting he was rather fagged after the exciting events of the day, +went off to his cabin, and Stranleigh was left alone to smoke a final +cigar. He leaned on the rail and gazed meditatively at the smooth sea. + +It was an ideal evening, and Stranleigh felt at peace with all the +world. There exists a popular belief that the rich are overburdened with +care. This may be true while they are in the money-making struggle, but +it is not a usual fault when the cash is in the bank or safely invested. +Stranleigh occasionally lost money, but an immense amount had been +bequeathed him, and he made many millions more than he had parted with, +although he claimed this was merely because of a series of flukes, +maintaining that, whenever he set to work that part of him known as his +brains, he invariably came a cropper. + +"You are Mr. Trevelyan, are you not?" said a very musical feminine voice +at his elbow. Stranleigh turned in surprise, and seeing there a most +charming young woman, he flung his partially consumed cigar into the +sea. + +"Yes," he replied, "my name is Trevelyan. How did you know?" + +That rare smile came to his lips--a smile, people said, which made you +feel instinctively you could trust him; and many ladies who were quite +willing to bestow their trust, called it fascinating. + +"I am afraid," said the girl, whose beautiful face was very serious, and +whose large dark eyes seemed troubled--"I am afraid that I enacted the +part of unintentional eavesdropper. I had some business with the +purser--business that I rather shrank from executing. You came to his +window just before I did, for I was hesitating." + +"I am sorry," said Stranleigh, "if I obtruded myself between you and +that official. Being rather limited in intelligence, my mind can attend +to only one thing at a time, and I must confess I did not see you." + +"I know you did not," retorted the girl. "There was no obtrusion. You +were first comer, and therefore should have been first served, as was +the case." + +"I would willingly have given up my place and whatever rights I +possessed in the matter, had I known a lady was waiting." + +"I am sure of it. However, your conversation with the purser gave me a +welcome respite, and, thinking over the crisis, I determined to consult +you before I spoke to him; thus I have taken the unusual step of +bringing myself to your notice." + +"In what way can I assist you, madam?" asked Stranleigh, a return of his +usual caution showing itself in the instant stiffening of manner and +coldness of words. + +"I learned you were exchanging, on behalf of a friend, a third-class +ticket for a place in the cabin. I judged from this that you are a +good-hearted man, and my attention was attracted when you introduced +yourself to the purser as Trevelyan, because Trevelyan is my own name." + +"Really?" ejaculated his lordship. "Have you relatives near Wychwood? +You are English, are you not?" + +"I am English, and a distant connection with the family of Trevelyan, +near Wychwood, none of whom, however, I have yet met, unless you happen +to belong to that branch." + +"I do," said Stranleigh. "And now tell me, if you please, what is your +difficulty?" + +"I wish to ask you if the steerage ticket you gave the purser was taken +in part payment for the cabin ticket, or did you forfeit it altogether?" + +"That I can't tell you," said Stranleigh, with a laugh. "I am not +accustomed to the transaction of business, and this little arrangement +had to be made quickly." + +Although his lordship spoke lightly and pleasantly the girl appeared to +have some difficulty in proceeding with her story. The large eyes were +quite evidently filling with tears, and of all things in the world +Stranleigh loathed an emotional scene. The girl was obviously deeply +depressed, whatever the cause. + +"Well," he said jauntily and indeed encouragingly, "we were talking of +first and third-class tickets. What have you to say about them?" + +"I speak of the steerage ticket only. If you haven't forfeited it, you +have the right to demand its return." + +"I suppose so. Still, it is of no particular use to me." + +"No, but it would be vital to me. Coming down in the train from London, +my purse was stolen, or perhaps I lost it when giving up my railway +ticket. So I am now without either money or transportation voucher." + +"Was it for cabin passage?" + +"Yes." + +"In that case you will have no difficulty; your name will be on the +purser's list. Do you know the number of your state-room?" + +"No, I do not, and, so far as my name goes, I can expect no help from +that quarter, because the name I travel under is not Miss Trevelyan." + +"Good gracious," cried Stranleigh, "there are three of us! This ship +should be called _Incognita_. Was your money also in that purse?" + +"Yes, all my gold and bank-notes, and I am left with merely some silver +and coppers." + +"Then the third-class ticket would not be of the slightest use to you. +As I had to point out to another person on a similar occasion, you would +not be allowed to land, so we will let that third-class ticket drop into +oblivion. If you are even distantly related to the Trevelyan family, I +could not think of allowing you to travel steerage. Are you alone?" + +"Yes," she murmured almost inaudibly. + +"Well, then, it is better that you should make all arrangements with the +purser yourself. As I told you, I am not particularly good at business +affairs. You give to him the name under which you purchased your ticket. +You bought it in London, I suppose?" + +"Yes," she murmured again. + +"Mention to him the name you used then. He will look up his list, and +allot you the state-room you paid for. It is probable he may have the +power to do this without exacting any excess fare; but if such is not +the case, settle with him for your passage, and take his receipt. The +money will doubtless be refunded at New York. Here is a fifty-pound +note, and you can carry out the transaction much better than I. But +stop a moment. Do you remember how much you paid for the room?" + +"Twenty-five pounds." + +"That will leave you only the remaining twenty-five for New York, which +is an expensive place, so we must make the loan a hundred pounds. Leave +me your address, and if you do not hear from your people before that +loan is expended, you may have whatever more you need. You will, of +course, repay me at your convenience. I will give you the name of my New +York agents." + +The eyes had by this time brimmed over, and the girl could not speak. +Stranleigh took from his pocket-book several Bank of England notes. +Selecting two for fifty pounds each, he handed them to her. + +"Good-night!" he said hurriedly. + +"Good-night!" she whispered. + +After dinner on the day the liner left Queenstown, Lord Stranleigh sat +in a comfortable chair in the daintily furnished drawing-room of his +suite. A shaded electric light stood on the table at his elbow, and he +was absorbed in a book he had bought before leaving London. Stranleigh +was at peace with all the world, and his reading soothed a mind which he +never allowed to become perturbed if he could help it. He now thanked +his stars that he was sure of a week undisturbed by callers and free +from written requests. Just at this moment he was amazed to see the door +open, and a man enter without knock or other announcement. His first +thought was to wonder what had become of Ponderby--how had the stranger +eluded him? It was a ruddy-faced, burly individual who came in, and, as +he turned round to shut the door softly, Stranleigh saw that his thick +neck showed rolls of flesh beneath the hair. His lordship placed the +open book face downwards on the table, but otherwise made no motion. + +"Lord Stranleigh, I presume?" said the stranger. + +Stranleigh made no reply, but continued gazing at the intruder. + +"I wish to have a few words with you, and considered it better to come +to your rooms than to accost you on deck. What I have to say is serious, +and outside we might have got into an altercation, which you would +regret." + +"You need have no fear of any altercation with me," said Stranleigh. + +"Well, at least you desire to avoid publicity, otherwise you would not +be travelling under an assumed name." + +"I am not travelling under an assumed name." + +The stout man waved his hand in deprecation of unnecessary talk. + +"I will come to the point at once," he said, seating himself without any +invitation. + +"I shall be obliged if you do so." + +The new-comer's eyes narrowed, and a threatening expression overspread +his rather vicious face. + +"I want to know, Lord Stranleigh, and I have a right to ask, why you +gave a hundred pounds to my wife." + +"To your wife?" echoed Stranleigh in amazement. + +"Yes. I have made a memorandum of the numbers, and here they are--two +fifty-pound notes. Bank of England. Do you deny having given them to +her?" + +"I gave two fifty-pound notes to a young lady, whose name, I understood, +was Trevelyan--a name which I also bear. She informed me, and somehow I +believed her, that her purse containing steamship ticket and money, had +been lost or stolen." + +A wry smile twisted the lips of the alleged husband. + +"Oh, that's the story is it? Would you be surprised if the young lady in +question denied that _in toto_?" + +"I should not be astonished at anything," replied his lordship, "if you +are in possession of the actual bank-notes I gave to her." + +"She describes your having taken these flimsies from a number of others +you carry in your pocket. Would you mind reading me the number of others +you carry in your pocket. Would you mind reading me the number of the +next note in your collection?" + +"Would you mind reading me the numbers on the notes you hold?" asked +Stranleigh, in cool, even tones, making no sign of producing his own +assets. + +"Not at all," replied the other; whereupon he read them. The notes were +evidently two of a series, and the numbers differed only by a single +unit. Stranleigh nonchalantly took out his pocket-book, and the +intruder's eyes glistened as he observed its bulk. Stranleigh glanced at +the number on the top bank-note, and replaced his pocket-book, leaning +back in his easy chair. + +"You are quite right," he said. "Those are the notes I gave to Miss +Trevelyan." + +"I asked why." + +"I told you why." + +"That cock-and-bull story won't go down," said the other. "Even the +richest men do not fling money about in such reckless fashion. They do +it only for a favour given or a favour expected." + +"I dare say you are right. But come to the point, as you said you +would." + +"Is that necessary?" + +"I don't know that it is. You want money--as large an amount as can be +squeezed from a man supposedly wealthy. You use your good-looking wife +as a decoy----" + +"You are casting aspersion on a lady quite unknown to you!" cried his +visitor, with well-assumed indignation. + +"Pardon me, you seem to be casting aspersion on her whom you say is your +wife. I don't know how these notes got into your hands, but I'd be +willing to stake double the amount that the lady is quite innocent in +the matter. She certainly is so far as I am concerned. If the lady is +your wife, what is her name? She told me she was travelling under a +different title from that written on the lost ticket." + +"I am not ashamed of my name, if you are of yours. My name is Branksome +Poole." + +"Ah, then she is Mrs. Branksome Poole?" + +"Naturally." + +Stranleigh reached out and drew towards him a passenger list. Running +his eye down the column of cabin passengers, he saw there the names: +"Mr. and Mrs. Branksome Poole." + +"Well, Mr. Poole, we come to what is the final question--how much?" + +"If you give me the roll of Bank of England notes which you exhibited +a moment ago, I shall say nothing further about the matter, and, +understand me, there is no coercion about my request. You may accept or +decline, just as you like. I admit that my wife and I do not get along +well together, and although I consider I have a grievance against you, +I am not assuming the injured husband _role_ at all. If you decline, I +shall make no scandal aboard ship, but will wait and take action against +you the moment we arrive in New York." + +"Very considerate of you, Mr. Poole. I understand that in New York the +fountains of justice are perfectly pure, and that the wronged are +absolutely certain of obtaining redress. I congratulate you on your +choice of a battle-ground. Of course, you haven't the slightest thought +of levying blackmail, but I prefer to spend my money on the best legal +talent in America rather than trust any of it to you. It's a mere +case of obstinacy on my part. And now, if you will kindly take your +departure, I will get on with my book; I am at a most interesting +point." + +"I shall not take my departure," said Poole doggedly, "until we have +settled this matter." + +"The matter is settled." Stranleigh touched an electric button. An +inside door opened, and Ponderby entered, looking in amazement at his +master's visitor. + +"Ponderby," said Lord Stranleigh, "in future I desire you to keep this +outer door locked, so that whoever wishes to see me may come through +your room. Take a good look at this gentleman, and remember he is not to +be allowed within my suite again on any pretext. Meanwhile, show him +into the corridor. Take him through your room, and afterwards return and +lock this other door." + +Then occurred an extraordinary thing. Ponderby, for the first time in +his life, disobeyed his master's instructions. Approaching the seated +Poole, he said-- + +"Will you go quietly?" + +"I'll not go, quietly or otherwise," answered the man stubbornly. + +Ponderby opened the door by which Poole had entered, then, seizing him +by the collar, lifted him, led him to the door, and pitched him out of +the room across the corridor. Returning, he closed, locked, and bolted +the door. + +"I beg your pardon, my lord," said the panting Ponderby to his amazed +master, "but I dare not take him through my room. His wife is there. She +appears to have followed him. Anyhow, she recognised his voice, and told +me hurriedly why she came. I locked the door to the passage, for, as I +heard her story, I felt it might be serious, and at least you ought to +hear what she has to say before you acted. I hope you will excuse the +liberty I have taken, my lord." + +"Ponderby, as I have often told you, you are a gem! I will go into your +room, but you must remain there while I talk to this lady. No more +_tete-a-tete_ conversations with the unprotected for me." + +"I think she is honest, my lord, but in deep trouble." + + [Illustration: "Reeling off what she had to say as if it were a task + learned by rote."] + +"I am glad to have my opinion corroborated by so good a judge of +character as yourself, Ponderby." + +They went together to the valet's sitting-room, and there sat the woman, +with her dark head bowed upon arms outstretched along the table, her +shoulders shaking. She was plainly on the verge of hysterics, if, +indeed, she had not already crossed the boundary line. + +"Here is Mr. Trevelyan, madam," said Ponderby. "You wanted to speak with +him." + +She raised her head, dabbed her wet eyes nervously with her +handkerchief, and made an effort to pull herself together. When she +spoke, it was with rapid utterance, reeling off what she had to say as +if it were a task learned by rote. + +"I have at last come to the end of my tether, and to-night, if there is +no prospect of freedom, I shall destroy myself. Before this I have often +thought of suicide, but I am a cowardly person, and cling to life. Five +years ago my father went out to America bent on a motor tour; he took me +with him. Among other servants he engaged Charles Branksome, who had +proved himself an expert chauffeur. He was English, and came to us well +recommended. He intimated that he was of good family, but had his living +to earn. He was handsome then, and had a most ingratiating manner. The +person who called on you to-night bears little resemblance to the +Branksome of five years ago. I had often gone motoring with him while +in America, and I was young, and rather flighty: a foolish person +altogether. Perhaps you read about it in the papers. I cannot dwell on +the appalling mistake I made. + +"We became very well acquainted, and at last he professed to have fallen +in love with me, and I believed him. We were secretly married before a +justice of the peace in America, and I was not long left in doubt as to +the disaster that had befallen me. His sole desire was money. My father +being wealthy, he hoped to get all he cared to demand. My father, +however, is a very stubborn man, and, after his first shock on finding +the episode made much of by the American papers, he refused to pay +Branksome a penny, and returned forthwith to England. I never saw him +again, nor could I get into communication with him. Two years after my +mad act he died, and never even mentioned me in his will. + +"My husband is a liar, a thief, a forger, a gambler, and a brute. He has +maltreated me so that I have been left once or twice for dead, but +finally he broke me to his will. He is known as a cheat in every +gambling resort in Europe, and on the Atlantic liners. Lately I have +been used as a decoy in the way of which you have had experience. +Somehow he learned--indeed, that is his business--who were the rich +travellers on this boat. He thought, as this was the newest and largest +steamship on the ocean, its staff would not at first be thoroughly +organised, and that he might escape detection. He pointed you out to me +as you came on board, and said you were Lord Stranleigh, travelling as +Mr. Trevelyan. The rest you know. He forced me to hand to him the money +you had given, and told me it might be necessary for me to go on the +witness-stand when we reached New York, but, as you were very wealthy, +it is not likely you would allow it to go so far as that. His plan +was to demand a very moderate sum at first, which was to be a mere +beginning, and each exaction would be but a prelude for the next. He is +old at the game, and is wanted now by the authorities in New York for +blackmailing a very well-known millionaire." + +"Do you know the name of the millionaire?" + +She gave him the information. + +"Very well, madam. In the first place, you must do nothing reckless or +foolish. I shall see that this man is detained at New York on some +pretext or other--in fact, I shall arrange for this by wireless. You +should journey to one of the states where divorces are easily obtained. +If you will permit me, I shall be your banker. Even if Branksome +got free in New York, it will cost him dear, and his supplies are +precarious. You should experience no difficulty in evading him with +money in your possession. Do you agree?" + +"Oh, yes!" + +"That's settled, then. Ponderby, look into the corridor, and see that +the way of escape is clear." + +"I am sorry, my lord," she said, rising, "to cause you such trouble and +inconvenience." + +"No inconvenience at all," said Stranleigh, with his usual nonchalance, +"and I never allow myself to be troubled." + +Ponderby reported the way open, and the lady disappeared silently along +the passage. Stranleigh betook himself to Room 4390, and had a long talk +with the Hon. John Hazel, who, for the first time during the voyage, +seemed to be enjoying himself. + +Next morning the Hon. John paced up and down one deck after another, as +if in search of someone. On an almost deserted lower deck he met the +person whom he sought. + +"I beg your pardon," said Hazel in his suavest manner, "but I am trying +to find three men as tired of this journey as I am. I have never been on +a voyage before, and I confess I miss London and the convenience of its +clubs. A quiet little game of poker in the smoking-room might help to +while away the time." + +The keen eyes of Mr. Branksome Poole narrowed, as was a custom of +theirs, and he took in the points of the man who addressed him. + +"I am not much of a hand at poker," he said hesitatingly and +untruthfully. + +The Hon. John laughed. + +"Don't mind that in the least," he said. "The requirement for this game +is cash. I have approached several men, and they object to playing for +money; but I confess I don't give a rap for sitting at a card-table +unless there's something substantial on." + +"I'm with you there," agreed the stout man, his eyes glistening at the +thought of handling a pack of cards once more. His momentary hesitation +had been because he feared someone might recognise him, for he felt +himself quite able to cope with anyone when it came to the shuffle and +the deal. They were a strangely contrasted pair as they stood there, +the pleb and the patrician--the pleb grim and serious, the patrician +carrying off the situation with a light laugh--yet it was hard to say +which was the more expert scoundrel when it came to cards. + +A little later four men sat down to a table. Hazel ordered a new pack of +cards from the smoke-room steward, broke the seal, and pulled off the +wrapper. + +It is not worth while to describe the series of games: only the one +matters. At first Poole played very cautiously, watching out of the +tail of his eye for any officer who might spot him as one who had +been ordered off the green, and so expose him for what he was. The +consequence of this divided attention was soon apparent. He lost +heavily, and finally he drew a couple of fifty-pound notes from his +pocket-book. He fingered them for a moment as if loath to part with +paper so valuable. + +"Where's that steward?" he asked. + +"What do you want?" demanded Hazel, as though impatient for the game to +go on. + +"Change for a fifty." + +"I'll change it for you." And the Hon. John drew from his pocket a +handful of gold and five-pound bank-notes, counted out fifty pounds, and +shoved them across the table to Poole, who, still hesitating, was forced +reluctantly to give up the big bank-note. Now Poole began to play in +earnest, but still luck was against him, and soon the second fifty-pound +note was changed, for they were playing reasonably high. Hazel, after +glancing at the number on the note, thrust it carelessly into his +waistcoat pocket alongside its brother, as if it were of no more +account than a cigarette paper. Little did the pleb dream that he was up +against a man of brains. Hazel now possessed the two bank-notes that +could have been used in evidence against Lord Stranleigh, and he drew a +sigh of satisfaction. Poole only saw that here was a man, evidently +careless of money, possessing plenty of it, and extremely good-natured. +He had already recognised him as an aristocrat, and expected that, +whatever happened, he would treat it with a laugh, and perhaps leave the +table, so the pleb now began some fine work. Two games were played in +silence, and in the third it was the deal of Branksome Poole. Hazel +watched him like a beast of prey, conscious of every crooked move, yet +he did not seem in the least to be looking. He gazed at the cards dealt +him, rose to his feet, and spread the hand face upward on the table. + +"Sir, you are cheating," he said crisply. + +"You lie!" roared Branksome Poole, turning, nevertheless, a greenish +yellow, and moistening his parched lips. At the sound of the loud voice, +a steward came hurrying in. + +"Show your hand, if you dare!" challenged Hazel. "You have dealt +yourself----" And here he named the concealed cards one after another. +Poole made an effort to fling his hand into the rest of the pack, but +Hazel stopped him. + +"Show your hand! Show your hand!" he demanded. "These two gentlemen will +witness whether I have named the cards correctly or not. Steward, ask +the chief officer to come here, or, if he is not on duty, speak to the +captain." + +The steward disappeared, and shortly returned with the chief officer, to +whom Hazel briefly and graphically related what had happened. + +"Will you come with me to the captain's room?" requested the chief +officer. + +Branksome Poole had been through the mill before, and he offered no +resistance. + +When the wireless came in touch with the American shore, a dispatch +reached police headquarters in New York, informing them that Charles +Branksome, wanted for blackmailing Erasmus Blank, the millionaire, was +detained by the ship's authority for cheating at cards. + +When the great vessel arrived at her berth, Mrs. Branksome Poole was +quite unmolested as she took her ticket for the West. She was amply +supplied with money, and among her newly-acquired funds were two +fifty-pound notes which had been previously in her possession. + + + + +II.--AN AUTOMOBILE RIDE. + + +When Lord Stranleigh of Wychwood came to New York under his family name +of Trevelyan, he had intended to spend several weeks in that interesting +metropolis, but newspaper men speedily scattered his incognito to the +winds, and, what with interviewers, photographers, funny paragraphists +and the like, the young lord's life was made a burden to him. Despite +his innate desire to be polite to everyone, he soon found it impossible +to receive even a tenth part of those who desired speech with him. This +caused no diminution of interviews or special articles regarding his +plans, and his object in revisiting America. The sensational papers +alleged that he had untold millions to invest; that he had placed cash +on all the available projects in Europe, and now proposed to exploit +the United States in his insatiable desire to accumulate more wealth. + +Stranleigh changed his quarters three times, and with each move adopted +a new name. He endured it all with imperturbable good-nature, despite +the intense heat, but Ponderby was disgusted with the state of affairs, +and wished himself and his master back once more in that quiet village +known as London. + +"By Jove! Ponderby," said Stranleigh, "they say three moves are as bad +as a fire, and the temperature to-day seems to corroborate this, for we +are making our third move. Have you anything to suggest?" + +"I should suggest, my lord," said Ponderby, with as much dignity as the +sweltering day would allow, "that we return to London." + +"A brilliant and original idea, Ponderby. Many thanks. Go down at once +to the steamship office, and book the best accommodation you can get on +the first big liner leaving New York." + +Ponderby departed instantly, with a deep sigh of relief. + +Stranleigh's life had been made more of a burden to him than was +necessary through the indefatigable exertions of a fellow countryman, +whose name was Wentworth Parkes. This individual brought with him a +letter of introduction from the Duke of Rattleborough. Rattleborough +was an acquaintance, but not a particular friend of Stranleigh's; +nevertheless, a Duke overtops a mere Earl in social eminence, much as +the Singer building overtops the structure next to it. + +Wentworth Parkes told Stranleigh he had been in America for something +more than a year. He had been very successful, making plenty of money, +but expending it with equal celerity. Now he determined to get hold of +something that contained princely possibilities for the future. This he +had secured by means of an option on the Sterling Motor Company at +Detroit, and the plant alone, he alleged, was worth more than the +capital needed to bring the factory up to its full output. J. E. +Sterling, he went on to explain, knew more about automobile designing +than anyone else in the world, notwithstanding the fact that he was +still a young man. He would undoubtedly prove to be the true successor +of Edison, and everyone knew what fortunes had come to those who +interested themselves in the products of the great Thomas Alva, who up +to date had proved to be the most successful money-making inventor the +world had ever seen, to which Lord Stranleigh calmly agreed. Well, J. E. +Sterling was just such another, and all a man required to enter the +combination, was the small sum of one hundred thousand dollars. This +would purchase a share in the business which might be sold within a year +or two for millions. Detroit was the centre of automobile manufacturing +in America; a delightful city to live in; the finest river in the world +running past its doors, with a greater tonnage of shipping than passed +through the Suez Canal. + +Mr. Parkes was a glib and efficient talker, who might have convinced +anyone with money to spare, but he felt vaguely that his fluency was not +producing the intended effect on Lord Stranleigh. His difficulty +heretofore had been to obtain access to men of means, and now that he +had got alongside the most important of them all, he was nonplussed to +notice that his eloquence somehow missed its mark. Stranleigh remained +scrupulously courteous, but was quite evidently not in the least +interested. So shrewd a man as Parkes might have known that it is not +easy to arouse enthusiasm in a London clubman under the most favourable +auspices, and this difficulty is enormously increased when the person +attacked is already so rich that any further access of wealth offers no +temptation to him. + +Parkes had come to believe that the accumulation of gold was the only +thing the average man really cared about, so he failed, by moving +against the dead wall of Stranleigh's indifference towards money, +whereas he might have succeeded had he approached the sentimental side +of the young man. Indeed, Mr. Wentworth Parkes seemed to catch a +glimmering of this idea as his fairy visions of the future fell flat, so +he reversed his automobile talk, and backed slowly out. + +Conversation lagging, his lordship asked a few casual questions about +the Duke of Rattleborough and other persons he knew in London, but +if any of these queries were intended to embarrass his visitor, +Stranleigh's failure was equal to that of Parkes himself. The latter +answered all enquiries so promptly and correctly that Stranleigh +inwardly chided himself for his latent distrust of the man who now, +quick to see how the land lay, got his motor car in position once +more, but took another direction. He mopped his forehead with his +handkerchief, and drew a slight sigh. + +"You see," he said, in a discouraged tone, "a person brought up as I +have been, to do nothing in particular that is of any use to the world, +finds himself at a great disadvantage in a hustling land like the United +States, where the fellows are all so clever, and have been trained from +their very boyhood to be alert business men. I have a good thing in this +option, and if once I got upon my feet, I could soon build up a great +and profitable business. My chief trouble is to convince any capitalist +of this, and if he asks me whether or not the scheme will produce a +fortune within six months or a year, I am forced to admit there is +little chance of it. An American wishes to turn over his money quickly; +a long look into futurity is not for him. He wishes to buy one railway +on Monday, another on Tuesday, amalgamate them on Wednesday, and sell +out the stock to the public at several millions profit on Thursday, then +rake in the boodle on Friday, which proves an unlucky day for the +investors. When I truthfully confess it will be a year before I get +fairly under way, I am immediately at a discount. Capitalists won't +listen any further." + +Parkes saw that for the first time during the interview Lord Stranleigh +began to show interest, reserved though it was. + +"Do you know anything about cars?" asked his lordship. + +"I can take apart any motor in the market, and put it together again, +always leaving it a little better than when I found it." + +"And this machine--invented by the Detroit man--does it fill the bill?" + +"It's the best motor in the world to-day," asserted Parkes, with a +return of his old confidence. + +Stranleigh smiled slightly. + +"I think," he said, "you have been very successful in catching the +enthusiasm of America. You deal glibly with superlatives. Mr. Sterling +is the most remarkable man on earth, Detroit the most beautiful city on +the globe, and your motor-car beats the universe." + +"Well, my lord, I don't disclaim the superlatives, but I insist on their +truth. As I said, I deal in truth, and have suffered somewhat in pocket +by doing so." + +A slight shade of perplexity came into the young earl's face. There was +something deferential in the tone used by Parkes when he enunciated the +phrase "my lord," which Stranleigh did not like. Neither phrase nor tone +would have been used by any person in his own circle of acquaintance +addressing another in the same set. His former distrust was again +aroused. As he remained silent, Parkes went on-- + +"You need not take my word for the automobile, which after all is the +crux of the situation. I have one of them here in New York. I tested it +very fully on the way from Detroit to this city, travelling in it the +whole distance. Let me take you for a drive. You doubtless know all +about a motor-car, for I was told in London that you owned at least a +dozen of them." + +"I daresay it's true. I'm not sure. Nevertheless, I am so unfortunate as +to have only a slight knowledge of their mechanics. I have driven a good +deal, but not being so energetic as Prince Henry of Prussia, I leave +details to my chauffeurs." + +"Very good. You are doubtless well acquainted with the merits of a car +from the owner's point of view. Come out with me in this Detroit motor, +and I will be your chauffeur, or you may drive the machine yourself, if +you remember that in this country you keep to the right side of the +road." + +Thus the appointment was made, and was kept by Lord Stranleigh. At the +end of his run, he said to Parkes-- + +"The car seems to be a satisfactory piece of construction, but I own two +or three American cars in London, any one of which, I think, is equally +good; in fact, as Mark Twain said about his Jumping Frog--'I see no +points about this frog different from any other frog.' However, I will +consider your proposal, and will let you know the result. Meanwhile, +many thanks for a most interesting ride." + +Stranleigh sauntered down town, and entered a cable office. + +"Can I send a message to London, and leave a deposit here for the reply, +that it may not cost my London friend anything?" + +"Certainly, sir." + +Stranleigh wrote-- + + "Duke of Rattleborough, Camperdown Club, London. + + "A man calling himself Wentworth Parkes presented a letter + of introduction from you to me. Please cable whether or not + he is reliable." + +Two days later, Stranleigh received a reply-- + + "Letter a forgery. Parkes was my valet for three years, then + bolted, leaving a lot of little things behind him, but not + if they were portable and valuable. Believe he is now + abroad, though the London police are yearning for him. + RATTLEBOROUGH." + +Now began the persistent pursuit of Stranleigh, which culminated in his +sending Ponderby down to the steamship office to buy tickets for +England. The young man said nothing to anyone of the cablegram he had +received, nor did he inform the police of London the whereabouts of +their quarry. He rather pitied the poor wretch, as he called him, but he +had no use for a thief and a liar, so he refused to hold further +communication with him, or to make any explanation. Parkes, finding he +could not gain admission to Stranleigh, took to sending letters by +special messenger, first adopting an aggrieved tone, a reproachful +suggestion of injured innocence running through his correspondence +like a minor note in a piece of music; then he became the victim of +an unscrupulous millionaire, asserting that Stranleigh had promised +to finance the proposed company, and breathing threats of legal +proceedings. Indeed, as the recipient read these later communications, +he realised they were evidently written with a view to publicity in law +courts, for there emanated from them sentiments of great patriotism. The +United States, Stranleigh learned, would not put up with his villainy, +as would have been the case with legal proceedings in decadent England, +where judges were under the thumb of a debased aristocracy. + +Stranleigh had no ambition to appear in the courts of either country, so +he removed from one hotel to another, but apparently he was watched, for +Parkes ran him down wherever he betook himself. Thus we come to the +moment when the sedate but overjoyed Ponderby returned with the +steamship tickets, which Stranleigh thrust into his pocket. + +"Shall I pack up now, my lord?" + +"I wish you would. The valet of the hotel will assist you. Prepare three +boxes; one for yourself and two for me, filling mine with such clothing +as I should take were I going to visit a friend in the country for a +week or two. Place the other luggage in charge of the manager of the +hotel, and say I will telegraph when I make up my mind where it is to be +sent." + +And then, to Ponderby's amazement, the young man left for Boston, and +took passage in the steamer for St. John, New Brunswick. + +"You see, Ponderby," said his lordship, when they got out into the +ocean, "the estimable Parkes, if he is watching us, is already aware +that you have booked for Southampton. He may possibly set the law in +motion, and appear with some emissaries thereof aboard the liner before +she sails, so we might be compelled to remain in this country which he +so ardently loves." + +"But the steamship tickets, my lord? They cost a lot of money." + +"Quite so, my economical Ponderby, but remember for your consolation +that when you step ashore from this boat, you will be under the British +flag. You may telegraph to the company and tell them to sell the +tickets, meanwhile sending them by post to New York. Here they are. +Whatever money the company returns, is to be retained by you further to +mitigate your disappointment. I have no doubt that in thus bolting for +Canada you feel like a culprit escaping from justice, but we are only +escaping from Parkes. Having pestered me as much about Detroit as he has +done, that city will be the last place in which he is likely to look for +me. We are making for Detroit, Ponderby, by the most roundabout route I +could choose, seeing that the Panama Canal is not yet open, and thus I +am unable to reach the autometropolis by way of San Francisco." + +After passing through Canada, Lord Stranleigh settled himself very +comfortably in a luxurious suite of rooms situated near the top storey +of a luxurious hotel in the city of the Straits, under the assumed +commonplace name of Henry Johnson. The windows of his apartment afforded +wide and interesting views of skyscrapers and noble public edifices, +with a wilderness of roofs extending towards the misty horizon to the +west, north, and east, while to the south flowed the majestic river, its +blue surface enlivened by stately steamers and picturesque sailing +craft. + +The gloomy valet did not share his master's admiration of the scene. +Ponderby was heart and soul a Londoner, and although forced to admit +that the Thames was grey and muddy, and its shipping for the most part +sombre and uncouth, that tidal water remained for him the model of all +other streams. He was only partially consoled by the fact that five +cents brought him across to the Canadian shore, where he might inhale +deep breaths of air that fluttered the Union Jack. + +Stranleigh, confident that he had shaken off pursuit, enjoyed himself in +a thoroughly democratic manner, sailing up stream and down, on one of +the pearl white passenger boats, that carried bands which played the +immortal airs of Sousa. + +He began his second week in Detroit by engaging a motor to make a tour +of the motor manufacturing district. He was amazed at the size and +extent of the buildings, and recognised, among the names painted +thereon, the designation of cars that were familiar to him. He had come +to believe Parkes such an untruthful person, that he had taken a big +discount from everything he said, and so was unprepared to find the +reality far in advance of the description. However, he saw no sign +bearing the name of the Sterling Motor Company, so asked his chauffeur +to convey him thither. The chauffeur, pondering a moment, was forced to +admit that he had never heard of the firm. + +"Then be so good," requested Stranleigh, "as to drop into one of these +offices and enquire. It is likely that someone will know the names of +all other companies in the same line of manufacture." + +"I don't doubt," said the chauffeur, "that they know all about it, but +it wouldn't be business to direct a possible customer to a rival firm." + +Stranleigh smiled. + +"I have not been in this country so long as you have," he said, "but I +think you will find an American business man ignores rivalry when he has +an opportunity of doing an act of courtesy." + +The chauffeur drew up at a huge factory and went inside. Returning very +promptly, he informed his fare that they knew of no Sterling Motor +Company, but there was in Woodbridge Street a young engineer named J. E. +Sterling, who, they believed, made motor-cars. + +"J. E. Sterling! That's the man I want. Where is Woodbridge Street?" + +"Right away down town; next door, as you might say, to the river front." + +"Very good; we'll go there. Just drive past Mr. Sterling's place, for if +I do not like the look of it I shall not go in." + +By and by they turned into Woodward Avenue, and raced down town at a +speed which Stranleigh thought must surely exceed the legal limit, if +there was one. Woodbridge Street proved to be crowded with great +lumbering trucks, loaded with vegetables for the most part, and among +these vehicles the chauffeur threaded his way cautiously. They passed a +small, rather insignificant shop, above whose window was painted-- + + "J. E. STERLING. Motor Engineer. Repairs + promptly executed. Satisfaction guaranteed." + +When the chauffeur came to a halt a little further on, Stranleigh said-- + +"The place doesn't look very inviting, but as Mr. Sterling guarantees +satisfaction, I think it but right to call upon him. I sha'n't need you +any more to-day." + +The door being open, Stranleigh walked in unannounced. A two-seated +runabout, evidently brand new, stood by the window, where it could be +viewed by passers-by. Further down the room rested a chassis, over which +two men, one middle-aged and the other probably twenty-five, were +bending, with tools in their hands. They were dressed in grease-stained +blue overalls, and they looked up as Stranleigh entered. + +"I wish to see Mr. J. E. Sterling," he said. + +"My name is Sterling," replied the younger man, putting down his tools, +and coming forward. + +"I understood," went on Stranleigh, "that there was a Sterling Motor Car +Company." + +"There will be," answered the young man confidently, "but that's in the +sweet by and by. It hasn't materialised so far. What can I do for you?" + +"Well, you can give me some information regarding J. E. Sterling. I want +to learn if it tallies with what I have heard." + +The young man laughed. + +"It depends on who has been talking about me. I daresay you have been +told things that might require explanation." + +"I heard nothing but praise," his lordship assured him. "It was said you +were the true successor of Thomas Alva Edison." + +Sterling laughed even more heartily than before. + +"I'm afraid they were getting at you. A man may be a creditable +inventor, and a good, all-round engineer without being able to hold a +candle to Edison. Are you looking for an automobile?" + +"No; as I told you at first, I am looking for J. E. Sterling." + +"I was going to say that I am not yet prepared to supply cars. I do +repairing and that sort of thing, merely to keep the wolf from the door, +and leave me a little surplus to expend in my business. My real work, +however, is experimenting, and when I am able to turn out a machine that +satisfies me, my next business will be to form a company, for one can't +do anything in this trade without capital." + +"The competition must be intense." + +"It is, but there's always room for a first-rate article, and the +production of a first-rate article is my ambition." + +"Is that your work in the window?" + +"Yes." + +"Does it come up to your expectations?" + +The young man's face grew serious; his brow wrinkled almost into a +frown, and he remained silent for a few moments. + +"Well, I can't exactly say that it does," he answered at last, "still, I +think the faults I have found can be remedied with a little patience. On +the other hand, I fear the improvement I have put in this car may not +be as great as I thought when I was working at it." + +Lord Stranleigh looked at the young man with evident approval; his +frankness and honesty commended themselves to him. + +"Do you mind showing me your improvement and explaining its function?" + +"Not at all. You will remember, however, that this exhibition is +confidential, for I have not yet patented the mechanism." + +"I shall not mention to anyone what you show me. You asked me a moment +ago if I wished to buy an automobile, and I said I did not. I have made +a little money in my time, but mostly, it seems to me, by flukes. I do +not pretend to be a business man, yet such is the conceit of humanity +that I wish to invest some of my money to back my own judgment. If I +lose the cash, it won't cripple me to any appreciable extent. On the +other hand, should the investment prove satisfactory, I shall have more +faith in my judgment than has hitherto been the case. In any event, I +promise to assist you in the formation of your company." + +"That's all right!" cried the young engineer, with enthusiasm. "My own +judgment of men is frequently at fault, but somehow I'd stake my bottom +dollar on you. Come over to the window, and I'll show you how the wheels +go round." + +The two men approached the car in the window, and as they did so a third +person on the pavement outside stopped suddenly, and regarded them with +evident astonishment. Neither of those inside saw him, but if one or the +other had looked through the glass, he would have recognised the +sinister face of Wentworth Parkes who, having satisfied himself as to +the visitor's identity, turned away and retraced his steps. + +Sterling lifted up a leather curtain which hung down in front from the +passenger's seat and disclosed a line of three upright pegs, rising two +or three inches from the floor of the car. They were concealed when the +curtain was lowered. + +"If you give the matter any thought," said Sterling, "you will discover +that the passenger in an automobile is in rather a helpless position. +His chauffeur may faint, or even die at his wheel from heart failure, as +has been the case in several instances I know of, or he may be drunk, +and therefore unreasonable or obstinate, driving the car with danger to +all concerned, yet if his master attempt to displace him while the car +is going at high speed, disaster is certain. Now, the centre peg here +will stop the engine and put on the brakes. A pressure by the foot on +the right-hand peg turns the car to the right; and on the left-hand to +the left. In the ordinary car the passenger can do nothing to save +himself, but here he may stop the car dead, or, if he prefers it, may +disconnect the steering wheel, and guide the car at his will." + +"Why, I think that's an excellent device!" cried Stranleigh. + +"I thought so, too, but there are disadvantages. The crises in which it +could be brought to play are rare. As a general rule, a chauffeur is +much more to be trusted than the owner, and if the owner happens to be a +nervous man, he might interfere, with deplorable results." + +"Yes," said Stranleigh, "it's like the pistol in Texas. You may not need +it, but when you do you want it very badly. Has anyone else seen this +contrivance?" + +"No one except my assistant." + +"Could you lend me this car to-morrow?" + +"Certainly." + +"Then place the car in charge of a competent chauffeur, who knows +nothing of your safety device, and send it up to my hotel at eleven +o'clock. Tell him to ask for Henry Johnson. I'll take a little trip into +the country, where I can test the car on some unfrequented road." + +"Better cross the river to Canada," said Sterling, with a smile. "Things +are quiet over there." + +"Very well," agreed Stranleigh. "You are a busy man, and I have taken up +a considerable amount of your time. You must allow me to pay you for +it." + +The young man's face grew red underneath its spots of grease, and he +drew back a step. + +"You have spent your own time to an equal amount, so we'll allow one +expenditure to balance the other." + +"My time is of no account. I'm a loafer." + +"I could not accept any money, sir." + +The two looked at one another for a moment, and gentlemen understand +each other even though one wears the greasy clothes of a mechanic. + +"I beg your pardon," said Stranleigh, softly. "Now, let me ask you one +question. Have you given an option on this business to anyone?" + +Sterling glanced up in surprise. + +"Why, yes, I did give an option to an Englishman. By the way, you're +English, are you not?" + +"I was born over there." + +"This Englishman wasn't your sort. He was a most plausible talker, and +as I told you, my judgment of men is sometimes at fault. I gave him +an option for two months, but I think all he wanted was to get an +automobile for nothing. He said he represented a syndicate of English +capitalists, some of whom were in New York, and he borrowed the only car +I had completed at that time. That was four months ago. Like the +preacher after the futile collection, I wanted to get back my hat at +least, but although I wrote letter after letter, I never received any +answer. It wasn't worth my while to set the police on his track, so I +tried to forget him, and succeeded until you spoke of an option just +now." + +"That agreement lapsed two months ago?" + +"Yes." + +"Then write out an option for me, good for a week. I'll pay you five +hundred dollars down, to be forfeited if I fail to do what I promise." + +"I'll give you the document with pleasure, but it is unnecessary to make +a deposit." + +"This is business, you know, Mr. Sterling. You are pretending you are as +bad a business man as I am. I don't know much about the law of America, +but I think you will find that unless a deposit is made, your instrument +would be invalid in a court of law. There must be value received, I +believe, when a bargain is made." + +"All right," said Sterling, "but I'll give you back your money if you +regret the deal." + +He went to a desk in the corner, and wrote out the agreement, in which +he acknowledged the receipt of five hundred dollars. Stranleigh selected +from his wallet five bills for a hundred dollars each, and handed them +over, then bidding farewell to the engineer, walked to his hotel, +followed at a discreet distance by Mr. Wentworth Parkes. + +Having located his quarry, Parkes retraced his steps to Woodbridge +Street, deep in thought. His first resolution was to try bluster, but he +abandoned that idea for two reasons, each conclusive in its way. His +slight acquaintance with the engineer had convinced him that while much +could be done with Sterling by persuasion, he would not yield to force, +and secondly, the motor builder had no money. Whatever gold he was to +acquire in his deal must come from Lord Stranleigh. It was, therefore, a +mild and innocent lamb of a man who entered the machine shop of +Woodbridge Street. + +"Hello!" cried Sterling, who seemed taken aback by the encounter. "What +have you done with my automobile, and why did you not answer my +letters?" + +"Your automobile is here in Detroit; a little the worse for wear, +perhaps, but there is nothing wrong with it that you cannot put right in +short order. As for letters, I never received any. I thought I had +notified you of my changed address." + +"As a matter of fact, you didn't." + +"In that case, I apologise most humbly. The truth is, Mr. Sterling, +I have been working practically night and day, often under very +discouraging circumstances. Until quite recently there was nothing +hopeful to tell, and the moment I struck a bit of good luck, I came on +here in the car to let you know. You see, it was very difficult to +interest capital in a proposition that apparently has no substantiality +behind it. If you had possessed a big factory in going order, that I +could have shown a man over, the company would have been formed long +ago. It therefore surprised me exceedingly, when I passed your shop +less than a hour ago, to see standing in this window, while you were +explaining the car to him, the man on whom I chiefly depended. You must +put it down to my credit that instead of coming in as I had intended, +thus embarrassing him, and perhaps spoiling a deal by my interference, I +passed on, waited until he came out, and followed him to his hotel." + +Sterling was plainly nonplussed. + +"I wish you had come in an hour earlier," he said. "You couldn't have +interfered with a deal, because your option ran out two months ago." + +"I know that," said Parkes regretfully, "but I thought the good work +on my part would have made up for a legal lapse. Indeed, Mr. Sterling, +if you will allow me to say so, I had such supreme faith in your +own honesty, that I believed you would not hesitate to renew our +arrangement." + +"That's just the point," said Sterling. "Had you come in an hour sooner, +you would have been in time. As it is, I have granted a new option to +the man you saw here with me." + +"What name did he give you? Trevelyan?" + +"No; the name he mentioned was Henry Johnson." + +Parkes laughed a little, then checked himself. + +"He went under the name of Trevelyan in New York, but I know neither +that nor Johnson is his true title. Well, is he going in with you, +then?" + +"He has asked for a week to decide." + +Now Parkes laughed more heartily. + +"I took him out in your motor in New York, and there also he asked for a +week in which to decide. He seems to have taken the opportunity to come +West, and try to forestall me." + +"Oh, I don't believe he's that sort of man," cried Sterling, +impatiently. + +"Perhaps I do him an injustice. I sincerely hope so. Of course you're +not compelled to show your hand, but I think, in the circumstances, you +might let me know just how far you've got." + +"Yes, I think you are entitled to that. I remember I was rather +astonished when I learned he knew I had given a former option, but I +shall be very much disappointed if he doesn't run straight. Still, I +have been mistaken in men before. He took an option for a week, and paid +me five hundred dollars down in cash, to be forfeited if he does not +exercise it." + +"Well, if the money is not counterfeit, that certainly looks like +running straight. And meanwhile, what are you to do?" + +"I am to do nothing, except send this car up to his hotel with a +suitable chauffeur, at eleven o'clock to-morrow. He is going to test +it along the Canadian roads." + +"Was anything said about the amount of capital he was to put up?" + +"Not a word; we didn't get that far." + +Parkes took a few turns up and down the room then he said suddenly: + +"Have you any particular chauffeur in mind?" + +"No; I was just going out to make arrangements." + +"You don't need to make any arrangements. I'll be your chauffeur, and +can show off this car better than a stranger, who perhaps might be +interested in some other automobile, and try to get your customer away. +It's to my interest, having spent so much time on it, to see the deal +put through. Besides, I know your man, and now that I have encountered +him here in Detroit, he cannot deny that I sent him to your shop. I +think he owes me at least a commission for bringing you together. I +realise, of course, that I have no legal claim on either of you, yet I +am sure, if the facts were proved, any court would allow me an agent's +commission." + +"I'll pay your commission," said Sterling. + +"You haven't got the money, and he has." + +"Very well; I will let you go as chauffeur, but I must inform him who +you are." + +Parkes shook his head. + +"My dear Sterling, you are the most honest and impractical man I ever +met. If you give him warning, he'll merely leave you in the lurch as he +did me." + +"Do you intend to disguise yourself?" + +"Certainly not." + +"Then he will recognise you at once." + +"I understand that class of Englishman much better than you do. He will +never see me, and I don't know that I shall call myself to his attention +at all. My own idea is to let the deal go through, claiming only +the privilege of being your adviser, and keeping altogether in the +background. I can give you valuable hints about dealing with this sort +of man. He will regard me as a servant, and unless I said to him: 'Lord +Stranleigh of Wychwood, why did you bolt so suddenly from New York?' he +would never have the least idea who was sitting beside him, and even +then he would exhibit no surprise." + +"Lord Stranleigh?" echoed Sterling in amazement. + +"Yes; that's the man you're dealing with, and he's worth untold +millions. I'll go up to this hotel now, and see him, if you prefer that +I should do so." + +"No; you may take him out to-morrow, but I advise you to say nothing to +him about me or my business. Whatever arrangement we come to finally, +you shall be recompensed for your share in the negotiations." + +Parkes' prediction regarding Stranleigh's non-recognition of him proved +accurate. The young man simply said-- + +"We will cross the ferry, and run up along the Canadian shore as far as +Lake St. Clair." + +The road continued along the river bank, with no fences on the left +side. Although residences were fairly numerous, there was little +traffic on the highway. The car was running at a moderate pace when +the chauffeur suddenly diverted it towards the river, and with an +exceedingly narrow margin escaped tumbling down the bank. + +"I say," murmured Stranleigh, "I don't like that you know." + +"There's worse to come," said the chauffeur menacingly. "You will +promise to pay me a hundred thousand dollars, or I will dash you and the +car over the edge into the river. If you consider your life worth that +sum, speak quickly." + +"Ah, it is you, Parkes? I hope you realise that you will dash yourself +over at the same time?" + +"I know that, but I'm a desperate man. Just get that through your head." + +"You are aware that a promise given under duress is not binding?" + +"Stow talk!" roared Parkes. "Say 'yes' or 'no.'" + +"I say 'No!'" replied Stranleigh, so quietly that the other was +unprepared for the prompt action which followed. Stranleigh flung his +arms around the man, and jerked him backward from his wheel. His +lordship was in good athletic condition; the ex-valet had looked too +much on the wine when it was red, and on the highball when it sparkled +in the glass. He felt helpless as a child. + +"Now," said Stranleigh, "we will see who is the coward. I'll lay a wager +with you that this car tumbles off the bank before five minutes are +past." + +Stranleigh with his heels was working the two outside pegs, and the car +acted as if it were drunker than a lord, and almost as drunk as the +valet. + +"In God's name," cried the latter, "let me go. We shall be wrecked in a +moment." + +"No, we won't." + +"I implore you, Lord Stranleigh!" + +"I'll save your life, but will give you a lesson against attempted +blackmail." + +He steered to the edge of the bank, then pressed the middle peg, and +stopped the car. Rising and carrying Parkes with him, he hurled him +headlong over the slight earthy precipice into the water, which was +shallow at that point. Parkes arose spluttering, and found Stranleigh +had turned the car round, and with a smile on his face, was looking +down at his dripping victim. + +"You'll suffer for this!" cried Parkes, shaking his fist at him. "We're +in a country, thank God, where we think very little of lords." + +"Oh, I don't think much of lords myself, in any country," replied +Stranleigh suavely, "and even less of their valets, notwithstanding I've +a very good one myself. Now listen to my advice. I shall be in the +United States before you can reach a telephone, and I don't see how you +can get me back unless I wish to return. I advise you not to stir up the +police. The Duke of Rattleborough cabled to me that a certain section of +that useful body is anxious to hear of you. Call on Mr. Sterling, and +whatever he thinks is just compensation for your introduction I will +pay, but before you get the money, you must ensure both of us against +further molestation in any way." + +Stranleigh drove up to the shop on Woodbridge Street, and listened to +the account Sterling gave of Parkes' visit and conversation, and his +explanation of how he had come to allow him to drive the car. + +"That's quite all right and satisfactory," said his lordship. "I never +for a moment distrusted you. Still, I did get your name from Parkes, and +I owe him something for that. What do you think would be a fair payment +to make? I threw him into the river, but though it's clean, clear water, +I expect no reward." + +"If you'll allow me to pay him the five hundred dollars you gave me +yesterday, I think the rogue will get much more than he deserves." + +"Very good; I'll add another five hundred, but see that he signs some +legal promise not to molest us further. I'll capitalise your company to +the extent of any amount between a hundred thousand dollars and half a +million." + + + + +III.--THE GOD IN THE CAR. + + +Young Lord Stranleigh always proved a disappointment to a thorough-going +Radical, for he differed much from the conventional idea of what a +hereditary proud peer should be. He was not overbearing on the one hand, +nor condescending on the other, being essentially a shy, unassuming +person, easily silenced by any controversialist who uttered statements +of sufficient emphasis. He never seemed very sure about anything, +although undoubtedly he was a judge of well-fitting clothes, and the +tailoring of even the remoter parts of America rather pleased him. + +One thing that met his somewhat mild disapproval was undue publicity. He +shrank from general notice, and tried to efface himself when reporters +got on his track. In order, then, to live the quiet and simple life, +his lordship modified a stratagem he had used on a previous occasion +with complete success. He arranged that the obedient but unwilling +Ponderby should enact the country gentleman of England, bent on +enlarging his mind, and rounding out his experiences by residence in +the United States. Ponderby wished to get back to the old country, but +was too well-trained to say so. Lord Stranleigh, under the humble +designation of Henry Johnson, set for himself the part of Ponderby's +chauffeur, a _role_ he was well fitted to fill, because of his love for +motoring, and his expertness in the art. He dressed the character to +perfection, being always particular in the matter of clothes, and was +quite admirable in raising his forefinger deferentially to the edge of +his cap, a salute whose effect Ponderby endangered by his unfortunate +habit of blushing. + +Accustomed to self-suppression though he was, Ponderby could not +altogether conceal from Lord Stranleigh his dislike of the metamorphosis +that was proposed. He had been born a servant and brought up a servant, +with the result that he was a capable one, and posing as a gentleman was +little to his taste. Of course, he would do anything Lord Stranleigh +commanded, and that without consciously hinting disapproval, but the +earl shrank from giving a command as much as he would have disliked +receiving one. He was suave enough with the general public, but just a +little more so in dealing with those who depended on him. + +"Did you ever visit the ancient village of Burford, Ponderby?" he asked +on this occasion. + +"Burford in England, my lord?" + +"Ponderby," pleaded Stranleigh, "kindly oblige me by omitting the +appellation." + +"Burford in England, sir?" + +"That's better," said the earl with a smile, "but we will omit the 'sir' +in future, also. I am a chauffeur, you know. Yes, I do mean Burford in +Oxfordshire, nestling cosily beside the brown river Windrush, a village +of very ancient houses." + +"I have never been there." Ponderby swallowed the phrase "my lord" just +in time. + +"Then you have not seen the priory of that place; the ruins of a +beautiful old English manor-house? It forms the background of a +well-known modern picture by Waller--'The Empty Saddle.' The estate was +purchased by Lenthall, Speaker of the House of Commons during the Long +Parliament. Kings have put up at the Priory, the last being William the +Third. Think of that, Ponderby! Royalty! I know how you will respect the +house on that account. One of Lenthall's descendants was served by an +ideal butler, who was happy, contented, well-paid; therefore, to all +outward appearances, satisfied. One day he fell heir to three thousand +pounds, which at present would be not quite fifteen thousand dollars, +but at that time was a good deal more. Against his master's protests, he +resigned his butlership. + +"'I have always wished to live,' he confessed, 'at the rate of three +thousand a year; to live as a gentleman for that period. I will return +to you a year from to-day, and if you wish to engage me, I shall be +happy to re-enter your service.' + +"He spent his long-coveted year and the three thousand pounds, returning +and taking up his old service again on the date he had set. Now, +Ponderby, there's a precedent for you, and I know how you love +precedents. Remembering this historical fact, I have placed in the bank +of Altonville fifteen thousand dollars to your credit. You cannot +return to old England just yet, but you may enjoy New England. Already +constituting myself your servant, I have taken a furnished house for +you, and all I ask in return is that I may officiate as your chauffeur. +I hope to make some interesting experiments with the modern American +automobile." + +And so it was arranged. Lord Stranleigh at the wheel saw much of a +charming country; sometimes with Ponderby in the back seat, but more +often without him, for the inestimable valet was quite evidently +ill-at-ease through this change of their relative positions. + +One balmy, beautiful day during the exceptionally mild Indian summer of +that year, Stranleigh left Altonville alone in his motor, and turned +into a road that led northward, ultimately reaching the mountains to be +seen dimly in the autumn haze far to the north. It was a favourite drive +of his, for it led along the uplands within sight of a group of crystal +lakes with well-wooded banks on the opposite shore. The district was +practically untouched by commerce, save that here and there along the +valley stood substantial mills, originally built to take advantage of +the water power from the brawling river connecting the lakes. Some +of these factories had been abandoned, and were slowly becoming as +picturesque as an old European castle. Others were still in going order, +and doubtless the valley had once been prosperous, but lagging behind +an age of tremendous progress, had lost step, as it were, with the +procession. Lack of adequate railway connection with the outside world +was the alleged cause, but the conservatism of the mill-owners, who, in +an age of combination, had struggled on individually to uphold the +gospel of letting well alone, a campaign that resulted in their being +left alone, had probably more to do with bringing about adversity than +the absence of railways. Some of the mills had been purchased by the +Trusts, and closed up. One or two still struggled on, hopelessly +battling for individualism and independence, everyone but themselves +recognising that the result was a foregone conclusion. + +Yet for a man who wished to rest, and desired, like the old-fashioned +millers, to be left alone, this countryside was indeed charming. The +summer visitors had all departed, missing the sublimest time of the +year. Stranleigh had the road to himself, and there was no annoying +speed limit to hamper the energy of his machine. Without any thought of +his disconsolate valet moping about an unnecessarily large and +well-furnished house, the selfish young man breathed the exhilarating +air, and revelled in his freedom. + +He passed a young couple, evidently lovers, standing on a grassy knoll, +gazing across a blue lake at the wooded banks on the other side, +seemingly at a fine old colonial mansion which stood in an opening of +the woods, with well-kept grounds sloping down to the water's edge. + +A man driving a car enjoys small opportunity for admiring scenery and +architecture, so Stranleigh paid little regard to the view, but caught a +fleeting glimpse of a beautiful girl, in whose expression there appeared +a tinge of sadness which enhanced her loveliness; then he was past, with +the empty road before him. He fell into a reverie, a most dangerous +state of mind for a chauffeur, since a fall into a reverie on the part +of a driver may mean a fall into a ravine on the part of the machine. +The reverie, however, was interrupted by a shout, and then by another. +He slowed down, and looking back over his shoulder saw that the young +man was sprinting towards him at a record-breaking speed. Stranleigh +declutched his automobile, and applying the brakes came to a standstill. +The young man ran up breathlessly. + +"You are the chauffeur of that Englishman in Altonville, are you not?" +he panted, breathing hard. + +"Yes." + +"Are you going to meet him, or anything of that sort?" + +"No; I'm out for my own pleasure." + +"I'll give you a dollar if you take my wife and me back to Altonville." + +Stranleigh smiled. + +"I'll go, my chief; I'm ready," he murmured. "It is not for your silver +bright, but for your winsome lady." + +"My wife has sprained her ankle, and cannot walk," explained the young +man. + +"I am sorry to hear that," replied Lord Stranleigh. "Get in, and we will +go back to her in a jiffy." + +The young man sprang into the car, which the amateur chauffeur turned +very deftly, and in a few moments they drew up close to the grassy bank +where the girl was sitting. The young husband very tenderly lifted her +to the back seat, and the polite chauffeur, after again expressing his +regret at the accident, drove the car swiftly to Altonville, stopping at +the office of the only doctor. + +The young man rang the bell, and before the door was opened, he had +carried the girl up the steps. Presently he returned, and found +Stranleigh still sitting in the chauffeur's seat, meditatively +contemplating the trafficless street. His late passenger thrust hand +in pocket, and drew forth a silver dollar. + +"I am ever so much obliged," he said, "and am sorry to have detained you +so long." + +"The detention was nothing. To be of assistance, however slight, is a +pleasure, marred only by the fact of the lady's misadventure. I hope to +hear that her injury is not serious, and then I shall be well repaid." + +"You will not be repaid," returned the young man, with a slight frown on +his brow, "until you have accepted this dollar." + +Stranleigh laughed gently. + +"I told you at the beginning that I was not working for coin." + +The young man came closer to the automobile. + +"To tell the truth," he said earnestly, "I fear that now we are in +Altonville that pompous gentleman, your boss, may come along, and you +will get into trouble. Masters do not like their motors used for other +people's convenience." + +"Don't worry about Mr. Ponderby. He is a very good-hearted person, and +his pomposity merely a mannerism. I am waiting to take madame and +yourself to your residence." + +"It isn't much of a residence," laughed the young man rather grimly, +"only a couple of rooms and a small kitchen, and is less than a hundred +yards from this spot." + +"Then I'll take you that hundred yards." + +"I work in Fulmer's grist mill," explained the husband, "and business is +not very good, so I had the day off. This is a time of year when we +ought to be busy, but the trade is merely local. The huge concerns down +east, and further west, do practically all the grinding nowadays." + +The door opened, and the doctor appeared at the top of the steps. + +"It's all right, Mr. Challis," he said encouragingly. "Mrs. Challis must +stay indoors for a few days, and be careful to rest her foot. The cure +may be tedious, but not painful, thanks to prompt treatment." + +Challis brought out his wife, and Stranleigh took them to the +two-storied frame house, of which they occupied part. When the young +man came out to thank the chauffeur, he found the street empty. + +A week later, Stranleigh's passengers heard the purr of an automobile +outside the cottage. Challis opened the door in response to the +chauffeur's knock. + +"Good morning," said Stranleigh, shaking hands cheerfully. "What a +lovely day! I am delighted to know that Mrs. Challis has completely +recovered. I did not care to trouble you with repeated calls, but the +doctor has been very kind, and has kept me informed of her progress. It +is with his permission that I come to offer you a spin in the car. I'll +take you anywhere you wish to go, and this invitation is extended with +the concurrence of Mr. Ponderby, so you may enjoy the run to the full. +My name's Johnson; not Jack, the celebrated, but Henry, the unknown." + +Challis laughed. + +"I'm delighted to meet you again," he said. "Come in and see my wife. +Her worry has been that she has never had the opportunity to thank you +for your former kindness. Yes; I shall be glad of a ride. I have been +too much in the house lately." + +"Another day off, eh?" + +"All days are off days now," growled Challis. "The grist mill has shut +down." + +Mrs. Challis received the alleged Johnson with a graciousness that was +quite charming. She thanked him in a manner so winning that Stranleigh +sat there overcome with an attack of the shyness he had never been able +to shake off. He could not help noticing the subtle melancholy of her +beautiful face, a hint of which he had received in that brief first +glance as he passed in the automobile. He attributed it then to her +mishap, but now realised its cause was something deeper and more +permanent. He was astonished later to find her so resolute in refusing +his invitation. She wished her husband to go for a drive, but would not +avail herself of that pleasure. In vain Stranleigh urged the doctor's +dictum that it would be good for her especially as the day was so fine, +and she had endured a week of enforced idleness indoors. + +"Some other day perhaps," she said, "but not now," and he speedily +recognised that her firmness was not to be shaken. + +All her own powers of persuasiveness, however were turned upon her +husband. + +"You must go, Jim," she insisted. "I have kept you a prisoner for a +week, and you need the fresh air much more than I do." + +James Challis, protesting more and more faintly at last gave way, +and the two men drove off together while Mrs. Challis fluttered a +handkerchief from her window in adieu. + +Challis had refused to sit in the back seat, and took his place beside +the chauffeur. + +"Where shall we go?" asked the latter. + +"Drive to the place where you found us," said his passenger, and there +they went. On the way thither, neither spoke, but at a sign from +Challis, Stranleigh stopped the car. + +"You must not think," began the former, "that my wife did not wish to +come. I know from the expression of her eyes that she did. Her reason +for declining was one that I imagine any woman would consider adequate, +and any man the reverse." + +"I am an exception so far as the men are concerned," said Stranleigh, +coming much nearer the truth than he suspected, "for I am sure that +whatever motive actuated Mrs. Challis, it was commendable and right." + +"Thank you," responded the other. "I am with you there. It is all a +matter of clothes. My wife possesses no costume suitable for a motor +excursion." + +"In that case," cried Stranleigh impulsively, "the defect is easily +remedied. I have saved a bit from the ample salary Mr. Ponderby allows +me, and if I may offer you----" + +"I could not accept anything," interrupted Challis. + +"Merely a temporary loan, until the grist mill begins operations." + +Challis shook his head. + +"That mill will never grind again with the water that is past, nor the +water that is to come. Fulmer has gone smash, and I could not accept a +loan that I do not see my way to repay. Nevertheless, I appreciate fully +the kindness of your offer, and if you don't mind, I will tell you how I +got myself entangled, for there is no use in concealing from you what +you must already have seen--that I am desperately poor, so much so that +I sometimes lose courage, and consider myself a failure, which is not a +pleasant state of mind to get into." + +"Oh, I've often felt that way myself," said Stranleigh, "but nobody's a +failure unless he thinks he is. You strike me as a capable man. You have +youth and energy, and added to that, great good luck. I'm a believer in +luck myself." + +This commendation did not chase the gloom from the face of Challis. + +"You have knocked from under me," he said, "the one frail prop on which +I leaned. I have been excusing myself by blaming the run of horrid bad +luck I have encountered." + +Stranleigh shook his head. + +"You can't truthfully say that," he rejoined quietly, "while you have +had the supreme good fortune to enlist the affection of so clever and +charming a wife." + +The gloom disappeared from Challis's countenance as the shadow of a +cloud at that moment flitted from the surface of the lake. He thrust +forth his hand, and there being no onlookers, Stranleigh grasped it. + +"Shake!" cried Challis. "I'll never say 'ill-luck' again! I wish she +had come with us." + +"So do I," agreed Stranleigh. + +"I'd like her to have heard you talk." + +"Oh, not for that reason. I'd like her to enjoy this scenery." + +"Yes, and the deuce of it is, she practically owns the scene. Look at +that house across the lake." + +"A mansion, I should call it." + +"A mansion it is. That's where my wife came from. Think of my +selfishness in taking her from such a home to wretched rooms in a +cottage, and abject poverty." + +"I prefer not to think of your selfishness, but rather of her nobility +in going. It revives in a cynical man like myself his former belief in +the genuine goodness of the world." + +"It all came about in this way," continued Challis. "I graduated at a +technical college--engineering. I began work at the bottom of the +ladder, and started in to do my best, being ambitious. This was +appreciated, and I got on." + +"In what line?" asked Stranleigh. + +"In a line which at that time was somewhat experimental. The firm for +which I worked might be called a mechanical-medical association, or +perhaps 'surgical' would be a better term. We had no plant, no factory; +nothing but offices. We were advisers. I was sent here and there all +over the country, to mills that were not in a good state of health; +dividends falling off, business declining, competition too severe, and +what-not. I looked over the works, talked with managers and men, formed +conclusions, then sent a report to my firm containing details, and such +suggestions as I had to offer. My firm communicated with the proprietor +of the works accordingly, and collected its bill." + +"That should be an interesting occupation," said Stranleigh, whose +attention was enlisted. + +"It was. One day, I was sent up here to inspect the factory of Stanmore +Anson, a large stone structure which you could see from here were it not +concealed by that hill to the right. It has been in the Anson family for +three generations, and had earned a lot of money in its time, but is now +as old-fashioned as Noah's Ark. It was cruelly wasteful of human energy +and mechanical power. It should have had a set of turbines, instead of +the ancient, moss-grown, overshot waterwheels. The machinery was out of +date, and ill-placed. The material in course of manufacture had to go +upstairs and downstairs, all over the building, handled and re-handled, +backward and forward, instead of passing straight through the factory, +entering as raw material, and coming out the finished product. +I reported to my firm that the establishment needed a complete +overhauling; that it ought to have new machinery, but that if it +was compulsory to keep the old machines at work, they should be +entirely rearranged in accordance with the sketch I submitted, so that +unnecessary handling of the product might be avoided. I set down the +minimum expense that must be incurred, and also submitted an estimate +covering the cost of turbines and new machinery, which I admit was +large in the bulk, but really the most economical thing to do." + +"I see. And the old man objected to the expense, or perhaps had not the +necessary capital to carry out your suggestion? What sort of a person +is he? Unreasonable, I suppose you consider him?" + +"Strangely enough, I never met him in my life." + +"And you married his daughter?" + +"Had to. I was determined to take the girl away, whether I reformed +the factory or not, and here you see where good luck and the reverse +mingled. When I arrived at Mr. Anson's factory, the old man was in New +York, for the purpose, as I learned, of raising a loan, or of selling +the property, neither of which projects was he able to carry out." + +"That was his misfortune, rather than his fault, wasn't it?" + +"In a way, yes; still, the Trust had offered him a reasonable figure for +his factory. He not only refused, but he fought the Trust tooth and +nail, thinking that with low taxation, and country wages, he could meet +the competition, which, of course, with the factory in its present +state, he could not do. The fact that he was up against the Trust became +well known, so that he could neither borrow nor sell. While in New York, +he called several times on Langdon, Bliss, and Co., the firm that +employed me. When my report came in and was read to him, I understand he +fell into a tremendous rage, and characterised our company as a body of +swindlers. Mr. Langdon ordered him out of the office. + +"That was the first spoke in my wheel. Mr. Langdon was a capable man, +always courteous and very calm when dealing with his fellows, so I am +sure that my father-in-law must have been exceedingly violent when he +provoked Langdon to vocal wrath. I judge that Langdon, when he recovered +from his outbreak, regretted it extremely, and was inclined to blame me +for rather muddling the affair of Anson's mill. I may say that I had +been placed in rather a difficult position. The proprietor was absent, +and had not taken his foreman into his confidence, therefore this +foreman put difficulties in the way of investigation. The employees were +suspicious, not knowing what this research by a stranger meant, so I +went to Anson's house, hoping to find there someone with sufficient +authority to enable me to get the information I must have. + +"I met Mrs. Anson, a kindly woman, but realised in a moment that no +authority had been delegated to her. She appeared afraid to suggest +anything, but called in her only daughter to assist at our conference. +The girl at once said she would accompany me to the mill, and did so. I +shall never forget with what infinite tact and persuasiveness she won +over the foreman, and it was quite evident that the workmen all knew and +liked her, for her very presence appeared to dissipate distrust. I saw +Miss Anson home, and it seemed, as my investigations progressed, many +conferences became more and more necessary. You're a young man, and +doubtless you know how it is yourself." + +"As a matter of fact, I don't," interjected Stranleigh, "but I can +guess." + +"Well--your guess is right. We had no difficulty with Mrs. Anson, but +both mother and daughter were uneasy about how the father would take it. +I wrote him what I hoped was a straightforward letter, putting the case +to him as man to man. He answered with a very brief and terse letter +that left me no doubt regarding his opinion, but my own communication +had arrived at an unfortunate time; the day after he had been ordered +out of our office. He at once enclosed my letter to Mr. Langdon, saying +in effect:-- + +"'This is the sort of man you sent like a wolf in sheep's clothing to my +home.'" + +"Langdon telegraphed, asking if this was true. I, of course, had to +admit it was, with the result of instant dismissal. I never would have +let either mother or daughter know about this, but my reticence was +vain, for Mr. Anson wrote a stinging letter to his daughter saying she +could do what she pleased about marrying me, but that he had secured my +dismissal. It is strange," Challis murmured reflectively, speaking more +to himself than to his companion, "it is strange that a father rarely +recognises that when he comes to a difference with one of his children, +he is meeting, in part at least, some of his own characteristics. I +wonder if I shall ever be so unreasonable as----" + +Stranleigh's eye twinkled as he remembered how firm the girl had been in +refusing the automobile invitation, yet giving no explanation of that +refusal. + +"What Gertrude said to me was, holding her head very proudly: 'I have +received my father's permission to marry you, and if you are ready for +an immediate ceremony, I am willing.' + +"We were married before the old man returned from New York." + +"Has there been no further communication between Mr. Anson and +yourself?" + +"On my part, yes; ignored by him. It was Gertrude who wished to stay in +Altonville. She knew a financial crisis was threatening her father, and +she hoped that in some way I should be able to advise him. That was not +to be. She requested permission to take away her belongings. This was +refused. Everything she possessed, Mr. Anson said, had been purchased +with his money. They remained at his home, and she was welcome to use +them at his house, any time she chose to return, but having exchanged +his care for that of another man, it was the other man's duty to provide +what she needed. This ended our communication, and brings us to the +present moment." + +"Can you drive a car?" asked Stranleigh. + +"Yes." + +"The immediate question strikes me as being that of wearing apparel. I +propose to return with at least a box full. I don't like to be baffled, +and I wish Mrs. Challis to come out with us for a run. Will you +exchange seats, and drive me down to the mill?" + +"You're up against a tough proposition," demurred Challis. + +"A proposition usually gives way if you approach it tactfully, as Miss +Anson approached the manager. If you have never seen her father, he will +not recognise you, so let us call at the mill." + +"He would not recognise me, but the foreman would, also many of the +men." + +"We must chance that." + +The two young men exchanged seats, and Challis at the wheel, with more +caution than ever Stranleigh used, sent the car spinning down the +slightly descending road by the margin of the lake, until they came to +the water level. No word was spoken between them, but his lordship +studied with keen scrutiny from the corner of his eye, the profile of +the intent driver. He was immensely taken with the young man, and +meditated on the story to which he had listened. The effect left on his +mind by that recital surprised him. It was a feeling of sympathy with +the old man who had acted so obstreperously, and gradually he placed +this feeling to the credit of Challis, who had shown no rancour against +his father-in-law, either in word or tone. Yes; he liked Challis, and +was sorry for the elderly Anson, one evidently advanced in years, +battling against forces that were too much for him, stubbornly using +antiquated methods in a world that had out-grown them; the muzzle-loader +against the repeating rifle. These two men should be pulling together. + +"There's the factory," said Challis, at last, and Stranleigh, looking +up, beheld further down the valley a three-storied structure, +unexpectedly huge, built apparently for all the ages. There was no sign +of activity about it; but the roar of waters came to their ears; idle +waters, nevertheless, that were turning no wheels, the muffled sound of +an unimpeded minor cataract. + +"By Jove!" cried Stranleigh, jumping out as the car stopped. + +Challis said nothing, but an expression of deep anxiety darkened his +countenance. There were plastered here and there on the stone walls +great white posters, bearing printing like the headings of a +sensational newspaper, magnified several hundred times. + + AUCTION SALE. + BY ORDER OF THE BANKRUPTCY COURT, + + that desirable property known as Anson's Mill, fully + equipped with machinery, in condition for immediate use, + with never-failing water power, which at slight expense may + be enormously increased; together with ten acres of freehold + land; without reserve to the highest bidder; on the + Seventeenth of November! + +"A desirable property," said Challis, sadly, "which nobody desires +except the Trust, and probably _it_ cares nothing about it now." + +"You forget that it is desired by Stanmore Anson." + +"I am afraid that even he is tired of it by this time. I am sorry, but +I feared it was inevitable." + +Stranleigh looked up at him. + +"Could you make this factory pay, if it were given into your charge?" + +"Not in its present condition." + +"I mean, of course, with your recommendations carried out. If the mill, +free from all encumbrances, filled with modern machinery, rightly +placed, were put under your management, could you make it pay?" + +Challis did not answer for some moments. His brow was wrinkled in +thought, and he seemed making some mental calculations. + +"There would need to be a suitable amount of working capital----" + +"Yes, yes; all that is understood. Could you make it pay?" + +"I am almost sure I could, but there is that incalculable factor, the +opposition of the Trust." + +"Damn the Trust!" cried Stranleigh. "I beg your pardon; I should have +said, blow the Trust! I thought I had lost the power of becoming +excited, not to say profane. It must be the exhilarating air of America. +The sale is a good way off yet, and I think it will be further off +before I get through with it. If you will accept the management, and +your father-in-law proves at all reasonable, I guarantee to find the +necessary money." + +"You mean that, Mr. Ponderby----" + +"Exactly. I am his chief business adviser, as well as his only +chauffeur. But we are forgetting the matter in hand. We must rescue the +wardrobe of Mrs. Challis. Drive on to the mansion. You know the way, and +I don't." + +"I'm a warned-off trespasser, but here goes." + +"You won't be called on to trespass very much. You're my chauffeur, _pro +tem_. Perhaps you won't need to enter the house at all. I shall see Mrs. +Anson before I meet her husband, if possible, and will try to persuade +her to give me the wardrobe." + +"She would not have the courage to do that without her husband's +permission, and he will never give it." + +"We'll see about that. Ah, the mill is not the only piece of property to +be sold!" + +They had turned into a well-shaded avenue, to the massive stone +gate-pillars of which were attached posters similar to those at the +mill, only in this case it was "This valuable, desirable and palatial +residence," with the hundreds of acres of land attached, that were to be +knocked down by the auctioneer's hammer. + +"I might have known," commented Stranleigh, "that if Mr. Anson was +bankrupt at his mill, he was also bankrupt at his house." + +They drew up at the entrance. Stranleigh stepped down, and rang the +bell, Challis remaining in the car. Shown into the drawing-room, the +visitor was greeted by a sad-looking, elderly woman. + +"Mrs. Anson," said the young man, very deferentially, "I expect your +forgiveness for this intrusion on my part when I say that I am here in +some sense as an ambassador from your daughter." + +"From my daughter!" gasped the old lady in astonishment. "Is she well, +and where is she?" + +"She is very well, I am glad to say, and is living with her husband over +in the village." + +"In her last letter she said her husband was taking her to New York. +There had been a--misunderstanding." The old lady hesitated for a moment +before using that mild term. "On the day her letter was received, I went +to the hotel at which they were stopping, and was told by the landlord +they had gone, he did not know where. Do you tell me they have been +living in Altonville all the time?" + +"I think so, but cannot be sure. I met Mr. and Mrs. Challis for the +first time only a week ago." + +"I hope she is happy." + +"She is," said Stranleigh confidently, "and before the day is done her +mother will be happy also." + +Mrs. Anson shook her head. She was on the verge of tears, which +Stranleigh saw and dreaded. So he said hurriedly: + +"You will select me what you think she should have at once, and I will +take the box or parcel to Altonville in my car." + +"When at last her father saw that everything we possessed must be sold," +rejoined Mrs. Anson, "he packed up in trunks what belonged to Gertrude, +and as we could not learn where to send them, Mr. Asa Perkins, a friend +of ours, who lives in Boston, lent us a room in which to store the +things, and they are there now." + +"How odd!" exclaimed Stranleigh. "I met Mr. Perkins just before he left +his summer residence, and took the place furnished, acting for the +present tenant. It is much too large for him, and some of the rooms are +locked. Do you happen to have the key?" + +"No; it is in the possession of the housekeeper. She is there still, is +she not?" + +"Yes; I took the house as it stood, servants and all." + +"I'll write a note to the housekeeper, then. What name shall I say?" + +"Please write it in the name of Mr. Challis. He's outside now, in my +car." + +"May I bring him in?" she asked, eagerly. + +"Certainly," said Stranleigh, with a smile. "It's your house, you know." + +"Not for long," she sighed. + +"Ah,----" drawled Stranleigh, "Mr. Challis and I propose that this sale +shall not take place. If I may have a short conversation with your +husband, I think we shall come to terms." + +An expression of anxiety overspread her face. + +"Perhaps I had better not ask Jim to come in," she hesitated. + +"Your husband does not know him, and I would rather you did not tell him +who is with me. Just say that Henry Johnson and a friend wish to +negotiate about the factory." + +Stanmore Anson proved to be a person of the hale old English yeoman +type, as portrayed by illustrators, although his ancestors originally +came from Sweden. His face was determined, his lips firm, and despite +his defeats, the lurking sparkle of combat still animated his eyes. + +"Before we begin any conversation regarding a sale," he said, "you must +answer this question, Mr. Johnson. Are you connected in any way, +directly or indirectly, with the G.K.R. Trust?" + +"I am not connected with it, directly or indirectly." + +"You state that on your honour as a man?" + +"No; I simply state it." + +"You wouldn't swear it?" + +"Not unless compelled by force of law." + +"Then I have nothing further to say to you, sir." + +The old man seemed about to withdraw, then hesitated, remembering he was +in his own house. Stranleigh sat there unperturbed. + +"You have nothing further to say, Mr. Anson, because two thoughts are +sure to occur to you. First, a man whose word you would not accept +cannot be believed, either on his honour or his oath. Second, the Trust +doesn't need to send an emissary to you; it has only to wait until +November, and acquire your factory at its own figure. No one except +myself would bid against the Trust." + +"That's quite true," agreed Anson. "I beg your pardon. What have you to +propose?" + +"I wish to know the sum that will see you clear and enable you to tear +down those white posters at the gates, and those on the mill." + +Stanmore Anson drew a sheet of paper from his pocket, glanced over it, +then named the amount. + +"Very good," said Stranleigh, decisively. "I'll pay that for the mill +and the ten acres." + +"They are not worth it," said Anson. "Wait till November, and even +though you outbid the Trust, you'll get it at a lower figure." + +"We'll make the mill worth it. You may retain the residence and the rest +of the property." + +"There is but one proviso," said the old man. "I wish to name the +manager." + +"I regret I cannot agree to that, Mr. Anson, I have already chosen the +manager, and guarantee that he will prove efficient." + +"I'll forego your generous offer of the house and property if you will +allow me to appoint the manager." + +"I am sorry, Mr. Anson, but you touch the only point on which I cannot +give way." + +"Very well," cried Anson, angrily, his eyes ablaze. "The arrangement is +off." + +Both young men saw that Stanmore Anson was indeed difficult to deal +with, as his ancestors had been in many a hard-fought battle. + +"Wait a moment! Wait a moment!" exclaimed Challis. "This will never do. +It is absurd to wreck everything on a point so trivial. I am the man +whom Mr. Johnson wishes to make manager. I now refuse to accept the +position, but if the bargain is completed, I'll give Mr. Anson and his +manager all the assistance and advice they care to receive from me, and +that without salary." + +"Be quiet, Challis!" cried Stranleigh. + +"Challis! Challis!" interrupted the old man, gazing fiercely at his +junior. "Is your name Challis?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You're not my son-in-law?" + +"I am, sir." + +"I did you a great injustice," admitted Anson. "No man has a right to +deprive another of his livelihood. I have bitterly regretted it. It is +you I wish appointed manager." + +"Challis," said Stranleigh, "take the car, and bring your wife. Say her +father wishes to see her." + +Challis disappeared, and in an incredibly short space of time, during +which Anson and Stranleigh chatted together, the door opened, and +Gertrude Challis came in. + +"Father," she cried, "Jim says he's going to scrap all the machinery in +the factory. Shall we throw our differences on that scrap-heap?" + +The old man gathered her to his breast, and kissed her again and again. +He could not trust his voice. + +[Illustration: "'Shall we throw our differences on that scrap-heap?'"] + + + + +IV.--THE MAD MISS MATURIN. + + +"Would you like to meet the most beautiful woman in America?" asked +Edward Trenton of his guest. + +Lord Stranleigh drew a whiff or two from the favourite pipe he was +smoking, and the faint suggestion of a smile played about his lips. + +"The question seems to hint that I have not already met her," he said at +last. + +"Have you?" + +"Of course." + +"Where?" + +"In every town of any size I ever visited." + +"Oh, I daresay you have met many pretty girls, but only one of them is +the most beautiful in America." + +Again Stranleigh smiled, but this time removed his pipe, which had gone +out, and gently tapped it on the ash tray. + +"My dear Ned," he said at last, "on almost any other subject I should +hesitate to venture an opinion that ran counter to your own experience, +yet in this instance I think you wrong the great Republic. I am not +very good at statistics, but if you will tell me how many of your +fellow-countrymen are this moment in love, I'll make a very accurate +estimate regarding the number of most beautiful women there are in the +United States." + +"Like yourself, Stranleigh, I always defer to the man of experience, and +am glad to have hit on one subject in which you are qualified to be my +teacher." + +"I like that! Ned Trenton depreciating his own conquests is a popular +actor in a new _role_. But you are evading the point. I was merely trying +in my awkward way to show that every woman is the most beautiful in the +world to the man in love with her." + +"Very well; I'll frame my question differently. Would you like to meet +one of the most cultured of her sex?" + +"Bless you, my boy, of course not! Why, I'm afraid of her already. It is +embarrassing enough to meet a bright, alert man, but in the presence of +a clever woman, I become so painfully stupid that she thinks I'm putting +it on." + +"Then let me place the case before you in still another form. Would your +highness like to meet the richest woman in Pennsylvania?" + +"Certainly I should," cried Stranleigh, eagerly. + +Trenton looked at him with a shade of disapproval on his brow. + +"I thought wealth was the very last qualification a man in your position +would care for in a woman, yet hardly have I finished the sentence, than +you jump at the chance I offer." + +"And why not? A lady beautiful and talented would likely strike me dumb, +but if she is hideously rich, I may be certain of one thing, that I +shall not be asked to invest money in some hare-brained scheme or +other." + +"You are quite safe from that danger, or indeed from any other danger, +so far as Miss Maturin is concerned. Nevertheless, it is but just that +you should understand the situation, so that if you scent danger of any +kind, you may escape while there is yet time." + +"Unobservant though I am," remarked Stranleigh, "certain signs have not +escaped my notice. This commodious and delightful mansion is being +prepared for a house-party. I know the symptoms, for I have several +country places of my own. If, as I begin to suspect, I am in the way +here, just whisper the word and I'll take myself off in all good humour, +hoping to receive an invitation for some future time." + +"If that's your notion of American hospitality, Stranleigh, you've got +another guess coming. You're a very patient man; will you listen to a +little family history? Taking your consent for granted, I plunge. My +father possessed a good deal of landed property in Pennsylvania. This +house is the old homestead, as they would call it in a heart-throb +drama. My father died a very wealthy man, and left his property +conjointly to my sister and myself. He knew we wouldn't quarrel over the +division, and we haven't. My activity has been mainly concentrated in +coal mines and in the railways which they feed, and financially I have +been very fortunate. I had intended to devote a good deal of attention +to this estate along certain lines which my father had suggested, but I +have never been able to do so, living, as I did, mostly in Philadelphia, +absorbed in my own business. My sister, however, has in a measure +carried out my father's plans, aided and abetted by her friend, Miss +Constance Maturin. My sister married a man quite as wealthy as herself, +a dreamy, impractical, scholarly person who once represented his country +as Minister to Italy, in Rome. She enjoyed her Italian life very much, +and studied with great interest the progress North Italy was making in +utilising the water-power coming from the Alps. In this she was ably +seconded by Miss Maturin, who is owner of forests and farms and +factories further down the river which flows past our house. Her +property, indeed, adjoins our own, but she does not possess that +unlimited power over it which Sis and I have over this estate, for her +father, having no faith in the business capacity of woman, formed his +undertakings into a limited liability company where, although he owned +the majority of stock during his life, he did not leave his daughter +with untrammelled control. Had the old man known what trouble he was +bequeathing to his sole heir, I imagine he would have arranged things a +little differently. Miss Maturin has had to endure several expensive +law-suits, which still further restricted her power and lessened her +income. So she has ceased to take much interest in her own belongings, +and has constituted herself adviser-in-chief to my dear sister, who has +blown in a good deal of money on this estate in undertakings that, +however profitable they may be in the future, are unproductive up to +date. I am not criticising Sis at all, and have never objected to what +she has done, although I found myself involved in a very serious action +for damages, which I had the chagrin of losing, and which ran me into a +lot of expense, covering me with injunctions and things of that sort. No +rogue e'er felt the halter draw, with a good opinion of the law, and +perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently +broken it. If this long diatribe bores you, just say so, and I'll cut it +short." + +"On the contrary," said Stranleigh, with evident honesty, "I'm very much +interested. These two ladies, as I understand the case, have been +unsuccessful in law----" + +"Completely so." + +"And unsuccessful in the projects they have undertaken?" + +"From my point of view, yes. That is to say, they are sinking pots of +money, and I don't see where any of it is coming back." + +"Of what do these enterprises consist?" + +"Do you know anything about the conservation controversy now going on +in this country?" + +"I fear I do not. I am a woefully ignorant person." + +"My father had ideas about conservation long before the United States +took it up. It is on these ideas that Sis has been working. You preserve +water in times of flood and freshet to be used for power or for +irrigation throughout the year. Her first idea was to make a huge lake, +extending several miles up the valley of this river. That's where I got +into my law-suit. The commercial interests down below held that we had +no right to put a huge concrete dam across this river." + +"Couldn't you put a dam on your own property?" + +"It seems not. If the river ran entirely through my own property, I +could. Had I paid more attention to what was being done, I might perhaps +have succeeded, by getting a bill through the Legislature. When I tried +that, I was too late. The interests below had already applied to the +courts for an injunction, which, quite rightly, they received. +Attempting to legalise the action, not only did I find the Legislature +hostile, but my clever opponents got up a muck-raking crusade against +me, and I was held up by the Press of this State as a soulless +monopolist, anxious to increase my already great wealth by grabbing what +should belong to the whole people. The campaign of personal calumny was +splendidly engineered, and, by Jupiter! they convinced me that I was +unfit for human intercourse. Tables of statistics were published to +prove how through railway and coal-mine manipulation I had robbed +everybody, and they made me out about a hundred times richer than +I am, although I have never been able to get any of the excess cash. +Sermons were preached against me, the Pulpit joining the Press in +denunciation. I had no friends, and not being handy with my pen, I +made no attempt at defence. I got together a lot of dynamite, blew up +the partially-constructed dam, and the river still flows serenely on." + +"But surely," said Stranleigh, "I saw an immense dam on this very river, +when you met me at Powerville railway station the other day?" + +Trenton laughed. + +"Yes; that was Miss Maturin's dam." + +"Miss Maturin's!" cried Stranleigh in astonishment. + +"It was built years ago by her father, who went the right way about it, +having obtained in a quiet, effective way, the sanction of legislature. +Of course, when I say it belongs to Miss Maturin, I mean that it is +part of the estate left by her father, and the odd combination of +circumstances brought it about that she was one of my opponents in the +action-at-law, whereas in strict justice, she should have been a +defendant instead of a plaintiff. The poor girl was horrified to learn +her position in the matter, and my sister was dumbfounded to find in +what a dilemma she had placed me. Of course, the two girls should have +secured the advice of some capable, practical lawyer in the first place, +but they were very self-confident in those days, and Sis knew it was no +use consulting her husband, while her brother was too deeply immersed in +his own affairs to be much aid as a counsellor. + +"Well, they kept on with their conservation scheme after a time, and +both on this property and on Miss Maturin's, dams have been erected on +all the streams that empty into the river; streams on either side that +take their rise from outlying parts of the estate. They have built roads +through the forest, and have caused to be formed innumerable lakes, all +connected by a serviceable highway that constitutes one of the most +interesting automobile drives there is in all the United States; a drive +smooth as a floor, running for miles through private property, and +therefore overshadowed by no speed limit." + +"By Jove, Ned," exclaimed Stranleigh, "you must take me over that +course." + +"I'll do better than that, my boy. Constance Maturin is one of the best +automobilists I know, and she will be your guide, for these dams are of +the most modern construction, each with some little kink of its own that +no one understands better than she does. There is a caretaker living in +a picturesque little cottage at the outlet of every lake, and in each +cottage hangs a telephone, so that no matter how far you penetrate +into the wilderness, you are in touch with civilisation. From this +house I could call up any one of these water-wardens, or send out a +general alarm, bringing every man of the corps to the 'phone, and the +instructions given from here would be heard simultaneously by the whole +force. I think the organisation is admirable, but it runs into a lot of +money." + + "'But what good came of it at last, + Quoth little Peterkin,'" + +asked Stranleigh. "Do these artificial lakes run any dynamos, or turn +any spindles? Now tell me all about the war, and what they dammed each +streamlet for." + +"Ah, you have me there! The ladies have not taken me into their counsel: +I've got troubles enough of my own. One phase of the subject especially +gratifies me: their activities have in no instance despoiled the +landscape; rather the contrary. These lakes, wooded to their brims, are +altogether delightful, and well stocked with fish. A great many of them +overflow, causing admirable little cascades, which, although not quite +so impressive as Niagara, are most refreshing on a hot day, while the +cadence of falling waters serves as an acoustic background to the songs +of the birds; a musical accompaniment, as one might call it." + +"Bravo, Ned; I call that quite poetical, coming as it does from a +successful man of business. I find myself eager for that automobile ride +through this forest lakeland. When do you say Miss Maturin will arrive?" + +"I don't know. I expect my sister will call me up by telephone. Sis +regards this house as her own. She is fond of leaving the giddy whirl of +society, and settling down here in the solitude of the woods. I clear +out or I stay in obedience to her commands. You spoke of a house-party a +while ago. There is to be no house-party, but merely my sister and her +husband, with Miss Maturin as their guest. If you would rather not meet +any strangers, I suggest that we plunge further into the wilderness. At +the most remote lake on this property, about seven miles away, quite a +commodious keeper's lodge has been built, with room for, say, half a +dozen men who are not too slavishly addicted to the resources of +civilisation. Yet life there is not altogether pioneering. We could take +an automobile with us, and the telephone would keep us in touch with +the outside world. Fond of fishing?" + +"Very." + +"Then that's all right. I can offer you plenty of trout, either in pond +or stream, while in a large natural lake, only a short distance away, is +excellent black bass. I think you'll enjoy yourself up there." + +Stranleigh laughed. + +"You quite overlook the fact that I am not going. Unless ejected by +force, I stay here to meet your sister and Miss Maturin." + +For a moment Trenton seemed taken aback. He had lost the drift of things +in his enthusiasm over the lakes. + +"Oh, yes; I remember," he said at last. "You objected to meet anyone who +might wish you to invest good money in wild-cat schemes. Well, you're +quite safe as far as those two ladies are concerned, as I think I +assured you." + +Ned was interrupted, and seemed somewhat startled by a sound of murmured +conversation ending in a subdued peal of musical laughter. + +"Why, there's Sis now," he said, "I can tell her laugh anywhere." + +As he rose from his chair, the door opened, and there entered a most +comely young woman in automobile garb, noticeably younger than Trenton, +but bearing an unmistakable likeness to him. + +"Hello, Ned!" she cried. "I thought I'd find you here," then seeing his +visitor, who had risen, she paused. + +"Lord Stranleigh," said Trenton. "My sister, Mrs. Vanderveldt." + +"I am very glad to meet you, Lord Stranleigh," she said, advancing from +the door and shaking hands with him. + +"Why didn't you telephone?" asked her brother. + +His sister laughed merrily. + +"I came down like a wolf on the fold, didn't I? Why didn't I telephone? +Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack, and I'd no +wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. I am sure, Lord +Stranleigh, that he has been descanting on the distraction of the woods +and the camp, or perhaps the metropolitan dissipation of Philadelphia, +depending on whether the yearning for sport, or his business in town was +uppermost in his mind." + +"My dear Sis," cried Ned with indignation, "that is a libellous +statement. I never so much as mentioned Philadelphia, did I, Stranleigh? +You can corroborate what I say." + +"I'm not so sure about that," said Stranleigh, lightly. "Your attempt +to drag me into your family differences at this point of the game is +futile. I'm going to lie low, and say nothing, as Brer Rabbit did, until +I learn which of you two is the real ruler of this house. I shall then +boldly announce myself on the side of the leader. My position here is +much too comfortable to be jeopardised by an injudicious partisanship." + +"As for who's boss," growled Ned, "I cravenly admit at once that Sis +here is monarch of all she surveys." + +"In that case," rejoined Stranleigh, heaving a deep sigh of apparent +relief, "I'm on the side of the angels. Mrs. Vanderveldt, he did +mention Philadelphia and his office there, speaking much about business +interests, coal-mines, and what not, during which recital I nearly went +to sleep, for I'm no business man. He also descanted on the lakes and +the waterfalls and the fishing, and on trout and black bass, and would +doubtless have gone on to whales and sea-serpents had you not come in at +the opportune moment. Please accept me as your devoted champion, Mrs. +Vanderveldt." + +"I do, I do, with appreciation and gratitude," cried the lady merrily. +"I've long wished to meet you, Lord Stranleigh, for I heard such glowing +accounts of you from my brother here, with most fascinating descriptions +of your estates in England, and the happy hours he spent upon them while +he was your guest in the old country. I hope we may be able to make some +slight return for your kindness to this frowning man. He is always on +nettles when I am talking; so different from my husband in that +respect." + +"Poor man, he never has a chance to get a word in edgewise," growled +Ned. "My soul is my own, I'm happy to say." + +"Ah, yes," laughed the lady, "_pro tem_. But although I am saying so +much for myself, I speak with equal authority for my friend Constance +Maturin." + +"Did you bring her with you, or is she coming later?" asked Trenton with +some anxiety. + +"She is here, dear brother, but I could not induce her to enter this +room with me. Doubtless she wishes to meet you alone. She is a dear +girl, Lord Stranleigh, and it will be my greatest joy to welcome her as +a sister-in-law." + +A warm flush was added to the frown on her brother's brow, but he made +no remark. + +"Gracious me!" cried the lady, laughing again "have I once more put my +foot in it? Why Ned, what a fine confidential friend you are. If I were +a young man, and so sweet a girl had promised to marry me, I should +proclaim the fact from the house-tops." + +"You wouldn't need to," groaned Ned, "if you had a sister." + +"Never mind him," said Stranleigh, "you have betrayed no secret, Mrs. +Vanderveldt. His own confused utterances when referring to the young +lady, rendered any verbal confession unnecessary. I suspected how the +land lay at a very early stage of our conversation." + +"Well, I think he may congratulate himself that you do not enter the +lists against him. You possess some tact, which poor Ned has never +acquired, and now I'll make him sit up by informing him that Connie +Maturin took a special trip over to England recently, in order to meet +you." + +"To meet me?" cried Stranleigh in astonishment. + +"Yes, indeed, and an amazed girl she was to learn that you had sailed +for America. She came right back by the next boat. She has a great plan +in her mind which requires heavy financing. My brother here isn't rich +enough, and I, of course, am much poorer than he is, so she thought if +she could interest you, as the leading capitalist of England----" + +"Good heavens, girl," interrupted Ned, the perspiration standing out on +his brow, "do show some consideration for what you are saying! Why, you +rattle on without a thought to your words. Lord Stranleigh just made it +a proviso that----. Oh, hang it all, Sis; you've put your foot in it +this time, sure enough." + +The lady turned on him now with no laughter on her lips, or merriment in +her tone. + +"Why, Ned, you're actually scolding me. I promised Connie Maturin to +help her, and my way of accomplishing anything is to go directly for +it." + +"Oh, heaven help me," murmured Ned, "the law courts have already taught +me that." + +"Mrs. Vanderveldt," said the Earl of Stranleigh, very quietly, "please +turn to your champion, and ignore this wretched man, whose unnecessary +reticence is finding him out." + +The only person to be embarrassed by this tangle of concealments and +revelations was Constance Maturin, who had indulged in neither the one +nor the other. The Earl of Stranleigh found it difficult to become +acquainted with her. She seemed always on her guard, and never even +approached the subject which he had been given to understand chiefly +occupied her thoughts. + +On the day set for their automobile ride, Miss Maturin appeared at the +wheel of the very latest thing in runabouts; a six-cylindered machine +of extraordinary power, that ran as silently and smoothly as an +American watch, and all merely for the purpose of carrying two persons. +Stranleigh ran his eye over the graceful proportions of the new car with +an expert's keen appreciation, walking round it slowly and critically, +quite forgetting the girl who regarded him with an expression of +amusement. Looking up at last, he saw a smile playing about her pretty +lips. + +"I beg your pardon," he said. + +"I'm not sure that I shall grant it," she replied, laughing. "To be +ignored in this callous fashion for even the latest project of +engineering, is not in the least flattering." + +"Not ignored, Miss Maturin," said Stranleigh, "for I was thinking of +you, although I may have appeared absorbed in the machine." + +"Thinking of me!" she cried. "You surely can't expect me to believe +that! The gaze of a man fascinated by a piece of machinery is quite +different from that of a man fascinated by a woman. I know, because I +have seen both." + +"I am sure you have seen the latter, Miss Maturin. But what I have just +been regarding is an omen." + +"Really? How mysterious! I thought you saw only an automobile." + +"No, I was looking through the automobile, and beyond, if I may put +it that way. I am quite familiar with the plan of this car, although +this is the first specimen that I have examined. The car is yours by +purchase, I suppose, but it is mine by manufacture. Your money bought +it, but mine made it, in conjunction with the genius of a young engineer +in whom I became interested. Perhaps you begin to see the omen. Some +time ago I was fortunate enough to be of assistance to a young man, and +the result has been an unqualified success. To-day perhaps I may be +permitted to aid a young woman with a success that will be equally +gratifying." + +Stranleigh gazed steadily into the clear, honest eyes of the girl, who +returned his look with a half-amused smile. Now she seemed suddenly +covered with confusion, and flushing slightly, turned her attention to +the forest that surrounded them. Presently she said-- + +"Do you men worship only the god of success? You have used the word +three or four times." + +"Most men wish to be successful, I suppose, but we all worship a +goddess, too." + +"I'm sorry," said Miss Maturin, "that Mrs. Vanderveldt mentioned my +search for a capitalist. I have abandoned the quest. I am now merely +your guide to the lakes. Please take a seat in this automobile of yours, +Lord Stranleigh, and I will be your conductor." + +The young man stepped in beside her, and a few moments later they were +gliding, rather than running over a perfect road, under the trees, in a +machine as noiseless as the forest. The Earl of Stranleigh had seen many +beautiful regions of this world, but never any landscape just like this. +Its artificiality and its lack of artificiality interested him. Nothing +could be more businesslike than the construction of the stout dams, and +nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old +forest trees marshalled round their margins like a veteran army that had +marched down to drink, only to be stricken motionless at the water's +edge. + +It seemed that the silence of the motor-car had enchanted into silence +its occupants. The girl devoted her whole attention to the machine and +its management. Stranleigh sat dumb, and gave himself up to the full +enjoyment of the Vallombrosic tour. + +For more than half an hour no word had been spoken; finally the +competent chauffeur brought the auto to a standstill at a view-point +near the head of the valley, which offered a prospect of the brawling +main stream. + +"We have now reached the last of the lakes in this direction," she said +quietly. "I think your automobile is admirable, Lord Stranleigh." + +The young man indulged in a deep sigh of satisfaction. + +"As a landscape gardener on a marvellous scale, you are without a +competitor, Miss Maturin." + +The girl laughed very sweetly. + +"That is a compliment to nature rather than to me. I have merely let +the wilderness alone, so far as road-making and dam-building would +allow me." + +"In that very moderation lies genius--the leaving alone. Will you +forgive the inquisitiveness of a mere man whom you suspected at our +outset of success-worship, if he asks what practical object you have in +view?" + +"Oh, I should have thought that was self-evident to an observant person +like yourself," she said airily. "These lakes conserve the water, +storing it in time of flood for use in time of scarcity. By means of +sluices we obtain partial control of the main stream." + +"You flatter me by saying I am observant. I fear that I am rather the +reverse, except where my interest is aroused, as is the case this +morning. Is conservation your sole object, then?" + +"Is not that enough?" + +"I suppose it is. I know little of civil engineering, absorbing craft +though it is. I have seen its marvels along your own lines in America, +Egypt, India, and elsewhere. As we progressed I could not help noticing +that the dams built to restrain these lakes seemed unnecessarily +strong." + +A slight shadow of annoyance flitted across the expressive countenance +of Constance Maturin, but was gone before he saw it. + +"You are shrewder than you admit, Lord Stranleigh, but you forget what I +said about freshets. The lakes are placid enough now, but you should see +them after a cloud-burst back in the mountains." + +"Nevertheless, the dams look bulky enough to hold back the Nile." + +"Appearances are often deceitful. They are simply strong enough for the +work they have to do. American engineering practice does not go in for +useless encumbrance. Each dam serves two purposes. It holds back the +water and it contains a power-house. In some of these power-houses +turbines and dynamoes are already placed." + +"Ah, now I understand. You must perceive that I am a very stupid +individual." + +"You are a very persistent person," said the young woman decisively. + +Stranleigh laughed. + +"Allow me to take advantage of that reputation by asking you what you +intend to do with the electricity when you have produced it?" + +"We have no plans." + +"Oh, I say!" + +"_What_ do you say?" + +"That was merely an Anglicised expression of astonishment." + +"Don't you believe me?" + +"No." + +They were sitting together on the automobile seat, deep in the shade +of the foliage above them, but when he caught sight of the indignant +face which she turned towards him, it almost appeared as if the sun +shone upon it. She seemed about to speak, thought better of it, and +reached forward to the little lever that controlled the self-starting +apparatus. She found his hand there before she could carry out her +intention. + +"I am returning, Lord Stranleigh," she said icily. + +"Not yet." + +She leaned back in the seat. + +"Mr. Trenton told me that you were the most polite man he had ever met. +I have seldom found him so mistaken in an impression." + +"Was it a polite man you set out to find in your recent trip to Europe?" + +As the girl made no reply, Stranleigh went on-- + +"My politeness is something like the dams we have been considering. It +contains more than appears on the surface. There is concealed power +within it. You may meet myriads of men well qualified to teach me +courtesy, but when this veneer of social observance is broken, you come +to pretty much the same material underneath. I seldom permit myself the +luxury of an escape from the conventions, but on rare occasions I break +through. For that I ask your pardon. Impressed by your sincerity, I +forgot for the moment everything but your own need in the present +crisis." + +"What crisis?" she asked indignantly. + +"The financial crisis caused by your spending every available resource +on this so-called conservation policy. To all intents and purposes you +are now a bankrupt. Mrs. Vanderveldt has contributed all she can, and +both you and she are afraid to tell her brother the true state of the +case. You fear you will get little sympathy from him, for he is absorbed +in coal-mines and railways, and both of you have already felt his +annoyance at the law-suit in which you have involved him. Hence your +desperate need of a capitalist. A really polite man would be a more +pleasant companion than I, but he is not worth that, Miss Maturin!" + +Stranleigh removed his hand from the lever long enough to snap fingers +and thumb, but he instantly replaced it when he saw her determination to +start the machine. + +"The man of the moment, Miss Maturin, is a large and reckless +capitalist. I am that capitalist." + +He released his hold of the lever, and sat upright. The sternness of his +face relaxed. + +"Now, Miss Maturin, turn on the power; take me where you like; dump me +into any of those lakes you choose; the water is crystal clear, and I'm +a good swimmer," and with this Stranleigh indulged in a hearty laugh, +his own genial self once more. + +"You are laughing at me," she said resentfully. + +"Indeed I am not. Another contradiction, you see! I am laughing at +myself. There's nothing I loathe so much as strenuousness, and here I +have fallen into the vice. It is the influence of that brawling river +below us, I think. But the river becomes still enough, and useful +enough, when it reaches the great lake at Powerville, which is big +enough to swallow all these little ponds." + +The girl made no motion towards the lever, but sat very still, lost in +thought. When she spoke, her voice was exceedingly quiet. + +"You complimented Nature a while ago, intending, as I suppose, to +compliment me, but I think after all the greater compliment is your +straight talk, which I admire, although I received it so petulantly. +I shall make no apology, beyond saying that my mind is very much +perturbed. Your surmise is absolutely correct. It isn't that I've spent +the whole of my fortune and my friend's fortune in this conservation +scheme. It is because I have built a model city on the heights above +Powerville. I was promised assistance from the banks, which is now +withheld, largely, I suspect, through the opposition of John L. +Boscombe, a reputed millionaire. To all intents and purposes Boscombe +and I are the owners of Powerville and the mills there, but although +this place was founded and built up by my father, I am a minority +stock-holder, and powerless. Boscombe exercises control. Any suggestions +or protests of mine are ignored, for Boscombe, like my father, has +little faith--no faith at all, in fact--in the business capacity of a +woman. + +"I have tried, as I hinted, to enlist the co-operation of other +capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that +does not impinge directly upon cupidity. If there is the least hint of +philanthropy in the project, every man of money fights shy of it." + +"I am an exception," said Stranleigh, eagerly. "Philanthropy used to be +a strong point with me, though I confess I was never very successful in +its exercise. What humanitarian scheme is in your mind, Miss Maturin?" + +Again she sat silent for some moments, indecision and doubt on her fair +brow. Presently she said, as if pulling herself together-- + +"I will not tell you, Lord Stranleigh. You yourself have just admitted +disbelief, and my plan is so fantastic that I dare not submit it to +criticism." + +"I suppose your new city is in opposition to the old town down in the +valley? You alone are going to compete with Boscombe and yourself." + +"That is one way of putting it." + +"Very well, I am with you. Blow Boscombe! say I. I've no head for +business, so I sha'n't need to take any advice. I shall do exactly what +you tell me. What is the first move?" + +"The first move is to set your brokers in New York at work, and buy a +block of Powerville stock." + +"I see; so that you and I together have control, instead of Boscombe?" + +"Yes." + +"That shall be done as quick as telegraph can give instructions. What +next?" + +"There will be required a large sum of money to liquidate the claims +upon me incurred through the building of the city." + +"Very good. That money shall be at your disposal within two or three +days." + +"As for security, I regret----" + +"Don't mention it. My security is my great faith in Ned Trenton, also in +yourself. Say no more about it." + +"You are very kind, Lord Stranleigh, but there is one thing I must say. +This may involve you in a law-suit so serious that the litigation of +which Ned complains will appear a mere amicable arrangement by +comparison." + +"That's all right and doesn't disturb me in the least. I love a legal +contest, because I have nothing to do but place it in the hands of +competent lawyers. No personal activity is required of me, and I am an +indolent man." + +The second part of the programme was accomplished even sooner than +Stranleigh had promised, but the first part hung fire. The brokers in +New York could not acquire any Powerville stock, as was shown by their +application to Miss Maturin herself, neither had their efforts been +executed with that secrecy which Stranleigh had enjoined. He realised +this when John L. Boscombe called upon him. He went directly to the +point. + +"I am happy to meet you, Lord Stranleigh, and if you'll excuse me, I'd +like to say that you are more greatly in need of advice at this moment +than any man in America." + +"You are perfectly right, Mr. Boscombe. I am always in need of good +advice, and I appreciate it." + +"An application was made to me from New York for a block of stock. That +stock is not for sale, but I dallied with the brokers, made +investigations, and traced the inquiry to you." + +"Very clever of you, Mr. Boscombe." + +"I learn that you propose to finance Miss Constance Maturin, who is a +junior partner in my business." + +"I should not think of contradicting so shrewd a man as yourself, Mr. +Boscombe. What do you advise in the premises?" + +"I advise you to get out, and quick, too." + +"If I don't, what are you going to do to me?" + +"Oh, I shall do nothing. She will do all that is necessary. That woman +is stark mad, Lord Stranleigh. Her own father recognised it when he +bereft her of all power in the great business he founded. If she had her +way, she'd ruin the company inside a year with her hare-brained schemes; +love of the dear people, and that sort of guff." + +"I am sorry to hear that. I noticed no dementia on the part of Miss +Maturin, who seemed to me a most cultivated and very charming young +lady. You will permit me, I hope, to thank you for your warning, and +will not be surprised that I can give you no decision on the spur of the +moment. I am a slow-minded person, and need time to think over things." + +"Certainly, certainly; personally I come to sudden conclusions, and once +I make up my mind, I never change it." + +"A most admirable gift. I wish I possessed it." + +Lord Stranleigh said nothing of this interview to Constance Maturin, +beyond telling her that the acquisition of stock appeared to be +hopeless, as indeed proved to be the case. + +"Boscombe must be a stubborn person," he said. + +"Oh, he's all that," the girl replied, with a sigh. "He cares for one +thing only, the making of money, and in that I must admit he has been +very successful." + +"Well, we've got a little cash of our own," said Stranleigh, with a +laugh. + +Miss Maturin and Mrs. Vanderveldt celebrated a national holiday by the +greatest entertainment ever given in that district. The mills had been +shut down for a week, and every man, woman and child in the valley city +had been invited up to the new town on the heights. There was a brass +band, and a sumptuous spread of refreshments, all free to the immense +crowd. The ladies, for days before, visited everyone in the valley, and +got a promise of attendance, but to make assurance doubly sure, an +amazing corps of men was organised, equipped with motor cars, which +scoured the valley from Powerville downwards, gathering in such remnants +of humanity as for any reason had neglected to attend the show. Miss +Maturin said she was resolved this entertainment should be a feature +unique in the history of the State. + +The shutting down of the mills had caused the water in the immense dam +to rise, so that now the sluices at the top added to the picturesqueness +of the scene by supplying waterfalls more than sixty feet high, a +splendid view of which was obtainable from the new city on the heights. +Suddenly it was noticed that these waterfalls increased in power, until +their roar filled the valley. At last the whole lip of the immense dam +began to trickle, and an ever augmenting Niagara of waters poured over. + +"Great heavens!" cried Boscombe, who was present to sneer at these +activities, "there must have been a cloud-burst in the mountains!" + +He shouted for the foreman. + +"Where are the tenders of the dam?" he cried. "Send them to lower those +sluices, and let more water out." + +"Wait a moment," said Constance Maturin, who had just come out of the +main telephone building. "There can be no danger, Mr. Boscombe. You +always said that dam was strong enough, when I protested it wasn't." + +"So it is strong enough, but not----" + +"Look!" she cried, pointing over the surface of the lake. "See that +wave!" + +"Suffering Noah and the Flood!" exclaimed Boscombe. + +As he spoke, the wave burst against the dam, and now they had Niagara +in reality. There was a crash, and what seemed to be a series of +explosions, then the whole structure dissolved away, and before the +appalled eyes of the sight-seers, the valley town crumpled up like a +pack of cards, and even the tall mills themselves, that staggered at the +impact of the flood, slowly settled down, and were engulfed in the +seething turmoil of maddened waters. + +[Illustration: "'This,' he cried, 'is murder.'"] + +For a time no voice could be heard in the deafening uproar. It was +Boscombe who spoke when the waters began to subside. + +"This," he cried, "is murder!" + +He glared at Constance Maturin, who stood pale, silent and trembling. + +"I told you she was mad," he roared at Stranleigh. "It is your money +that in some devilish way has caused this catastrophe. If any lives are +lost, it is rank murder!" + +"It is murder," agreed Stranleigh, quietly. "Whoever is responsible for +the weakness of that dam should be hanged!" + + + + +V.--IN SEARCH OF GAME. + + +The warm morning gave promise of a blistering hot day, as Lord +Stranleigh strolled, in his usual leisurely fashion, up Fifth Avenue. +High as the thermometer already stood, the young man gave no evidence +that he was in the least incommoded by the temperature. In a welter of +heated, hurrying people, he produced the effect of an iceberg that had +somehow drifted down into the tropics. The New York tailor entrusted +with the duty of clothing him quite outdistanced his London rival, who +had given Lord Stranleigh the reputation of being the best-dressed man +in England. Now his lordship was dangerously near the point where he +might be called the best-dressed man in New York, an achievement worthy +of a Prince's ambition. + +His lordship, with nothing to do, and no companionship to hope for, +since everyone was at work, strolled into the splendour of the +University Club and sought the comparative coolness of the smoking room, +where, seating himself in that seductive invitation to laziness, a +leather-covered arm chair, he began to glance over the illustrated +English weeklies. He had the huge room to himself. These were business +hours, and a feeling of loneliness crept over him, perhaps germinated by +his sight of the illustrated papers, and accentuated by an attempted +perusal of them. They were a little too stolid for a hot day, so +Stranleigh turned to the lighter entertainment of the American humorous +press. + +Presently there entered this hall of silence the stout figure of Mr. +John L. Banks, senior attorney for the Ice Trust, a man well known to +Stranleigh, who had often sought his advice, with profit to both of +them. The lawyer approached the lounger. + +"Hello, Banks, I was just thinking of you, reflecting how delightful it +must be in this weather to be connected, even remotely, with the ice +supply of New York." + +Mr. Banks's panama hat was in one hand, while the other drew a +handkerchief across his perspiring brow. + +"Well, Stranleigh, you're looking very cool and collected. Enacting the +part of the idle rich, I suppose?" + +"No, I'm a specimen of labour unrest." + +"Perhaps I can appease that. I'm open to a deal at fair compensation for +you. If you will simply parade the streets in that leisurely fashion we +all admire, bearing a placard 'Pure Ice Company,' I'll guarantee you a +living wage and an eight hours' day." + +"Should I be required to carry about crystal blocks of the product?" + +"No; you're frigid enough as it is. Besides, ice at the present moment +is too scarce to be expended on even so important a matter as +advertisement." + +Banks wheeled forward an arm chair, and sat down opposite his lordship. +A useful feature of a panama hat is its flexibility. You may roll one +brim to fit the hand, and use the other as a fan, and this Banks did +with the perfection of practice. + +"What's the cause of the unrest, Stranleigh?" + +"Thinking. That's the cause of unrest all the world over. Whenever +people begin to think, there is trouble." + +"I've never noticed any undue thoughtfulness in you, Stranleigh." + +"That's just it. Thinking doesn't agree with me, and as you hint, I +rarely indulge in it, but this is a land that somehow stimulates +thought, and thought compels action. Action is all very well in +moderation, but in these United States of yours it is developed into +a fever, or frenzy rather, curable only by a breakdown or death." + +"Do you think it's as bad as all that?" + +"Yes, I do. You call it enterprise; I call it greed. I've never yet met +an American who knew when he'd had enough." + +"Did you ever meet an Englishman who knew that?" + +"Thousands of them." + +Banks laughed. + +"I imagine," he said, "it's all a matter of nomenclature. You think us +fast over here, and doubtless you are wrong; _we_ think _you_ slow over +there, and doubtless we are wrong. I don't think we're greedy. No man is +so lavish in his expenditure as an American, and no man more generous. A +greedy man does not spend money. Our motive power is interest in the +game." + +"Yes; everyone has told me that, but I regard the phrase as an excuse, +not as a reason." + +"Look here, Stranleigh, who's been looting you? What deal have you lost? +I warned you against mixing philanthropy with business, you remember." + +Stranleigh threw back his head and laughed. + +"There you have it. According to you a man cannot form an opinion that +is uninfluenced by his pocket. As a matter of fact, I have won all +along the line. I tried the game, as you call it, hoping to find it +interesting, but it doesn't seem to me worth while. I pocket the stakes, +and I am going home, in no way elated at my success, any more than I +should have been discouraged had I failed." + +Leaning forward, Mr. Banks spoke as earnestly as the weather permitted. + +"What you need, Stranleigh, is a doctor's advice, not a lawyer's. You +have been just a little too long in New York, and although New Yorkers +don't believe it, there are other parts of the country worthy of +consideration. Your talk, instead of being an indictment of life as you +find it, has been merely an exposition of your own ignorance, a sample +of that British insularity which we all deplore. I hope you don't mind +my stating the case as I see it?" + +"Not at all," said Stranleigh. "I am delighted to hear your point of +view. Go on." + +"Very well; here am I plugging away during this hot weather in this hot +city. Greed, says you." + +"I say nothing of the kind," replied his lordship calmly. "I am merely +lost in admiration of a hard-working man, enduring the rigours of toil +in the most luxurious club of which I have ever been an honorary +member. Let me soften the asperities of labour by ordering something +with ice in it." + +The good-natured attorney accepted the invitation, and then went on-- + +"We have a saying regarding any futile proposition to the effect that it +cuts no ice. This is the position of the Trust in which I am interested. +In this hot weather we cut no ice, but we sell it. Winter is a peaceable +season with us, and the harder the winter, the better we are pleased, +but summer is a time of trouble. It is a period of complaints and +law-suits, and our newspaper reading is mostly articles on the greed and +general villainy of the Trust. So my position is literally that of +what-you-may-call-him on the burning deck, whence almost all but he have +fled to the lakes, to the mountains, to the sea shore. Now, I don't +intend to do this always. I have set a limit of accumulated cash, and +when I reach it I quit. It would be high falutin' if I said duty held me +here, so I will not say it." + +"A lawyer can always out-talk a layman," said Stranleigh, wearily, "and +I suppose all this impinges on my ignorance." + +"Certainly," said Banks. "It's a large subject, you know. But I'll leave +theory, and come down to practice. As I said before, you've had too much +of New York. You are known to have a little money laid by against a +rainy day, so everybody wants you to invest in something, and you've got +tired of it. Have you ever had a taste of ranch life out West?" + +"I've never been further West than Chicago." + +"Good. When you were speaking of setting a limit to financial ambition, +I remembered my old friend, Stanley Armstrong, the best companion on a +shooting or fishing expedition I ever encountered. It is not to be +wondered at that he is an expert in sport, for often he has had to +depend on rod and gun for sustenance. He was a mining engineer, and very +few know the mining west as well as he does. He might have been a +millionaire or a pauper, but he chose a middle course, and set his limit +at a hundred thousand pounds. When land was cheap he bought a large +ranch, partly plain and partly foothills, with the eternal snow +mountains beyond. Now, if you take with you an assortment of guns and +fishing rods, and spend a month with Stanley Armstrong, your pessimism +will evaporate." + +"A good idea," said Stranleigh. "If you give me a letter of introduction +to Mr. Armstrong, I'll telegraph at once to be sure of accommodation." + +"Telegraph?" cried the lawyer. "He'd never get your message. I don't +suppose there's a telegraph office within fifty miles. You don't need a +letter of introduction, but I'll write you one, and give your name +merely as Stranleigh. You won't have any use for a title out there; in +fact, it is a necessary part of my prescription that you should get away +from yours, with the consequences it entails. Not that you're likely to +come across would-be investors, or any one with designs on your wealth. +As for accommodation, take a tent with you, and be independent. When I +return to my office, I'll dictate full instructions for reaching the +ranch." + +"Is it so difficult of access as all that?" + +"You might find it so. When you reach the nearest railway station, which +is a couple of days' journey from the ranch, you can acquire a horse for +yourself, and two or three men with pack mules for your belongings. +They'll guide you to Armstrong's place." + +Stranleigh found no difficulty in getting a cavalcade together at +Bleachers' station, an amazingly long distance west of New York. A man +finds little trouble in obtaining what he wants, if he never cavils at +the price asked, and is willing to pay in advance. The party passed +through a wild country, though for a time the road was reasonably good. +It degenerated presently into a cart-track, however, and finally became +a mere trail through the wilderness. As night fell, the tent was put up +by the side of a brawling stream, through which they had forded. + +Next morning the procession started early, but it was noon before it +came to the clearing which Stranleigh rightly surmised was the outskirts +of the ranch. The guide, who had been riding in front, reined in, and +allowed Stranleigh to come alongside. + +"That," he said, pointing down the valley, "is Armstrong's ranch." + +Before Stranleigh could reply, if he had intended doing so, a shot rang +out from the forest, and he felt the sharp sting of a bullet in his left +shoulder. The guide flung himself from the saddle with the speed of +lightning, and stood with both hands upraised, his horse between himself +and the unseen assailant. + +"Throw up your hands!" he shouted to Stranleigh. + +"Impossible!" was the quiet answer, "my left is helpless." + +"Then hold up your right." + +Stranleigh did so. + +"Slide off them packs," roared the guide to his followers, whereupon +ropes were untied on the instant, and the packs slid to the ground, +while the mules shook themselves, overjoyed at this sudden freedom. + +"Turn back!" cried the guide. "Keep your hand up, and they won't shoot. +They want the goods." + +"Then you mean to desert me?" asked Stranleigh. + +"Desert nothing!" rejoined the guide, gruffly. + +"We can't stand up against these fellows, whoever they are. We're no +posse. To fight them is the sheriff's business. I engaged to bring you +and your dunnage to Armstrong's ranch. I've delivered the goods, and now +it's me for the railroad." + +"I'm going to that house," said Stranleigh. + +"The more fool you," replied the guide, "but I guess you'll get there +safe enough, if you don't try to save the plunder." + +The unladen mules, now bearing the men on their backs, had disappeared. +The guide washed his hands of the whole affair, despite the fact that +his hands were upraised. He whistled to his horse, and marched up the +trail for a hundred yards or so, still without lowering his arms, then +sprang into the saddle, fading out of sight in the direction his men +had taken. Stranleigh sat on his horse, apparently the sole inhabitant +of a lonely world. + +"That comes of paying in advance," he muttered, looking round at his +abandoned luggage. Then it struck him as ridiculous that he was enacting +the part of an equestrian statue, with his arm raised aloft. Still, he +remembered enough of the pernicious literature that had lent enchantment +to his early days, to know that in certain circumstances the holding up +of hands was a safeguard not to be neglected, so he lowered his right +hand, and took in it the forefinger of his left, and thus raised both +arms over his head, turning round in the saddle to face the direction +from whence the shots had come. Then he released the forefinger, and +allowed the left arm to drop as if it had been a semaphore. He winced +under the pain that this pantomime cost him, then in a loud voice he +called out: + +"If there is anyone within hearing, I beg to inform him that I am +wounded slightly; that I carry no firearms; that my escort has vanished, +and that I'm going to the house down yonder to have my injury looked +after. Now's the opportunity for a parley, if he wants it." + +He waited for some moments, but there was no response, then he gathered +up the reins, and quite unmolested proceeded down the declivity until he +came to the homestead. + +The place appeared to be deserted, and for the first time it crossed +Stranleigh's mind that perhaps the New York lawyer had sent him on this +expedition as a sort of practical joke. He couldn't discover where the +humour of it came in, but perhaps that might be the density with which +his countrymen were universally credited. Nevertheless, he determined to +follow the adventure to an end, and slipped from his horse, making an +ineffectual attempt to fasten the bridle rein to a rail of the fence +that surrounded the habitation. The horse began placidly to crop the +grass, so he let it go at that, and advancing to the front door, +knocked. + +Presently the door was opened by an elderly woman of benign appearance, +who nevertheless regarded him with some suspicion. She stood holding +the door, without speaking, seemingly waiting for her unexpected +visitor to proclaim his mission. + +"Is this the house of Stanley Armstrong?" he asked. + +"Yes." + +"Is he at home? I have a letter of introduction to him." + +"No; he is not at home." + +"Do you expect him soon?" + +"He is in Chicago," answered the woman. + +"In Chicago?" echoed Stranleigh. "We must have passed one another on the +road. I was in Chicago myself, but it seems months ago; in fact, I can +hardly believe such a place exists." The young man smiled a little +grimly, but there was no relaxation of the serious expression with which +the woman had greeted him. + +"What was your business with my husband?" + +"No business at all; rather the reverse. Pleasure, it might be called. I +expected to do a little shooting and fishing. A friend in New York +kindly gave me a letter of introduction to Mr. Armstrong, who, he said, +would possibly accompany me." + +"Won't you come inside?" was her reluctant invitation. "I don't think +you told me your name." + +"My name is Stranleigh, madam. I hope you will excuse my persistence, +but the truth is I have been slightly hurt, and if, as I surmise, it is +inconvenient to accept me as a lodger, I should be deeply indebted for +permission to remain here while I put a bandage on the wound. I must +return at once to Bleachers, where I suppose I can find a physician more +or less competent." + +"Hurt?" cried the woman in amazement, "and I've been keeping you +standing there at the door. Why didn't you tell me at once?" + +"Oh, I think it's no great matter, and the pain is not as keen as I +might have expected. Still, I like to be on the safe side, and must +return after I have rested for a few minutes." + +"I'm very sorry to hear of your accident," said Mrs. Armstrong, with +concern. "Sit down in that rocking-chair until I call my daughter." + +The unexpected beauty of the young woman who entered brought an +expression of mild surprise to Stranleigh's face. In spite of her homely +costume, a less appreciative person than his lordship must have been +struck by Miss Armstrong's charm, and her air of intelligent refinement. + +"This is Mr. Stranleigh, who has met with an accident," said Mrs. +Armstrong to her daughter. + +"Merely a trifle," Stranleigh hastened to say, "but I find I cannot +raise my left arm." + +"Is it broken?" asked the girl, with some anxiety. + +"I don't think so; I fancy the trouble is in the shoulder. A rifle +bullet has passed through it." + +"A rifle bullet?" echoed the girl, in a voice of alarm. "How did that +happen? But--never mind telling me now. The main thing is to attend to +the wound. Let me help you off with your coat." + +Stranleigh stood up. + +"No exertion, please," commanded the girl. "Bring some warm water and a +sponge," she continued, turning to her mother. + +She removed Stranleigh's coat with a dexterity that aroused his +admiration. The elder woman returned with dressings and sponge, which +she placed on a chair. Stranleigh's white shirt was stained with blood, +and to this Miss Armstrong applied the warm water. + +"I must sacrifice your linen," she said calmly. "Please sit down again." + +In a few moments his shoulder was bare; not the shoulder of an athlete, +but nevertheless of a young man in perfect health. The girl's soft +fingers pressed it gently. + +"I shall have to hurt you a little," she said. + +Stranleigh smiled. + +"It is all for my good, as they say to little boys before whipping +them." + +The girl smiled back at him. + +"Yes; but I cannot add the complementary fiction that it hurts me more +than it does you. There! Did you feel that?" + +"Not more than usual." + +"There are no bones broken, which is a good thing. After all, it is a +simple case, Mr. Stranleigh. You must remain quiet for a few days, and +allow me to put this arm in a sling. I ought to send you off to bed, but +if you promise not to exert yourself, you may sit out on the verandah +where it is cool, and where the view may interest you." + +"You are very kind, Miss Armstrong, but I cannot stay. I must return to +Bleachers." + +"I shall not allow you to go back," she said with decision. + +Stranleigh laughed. + +"In a long and comparatively useless life I have never contradicted a +lady, but on this occasion I must insist on having my own way." + +"I quite understand your reason, Mr. Stranleigh, though it is very +uncomplimentary to me. It is simply an instance of man's distrust of a +woman when it comes to serious work. Like most men, you would be content +to accept me as a nurse, but not as a physician. There are two doctors +in Bleachers, and you are anxious to get under the care of one of them. +No--please don't trouble to deny it. You are not to blame. You are +merely a victim of the universal conceit of man." + +"Ah, it is you who are not complimentary now! You must think me a very +commonplace individual." + +She had thrown the coat over his shoulders, after having washed and +dressed the wound. The bullet had been considerate enough to pass right +through, making all probing unnecessary. With a safety-pin she attached +his shirt sleeve to his shirt front. + +"That will do," she said, "until I prepare a regular sling. And now come +out to the verandah. No; don't carry the chair. There are several on the +platform. Don't try to be polite, and remember I have already ordered +you to avoid exertion." + +He followed her to the broad piazza, and sat down, drawing a deep breath +of admiration. Immediately in front ran a broad, clear stream of water; +swift, deep, transparent. + +"An ideal trout stream," he said to himself. + +A wide vista of rolling green fields stretched away to a range of +foothills, overtopped in the far distance by snow mountains. + +"By Jove!" he cried. "This is splendid. I have seen nothing like it out +of Switzerland." + +"Talking of Switzerland," said Miss Armstrong, seating herself opposite +him, "have you ever been at Thun?" + +"Oh, yes." + +"You stopped at the _Thunerhof_, I suppose?" + +"I don't remember what it was called, but it was the largest hotel in +the place, I believe." + +"That would be the _Thunerhof_," she said. "I went to a much more modest +inn, the _Falken_, and the stream that runs in front of it reminded me +of this, and made me quite lonesome for the ranch. Of course, you had +the river opposite you at the _Thunerhof_, but there the river is half a +dozen times as wide as the branch that runs past the _Falken_. I used to +sit out on the terrace watching that stream, murmuring to its +accompaniment 'Home, sweet Home.'" + +"You are by way of being a traveller, then?" + +"Not a traveller, Mr. Stranleigh," said the girl, laughing a little, +"but a dabbler. I took dabs of travel, like my little visit to Thun. For +more than a year I lived in Lausanne, studying my profession, and during +that time I made brief excursions here and there." + +"Your profession," asked Stranleigh, with evident astonishment. + +"Yes; can't you guess what it is, and why I am relating this bit of +personal history on such very short acquaintance?" + +The girl's smile was beautiful. + +"Don't you know Europe?" she added. + +"I ought to; I'm a native." + +"Then you are aware that Lausanne is a centre of medical teaching and +medical practice. I am a doctor, Mr. Stranleigh. Had your wound been +really serious, which it is not, and you had come under the care of +either physician in Bleachers, he would have sent for me, if he knew I +were at home." + +"What you have said interests me very much, Miss Armstrong, or should I +say Doctor Armstrong?" + +"I will answer to either designation, Mr. Stranleigh, but I should +qualify the latter by adding that I am not a practising physician. +'Professor,' perhaps, would be the more accurate title. I am a member of +the faculty in an eastern college of medicine, but by and by I hope to +give up teaching, and devote myself entirely to research work. It is my +ambition to become the American Madame Curie." + +"A laudable ambition, Professor, and I hope you will succeed. Do you +mind if I tell you how completely wrong you are in your diagnosis of the +subject now before you?" + +"In my surgical diagnosis I am not wrong. Your wound will be cured in a +very few days." + +"Oh, I am not impugning your medical skill. I knew the moment you spoke +about your work that you were an expert. It is your diagnosis of me that +is all astray. I have no such disbelief in the capacity of woman as you +credit me with. I have no desire to place myself under the ministrations +of either of those doctors in Bleachers. My desire for the metropolitan +delights of that scattered town is of the most commonplace nature. I +must buy for myself an outfit of clothes. I possess nothing in the way +of raiment except what I am wearing, and part of that you've cut up with +your scissors." + +"Surely you never came all this distance without being well provided in +that respect?" + +"No; I had ample supplies, and I brought them with me safely to a point +within sight of this house. In fact, I came hither like a sheik of the +desert, at the head of a caravan, only the animals were mules instead of +camels. All went well until we came to the edge of the forest, but the +moment I emerged a shot rang out, and it seemed to me I was stung by a +gigantic bee, as invisible as the shooter. The guide said there was a +band of robbers intent on plunder, and he and the escort acted as +escorts usually do in such circumstances. They unloaded the mules with +most admirable celerity, and then made off much faster than they came. I +never knew a body of men so unanimous in action. They would make a +splendid board of directors in a commercial company that wished to get +its work accomplished without undue discussion." + +The girl had risen to her feet. + +"And your baggage?" she asked. + +"I suppose it is in the hands of the brigands by this time. I left it +scattered along the trail." + +"But, Mr. Stranleigh, what you say is incredible. There are no brigands, +thieves or road agents in this district." + +"The wound that you dressed so skilfully is my witness, and a witness +whose testimony cannot be impugned on cross-examination." + +"There is a mistake somewhere. Why, just think of it; the most energetic +bandit would starve in this locality! There is no traffic. If your +belongings were scattered along the trail, they are there yet." + +"Then why shoot the belonger of those belongings?" + +"That's just what I must discover. Excuse me for a moment." + +She passed through the house, and the young man heard a shrill whistle +blown, which was answered by a call some distance away. The girl +returned, and sat down again, her brow perplexed, and presently there +came on to the platform a stalwart, good-natured looking man, dressed in +what Stranleigh took to be a cowboy costume; at least, it was the kind +of apparel he had read about in books of the Wild West. His head was +covered with a broad-brimmed slouch hat, which he swept off in deference +to the lady. + +"Jim," she said, "did you hear any shooting out by the Bleachers trail +about an hour ago?" + +"No, Ma'am; I can't say that I did, except a rifle I shot off." + +"That _you_ shot off! What were you shooting at?" + +"Well," said Jim, with a humorous chuckle, "I guess perhaps it was this +gentleman." + +"Why did you wish to murder _me_?" asked Stranleigh, with pardonable +concern. + +"Murder you, sir? Why, I didn't try to murder you. I could have winged +you a dozen times while you were riding down to the house, if I'd wanted +to. Where were you hit?" + +"In the left shoulder." + +"Then that's all right. That's what I aimed to do. I just set out to nip +you, and scare you back where you came from." + +"But why?" insisted the perplexed Stranleigh. + +"You came along with a posse behind you, and I thought you were the +sheriff, but I wouldn't kill even a sheriff unless I had to. I'm the +peaceablest man on earth, as Miss Armstrong there will tell you." + +"If that's your idea of peace," said Stranleigh, puzzled, "I hope next +time I'll fall among warlike people." + +Jim grinned. It was Miss Armstrong who spoke, and, it seemed to +Stranleigh, with unexpected mildness, considering she knew so much of +the Eastern States and Europe. + +"I understand," she said, "but next time, Jim, it will be as well merely +to fire the gun, without hitting anybody." + +"Oh," explained Jim, in an off-hand manner, "our folk don't pay any +attention to the like of that. You've got to show them you mean +business. If this gentleman had come on, the next shot would have hit +him where it would hurt, but seeing he was peaceable minded, he was safe +as in a church." + +"Is the baggage where he left it?" + +"Certainly, Ma'am; do you wish it brought here?" + +"Yes; I do." + +"All right, Ma'am; I'll see to that. It's all a little mistake, sir," he +said amiably, as he turned to Stranleigh. "Accidents will happen in the +best regulated family, as the saying goes," and with a flourish of the +hat he departed. + +Miss Armstrong rose as if to leave the verandah. As she did so +Stranleigh said in a tone of mild reproach: + +"I confess I am puzzled." + +"So am I," replied the girl, brightly. "I'm puzzled to know what I can +offer you in the way of books. Our stock is rather limited." + +"I don't want to read, Miss Armstrong, but I do want to know why there +is such a prejudice here against a sheriff. In the land I came from a +sheriff is not only regarded with great respect, but even with +veneration. He rides about in a gilded coach, and wears magnificent +robes, decorated with gold lace. I believe that he develops ultimately +into a Lord Mayor, just as a grub, if one may call so glorious a +personage as a sheriff a grub, ultimately becomes a butterfly. We'd +never think of shooting a sheriff. Why, then, do you pot at sheriffs, +and hit innocent people, out here?" + +The girl laughed. + +"I saw the Lord Mayor of London once in his carriage, and behind it were +two most magnificent persons. Were they sheriffs?" + +"Oh, dear no; they were merely flunkeys." + +"_Our_ sheriffs are elected persons, drawn from the politician class, +and if you know America, you will understand what that means. Among the +various duties of a sheriff is that of seizing property and selling it, +if the owner of that property hasn't paid his debts." + +"They act as bailiffs, then?" + +"Very likely; I am not acquainted with legal procedure. But I must go, +Mr. Stranleigh, for whatever the position of a sheriff may be, mine is +that of assistant to my mother, who is just now preparing the dinner, a +meal that, further East, is called lunch. And now, what would you prefer +to read? The latest magazine or a pharmaceutical journal?" + +"Thank you, Miss Armstrong; I prefer gazing at the scenery to either of +them." + +"Then good-bye until dinner time," whereupon she disappeared into the +house. + +The meal proved unexpectedly good. There was about it an enticing +freshness, and a variety that was surprising when the distance from the +house to the nearest market was considered. Stranleigh could not +remember any repast he had enjoyed so much, although he suspected that +horseback exercise in the keen air had helped his appreciation of it. +When he mentioned his gratification at so satisfactory a menu, the girl +smiled. + +"Plain living and lofty thought is our motto on the ranch," she said. + +"This is anything but plain living," he replied, "and I consider myself +no mean judge in such matters. How far away is your market town?" + +"Oh, a market is merely one of those effete contrivances of +civilisation. What you buy in a market has been handled and re-handled, +and artificially made to look what it is not. The basis of our provender +is the farm. All round us here is what economists call, in a double +sense of the term, raw material. Farm house fare is often what it should +not be because art belongs to the city while nature belongs to the farm. +To produce a good result, the two must be united. We were speaking just +now of Thun. If, leaving that town, you proceed along the left hand road +by the lake, you will arrive at a large institution which is devoted +entirely to the art of cookery. The more I progressed with my studies at +Lausanne, the more I realised that the basis of health is good food, +properly prepared. So I interrupted my medical studies for a time, +entered that establishment, and learned to cook." + +"Miss Armstrong, you are the most efficient individual I ever met." + +"You are very complimentary, Mr. Stranleigh, because, like the various +meals you have enjoyed in different parts of the world, you must have +met a great many people. To enhance myself further in your eyes, I may +add that I have brought another much-needed accomplishment to the farm. +I am an expert accountant, and can manage business affairs in a way that +would startle you, and regarding this statement of mine, I should like +to ask you, hoping you won't think I am impertinent, are you a rich +man?" + +Stranleigh was indeed startled--she had succeeded in that--and he +hesitated before he answered-- + +"I am considered reasonably well off." + +"I am very glad to hear it, for it has been the custom of my father, who +is not a good business man, to charge boarders two or three dollars a +week when they come with their guns and fishing tackle. Now, we are in a +unique position. We have the advantage of being free from competition. +The hotels of New York are as thick as blackberries. They meet +competition in its fiercest form, yet the prices they charge are much +more per day than we charge for a month. I am determined that our prices +shall be equal to New York prices, but I think it is only fair to let +any customer know the fact before he is called upon to pay his bill." + +"A very excellent arrangement," said Stranleigh, heartily, "and in my +case there will be an additional account for medical services. Will that +be on the basis of professional charges in London, New York, Vienna, +Berlin, or Lausanne?" + +"Not on the basis of Lausanne, certainly, for there an excellent doctor +is contented with a fee of five francs, so if you don't object, I'll +convert francs into dollars." + +"My admiration for your business capacity is waning, Miss Armstrong. If +this is to be an international matter, why choose your own country +instead of mine? Transpose your francs into pounds, Professor. There are +five francs in a dollar, but five dollars in a pound sterling. Let me +recommend to you my own currency." + +"A very good idea, Mr. Stranleigh," rejoined Miss Armstrong, promptly. +"I shall at once take it into consideration, but I hope you won't be +shocked when the final round-up arrives." + +"I shall have no excuse for astonishment, being so honestly forewarned, +and now that we are conversing so internationally, I'd like to carry it +a little further. In Italy they call an accident a 'disgrazia,' and when +you read in an Italian paper that a man is 'disgraced,' you realise that +he has met with an accident. Then the account ends by saying that the +patient is guaranteed curable in two days, or a week, or a month, as the +case may be. How long, then, doctor, must I rest under this 'disgrace'?" + +"I should say a week, but that's merely an off-hand guess, as I suppose +is the case with the estimate of an Italian physician." + +"I hope your orders won't be too strict. By the way, has my luggage +arrived?" + +"It is all in the large room upstairs, but if you have any designs upon +it, you are disobeying orders." + +"I must get at a portmanteau that is in one of the bundles." + +"I will fetch what you want, so don't worry about that, but come and sit +on the verandah once more." + +Stranleigh protested, and finally a compromise was arrived at. Miss +Armstrong would whistle for Jim, and he would do the unpacking. She saw +a shade of distrust pass over Stranleigh's face, and she reassured him +that Jim was the most honest and harmless man in the world, except, +perhaps, where sheriffs were concerned. + +"Now," she continued, when he had seated himself, "you have talked +enough for one day, so you must keep quiet for the rest of the +afternoon. I will do the talking, giving you an explanation of our +brigandish conduct." + +"I shall be an interested listener," said Stranleigh, resignedly. "But +permit me, before silence falls, to ask what you may regard an +impertinent question. Do you smoke?" + +"Goodness, no!" she replied, with widely opened eyes. + +"Many ladies do, you know, and I thought you might have acquired the +habit during your travels abroad. In that case, I should have been +delighted to offer you some excellent cigarettes from my portmanteau." + +Jumping up, the girl laughed brightly. + +"Poor man! I understand at last. You shall have the cigarettes in less +than five minutes. Give me your keys, please." + +"That particular piece of luggage is not locked. I am so sorry to +trouble you, but after such a memorable dinner----" + +"Yes, yes; I know, I know!" she cried, as she vanished. + +"Interesting girl, that," murmured Stranleigh to himself, "and unusually +accomplished." + +He listened for a whistle, but the first break in the silence was the +coming of Miss Armstrong, holding a box of cigars in one hand and a +packet of cigarettes in the other. + +"Then you didn't call for help, after all," said Stranleigh, a shade of +reproach in his tone. + +"Oh, it was quite easy. By punching the bundles I guessed what they +contained, and soon found where the portmanteau was concealed. Now, +light up," she continued, "lean back, and smoke. I'll do the talking. +My father, as I've told you, is a very poor business man, and that is +why I endeavoured to acquire some knowledge of affairs. He is generous +and sympathetic, believing no evil of anyone, consequently he is often +imposed upon to his financial disadvantage. Our position as father +and daughter is the reverse of what is usual in such relationships. I +attempt to guide him in the way he should go, and as a general thing +he accepts my advice and acts upon it, but on the occasion of which I +speak, I was at work in New York, and knew nothing of the disastrous +contract into which he had entered, until it was too late. + +"I always come West and spend the vacation on the ranch, and this time +brought with me all the money I had saved, but it proved insufficient +to cope with the situation. In his early days my father was a mining +engineer. He was successful, and might have been a very rich man to-day +if---- But that 'if' always intervened. Nevertheless, he accumulated +money, and bought this ranch, determined to retire. + +"The lower part of the ranch is good grazing ground, but the upper or +western part is rocky, rising to the foothills. My father was not a +success as a rancher, partly because we are too far from the markets, +and partly because he chose as cowboys men who did not understand their +business. I told you that my father is a sympathetic man. No one ever +appealed to him in vain. He has always been very popular, but it seems +to me that his friends are always poorer than himself. Thus it came +about that miners who knew him, and were out of work, applied for +something to do, and he engaged them as cowboys, until he had half a +dozen on his pay roll, and thus began the gradual loss of his money. +These men were excellent as miners, but useless as cowboys, and there +was no one here to teach them their duties, my father being himself a +miner. It seemed, then, a dispensation of Providence that as he rambled +over the western part of his property he struck signs of silver. He was +not mistaken in his prospecting. He and the cowboys took hilariously to +their old trade, and worked away at the rocks until all his money was +gone." + +"Did they find any real silver?" asked Stranleigh, interested. + +"Oh yes, plenty of it," answered the girl. "It is evident they have +opened a very rich mine." + +"Then where is the difficulty?" + +"The difficulty is the want of machinery, which there is no capital to +purchase. My father tried to get that capital in this district, but +there is very little ready money to be obtained out here. He enlisted +the interest of Mr. Ricketts, a lawyer in Bleachers, and reputed the +only rich man in the town. Ricketts came to the ranch with a mining +engineer, and they examined the opening. Seemingly they were not +impressed with the contents, and Ricketts advised my father to go East +and form a company. + +"My father explained his financial situation, and Ricketts, with +apparent generosity, offered to lend him five thousand dollars on his +note, to be paid on demand, with the ranch as security. Thus my father +put himself entirely in the other's power. Ricketts gave him the +address of a lawyer in Chicago, who, he said, would be of assistance to +him. The latest word we received from my father is that this lawyer, in +one way or another, has got hold of all his money. Father telegraphed to +Ricketts for help, which was refused. So he left Chicago on foot, +determined to walk home, since he had not even money enough left to pay +his fare home. Where he is at present, we have no idea, except that he +is making for this ranch. + +"Ricketts at once took action to sell the ranch. Apparently he is quite +within his legal rights, but there are formalities to be gone through, +and one of these is the arrival of the sheriff to seize the property. +That arrival the men, headed by Jim, are determined to prevent, and now, +perhaps, you understand why you rode into danger when you came from +Bleachers this morning. + +"When I learnt of my father's predicament, I went out to Bleachers to +see Mr. Ricketts, offering him what money I had brought from New York if +he would hold his hand for a year. He refused, and from his conversation +I realised he was determined to secure the ranch for himself, and I +believe the whole transaction is a plot toward that end." + +"Then the mine must be a valuable one?" + +"I am sure it is; indeed, my father could make no mistake in that +matter." + +"Well, the position seems very simple after all. What you need, Miss +Armstrong, is a change of creditors. You want a creditor who is not in a +hurry for his money. In other words, if you could transfer that debt, +you would be out of immediate danger. Would you allow me to go into +Bleachers to-morrow, and see Mr. Ricketts?" + +"Most decidedly not!" + +"How much money did you bring with you from New York?" + +"Two thousand dollars." + +"I brought just twice that amount, so I think the affair may be +arranged, and you can go to Ricketts to-morrow, and take up the note. I +think perhaps you had better have five thousand five hundred dollars +with you, as there will certainly be some interest and expenses to pay, +for if the case is as you state it, Ricketts will be reluctant to part +with the document. Is there another lawyer in Bleachers?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, get him to accompany you, and make formal tender of the money." + +The girl had reddened while he was speaking, and now she said, in tones +of distress-- + +"I fear you completely misunderstood my object in telling you of my +difficulties. My object was not to borrow money, but to explain why Jim +Dean shot at you." + +"Oh, I understand perfectly why you spoke as frankly as you did, and I +am very much obliged to you for doing so, but you must have no +diffidence in accepting the money. It is purely a business transaction, +and, as you say, you are a business woman. Therefore, as a matter of +business, it would be folly to reject an offer that is to our mutual +advantage. The security is ample." + +"That is true, Mr. Stranleigh, but, you see, I have no power, no +authority, to give this ranch as security; it belongs to my father." + +"True; but you are not nearly so competent a business woman as you would +have me believe. You will receive from Ricketts your father's promissory +note. That you will hand to me, then I shall be your debtor for two +thousand dollars. Those two thousand dollars I shall pay as soon as I +get some money from New York, and your father will become my debtor for +five thousand dollars. All perfectly simple, you see. In the first +instance I trust you for three thousand dollars, and in the second +instance you trust me for two thousand dollars. After I have paid you +the two thousand dollars, I hold the note, and can sell you up whenever +I please. I give you my word I won't do that, though even if I did you +would be no worse off than you are now." + +"Very well, Mr. Stranleigh; I will take the money." + +It was several days later when Miss Armstrong returned from Bleachers. +Her first interest was to satisfy herself of the patient's progress. He +had been getting on well. + +"You are an admirable physician, Miss Armstrong," he said. "Now let me +know whether you are equally capable as a financier." + +"I have failed completely," she answered, dejectedly. "Mr. Ricketts has +refused the money." + +"Did you take the other lawyer with you?" + +"Yes." + +"What did he say?" + +"He said Ricketts had no right to refuse, but a different question has +arisen. The guide who accompanied you to the ranch brought back news of +the shooting. Ricketts guessed at once why you were shot at, and the +sheriff has signed an affidavit, or some such instrument, to show that +his life, and his men's lives, are in danger if they go to seize the +property, so this complication has been overcome by some order from the +legislature, and the personal seizure is waived. The sale is announced +to take place in Bleachers two weeks from to-day. Mr. Timmins--that is +the other lawyer--fears that Ricketts is within his rights in refusing +the money at this stage." + +"This is all very interesting, Miss Armstrong, but we have a fortnight +to turn round in." + +"Yes; that is so." + +"I am delighted, for now I shall have the pleasure of trying a fall with +the estimable Mr. Ricketts." + + + + +VI.--THE BUNK HOUSE PRISONER. + + +As the wound in his shoulder healed, Stranleigh began to enjoy himself +on the ranch. He was experiencing a life entirely new to him, and being +always a lover of waving woods and rushing waters, even in the tamed +state which England presents, he keenly appreciated these natural +beauties in the wilderness, where so-called human improvements had not +interfered with them. Without attempting to indulge in the sport for +which he had come, he wandered about the ranch a good deal, studying its +features, and at the same time developing an appetite that did justice +to the excellent meals prepared for him. He visited Jim Dean, who had +shot him, and tried to scrape acquaintance with his five aiders and +abettors in that drastic act, but they met his advances with suspicion, +naturally regarding him as a tenderfoot, nor were they satisfied that +his long residence among them was as friendly as he evidently wished it +to appear. + +The men resided in a huge bunk house, which consisted of one room only, +with a shack outside where the cooking was done. In the large room were +a dozen bunks; half of them in a very dishevelled state, giving sleeping +accommodation for the company, while the other half were ready in case +of an accession of help, should the mine prosper. + +The cabin was as securely built as a fortress, of the rugged stone which +had been blasted from the rocks in opening the mine. The mine itself was +situated about five hundred yards to the south of this edifice, but +instead of being dug downwards, as Stranleigh expected, it extended +westward on the level toward the heart of the mountain, so that a rudely +built truck could carry out the debris, and dump it down the steep hill. +To his aesthetic fancy this seemed a pity, because a short distance south +from the opening of the mine, the river formed a cascade descending a +hundred feet or more; a cascade of entrancing beauty, whose loveliness +would be more or less destroyed as the mining operations progressed. + +The rising sun illumined the tunnel to its final wall, and Stranleigh +found no difficulty in exploring it to the remotest corner. He passed +the abandoned truck partly turned over beside an assortment of picks, +shovels, hand-drills and the like. To his unpractised eye there was no +sign of silver on walls, floor or ceiling. At the extreme end was piled +up a quantity of what appeared to be huge cartridges. + +Before entering the cavern he had noticed three or four of the miners +standing in front of the bunk house, evidently watching him, but he paid +no attention to them, and while he was inside, the roar of the cataract +prevented him from hearing approaching footsteps. As he came out to the +lip of the mine, he found Jim and three others waiting for him. Each had +a rifle on his shoulder. + +"Inspecting the property?" said Jim, casually. + +"Yes," replied Stranleigh. + +"What do you think of it?" + +"My opinion would be of very little value. I know nothing of mining." + +"The deuce you don't!" said Jim. "What are you doing with that lump of +rock in your hand?" + +"Oh, that," said Stranleigh, "I happened to pick up. I wanted to examine +it in clear daylight. Is there silver in it?" + +"How should I know?" replied Jim, gruffly. "I'm not a mining engineer. I +only take a hand at the drill or the pick, as the case may be. But when +you throw that back where you got it, throw it carefully, and not too +far." + +"I don't intend to throw it," said Stranleigh. "I'm going to take it +down to the house." + +"Oh, you think you're not going to throw it, but you are. We've just +come up to explain that to you." + +"I see. If it is compulsory, why shouldn't I throw it as far as I can?" + +"Because," explained Jim, politely, "there's a lot of dynamite stored +in the end of that hole, and dynamite isn't a thing to fool with, you +know." + +Stranleigh laughed. + +"I rather fancy you're right, though I know as little about dynamite as +I do about mines. But to be sure of being on the right side, I will +leave the tossing of the stone to you. Here it is," whereupon he handed +the lump of rock to Jim, who flung it carelessly into the mine again, +but did not join in his visitor's hilarity. + +"You seem to regard me as a dangerous person?" + +"Oh, not at all, but we do love a man that attends to his own business. +We understood that you came here for shooting and fishing." + +"So I did, but other people were out shooting before I got a chance. A +man who's had a bullet through his shoulder neither hunts nor fishes." + +"That's so," admitted Jim, with the suavity of one who recognises a +reasonable statement, "but now that you are better, what do you come +nosing round the mine for? Why don't you go on with your shooting and +your fishing?" + +"Because Mr. Armstrong was to be my guide, and he, I regret to say, has +not yet returned home. As he is tramping from Chicago to the ranch, no +one knows when he will put in an appearance." + +"Well, Mr. Stranleigh, we are plain, ordinary backwoods folks, that have +no reason for loving or trusting people who come from the city, as you +do. You say that shooting is your game. Now, we can do a bit of shooting +ourselves, and I tell you plainly that if any stranger was found +prowling around here, he'd have got a bullet in a more vital spot than +you did. Do you understand me?" + +"Your meaning, sir, is perfectly plain. What do you want me to do? Go +away from here before Mr. Armstrong returns?" + +"No; we don't say that, but we draw an imaginary line, such as they tell +me the equator is, past this end of the farm house, and we ask you not +to cross it westward. There's all the fishing you want down stream, but +there's none up here by the waterfall, neither is there any game to +shoot, so you see we're proposing no hardship if your intentions are +what you say they are." + +"Sir, you speak so beautifully that I must address you less familiarly +than I am doing. My own name is Ned, but few take the liberty of calling +me by that title. I don't know that I should like it if they did. You +are already aware, perhaps, that I answer to the name of Stranleigh. May +I enquire what your name is?" + +"I'm James Dean." + +"Ah, the Dean of the Faculty? You are leader of this band of brothers?" + +"In a manner of speaking, yes." + +"Are they unanimous in restricting my liberty on this ranch?" + +"You bet!" + +"You've no right to do such a thing, and besides, it is inhospitable. I +came to this ranch properly accredited, with a letter of introduction to +Mr. Armstrong. He happens to be away; if he had been here, and I had +seen that my visit was unwelcome to him, I should instantly have taken +my leave, but I refuse to have my liberty restricted by Mr. Armstrong's +hired men." + +"That's exactly where you're wrong, Mr. Stranleigh. In the first place, +we're not hired men; we're Mr. Armstrong's partners, and we don't +restrict your liberty on the ranch." + +"A partner contributes his share to the expenses of the combination. I +understand Mr. Armstrong bears the burden alone." + +"We contribute our labour, which is cash in another form, therefore +whether Mr. Armstrong is here, or whether he is away, we mean to defend +our property. So when you cross the imaginary line I spoke of, you are +trespassing, and no jury will convict a man who shoots a trespasser +after he has been fully warned, as we warn you." + +"Well, Mr. Dean, I admit that you have right on your side, even if there +is not much wisdom at the back of it. There is just one more thing I +should like to know. Why do you treat me as an enemy?" + +"As a possible enemy," corrected Dean. + +"As a possible enemy, then?" + +"Because we don't like your actions, and we don't think much of you. +You're a city man, and we don't trust any such." + +"But Mr. Banks, who gave me the letter to your chief, is not only a city +man, but a lawyer. He has been here, and spoke highly of his reception." + +"That was before the mine was opened, and as for being a lawyer, we hate +'em, of course, but they're like rattlesnakes. In some seasons of the +year they are harmless. The opening of the silver mine opened the +rattlesnake season, and that's why this lawyer snake in Bleachers is +trying to cheat Armstrong out of his ranch. He came over here with a +mining engineer and learnt the whole value of the ground. How do we know +you're not a mining engineer?" + +"I regret to say I'm nothing so useful." + +"And didn't you send Miss Armstrong into Bleachers to see that villain +Ricketts? What connection have you with him?" + +"None at all, Mr. Dean. I never saw Ricketts in my life, and never heard +of him before the day you mistook me for the sheriff." + +Dean glanced at his companions, who had taken no part in the colloquy, +but who listened with an interest at once critical and suspicious. It +was evident that their distrust could not be dissipated, or even +mitigated, by strenuous talk, and for a moment Stranleigh was tempted to +tell them that he had lent three thousand dollars to Miss Armstrong, in +the hope that this money, added to her own, would gain some sort of +concession from the obdurate lawyer. But he remembered that the girl was +in constant communication with these men, and if she had not already +informed them of his futile assistance, it was because she did not want +them to know. + +Dean pondered for a few moments before he spoke. He seemed to have +gathered in the purport of his men's thoughts without the necessity for +words. At last he said: + +"May I take it you agree hereafter to attend to your own business?" + +Stranleigh laughed. + +"There would be no use in my making that promise, for I have never in my +life attended to my own business. My business affairs are all looked +after by men who are experts. They live in New York and in London, and +although I make a decision now and then, I do that as seldom as +possible. It fatigues me." + +"So you are a loafer?" + +"That's it exactly, Mr. Dean, and I freely give you my promise not to +loaf about your silver mine." + +"Are you so rich as all that?" + +"You are not consistent, Mr. Dean. How can you ask me to attend to my +business if you do not attend to yours? Whether I am rich or poor is +none of your affair?" + +"Quite true," agreed Jim, nonchalantly, "we will let it go at that." + +Stranleigh, with a smile, bowed courteously to the group. + +"I wish you a very good day," he said, and turning, strolled down to the +house at a leisurely gait, quite in keeping with his self-declared +character of loafer. His back offered an excellent target, but no man +raised his rifle, and Stranleigh never looked over his shoulder, never +hurried a step, but walked as one very sure of himself, and in no fear +of attack. + +"Stuck up cuss," said Jim to his comrades. "I'd like to take that chap +down a peg. Let's get back to the bunk house and talk it over," so they, +too, left the pit mouth, and returned to their cabin. + +When the Earl of Stranleigh entered the house, he was accosted by Miss +Armstrong, on whose fair face were traces of deep anxiety, which his +lordship thought were easily accounted for by the fact that the +homestead was to be sold in less than a fortnight. + +"I have been anxious to see you, Mr. Stranleigh," she said. "Won't you +come out on the verandah where we can talk?" + +"With great pleasure, Miss Armstrong." + +When they were seated, she continued-- + +"You have been talking with the men?" + +"Yes; we had a little chat together." + +"Did they tell you anything of their intentions?" + +"No; except in so far as they were determined not to let me examine the +mine." + +"Ah; they have distrusted you from the first. Did you insist on visiting +it?" + +"I have visited it." + +"Without asking one of them to accompany you?" + +"I regarded them as hired men. They say they are your father's +partners." + +"So they are." + +"Ah, well, if that is really the case, I must apologise to them. I +thought when you ordered Dean to bring in my luggage, and he obeyed with +such docility, that he was your servant. I intended to offer him some +money for that service, but I suppose I must not." + +"Certainly not. Those men will do anything for a friend, but nothing for +one of whom they are suspicious. Their distrust, once aroused, is not +easily removed. I am sure, however, you were tactful with them." + +Stranleigh smiled ruefully. + +"I am not so certain of that myself. I fear I failed in diplomacy." + +"I do wish my father were here," she said, ignoring his last remark. "I +am very much worried about the men." + +"What do they know of your trouble with that man Ricketts?" + +"They know all about it, and they now threaten to march into Bleachers +in a body and, as we say, shoot up the town, including Ricketts, of +course." + +"When do they intend to do this?" + +"On the day of the auction sale." + +"Don't they understand that that would be futile?" + +"It would cause an infinite amount of harm, and ultimately might result +in their being wiped out themselves. Not that Bleachers could do such a +thing, but because they would be pitting themselves against the United +States Government, which is a mere name to those men, carrying no +authority. All their lives have been spent in camps, where the only law +is that of the mob. I have tried my best to influence them, but they +regard me merely as a woman, and a woman from the East at that, who has +no knowledge of practical affairs, so I have every reason for wishing my +father were here." + +"I should not trouble about that if I were you, Miss Armstrong. If they +intended to carry out their resolution to-morrow, or next day, there +might be reason for anxiety, but we have luckily plenty of time in which +to act. The one immediate thing is to find your father. I'll undertake +that task. He's travelling somewhere between here and Chicago, on foot. +May I see the latest letter he wrote you?" + +The girl brought it to him. + +"Might I take this with me?" + +"Yes. What do you intend to do?" + +Stranleigh smiled. + +"Oh, I never do anything. As I was telling your men, who wished me to +mind my own business, I always have people to do that for me. I am a +great believer in the expert. Now, America seems to be the land of +experts, and the man to deal with this case is Detective Burns, of New +York. I shall get into touch with him by telegraph, and if he cannot +attend to the matter himself, he will select the best substitute that is +to be had, and as Burns and his men invariably track down anyone they +want, even though he be seeking to elude them, it will be an easy task +to find your father, who is tramping the straightest possible line +between Chicago and this ranch. I shall give instructions for two or +three hundred dollars to be handed to Mr. Armstrong, with directions to +take the next train to Bleachers, as we need his presence here. I shall +do nothing but send a telegram, and Mr. Burns will do the rest. Now, if +you will assist me by ordering out my horse, I shall be ready to start +within ten minutes. I'd order the horse myself, but I don't think your +men would obey me." + +In less than the time mentioned, Jim brought the horse to the door. +All his men were standing in front of their cabin, looking on. They +quite naturally believed that their guest had taken alarm, and was +making off to some district where he would be in less danger. When his +lordship came downstairs and out to the front, Jim was overcome with +astonishment. His lordship was accoutred amazingly, after the fashion of +the English horseman. He had dressed himself in a riding costume such as +an English gentleman would wear at home. Jim and his comrades had never +seen such an outfit before, and they greeted his appearance with a roar +of laughter. + +Stranleigh sprang into his saddle with the agility of a cowboy, and +smiling good-humouredly at his audience, raised his hat to them, and +rode off. + +As Stranleigh's horse entered the forest the young man began to ponder +over the problem that confronted him. When the unfortunate Armstrong +borrowed money from Ricketts, he had, of course, fully explained the +situation. The lender had examined the property in company with a mining +engineer, and this expert doubtless took away with him some ore to +analyse at his leisure. Ricketts, being in possession of the engineer's +estimate of the pit's value, had probably formed a syndicate, or +perhaps made arrangements with other capitalists, to see him through +with the speculation. Undoubtedly Ricketts expected no competition when +the estate was put up at auction, but if he was a shrewd man, as was +almost certain to be the case, events had occurred which might stimulate +thought regarding his position. + +Miss Armstrong had ridden out to Bleachers, having in her possession +five thousand dollars, the face value of the notes. Ricketts would +wonder how she had obtained the money. She possessed only two thousand +dollars on her first visit, as he knew from the fact that she had +offered it to him for refraining from action until her father returned. +Who could have given her the extra three thousand? Whoever had done so +must have known the girl could offer no security for its repayment. He +was therefore a rich man, or he could not afford to throw away a sum so +considerable. + +It was likely that such reflections as these had put Ricketts on the +alert, and the sudden advent in Bleachers of a smartly costumed +stranger, a stranger coming from the direction of the ranch, would +almost certainly convince Ricketts that here was his opponent. In +Bleachers, too, each inhabitant very probably knew every one else's +business. That he could elude the astute Ricketts was therefore +exceedingly doubtful, and Stranleigh already knew enough about the +lawlessness of the district to believe that he might ride into +considerable danger. In that sparsely-settled country, people were not +too scrupulous in their methods of getting rid of an enemy. + +He wondered how far down the line the next town was, for he was certain +that any telegraphing he did from Bleachers would speedily be known to +Ricketts. Would it be possible to deflect his course, and make for the +next station eastwards? He possessed no map of the State, however, and +there was little chance of meeting anyone, so there seemed nothing for +it but to push on to Bleachers. + +At this point his meditations were interrupted by the dimly heard sound +of horses' hoofs on the trail behind him. He pulled up and listened. +Pausing for a few minutes, he heard nothing more, and so went on again, +with an uneasy feeling of being followed. He determined not to camp out +when night overtook him, but to hurry on until he reached Bleachers. He +had made a two days' journey to reach the ranch, but that was because +the laden mules were slow. Before dark he would be on the high road, and +after that he could not lose his way. After all, perhaps it was better +to reach Bleachers at night, and trust to rousing up the people in the +one tavern of the place. + +It was after midnight when his task was accomplished, and having seen to +the accommodation of a very tired and hungry horse, Stranleigh threw +himself down, dressed as he was, upon the bed to which he was shown by a +sleepy ostler. He had had quite enough equestrian exercise for one day. + +Ten o'clock had struck next morning before he woke, and went down to +breakfast. His mind had become clarified, and he knew now exactly what +he meant to do. To avoid the cognizance of Ricketts was impossible; of +that he was certain. His first object, then, was to draw a red herring +across the trail, so he enquired from the hotel-keeper the whereabouts +of Ricketts' office, and was directed to it. + +He crossed the street and ascended a stair. Ricketts kept neither clerk +nor office boy, so Stranleigh knocked at the door, was gruffly commanded +to enter, and obeyed. + +Silas A. Ricketts was seated at a large table strewn with books and +legal-looking documents, and he stared in astonishment at the figure +which presented itself. He, like the men on the ranch, had never seen +such a costume before. + +"Are you Mr. Ricketts?" asked his lordship. + +"Yes, sir." + +"My name is Stranleigh. I took the liberty of calling upon you to learn, +if possible, the whereabouts of Mr. Stanley Armstrong." + +"Why should I know anything of his whereabouts?" demanded Ricketts. + +"Permit me to explain----" + +"Now, before we go any further," interrupted the lawyer, "I want you to +know that this is a business office, and I'm a business man. My time is +valuable. I thought when you came in that you were a client. If you +have come here for aimless gossip, I'm not your man. I have my own +affairs to look after." + +"You state the case very lucidly, Mr. Ricketts, and I congratulate your +clients. My own time is far from precious, for I'm here after sport. How +valuable is your time? How much does an hour's conference with you +cost?" + +"It all depends on the business transacted." + +"I can't agree with you, Mr. Ricketts. An hour is an hour. I want to buy +sixty minutes of your time and attention. What do you ask for it?" + +"Five dollars!" snapped Ricketts. + +Stranleigh drew forth a five-dollar bill, and placed it on the table. + +"May I sit down?" he enquired. "No healthy man should be tired in the +morning, but I endured a long horseback ride yesterday, and had an +indifferent night's rest." + +"Where did you come from?" + +"I have been living for the past few days at Armstrong's ranch." + +"Are you the man who was shot last week?" + +"Yes; by mistake for your estimable sheriff I understand. You see, I +came here from New York with a letter of introduction to Mr. Armstrong, +being told that I might enjoy some good fishing and a little shooting, +while Armstrong was described as a most admirable guide to these sports. +I waited at the ranch day after day, hoping that Armstrong would return, +but nobody seems to know yet where he is, or when he will return, so I +came out here, hoping to get into telegraphic communication with him. +I'm well enough now to take part in the chase, and I am loth to return +to New York without having had any sport." + +"I still don't understand why you come to me about the matter." + +"I was told by his daughter that Armstrong had written to you. She does +not know in the least where he is, and so on the chance of your having +received a recent letter, I have called to enquire." + +"I see. Armstrong's letter to me was written from Chicago. It was a +request for money. I had already loaned him a considerable sum and was +unable to accede to his further demand. I answered to this effect, but +have heard no more from him. It is likely that his own people have +received word since the letter to me was written. Of course, you don't +know the date of their last letter from him?" + +"Yes, I do," said Stranleigh, "I have the letter with me. It contains +all the data of which Miss Armstrong is possessed, and she gave me the +letter to assist me in my search." + +He drew the letter from his pocket, and showed the date to the lawyer, +who consulted his file, and then said-- + +"It is just as I expected. That letter was written ten days later than +the one I received. Sorry I am unable to give you any definite +assistance, Mr. Stranleigh." + +Stranleigh rose. + +"I am sorry also. I suppose there wouldn't be much use in telegraphing +to the address he gives in Chicago?" + +"I see no object in that. The place is probably a boarding-house, and +he's not there." + +"Thank you, Mr. Ricketts. Good morning." + +Stranleigh went slowly down the steep stairs, and reaching the sidewalk, +almost fell into the arms of Jim Dean. Here, then, was the man who had +been following him. + +"Good morning, Mr. Dean." + +"Morning," snarled Jim, briefly. + +"I've just been up to see Mr. Ricketts, whom I think you mentioned the +other day." + +"So I supposed," agreed Dean. + +"I expected to get some information from him about Mr. Armstrong, but he +doesn't appear to know very much." + +"Well, you're the first man I ever heard say that S. A. Ricketts doesn't +know very much, but I think by and by you will find that others know a +great deal." + +"Perhaps they know a great deal that is not so; there's a lot of +knowledge of that kind lying around loose." + +"Very likely," remarked Jim, laconically, then turned on his heel and +walked down the street, while Stranleigh went towards the depot to +enlist the services of a telegraph operator, and learn when the next +train left for the east. + +Stranleigh found the telegraph operator dozing in a wooden chair tilted +back against the wall, his soft hat drawn over his eyes, his feet +resting on a rung of the chair. It was a hot day, and the commercial +inactivity of Bleachers called for very little exertion on the part of +the telegraphist. The young man slowly roused himself as the door opened +and shut. His unexpected customer nodded good morning to him. + +"Could you oblige me with some forms?" asked the newcomer. + +"Forms? Forms of what?" The operator's feet came down with a crash on +the board floor as he rose from his chair. + +"Well, telegraph blanks, perhaps I should have said." + +"Oh, certainly." + +The young man fished one out from a drawer, and flung it on the counter. + +"This will do excellently for a beginning," said Stranleigh, "but you'd +better let me have a dozen to go on with." + +The young man was waking up. He supplied the demand, and with +ever-increasing amazement, watched his client write. + +Stranleigh gave the New York detective particulars in great detail so +far as he possessed them, asked him to spare no expense, and requested +that Armstrong, when found, should be presented with two hundred dollars +or more, as he required, with admonition to take the first train home, +where his presence was urgently needed. + +"Great Scott!" cried the operator, "is that all one message?" + +"Yes," said Stranleigh. + +"Where is it going?" + +"I've written the address as plainly as I can. It's going to New York." + +"I say, stranger," protested the telegraphist, "have you any idea what +it costs to send a message across the Continent to New York?" + +"No, I haven't, but I expect to be in possession of that information as +soon as you have mastered my handwriting, and counted the words." + +The operator was practically speechless when he reached the end of his +enumeration, but after making a note on the pad, he was sufficiently +recovered to remark-- + +"Say, stranger, you'll have to dig up a pretty big wad to pay for this. +We don't give credit in a Western Union office." + +"I shouldn't think of asking credit from a downtrodden monopoly," said +Stranleigh, pulling out his pocket book, and liquidating his debt. "You +ought to be happy if you get a percentage." + +"Worse luck, I don't." + +"Well, I think you're entitled to one. I've given a fee this morning and +received no particular equivalent for it. Do you, being a useful man, +object to accepting a five-dollar bill?" + +"Not on your life!" assented the operator with great earnestness. + +Stranleigh passed it over. + +"I'm expecting a reply. At what time shall I call for it?" + +"You don't need to call, Mr. Stranleigh. When it comes, I'll lock up the +office, and find you if you're anywhere in town." + +"I'm stopping over at the tavern." + +"All right; you'll get it." + +"Thanks. Good morning." + +"See you later," said the now thoroughly-awakened operator, and +Stranleigh proceeded to the railway station. He took the next train to +the nearest town east, and there did some more telegraphing, but this +time the message was in cypher, and it was addressed to his agent in New +York. Translated, it read-- + +"Send me at once by express, registered and insured, twenty thousand +dollars in currency, made up of five dollar, ten dollar, and hundred +dollar bills." + +The address was fully written out in plain English. He found there was +time for a satisfactory lunch before the west-bound train arrived, and +he partook of it in the chief hotel, whose accommodation was much +superior to that of the Bleachers tavern. + +On his return to headquarters, he called in at the telegraph office. The +young man in charge, at once recognising him, announced-- + +"Nothing doing. The moment anything comes I'll take it over to the +tavern. Say, is there anything secret about that telegram you sent?" + +"No; why do you ask?" + +"Well, Mr. Ricketts, a lawyer here, came in about ten minutes ago, and +described you, and wanted to know if you had sent a telegram." + +"What did you say to him?" + +"I said nobody had sent a telegram, and that I knew nothing of you. He +seemed powerful anxious, and offered me a dollar to let him know if you +telegraphed anything. I went over to the tavern to tell you about it, +but they said you hadn't been in since breakfast." + +"I suppose you haven't many chances of picking up an extra dollar in +Bleachers?" + +"No; I haven't. Ricketts is always mighty curious about anyone who +arrives here, but I never knew him offer a cent for information before." + +"I'm very much obliged to you. You go right over to Ricketts' office and +pick up his dollar, but don't say _I_ gave you the advice. By the way, +wouldn't you be breaking the rules of the Western Telegraph Company if +you divulged the purport of any message that passed through your hands?" + +A look of trouble, almost of fear, came over the young man's face. + +"If a telegram is secret," he said, "the sender usually writes it in +cypher." + +"Quite so, but even in that case wouldn't you be punished if it became +known that you had shown Mr. Ricketts a private despatch entrusted to +your care?" + +"Certainly," admitted the telegraphist, exhibiting more and more +uneasiness, "but I have not shown your telegram to anybody, and what I +told you was entirely in confidence." + +"Oh, you need have no fear of my rounding on you. I am merely +endeavouring to put you in possession of that dollar without getting +your neck in a noose. Don't you see that you are placing yourself +entirely at Mr. Ricketts' mercy?" + +"But you," protested the frightened young man, "advised me to do so." + +"Undoubtedly. I want you to get that dollar, but not to place yourself +in jeopardy. From what I saw of Ricketts this morning, I should not like +to be in his power, yet his dollar is just as good as any other man's +dollar, and I want you to detach it from him with safety, and profit to +yourself. Let me have another telegraph blank." + +Stranleigh wrote rapidly-- + + "Pinkerton Detective Agency, Chicago. + + "I want to be put into communication with Stanley Armstrong, + who left Chicago on foot ten days ago, for the West, and I + am willing to pay one hundred dollars for the job. + + "EDMUND STRANLEIGH. + + "White's Hotel, Bleachers." + +"There," said Stranleigh, passing over the sheet to the operator, "you +show that to our inquisitive friend Ricketts, but don't send it over the +line." + +Stranleigh slept that night at White's Hotel, and shortly after +breakfast next morning the telegraph clerk came across with a very +satisfactory telegram from New York. The sender could not positively +predict the finding of Armstrong, but anticipated no difficulty in the +task. + +Stranleigh paid his bill at the hotel, ordered out his horse, and +trotted off towards the ranch. He saw no more of Ricketts, who, if on +any trail, was following the wrong one. + +Dusk had fallen as he was about to emerge into the clearing which in +daylight would have afforded him a sight of Armstrong's house. Suddenly +and stealthily he was surrounded by six armed men, and the voice of Jim +Dean broke the stillness. + +"Good evening, Mr. Stranleigh. I must ask you to get down from your +horse." + +"Willingly," replied the rider. "I confess I have had enough equestrian +exercise for one day." + +"We have supper ready for you at the bunk house." + +"Why at the bunk house? I am perfectly satisfied with the fare that Mr. +Armstrong's family provides." + +"We'd like a little conversation with you, and the conversation must +take place in private." + +"In that case, Mr. Dean, you could hardly find a better spot than this." + +"We're a kindly set of chaps, and couldn't think of keeping a hungry man +out here." + +"But I'm not very hungry. I took a pocketful of sandwiches with me from +the tavern." + +"Nevertheless, you are coming with us, either peaceably, or by force, +whichever you choose." + +"Oh, quite willingly, of course. I should be ungrateful if I gave you +any unnecessary trouble, while accepting your hospitality. I may add +that I am unarmed, so if you keep your guns in readiness you need fear +no reprisal on my part." + +"That's all right," responded Jim. "We're not easily scared, but are +prepared to protect ourselves should you try any funny business." + +"Is Peter going to take my horse to the farm?" + +"Sure; your horse will be put in its old quarters, and will be well +taken care of." + +"Then I should be glad if Peter would oblige me by telling Miss +Armstrong that I have arrived safely, and will give her an account of my +journey when next I have the pleasure of meeting her." + + [Illustration: "'I may add that I am unarmed, so if you keep your guns + in readiness you need fear no reprisal on my part.'"] + +"I'm afraid Peter can't carry any messages; indeed, it's not at all +necessary. I've told Miss Armstrong that your horse will be brought +back, and that I saw you off on the east-bound train, which is quite +true. You've brought back the horse, and you did go east on the train. +Miss Armstrong thinks you have become tired of waiting for her father, +and that you've gone either to Chicago or New York." + +"Am I to regard myself as your prisoner, then?" + +"Prisoner is an ugly word, and we are not entitled to call ourselves +gaolers, but if you wouldn't mind looking on it in that way, it's all +the same to us." + +"Well, truthful Jim, I'm your man in every sense of the word. Let us +begin our amicable journey. I yearn for the bunk house." + +"You will keep silent? No shouting or calling for help? There's no help +to be had anyhow, and a noise would merely alarm the women." + +"I recognise the necessity for silence, and I shall make no outcry. +Indeed, my whole future conduct while with you will be governed by the +strictest secrecy. When I get tired of the bunk house I shall merely +cut all your throats while you are asleep, and will do it in the +quietest and gentlest manner." + +Jim laughed. + +"I guess we can take care of our throats, but I'm much obliged for the +suggestion, which may come in handy if you get funny, as I said before." + +They reached the bunk house by a circuitous route. A fine fire of logs +was blazing on the ample hearth, for even in summer a fire was good to +look at when night came on, at that elevation. + +When Stranleigh sat down to supper, he regretted more than ever the +civilised fare of the farm house. The menu was rough, but plentiful, and +they all sat together at the long table. A meal was a serious event, and +they partook of it in silence. It was evident that the men were going to +adopt full precautions, for while they supped one of them sat by the +door, a rifle over his knees. He came in for the second course, and +another took his place. After the table was cleared, they all sat round +the big fire, and smoked. + +Remembering that the best tobacco in the world came from the south-east +of their country, the aroma of the weed they had chosen was not as +grateful to Stranleigh's nostrils as might have been expected, so partly +for good fellowship, and partly for his own protection, he presented +each with a fine Havana cigar, such as would be welcomed in a London +club, where pipes are not permitted. The men amiably accepted this +contribution, but each put the cigar in his pocket against a future +occasion, and went on with his pipe. Cheap as was the tobacco they were +using, it was naturally scarce among men who had received no money for +some months. + +"I don't wish to appear unduly inquisitive," began their guest, "but now +that we have all night before us, would you mind telling me why I am +thus taken charge of by strangers on whom I have no claim?" + +"There are several reasons," replied Jim, who was always the spokesman +for the company, "and we are quite willing to mention them. You appear +to be a person of some intelligence----" + +"Thanks," interjected Stranleigh. + +Jim went on, unheeding the interruption--"and so perhaps you know that +we suspect you of being in cohoots with Ricketts." + +"Does 'cohoots' mean co-partnership?" + +"Something of that sort. You partly persuaded us that wasn't so, but I +followed you to make sure. Perhaps you remember that I caught you coming +out from Ricketts' office. You made for that office the moment you +reached Bleachers." + +"Pardon me, but I went first to the hotel." + +"Yes; and you enquired there where Ricketts hung out." + +"Certainly; but that's in my favour. It showed that so far from being in +the employ of the lawyer, I didn't even know where he lived." + +"It was a good bluff." + +"It's very circumstantial evidence of my innocence. But for the sake of +argument, I will admit that I am in 'cohoots,' as you call it, with the +estimable Ricketts. What next?" + +"The next thing is that you learnt from Miss Armstrong of our intention +to go into Bleachers and shoot up the town, including Ricketts." + +"That is true." + +"You didn't like the plan and said so." + +"That also is correct." + +"You said it should be stopped, not knowing the ways of this country." + +"Certainly. Desirable as may be the shooting up of Bleachers, the odds +are too strongly against you." + +"Oh, we'll chance that. But the next thing you do is to put your funny +clothes on, get out your horse, and ride directly to Mr. Ricketts. You +are an informer." + +"An informer is always a despicable character, Mr. Dean. What's the next +item in the indictment?" + +"Don't you think that's enough? Men have been hanged for less. An +informer is the most poisonous wretch in the world except a horse +thief." + +"Then I am in danger of being hanged?" + +"You sure are." + +"Isn't there any way in which I can compound my felony?" + +"Well, I don't quite know what confounding a felony is, but you're the +sleekest fellow I ever met, and if you think you can palaver us to let +you go, you've made the mistake of your life." + +"I shouldn't think of attempting such a thing. I am merely endeavouring +to discover your state of mind. You're strong on muscle, Jim, and I +admire your build, but I'm beginning to doubt whether your brain equals +your frame. There was a time when your equipment would have been +victorious, but those days are long since past. Nowadays it's brain that +wins every time, and in every country. Physical force has had to give +way before it. Jimmy, my boy, you're out of date." + +"Brain isn't going to help you any," said Dean, evidently annoyed by +these strictures on his mentality. + +"Perhaps it won't, but if there was a corresponding brain in your head, +I'd appeal to it, and probably win. Are all your men here as stupid as +you, Jim?" + +Jim rose up from his chair, a forbidding frown on his brow. + +"Look here, stranger," he called out, "I've had enough of that line of +talk." + +"Oh no, you haven't. Please sit down. This line of talk is only +beginning, and I say, Jim, lay aside that pipe, and smoke the Havana +cigar. It will put reason into your head if anything will." + +Some of the company laughed, and Jim sat down, seeing that his opponent +failed to show any fear at his captors' threatening attitude. He tried +to change the course of the conversation into a less personal channel. + +"You see, Mr. Stranleigh, we're short on tobacco, and I want to keep +this cigar until to-morrow. I can tell by the smell it's a good one." + +"That's all right," said Stranleigh, "I have plenty more of them down at +the house, and when they are finished, I'll telegraph east for a fresh +supply. If you will let me know your favourite brand of tobacco, I'll +order a ton of it at the same time." + +For a moment Jim's eyes twinkled, then they narrowed into their usual +caution. + +"Was that what you meant by confusing a penalty? Well, stranger, it +doesn't go here. We ain't to be bought, even by a ton of tobacco." + +"I hadn't thought of either buying or bribing you," said Stranleigh, +"therefore we will get back to our original subject, the difference +between brain and muscle. I see here on the table a pack of cards in a +deplorably greasy condition. If you were playing a game with an opponent +who was beating you, would you shoot him?" + +"Yes," promptly replied Jim, "if I found he was cheating." + +"Whereupon his friends would lynch you." + +"A cheater hasn't any friends." + +"Jim, I shouldn't like to sit down to a game with you. You would shoot +first, and think afterwards, while I, being unarmed, should be at a +disadvantage. That, indeed, is just what you are doing now. If you +succeed in holding me here you will spoil my game. What I propose to do +is not to attack Ricketts with a gun, but to learn his style of play, +and beat him at it. Any confounded fool can shoot off a gun; there's no +credit in that. It's a coward's trick." + +"You say we'll spoil your game. You may bet your life we will. You +daren't tell us what it is." + +"Oh yes, I dare, because I have a trick that will quite delude you." + +"I know you'll try to do that." + +"Exactly. Well, my trick is to tell the truth. The situation is very +simple. That morning when from the pit mouth you warned me off the +premises, I found Miss Armstrong very much worried because she had +learned of your intention to shoot up the town, and could not persuade +you to abandon so foolish a project. It then became my duty to prevent +you doing what you proposed." + +"Do you think you can?" + +"Of course; I knew it was no use attempting to reason with you, so the +instant necessity was to get one man of common sense to counteract the +stupidity of the bunk house. That I set out to do. I rode to Bleachers, +called on Lawyer Ricketts, paid him five dollars down for whatever +knowledge he could give me concerning the whereabouts of Mr. Armstrong. +He could give me none that I did not already possess. He kept the five +dollars, though. You saw me go off in the train. I merely went to the +next town, to do some telegraphing that might be more or less secret +from Ricketts. A detective agency will find Mr. Armstrong, and hand him +two hundred dollars, asking him at the same time to make for home by +the earliest train. Then, unless I'm much mistaken, Mr. Armstrong will +see the idiocy of what you propose, and will prevent you from carrying +out your scheme." + +Jim pondered over this announcement for some minutes. At last he broke +the silence. + +"What you say may be true, but I don't believe a word of it. It's more +likely Ricketts is your boss, and you went in to report to him and tell +him what we intended to do. Then he'll see that Bleachers is prepared to +meet us." + +"Yes; that would be a simple way of turning the trick. There are good +points about it, but it happens not to be my way, as you will learn in a +few days when Mr. Armstrong returns." + +Again Jim meditated for a while, and finally rose, walked to the further +end of the room, and engaged for some minutes in earnest cogitation with +his fellows, carried on in tones so low that Stranleigh could not hear. +Resuming his seat, he spoke with deliberation-- + +"You want us to believe that you are a friend of Mr. Armstrong?" + +"I don't care whether you believe it or not. I can hardly be a friend of +Stanley Armstrong, because I've never seen him." + +"Well, we'll put your good intentions to the test. When Mr. Armstrong +gets here, he will have no money. Stony broke, that's what he is. Now, +unless we shoot 'em up in Bleachers when they try to sell his place, +Armstrong will lose it. We take it you are a rich man. Will you promise +to lend him enough money to hold this ranch, and run the mine?" + +"No; I won't," said Stranleigh, with decision. + +"All right. Then you stay here until you cough up that cash. Even if +Armstrong comes, he will never know you're here, because we shall tell +him that you've gone East. Nobody else knows where you are, so there +isn't any chance of a search being made." + +"This is rank brigandage," remarked Stranleigh. + +"I guess that's the right title, but a man who brags so much of his +brains as you do, ought to see that if we're ready to shoot up a town, +we won't stop at such a trifle as brigandage." + +"That's so. And now, gentlemen, I'm tired after my long journey, and I +think we've talked a great deal to very little purpose, so if you'll +show me what bunk I am to occupy, I'll turn in." + +"There are six unused bunks, Mr. Stranleigh, and you can take your +choice. There's nothing mean about us." + +Stranleigh made his selection, and rough as the accommodation was, he +slept as soundly as ever he had done in his London palace, or his +luxurious yacht. + +Although the Earl of Stranleigh was naturally an indolent man, the +enforced rest of the next few days grew very irksome. He had expected +the guard set over him to relax as time went on, but this was not the +case. The genial Jim saw to that, and it was soon evident to Stranleigh +that Dean ruled his company with an iron hand. Such casual examination +of the premises as he was able to make impressed him more and more with +the difficulty of escape. Had the structure been built of logs, there +might have been some hope, but the imperviousness of the thick stone +walls was evident to the most stupid examiner. The place was lit in +daytime by two slits, one at each gable, which were without panes, and +narrow, so that they might as much as possible keep out the rain. No man +could creep through, even if he could reach the height at which they +were placed. During the day the stout door, fit to encounter a battering +ram, was open, but a guard sat constantly at the sill, with a rifle +across his knees. At night it was strongly locked. Stranleigh was +handicapped by the fact that heretofore he had never been required to +think out any difficult problem for himself. He had merely to give the +order, and other people did his thinking for him, and when a plan was +formed, there were others to carry it out, being well paid for doing so. +Thus it happened that the means of escape were so obvious that a ten +year old boy might have discovered them. + +Each evening passed very pleasantly, for Stranleigh was a good +story-teller, and had many interesting tales to relate. In spite of the +fact that his gaolers were unanimous in their opinion that Stranleigh +was a useless encumbrance upon earth, they began rather to like him. +One night Stranleigh asked Jim if anything had yet been heard of Mr. +Armstrong, and Dean, after hesitating a moment, replied that there was +so far no news of him or from him. + +"I'm sorry for Armstrong," said Stranleigh, more as if talking to +himself than to anyone else. "Poor fellow, away from home all this time, +and yet compelled to support six stalwart loafers without commonsense +enough to do the obvious thing." + +"What is the obvious thing?" asked Dean. + +"Why, to work, of course. There's your mine; you've got plenty of +dynamite to go on with, and yet you lounge about here not earning enough +to keep yourselves in tobacco. If there is silver in that hole, you +could by this time have had enough out to buy the ranch and furnish your +own working capital. You say you are partners in the scheme, but you +seem to be merely a blunderheaded lot of hired men, determined not to do +any work." + +Jim answered with acerbity-- + +"If you weren't a fool you'd know we'd gone already as far as hand work +can go. We need a steam engine and a crusher." + +"A steam engine?" echoed Stranleigh. "What on earth would you have to +pay for coal, with railway haulage, and the cost of getting it out here +from the line? Why, right there, rushing past you, is all the power you +need. You've only to make a water-wheel, with a straight log, thrown +across the falls as axle, and there you are. Pioneers have done that +sort of thing since civilisation began, and here you don't need even to +build a dam." + +Jim was about to make an angry retort when the company were scattered by +a roar and a heavy fall of soot on the log fire. The chimney was ablaze, +but that didn't matter in the least, as the house was fireproof. In a +short time the flames had died out, and the party gathered round the +fire once more. + +"Well," said Jim, "go on with your pretty advice." + +Stranleigh replied dreamily, gazing into the fire. + +"Oh, well, I think my advice doesn't amount to much, as you hinted. It +is none of my affair. You are a most capable body of men, I have no +doubt, only the fact has been concealed from me up to date. I find I am +developing the vice of talking too much, so I'm going to turn in. +Good-night!" + +But the fall of soot had suggested to Stranleigh a method of escape. + + + + +VII.--THE END OF THE CONTEST. + + +A wood fire is an evanescent thing, having none of the calm +determination of coal combustion. A wood fire requires constant +replenishing, and that in the bunk house did not receive this attention. +When the men, tired with doing nothing, overcome by the lassitude +enduring an empty day had caused, turned into sleep, the wood fire, left +to itself, crumbled into a heap of ashes. The guarding of Stranleigh +became more perfunctory as time passed. He proved to be a model +prisoner, and usually the sentinel at the door fell into peaceful +slumber as night wore on. On the particular evening Stranleigh chose for +his attempt, Jim Dean sat on the chair against the door. Jim's jaw +worked so much during the day, he talked so incessantly, emptying his +mind of all it contained, that he was naturally exhausted when his turn +for watching came. Each of the men slumbered more or less soundly at his +post, but the confident Jim outdid them all, so Stranleigh selected him +as the man destined to hold the empty bag. + +It was two hours after midnight when his lordship slipped down from his +bunk. The fire had long since gone out, and the stone chimney was +reasonably cool. The climbing of that ample flue presented no difficulty +to an athletic young man who in his time had ascended the Matterhorn. +The inside of the chimney offered to the amateur sweep walls of rough +stone, which projected here and there, forming an effective, if unequal +ladder. He attained the top with such ease that he wondered he had +remained so long a prisoner. Descending the roof silently, he let +himself down to the top of the lean-to which acted as kitchen and supply +store, and dropped from that elevation lightly to the ground. It was a +night of clear moonlight, and Stranleigh smiled to think how nearly he +must represent the popular idea of the devil, covered as he was with +soot from head to foot. + +He made directly down the hill to the farm house by the stream, and +risked a few minutes of time in washing his face in the rapid current. +He now took off his boots, the better to enact the part of burglar. The +doors of the house, he knew, were never locked. First he secured his +favourite magazine rifle and a large quantity of cartridges, then as, +after all, he was entitled to the board he paid for, he penetrated +softly to the kitchen. Here he secured a couple of loaves of bread and a +cooked ham, together with some other things he wanted, including a +supply of tobacco, and thus overloaded as he had rarely been in his life +before, he stole softly outside, slipped his feet into his boots, and +slowly climbed the hill to the silver cavern. Depositing within his +goods and chattels, he examined his store carefully to learn whether +there was anything more he needed to stand a siege. + +Bright as was the moonlight outside, the cavern was pitch dark, so +Stranleigh determined on another expedition to the house, and he brought +back a bunch of candles and an armful of bedclothes. + +"Now for the night's work," he said to himself, and having lit a candle, +which he placed at the remote end of the cave, he began picking up +stones, and with them building a wall across the mouth of the pit. No +Roman wall was ever built with such care, and no Roman wall ever +contained within itself such possibilities of wholesale obliteration, +because the structure was intersticed with sticks of dynamite, which +Stranleigh carried with the most cautious tenderness from the rear to +the front of the cavern. When his task was completed the moon had gone +down, and the misty, luminous grey of the eastern sky betokened the +approach of dawn. The young man was thoroughly tired, and with a sigh of +relief he stretched himself out on the bedclothes he had brought from +the house. + +The early sun shining on his face awakened him. He knew from experience +that the bunk house men were not afflicted with the vice of early +rising. There was no aperture in their habitation, unless the door was +open, through which the sun might shine upon them. He was therefore not +surprised that no one was visible anywhere near the sleeping quarters. +So he breakfasted in peace, alternating slices of bread with slices of +ham, thus constructing some admirable sandwiches. + +A providential jug, which doubtless in its time had contained whisky, +was one of the utensils left when the mine was abandoned. Stranleigh +took this, and stepping over the dangerous wall, filled it three or four +times at the rushing cataract, rinsing out all indication of its former +use. He brought it back, filled with very clear and cold water. He could +not help thinking as he returned what an excellent place the waterfall +would be for the washing of dishes, if a person ran the risk of standing +upon spray-drenched, slippery rock ledges. + +Stranleigh sat down where he could see the enemy's quarters, and +carefully examined his rifle, assured himself that the magazine was +full, then with the weapon over his knees in the fashion adopted by his +recent gaolers, watched the bunk house patiently, wishing he had a +morning paper to while away the time. + +The laggard sentinel was the first to rouse himself. The broad door +opened, and Jim Dean, palpably bewildered, stepped out. With hand +shading his eyes he minutely examined the landscape, slowly turning his +head from left to right as he scrutinised the distant horizon and the +ground intervening. Stranleigh, kneeling, rested his rifle on the top of +the wall, and as Jim's left ear, a rather prominent feature, became +fully visible, the young man fired. + +Jim's action instantaneously verified the Indian romances of +Stranleigh's youth. He sprang clear up into the air and clapped a hand +upon his wounded ear. He was at that moment the most astonished man on +the western hemisphere. His first instinct being to bolt for cover, he +did so without pausing to close the door, which opened outwards, and +this broad piece of woodwork now offered a much more prominent target +than Jim's ear had done a moment before. + +Stranleigh, exercising a care that seemed unnecessary with so big a +target, fired out the cartridges of his magazine, then immediately +restocked it, and shot away the second charge. Putting in a third load, +he sat there with his customary nonchalance, awaiting the turn of +events. In that clear atmosphere, and with his sharp vision, he saw +that he had accomplished his intention, and had punctured the letter "S" +on the panel of the open door. + +Meanwhile, there was commotion in the bunk house. The first sharp +report, accompanied by Jim's yell, woke every man within. The subsequent +fusilade engendered a belief that the enemy was in possession of a Maxim +gun, and brought every man to the floor, thankful that he was under +better cover than if he stood behind the door, through the panel of +which all the bullets had penetrated. + +"How did he escape?" demanded one, addressing Jim, who was holding his +left hand to his ear. + +"I don't know," said the wounded man ruefully. "You can search me." + +"Seems from that shooting that we'd better search outside. What in the +fiend's name made him batter the door?" + +"Sorry he left us, I suppose," muttered Dean, grimly. "Knocking because +he wanted to come in again." + +"How did he get his gun?" + +"Hanged if I know," said the questioned man, impatiently. + +"But you were on guard. You ought to know something about it." + +"Look here," said Jim. "There's no use in talking. He got out some way, +and he's got his gun some way. He's holding us up, and we must make +terms with him." + +"But where is he?" + +"I tell you I don't know! The bullet came from the direction of the +mine. Now, one of you boys throw up your hands, and go outside and hail +him." + +At this command, Jim met the first rebellion against his authority. + +"Go outside yourself. It is you who have brought all this upon us. You +shot him through the shoulder; you proposed capturing him, and it was +you who fell asleep last night and let him escape." + +Jim did not combat their charges. + +"All right," he said. "I'll go out, and you sit here and shiver while I +enjoy a little conversation with him." + +Raising his hands above his head, Dean stepped across the threshold +into the open, and stood like an oriental about to begin his prayers. He +saw at once the wall that had been built during the night, and then +caught sight of Stranleigh standing behind it. Pulling out a white +handkerchief, and waving it, Dean proceeded towards the mine. + +"Have you got a revolver?" shouted Stranleigh. + +"No," answered Dean. + +"Then put down your hands, and approach as a Christian should." + +Jim obeyed. + +"Now stand where you are," said Stranleigh, when the other was within +four or five yards of the wall. "I see your ear is bleeding. That was +rather a neat shot of mine, don't you think?" + +"It was," admitted Dean, without enthusiasm. + +"When you shot at my shoulder, you had a bigger mark." + +"Oh, not so very much," growled Dean. "My ears are celebrated for their +size." + +"You'd better wrap it up in this handkerchief," commented Stranleigh, +rolling it up in a ball, and flinging it towards Jim. The wounded man +tied it round his voluminous ear. + +"And now," said Stranleigh, "get through with your parley as soon as +possible, then go to Miss Armstrong, who will very expertly attend to +your hurt. But in order to win the privilege of surgical treatment, you +must recognise that you are a prisoner." + +"A prisoner?" echoed Dean. + +"Certainly. You must give me your word you will say nothing to Miss +Armstrong to show that I have had a hand in the game. Make whatever +excuse you like for the disaster, and then get back to the bunk house, +tell your fellows the condition of the game as far as we have gone. I +will allow you five minutes after your return to show those chaps the +letter 'S' I have perforated in the door. They are a very unbelieving +lot, and I wish to gain their affection and respect. Without hurting +anybody I mean to prove that I am a dead shot. I'm well provisioned +here, and prepared to stand a siege. Until Mr. Armstrong returns, not +one of you will be allowed outside the chalet. Don't be misled by the +fact that you outnumber me six to one. I hold a magazine rifle, possess +an ample supply of ammunition, and have just given evidence of the +rapidity with which reloading can be performed." + +"Yes," said Dean, meditatively, "your position would be bull strong and +hog tight, if you had a chum with you who could shoot as well as you do. +But as it is, you've nobody to relieve you, and a man must sleep. It +will only take one of us to defeat you. We've no magazine rifles and +don't need none. I'll undertake the job myself." + +"How do you propose to do it?" + +"That would be telling," said Jim, craftily. + +"Why not?" answered Stranleigh. "I'm placing my cards on the table. Why +don't you do the same? I'm not yearning for war and bloodshed, but have +inaugurated a sort of Hague tribunal. There were two things I determined +to accomplish when I broke jail. I hope that wounded ear hasn't impaired +your hearing, so that you may listen with attention. It's always as well +to know what your enemy desires." + +"I'm listening," said Jim. + +"The first thing was to shoot you through the leg or the arm or the ear, +choosing some spot that was not vital. This in return for your shooting +me. One good turn deserves another, you know. That part of my programme +I have accomplished." + +"What's the other part?" + +"The second is to keep you gentlemen in prison just as long as you kept +me in prison. One good imprisonment deserves another. Now will you tell +me what you intend to do?" + +"No; I won't." + +"That's mean of you, Jim; secretive, over-cautious and that sort of +thing. I'm not so chary and so will give you the information. There are +only two portions of the night during which you can come out unnoticed; +before the moon rises and after it sets. You will steal out and take up +a position where you can see the barricade when day begins to dawn. +You'll need to chose a spot a long way off, because the explosion, when +it comes, will wreck everything in the neighbourhood." + +"What explosion?" + +"The dynamite explosion. This wall is built of rock intersticed with +those dynamite cartridges of yours. It is very likely you will +obliterate the farm-house." + +"I'll obliterate you, anyway." + +"Quite so, but at a tremendous cost, because whatever the fate of Mr. +Armstrong's residence, the doom of the bunk house is certain. You may be +outside that danger, but you won't be free of another. You suppose, +doubtless, that I shall be asleep in the cavern. As a matter of fact I +shall be sleeping placidly under the stars, quite out of reach of the +main disaster. Your first shot will awaken me. Now, it is by no means +certain that your first shot will send off the dynamite. You may have to +fire half a dozen times, and your best rifle is an old breech-loader. I +use smokeless powder, and you don't. I could pepper away at you for half +an hour and you'd never know where the bullets were coming from. The +smoke from your rifle would give _you_ away at once. When I fire at you +next time, Jim, I shall aim at a more vital point, because, my dear boy, +the person who sets off that dynamite is a murderer. So before you put +your plan into operation, just consult your comrades and explain to them +its disadvantages." + +Dean stood there meditating for a few moments before he spoke. + +"I'm very much obliged to you," he said at last, "for telling me what +you mean to do. We'll change that plan a little, and come out of the +bunk house together. We'll search the country for you, and so won't need +to blow up the mine." + +"That's a much more humane expedient, and will prevent unnecessary loss +of life. I shall be lying quiet under whatever cover I can find. Your +crowd will perambulate the locality, and I may remind you that you are +no lightfooted Cinderellas. A herd of elephants would make less noise. I +shall see you long before you see me, and I leave the result to your own +imagination. And now, Jimmy, take the advice of a true friend. Your time +to act was when you were snoring at that door and I was climbing the +chimney. Once you allowed me to get my rifle, you had permitted +opportunity to pass you, because I am a good shot, and I came West in +order to shoot. When a person accustomed to downy beds of ease slumbers +peacefully, as I did this morning, on hard and jagged rocks thinly +disguised by a blanket, with my right ear against a dynamite cartridge, +there's nothing the matter with his nerves, is there?" + +"No; there isn't," said Dean, with conviction. + +"Now, what you chaps want is not a battle, but an armistice. Leave well +enough alone, I say, and accept the _status quo_. If you remain in the +bunk house, you are as safe as in a Presbyterian church." + +Jim did not reply, but deliberated, his open palm against his bandaged +ear. + +"Hurt?" asked Stranleigh. + +"Yes, it does," admitted Jim, ruefully. + +"Well, my shoulder hurt a good deal after you fired at me. Now, I'll +tell you what I'll do, Jim. Next time I shoot at you, I'll take the +other ear. You're determined to prove yourself a brigand, or a pirate, +or something of that sort, and as pirates always wear earrings, that +will put you in a position to adopt them. What do you say to my proposal +for an armistice?" + +"I can't answer for the rest of the boys without consulting them. If we +need an armistice or a _status quo_, why, I suppose we ought to have +them." + +"All right. If your ear hurts, the sooner you get it attended to, the +better. You go directly down to the house and see Miss Armstrong, and +you can reflect upon the situation while she is dressing the wound. +Deep thinking will take your mind from the pain. Then go up and consult +the company. Come and let me know what they decide. Meanwhile, I'll +guarantee that no one comes out of that bunk house without being shot +at." + +"Mr. Stranleigh, I'll do what you say, but I'll change the order. I'll +go first to our shack, and warn the boys. That's only fair, for they're +watching from that door, and if they see me going to the house they may +think it's all right, and come outside. After talking with them, I'll +visit Miss Armstrong, and then come back here to tell you what the boys +say." + +"Yes, Jim; that's a better plan than mine. But first give me your word +that you will take no advantage of this respite until war. An armistice, +you know, is a cessation of hostilities." + +"You mean that there will be no shenanigan? I give you my word." + +The wounded man made his way to the bunk house. Shortly afterwards +Stranleigh saw him emerge, and go towards the homestead. After a longer +interval he came slowly up towards the fortress, his ear neatly +bandaged in white linen, which showed up, as one might say, like a small +flag of truce. + +"Well, what did Miss Armstrong say about the wounded ear?" + +"She says it's about as serious as the sting of a bee, and won't hurt +much longer than that would, and will be cured nearly as soon." + +"That's first-rate, and relieves my conscience, which has been troubling +me, because I'd much rather smite a man on the ear with my fist than +with a bullet. For the same reason I hope you found your messmates +undergoing a spasm of common sense." + +"They agreed with me that it wasn't very healthy to take outdoor +exercise for a while. If we decide to begin fighting again, we'll give +you twelve hours' notice. Will that suit you?" + +"I don't know that it does, quite. I want you to promise that you will +not break loose either until Mr. Armstrong returns, or the auction is +over." + +"The boys wouldn't agree to that, Mr. Stranleigh. We're bound to attend +that auction." + +Stranleigh sighed. + +"Very good," he conceded. "I must content myself with what you offer. I +accept your proposal, for I feel certain that Mr. Armstrong will return +before the ranch is sold. So good-bye. Give my love to the boys." + +Stranleigh watched the retreating figure until it disappeared into the +bunk house. A moment later the perforated door was drawn shut, and then +he rolled up the bedclothes into a bundle, and deposited it at the +further end of the cavern. This done, he took his rifle under his arm, +crossed the barricade, and strolled down to the farm-house. Miss +Armstrong greeted him with surprise. + +"I thought you had gone to New York," she said. + +"I took the train east, but only to the next station from Bleachers." + +"You've not been stopping at that wretched hotel in Bleachers ever +since?" + +"Oh no; I received a pressing invitation from some friends of mine to be +their guest, with a prospect of a little shooting, so I've been staying +with them ever since." + +"Did you have a pleasant time?" + +"Oh, excellent, and I heard more entertaining stories than ever I +listened to in a similar period." + +"Good shooting?" + +"First rate. Limited in quantity, but of finest quality. Indeed, I may +boast of a record; I hit everything I aimed at. Camp fare, however, left +a good deal to be desired, so you may imagine how glad I am to return." + +"I'm very pleased to have an opportunity of giving you something better. +How would you like some nice broiled trout, freshly caught this +morning?" + +"Oh, heavenly!" cried Stranleigh, enthusiastically. "I haven't had +anything but bread and salt pork since I saw you. Who caught the trout?" + +"I did. I went down the river early this morning. I must have had a +premonition that you would return, famished for trout, and I had quite +an adventure, or rather, plunged into a mystery which I have not yet +solved. I heard the sound of firing; first a single shot, then a +fusilade. I could not tell from whence the sound came. I hurried home +with my basket, but there was no one in sight. After a while Jim came +in, very much crestfallen, it seemed to me, with his ear tied up +clumsily in a handkerchief. He had been shot through the ear, and of +course I came to his aid at once. With a woman's curiosity, I asked him +how the accident happened. Now, one of Jim's infirmities is that he can +only tell the truth when it suits his convenience." + +"Many of us are like that," said Stranleigh. + +"Well, this time it didn't suit his convenience." + +"What did he say?" + +"That the boys were having a sort of shooting match. I told him I had +heard the firing, and feared that there had been a battle of some sort. +He said it was the first shot that did for him. They had some bet on as +to who could fire the quickest at a flying mark. In his hurry to get +ready he had mishandled his gun, and sent a bullet through his ear. The +other men had then fired almost simultaneously." + +"Miss Armstrong, I fear you are too sceptical. Why shouldn't that be a +true story?" + +"Mr. Stranleigh, you quite underrate my intelligence. The wound in +Jim's ear was not caused by the gun he held. In the first place, his ear +would have been blackened with gunpowder, and likely would have been +partly torn off. Secondly, a mishandled gun would have fired upwards. +The bullet that wounded him was fired from a distance by someone higher +up than the spot where Jim stood. The wound was clean cut, slightly +inclining downwards. Besides all that, Jim's bullet, coming from an +old-fashioned rifle, would make a bigger hole. I know that, for you +remember I tended your shoulder, through which his bullet had gone." + +"By Jove, Miss Armstrong, if Sherlock Holmes had a daughter, she would +be just about your age. Was there anything else?" + +"Yes; I looked at the handkerchief in which he had bound his ear. It was +of a finer cambric than we have ever seen in this district, or indeed, +than I have seen anywhere else. The corner was embroidered with a very +delicately-worked crest." + +"A crest?" said Stranleigh, rather breathlessly. + +"I asked Jim where he had got this handkerchief. He seemed confused, but +said he had always had it. Bought it once at a five-cent store in +Denver." + +Stranleigh could not refrain from laughing. + +"You think it cost more than five cents?" + +"Yes; I am sure it cost more than twenty-five." + +"Perhaps he stole it?" + +"Jim might shoot a man, but he'd never steal." + +"I think that when you discover the owner of that handkerchief, you will +have solved the mystery," remarked Stranleigh calmly. + +"I think so, too," said the girl quietly. "Now I am going to cook your +trout." + +The three days following were among the most enjoyable Stranleigh had +ever spent. He asked Miss Armstrong to show him the portion of the river +in which she had caught those delicious trout. Heretofore, she had used +a baited hook when fishing, landing her spoil with a trout pole, but now +she was to be initiated in the delicate mysteries of fly fishing. +Stranleigh remembered the story told of an English official sent to view +the debateable land adjoining the far western boundary of Canada who +reported the territory useless, because the fish wouldn't rise to the +fly. He wondered what lure the official used, for here they rose readily +enough, and fought like demons until Miss Armstrong deftly lifted them +from the water in the new-fangled landing net, the like of which she had +never seen before. + +But in spite of the excellent sport he was enjoying, Stranleigh became +more and more anxious as time went on. Nothing had been heard from +Stanley Armstrong. The fisher began to fear that the detective had +failed in his search. On the morning of the fourth day he dressed in his +ordinary tweed suit. The riding costume attracted more attention than +was altogether convenient. He put in his pocket an automatic revolver of +the latest construction; light, accurate and deadly. The day of the +auction was drawing uncomfortably near, and he was determined that his +journey should not be interrupted, as his former ride had been. Aside +from this, he expected to carry with him a large amount of money, and if +any word of that got abroad, he knew a holdup was quite within the range +of possibility. The coterie confined in the bunk house would doubtless +learn that they were their own gaolers, and with that gang once free +upon the landscape, he anticipated interruption which, if successful, +would completely nullify his plans. + +"Are you going fishing to-day?" asked Miss Armstrong, when he came +downstairs. He had appeared unexpectedly soon that morning. The young +woman was always an early riser. + +"Fishing!" echoed Stranleigh. "Yes, in a manner of speaking. Isn't there +a text which refers to fishers of men? I'm going fishing for your +father. We should have had him here before this, but now the need of him +becomes imperative. I imagine that a telegram awaits me in Bleachers. If +not, I must communicate with New York, and wait for a reply." + +Stranleigh walked up the hill to the bunk house, and rapped at the panel +with the butt of his riding whip. Dean himself threw open the door, and +he could not conceal his astonishment at seeing the young man standing +there, apparently unarmed. + +"Good morning, Jim," said Stranleigh cordially. + +"I wish to enjoy a few minutes' conversation with the company before +leaving for Bleachers." + +"None of the company are out of their bunks yet, except myself, but I +guess they're wide enough awake to hear what you say. Won't you come +inside?" + +"Thank you," said Stranleigh, stepping across the threshold; then, to +the sleeping beauties--"The top of the morning to you! Early to bed and +late to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. Has wisdom come to +you since I left? Do you still intend to shoot up Bleachers on auction +day?" + +"You bet we do," said Dean. + +Stranleigh seated himself upon the chair he had formerly occupied. + +"How did you propose to get out?" + +"By the same way you escaped," responded Dean with determination. + +"What an inconvenient exit! I speak from sooty experience. Why not have +gone by the doorway?" + +"We didn't want to get shot," said Jim. + +"There was no danger of that. I have been spending my days in fishing, +and my nights in sound sleep." + +"Do you mean to say," cried Jim, "that there's been nobody on guard?" + +"No; you've been as free as air to go where you pleased." + +Dean laughed heartily, and the others joined him. The joke was on them, +but they seemed to enjoy rather than resent it. + +"You were right about brain and muscle," observed Jim at last. + +Stranleigh ignored the compliment. + +"I've got a proposal to make to you men," he went on. "I'm off to +Bleachers to do some telegraphing, trying to learn the whereabouts of +Mr. Armstrong, who has not yet put in an appearance. The sale takes +place day after to-morrow." + +[Illustration: "'Put down your hands and approach as a Christian +should.'"] + +Stranleigh paused in his recital. He noticed a stealthy movement among +the bunkers. He had observed that the first to sit up cast a longing +glance at the rifles stacked in the corner, and it seemed to him that +a simultaneous rush towards them was going to take place. + +"As you know, gentlemen," he went on, "I have an objection to shooting +as a settlement of any legal question, but if shooting has to be done, I +am quite prepared for it, and the inhabitants of Bleachers will regret +provoking me to a fusilade." + +He took from his pocket the neat little automatic pistol. + +"I don't suppose," he went on, "that you ever saw anything exactly like +this. It will simply rain bullets, and I can re-load before any of those +Bleachers men can get his hand to his hip pocket. Next to the Maxim gun, +it's the most deadly object in existence." Casually he cast his eye +along the bunks. Each man had withdrawn the leg that had been quietly +reaching for the floor. Stranleigh still fondled his weapon. + +"Just before you captured me, I had sent to New York for a considerable +sum of money, which was to reach me by express. I thought it better to +have no dealings with the bank, as I didn't wish Ricketts to learn what +I was doing. I expect that sum of money is at this moment resting in +the express office, and on the day of the sale I shall have more +currency on my person than is perhaps quite safe to carry. I therefore +wish to engage you as a bodyguard, if you agree to certain conditions. I +shall expect you all in Bleachers day after to-morrow, and shall pay +each of you fifty dollars for the day, and so that there may be no +mistake, I tender you the money now. Do you agree?" + +"What are the conditions?" asked Jim, cautiously. + +"First, you will keep clear of the tavern, and not drink." + +"That's easy. What next?" + +"You will not shoot until I give the word of command, and until I have +emptied my pistol." + +Jim consulted with his fellows, then turned to Stranleigh. + +"We agree," he said. + +"Right you are." Stranleigh rose, took from his pocket-book six +fifty-dollar bills, and laid them on the table. + +"Look here," cried Dean, "we don't want any money for this job." + +"I'm quite sure of that, but six honest men are as much entitled to +their pay as is a dishonest lawyer like Ricketts. So good-bye, until I +see you at Bleachers day after to-morrow." + +Stranleigh went down to the house, mounted his horse, and rode away. + +He had accomplished little more than half the distance when he perceived +a horseman coming towards him. They approached one another with some +caution. Stranleigh would have passed in silence had not the other +accosted him. + +"Hello, stranger!" he said. "You from the ranch?" + +"Yes." + +"Been stopping there?" + +"Yes." + +"How's everything? Folks all well?" + +"Yes; they were when I left. Is there any chance that you are Mr. +Armstrong?" + +"That's my name." + +"I'm very glad to meet you, sir. I'm Stranleigh, who telegraphed the +detective to find you and hand you two hundred dollars, begging you to +get home in a hurry." + +"Well, Mr. Stranleigh, all that was done, and here I am, but as for +paying back that two hundred dollars and expenses, I don't see how I am +to do it. I'm broke." + +"So I understand. Do you know your place is to be disposed of by forced +sale day after to-morrow?" + +"Yes; they've got me with my hands up." + +"I don't think so. I'm going to attend that sale, and probably our +friend Ricketts will regret the fact. Now, you turn your horse round and +accompany me to the settlement. I've got some money coming by express, +and being rather a stupid sort of person, it never occurred to me until +half an hour ago that I'd need to be identified before I got my hands on +that express package. So if you'll take my word that I am Stranleigh, +we'll collar the currency and attend the sale. I have a letter of +introduction to you from Mr. Banks, of New York, but I left it at your +house." + +"That's all right. I'll go surety that you're the man. I'd like mighty +well to see a little money, even if it belongs to another fellow." + +Armstrong turned his horse, who was not loth to set his face in the +other direction, because he belonged to White's Tavern. As the two men +jogged along together, Stranleigh explained the situation. Armstrong was +silent for some time, evidently in a state of dejection. + +"Well, Mr. Stranleigh," he said at last, "as you know, I am quite +helpless. I haven't a cent to bless myself nor curse an enemy with. I'm +no good as a business man, and the slick way in which those rascals in +Chicago separated me from what cash I had would make you laugh at me if +you knew how it was done." + +"I shouldn't be inclined to laugh. We read in Scripture of the man who +fell among thieves, and I imagine Chicago is a good place to find such +cattle, although I believe there are a few of them further west. I think +that Ricketts, in refusing the money when it was offered to him, +exceeded his legal rights." + +"Our sharpers out here," said Armstrong, "are always exceeding their +legal rights, but they get rich all the same. I confess I haven't so +much dependence on legality as a law-abiding citizen should have." + +"Your men on the ranch seem to hold the same opinion. In spite of all I +could say, they were determined to make a raid on Bleachers." + +"Did you manage to stop them?" enquired Armstrong eagerly. + +"I think I did," was the reply. + +There had been a flash of hope in Armstrong's eyes, but it now died down +to dejection again. + +"I am sorry for that," he said. + +Stranleigh gazed at him in astonishment. + +"You don't mean to say that you approve of such violence?" + +"Oh, well," said Armstrong nonchalantly, "when a man's in a corner, +he'll do most anything, and at such times a little gun play is not out +of place. I'll bet the boys would have stopped that sale." + +"Doubtless, but what good would that do?" + +"We should gain breathing space, and perhaps Ricketts wouldn't go on +with his villainy." + +"But it would land all your men in gaol." + +"Don't you believe it. The sheriff would have to catch the boys first, +and they know every ravine and stream and gully in the mountains, and +every trail in the woods, and if Ricketts was sacrificed in the +scrimmage, I, for one, wouldn't be chief mourner. These boys might not +be much good in Chicago, but they are very useful out here. A scoundrel +like Ricketts, who tries legally to steal a man's property, takes big +chances and runs a lot of risks, and no one knows that better than +himself. He has taken advantage of my being away from home." + +"It's not too late yet to carry out your plan. Although your men hold to +their resolve to visit Bleachers on the day of the sale, they have +promised not to shoot until I give the word of command." + +"They will be there, then, after all?" cried Armstrong, eagerly. + +"Certainly; I have engaged them as bodyguard, because, as I told you, I +shall have a considerable sum of money in my possession, and I don't +wish to be detached from that cash, either by Chicago methods, or those +of Bleachers. I want the sale to go on without any disturbance." + +"What's your plan?" + +"I intend to buy the ranch." + +"Do you imagine for a moment that you'll be allowed to?" + +"How can they prevent me if I've got the cash in my pocket?" + +"Why, first thing they'll do is to postpone the sale." + +"Has Ricketts power to do that?" + +"No; but the sheriff has, and the sheriff is Ricketts' man." + +"Official bribery, eh? Are you personally acquainted with the sheriff?" + +"Yes; I voted for him." + +"Is he a man who would rather do right than wrong?" + +"It depends how much money there is in either course." + +"Then I think our path is reasonably clear. If Ricketts can bribe him to +do wrong, we can bribe him to do right." + +Armstrong shook his head doubtfully. + +"It's not so easy as you think. He would take our money all right, but +he might not deliver the goods. He wouldn't stay bought." + +"That is a useful thing to know. We'll pay him half the money cash down, +and the other half when he _has_ delivered the goods. Would a hundred +dollars be sufficient?" + +"Oh, lord, yes! It gives Ricketts a pain when he parts with a ten-dollar +bill, so it won't take very much money to compete with him." + +"As you know the man, and as it's your ranch that is in jeopardy, you +can carry out the negotiations better than a stranger like myself." + +"That's so; if I have the cash. A hundred dollars would turn the trick." + +"Better take five hundred dollars and be sure of it." + +They stopped their horses and made the transfer of money where they +stood, as being safer than in the tavern. + +Arriving at Bleachers, they found the express office closed for the +night, but next day his lordship, with Armstrong as his identifier, +secured the package. + +The land sale took place in the Agricultural Hall, the largest building +in town. Stanley Armstrong's six armed followers arrived in good time, +and quite unobtrusively seated themselves in a row on a bench at the +rear of the hall. When Stranleigh, accompanied by Armstrong, came in, +the half dozen shook hands with their chief, and expressed no more +surprise at meeting him than if he had left them the week before. Large +as the hall was, it speedily filled up, but Lawyer Ricketts, on +entering, as he cast his eye over the assemblage, knew there were few +moneyed men among the crowd gathered there, and so anticipated no +serious opposition when the bidding began. + +The lawyer was accompanied by two friends; strangers in Bleachers, +who took their places beside him on the chairs provided near the +auctioneer's desk. Ricketts was an important man, and quite entitled to +reserved seats for himself and his friends. Last of all the sheriff +entered, and mounted the platform, bowing graciously to the meeting, +which was composed of constituents whose votes he would need next year. +It was quite evident that the sheriff was a popular man, for there was a +round of applause the moment he appeared. + +He got down to business without any unnecessary loss of time, reading +the documents giving the conditions of the sale, the item on which +Stranleigh was relying being that no cheques would be accepted, +or credit allowed. Payment must be cash down on the fall of the +auctioneer's gavel. This the clever lawyer had insisted upon, to +prevent all possibility of his being outbid by someone who desired +time for payment. Thus he dug a pit for his own undoing. + +Having finished this reading, the sheriff took a sip from the glass +supposed to hold water, and promptly began-- + +"You all know the property, gentlemen, so I need not detain you by any +lengthy description of it. How much am I offered for Armstrong's ranch?" + +"Three thousand dollars," said Ricketts. + +"Five thousand," promptly outbid the Earl of Stranleigh. + +There was a buzz of interest in the crowd, as if some one had stirred up +a nest of bees. They had not expected competition. Ricketts stood up and +scrutinised the numerous faces turned towards him, endeavouring to +discover from whom the bid came. Then he sat down, and whispered to +each of the men beside him. They nodded, and one of them stole quietly +out through the door by which the sheriff had entered. + +"He's gone for more money," said Stranleigh quietly to Armstrong. + +"Five thousand dollars I am bid," went on the sheriff. "Is there any +advance on five thousand dollars?" + +His gavel hovered over the table. + +"Six thousand," said Ricketts. + +"Ten thousand," offered Stranleigh, realising that his opponent was +playing for time. + +"Ten thousand dollars!" echoed the sheriff, then, glancing at the +lawyer; "It's against you, Mr. Ricketts." + +The lawyer hesitated. + +"Eleven thousand!" he said at last. + +"Fifteen thousand," bid Stranleigh, promptly. + +There were two anxious men in that hall. Stranleigh was wishing he had +sent for a hundred thousand dollars. It was evident that Ricketts +possessed good backing, but he had no means of knowing whether or not +these men had the necessary money actually in hand. Ricketts was the +second anxious man, and he was now gazing with apprehension at the door +through which his companion had disappeared. He was called to attention +by the strident voice of the sheriff. + +"Fifteen thousand dollars is the last bid. Going at fifteen thousand +once; going at fifteen thousand twice----" + +"Wait a moment, Mr. Sheriff: there's no hurry." + +"The sale must go on, Mr. Ricketts." + +"Certainly," replied the lawyer, "but it's your duty to get as much +as you can for the property. We all sympathise very much with our +neighbour, Mr. Armstrong, and whatever is paid over and above his debt +to me, goes to him." + +"I am aware of that, Mr. Ricketts, and your compassion for Mr. Armstrong +does you credit. Still, as I have said before, the sale must go on, and +unless there is another bid, I am compelled to knock the property down +to the last offer. Fifteen thousand dollars I am bid, and for the third +time----" + +"Sixteen thousand," cried Ricketts, taking out a handkerchief, and +mopping his brow. + +The missing man now re-appeared, and took his place beside the lawyer. +The three heads came closer together, and Stranleigh watched them with +half-closed eyes, apparently indifferent. + +"The bid is against you, sir," said the Sheriff. "By the way, what name, +please?" + +"Stranleigh." + +"Well, Mr. Stranleigh, I'm waiting for your bid." + +"Don't wait any longer, Mr. Sheriff. I'm anxious to know how much money +Mr. Ricketts possesses at the present moment. The ranch belongs to him +if he can hand over to you sixteen thousand dollars." + +Down came the gavel on the table. + +"Mr. Ricketts, the ranch is yours." + +Mr. Ricketts rose to his feet. + +"I ask for a postponement of this sale for a week from to-day." + +"I have no objection," said the Sheriff, "as of course I shall earn +another fee." + +There was a laugh at this, then the Sheriff continued-- + +"But I cannot postpone the sale without the consent of Mr. Stranleigh. +What do you say, Mr. Stranleigh?" + +"A postponement would be very inconvenient to me, much as I should like +to oblige Mr. Ricketts. I therefore refuse my consent." + +"If the Sheriff is willing," roared Ricketts, "we will postpone without +your consent, even if we have to turn you out by force." + +"I shouldn't try that if I were you, Mr. Ricketts. There are six friends +of mine sitting beside me, who are dead shots, and I don't think this +crowd would stand in the way if the first gun were levelled at you. I +ask that the sale go peacefully on, Mr. Sheriff." + +"There must be a postponement! The Sheriff has control over this +meeting!" + +"I am counting on that," said Stranleigh, "and I am sure that the +Sheriff will adhere strictly to the law. How much money have you +collected, Mr. Ricketts?" + +"That's none of your business." + +"Perhaps not; and so to make everything easy and agreeable to all +concerned, I bid seventeen thousand dollars for the property." + +"Show your money," demanded Ricketts. + +"You wouldn't show yours, so why should I show mine?" + +"Knock it down to him, Sheriff. I don't believe he has the cash." + +"Seventeen thousand I am offered. Going at seventeen thousand once; +going at seventeen thousand twice; going at seventeen thousand third +and last time. Going! Gone!" + +Down came the mallet. + +"I shall be obliged if you will hand over to me seventeen thousand +dollars, Mr. Stranleigh." + +"Certainly. With your permission, gentlemen!" and the crowd parted +good-naturedly. Stranleigh counted out the money on the Sheriff's table. + +Armstrong and his men went home directly the sale was over, but +Stranleigh remained until all the legal business was finished, and the +documents were in his possession. As he rode back to the ranch, he +meditated upon the situation in which he found himself. The object of +his trip to the West had been achieved. He had left New York tired of +its noise, its heated pavements and other uncomfortable disadvantages. +He had thought he would never care to see the metropolis again, but now +he was yearning for the atmosphere of a large city; London for choice. +He determined to bid farewell at once to the Armstrongs and the bunk +house men, then turn his face eastwards. + +Miss Armstrong was amazed to learn his decision. + +"But you haven't had even one day's shooting!" she protested. + +"Oh, I'll come for that another time," he assured her. + +"Before you go away, my father would like to make some arrangement with +you about this ranch." + +"I shall be very glad to come to an agreement with him." + +The girl sped up to the silver mine, where her father was superintending +the removal of the dynamite to its proper place, a job requiring some +little care. Armstrong accompanied his daughter down to the house, and +greeted Stranleigh with eagerness. + +"I am anxious to lease this place from you, Mr. Stranleigh, with the +option of buying it later on. I am sure I can make money from the silver +mine." + +"You must apply to the owner of the ranch, Mr. Armstrong." + +"The owner!" echoed Armstrong, in some alarm. "You haven't sold the +ranch since I saw you, I hope?" + +"No; but like most other men, I am in debt, and I intend to use this +property in payment of my obligation." + +Armstrong was taken aback by this declaration. Turning to Miss +Armstrong, Stranleigh took from his pocket a long, well-filled envelope. + +"These, Professor, are all the legal documents necessary to make you the +owner of the ranch, including deed and what-not. I am quite incapable of +understanding the red tape wound round the transaction, but I am assured +it is all right. I tender this in payment of my medical bill." + +"Oh," cried the girl, softly. Then she smiled. "As the sensational plays +have it, this is too much!" + +"Not a bit of it," returned Stranleigh. "You have no idea of the +appalling charges made by specialists in New York and London. Besides, +this includes payment of Jim's bill. You cured Jim's ear as well as my +shoulder, and I am responsible for Jim. His ear is the only shooting I +have had since I came to the ranch." + +The girl again began to protest, but Stranleigh interrupted. + +"As you are so loth to receive the property, I shall burden it with some +conditions. Your father will ask you to mortgage this land to raise +money for him. You must refuse that. Keep the ranch in your own name. +You have just seen how much trouble has been caused by Ricketts getting +his claws on the place. Your father has got, or will get, something +between ten and twelve thousand dollars from the proceeds of the sale. +Will you put that money into your daughter's hands, Mr. Armstrong?" + +"I suppose I'll have to if you say so," rather grudgingly conceded the +rancher. + +"Yes; I say so, because she is a good business woman. Now, Miss +Armstrong, you own the ranch, and with this money at your disposal, you +should be able to prove conclusively whether there is profitable ore in +that mine. When you are ready to demonstrate that fact, write to me, and +I'll get together the capital you need for the energetic development of +the mine. And now I must be off. Will you bid good-bye for me to my +friends, the bunk house men?" + +"Certainly; where shall I write to you when there is news of the mine to +send?" + +"Mr. Banks of New York always has my address." + +The girl held forward her hand. + +"Good-bye to you, Lord Stranleigh of Wychwood," she said. + +For the first time in his life, his lordship neglected to take the +proffered hand of a lady. + +"Are you making a guess, or stating a certainty, Miss Armstrong?" + +"I guess it's a certainty. I saw in a New York paper that Earl +Stranleigh of Wychwood was coming into this district to shoot. Then from +Jim's ear I unbound a handkerchief with a crest and a monogram on it." + +Stranleigh laughed, and took the hand still outstretched to him. + + +THE END. + +WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED, LONDON. + + + + +Ward, Lock & Co.'s POPULAR FICTION + + +A. E. W. MASON + +LAWRENCE CLAVERING. + +A remarkably powerful and stirring historical romance, full of life and +movement. + + +STANLEY WEYMAN + +MY LADY ROTHA. + +A Romance of the Thirty Years' War + +THE SATURDAY REVIEW.--"No one who begins will lay it down before the +end, it is so extremely well carried on from adventure to adventure." + + +EDEN PHILLPOTTS + +THE LOVERS. + +A brilliant tale of love and adventure. A true Phillpotts in every +respect, and should rank high among his works. + +THE MOTHER. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"This is Mr. Phillpotts' best book. Whatever may +be the value of some fiction, it will do every man and woman good to +read this book. Its perusal should leave the reader in a higher air." + + +H. RIDER HAGGARD + +AYESHA. + +THE COURT JOURNAL.--"A stupendous effort of imagination, and provides a +narrative as enthralling and as realistic as anything Mr. Haggard has +written." + +KEBLE HOWARD + +ONE OF THE FAMILY. + +EVENING STANDARD.--"We are again indebted to Mr. Keble Howard for giving +us a most amusing and cleverly written book." + + +S. R. CROCKETT + +JOAN OF THE SWORD HAND. + +THE DAILY MAIL.--"A triumph of cheery, resolute narration. The story +goes along like a wave, and the reader with it." + +STRONG MAC. + +THE MORNING POST.--"So vividly is the story told that it often reads +like a narrative of things that have actually happened." + +LITTLE ESSON. + +THE SCARBOROUGH POST.--"One of the most popular of Mr. Crockett's books +since 'Lilac Sunbonnet.'" + + +MAX PEMBERTON + +PRO PATRIA. + +THE LIVERPOOL MERCURY.--"A fine and distinguished piece of imaginative +writing; one that should shed a new lustre upon the clever author of +'Kronstadt.'" + +CHRISTINE OF THE HILLS. + +THE DAILY MAIL.--"Assuredly he has never written anything more fresh, +more simple, more alluring, or more artistically perfect." + +A GENTLEMAN'S GENTLEMAN. + +THE DAILY CHRONICLE.--"This is very much the best book Mr. Pemberton has +so far given us." + +THE GOLD WOLF. + +ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS.--"From the beginning Mr. Pemberton weaves his +romance with such skill that the tangled skein remains for long +unravelled." + +THE LODESTAR. + +THE STANDARD.--"It impresses us as an exceedingly poignant and effective +story, true to real life. Written with cleverness and charm." + +WHITE WALLS. + +THE LADY.--"A melodrama cleverly imagined, written in the author's +happiest and most spirited style, and well illustrated by Maurice +Greiffenhagen." + +LEILA AND HER LOVER. + +Shows the author in his most romantic and emotional manner. + + +ROBERT BARR + +LORD STRANLEIGH, PHILANTHROPIST. + +THE MANCHESTER COURIER.--"Mr. Barr's spirits never flag, his stories +have all point, and one may recommend the latest exploits of Lord +Stranleigh as being as amusing as ever." + +LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD. + +The last adventures of one of the breeziest and most notable characters +in modern fiction. + + +JUSTUS MILES FORMAN + +THE ISLAND OF ENCHANTMENT. + +MADAME.--"Rather should this delightful volume have been titled 'The +Book of Enchantment.'" + +THE UNKNOWN LADY. + +OBSERVER.--"This is the best work its author has ever attempted or +achieved. There is charm in every line of it." + +BIANCA'S DAUGHTER. + +THE ATHENAEUM.--"Mr. Forman is one of the most distinctively romantic +writers of to-day. He has a fund of fine sympathy." + +JOURNEY'S END. + +THE COURT JOURNAL.--"Surprisingly fresh, abounding in touches of +observation and sentiment." + +MONSIGNY: THE SOUL OF GOLD. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"The novel is admirable, the idea is very cleverly +worked out, and the book is worthy of much praise." + +THE GARDEN OF LIES. + +THE DAILY NEWS.--"This novel is far in advance of anything that Mr. +Forman has hitherto accomplished. 'The Garden of Lies' belongs to that +class of story which touches the heart from the first. It is a real +romance, full of vigour and a clean, healthy life." + +TOMMY CARTERET. + +THE DAILY CHRONICLE.--"This is a fine book, thoroughly fine from start +to finish." + +BUCHANAN'S WIFE. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"'Buchanan's Wife' may be regarded as another +success for an already successful author." + +A MODERN ULYSSES. + +PEOPLE'S SATURDAY JOURNAL.--"Full of exciting incidents handled in a +bright, crisp style." + +THE QUEST. + +WORLD.--"'The Quest' is every whit as good as its author's best known +story, 'The Garden of Lies.'" + +THE COURT OF THE ANGELS. + +THE ATHENAEUM.--"A gay, light-hearted, and pleasantly discursive book." + +THE HARVEST MOON. + +THE STANDARD.--"Mr. Forman is an accomplished writer of romance, as he +has shown us on many previous occasions, and once again he holds us with +his spell." + +THE OPENING DOOR. + +One of the best stories Justus Miles Forman has written since "The +Garden of Lies." + + +E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM + +FALSE EVIDENCE. + +WESTERN MAIL.--"One takes up a story by Mr. E. Phillips Oppenheim with +the certainty of enjoyment, and the reader is never disappointed." + +THE POSTMASTER OF MARKET DEIGNTON. + +FREEMAN'S JOURNAL.--"Mr. Oppenheim's undoubted genius for clever +construction and guarding his secret was never better shown than in this +story." + +THE PEER AND THE WOMAN. + +THE COVENTRY STANDARD.--"A thrilling story by that clever writer of +fiction, Mr. E. Phillips Oppenheim, which will add another work of +interest to the already long list of his delightful creations." + +BERENICE. + +THE YORKSHIRE OBSERVER.--"More sincere work than is to be found in this +novel Mr. Oppenheim has never written. The subject shows the author in a +new and unexpected light." + +MR. MARX'S SECRET. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"'Mr. Marx's Secret' has a wonderful power of +fascination: it is strongly written, and is certain to appeal to that +popular author's admirers." + +JEANNE OF THE MARSHES. + +BRISTOL MERCURY.--"'Jeanne of the Marshes' is charming and delightful in +the extreme; without a doubt it will be voted one of the best novels of +the season." + +THE LONG ARM. + +THE WORLD.--"'The Long Arm' is a clever story, which no one will lay +down till every line is read." + +THE GOVERNORS. + +THE GLOBE.--"'The Governors' is by Mr. E. P. Oppenheim--need more be +said to assure the reader that it is as full of ruses, politics, and +sensations as heart could desire." + +THE MISSIONER. + +THE HUDDERSFIELD EXAMINER.--"We have nothing but the very highest praise +for this book. Deeply engrossing as a novel, pure in style, and +practically faultless as a literary work." + +CONSPIRATORS. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"The author must be congratulated on having +achieved a story which is full of liveliness." + +THE SECRET. + +THE STANDARD.--"We have no hesitation in saying that this is the finest +and most absorbing story that Mr. Oppenheim has ever written. It glows +with feeling; it is curiously fertile in character and incident, and it +works its way onward to a most remarkable climax." + +A MAKER OF HISTORY. + +THE STANDARD.--"Those who read 'A Maker of History' will revel in the +plot, and will enjoy all those numerous deft touches of actuality that +have gone to make the story genuinely interesting and exciting." + +THE MASTER MUMMER. + +THE DUNDEE ADVERTISER.--"It is a beautiful story that is here set within +a story." + +THE BETRAYAL. + +THE DUNDEE ADVERTISER.--"Mr. Oppenheim's skill has never been displayed +to better advantage than here.... He has excelled himself, and to assert +this is to declare the novel superior to nine out of ten of its +contemporaries." + +ANNA, THE ADVENTURESS. + +THE DAILY NEWS.--"Mr. Oppenheim keeps his readers on the alert from +cover to cover, and the story is a fascinating medley of romance and +mystery." + +THE YELLOW CRAYON. + +THE DAILY EXPRESS.--"Mr. Oppenheim has a vivid imagination and much +sympathy, fine powers of narrative, and can suggest a life history in a +sentence." + +A PRINCE OF SINNERS. + +VANITY FAIR.--"A vivid and powerful story. Mr. Oppenheim knows the +world, and the unusual nature of the setting in which his leading +characters live gives this book distinction among the novels of the +season." + +THE TRAITORS. + +THE ATHENAEUM.--"Its interest begins on the first page and ends on the +last. The plot is ingenious and well managed, the movement of the story +is admirably swift, and the characters are exceedingly vivacious." + +A LOST LEADER. + +THE DAILY GRAPHIC.--"Mr. Oppenheim almost treats us to a romance which +is full of originality and interest from first to last." + +MR. WINGRAVE, MILLIONAIRE. + +THE BRITISH WEEKLY.--"Like good wine Mr. Oppenheim's novels need no +bush. They attract by their own charm, and are unrivalled in +popularity." + +AS A MAN LIVES. + +THE SKETCH.--"The interest of the book, always keen and absorbing, is +due to some extent to a puzzle so admirably planned as to defy the +penetration of the most experienced novel reader." + +A DAUGHTER OF THE MARIONIS. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"Mr. Oppenheim's stories always display much melodramatic +power and considerable originality and ingenuity of construction. These +and other qualities of the successful writer of romance are manifest in +'A Daughter of the Marionis.'" + +THE MYSTERY OF MR. BERNARD BROWN. + +THE ABERDEEN DAILY JOURNAL.--"The story is rich in sensational incident +and dramatic situations. It is seldom, indeed, that we meet with a novel +of such power and fascination." + +THE MAN AND HIS KINGDOM. + +THE FREEMAN'S JOURNAL.--"The story is worthy of Merriman at his very +best. It is a genuine treat for the ravenous and often disappointed +novel reader." + +THE WORLD'S GREAT SNARE. + +THE WORLD.--"It is full of dramatic incidents, thoroughly exciting and +realistic. There is not one dull page from beginning to end." + +A MONK OF CRUTA. + +THE BOOKMAN.--"Intensely dramatic. The book is an achievement at which +the author may well be gratified." + +MYSTERIOUS MR. SABIN. + +THE LITERARY WORLD.--"As a story of interest, with a deep-laid and +exciting plot, this of the 'Mysterious Mr. Sabin' can hardly be +surpassed." + +A MILLIONAIRE OF YESTERDAY. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"We cannot but welcome with enthusiasm a really +well-told story like 'A Millionaire of Yesterday.'" + +THE SURVIVOR. + +THE NOTTINGHAM GUARDIAN.--"We must give a conspicuous place on its +merits to this excellent story. It is only necessary to read a page or +two in order to become deeply interested." + +THE GREAT AWAKENING. + +THE YORKSHIRE POST.--"A weird and fascinating story, which for real +beauty and originality, ranks far above the ordinary novel." + +FOR THE QUEEN. + +MODERN SOCIETY.--"The fame of Mr. Oppenheim is world wide, and in 'For +the Queen' the author lives up to the highest traditions of his +reputation as a writer of fiction." + +THOSE OTHER DAYS. + +Mr. Oppenheim ranges with assured mastery from grave to gay, while +diplomatic scandals and political intrigues are woven with that delicate +skill which we expect from him as a sort of right. + +EXPIATION. + +Mr. Oppenheim is one of the cleverest weavers of plots who write the +English language, and he has many examples of his skill. "Expiation" is +quite one of his best. + + +FRED M. WHITE + +THE OPEN DOOR. + +An absorbing tale of unusual interest and mystery. Mr. White's high +reputation for sensationalism is well known, and "The Open Door" will +certainly uphold it. + +THE FIVE KNOTS. + +WESTERN DAILY PRESS.--"Mr. White has written several books, all of which +have been enjoyed by a large number of readers, who will probably agree +that it is the best." + +THE LAW OF THE LAND. + +DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"Mr. White's new novel may be strongly recommended. It +contains enough surprises to whip the interest at every turn." + +THE MYSTERY OF THE RAVENSPURS. + +MODERN SOCIETY.--"As the plot is unfolded the reader becomes more and +more fascinated, the interest being powerfully held until the close." + +THE SECRET OF THE SANDS. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"Mr. Fred M. White has written a story full of dramatic +surprises. Mr. White is a master of sensations, and his introduction of +the incident of the Italian Vendetta gives point to a good tale." + +THE GOLDEN ROSE. + +IRISH INDEPENDENT.--"This latest book possesses all those +characteristics which go to make Mr. White's novels so readable and so +popular." + + +PAUL TRENT + +THE FOUNDLING. + +DAILY GRAPHIC.--"The character of Strand is an excellent study, cleverly +and strongly drawn, and the book is a very interesting and readable +work." + +THE SECOND CHANCE. + +Mr. Paul Trent's stories, "The Vow" and "The Foundling," were powerful +tales with a motive. "The Second Chance," as its title indicates, is of +the same school. + + +LOUIS TRACY + +SYLVIA'S CHAUFFEUR. + +MORNING LEADER.--"'Sylvia's Chauffeur' is as pleasant a piece of light +reading as any one could desire." + +RAINBOW ISLAND. + +THE LITERARY WORLD.--"Those who delight in tales of adventure should +hail 'Rainbow Island' with joyous shouts of welcome. Rarely have we met +with more satisfying fare of this description than in its pages." + +THE ALBERT GATE AFFAIR. + +THE BIRMINGHAM POST.--"Will worthily rank with 'The Fatal Legacy' and +'Rainbow Island,' both books full of wholesome excitement." + +THE PILLAR OF LIGHT. + +THE EVENING STANDARD.--"So admirable, so living, so breathlessly +exciting a book. The magnificent realism of the lighthouse and its +perils are worthy of praise from the most jaded reader." + +A SON OF THE IMMORTALS. + +THE MORNING POST.--"Mr. Tracy's new book 'A Son of the Immortals' is of +a highly sensational character, and adventures and stirring situations +follow closely upon one another's heels all through it." + +MIRABEL'S ISLAND. + +A delightfully exciting and fascinating romance of love and adventure, +comparable to its author's famous success, "Rainbow Island." + +NO OTHER WAY. + +FINANCIAL TIMES.--"Mr. Tracy's latest novel provides an absorbing +narrative which is not likely to be cast aside prematurely." + + +HEADON HILL + +THE COTTAGE IN THE CHINE. + +Will make a strong appeal to lovers of sensational fiction; every page +has its incident or adventure, and the most exacting reader will not +find a dull moment until the last page is turned. + +MY LORD THE FELON. + +THE BOOKSELLER.--"Every page of this book has its incident or adventure, +while the reader's interest is kept up to the last chapter." + +THE CRIMSON HONEYMOON. + +"The Crimson Honeymoon" is a really fascinating sensation story, well +written and cleverly put together. + + +HAROLD BINDLOSS + +THE TRUSTEE. + +Another powerful and well-written story of hardihood, love and adventure +in Canada. The clean, fresh atmosphere which pervades it is distinctly +exhilarating. + +PUNCH.--"Mr. Bindloss is an author who can deftly use sensationalism to +his purpose without forcing it for mere effect, and who can also depict +the character of a strong man as honest as determined in love with a +sweet woman. He tells a story with rare skill." + +THE PIONEER. + +THE BOOKMAN.--"Altogether a fresh, stimulating, wholesome story, and one +which should only be banned by parents who do not wish their fledglings +to succumb to the fascinating lure of the wilds." + +ACADEMY.--"His novels are terse, powerful, yet graceful, showing +intimate knowledge and acute observation, never overweighted with +description, yet containing many delightful pictures." + +THE PROTECTOR. + +MORNING POST.--"Mr. Bindloss is always a sure find for a good story, and +in this one he has, if possible, excelled himself." + +THE LIBERATIONIST + +MORNING LEADER.--"This is the author's best novel, and is one which no +lover of healthy excitement ought to miss." + +HAWTREY'S DEPUTY. + +THE WESTERN DAILY MERCURY.--"The whole story is told with the most +spontaneous verve, and is tinged with a delightful element of romance." + +THE IMPOSTOR. + +THE QUEEN.--"Mr. Bindloss writes books which are always good to read. +His writing is uniformly good, and his books are always sane, intensely +interesting, and dealing with subjects that cannot fail to concern a +wide public." + +THE WASTREL. + +THE TIMES.--"Mr. Bindloss's books are unchangeably true to type; and in +the distracting medley of modern fiction they calm and regulate the +mind." + + +J. C. SNAITH + +MISTRESS DOROTHY MARVIN. + +THE NOTTINGHAM GUARDIAN.--"Mr. Snaith stirs the blood, from the first +page to the last, and all the characters live, move, and have their +being." + +LADY BARBARITY. + +BLACK AND WHITE says:--"'Lady Barbarity' would cheer a pessimist in a +November fog. It is so gay, so good humoured, so full of the influence +of youth and beauty." + + +GUY BOOTHBY + +THE RACE OF LIFE. + +THE ENGLISH REVIEW.--"Ahead even of Mr. Cutcliffe Hyne and Conan Doyle, +Mr. Boothby may be said to have topped popularity's pole." + +THE CRIME OF THE UNDER SEAS. + +THE SPEAKER.--"Is quite the equal in art, observation, and dramatic +intensity to any of Mr. Guy Boothby's numerous other romances." + +A BID FOR FREEDOM. + +THE SHEFFIELD TELEGRAPH.--"A fully written romance, which bristles with +thrilling passages, exciting adventures, and hairbreadth escapes." + +A TWO-FOLD INHERITANCE. + +PUNCH.--"Just the very book that a hard-working man should read for +genuine relaxation." + +CONNIE BURT. + +THE BIRMINGHAM GAZETTE.--"One of the best stories we have seen of Mr. +Boothby's." + +THE KIDNAPPED PRESIDENT. + +PUBLIC OPINION.--"Brighter, crisper, and more entertaining than any of +its predecessors from the same pen." + +MY STRANGEST CASE. + +THE YORKSHIRE POST.--"No work of Mr. Boothby's seems to us to have +approached in skill his new story." + +FAREWELL, NIKOLA. + +THE DUNDEE ADVERTISER.--"Guy Boothby's famous creation of Dr. Nikola has +become familiar to every reader of fiction." + +MY INDIAN QUEEN. + +THE SUNDAY SPECIAL.--"A vivid story of adventure and daring, bearing all +the characteristics of careful workmanship." + +LONG LIVE THE KING. + +THE ABERDEEN FREE PRESS.--"It is marvellous that Mr. Boothby's novels +should all be so uniformly good." + +A PRINCE OF SWINDLERS. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"Of absorbing interest. The exploits are described in an +enthralling vein." + +A MAKER OF NATIONS. + +THE SPECTATOR.--"'A Maker of Nations' enables us to understand Mr. +Boothby's vogue. It has no lack of movement or incident." + +THE RED RAT'S DAUGHTER. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"Mr. Guy Boothby's name on the title-page of a +novel carries with it the assurance of a good story to follow." + +LOVE MADE MANIFEST. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"One of those tales of exciting adventure in the +confection of which Mr. Boothby is not excelled by any novelist of the +day." + +PHAROS THE EGYPTIAN. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"This powerful novel is weird and soul-thrilling. There +never was in this world so strange and wonderful a love story." + +ACROSS THE WORLD FOR A WIFE. + +THE BRITISH WEEKLY.--"This stirring tale ranks next to 'Dr. Nikola' in +the list of Mr. Boothby's novels." + +THE LUST OF HATE. + +THE DAILY GRAPHIC.--"Whoever wants dramatic interest let him read 'The +Lust of Hate.'" + +THE FASCINATION OF THE KING. + +THE BRISTOL MERCURY.--"Unquestionably the best work we have yet seen +from the pen of Mr. Guy Boothby." + +DR. NIKOLA. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"One hairbreadth escape succeeds another with rapidity +that scarce leaves the reader breathing space." + +THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE DEVIL. + +THE YORKSHIRE POST.--"A more exciting romance no man could reasonably +ask for." + +A BID FOR FORTUNE. + +THE MANCHESTER COURIER.--"It is impossible to give any idea of the verve +with which the story is told. The most original novel of the year." + +IN STRANGE COMPANY. + +THE WORLD.--"A capital novel. It has the quality of life and stir, and +will carry the reader with curiosity unabated to the end." + +THE MARRIAGE OF ESTHER. + +THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN.--"There is a vigour and a power of illusion +about it that raises it quite above the level of the ordinary novel of +adventure." + +BUSHIGRAMS. + +THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN.--"Intensely interesting. Forces from us, by its +powerful artistic realism, those choky sensations which it should be the +aim of the human writer to elicit, whether in comedy or tragedy." + +SHEILAH MCLEOD. + +MR. W. L. ALDEN IN THE NEW YORK TIMES.--"Mr. Boothby can crowd more +adventure into a square foot of canvas than any other novelist." + +DR. NIKOLA'S EXPERIMENT. + +Illustrated by Sidney Cowell. + +THE MAN OF THE CRAG. + + +ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT + +IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE. + +NORTH DEVON JOURNAL.--"A novel of absorbing interest. The plot is +developed very cleverly, and there is a delightful love theme." + +IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"A well-sustained and thrilling narrative." + +THE LITTLE ANARCHIST. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"A romance brimful of incident and arousing in the reader +a healthy interest that carries him along with never a pause." + +AN IMPERIAL MARRIAGE. + +SCOTSMAN.--"The action never flags, the romantic element is always +paramount, so that the production is bound to appeal successfully to all +lovers of spirited fiction." + + +BERTRAM MITFORD + +SELMIN OF SELMINGFOLD. + +FINANCIAL TIMES.--"A combination of sentiment and love interest with the +more practical and serious side of life unite to make this novel of a +singularly interesting nature, and we are confident that it will meet +with great popularity." + +THE RIVER OF UNREST. + +SCOTSMAN.--"Mr. Mitford brings forward with excellent effect his +knowledge of nature, customs and tradition. The product is a tale rich +in incident and character, set against an effective background of +savagery and mystery." + +A DUAL RESURRECTION. + +READING STANDARD.--"The novel reader who loves a really good novel full +of desperate adventure will never be disappointed when Mr. Mitford's +books are in question. This is a strong and clever piece of work, the +plot is ingenious and the characterization uncommonly well done." + +SEAFORD'S SNAKE. + +MADAME.--"If you like well-written stories of adventure you should get +Mr. Mitford's latest novel. The characters are well portrayed, the story +written in a brisk, virile style that proves very attractive." + +HEATH HOVER MYSTERY. + +TIMES.--"A capital mystery and detective story, with some exciting +scenes in India." + + +JOSEPH HOCKING + +THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD. + +THE FINANCIAL TIMES.--"A strong knowledge of human nature, for which Mr. +Hocking is famous, is well portrayed in the pages of this novel, and +this, in conjunction with the interesting nature of the plot, renders it +particularly successful. The book will be appreciated by novel readers." + +ROGER TREWINION. + +T P'S WEEKLY.--"It is a foregone conclusion that Mr. Hocking will always +have a good story to tell. 'Roger Trewinion' can stand forth with the +best, a strong love interest, plenty of adventure, an atmosphere of +superstition, and Cornwall as the scene." + +THE COMING OF THE KING. + +THE GLASGOW HERALD.--"Mr. Hocking's imagination is fertile, and his +skill in the arrangement of incident far above the average, and there is +an air of reality in all his writing which is peculiarly charming." + +ESAU. + +THE OUTLOOK.--"Remarkable for the dramatic power with which the scenes +are drawn and the intense human interest which Mr. Hocking has woven +about his characters. 'Esau' is sure to be one of the novels of the +season." + +GREATER LOVE. + +THE NEWCASTLE CHRONICLE.--"Though of a totally different character from +'Lest We Forget,' Mr. Hocking's latest story is entitled to take rank +along with that fine romance." + +LEST WE FORGET. + +PUBLIC OPINION.--"His story is quite as good as any we have read of the +Stanley Weyman's school, and presents an excellent picture of the +exciting times of Gardiner and Bonner." + +AND SHALL TRELAWNEY DIE? + +THE WEEKLY SUN.--"An engaging and fascinating romance. The reader puts +the story down with a sigh, and wishes there were more of these breezy +Cornish uplands, for Mr. Joseph Hocking's easy style of narrative does +not soon tire." + +JABEZ EASTERBROOK. + +THE ROCK.--"Real strength is shown in the sketches, of which that of +Brother Bowman is most prominent. In its way it is delightful." + +THE WEAPONS OF MYSTERY. + +"Weapons of Mystery" is a singularly powerful story of occult influences +and of their exertion for evil purposes. + +ZILLAH: A ROMANCE. + +THE SPECTATOR.--"The drawing of some of the characters indicates the +possession by Mr. Hocking of a considerable gift of humour. The contents +of his book indicate that he takes a genuine interest in the deeper +problems of the day." + +THE MONK OF MAR-SABA. + +THE STAR.--"Great power and thrilling interest.... The scenery of the +Holy Land has rarely been so vividly described as in this charming book +of Mr. Hocking's." + +THE PURPLE ROBE. + +THE QUEEN.--"It is exceedingly clever, and excites the reader's interest +and brings out the powerful nature of the clever young minister. This +most engrossing book challenges comparison with the brilliance of +Lothair." + +THE SCARLET WOMAN. + +THE METHODIST RECORDER.--"This is Mr. Hocking's strongest and best book. +We advise every one to read it. The plot is simple, compact and +strenuous; the writing powerful." + +ALL MEN ARE LIARS. + +THE CHRISTIAN WORLD.--"This is a notable book. Thoughtful people will be +fascinated by its actuality, its fearlessness, and the insight it gives +into the influence of modern thought and literature upon the minds and +morals of our most promising manhood." + +ISHMAEL PENGELLY: AN OUTCAST. + +THE ATHENAEUM.--"The book is to be recommended for the dramatic +effectiveness of some of the scenes. The wild, half-mad woman is always +picturesque wherever she appears, and the rare self-repression of her +son is admirably done." + +THE STORY OF ANDREW FAIRFAX. + +THE MANCHESTER EXAMINER.--"Rustic scenes and characters are drawn with +free, broad touches, without Mr. Buchanan's artificiality, and, if we +may venture to say it, with more realism than Mr. Hardy's country +pictures." + +THE BIRTHRIGHT. + +THE SPECTATOR.--"'The Birthright' is, in its way, quite as well +constructed, as well written, and as full of incident as any story that +has come from the pen of Sir Conan Doyle or Mr. Stanley Weyman." + +MISTRESS NANCY MOLESWORTH. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"'Mistress Nancy Molesworth' is as charming a story of +the kind as could be wished, and it excels in literary workmanship as +well as in imaginative vigour and daring invention." + +FIELDS OF FAIR RENOWN. + +THE DUNDEE ADVERTISER.--"Mr. Hocking has produced a work which his +readers of all classes will appreciate.... There are exhibited some of +the most beautiful aspects of disposition." + +GOD AND MAMMON. + +THE LITERARY WORLD.--"The hero of Mr. Hocking's latest novel is a clever +young country lawyer. The story is vigorously told, his struggles, his +success and his love affairs are vividly described, while a strong +religious tone pervades the book." + + +MARIE CONNOR LEIGHTON + +HER CONVICT HUSBAND. + +Although Mrs. Leighton's work is often spoken of as "melodramatic," it +is of the kind that one enthuses over by reason of its emotional +interest and unusual realism. + +HER MARRIAGE LINES. + +Can be safely recommended to those who like their fiction hot and strong +and full of sensation of the more robust sort. Marie Connor Leighton has +proved herself one of our cleanest and most prolific weavers of +sensational novels, and "Her Marriage Lines" shows no diminution of her +inventive faculties. + +DUCKS AND DRAKES. + +A tale comparable to "Convict 99" in its actuality and holding interest. + +THE MISSING MISS RANDOLPH. + +Marie C. Leighton has done full justice to her reputation as a writer of +highly sensational and dramatic fiction. + +THE TRIANGLE. + +THE COMMENTATOR.--"Altogether a most powerful and well-written novel; +and one likely to maintain a permanently conspicuous position upon every +library list." + + +EDGAR WALLACE. + +GREY TIMOTHY. + +DAILY NEWS AND LEADER.--"Mr. Wallace has written one of the most +exciting and sensational stories we have read for some time." + +SANDERS OF THE RIVER. + +THE SPORTSMAN.--"Mr. Wallace is an artist. He lifts us out of ourselves +into another world, and makes it not less real than the one we are in +daily contact with." + +THE PEOPLE OF THE RIVER. + +THE GENTLEMAN'S JOURNAL.--"There is masculine virility in every line, +and from first to last our attention is closely gripped; a grand book, +unaffected and sincere." + +PRIVATE SELBY. + +THE SCOTSMAN.--"The story is always attractive by the cleverness with +which it keeps fantastic history persuasive, and it goes so quickly that +it is over before one realizes that it is unreal." + +THE RIVER OF STARS. + +Another of Mr. Edgar Wallace's strenuous tales of crime and adventure. + + +CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS' + +NATURE BOOKS. + +"Picturesque, full of character, instructive, entertaining, often +thrilling--the stories are sure to be received with the same pleasure as +their predecessors have been by both the naturalist and the lover of +good literature."--ILLUSTRATED SPORTING AND DRAMATIC NEWS. + +"Under the guidance of Mr. Roberts we have often adventured among the +wild beasts of the land and sea, and we hope to do so many times in the +future. It is an education not to be missed by those who have the +chance, and the chance is every one's."--THE ATHENAEUM. + + + THE HOUSE IN THE WATER. + MORE KINDRED OF THE WILD. + THE BACKWOODSMEN. + KINGS IN EXILE. + NEIGHBOURS UNKNOWN. + THE FEET OF THE FURTIVE. + + +L. G. MOBERLY + +FORTUNE'S FOUNDLING. + +MORNING LEADER.--"Miss L. G. Moberly is, as our readers are aware, an +extremely skilful weaver of mysteries, and remarkably successful in +keeping up interest in them." + +CHRISTINA. + +THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.--"Mrs. L. G. Moberley's story runs very pleasantly +along familiar grooves. It is a pretty, simply-told tale, which will +delight this popular author's many readers." + +HIS LITTLE GIRL. + +THE DERBYSHIRE TIMES.--"It is charmingly written, a robust story, with a +well-defined plot through which runs a vein of mystery and romance." + +VIOLET DUNSTAN. + +A distinctly pleasing romance, full of incident and cleverly told, which +will delight this popular author's many readers. + + +EFFIE ADELAIDE ROWLANDS + +IN LOVE'S LAND. + +THE READING STANDARD.--"The many readers of Miss Rowlands' stories will +find her latest volume even more delightful than its predecessors. It is +a well-written romance, wholesome and pleasant to read, and decidedly +entertaining, for the interest is well sustained to the end." + +THE ROSE OF LIFE. + +A remarkably fine love story, cleverly developed, and fascinating +throughout. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; +otherwise, every effort has been made to remain true to the +author's words and intent. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LORD STRANLEIGH ABROAD*** + + +******* This file should be named 32185.txt or 32185.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/1/8/32185 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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