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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/32795-0.txt b/32795-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7d57130 --- /dev/null +++ b/32795-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2076 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Three Thousand Dollars, by Anna Katharine Green + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: Three Thousand Dollars + +Author: Anna Katharine Green + +Release Date: June 13, 2010 [eBook #32795] +[Most recently updated: December 8, 2022] + +Language: English + +Produced by: Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS *** + + + + +THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS + + + + +[Illustration: "_Now state your problem_"] + + + + + THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS + + BY + + ANNA KATHARINE GREEN + + + AUTHOR OF + + "THE LEAVENWORTH CASE," "THE MILLIONAIRE BABY," + "THE MAYOR'S WIFE," "THE FILIGREE BALL," + ETC., ETC. + + + BOSTON + RICHARD G. BADGER + THE GORHAM PRESS + 1910 + + + + + Copyright, 1909, by Richard G. Badger + Copyright, 1908 and 1909, by the Crowell + Publishing Company + + All Rights Reserved + + The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I "Do you know what would happen to him" 9 + + II "Thousands in that safe" 17 + + III "How does it stand" 23 + + IV "Stenographers must be counted" 29 + + V "I've business with him" 35 + + VI "If I could tell you his story" 43 + + VII "I'm sure that I can get them for you" 51 + + VIII "I did as you bid me" 59 + + IX "'The safe door is opened,' I cried" 67 + + X "I have a scheme" 75 + + XI "She will go in" 81 + + XII "A block of steel" 89 + + XIII "I am from headquarters" 95 + + XIV "You do not answer" 103 + + XV "Now, if Fellows will stay away" 111 + + XVI "It was not paper I meant to have" 121 + + XVII "Now for my part of the bargain" 129 + + XVIII "What have you done among you" 139 + + XIX "So that was your motive" 147 + + XX "A jewel of far greater value" 155 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + OPPOSITE PAGE + + "Now state your problem" Frontis + + "He transferred his attention to the door" 38 + + "Grace, you have misunderstood me" 48 + + "An old man was looking up at the face of a young girl" 80 + + "She was ignorant of his presence" 100 + + "The door opened and Philip Andrews came in" 144 + + "'R. S. T.,' read the official" 152 + + "He was even present at the wedding" 158 + + + + +THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS + +CHAPTER I + +"_Do you know what would happen to him?_" + + +"Now state your problem." + +The man who was thus addressed shifted uneasily on the long bench which +he and his companion bestrode. He was facing the speaker, and though +very little light sifted through the cobweb-covered window high over +their heads, he realized that what there was fell on his features, and +he was not sure of his features, or of what effect their expression +might have on the other man. + +"Are you sure we are quite alone in this big, desolate place?" he +asked. + +It seemed a needless question. Though it was broad daylight outside and +they were in the very heart of the most populated district of lower New +York, they could not have been more isolated had the surrounding walls +been those of some old ruin in the heart of an untraversed desert. + +A short description of the place will explain this. They were in the +forsaken old church not far from Avenue A----, a building long given +over to desolation, and empty of everything but débris and one or two +broken stalls, which for some inscrutable reason--possibly from some +latent instinct of inherited reverence--had not yet been converted into +junk and sold to the old clothes men by the rapacious denizens of the +surrounding tenements. + +Perhaps you remember this building; perhaps some echo of the bygone and +romantic has come to you as you passed its decaying walls once dedicated +to worship, but soulless now and only distinguishable from the +five-story tenements pressing up on either side, by its one high window +in which some bits of colored glass still lingered amid its twisted and +battered network. You may remember the building and you may remember the +stray glimpses afforded you through the arched opening in the lower +story of one of the adjacent tenements, of the churchyard in its rear +with its chipped and tumbling headstones just showing here and there +above the accumulated litter. But it is not probable that you have any +recollections of the interior of the church itself, shut as it has been +from the eye of the public for nearly a generation. And it is with the +interior we have to do--a great hollow vault where once altar and +priest confronted a reverent congregation. There is no altar here now, +nor any chancel; hardly any floor. The timbers which held the pews have +rotted and fallen away, and what was once a cellar has received all this +rubbish and held it piled up in mounds which have blocked up most of the +windows and robbed the place even of the dim religious light which was +once its glory, so that when the man whose words we have just quoted +asked if they were quite alone and peered into the dim, belumbered +corners, it was but natural for his hardy, resolute, and unscrupulous +companion to snort with impatience and disgust as he answered: + +"Would I have brought you here if I hadn't known it was the safest place +in New York for this kind of talk? Why, man, there may be in this city +five men all told, who know the trick of the door I unfastened for you, +and not one of them is a cop. You may take my word for that. +Besides----" + +"But the kids? They're everywhere; and if one of them should have +followed us----" + +"Do you know what would happen to him? I'll tell you a story--no, I +won't; you're frightened enough already. But there's no kid here, nor +any one else but our two selves, unless it be some wandering spook from +the congregations laid outside; and spooks don't count. So out with +your proposition, Mr. Fellows. I----" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +"_Thousands in that safe_" + + +"No names!" hoarsely interrupted the other. "If you speak my name again +I'll give the whole thing up." + +"No you won't; you're too deep in it for that. But I'll drop the Fellows +and just call you Sam. If that's too familiar, we'll drop the job. I'm +not so keen on it." + +"You will be. It's right in your line." Sam Fellows, as he was called, +was whispering now--a hot, eager whisper, breathing of guilt and +desperation. "If I could do it alone--but I haven't the wit--the----" + +"Experience," dryly put in the other. "Well, well!" he exclaimed +impatiently, as Fellows crept nearer, but said nothing. + +"I'm going to speak, but--Well, then, here's how it is!" he suddenly +conceded, warned by the other's eye. "The building is a twenty-story +one, chuck full and alive with business. The room I mean is on the +twelfth floor; it is one of five, all communicating, and all in constant +use except the one holding the safe. And that is visited constantly. +Some one is always going in and out. Indeed, it is a rule of the firm +that every one of the employees must go into that room once, at least, +during the day, and remain there for five minutes alone. I do it; every +one does it; it's a very mysterious proceeding which only a crank like +my employer would devise." + +"What do you do there?" + +"Nothing. I'm speaking now for myself. The others--some of the +others--_one_ of the others may open the safe. That's what I believe, +that's what I want to know about and _how it's done_. There are +thousands in that safe, and the old man being away----" + +"Yes, this is all very interesting. Go on. What you want is an artist +with a jimmy." + +"No, no. It's no such job as that. I want to know the person, the +trusted person who has all those securities within touch. It's a mania +with me. I should have been the man. I'm--I'm _manager_." + +The hoarseness with which this word was uttered, the instinct of shame +which made his eyes fall as it struggled from his lips, wakened a +curious little gleam of hardy cynicism in the steady gaze of his +listener. + +"Oh, you're manager, are you!" came in slow retort, filling a silence +that had more of pain than pleasure in it. "Well, manager, your story is +very interesting, but by no means complete. Suppose you hurry on to the +next instalment." + +Cringing as from a blow, Fellows took up his tale, no longer creeping +nearer his would-be confederate, but, if anything, edging away. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +"_How does it stand_" + + +"I've watched and watched and watched," said he, "but I can't pick out +the man. Letters come, orders are given, and those orders are carried +out, but _not by me_. I'm speaking now of investments, or the payment of +large sums; anything which calls for the opening of that safe where the +old man has stuffed away his thousands. Small matters fall to my share. +There is another safe, of which I hold the combination. Child's play, +but the other! It would make both of us independent, and yet leave +something for appearances. But it can't be worked. It stands in front of +a glass door from which the curtain is drawn every night. Every +passerby can look in. If it is opened it must be done in broad daylight +and by the person whom the old man trusts. By that means only would I +get my revenge, and revenge is what I want. He don't trust me, _me_ who +have been with him for seven years and----" + +"Drop that, it isn't interesting. The facts are what I want. What kind +of safe is it?" + +"The strangest you ever saw. I don't know who made it. There's nothing +on it to show. Nor is there a lock or combination. But it opens. You can +just see the outline of a door. Steel--fine steel, and not so very +large, but the contents----" + +"We'll take its contents for granted. How does it stand? On a platform?" + +"Yes, one foot from the floor. The platform runs all the way across the +room and holds other things; a table which nobody uses, a revolving +bookcase and a series of shelves, fitted with boxes containing old +receipts and such junk. Sometimes I go through these; but nothing ever +comes of it." He paused, as if the subject were distasteful. + +"And the safe is opened?" + +"Almost every week. I'm ashamed to tell you the old duffer's methods; +they're loony. But he isn't a lunatic. At any rate, they don't think so +in Wall Street." + +"I'll make a guess at his name." + +"Not yet. You'll have to swear----" + +"Oh, we're both in it. Never mind the heroics. It's too good a thing to +peach on. Me and the manager! I like that. Take it easy till the job's +done, anyway. And now I'll take a fly at the name. It's----" + +He had the grace to whisper. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +"_Stenographers must be counted_" + + +Young Fellows squirmed and turned a shade paler, if one could trust the +sickly violet ray that shot down from the once exquisitely colored +window high up over their heads. + +"Hush!" he muttered; and the other grinned. Evidently the guess was a +correct one. + +"No, he's no lunatic," the professional quietly declared. "But he has +queer ways. Which of his queers do you object to?" + +"When his letters come, or more often his cablegrams, they are opened by +me and then put in plain view on a certain little bulletin board in the +main office. These are his orders. Any one who knows the cipher can +read them. I don't know the cipher. At night I take them down, number +them, and file them away. They have served their purpose. They have been +seen by the person whose business it is to carry out his instructions, +and the rest you must guess. His brokers know the secret, but it is +never discussed by us. The least word and the next cablegram would read +in good plain English, 'Fire him!' I've had that experience. I've had to +fire three since he went away two months ago." + +"That's good." + +"Why good?" + +"That cuts out three from your list. _The person is not among the ones +dismissed._" + +"That's so." New life seemed to spring up in Fellows. "You'll do the +job," he cried. "Somehow, I never thought of going about it that way. +And I know another man that's out." + +"Who?" + +"Myself, for one. There are only seven more." + +"Counting all?" + +"All." + +"Stenographers included?" + +"Oh, stenographers!" + +"Stenographers must be counted." + +"Well, then, seven men and one woman. Our stenographer is a woman." + +"What kind of a woman?" + +"A young girl. Ordinary, but good enough. I've never noticed her very +much." + +"Tell me about the men." + +"What's the use? You wouldn't take my word. They're a cheap lot, beneath +contempt in my estimation. There's not one of them clever enough for the +business. Jack Forbush comes the nearest to it, and probably is the +one. The way he keeps his eye on me makes me suspect him. Or is he, too, +playing my game?" + +"How can I tell? How can I tell anything from what you say? I'll have to +look into the matter myself. Give me the names and addresses and I'll +look the parties up. Get their rating, so to speak. Leave it to me, and +I'll land the old man's confidential clerk." + +"Here's the list. I thought you might want it." + +"Where's the girl's name?" + +"The girl! Oh, pshaw!" + +"Put her name down just the same." + +"There, then. Grace Lee. Address, 74 East ---- Street. And now swear on +the honor of a gentleman----" + +Beau Johnson pulled the rim of Fellows's hat over his eyes to suggest +what he thought of this demand. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +"_I've business with him_" + + +Next day there appeared at the offices of Thomas Stoughton, in Nassau +Street, a trim, well-looking man, who had urgent business with Mr. +Fellows, the manager. He was kept waiting for some time before being +introduced into that gentleman's private room; but this did not seem to +disturb him. There was plenty to look at, or so he seemed to think, and +his keen, noncommittal eyes flashed hither and thither and from face to +face with restless activity. He seemed particularly interested in the +bookkeeper of the establishment, but it was an interest which did not +last long, and when a neat, pleasant-faced young woman rose from her +seat and passed rapidly across the room, it was upon her his eyes +settled and remained fixed, with a growing attention, until a certain +door closed upon her with a sound like a snapping lock. Then he +transferred his attention to the door, and was still gazing at it when a +boy summoned him to the manager's office. + +He went in with reluctance. He had rather have watched that door. But he +had questions to ask, and so made a virtue of necessity. Mr. Fellows was +not pleased to see him. He started quite guiltily from his seat and only +sat again on compulsion--the compulsion of his visitor's steady and +quelling eye. + +"I've business with you, Mr. Fellows." Then, the boy being gone, "Which +is the room? The one opening out of the general office directly opposite +this?" + +[Illustration: "_He transferred his attention to the door_"] + +Mr. Fellows nodded. + +"I have just seen one of the employees go in there. I should like to see +that person come out. Do you mind talking with this door open? I know +enough about banking to hold up my end of the conversation." + +Fellows rose with a jerk and pushed the door back. His visitor smiled +easily and launched into a discussion about stocks and bonds +interspersed with a few assertions and questions not meant for the +general ear, as: + +"_It's the girl who is in there. Not ordinary, by any means. Just the +sort an old smudge like Stoughton would be apt to trust. Now what's +that?_" + +"_Singing. She often sings. I've forbidden it, but she forgets, she +says_," answered Fellows. + +"_Pretty good music. Listen to that note. High as a prima donna's. Does +she sing at her work?_" + +"_No; I'd fire her if she did. It's only when she's walking about or +when_----" + +"_She's in that room?_" + +"_Yes_." + +"At par? I buy nothing at par. _There! She's coming. I wish I dared +intercept her, rifle her pockets. Do you know if she has pockets?_" + +"_No; how should I?_" + +"_Fellows, you're not worth your salt. Ah! there's a face for you, and I +can read it like a book. Did a letter or cablegram come to-day?_" + +"_Yes; didn't you see it? Hung up in the outer office_." + +"_I thought I saw something_. Ninety-five? That's a quotation worth +listening to. Three at ninety-five. _That girl's a trump. I will see +more of my lady._" Here he took care to shut the door. "I've been the +rounds, Fellows. Private-detective work and all that. She is the only +puzzler among the group. You'll hear from me again; meanwhile treat the +girl well. Don't spring any traps; leave that to me." + +And Fellows, panting with excitement, promised, muttering under his +breath: + +"A woman! That's even worse than I thought. But we'll make the old +fellow pay for it. Those securities are ours. I already feel them in my +hand." + +The sinister twitch which marred the other's mouth emphasized the +assertion in a way Grace Lee's friends would have trembled to see. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +"_If I could tell you his story_" + + +That evening a young woman and a young man sat on one of the benches in +Central Park. They were holding hands, but modestly and with a clinging +affection. No one appeared in sight; they had the moon-light, the +fragrance of the spring foliage, and their true love all to themselves. +The woman was Grace, the young man was Philip Andrews, a candid-eyed, +whole-hearted fellow whom any girl might be proud to be seen with, much +more to be engaged to. Grace was proud, but she was more than that; her +heart was all involved in her hope--a good heart which he was equally +proud to have won. Yet while love was theirs and the surroundings +breathed peace and joy, they did not look quite happy. A cloud was on +his brow and something like a tear in her eye as she spoke gently but +with rare firmness. + +"Philip, we must wait. One love does not put out another. I cannot leave +my old father now. He is too feeble and much too dependent on me. +Philip, you do not know my father. You have seen him, it is true, many, +many times. You have talked with him and even have nursed him at odd +moments, when I had to be out of the room getting supper or supplying +some of his many wants. Yet you do not know him." + +"I know that he is intelligent." + +"Yes, yes, that is evident. Any one can see that. And you can see, too, +that he is frequently fretful and exacting, as all old people are. But +the qualities he shows me--his strong, melancholy, but devoted nature, +quickened by an unusually unhappy life--that you do not see and cannot, +much as you like him and much as he likes you. Only the child who has +surprised him at odd moments, when he thought himself quite alone, +wringing his hands and weeping over some intolerable memory--who has +listened in the dead of night to his smothered but heart-breaking +groans, can know either his suffering or the one joy which palliates it. +If I could tell you his story--but that would be treason to one whose +rights I am bound to reverence. You will respect my silence, but you +must also take my word that he needs and has a right to all the pleasure +and all the hope my love can give him. I cannot be with him much; my +work forbids, but the little time I have is his, except on rare +occasions like this, and he knows it and is satisfied. Were I +married----. But you will wait, Philip. It may not be long--he grows +weaker every day. Besides, you are not ready yet yourself. You are doing +wonderfully well, but a year's freedom will help you materially, as it +will me. Every day is adding to our store; in a year we may be almost +independent." + +"Grace, you have misunderstood me. I said that I was no good without +you, that I needed your presence to make a man of me, but I did not mean +that you were to share my fortunes now. I would not ask that. I would be +a fool or worse, for, Grace, I'm not doing so well as you think. While I +knew that my present employment was for a specified time, I had hopes of +continuing on. But this cannot be. That's what I have to tell you +to-night. It looks as if our marriage would have to be postponed +indefinitely instead of hastened. And I can't bear it. You don't know +what you are to me, or what this disappointment is. I expected to be +raised, not dismissed, and if I had had----" + +[Illustration: "_Grace, you have misunderstood me_"] + +"What?" + +The word came very softly, and with rare tenderness. It made him turn +and look at her sweet, upturned face, with its resources of strength and +shy, unfathomable smile. "What?" she asked again, with a closer pressure +of her hand. "You must finish all your sentences with _me_." + +"I'm ashamed." He uttered it breathlessly. "What am I, to say, 'If I had +three thousand dollars the Stickney Company would keep me?' I have +barely three hundred and those are dedicated to you." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +"_I'm sure that I can get them for you_" + + +"If you had _three thousand_!" She repeated it in surprise and yet with +an indescribable air, which to one versed in human nature would have +caught the attention and aroused strange inner inquiries. "Does the +Stickney Company want money so badly as that?" + +"That's not it. They have plainly told me that for three thousand +dollars and my services they would give me ten thousand dollars' stock +interest, but insist that the man who assumes the responsibility of the +position must be financially interested as well. But I haven't the +money, and without the money my experience appears to them valueless. I +despair of getting another situation in these hard times and--Grace, you +don't look sorry." + +"Because--" she paused, and her fine eyes roamed about her jealous of a +listener to her secret, but did not pierce the bush which rose up, +cloudy with blossoms, a few feet behind their bench--"because it is not +impossible for you to hope for those thousands. I think--I am sure that +I can get them for you." + +Her voice had sunk to a whisper, but it was a very clear whisper. + +Young Andrews looked at her in surprise; there was something besides +pleasure in that surprise. + +"Where?" he asked. + +She hesitated, and just at that moment the moon slipped behind a cloud. + +"Where, Grace, can you get three thousand dollars? From Mr. Stoughton? +He is generous to you, he pays you well for what you do for him, but I +do not think he would give you that amount, nor do I think he would risk +it on any venture involving my judgment. I should not like to have you +ask him. I should like to rise feeling absolutely independent of Mr. +Stoughton." + +"I never thought of asking him. There is another way. I'd--I'd like to +think it over. If your scheme is good--_very_ good, I might be brought +to aid you in the way my mind suggests. But I should want to be sure." + +She was not looking at him now. If she had been, she might have been +startled at his expression. Nor could he see her face; she had turned it +aside. + +"Grace," he prayed, "don't do anything rash. You handle so much money +that three thousand dollars may seem very little to you. But it's a +goodly sum to get or to replace if one loses it. You must not +borrow----" + +"I will not borrow." + +"Nor raise it in any way without telling me the sacrifice you must make +to obtain it. But it's all a dream; tell me that it's all a dream; you +were talking from your wishes, not from any certainty you have. Say so, +and I will not be disappointed. I do not want _your_ money; I'd rather +go poor and wait till the times change. Don't you see? I'd be more of a +man." + +"But you'd have to take it if I gave it to you, and--perhaps I shall. I +want to see you happy, Philip; I must see you happy. I'd be willing to +risk a good deal for that. I'm not so happy myself, father suffers so, +and the care of it weighs on me. You are all I have to make me glad, and +when you are troubled my heart goes down, down. But it's getting late, +dear. It's time we went home. Don't ask me what's in my mind, but dream +of riches. I'm sure they will come. You shall earn them with the three +thousand dollars you want and which I will give you." + +"I shall earn them honestly," were the last words he said, as they rose +from the seat and began to move toward the gate. And the moon, coming +out from its temporary eclipse, shone on his clear-cut face as he said +this, but not on her bowed head and sidelong look. They were in the +shadow. + +There was something else in the shadow. As they moved away and +disappeared in the darkness the long, slim figure of a man rose from +behind the bush I have mentioned. He had a sparkling eye and a +thin-lipped mouth, and he smiled very curiously as he looked after the +pair before turning himself about and going the other way. + +It was not Fellows; it was his chosen confederate in the nefarious +scheme they had planned between them. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +"_I did as you bid me_" + + +Another meeting in the old church, but this time at night. The +somberness of the surroundings was undiminished by any light. They were +in absolute darkness. Absolute darkness, but not absolute silence. +Noises strange and suggestive, but not of any human agency, whispered, +sighed, rattled, and grumbled from far away recesses. The snap of wood, +the gnawing of rats, the rustling of bat wings disturbed the ears of one +of the guilty pair, till his voice took on unnatural tones as he tried +to tell his story to his greedy companion. They were again astride the +bench, and their thin faces were so near that their breaths commingled +at times; yet Fellows felt at moments so doubtful of all human presence +that instinctively his hand would go groping out till it touched the +other's arm or breast, when it would fall back again satisfied. He was +in a state of absolute terror of the darkness, the oppressive air, the +ghostly sounds, and possibly of the image raised by his own conscience, +yet he hugged to himself the thought of secrecy which it all involved, +and never thought of yielding up his scheme or even shortening his tale, +so long as the other listened and gave his mind to the problem which +promised them thousands without the usual humdrum method of working for +them. + +We will listen to what he had to say, leaving to your imagination the +breaks and guilty starts and moments of intense listening and anxious +fear with which he seasoned it. + +"I did as you bid me," he whispered. "Yesterday fresh orders came from +abroad, in cipher, as usual. (It's an unreadable cipher. I've had +experts on it many times.) I had hung it up, and though business was +heavy, my business, you know, I had eyes for our fair friend, and knew +every step she took about the offices. I even knew when her eyes first +fell on the cablegram. I had my door open, and I caught her looking up +from her work, and what was more, caught the pause in the click-click of +the typewriter as she looked and read. If she had not been able to read, +the click-click would have gone on, for I believe she could work that +typewriter with her eyes shut. But her attention was caught, and she +stopped. I tell you I've been humiliated for the last time. I'm in for +anything that will make that girl step down and out. What was that!" + +Muttered curses from his companion brought him back to his story. With a +gulp he went on: + +"You may bet your bottom dollar that I watched her after that, and sure +enough, in less than half an hour she had gone into the room where the +safe is. Instantly I prepared my _coup d'êtat_. I waited just long +enough to hear her voice in that one song she sings, then I jumped from +my seat and rushed to the door, shouting, 'Miss Lee! Miss Lee! Your +father! Your father!' making hullabaloo enough to raise the dead and +scare her out of her wits; for she dotes on that old man and would sell +her soul for his sake, I do believe. + +"Great heavens, it worked! As I live, it worked. I heard her voice fail +on that high upper note of hers, and then the sound of her feet +staggering, slipping over the floor, and in another moment the fumbling +of her hand on the knob and the slow opening of the door which she +seemed to have no power to manage. Helping her, I pulled it open, and +there beyond her and her white, shocked face, I saw--I saw----" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +"_'The safe door is opened,' I cried_" + + +"Go on! Don't be a fool; that was nothing." + +"I don't know; it was like a great sigh at my ear. But this is awful! +Couldn't we have one spark of light?" + +"And have the police upon us the next minute? Look up at that window. +You can see it, can't you?" + +"Yes, yes, but very faintly," Fellows whispered. + +"But you can see it. So could those outside, if we had one glimmer of +light in here. No, no, you'll have to stand the dark or quit. But you +shan't quit till you've told me what you saw in the room where the safe +is." + +"The safe door opening." His voice trembled so that the other shook him +to steady his nerves. "Not opened, mind you, but opening. It was like +magic, and I stared so that she forgot her fears and forgot her +questions. Turning from me with a startled cry, she looked behind her, +and saw what I saw, and tried to push me out. 'I'll come, I'll come,' +she whispered. 'Leave me a minute and I'll come.' + +"But I wasn't going to do that. 'The safe door is opened,' I cried. 'Did +you do it?' She didn't know what to say. I have never seen a woman in +such a state; then she whispered in awful agitation, 'Yes; I've been +given the combination by Mr. Stoughton. I'm duly following his orders. +But my father! What about my father? You frightened me so I forgot +that--' I waited, staring at her, but she didn't finish. She just +asked, 'My father? What has happened to him?' 'Nothing serious,' I +managed to say. I wished the old father was in ballyhack. But he'd +served his turn; I must say that he'd served his turn. 'A telephone +message,' I went on. 'He had had a nervous spell and wanted you. I said +that you could go home at noon.' She stood looking at me doubtfully; +then her eyes stole back to the safe. 'You will have to leave me here +for a few minutes,' she said. 'I have Mr. Stoughton's business to attend +to. He will not be pleased at my having given away his secret. He did +not wish it known who controlled his affairs in his absence, but now +that you do know, you will be doing the right thing to let me go on in +the way he has planned for me. His orders must be carried out.' + +"She is very determined, and understands herself only too well, but I +am manager, and I paid her back in her own coin. 'That's all very well,' +said I, 'but what proof have I that you are telling me the truth? You +have opened the safe--you say you have the combination--but people +sometimes surprise a combination and open a safe from other interests +than those of their employer. You seem a good girl, but _you are a +girl_, and there are men here much more likely to be in Mr. Stoughton's +confidence than yourself. With that open safe before us I cannot leave +you here alone. What you take from it I must see, and if possible be +present at your negotiations. That I consider a manager's duty under the +circumstances.' 'Mr. Fellows,' she asked, 'can you read this morning's +telegram?' 'No,' I felt bound to reply. 'Then that acquits you. I can.' +And again she tried to urge me to go out. But I would not be urged. I +was staring across the room at the open safe and in fancy clutching its +contents. In fact, I made one step toward them. But she drew herself up +with such an air that I paused. She's a big girl, you know, and not to +be fooled with when she's angry. 'Come a step farther and I will scream +for the watchman,' she whispered. All our talk had been low, for there +were listening ears everywhere--we couldn't risk that, and I stepped +back. Immediately she saw her advantage, and added, 'If you do not think +better of it and leave the room, I'll scream.' For answer to this I said +that I----" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +"_I have a scheme_" + + +"What?" + +A yell answered him. + +"Something hit me! Something hit me!" + +"Yes, I hit you; and I'll hit you again if you don't go on." + +Fellows shivered, attempted some puerile protest, balked, and +stammeringly obeyed his restless and irritated companion. + +"I--I said--I wasn't such a fool then as I am now--that she had lied +when she told me that she had the combination. There was no combination. +The safe did not even have a lock. The door opened with a spring. How +had she induced that spring to give way? I demanded to know." + +"And did she tell you?" + +"No. She merely repeated, 'I will scream, and that will cause a scandal +which will lead to your discharge, not mine.' So--so, I came out." + +"Blast your eyes! And when did _she_ come out?" + +"Within five minutes. I watched the clock." + +"And what did she have?" + +"Nothing in sight." + +"I see. A deep game. But I know a deeper. There is no possibility of +breaking into that safe by night, undetected by the watchman?" + +"None; and that watchman is incorruptible. The whole contents of the +safe wouldn't move him to connect himself with this job." + +"The job must be done by day and during office hours?" + +"Yes." + +"And cannot be done without the assistance of this girl?" + +"You've heard." + +"Very well; I have a scheme. Now listen to me." + +Not even the rat which at that minute nibbled at Fellows's boot heel +could have heard what followed. The panting of two breasts was, however, +audible; and when, fifty minutes later, both crawled out of the cellar +window among the rubbish which littered the rear of this once holy +place, the one was trembling with excitement and the other with fear. +They parted at the first thoroughfare, neither having eyes to see nor +hearts to appreciate the touching scene which miles away was taking +place in a little flat not very far from Harlem. An old man, frail in +body, but with a sturdy spirit yet, was looking up from his pillow at +the loving face of a young girl who was bending over him. + +"I cannot sleep to-night," he said to her; "I cannot sleep; but that +must not disturb you. I have so many things to think, pleasant things; +but you have only cares, and must rest from them. You look very tired +to-night, tired and worried. Leave me and sleep. I want to see you +bright in the morning." + +[Illustration: "_An old man was looking up at the loving face of a young +girl_"] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"_She will go in_" + + +The next day there was a dearth of assistants in the office. One was +sick, one had pleaded a long-delayed vacation, two had business for the +concern which took them into different quarters of the city, and Mr. +Beers, who was next in authority to Mr. Fellows, had been summoned to +serve on the grand jury. Perhaps it was this knowledge that Mr. Beers +would be absent which had led to the manager's easiness in regard to the +others. For he had been easy, or so Miss Lee thought when she arrived in +the morning and saw the office almost empty. However, it did not trouble +her much. On the contrary, the quiet and non-surveillance of the two +clerks who did the business of the day seemed rather to elate her, and +she went about her work, copying letters and taking down notes with an +alacrity and air of cheerful hope which caused the manager to cast +toward her more than one suspicious look from his desk in the adjoining +room. _He_ was not busy, though he had been the first to arrive that +morning; and he had brought with him a large square package which he had +taken into the room which held the safe. He pretended to be busy, but +any one watching him closely would have noticed that his eyes, and not +his hands, were all that were engaged, and they were anywhere but on his +desk or the letter he appeared to be reading. An observer would also +have noticed that his nervousness was of the extreme sort, and that the +trembling which shook his whole body increased visibly whenever his +glance fell on the door of Mr. Beers's private room, opening at his +back. No one was supposed to be in that room to-day, and had Miss Lee +not been one minute late this especial morning, perhaps there might not +have been. But in that one minute's grace a man had entered the office +who had not gone out again, and where could he be if not in that one +closed room? + +The room which held the safe was open as usual, and many of Mr. +Fellows's glances traveled that way. He had entered it once only since +his first hurried visit of the early morning, but only to pull down the +shade over the glass in the door communicating with the outside hall. +This was his usual custom, and it attracted no attention. Why shouldn't +he enter it again? He thought he would. A fascination was upon him. The +problem he had given Beau Johnson to solve was to receive a test this +day which would make him a rich man or a felon; but before that hour why +not make his own study, his own investigation? True, he had made these +many times before, but not with such lights to guide him. He might +learn---- + +But no, the very conceit was folly. He knew his own limitations, else he +had not called in the services of this crook. He could learn nothing by +himself, but he might look the place over and see if all was in shape +for the great attempt. That was only his duty. Beau Johnson had a right +to expect that of him. If the scrub woman had moved anything---- + +At the thought that this possibly might have happened, he jumped to his +feet and hurried into the outer office; but when he turned toward the +room of the safe, he met Miss Lee's eye fixed upon him with such a keen, +inquiring look that he faltered in his determination, and went in +another direction instead. _She_ knew that he had no business in that +room, and she also knew that he knew she knew this. Any pretense that he +had would only rouse her suspicions, and these must be lulled to the +point of security, or she might not enter there herself, and on her +entering there everything depended. Almost immediately upon the thought +he was back in his seat, and the weary moments crept on. Would she never +make her accustomed visit to that room? No cablegram had come that +morning, but she would find some reason for going in. Of that he had +been assured by Johnson. Why, he had not been told. "She will go in," +Beau Johnson had said, and Fellows believed him. He believed everything +the other said, otherwise he could not have gone on with this business. +But she was very long about it. Harlowe would be coming back---- + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +"_A block of steel_" + + +Ah, he had an idea! It was not his own, but for the moment he thought it +was. He would leave the office himself and thus give her an opportunity +to quit her work and shut herself up with the safe. But--(was his mind +leaving him?) there was something to be done first. The way must be +cleared for the man in hiding to enter that room before she did. How was +this to be accomplished? A dozen suggestions had been given him by his +confederate, but he had forgotten them all. He was in too great a whirl +to think, yet he must think; some way must be found. Ah, he had it. +Taking up the receiver at his side, he telephoned to a German friend to +call him up in five minutes, giving him the number of the telephone in +the farthest room. This he did in German, telling him it was a joke and +that he was not to insist upon an answer. Then he waited. In five +minutes this farther bell rang. Calling to Miss Lee, he asked her to +answer for him, saying he was very busy. As she rose, he gave a +preconcerted signal on the door of Mr. Beers's room. As she disappeared +in the one beyond, the dapper figure of Johnson crossed the outer office +and slipped into the one holding the safe. A minute later she was back +reporting the message and getting instructions, but the one thing she +had to fear had been done; the trap had been laid, and now for its +victim! + +It was not long before that victim responded to the call. On the +departure of the manager from the room Grace Lee rose, and with a +conscious look toward the two clerks, slipped across the floor to the +open door of the safe room. Entering, she swung to the door, which +closed with a snap; then, with just a moment of hesitation, in which she +seemed to be trying to regain her breath, she passed quickly across to +the safe and took up her stand before it. So directly and so quickly had +she done this that she had not seen the slim, immovable figure drawn up +against the wall at her right behind the projection of a large bookcase. +Nor did any influence for good or evil cause her to turn after she had +reached the safe. All her thoughts, all her hopes, all the dreams which +she had cherished seemed to be concentrated in the blank, eyeless object +which confronted her, impenetrable to all appearance--a block of steel +without visible opening--an enigma among safes--the problem of all +problems to every cracksman in town but one--which was about to be +solved if one could judge from the thrill which now shook her, and in +shaking her communicated the same excitement to the silent, breathless, +determined man in her rear, watching her as the tiger watches the +quarry, and with the same tiger spring latent in his eye. In a moment +her secret would be out, and then---- + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +"_I am from headquarters_" + + +For just a minute Grace Lee paused before the blank door of the safe, +then she passed around to an unused speaking tube in the neighboring +wall. Halting before it, in low but distinct tones she began to sing the +famous aria from "The Magic Flute." + +All agog, with eyes starting and ears alert, the man behind listened and +watched. Nothing happened. + +Then came a change. Gradually her voice rose, sweet and piercing, till +it reached that famous F in alt so rarely attempted, so exciting to the +ear when fairly taken and fairly held. Grace Lee could take it, and as +it hung, sweet and deliciously thrilling in the air, Beau Johnson saw, +to his amazement, though he was in a way prepared for it, the heavy safe +door slip softly ajar. She had done it with her voice. How, he could +only vaguely guess. He was better educated than most of his class, or he +could not have understood it at all. As it was, he laid it to the +vibration caused by a certain definite note acting on some delicate +mechanism set in accord with that note, which mechanism starting another +and a stronger one gradually led up to that which drew the bolts and set +the door ajar. Whether his theory were true or not mattered little at +the moment. The event for which he waited had been accomplished and +accomplished before his eyes. To profit by it was his next thought, and +to this end he held himself ready for the spring which had laid latent +in his eyes since he first saw her advance toward the safe. + +She was ignorant of his presence. This was evident from the jaunty way +she turned from the tube, still singing, but in a desultory way, which +showed that her thoughts were no longer on her music. But she was not so +engrossed that she did not see him. The moment that her face turned his +way, her eyes enlarged, her body stiffened, her whole personality took +on power and purpose and _she_ sprang more quickly than he did and shut +the safe door with one quick movement of her hand that fastened it as +securely as before. Then she drew herself up to meet his rush, a noble +figure of resolute womanhood which any other man would have hesitated to +assail. But he was proof to any appeal of this kind. She had been +quicker than he who was esteemed the readiest in his class, and he owed +her a grudge, if only for that. Smiling--it was a way of his when deeply +moved or deeply dangerous--he accosted her with smooth and treacherous +words. + +"Don't scream, young lady; screaming will do you no good. Mr. Fellows +has left the business to me and I am quite competent to manage it. I am +from headquarters--a detective. Yesterday you aroused the manager's +suspicions, and I was detailed this morning to watch you. What do you +want from Mr. Stoughton's safe? An honest answer may help you. Nothing +else will." + +[Illustration: "_She was ignorant of his presence_"] + +"I want----" she hesitated, eyeing him over with an insight and an +undoubted air of self-command which told the hardy rascal that in this +woman he was likely to meet his match. "I want some securities of Mr. +Stoughton's which he has ordered me to dispose of for him. I am in his +confidence, as I can prove to you if you will give me the opportunity. I +have papers at home that will satisfy any one of my right to open this +safe and to negotiate such papers as are designated in Mr. Stoughton's +cablegrams." + +"I don't doubt it." The words came easily from the mobile lips of the +wily Beau Johnson. "But it was not to do Mr. Stoughton's business that +you opened the safe just now. You have had no orders to-day; you had no +order yesterday. Another purpose is in your mind--a personal purpose. It +is this abuse of Mr. Stoughton's confidence which brings me here. _You +want three thousand dollars badly!_" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +"_You do not answer_" + + +She recoiled. Strong as she was, she was not proof against this +surprise. + +"How do you know that?" she asked, her voice losing its clear tone. "I +do not deny it, but how could you know what I thought to be a secret +between----" + +"You and your lover? Well--we--the police know many things, young lady. +We have a gift. We also have a kind of foreknowledge. I could tell you +something of your future if you will deign to listen to me. Your lover +is an honest man. What do you suppose he will do when he hears that you +have been arrested for attempted burglary on your employer's effects?" + +He had been slowly advancing as he reeled off these glib sentences, but +he paused as he met her smile. It was not of the same sort as his, but +it was not without a certain suggestiveness which he felt it would be +best for him to understand before he threw off his mask. + +"I don't know what he will do," said she, meeting the false detective's +eye as she laid her hand on the safe, "but I know what I shall do if you +carry out the purpose you threaten. Show my papers to the police and +demand evidence of my having any bad intentions in opening this safe +this morning. I think you will have difficulty in producing any. I think +that you will only prove yourself a fool. Are you so strong with the +authorities as to brave that?" + +Astonished at her insight and more than astonished at her self-control, +the experienced cracksman paused, and then in tones he rarely used, +remarked quietly: + +"You are playing with your life, Miss Lee. I have a pistol leveled at +you from my pocket, and I'm the man to fire if you give me the slightest +occasion to do so. I'm Beau Johnson, miss, a detective if you please, +but also a tolerably experienced cracksman, and I want a taste of those +bonds." + +"And Mr. Fellows?" + +The words rang out clear and fearlessly. + +"Oh, he? He's a muff. You needn't concern yourself about him. The +matter's between us two. Three thousand dollars for you, and a little +more, perhaps, for me, and I to take all the blame." + +Her eye stole toward the door. No one could enter that way, she knew. +Even her screams, if she survived them, might alarm, but could not bring +her help for several minutes, if not longer. Yet she did not tremble; +only grew a shade paler. + +"You do not answer. What have you to say?" + +"This." She was like marble now. "You will not kill me, because that +would be virtually to kill yourself. You cannot leave this room without +my help, nor fire a shot without being caught like a rat in a trap. I +want three thousand dollars, and I mean to have them, but I do not see +how you are going to get the few more which you promise yourself. +Certainly I am not going to aid you in doing so, and you cannot open +that safe. You have not the musical training." + +"No." The word came like a shot, possibly in lieu of a shot, for if +ever he felt murderous it was at that moment. "I have not a musical +training, but that does not make me helpless. In a few moments I shall +have the pleasure of hearing you test your voice again. There's the +office clock ticking; count the strokes." + +She stood fascinated. What did he mean by this? Involuntarily she did +his bidding. + +"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, _eleven_!" + +"Yes," he repeated, "eleven! And at half past your old father dies." + +"Dies?" Her lips did not frame the words; her eyes looked it, her whole +sinking, suddenly collapsing figure gave voice to the maddening query, +"_Dies?_" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +"_Now, if Fellows will stay away_" + + +"Yes. Such is the understanding if I do not telephone my pals to hold +off. He's not at home; he's with my friends. They don't care very much +about old men, and if I have not a decent show of money by half-past +eleven this morning the orders are to knock him on the head. It won't +take a very hard knock. He was far from being in prime condition this +morning." + +She had shown great feeling at the beginning of this address, but at its +close she drew herself up again and met him with something of her old +composure. + +"These are all lies," said she. "My father would never leave his house +at the instigation of any gang. In the first place, he is not strong +enough to attempt the stairs. You cannot deceive me in this fashion." + +"He might be carried down." + +"He wouldn't submit to that, nor would the other lodgers in the house +allow it without an express order from me." + +"They got the order; not from you, but from him. He demanded to be +allowed to go. You see, Mr. Fellows sent a message that you were hurt--I +will speak the whole truth, and say dying. The old man could not be held +after that. He went with the messenger." + +Her cheeks were now like ashes. She had gauged the man before her and +felt that he was fully capable of this villainy. How great a villainy +she alone knew who had the history of this old man in her heart. + +"He went with the messenger," repeated Johnson, watching her face with a +cruel leer. "That messenger knew where to take him. You may be sure it +was to a place quite unknown to the police and to every one else but +myself. Five minutes more gone, miss. In just twenty-five minutes more +you will be an orphan and one impediment to your marriage will be at an +end. How about the other?" + +"Oh!" she wailed. "If I could really believe you!" + +"I can smooth away that doubt. If you will promise not to compromise me +with the clerks or any one inside there, I will allow you to telephone +home and learn the truth of what I have told you. Anything further will +end all business between us and wind up your father's affairs at the +hour set. I can afford to humor you for ten minutes more in this +nonsense." + +"I will do it," she cried. "I must know what I am fighting before----" +She caught herself back, but he was quite able to finish the sentence +for her. + +"Before you submit to the inevitable," he smiled. + +Her head fell and he pointed toward the door. + +"I will trust you to guard my--our interests," said he. "Open and go +directly to your own telephone." + +With a staggering step she obeyed. Creeping up stealthily behind her he +watched her manner of opening the door and profited by the one quick +glance he got of the office as she stepped through and passed hurriedly +forward to her desk. There was no one within sight. Mr. Fellows had not +yet returned and the clerks were too remote to notice her agitation or +pay attention to her gait or the tremulousness of her tone as she called +for her home number. + +"Couldn't be better," thought he. "Now if Fellows will stay away long +enough, I'll be able to double the boodle I've promised myself." This +with a chuckle. + +Meantime Miss Lee had got in her message. The answer sent her flying +toward him. + +"He's gone! He's gone!" she gasped. "My old, old father! Oh, you wretch! +Save him and----" + +"You save me first," he whispered, and was about to draw her back into +the room with the safe, when the outer door opened and a stranger +entered on business. + +Her agony at the interruption and the few necessary words it involved +caused the visitor to stare. But she was able to make herself +intelligible and to turn him over to one of the clerks, after which she +rejoined Johnson, closing the door quietly behind her. + +His greeting was characteristic. + +"You waste breath," said he, "by all this emotion. You'll need it to +open the safe." + +"What guarantee have I that you will keep your part of the contract?" +she cried. "I sing--the door opens--you help yourself, and you go. That +does not restore to me my father." + +"Oh, I'll play fair. In proof of it, here's my pistol. If on our going +out I do not stop with you at the telephone and let you communicate with +your father and send my own message of release, then shoot me in the +back. I give you leave." + +Taking the pistol he held out, she cocked it, and looking into the +chambers, found they were all full. + +"I know how to use it," she said simply. + +Admiration showed in his face. He bowed and pointed toward the tube. + +"Now for the song," he cried. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"_It was not paper I meant to have_" + + +With a bound she took her stand. She was white as death and greatly +excited. Watching her curiously, the crafty villain noted the quick +throbbing of her throat and the feverish grip on the pistol. + +"Time is galloping," he remarked. + +She gave a gasp, opened her lips and essayed to sing. An awful, +indescribable murmur was all that could be heard. Stiffening herself, +she resolutely calmed down her agitation and tried again. The result was +but little better than before. Turning with a cry, she looked with +horror-stricken eyes into the unmoved, slightly sardonic face of the man +behind her. + +"I cannot sing! You have frightened away my voice. I cannot raise that +note even to save my father's life. I'm choking, choking." Then as she +caught the devilish gleam lighting up his eye, she added, "You will +never have those thousands! The safe is closed to us both." + +He laughed, a very low, cautious laugh, but it made her eyes distend +with uncertainty and dread. + +"You fail to do justice to my forethought," said he. + +"I took this into my calculations. I know women; they can be wicked +enough, but they lack coolness. Let me see now what I can do. I cannot +sing, but I have a little _aide de camp_ which can." + +Walking away from her, he approached a small table on which stood an +object she had never seen in that room before. It was covered with a +cloth, and as he removed this cloth, she reeled with surprise; then she +became still with hope and the rush of fresh and overpowering emotions. + +A graphophone stood revealed, one of the finest quality. It was set to +play the air so often on her lips, and in another moment that keen, high +note rang through the room,--that and no more. + +It answered. Slowly, softly, after one breathless moment, the door they +both watched with fascinated gaze swung slowly ajar, just as they had +seen it do at the beginning of this interview, and Johnson, coming +forward, pulled it open with a jerk and began to fumble among the +contents of the safe. + +She could have killed him easily. He had forgotten--but so had she, and +there was no one else by to remind her. Had there been, he would have +seen a strange spectacle, for no sooner had Johnson's hand struck those +shelves and minute drawers, than Grace Lee's whole attitude and +expression changed. From a terrified, incapable woman, she became again +her old self, strong, self-controlled, watchful. Creeping up behind him, +she looked over his shoulders as he examined with his quick, experienced +eye the various papers he drew out, noting his anger and growing +disappointment as he found them unavailable for immediate use. Conscious +of her presence, his rage grew till it shot forth in words. Not stinting +oaths, he whirled on her after a moment and asked where the securities +were. "_You_ meant to have them; you know where the ready money is. Show +me, show me at once or----" + +Then a great anguish passed across her face, a look of farewell to +hopes sweet and dearly cherished. If he saw it he did not heed. All his +evil, indomitable will shone in the eye he turned up askance at her, and +though she held the means of killing him in her hand, she bowed to that +will, and leaning over him, she whispered in his ear: + +"It was not paper I meant to have, but--but something else--I----" + +She stopped, for breath was leaving her. His slim, assured hand was +straying toward a certain knob hidden partly from sight, but plain to +the touch if his fingers crept that way. + +"Listen!" She was gasping now, but her hand laid on his shoulder +emphasized her words. "There are jewels at the other end; Mrs. +Stoughton's bridal jewels. They are worth thousands. I--I--meant to take +those. They are in a compartment under that lower drawer. Yes, +yes--there they are; take them and be gone. I--I have lost--but you will +give me back my father? See! there are not many minutes left. Oh, be +merciful and----" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"_Now for my part of the bargain_" + + +He was looking at the jewels, appraising them, making sure they were +real and marketable. She was looking at them, too, with a wild longing +and a bitter disappointment, which he, turning at that moment to mark +her looks, saw and rated at its full value. + +"Well, I guess they'll do," he exclaimed, pausing in his task of +thrusting the gems in his pocket to hand her a bracelet ornamented with +one small diamond. "But I expected more from all this fuss and feathers. +Was it to guard these----" + +"Yes," she murmured, thrusting the bracelet into the neck of her dress +and stepping quickly back. "They are priceless to the owner. +Associations you know. Mrs. Stoughton is dead--There! that will do. Now +for my part of the bargain," and bethinking her at last of the pistol, +she raised it and pointed it full in his face. "You will close that door +now and send the telephone you promised." + +He rose and banged to the door. + +"All right," he cried. "You've behaved well. Now hide that pistol in +your waist and we'll step into the outer office." + +She did as she was bid, and in a moment more they were crossing the +floor outside. As they did so, she noticed that the two clerks had been +sent out to luncheon, leaving them alone with Mr. Fellows. This was not +encouraging, nor did she like the click which at this moment Beau +Johnson made with his tongue. It sounded like a preconcerted signal. +Whether so or not, it brought Mr. Fellows from his room, and in another +instant he was standing with them before the telephone. There was a +clock over the safe-room door. It stood at just twenty-five minutes +after eleven. + +"Hurry!" she whispered as the other took up the receiver. + +She did not need to say it. His own anxiety seemed to be as great as +hers, but his anxiety was to be gone. The nerve which sustained him +while the issue was doubtful gave some slight tokens of failing, now +that his efforts had brought success and only this small obligation lay +between him and the enjoyment of the booty he had won at such a risk. +She was sure that his voice trembled as he uttered the familiar. +"Hello!" and during the interchange of words which followed, the strain +was perhaps as great on him as on her. + +"Hello! how's the old man?" + +She could hear the answer. It swept her fears away in a moment. + +"Well, but anxious about the girl." + +"She's all right, everything's all right. Take the sick man home and +tell him that his daughter will be there almost as soon as he is." + +"I must hear my father's voice." It was Grace who was speaking. "I will +give a cry that will echo through this building if you do not put me in +communication with him at once." + +Her hand went out to the receiver. + +The veins on Beau Johnson's forehead stood out threateningly. + +"Curse you!" he muttered; but he gave the order just the same. + +"Hello! Don't shut off. The girl's nervous; wants to hear her father's +voice. Have him up! two words from him will answer." + +"Father!" + +Grace's mouth was at the phone. + +No reply. + +She cast one look at Johnson. + +"They're getting him on his feet," he grumbled. _His_ eye was on the +door. + +"Father!" she called again, her voice tremulous with doubt and anxiety. + +A murmur this time, but she recognized it. + +"It's he! it's he," she cried. "He's safe; he's well. _Father!_" + +But Johnson had no time for dilly-dallying. Catching the receiver back, +he took his place again at the phone and shouted a few final +injunctions. Then he faced her with the question: + +"Are you satisfied?" She nodded, speechless at last and almost +breathless from exhaustion. He bowed and made for the door. As he opened +it, Mr. Fellows slid forward and joined him. Both were leaving. He as +well as Johnson. She caught the look which the manager threw her as he +closed the door behind them. There was threat in that look and her heart +strings tightened as she stood alone there facing her fearful duty. Mr. +Fellows was a thief! The manager of this concern was even then perhaps +walking off with the booty wrenched from her care by the devil's own +inquisition. What should she do? Send for Philip? Yes, that was all her +tortured mind could grasp. She would send for her own Philip and get his +advice before she notified the police or sent the inevitable cablegram. +She was too ill, too shaken to do more. Philip! Philip! + +She was fainting--she felt it, and was raising her voice to call in one +of the clerks, when the outer door opened and Mr. Fellows came in. She +had not expected him back. She had fondly believed that he had gone with +his professional comrade; and the sight of him caused her to rise again +to her feet. + +"You!" she murmured, facing him in dull wonder at his renewed look of +threat. "I cannot stay in the same room with you. You are----" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +"_What have you done among you_" + + +"Never mind me," came clearly and coldly from his lips. "It is of +yourself you must think. Here, officer!" he cried, opening the door +again and ushering in a man in plain clothes, but evidently one of the +force. "This is the young lady. I accuse her of taking advantage of her +power to open Mr. Stoughton's private safe to steal his jewels. Her +confederate has escaped. He had a pistol and I had no means of stopping +him. But she is right here and you will make no mistake in arresting +her. The booty is on her, and smart as she is, she cannot deny that +proof." + +With a cry, Grace's hand went up to her throat. + +Then she settled into her usual self once more. + +The officer, eyeing her, asked what she had to say for herself. + +"A great deal," was her low answer. "But I shall not say it here. If Mr. +Fellows will go with me to wherever you take people suspected of what +you suspect me, I can soon make plain my position. But first I should +like to send for my friend, Mr. Philip Andrews. He is with the Stickney +Company, and he is acquainted with my affairs and the understanding +between Mr. Stoughton and myself by which I have access to that +gentleman's safe and do much of his private business for him." + +"That's all right. Send for Mr. Andrews if you wish, but you mustn't +expect to talk to him without witnesses. Is that your coat and hat?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, put them on." + +Mr. Fellows advanced and whispered something in the officer's ear. +Immediately the suspicious look grew in his eyes, and he watched her +every movement with increased care. She saw this and stepped up to him. + +"I shall not deny having this piece of jewelry about my person," she +said, drawing the bracelet from its hiding place. "The man whom Mr. +Fellows calls my confederate gave it to me and I took it; but it will be +hard for him or any one else to prove that it is a theft, harder than it +will be for me to prove who is the real culprit here and the man whom +you ought to arrest. Watch me, but watch him also; he is more deserving +of your close attention than I am." + +Her disdain, her poise, the beauty which came out on her face when she +was greatly stirred, gave her a striking appearance at that moment. The +officer stared, then followed her glance toward Mr. Fellows. What he saw +in him made him thoughtful. Turning back to Miss Lee, he said kindly +enough, "Will you let me have that bracelet?" + +She passed it over and he thrust it in his pocket. + +"Now," said he, "I will go first. In a few minutes follow me and go down +Nassau Street. A carriage will be at the curb. Take it. As for Mr. +Fellows----" + +"I cannot leave till some of the clerks come in." + +"We will all wait till a clerk comes." + +Mr. Fellows paled. + +"Here is one now." + +The door opened and Philip Andrews came in. + +[Illustration: "_The door opened and Philip Andrews came in_"] + +"Oh, Philip!" + +"What is this? What have you done among you?" + +It was no wonder he asked. At sight of him Grace Lee had fainted. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +"_So that was your motive_" + + +Two hours later Grace was explaining herself. She was still pale, but +very calm now, though a little sad. The sadness was not occasioned by +any doubt she felt about her father. She had telephoned home and learned +that he had arrived there and was well, and had nothing but good to say +of his captors. No, there was another cause for her manifest depression, +a cause not disconnected with Philip, toward whom her eyes ever and anon +stole with an uneasy appeal which her mother would have been troubled to +see. But it comforted Fellows, who began to regard her threats as idle +in face of the evidence of her complicity as afforded by the concealed +bracelet. + +The officer on duty was questioning her. Had she done this and that? +Yes, she had. Why? Then she told her story--the story you have already +read. As she proceeded with it, every eye sparkled under the graphic +tale, and the police, who had some acquaintance with Beau Johnson, +recognized his hand in all that she told. One face only wore a sneer, +and that was Fellows's. But no sneer could discredit a story told with +such vim and straightforward earnestness. As she mentioned the emptying +of the office, each person present turned and gave him a look. The +manager had undertaken a piece of work too big for him. His explanations +of the presence of the graphophone in this inner office were feeble and +contradictory. + +But he had his revenge, or thought he had, when she came to the jewels. +She had pointed them out, but only to save a worse disaster. Injury to +her father? "Yes, and----" She paused and her voice thrilled. "In one of +the secret drawers," she continued, "there was an immense amount of +currency in large denominations, the loss of which would cripple the +business, if not bankrupt Mr. Stoughton. His hand was feeling its way +along the face of this drawer. In another moment he would have +discovered the tiny knob by the manipulation of which this drawer opens. +To save the struggle which would have ensued, I directed his attention +elsewhere. I don't believe I did wrong." + +"But you accepted one of these articles as your share. Do you believe +you did right in this?" + +"Yes. I will not mention the smallness of the share, for that makes the +portion saved for the owner of little account. Yet that portion is +saved. I wish it had been a larger one." + +"No doubt. So that was your motive--to save this souvenir for Mr. +Stoughton?" + +Casting a proud look at Philip, she moved a step nearer to the table on +which the bracelet lay. "Will you be good enough," she asked her +interrogator, "to take up that bracelet and read the initials on the +inner side?" + +"R. S. T.," read the official. + +"Does any one here know Mrs. Stoughton's maiden name?" + +Evidently not, for all remained silent. + +"Does any one here know my mother's maiden name?" + +Philip started. + +"Yes," he cried, "I do. Her name was Rhoda Selden Titus." + +[Illustration: "_'R. S. T.' read the official_"] + +"R. S. T.," smiled Grace. "This bracelet was my mother's. Mr. Stoughton +allowed me to place this keepsake and some other valuables of mine in +his private safe. Gentlemen, the whole of those jewels were mine--my +sole and only fortune. I was keeping them for"--her eyes stole toward +Philip--"for my marriage portion, the secret and great surprise I had +planned for my future husband. They are worth some five thousand +dollars--my mother was the daughter of a wealthy man. They would have +given us a home if I could have kept them; they would also have given my +husband a start in business, and this I should have preferred, but I +could not let Mr. Stoughton's securities be endangered, and so they had +to go. Philip, cannot you forgive me when you think that it was through +my folly the secret of the safe became known?" + +"I forgive you?" He could not show his feelings, but his eyes were +eloquent; so were Fellows's; so were those of the various officials. + +"You can prove these statements, Miss Lee?" asked one. + +"Easily," she replied. + +Then they turned to Fellows. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +"_A jewel of far greater value_" + + +Grace never got back her jewels. The wily Johnson was not caught, though +Fellows turned state's evidence and did all he could to have the +professional netted in the same manner as himself. But she did not +suffer from this loss. When Mr. Stoughton learned the full particulars +of this daring robbery, he made good to her the value of those jewels, +and the prosperity of this young couple was secured. He was even present +at the wedding. Grace wore her mother's bracelet, but on her breast was +a jewel of far greater value. On its back was engraved, + + To brave G. L. + From her grateful friend, T. S. + +[Illustration: "_He was even present at the wedding_"] + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + +Changes have been made to the original publication as follows: + + Page 12 + + which for some inscrutible _changed to_ + which for some inscrutable + + Page 15 + + you're proposition, Mr. Fellows _changed to_ + your proposition, Mr. Fellows + + Page 69 + + window You can see it _changed to_ + window. You can see it + + Page 77 + + attempted some purile protest _changed to_ + attempted some puerile protest + + Page 78 + + done by day and duing _changed to_ + done by day and during + + Page 100 + + screaming will do no you good _changed to_ + screaming will do you no good + + Page 113 + + drew herself up againand met him with _changed to_ + drew herself up again and met him with + + Page 123 + + horrorstricken eyes into the unmoved _changed to_ + horror-stricken eyes into the unmoved + + Page 133 + + stood at just tw nty-five _changed to_ + stood at just twenty-five + + Page 134 + + want's to hear her _changed to_ + wants to hear her + + Page 153 + + Gentlemen the whole of those _changed to_ + Gentlemen, the whole of those + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law 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="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Three Thousand Dollars</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Anna Katharine Green</div> +<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 13, 2010 [eBook #32795]<br /> +[Most recently updated: December 8, 2022]</p> +<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> + <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)</p> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS ***</div> + + +<hr /> + +<h1>THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS</h1> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="400" height="637" alt="Cover" title="" /> +</div> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a> +<img src="images/gs01.jpg" width="400" height="664" alt="Frontispiece" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Now state your problem"</span> +</div> + +<hr /> + + +<p class="center"><span class="tp1">THREE THOUSAND<br /> +DOLLARS</span><br /> +<br /><br /> +<span class="tp2">BY</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="tp3">ANNA KATHARINE GREEN</span><br /> +<br /><br /> +<span class="tp2">AUTHOR OF<br /> +"THE LEAVENWORTH CASE," "THE MILLIONAIRE BABY,"<br /> +"THE MAYOR'S WIFE," "THE FILIGREE BALL,"<br /> +ETC., ETC.</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/logo.jpg" width="200" height="253" alt="logo" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center"><span class="tp4">BOSTON</span><br /> +<span class="tp3">RICHARD G. BADGER</span><br /> +<span class="tp5">THE GORHAM PRESS</span><br /> +1910</p> + +<hr /> + + +<p class="tp2 center"><i>Copyright</i>, 1909, <i>by Richard G. Badger</i><br /> +<i>Copyright</i>, 1908 <i>and</i> 1909, <i>by the Crowell +Publishing Company</i></p> + +<hr class="hr3" /> + +<p class="tp2 center"><i>All Rights Reserved</i><br /> +<br /><br /> +<i>The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.</i> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +</p> + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="contents" id="contents"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<table summary="Contents"> +<tr> +<th class="thl"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span></th> +<th class="thr" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Page</span></th> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>I</i></td> +<td class="tdl">"<i>Do you know what would happen to him</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#i">9</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>II</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>Thousands in that safe</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ii">17</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>III</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>How does it stand</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iii">23</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>IV</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>Stenographers must be +counted</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iv">29</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>V</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>I've business with him</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#v">35</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>VI</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>If I could tell you his story</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vi">43</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>VII</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>I'm sure that I can get them for you</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vii">51</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>VIII</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>I did as you bid me</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#viii">59</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>IX</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>'The safe door is opened,' I cried</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ix">67</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span><i>X</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>I have a scheme</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#x">75</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XI</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>She will go in</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xi">81</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XII</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>A block of steel</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xii">89</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XIII</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>I am from headquarters</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiii">95</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XIV</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>You do not answer</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiv">103</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XV</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>Now, if Fellows will stay away</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xv">111</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XVI</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>It was not paper I meant to have</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvi">121</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XVII</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>Now for my part of the bargain</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvii">129</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XVIII</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>What have you done among you</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xviii">139</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XIX</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>So that was your motive</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xix">147</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XX</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>A jewel of far greater value</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xx">155</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +<a name="illustrations" id="illustrations"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<table summary="Illustrations"> + +<tr> +<th class="thr" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Opposite Page</span></th> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>Now state your problem</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#frontis">Frontis</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>He transferred his attention to the door</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#door"> 38</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>Grace, you have misunderstood me</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#me"> 48</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>An old man was looking up at the face of a young girl</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#girl"> 80</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>She was ignorant of his presence</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#presence"> 100</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>The door opened and Philip Andrews came in</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#in"> 144</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>'R. S. T.,' read the official</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#official"> 152</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>He was even present at the wedding</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#wedding"> 158</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +<a name="i" id="i"></a>THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<small>CHAPTER I</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>Do you know what would happen to him?</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">NOW state your problem."</p> + +<p>The man who was thus addressed shifted uneasily on the long bench which +he and his companion bestrode. He was facing the speaker, and though +very little light sifted through the cobweb-covered window high over +their heads, he realized that what there was fell on his features, and +he was not sure of his features, or of what effect their expression +might have on the other man.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure we are quite alone in this big, desolate place?" he +asked.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> + +<p>It seemed a needless question. Though it was broad daylight outside and +they were in the very heart of the most populated district of lower New +York, they could not have been more isolated had the surrounding walls +been those of some old ruin in the heart of an untraversed desert.</p> + +<p>A short description of the place will explain this. They were in the +forsaken old church not far from Avenue A——, a building long given +over to desolation, and empty of everything but débris and one or two +broken stalls, which for some +<a name="inscrutable" id="inscrutable"></a><ins title="original has inscrutible">inscrutable</ins> +reason—possibly from some latent instinct of inherited reverence—had +not yet been converted into junk and sold to the old clothes men by the +rapacious denizens of the surrounding tenements.</p> + +<p>Perhaps you remember this building; perhaps some echo of the bygone and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +romantic has come to you as you passed its decaying walls once dedicated +to worship, but soulless now and only distinguishable from the +five-story tenements pressing up on either side, by its one high window +in which some bits of colored glass still lingered amid its twisted and +battered network. You may remember the building and you may remember the +stray glimpses afforded you through the arched opening in the lower +story of one of the adjacent tenements, of the churchyard in its rear +with its chipped and tumbling headstones just showing here and there +above the accumulated litter. But it is not probable that you have any +recollections of the interior of the church itself, shut as it has been +from the eye of the public for nearly a generation. And it is with the +interior we have to do—a great hollow vault where once<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> altar and +priest confronted a reverent congregation. There is no altar here now, +nor any chancel; hardly any floor. The timbers which held the pews have +rotted and fallen away, and what was once a cellar has received all this +rubbish and held it piled up in mounds which have blocked up most of the +windows and robbed the place even of the dim religious light which was +once its glory, so that when the man whose words we have just quoted +asked if they were quite alone and peered into the dim, belumbered +corners, it was but natural for his hardy, resolute, and unscrupulous +companion to snort with impatience and disgust as he answered:</p> + +<p>"Would I have brought you here if I hadn't known it was the safest place +in New York for this kind of talk? Why, man, there may be in this city +five men all told, who know the trick of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> the door I unfastened for you, +and not one of them is a cop. You may take my word for that. +Besides——"</p> + +<p>"But the kids? They're everywhere; and if one of them should have +followed us——"</p> + +<p>"Do you know what would happen to him? I'll tell you a story—no, I +won't; you're frightened enough already. But there's no kid here, nor +any one else but our two selves, unless it be some wandering spook from +the congregations laid outside; and spooks don't count. So out with +<a name="your" id="your"></a><ins title="original has you're">your</ins> proposition, Mr. Fellows. I——"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +<a name="ii" id="ii"></a><small>CHAPTER II</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>Thousands in that safe</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">NO names!" hoarsely interrupted the other. "If you speak my name again +I'll give the whole thing up."</p> + +<p>"No you won't; you're too deep in it for that. But I'll drop the Fellows +and just call you Sam. If that's too familiar, we'll drop the job. I'm +not so keen on it."</p> + +<p>"You will be. It's right in your line." Sam Fellows, as he was called, +was whispering now—a hot, eager whisper, breathing of guilt and +desperation. "If I could do it alone—but I haven't the wit—the——"</p> + +<p>"Experience," dryly put in the other. "Well, well!" he exclaimed +impatiently,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> as Fellows crept nearer, but said nothing.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to speak, but—Well, then, here's how it is!" he suddenly +conceded, warned by the other's eye. "The building is a twenty-story +one, chuck full and alive with business. The room I mean is on the +twelfth floor; it is one of five, all communicating, and all in constant +use except the one holding the safe. And that is visited constantly. +Some one is always going in and out. Indeed, it is a rule of the firm +that every one of the employees must go into that room once, at least, +during the day, and remain there for five minutes alone. I do it; every +one does it; it's a very mysterious proceeding which only a crank like +my employer would devise."</p> + +<p>"What do you do there?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. I'm speaking now for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> myself. The others—some of the +others—<i>one</i> of the others may open the safe. That's what I believe, +that's what I want to know about and <i>how it's done</i>. There are +thousands in that safe, and the old man being away——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, this is all very interesting. Go on. What you want is an artist +with a jimmy."</p> + +<p>"No, no. It's no such job as that. I want to know the person, the +trusted person who has all those securities within touch. It's a mania +with me. I should have been the man. I'm—I'm <i>manager</i>."</p> + +<p>The hoarseness with which this word was uttered, the instinct of shame +which made his eyes fall as it struggled from his lips, wakened a +curious little gleam of hardy cynicism in the steady gaze of his +listener.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, you're manager, are you!" came in slow retort, filling a silence +that had more of pain than pleasure in it. "Well, manager, your story is +very interesting, but by no means complete. Suppose you hurry on to the +next instalment."</p> + +<p>Cringing as from a blow, Fellows took up his tale, no longer creeping +nearer his would-be confederate, but, if anything, edging away.</p> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +<a name="iii" id="iii"></a><small>CHAPTER III</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>How does it stand</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">I'VE watched and watched and watched," said he, "but I can't pick out +the man. Letters come, orders are given, and those orders are carried +out, but <i>not by me</i>. I'm speaking now of investments, or the payment of +large sums; anything which calls for the opening of that safe where the +old man has stuffed away his thousands. Small matters fall to my share. +There is another safe, of which I hold the combination. Child's play, +but the other! It would make both of us independent, and yet leave +something for appearances. But it can't be worked. It stands in front of +a glass door from which the curtain is drawn every night.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> Every +passerby can look in. If it is opened it must be done in broad daylight +and by the person whom the old man trusts. By that means only would I +get my revenge, and revenge is what I want. He don't trust me, <i>me</i> who +have been with him for seven years and——"</p> + +<p>"Drop that, it isn't interesting. The facts are what I want. What kind +of safe is it?"</p> + +<p>"The strangest you ever saw. I don't know who made it. There's nothing +on it to show. Nor is there a lock or combination. But it opens. You can +just see the outline of a door. Steel—fine steel, and not so very +large, but the contents——"</p> + +<p>"We'll take its contents for granted. How does it stand? On a platform?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, one foot from the floor. The platform runs all the way across the +room and holds other things; a table<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> which nobody uses, a revolving +bookcase and a series of shelves, fitted with boxes containing old +receipts and such junk. Sometimes I go through these; but nothing ever +comes of it." He paused, as if the subject were distasteful.</p> + +<p>"And the safe is opened?"</p> + +<p>"Almost every week. I'm ashamed to tell you the old duffer's methods; +they're loony. But he isn't a lunatic. At any rate, they don't think so +in Wall Street."</p> + +<p>"I'll make a guess at his name."</p> + +<p>"Not yet. You'll have to swear——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, we're both in it. Never mind the heroics. It's too good a thing to +peach on. Me and the manager! I like that. Take it easy till the job's +done, anyway. And now I'll take a fly at the name. It's——"</p> + +<p>He had the grace to whisper.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +<a name="iv" id="iv"></a><small>CHAPTER IV</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>Stenographers must be counted</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap2">YOUNG Fellows squirmed and turned a shade paler, if one could trust the +sickly violet ray that shot down from the once exquisitely colored +window high up over their heads.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" he muttered; and the other grinned. Evidently the guess was a +correct one.</p> + +<p>"No, he's no lunatic," the professional quietly declared. "But he has +queer ways. Which of his queers do you object to?"</p> + +<p>"When his letters come, or more often his cablegrams, they are opened by +me and then put in plain view on a certain little bulletin board in the +main office. These are his orders. Any one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> who knows the cipher can +read them. I don't know the cipher. At night I take them down, number +them, and file them away. They have served their purpose. They have been +seen by the person whose business it is to carry out his instructions, +and the rest you must guess. His brokers know the secret, but it is +never discussed by us. The least word and the next cablegram would read +in good plain English, 'Fire him!' I've had that experience. I've had to +fire three since he went away two months ago."</p> + +<p>"That's good."</p> + +<p>"Why good?"</p> + +<p>"That cuts out three from your list. <i>The person is not among the ones +dismissed.</i>"</p> + +<p>"That's so." New life seemed to spring up in Fellows. "You'll do the +job," he cried. "Somehow, I never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> thought of going about it that way. +And I know another man that's out."</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"Myself, for one. There are only seven more."</p> + +<p>"Counting all?"</p> + +<p>"All."</p> + +<p>"Stenographers included?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, stenographers!"</p> + +<p>"Stenographers must be counted."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, seven men and one woman. Our stenographer is a woman."</p> + +<p>"What kind of a woman?"</p> + +<p>"A young girl. Ordinary, but good enough. I've never noticed her very +much."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about the men."</p> + +<p>"What's the use? You wouldn't take my word. They're a cheap lot, beneath +contempt in my estimation. There's not one of them clever enough for the +business. Jack Forbush comes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> the nearest to it, and probably is the +one. The way he keeps his eye on me makes me suspect him. Or is he, too, +playing my game?"</p> + +<p>"How can I tell? How can I tell anything from what you say? I'll have to +look into the matter myself. Give me the names and addresses and I'll +look the parties up. Get their rating, so to speak. Leave it to me, and +I'll land the old man's confidential clerk."</p> + +<p>"Here's the list. I thought you might want it."</p> + +<p>"Where's the girl's name?"</p> + +<p>"The girl! Oh, pshaw!"</p> + +<p>"Put her name down just the same."</p> + +<p>"There, then. Grace Lee. Address, 74 East —— Street. And now swear on +the honor of a gentleman——"</p> + +<p>Beau Johnson pulled the rim of Fellows's hat over his eyes to suggest +what he thought of this demand.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +<a name="v" id="v"></a><small>CHAPTER V</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>I've business with him</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap2">NEXT day there appeared at the offices of Thomas Stoughton, in Nassau +Street, a trim, well-looking man, who had urgent business with Mr. +Fellows, the manager. He was kept waiting for some time before being +introduced into that gentleman's private room; but this did not seem to +disturb him. There was plenty to look at, or so he seemed to think, and +his keen, noncommittal eyes flashed hither and thither and from face to +face with restless activity. He seemed particularly interested in the +bookkeeper of the establishment, but it was an interest which did not +last long, and when a neat, pleasant-faced young woman rose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> from her +seat and passed rapidly across the room, it was upon her his eyes +settled and remained fixed, with a growing attention, until a certain +door closed upon her with a sound like a snapping lock. Then he +transferred his attention to the door, and was still gazing at it when a +boy summoned him to the manager's office.</p> + +<p>He went in with reluctance. He had rather have watched that door. But he +had questions to ask, and so made a virtue of necessity. Mr. Fellows was +not pleased to see him. He started quite guiltily from his seat and only +sat again on compulsion—the compulsion of his visitor's steady and +quelling eye.</p> + +<p>"I've business with you, Mr. Fellows." Then, the boy being gone, "Which +is the room? The one opening out of the general office directly opposite +this?"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="door" id="door"></a> +<img src="images/gs02.jpg" width="400" height="672" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"He transferred his attention to the door"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +Mr. Fellows nodded.</p> + +<p>"I have just seen one of the employees go in there. I should like to see +that person come out. Do you mind talking with this door open? I know +enough about banking to hold up my end of the conversation."</p> + +<p>Fellows rose with a jerk and pushed the door back. His visitor smiled +easily and launched into a discussion about stocks and bonds +interspersed with a few assertions and questions not meant for the +general ear, as:</p> + +<p>"<i>It's the girl who is in there. Not ordinary, by any means. Just the +sort an old smudge like Stoughton would be apt to trust. Now what's +that?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Singing. She often sings. I've forbidden it, but she forgets, she +says</i>," answered Fellows.</p> + +<p>"<i>Pretty good music. Listen to that note. High as a prima donna's. Does<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +she sing at her work?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>No; I'd fire her if she did. It's only when she's walking about or +when</i>——"</p> + +<p>"<i>She's in that room?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Yes</i>."</p> + +<p>"At par? I buy nothing at par. <i>There! She's coming. I wish I dared +intercept her, rifle her pockets. Do you know if she has pockets?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>No; how should I?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Fellows, you're not worth your salt. Ah! there's a face for you, and I +can read it like a book. Did a letter or cablegram come to-day?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Yes; didn't you see it? Hung up in the outer office</i>."</p> + +<p>"<i>I thought I saw something</i>. Ninety-five? That's a quotation worth +listening to. Three at ninety-five. <i>That girl's a trump. I will see +more of my lady.</i>" Here he took care to shut the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> door. "I've been the +rounds, Fellows. Private-detective work and all that. She is the only +puzzler among the group. You'll hear from me again; meanwhile treat the +girl well. Don't spring any traps; leave that to me."</p> + +<p>And Fellows, panting with excitement, promised, muttering under his +breath:</p> + +<p>"A woman! That's even worse than I thought. But we'll make the old +fellow pay for it. Those securities are ours. I already feel them in my +hand."</p> + +<p>The sinister twitch which marred the other's mouth emphasized the +assertion in a way Grace Lee's friends would have trembled to see.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +<a name="vi" id="vi"></a><small>CHAPTER VI</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>If I could tell you his story</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap2">THAT evening a young woman and a young man sat on one of the benches in +Central Park. They were holding hands, but modestly and with a clinging +affection. No one appeared in sight; they had the moon-light, the +fragrance of the spring foliage, and their true love all to themselves. +The woman was Grace, the young man was Philip Andrews, a candid-eyed, +whole-hearted fellow whom any girl might be proud to be seen with, much +more to be engaged to. Grace was proud, but she was more than that; her +heart was all involved in her hope—a good heart which he was equally +proud to have won. Yet while love was theirs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> and the surroundings +breathed peace and joy, they did not look quite happy. A cloud was on +his brow and something like a tear in her eye as she spoke gently but +with rare firmness.</p> + +<p>"Philip, we must wait. One love does not put out another. I cannot leave +my old father now. He is too feeble and much too dependent on me. +Philip, you do not know my father. You have seen him, it is true, many, +many times. You have talked with him and even have nursed him at odd +moments, when I had to be out of the room getting supper or supplying +some of his many wants. Yet you do not know him."</p> + +<p>"I know that he is intelligent."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, that is evident. Any one can see that. And you can see, too, +that he is frequently fretful and exacting, as all old people are. But +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> qualities he shows me—his strong, melancholy, but devoted nature, +quickened by an unusually unhappy life—that you do not see and cannot, +much as you like him and much as he likes you. Only the child who has +surprised him at odd moments, when he thought himself quite alone, +wringing his hands and weeping over some intolerable memory—who has +listened in the dead of night to his smothered but heart-breaking +groans, can know either his suffering or the one joy which palliates it. +If I could tell you his story—but that would be treason to one whose +rights I am bound to reverence. You will respect my silence, but you +must also take my word that he needs and has a right to all the pleasure +and all the hope my love can give him. I cannot be with him much; my +work forbids, but the little time I have is his,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> except on rare +occasions like this, and he knows it and is satisfied. Were I +married——. But you will wait, Philip. It may not be long—he grows +weaker every day. Besides, you are not ready yet yourself. You are doing +wonderfully well, but a year's freedom will help you materially, as it +will me. Every day is adding to our store; in a year we may be almost +independent."</p> + +<p>"Grace, you have misunderstood me. I said that I was no good without +you, that I needed your presence to make a man of me, but I did not mean +that you were to share my fortunes now. I would not ask that. I would be +a fool or worse, for, Grace, I'm not doing so well as you think. While I +knew that my present employment was for a specified time, I had hopes of +continuing on. But this cannot be. That's what I have to tell you +to-night. It looks as if our marriage would have to be postponed +indefinitely instead of hastened. And I can't bear it. You don't know +what you are to me, or what this disappointment is. I expected to be +raised, not dismissed, and if I had had——"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="me" id="me"></a> +<img src="images/gs03.jpg" width="400" height="671" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Grace, you have misunderstood me"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>"What?"</p> + +<p>The word came very softly, and with rare tenderness. It made him turn +and look at her sweet, upturned face, with its resources of strength and +shy, unfathomable smile. "What?" she asked again, with a closer pressure +of her hand. "You must finish all your sentences with <i>me</i>."</p> + +<p>"I'm ashamed." He uttered it breathlessly. "What am I, to say, 'If I had +three thousand dollars the Stickney Company would keep me?' I have +barely three hundred and those are dedicated to you."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +<a name="vii" id="vii"></a><small>CHAPTER VII</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>I'm sure that I can get them for you</i>"</p> + + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">IF you had <i>three thousand</i>!" She repeated it in surprise and yet with +an indescribable air, which to one versed in human nature would have +caught the attention and aroused strange inner inquiries. "Does the +Stickney Company want money so badly as that?"</p> + +<p>"That's not it. They have plainly told me that for three thousand +dollars and my services they would give me ten thousand dollars' stock +interest, but insist that the man who assumes the responsibility of the +position must be financially interested as well. But I haven't the +money, and without the money my experience appears to them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> valueless. I +despair of getting another situation in these hard times and—Grace, you +don't look sorry."</p> + +<p>"Because—" she paused, and her fine eyes roamed about her jealous of a +listener to her secret, but did not pierce the bush which rose up, +cloudy with blossoms, a few feet behind their bench—"because it is not +impossible for you to hope for those thousands. I think—I am sure that +I can get them for you."</p> + +<p>Her voice had sunk to a whisper, but it was a very clear whisper.</p> + +<p>Young Andrews looked at her in surprise; there was something besides +pleasure in that surprise.</p> + +<p>"Where?" he asked.</p> + +<p>She hesitated, and just at that moment the moon slipped behind a cloud.</p> + +<p>"Where, Grace, can you get three thousand dollars? From Mr. Stoughton? +He is generous to you, he pays<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> you well for what you do for him, but I +do not think he would give you that amount, nor do I think he would risk +it on any venture involving my judgment. I should not like to have you +ask him. I should like to rise feeling absolutely independent of Mr. +Stoughton."</p> + +<p>"I never thought of asking him. There is another way. I'd—I'd like to +think it over. If your scheme is good—<i>very</i> good, I might be brought +to aid you in the way my mind suggests. But I should want to be sure."</p> + +<p>She was not looking at him now. If she had been, she might have been +startled at his expression. Nor could he see her face; she had turned it +aside.</p> + +<p>"Grace," he prayed, "don't do anything rash. You handle so much money +that three thousand dollars may seem very little to you. But it's a +goodly sum to get or to replace if one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> loses it. You must not +borrow——"</p> + +<p>"I will not borrow."</p> + +<p>"Nor raise it in any way without telling me the sacrifice you must make +to obtain it. But it's all a dream; tell me that it's all a dream; you +were talking from your wishes, not from any certainty you have. Say so, +and I will not be disappointed. I do not want <i>your</i> money; I'd rather +go poor and wait till the times change. Don't you see? I'd be more of a +man."</p> + +<p>"But you'd have to take it if I gave it to you, and—perhaps I shall. I +want to see you happy, Philip; I must see you happy. I'd be willing to +risk a good deal for that. I'm not so happy myself, father suffers so, +and the care of it weighs on me. You are all I have to make me glad, and +when you are troubled my heart goes down, down. But it's getting late, +dear. It's time we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> went home. Don't ask me what's in my mind, but dream +of riches. I'm sure they will come. You shall earn them with the three +thousand dollars you want and which I will give you."</p> + +<p>"I shall earn them honestly," were the last words he said, as they rose +from the seat and began to move toward the gate. And the moon, coming +out from its temporary eclipse, shone on his clear-cut face as he said +this, but not on her bowed head and sidelong look. They were in the +shadow.</p> + +<p>There was something else in the shadow. As they moved away and +disappeared in the darkness the long, slim figure of a man rose from +behind the bush I have mentioned. He had a sparkling eye and a +thin-lipped mouth, and he smiled very curiously as he looked after the +pair before turning himself about and going the other way.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was not Fellows; it was his chosen confederate in the nefarious +scheme they had planned between them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +<a name="viii" id="viii"></a><small>CHAPTER VIII</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>I did as you bid me</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap">ANOTHER meeting in the old church, but this time at night. The +somberness of the surroundings was undiminished by any light. They were +in absolute darkness. Absolute darkness, but not absolute silence. +Noises strange and suggestive, but not of any human agency, whispered, +sighed, rattled, and grumbled from far away recesses. The snap of wood, +the gnawing of rats, the rustling of bat wings disturbed the ears of one +of the guilty pair, till his voice took on unnatural tones as he tried +to tell his story to his greedy companion. They were again astride the +bench, and their thin faces were so near that their breaths<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> commingled +at times; yet Fellows felt at moments so doubtful of all human presence +that instinctively his hand would go groping out till it touched the +other's arm or breast, when it would fall back again satisfied. He was +in a state of absolute terror of the darkness, the oppressive air, the +ghostly sounds, and possibly of the image raised by his own conscience, +yet he hugged to himself the thought of secrecy which it all involved, +and never thought of yielding up his scheme or even shortening his tale, +so long as the other listened and gave his mind to the problem which +promised them thousands without the usual humdrum method of working for +them.</p> + +<p>We will listen to what he had to say, leaving to your imagination the +breaks and guilty starts and moments of intense listening and anxious +fear with which he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> seasoned it.</p> + +<p>"I did as you bid me," he whispered. "Yesterday fresh orders came from +abroad, in cipher, as usual. (It's an unreadable cipher. I've had +experts on it many times.) I had hung it up, and though business was +heavy, my business, you know, I had eyes for our fair friend, and knew +every step she took about the offices. I even knew when her eyes first +fell on the cablegram. I had my door open, and I caught her looking up +from her work, and what was more, caught the pause in the click-click of +the typewriter as she looked and read. If she had not been able to read, +the click-click would have gone on, for I believe she could work that +typewriter with her eyes shut. But her attention was caught, and she +stopped. I tell you I've been humiliated for the last time. I'm in for +anything<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> that will make that girl step down and out. What was that!"</p> + +<p>Muttered curses from his companion brought him back to his story. With a +gulp he went on:</p> + +<p>"You may bet your bottom dollar that I watched her after that, and sure +enough, in less than half an hour she had gone into the room where the +safe is. Instantly I prepared my <i>coup d'êtat</i>. I waited just long +enough to hear her voice in that one song she sings, then I jumped from +my seat and rushed to the door, shouting, 'Miss Lee! Miss Lee! Your +father! Your father!' making hullabaloo enough to raise the dead and +scare her out of her wits; for she dotes on that old man and would sell +her soul for his sake, I do believe.</p> + +<p>"Great heavens, it worked! As I live, it worked. I heard her voice fail +on that high upper note of hers, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> then the sound of her feet +staggering, slipping over the floor, and in another moment the fumbling +of her hand on the knob and the slow opening of the door which she +seemed to have no power to manage. Helping her, I pulled it open, and +there beyond her and her white, shocked face, I saw—I saw——"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +<a name="ix" id="ix"></a><small>CHAPTER IX</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>'The safe door is opened,' I cried</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">GO on! Don't be a fool; that was nothing."</p> + +<p>"I don't know; it was like a great sigh at my ear. But this is awful! +Couldn't we have one spark of light?"</p> + +<p>"And have the police upon us the next minute? Look up at that +<a name="stop" id="stop"></a><ins title="fullstop added">window.</ins> You can see it, can't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, but very faintly," Fellows whispered.</p> + +<p>"But you can see it. So could those outside, if we had one glimmer of +light in here. No, no, you'll have to stand the dark or quit. But you +shan't quit till you've told me what you saw in the room where the safe +is."</p> + +<p>"The safe door opening." His voice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> trembled so that the other shook him +to steady his nerves. "Not opened, mind you, but opening. It was like +magic, and I stared so that she forgot her fears and forgot her +questions. Turning from me with a startled cry, she looked behind her, +and saw what I saw, and tried to push me out. 'I'll come, I'll come,' +she whispered. 'Leave me a minute and I'll come.'</p> + +<p>"But I wasn't going to do that. 'The safe door is opened,' I cried. 'Did +you do it?' She didn't know what to say. I have never seen a woman in +such a state; then she whispered in awful agitation, 'Yes; I've been +given the combination by Mr. Stoughton. I'm duly following his orders. +But my father! What about my father? You frightened me so I forgot +that—' I waited, staring at her, but she didn't finish. She just +asked,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> 'My father? What has happened to him?' 'Nothing serious,' I +managed to say. I wished the old father was in ballyhack. But he'd +served his turn; I must say that he'd served his turn. 'A telephone +message,' I went on. 'He had had a nervous spell and wanted you. I said +that you could go home at noon.' She stood looking at me doubtfully; +then her eyes stole back to the safe. 'You will have to leave me here +for a few minutes,' she said. 'I have Mr. Stoughton's business to attend +to. He will not be pleased at my having given away his secret. He did +not wish it known who controlled his affairs in his absence, but now +that you do know, you will be doing the right thing to let me go on in +the way he has planned for me. His orders must be carried out.'</p> + +<p>"She is very determined, and understands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> herself only too well, but I +am manager, and I paid her back in her own coin. 'That's all very well,' +said I, 'but what proof have I that you are telling me the truth? You +have opened the safe—you say you have the combination—but people +sometimes surprise a combination and open a safe from other interests +than those of their employer. You seem a good girl, but <i>you are a +girl</i>, and there are men here much more likely to be in Mr. Stoughton's +confidence than yourself. With that open safe before us I cannot leave +you here alone. What you take from it I must see, and if possible be +present at your negotiations. That I consider a manager's duty under the +circumstances.' 'Mr. Fellows,' she asked, 'can you read this morning's +telegram?' 'No,' I felt bound to reply. 'Then that acquits you. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> can.' +And again she tried to urge me to go out. But I would not be urged. I +was staring across the room at the open safe and in fancy clutching its +contents. In fact, I made one step toward them. But she drew herself up +with such an air that I paused. She's a big girl, you know, and not to +be fooled with when she's angry. 'Come a step farther and I will scream +for the watchman,' she whispered. All our talk had been low, for there +were listening ears everywhere—we couldn't risk that, and I stepped +back. Immediately she saw her advantage, and added, 'If you do not think +better of it and leave the room, I'll scream.' For answer to this I said +that I——"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +<a name="x" id="x"></a><small>CHAPTER X</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>I have a scheme</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">WHAT?"</p> + +<p>A yell answered him.</p> + +<p>"Something hit me! Something hit me!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I hit you; and I'll hit you again if you don't go on."</p> + +<p>Fellows shivered, attempted some <a name="puerile" id="puerile"></a><ins title="original has purile">puerile</ins> protest, balked, and +stammeringly obeyed his restless and irritated companion.</p> + +<p>"I—I said—I wasn't such a fool then as I am now—that she had lied +when she told me that she had the combination. There was no combination. +The safe did not even have a lock. The door opened with a spring. How +had she induced that spring to give way?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> I demanded to know."</p> + +<p>"And did she tell you?"</p> + +<p>"No. She merely repeated, 'I will scream, and that will cause a scandal +which will lead to your discharge, not mine.' So—so, I came out."</p> + +<p>"Blast your eyes! And when did <i>she</i> come out?"</p> + +<p>"Within five minutes. I watched the clock."</p> + +<p>"And what did she have?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing in sight."</p> + +<p>"I see. A deep game. But I know a deeper. There is no possibility of +breaking into that safe by night, undetected by the watchman?"</p> + +<p>"None; and that watchman is incorruptible. The whole contents of the +safe wouldn't move him to connect himself with this job."</p> + +<p>"The job must be done by day and <a name="during" id="during"></a><ins title="original has duing">during</ins> office hours?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And cannot be done without the assistance of this girl?"</p> + +<p>"You've heard."</p> + +<p>"Very well; I have a scheme. Now listen to me."</p> + +<p>Not even the rat which at that minute nibbled at Fellows's boot heel +could have heard what followed. The panting of two breasts was, however, +audible; and when, fifty minutes later, both crawled out of the cellar +window among the rubbish which littered the rear of this once holy +place, the one was trembling with excitement and the other with fear. +They parted at the first thoroughfare, neither having eyes to see nor +hearts to appreciate the touching scene which miles away was taking +place in a little flat not very far from Harlem. An old man, frail in +body, but with a sturdy spirit yet, was looking up from his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> pillow at +the loving face of a young girl who was bending over him.</p> + +<p>"I cannot sleep to-night," he said to her; "I cannot sleep; but that +must not disturb you. I have so many things to think, pleasant things; +but you have only cares, and must rest from them. You look very tired +to-night, tired and worried. Leave me and sleep. I want to see you +bright in the morning."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="girl" id="girl"></a> +<img src="images/gs04.jpg" width="400" height="672" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"An old man was looking up at the loving face of a young +girl"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +<a name="xi" id="xi"></a><small>CHAPTER XI</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>She will go in</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">THE next day there was a dearth of assistants in the office. One was +sick, one had pleaded a long-delayed vacation, two had business for the +concern which took them into different quarters of the city, and Mr. +Beers, who was next in authority to Mr. Fellows, had been summoned to +serve on the grand jury. Perhaps it was this knowledge that Mr. Beers +would be absent which had led to the manager's easiness in regard to the +others. For he had been easy, or so Miss Lee thought when she arrived in +the morning and saw the office almost empty. However, it did not trouble +her much. On the contrary, the quiet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> and non-surveillance of the two +clerks who did the business of the day seemed rather to elate her, and +she went about her work, copying letters and taking down notes with an +alacrity and air of cheerful hope which caused the manager to cast +toward her more than one suspicious look from his desk in the adjoining +room. <i>He</i> was not busy, though he had been the first to arrive that +morning; and he had brought with him a large square package which he had +taken into the room which held the safe. He pretended to be busy, but +any one watching him closely would have noticed that his eyes, and not +his hands, were all that were engaged, and they were anywhere but on his +desk or the letter he appeared to be reading. An observer would also +have noticed that his nervousness was of the extreme sort, and that the +trembling which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> shook his whole body increased visibly whenever his +glance fell on the door of Mr. Beers's private room, opening at his +back. No one was supposed to be in that room to-day, and had Miss Lee +not been one minute late this especial morning, perhaps there might not +have been. But in that one minute's grace a man had entered the office +who had not gone out again, and where could he be if not in that one +closed room?</p> + +<p>The room which held the safe was open as usual, and many of Mr. +Fellows's glances traveled that way. He had entered it once only since +his first hurried visit of the early morning, but only to pull down the +shade over the glass in the door communicating with the outside hall. +This was his usual custom, and it attracted no attention. Why shouldn't +he enter it again? He thought he would. A fascination was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> upon him. The +problem he had given Beau Johnson to solve was to receive a test this +day which would make him a rich man or a felon; but before that hour why +not make his own study, his own investigation? True, he had made these +many times before, but not with such lights to guide him. He might +learn——</p> + +<p>But no, the very conceit was folly. He knew his own limitations, else he +had not called in the services of this crook. He could learn nothing by +himself, but he might look the place over and see if all was in shape +for the great attempt. That was only his duty. Beau Johnson had a right +to expect that of him. If the scrub woman had moved anything——</p> + +<p>At the thought that this possibly might have happened, he jumped to his +feet and hurried into the outer office;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> but when he turned toward the +room of the safe, he met Miss Lee's eye fixed upon him with such a keen, +inquiring look that he faltered in his determination, and went in +another direction instead. <i>She</i> knew that he had no business in that +room, and she also knew that he knew she knew this. Any pretense that he +had would only rouse her suspicions, and these must be lulled to the +point of security, or she might not enter there herself, and on her +entering there everything depended. Almost immediately upon the thought +he was back in his seat, and the weary moments crept on. Would she never +make her accustomed visit to that room? No cablegram had come that +morning, but she would find some reason for going in. Of that he had +been assured by Johnson. Why, he had not been told. "She will go in,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +Beau Johnson had said, and Fellows believed him. He believed everything +the other said, otherwise he could not have gone on with this business. +But she was very long about it. Harlowe would be coming back——</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> + + +<hr /> +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +<a name="xii" id="xii"></a><small>CHAPTER XII</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>A block of steel</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">AH, he had an idea! It was not his own, but for the moment he thought it +was. He would leave the office himself and thus give her an opportunity +to quit her work and shut herself up with the safe. But—(was his mind +leaving him?) there was something to be done first. The way must be +cleared for the man in hiding to enter that room before she did. How was +this to be accomplished? A dozen suggestions had been given him by his +confederate, but he had forgotten them all. He was in too great a whirl +to think, yet he must think; some way must be found. Ah, he had it. +Taking up the receiver at his side, he telephoned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> to a German friend to +call him up in five minutes, giving him the number of the telephone in +the farthest room. This he did in German, telling him it was a joke and +that he was not to insist upon an answer. Then he waited. In five +minutes this farther bell rang. Calling to Miss Lee, he asked her to +answer for him, saying he was very busy. As she rose, he gave a +preconcerted signal on the door of Mr. Beers's room. As she disappeared +in the one beyond, the dapper figure of Johnson crossed the outer office +and slipped into the one holding the safe. A minute later she was back +reporting the message and getting instructions, but the one thing she +had to fear had been done; the trap had been laid, and now for its +victim!</p> + +<p>It was not long before that victim responded to the call. On the +departure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> of the manager from the room Grace Lee rose, and with a +conscious look toward the two clerks, slipped across the floor to the +open door of the safe room. Entering, she swung to the door, which +closed with a snap; then, with just a moment of hesitation, in which she +seemed to be trying to regain her breath, she passed quickly across to +the safe and took up her stand before it. So directly and so quickly had +she done this that she had not seen the slim, immovable figure drawn up +against the wall at her right behind the projection of a large bookcase. +Nor did any influence for good or evil cause her to turn after she had +reached the safe. All her thoughts, all her hopes, all the dreams which +she had cherished seemed to be concentrated in the blank, eyeless object +which confronted her, impenetrable to all appearance—a block<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> of steel +without visible opening—an enigma among safes—the problem of all +problems to every cracksman in town but one—which was about to be +solved if one could judge from the thrill which now shook her, and in +shaking her communicated the same excitement to the silent, breathless, +determined man in her rear, watching her as the tiger watches the +quarry, and with the same tiger spring latent in his eye. In a moment +her secret would be out, and then——</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +<a name="xiii" id="xiii"></a><small>CHAPTER XIII</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>I am from headquarters</i>"</p> + +<p class="cap2">FOR just a minute Grace Lee paused before the blank door of the safe, +then she passed around to an unused speaking tube in the neighboring +wall. Halting before it, in low but distinct tones she began to sing the +famous aria from "The Magic Flute."</p> + +<p>All agog, with eyes starting and ears alert, the man behind listened and +watched. Nothing happened.</p> + +<p>Then came a change. Gradually her voice rose, sweet and piercing, till +it reached that famous F in alt so rarely attempted, so exciting to the +ear when fairly taken and fairly held. Grace Lee could take it, and as +it hung, sweet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> and deliciously thrilling in the air, Beau Johnson saw, +to his amazement, though he was in a way prepared for it, the heavy safe +door slip softly ajar. She had done it with her voice. How, he could +only vaguely guess. He was better educated than most of his class, or he +could not have understood it at all. As it was, he laid it to the +vibration caused by a certain definite note acting on some delicate +mechanism set in accord with that note, which mechanism starting another +and a stronger one gradually led up to that which drew the bolts and set +the door ajar. Whether his theory were true or not mattered little at +the moment. The event for which he waited had been accomplished and +accomplished before his eyes. To profit by it was his next thought, and +to this end he held himself ready for the spring which had laid latent +in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> eyes since he first saw her advance toward the safe.</p> + +<p>She was ignorant of his presence. This was evident from the jaunty way +she turned from the tube, still singing, but in a desultory way, which +showed that her thoughts were no longer on her music. But she was not so +engrossed that she did not see him. The moment that her face turned his +way, her eyes enlarged, her body stiffened, her whole personality took +on power and purpose and <i>she</i> sprang more quickly than he did and shut +the safe door with one quick movement of her hand that fastened it as +securely as before. Then she drew herself up to meet his rush, a noble +figure of resolute womanhood which any other man would have hesitated to +assail. But he was proof to any appeal of this kind. She had been +quicker than he who was esteemed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> readiest in his class, and he owed +her a grudge, if only for that. Smiling—it was a way of his when deeply +moved or deeply dangerous—he accosted her with smooth and treacherous +words.</p> + +<p>"Don't scream, young lady; screaming will +<a name="do" id="do"></a><ins title="original has do no you">do you no</ins> good. +Mr. Fellows has left the business to me and I am quite competent to +manage it. I am from headquarters—a detective. Yesterday you aroused +the manager's suspicions, and I was detailed this morning to watch you. +What do you want from Mr. Stoughton's safe? An honest answer may help +you. Nothing else will."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="presence" id="presence"></a> +<img src="images/gs05.jpg" width="400" height="670" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"She was ignorant of his presence"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>"I want——" she hesitated, eyeing him over with an insight and an +undoubted air of self-command which told the hardy rascal that in this +woman he was likely to meet his match. "I want some securities of Mr. +Stoughton's which he has ordered me to dispose of for him. I am in his +confidence, as I can prove to you if you will give me the opportunity. I +have papers at home that will satisfy any one of my right to open this +safe and to negotiate such papers as are designated in Mr. Stoughton's +cablegrams."</p> + +<p>"I don't doubt it." The words came easily from the mobile lips of the +wily Beau Johnson. "But it was not to do Mr. Stoughton's business that +you opened the safe just now. You have had no orders to-day; you had no +order yesterday. Another purpose is in your mind—a personal purpose. It +is this abuse of Mr. Stoughton's confidence which brings me here. <i>You +want three thousand dollars badly!</i>"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +<a name="xiv" id="xiv"></a><small>CHAPTER XIV</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>You do not answer</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap2">SHE recoiled. Strong as she was, she was not proof against this +surprise.</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?" she asked, her voice losing its clear tone. "I +do not deny it, but how could you know what I thought to be a secret +between——"</p> + +<p>"You and your lover? Well—we—the police know many things, young lady. +We have a gift. We also have a kind of foreknowledge. I could tell you +something of your future if you will deign to listen to me. Your lover +is an honest man. What do you suppose he will do when he hears that you +have been arrested for attempted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> burglary on your employer's effects?"</p> + +<p>He had been slowly advancing as he reeled off these glib sentences, but +he paused as he met her smile. It was not of the same sort as his, but +it was not without a certain suggestiveness which he felt it would be +best for him to understand before he threw off his mask.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what he will do," said she, meeting the false detective's +eye as she laid her hand on the safe, "but I know what I shall do if you +carry out the purpose you threaten. Show my papers to the police and +demand evidence of my having any bad intentions in opening this safe +this morning. I think you will have difficulty in producing any. I think +that you will only prove yourself a fool. Are you so strong with the +authorities as to brave that?"</p> + +<p>Astonished at her insight and more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> than astonished at her self-control, +the experienced cracksman paused, and then in tones he rarely used, +remarked quietly:</p> + +<p>"You are playing with your life, Miss Lee. I have a pistol leveled at +you from my pocket, and I'm the man to fire if you give me the slightest +occasion to do so. I'm Beau Johnson, miss, a detective if you please, +but also a tolerably experienced cracksman, and I want a taste of those +bonds."</p> + +<p>"And Mr. Fellows?"</p> + +<p>The words rang out clear and fearlessly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he? He's a muff. You needn't concern yourself about him. The +matter's between us two. Three thousand dollars for you, and a little +more, perhaps, for me, and I to take all the blame."</p> + +<p>Her eye stole toward the door. No<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> one could enter that way, she knew. +Even her screams, if she survived them, might alarm, but could not bring +her help for several minutes, if not longer. Yet she did not tremble; +only grew a shade paler.</p> + +<p>"You do not answer. What have you to say?"</p> + +<p>"This." She was like marble now. "You will not kill me, because that +would be virtually to kill yourself. You cannot leave this room without +my help, nor fire a shot without being caught like a rat in a trap. I +want three thousand dollars, and I mean to have them, but I do not see +how you are going to get the few more which you promise yourself. +Certainly I am not going to aid you in doing so, and you cannot open +that safe. You have not the musical training."</p> + +<p>"No." The word came like a shot,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> possibly in lieu of a shot, for if +ever he felt murderous it was at that moment. "I have not a musical +training, but that does not make me helpless. In a few moments I shall +have the pleasure of hearing you test your voice again. There's the +office clock ticking; count the strokes."</p> + +<p>She stood fascinated. What did he mean by this? Involuntarily she did +his bidding.</p> + +<p>"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, <i>eleven</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," he repeated, "eleven! And at half past your old father dies."</p> + +<p>"Dies?" Her lips did not frame the words; her eyes looked it, her whole +sinking, suddenly collapsing figure gave voice to the maddening query, +"<i>Dies?</i>"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr /> + + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +<a name="xv" id="xv"></a><small>CHAPTER XV</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>Now, if Fellows will stay away</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">YES. Such is the understanding if I do not telephone my pals to hold +off. He's not at home; he's with my friends. They don't care very much +about old men, and if I have not a decent show of money by half-past +eleven this morning the orders are to knock him on the head. It won't +take a very hard knock. He was far from being in prime condition this +morning."</p> + +<p>She had shown great feeling at the beginning of this address, but at its +close she drew herself up <a name="again" id="again"></a><ins title="original has againand">again and</ins> met him with +something of her old composure.</p> + +<p>"These are all lies," said she. "My father would never leave his house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +at the instigation of any gang. In the first place, he is not strong +enough to attempt the stairs. You cannot deceive me in this fashion."</p> + +<p>"He might be carried down."</p> + +<p>"He wouldn't submit to that, nor would the other lodgers in the house +allow it without an express order from me."</p> + +<p>"They got the order; not from you, but from him. He demanded to be +allowed to go. You see, Mr. Fellows sent a message that you were hurt—I +will speak the whole truth, and say dying. The old man could not be held +after that. He went with the messenger."</p> + +<p>Her cheeks were now like ashes. She had gauged the man before her and +felt that he was fully capable of this villainy. How great a villainy +she alone knew who had the history of this old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> man in her heart.</p> + +<p>"He went with the messenger," repeated Johnson, watching her face with a +cruel leer. "That messenger knew where to take him. You may be sure it +was to a place quite unknown to the police and to every one else but +myself. Five minutes more gone, miss. In just twenty-five minutes more +you will be an orphan and one impediment to your marriage will be at an +end. How about the other?"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she wailed. "If I could really believe you!"</p> + +<p>"I can smooth away that doubt. If you will promise not to compromise me +with the clerks or any one inside there, I will allow you to telephone +home and learn the truth of what I have told you. Anything further will +end all business between us and wind up your father's affairs at the +hour set. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> can afford to humor you for ten minutes more in this +nonsense."</p> + +<p>"I will do it," she cried. "I must know what I am fighting before——" +She caught herself back, but he was quite able to finish the sentence +for her.</p> + +<p>"Before you submit to the inevitable," he smiled.</p> + +<p>Her head fell and he pointed toward the door.</p> + +<p>"I will trust you to guard my—our interests," said he. "Open and go +directly to your own telephone."</p> + +<p>With a staggering step she obeyed. Creeping up stealthily behind her he +watched her manner of opening the door and profited by the one quick +glance he got of the office as she stepped through and passed hurriedly +forward to her desk. There was no one within sight. Mr. Fellows had not +yet returned and the clerks were too remote<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> to notice her agitation or +pay attention to her gait or the tremulousness of her tone as she called +for her home number.</p> + +<p>"Couldn't be better," thought he. "Now if Fellows will stay away long +enough, I'll be able to double the boodle I've promised myself." This +with a chuckle.</p> + +<p>Meantime Miss Lee had got in her message. The answer sent her flying +toward him.</p> + +<p>"He's gone! He's gone!" she gasped. "My old, old father! Oh, you wretch! +Save him and——"</p> + +<p>"You save me first," he whispered, and was about to draw her back into +the room with the safe, when the outer door opened and a stranger +entered on business.</p> + +<p>Her agony at the interruption and the few necessary words it involved +caused the visitor to stare. But she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> was able to make herself +intelligible and to turn him over to one of the clerks, after which she +rejoined Johnson, closing the door quietly behind her.</p> + +<p>His greeting was characteristic.</p> + +<p>"You waste breath," said he, "by all this emotion. You'll need it to +open the safe."</p> + +<p>"What guarantee have I that you will keep your part of the contract?" +she cried. "I sing—the door opens—you help yourself, and you go. That +does not restore to me my father."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll play fair. In proof of it, here's my pistol. If on our going +out I do not stop with you at the telephone and let you communicate with +your father and send my own message of release, then shoot me in the +back. I give you leave."</p> + +<p>Taking the pistol he held out, she cocked it, and looking into the +chambers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> found they were all full.</p> + +<p>"I know how to use it," she said simply.</p> + +<p>Admiration showed in his face. He bowed and pointed toward the tube.</p> + +<p>"Now for the song," he cried.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +<a name="xvi" id="xvi"></a><small>CHAPTER XVI</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>It was not paper I meant to have</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap">WITH a bound she took her stand. She was white as death and greatly +excited. Watching her curiously, the crafty villain noted the quick +throbbing of her throat and the feverish grip on the pistol.</p> + +<p>"Time is galloping," he remarked.</p> + +<p>She gave a gasp, opened her lips and essayed to sing. An awful, +indescribable murmur was all that could be heard. Stiffening herself, +she resolutely calmed down her agitation and tried again. The result was +but little better than before. Turning with a cry, she looked with +<a name="horror" id="horror"></a><ins title="original has horrorstricken">horror-stricken</ins> eyes into the unmoved, slightly +sardonic face of the man behind her.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I cannot sing! You have frightened away my voice. I cannot raise that +note even to save my father's life. I'm choking, choking." Then as she +caught the devilish gleam lighting up his eye, she added, "You will +never have those thousands! The safe is closed to us both."</p> + +<p>He laughed, a very low, cautious laugh, but it made her eyes distend +with uncertainty and dread.</p> + +<p>"You fail to do justice to my forethought," said he.</p> + +<p>"I took this into my calculations. I know women; they can be wicked +enough, but they lack coolness. Let me see now what I can do. I cannot +sing, but I have a little <i>aide de camp</i> which can."</p> + +<p>Walking away from her, he approached a small table on which stood an +object she had never seen in that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> room before. It was covered with a +cloth, and as he removed this cloth, she reeled with surprise; then she +became still with hope and the rush of fresh and overpowering emotions.</p> + +<p>A graphophone stood revealed, one of the finest quality. It was set to +play the air so often on her lips, and in another moment that keen, high +note rang through the room,—that and no more.</p> + +<p>It answered. Slowly, softly, after one breathless moment, the door they +both watched with fascinated gaze swung slowly ajar, just as they had +seen it do at the beginning of this interview, and Johnson, coming +forward, pulled it open with a jerk and began to fumble among the +contents of the safe.</p> + +<p>She could have killed him easily. He had forgotten—but so had she, and +there was no one else by to remind her.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> Had there been, he would have +seen a strange spectacle, for no sooner had Johnson's hand struck those +shelves and minute drawers, than Grace Lee's whole attitude and +expression changed. From a terrified, incapable woman, she became again +her old self, strong, self-controlled, watchful. Creeping up behind him, +she looked over his shoulders as he examined with his quick, experienced +eye the various papers he drew out, noting his anger and growing +disappointment as he found them unavailable for immediate use. Conscious +of her presence, his rage grew till it shot forth in words. Not stinting +oaths, he whirled on her after a moment and asked where the securities +were. "<i>You</i> meant to have them; you know where the ready money is. Show +me, show me at once or——"</p> + +<p>Then a great anguish passed across<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> her face, a look of farewell to +hopes sweet and dearly cherished. If he saw it he did not heed. All his +evil, indomitable will shone in the eye he turned up askance at her, and +though she held the means of killing him in her hand, she bowed to that +will, and leaning over him, she whispered in his ear:</p> + +<p>"It was not paper I meant to have, but—but something else—I——"</p> + +<p>She stopped, for breath was leaving her. His slim, assured hand was +straying toward a certain knob hidden partly from sight, but plain to +the touch if his fingers crept that way.</p> + +<p>"Listen!" She was gasping now, but her hand laid on his shoulder +emphasized her words. "There are jewels at the other end; Mrs. +Stoughton's bridal jewels. They are worth thousands. I—I—meant to take +those. They are in a compartment under that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> lower drawer. Yes, +yes—there they are; take them and be gone. I—I have lost—but you will +give me back my father? See! there are not many minutes left. Oh, be +merciful and——"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +<a name="xvii" id="xvii"></a><small>CHAPTER XVII</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>Now for my part of the bargain</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap2">HE was looking at the jewels, appraising them, making sure they were +real and marketable. She was looking at them, too, with a wild longing +and a bitter disappointment, which he, turning at that moment to mark +her looks, saw and rated at its full value.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess they'll do," he exclaimed, pausing in his task of +thrusting the gems in his pocket to hand her a bracelet ornamented with +one small diamond. "But I expected more from all this fuss and feathers. +Was it to guard these——"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she murmured, thrusting the bracelet into the neck of her dress +and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> stepping quickly back. "They are priceless to the owner. +Associations you know. Mrs. Stoughton is dead—There! that will do. Now +for my part of the bargain," and bethinking her at last of the pistol, +she raised it and pointed it full in his face. "You will close that door +now and send the telephone you promised."</p> + +<p>He rose and banged to the door.</p> + +<p>"All right," he cried. "You've behaved well. Now hide that pistol in +your waist and we'll step into the outer office."</p> + +<p>She did as she was bid, and in a moment more they were crossing the +floor outside. As they did so, she noticed that the two clerks had been +sent out to luncheon, leaving them alone with Mr. Fellows. This was not +encouraging, nor did she like the click which at this moment Beau +Johnson<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> made with his tongue. It sounded like a preconcerted signal. +Whether so or not, it brought Mr. Fellows from his room, and in another +instant he was standing with them before the telephone. There was a +clock over the safe-room door. It stood at just +<a name="twenty" id="twenty"></a><ins title="orignal has tw nty-five">twenty-five</ins> +minutes after eleven.</p> + +<p>"Hurry!" she whispered as the other took up the receiver.</p> + +<p>She did not need to say it. His own anxiety seemed to be as great as +hers, but his anxiety was to be gone. The nerve which sustained him +while the issue was doubtful gave some slight tokens of failing, now +that his efforts had brought success and only this small obligation lay +between him and the enjoyment of the booty he had won at such a risk. +She was sure that his voice trembled as he uttered the familiar. +"Hello!" and during the inter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>change of words which followed, the strain +was perhaps as great on him as on her.</p> + +<p>"Hello! how's the old man?"</p> + +<p>She could hear the answer. It swept her fears away in a moment.</p> + +<p>"Well, but anxious about the girl."</p> + +<p>"She's all right, everything's all right. Take the sick man home and +tell him that his daughter will be there almost as soon as he is."</p> + +<p>"I must hear my father's voice." It was Grace who was speaking. "I will +give a cry that will echo through this building if you do not put me in +communication with him at once."</p> + +<p>Her hand went out to the receiver.</p> + +<p>The veins on Beau Johnson's forehead stood out threateningly.</p> + +<p>"Curse you!" he muttered; but he gave the order just the same.</p> + +<p>"Hello! Don't shut off. The girl's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> nervous; +<a name="wants" id="wants"></a><ins title="original has want's">wants</ins> to hear her +father's voice. Have him up! two words from him will answer."</p> + +<p>"Father!"</p> + +<p>Grace's mouth was at the phone.</p> + +<p>No reply.</p> + +<p>She cast one look at Johnson.</p> + +<p>"They're getting him on his feet," he grumbled. <i>His</i> eye was on the +door.</p> + +<p>"Father!" she called again, her voice tremulous with doubt and anxiety.</p> + +<p>A murmur this time, but she recognized it.</p> + +<p>"It's he! it's he," she cried. "He's safe; he's well. <i>Father!</i>"</p> + +<p>But Johnson had no time for dilly-dallying. Catching the receiver back, +he took his place again at the phone and shouted a few final +injunctions. Then he faced her with the question:</p> + +<p>"Are you satisfied?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> She nodded, speechless at last and almost +breathless from exhaustion. He bowed and made for the door. As he opened +it, Mr. Fellows slid forward and joined him. Both were leaving. He as +well as Johnson. She caught the look which the manager threw her as he +closed the door behind them. There was threat in that look and her heart +strings tightened as she stood alone there facing her fearful duty. Mr. +Fellows was a thief! The manager of this concern was even then perhaps +walking off with the booty wrenched from her care by the devil's own +inquisition. What should she do? Send for Philip? Yes, that was all her +tortured mind could grasp. She would send for her own Philip and get his +advice before she notified the police or sent the inevitable cablegram. +She was too ill, too shaken to do more.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> Philip! Philip!</p> + +<p>She was fainting—she felt it, and was raising her voice to call in one +of the clerks, when the outer door opened and Mr. Fellows came in. She +had not expected him back. She had fondly believed that he had gone with +his professional comrade; and the sight of him caused her to rise again +to her feet.</p> + +<p>"You!" she murmured, facing him in dull wonder at his renewed look of +threat. "I cannot stay in the same room with you. You are——"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span></p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +<a name="xviii" id="xviii"></a><small>CHAPTER XVIII</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>What have you done among you</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">NEVER mind me," came clearly and coldly from his lips. "It is of +yourself you must think. Here, officer!" he cried, opening the door +again and ushering in a man in plain clothes, but evidently one of the +force. "This is the young lady. I accuse her of taking advantage of her +power to open Mr. Stoughton's private safe to steal his jewels. Her +confederate has escaped. He had a pistol and I had no means of stopping +him. But she is right here and you will make no mistake in arresting +her. The booty is on her, and smart as she is, she cannot deny that +proof."</p> + +<p>With a cry, Grace's hand went up to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> her throat.</p> + +<p>Then she settled into her usual self once more.</p> + +<p>The officer, eyeing her, asked what she had to say for herself.</p> + +<p>"A great deal," was her low answer. "But I shall not say it here. If Mr. +Fellows will go with me to wherever you take people suspected of what +you suspect me, I can soon make plain my position. But first I should +like to send for my friend, Mr. Philip Andrews. He is with the Stickney +Company, and he is acquainted with my affairs and the understanding +between Mr. Stoughton and myself by which I have access to that +gentleman's safe and do much of his private business for him."</p> + +<p>"That's all right. Send for Mr. Andrews if you wish, but you mustn't +expect to talk to him without witnesses. Is that your coat and hat?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, put them on."</p> + +<p>Mr. Fellows advanced and whispered something in the officer's ear. +Immediately the suspicious look grew in his eyes, and he watched her +every movement with increased care. She saw this and stepped up to him.</p> + +<p>"I shall not deny having this piece of jewelry about my person," she +said, drawing the bracelet from its hiding place. "The man whom Mr. +Fellows calls my confederate gave it to me and I took it; but it will be +hard for him or any one else to prove that it is a theft, harder than it +will be for me to prove who is the real culprit here and the man whom +you ought to arrest. Watch me, but watch him also; he is more deserving +of your close attention than I am."</p> + +<p>Her disdain, her poise, the beauty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> which came out on her face when she +was greatly stirred, gave her a striking appearance at that moment. The +officer stared, then followed her glance toward Mr. Fellows. What he saw +in him made him thoughtful. Turning back to Miss Lee, he said kindly +enough, "Will you let me have that bracelet?"</p> + +<p>She passed it over and he thrust it in his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Now," said he, "I will go first. In a few minutes follow me and go down +Nassau Street. A carriage will be at the curb. Take it. As for Mr. +Fellows——"</p> + +<p>"I cannot leave till some of the clerks come in."</p> + +<p>"We will all wait till a clerk comes."</p> + +<p>Mr. Fellows paled.</p> + +<p>"Here is one now."</p> + +<p>The door opened and Philip Andrews came in.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="in" id="in"></a> +<img src="images/gs06.jpg" width="400" height="668" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"The door opened and Philip Andrews came in"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +"Oh, Philip!"</p> + +<p>"What is this? What have you done among you?"</p> + +<p>It was no wonder he asked. At sight of him Grace Lee had fainted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +<a name="xix" id="xix"></a><small>CHAPTER XIX</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>So that was your motive</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap2">TWO hours later Grace was explaining herself. She was still pale, but +very calm now, though a little sad. The sadness was not occasioned by +any doubt she felt about her father. She had telephoned home and learned +that he had arrived there and was well, and had nothing but good to say +of his captors. No, there was another cause for her manifest depression, +a cause not disconnected with Philip, toward whom her eyes ever and anon +stole with an uneasy appeal which her mother would have been troubled to +see. But it comforted Fellows, who began to regard her threats as idle +in face of the evidence of her complicity as afforded by the concealed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +bracelet.</p> + +<p>The officer on duty was questioning her. Had she done this and that? +Yes, she had. Why? Then she told her story—the story you have already +read. As she proceeded with it, every eye sparkled under the graphic +tale, and the police, who had some acquaintance with Beau Johnson, +recognized his hand in all that she told. One face only wore a sneer, +and that was Fellows's. But no sneer could discredit a story told with +such vim and straightforward earnestness. As she mentioned the emptying +of the office, each person present turned and gave him a look. The +manager had undertaken a piece of work too big for him. His explanations +of the presence of the graphophone in this inner office were feeble and +contradictory.</p> + +<p>But he had his revenge, or thought he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> had, when she came to the jewels. +She had pointed them out, but only to save a worse disaster. Injury to +her father? "Yes, and——" She paused and her voice thrilled. "In one of +the secret drawers," she continued, "there was an immense amount of +currency in large denominations, the loss of which would cripple the +business, if not bankrupt Mr. Stoughton. His hand was feeling its way +along the face of this drawer. In another moment he would have +discovered the tiny knob by the manipulation of which this drawer opens. +To save the struggle which would have ensued, I directed his attention +elsewhere. I don't believe I did wrong."</p> + +<p>"But you accepted one of these articles as your share. Do you believe +you did right in this?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I will not mention the smallness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> of the share, for that makes the +portion saved for the owner of little account. Yet that portion is +saved. I wish it had been a larger one."</p> + +<p>"No doubt. So that was your motive—to save this souvenir for Mr. +Stoughton?"</p> + +<p>Casting a proud look at Philip, she moved a step nearer to the table on +which the bracelet lay. "Will you be good enough," she asked her +interrogator, "to take up that bracelet and read the initials on the +inner side?"</p> + +<p>"R. S. T.," read the official.</p> + +<p>"Does any one here know Mrs. Stoughton's maiden name?"</p> + +<p>Evidently not, for all remained silent.</p> + +<p>"Does any one here know my mother's maiden name?"</p> + +<p>Philip started.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he cried, "I do. Her name was Rhoda Selden Titus."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="official" id="official"></a> +<img src="images/gs07.jpg" width="400" height="671" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'R. S. T.' read the official"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>"R. S. T.," smiled Grace. "This bracelet was my mother's. Mr. Stoughton +allowed me to place this keepsake and some other valuables of mine in +his private safe. <a name="comma" id="comma"></a><ins title="comma added">Gentlemen,</ins> the whole of those jewels were mine—my +sole and only fortune. I was keeping them for"—her eyes stole toward +Philip—"for my marriage portion, the secret and great surprise I had +planned for my future husband. They are worth some five thousand +dollars—my mother was the daughter of a wealthy man. They would have +given us a home if I could have kept them; they would also have given my +husband a start in business, and this I should have preferred, but I +could not let Mr. Stoughton's securities be endangered, and so they had +to go. Philip, cannot you forgive me when you think that it was through +my folly the secret of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> safe became known?"</p> + +<p>"I forgive you?" He could not show his feelings, but his eyes were +eloquent; so were Fellows's; so were those of the various officials.</p> + +<p>"You can prove these statements, Miss Lee?" asked one.</p> + +<p>"Easily," she replied.</p> + +<p>Then they turned to Fellows.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +<a name="xx" id="xx"></a><small>CHAPTER XX</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>A jewel of far greater value</i>"</p> + +<p class="cap2">GRACE never got back her jewels. The wily Johnson was not caught, though +Fellows turned state's evidence and did all he could to have the +professional netted in the same manner as himself. But she did not +suffer from this loss. When Mr. Stoughton learned the full particulars +of this daring robbery, he made good to her the value of those jewels, +and the prosperity of this young couple was secured. He was even present +at the wedding. Grace wore her mother's bracelet, but on her breast was +a jewel of far greater value. On its back was engraved,</p> + +<p class="center">To brave G. L.<br /> +From her grateful friend, T. S.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="wedding" id="wedding"></a> +<img src="images/gs08.jpg" width="600" height="358" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"He was even present at the wedding"</span> +</div> + + +<hr /> + +<h4>Transcriber's Note:</h4> + +<p class="center">Changes have been made to the original publication as follows:</p> + +<table summary="Transcriber's Note"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 12</td> +<td class="tdl2">which for some inscrutible <i>changed to</i><br /> +which for some <a href="#inscrutable">inscrutable</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 15</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + you're proposition, Mr. Fellows <i>changed to</i><br /> + <a href="#your">your</a> proposition, Mr. Fellows</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 69</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + window You can see it <i>changed to</i><br /> + <a href="#stop">window.</a> You can see it</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 77</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + attempted some purile protest <i>changed to</i><br /> + attempted some <a href="#puerile">puerile</a> protest</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 78</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + done by day and duing <i>changed to</i><br /> + done by day and <a href="#during">during</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 100</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + screaming will do no you good <i>changed to</i><br /> + screaming will <a href="#do">do you no</a> good</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 113</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + drew herself up againand met him with <i>changed to</i><br /> + drew herself up <a href="#again">again and</a> met him with</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 123</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + horrorstricken eyes into the unmoved <i>changed to</i><br /> + <a href="#horror">horror-stricken</a> eyes into the unmoved</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 133</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + stood at just tw nty-five <i>changed to</i><br /> + stood at just <a href="#twenty">twenty</a>-five</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 134</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + want's to hear her <i>changed to</i><br /> + <a href="#wants">wants</a> to hear her</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 153</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + Gentlemen the whole of those <i>changed to</i><br /> + <a href="#comma">Gentlemen,</a> the whole of those</td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law 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: Three Thousand Dollars + +Author: Anna Katharine Green + +Release Date: June 13, 2010 [EBook #32795] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + +THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS + + + + +[Illustration: "_Now state your problem_"] + + + + + THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS + + BY + + ANNA KATHARINE GREEN + + + AUTHOR OF + + "THE LEAVENWORTH CASE," "THE MILLIONAIRE BABY," + "THE MAYOR'S WIFE," "THE FILIGREE BALL," + ETC., ETC. + + + BOSTON + RICHARD G. BADGER + THE GORHAM PRESS + 1910 + + + + + Copyright, 1909, by Richard G. Badger + Copyright, 1908 and 1909, by the Crowell + Publishing Company + + All Rights Reserved + + The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I "Do you know what would happen to him" 9 + + II "Thousands in that safe" 17 + + III "How does it stand" 23 + + IV "Stenographers must be counted" 29 + + V "I've business with him" 35 + + VI "If I could tell you his story" 43 + + VII "I'm sure that I can get them for you" 51 + + VIII "I did as you bid me" 59 + + IX "'The safe door is opened,' I cried" 67 + + X "I have a scheme" 75 + + XI "She will go in" 81 + + XII "A block of steel" 89 + + XIII "I am from headquarters" 95 + + XIV "You do not answer" 103 + + XV "Now, if Fellows will stay away" 111 + + XVI "It was not paper I meant to have" 121 + + XVII "Now for my part of the bargain" 129 + + XVIII "What have you done among you" 139 + + XIX "So that was your motive" 147 + + XX "A jewel of far greater value" 155 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + OPPOSITE PAGE + + "Now state your problem" Frontis + + "He transferred his attention to the door" 38 + + "Grace, you have misunderstood me" 48 + + "An old man was looking up at the face of a young girl" 80 + + "She was ignorant of his presence" 100 + + "The door opened and Philip Andrews came in" 144 + + "'R. S. T.,' read the official" 152 + + "He was even present at the wedding" 158 + + + + +THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS + +CHAPTER I + +"_Do you know what would happen to him?_" + + +"Now state your problem." + +The man who was thus addressed shifted uneasily on the long bench which +he and his companion bestrode. He was facing the speaker, and though +very little light sifted through the cobweb-covered window high over +their heads, he realized that what there was fell on his features, and +he was not sure of his features, or of what effect their expression +might have on the other man. + +"Are you sure we are quite alone in this big, desolate place?" he +asked. + +It seemed a needless question. Though it was broad daylight outside and +they were in the very heart of the most populated district of lower New +York, they could not have been more isolated had the surrounding walls +been those of some old ruin in the heart of an untraversed desert. + +A short description of the place will explain this. They were in the +forsaken old church not far from Avenue A----, a building long given +over to desolation, and empty of everything but débris and one or two +broken stalls, which for some inscrutable reason--possibly from some +latent instinct of inherited reverence--had not yet been converted into +junk and sold to the old clothes men by the rapacious denizens of the +surrounding tenements. + +Perhaps you remember this building; perhaps some echo of the bygone and +romantic has come to you as you passed its decaying walls once dedicated +to worship, but soulless now and only distinguishable from the +five-story tenements pressing up on either side, by its one high window +in which some bits of colored glass still lingered amid its twisted and +battered network. You may remember the building and you may remember the +stray glimpses afforded you through the arched opening in the lower +story of one of the adjacent tenements, of the churchyard in its rear +with its chipped and tumbling head-*stones just showing here and there +above the accumulated litter. But it is not probable that you have any +recollections of the interior of the church itself, shut as it has been +from the eye of the public for nearly a generation. And it is with the +interior we have to do--a great hollow vault where once altar and +priest confronted a reverent congregation. There is no altar here now, +nor any chancel; hardly any floor. The timbers which held the pews have +rotted and fallen away, and what was once a cellar has received all this +rubbish and held it piled up in mounds which have blocked up most of the +windows and robbed the place even of the dim religious light which was +once its glory, so that when the man whose words we have just quoted +asked if they were quite alone and peered into the dim, belumbered +corners, it was but natural for his hardy, resolute, and unscrupulous +companion to snort with impatience and disgust as he answered: + +"Would I have brought you here if I hadn't known it was the safest place +in New York for this kind of talk? Why, man, there may be in this city +five men all told, who know the trick of the door I unfastened for you, +and not one of them is a cop. You may take my word for that. +Besides----" + +"But the kids? They're everywhere; and if one of them should have +followed us----" + +"Do you know what would happen to him? I'll tell you a story--no, I +won't; you're frightened enough already. But there's no kid here, nor +any one else but our two selves, unless it be some wandering spook from +the congregations laid outside; and spooks don't count. So out with +your proposition, Mr. Fellows. I----" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +"_Thousands in that safe_" + + +"No names!" hoarsely interrupted the other. "If you speak my name again +I'll give the whole thing up." + +"No you won't; you're too deep in it for that. But I'll drop the Fellows +and just call you Sam. If that's too familiar, we'll drop the job. I'm +not so keen on it." + +"You will be. It's right in your line." Sam Fellows, as he was called, +was whispering now--a hot, eager whisper, breathing of guilt and +desperation. "If I could do it alone--but I haven't the wit--the----" + +"Experience," dryly put in the other. "Well, well!" he exclaimed +impatiently, as Fellows crept nearer, but said nothing. + +"I'm going to speak, but--Well, then, here's how it is!" he suddenly +conceded, warned by the other's eye. "The building is a twenty-story +one, chuck full and alive with business. The room I mean is on the +twelfth floor; it is one of five, all communicating, and all in constant +use except the one holding the safe. And that is visited constantly. +Some one is always going in and out. Indeed, it is a rule of the firm +that every one of the employees must go into that room once, at least, +during the day, and remain there for five minutes alone. I do it; every +one does it; it's a very mysterious proceeding which only a crank like +my employer would devise." + +"What do you do there?" + +"Nothing. I'm speaking now for myself. The others--some of the +others--_one_ of the others may open the safe. That's what I believe, +that's what I want to know about and _how it's done_. There are +thousands in that safe, and the old man being away----" + +"Yes, this is all very interesting. Go on. What you want is an artist +with a jimmy." + +"No, no. It's no such job as that. I want to know the person, the +trusted person who has all those securities within touch. It's a mania +with me. I should have been the man. I'm--I'm _manager_." + +The hoarseness with which this word was uttered, the instinct of shame +which made his eyes fall as it struggled from his lips, wakened a +curious little gleam of hardy cynicism in the steady gaze of his +listener. + +"Oh, you're manager, are you!" came in slow retort, filling a silence +that had more of pain than pleasure in it. "Well, manager, your story is +very interesting, but by no means complete. Suppose you hurry on to the +next instalment." + +Cringing as from a blow, Fellows took up his tale, no longer creeping +nearer his would-be confederate, but, if anything, edging away. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +"_How does it stand_" + + +"I've watched and watched and watched," said he, "but I can't pick out +the man. Letters come, orders are given, and those orders are carried +out, but _not by me_. I'm speaking now of investments, or the payment of +large sums; anything which calls for the opening of that safe where the +old man has stuffed away his thousands. Small matters fall to my share. +There is another safe, of which I hold the combination. Child's play, +but the other! It would make both of us independent, and yet leave +something for appearances. But it can't be worked. It stands in front of +a glass door from which the curtain is drawn every night. Every +passerby can look in. If it is opened it must be done in broad daylight +and by the person whom the old man trusts. By that means only would I +get my revenge, and revenge is what I want. He don't trust me, _me_ who +have been with him for seven years and----" + +"Drop that, it isn't interesting. The facts are what I want. What kind +of safe is it?" + +"The strangest you ever saw. I don't know who made it. There's nothing +on it to show. Nor is there a lock or combination. But it opens. You can +just see the outline of a door. Steel--fine steel, and not so very +large, but the contents----" + +"We'll take its contents for granted. How does it stand? On a platform?" + +"Yes, one foot from the floor. The platform runs all the way across the +room and holds other things; a table which nobody uses, a revolving +bookcase and a series of shelves, fitted with boxes containing old +receipts and such junk. Sometimes I go through these; but nothing ever +comes of it." He paused, as if the subject were distasteful. + +"And the safe is opened?" + +"Almost every week. I'm ashamed to tell you the old duffer's methods; +they're loony. But he isn't a lunatic. At any rate, they don't think so +in Wall Street." + +"I'll make a guess at his name." + +"Not yet. You'll have to swear----" + +"Oh, we're both in it. Never mind the heroics. It's too good a thing to +peach on. Me and the manager! I like that. Take it easy till the job's +done, anyway. And now I'll take a fly at the name. It's----" + +He had the grace to whisper. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +"_Stenographers must be counted_" + + +Young Fellows squirmed and turned a shade paler, if one could trust the +sickly violet ray that shot down from the once exquisitely colored +window high up over their heads. + +"Hush!" he muttered; and the other grinned. Evidently the guess was a +correct one. + +"No, he's no lunatic," the professional quietly declared. "But he has +queer ways. Which of his queers do you object to?" + +"When his letters come, or more often his cablegrams, they are opened by +me and then put in plain view on a certain little bulletin board in the +main office. These are his orders. Any one who knows the cipher can +read them. I don't know the cipher. At night I take them down, number +them, and file them away. They have served their purpose. They have been +seen by the person whose business it is to carry out his instructions, +and the rest you must guess. His brokers know the secret, but it is +never discussed by us. The least word and the next cablegram would read +in good plain English, 'Fire him!' I've had that experience. I've had to +fire three since he went away two months ago." + +"That's good." + +"Why good?" + +"That cuts out three from your list. _The person is not among the ones +dismissed._" + +"That's so." New life seemed to spring up in Fellows. "You'll do the +job," he cried. "Somehow, I never thought of going about it that way. +And I know another man that's out." + +"Who?" + +"Myself, for one. There are only seven more." + +"Counting all?" + +"All." + +"Stenographers included?" + +"Oh, stenographers!" + +"Stenographers must be counted." + +"Well, then, seven men and one woman. Our stenographer is a woman." + +"What kind of a woman?" + +"A young girl. Ordinary, but good enough. I've never noticed her very +much." + +"Tell me about the men." + +"What's the use? You wouldn't take my word. They're a cheap lot, beneath +contempt in my estimation. There's not one of them clever enough for the +business. Jack Forbush comes the nearest to it, and probably is the +one. The way he keeps his eye on me makes me suspect him. Or is he, too, +playing my game?" + +"How can I tell? How can I tell anything from what you say? I'll have to +look into the matter myself. Give me the names and addresses and I'll +look the parties up. Get their rating, so to speak. Leave it to me, and +I'll land the old man's confidential clerk." + +"Here's the list. I thought you might want it." + +"Where's the girl's name?" + +"The girl! Oh, pshaw!" + +"Put her name down just the same." + +"There, then. Grace Lee. Address, 74 East ---- Street. And now swear on +the honor of a gentleman----" + +Beau Johnson pulled the rim of Fellows's hat over his eyes to suggest +what he thought of this demand. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +"_I've business with him_" + + +Next day there appeared at the offices of Thomas Stoughton, in Nassau +Street, a trim, well-looking man, who had urgent business with Mr. +Fellows, the manager. He was kept waiting for some time before being +introduced into that gentleman's private room; but this did not seem to +disturb him. There was plenty to look at, or so he seemed to think, and +his keen, noncommittal eyes flashed hither and thither and from face to +face with restless activity. He seemed particularly interested in the +bookkeeper of the establishment, but it was an interest which did not +last long, and when a neat, pleasant-faced young woman rose from her +seat and passed rapidly across the room, it was upon her his eyes +settled and remained fixed, with a growing attention, until a certain +door closed upon her with a sound like a snapping lock. Then he +transferred his attention to the door, and was still gazing at it when a +boy summoned him to the manager's office. + +He went in with reluctance. He had rather have watched that door. But he +had questions to ask, and so made a virtue of necessity. Mr. Fellows was +not pleased to see him. He started quite guiltily from his seat and only +sat again on compulsion--the compulsion of his visitor's steady and +quelling eye. + +"I've business with you, Mr. Fellows." Then, the boy being gone, "Which +is the room? The one opening out of the general office directly opposite +this?" + +[Illustration: "_He transferred his attention to the door_"] + +Mr. Fellows nodded. + +"I have just seen one of the employees go in there. I should like to see +that person come out. Do you mind talking with this door open? I know +enough about banking to hold up my end of the conversation." + +Fellows rose with a jerk and pushed the door back. His visitor smiled +easily and launched into a discussion about stocks and bonds +interspersed with a few assertions and questions not meant for the +general ear, as: + +"_It's the girl who is in there. Not ordinary, by any means. Just the +sort an old smudge like Stoughton would be apt to trust. Now what's +that?_" + +"_Singing. She often sings. I've forbidden it, but she forgets, she +says_," answered Fellows. + +"_Pretty good music. Listen to that note. High as a prima donna's. Does +she sing at her work?_" + +"_No; I'd fire her if she did. It's only when she's walking about or +when_----" + +"_She's in that room?_" + +"_Yes_." + +"At par? I buy nothing at par. _There! She's coming. I wish I dared +intercept her, rifle her pockets. Do you know if she has pockets?_" + +"_No; how should I?_" + +"_Fellows, you're not worth your salt. Ah! there's a face for you, and I +can read it like a book. Did a letter or cablegram come to-day?_" + +"_Yes; didn't you see it? Hung up in the outer office_." + +"_I thought I saw something_. Ninety-five? That's a quotation worth +listening to. Three at ninety-five. _That girl's a trump. I will see +more of my lady._" Here he took care to shut the door. "I've been the +rounds, Fellows. Private-detective work and all that. She is the only +puzzler among the group. You'll hear from me again; meanwhile treat the +girl well. Don't spring any traps; leave that to me." + +And Fellows, panting with excitement, promised, muttering under his +breath: + +"A woman! That's even worse than I thought. But we'll make the old +fellow pay for it. Those securities are ours. I already feel them in my +hand." + +The sinister twitch which marred the other's mouth emphasized the +assertion in a way Grace Lee's friends would have trembled to see. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +"_If I could tell you his story_" + + +That evening a young woman and a young man sat on one of the benches in +Central Park. They were holding hands, but modestly and with a clinging +affection. No one appeared in sight; they had the moon-light, the +fragrance of the spring foliage, and their true love all to themselves. +The woman was Grace, the young man was Philip Andrews, a candid-eyed, +whole-hearted fellow whom any girl might be proud to be seen with, much +more to be engaged to. Grace was proud, but she was more than that; her +heart was all involved in her hope--a good heart which he was equally +proud to have won. Yet while love was theirs and the surroundings +breathed peace and joy, they did not look quite happy. A cloud was on +his brow and something like a tear in her eye as she spoke gently but +with rare firmness. + +"Philip, we must wait. One love does not put out another. I cannot leave +my old father now. He is too feeble and much too dependent on me. +Philip, you do not know my father. You have seen him, it is true, many, +many times. You have talked with him and even have nursed him at odd +moments, when I had to be out of the room getting supper or supplying +some of his many wants. Yet you do not know him." + +"I know that he is intelligent." + +"Yes, yes, that is evident. Any one can see that. And you can see, too, +that he is frequently fretful and exacting, as all old people are. But +the qualities he shows me--his strong, melancholy, but devoted nature, +quickened by an unusually unhappy life--that you do not see and cannot, +much as you like him and much as he likes you. Only the child who has +surprised him at odd moments, when he thought himself quite alone, +wringing his hands and weeping over some intolerable memory--who has +listened in the dead of night to his smothered but heart-breaking +groans, can know either his suffering or the one joy which palliates it. +If I could tell you his story--but that would be treason to one whose +rights I am bound to reverence. You will respect my silence, but you +must also take my word that he needs and has a right to all the pleasure +and all the hope my love can give him. I cannot be with him much; my +work forbids, but the little time I have is his, except on rare +occasions like this, and he knows it and is satisfied. Were I +married----. But you will wait, Philip. It may not be long--he grows +weaker every day. Besides, you are not ready yet yourself. You are doing +wonderfully well, but a year's freedom will help you materially, as it +will me. Every day is adding to our store; in a year we may be almost +independent." + +"Grace, you have misunderstood me. I said that I was no good without +you, that I needed your presence to make a man of me, but I did not mean +that you were to share my fortunes now. I would not ask that. I would be +a fool or worse, for, Grace, I'm not doing so well as you think. While I +knew that my present employment was for a specified time, I had hopes of +continuing on. But this cannot be. That's what I have to tell you +to-night. It looks as if our marriage would have to be postponed +indefinitely instead of hastened. And I can't bear it. You don't know +what you are to me, or what this disappointment is. I expected to be +raised, not dismissed, and if I had had----" + +[Illustration: "_Grace, you have misunderstood me_"] + +"What?" + +The word came very softly, and with rare tenderness. It made him turn +and look at her sweet, upturned face, with its resources of strength and +shy, unfathomable smile. "What?" she asked again, with a closer pressure +of her hand. "You must finish all your sentences with _me_." + +"I'm ashamed." He uttered it breathlessly. "What am I, to say, 'If I had +three thousand dollars the Stickney Company would keep me?' I have +barely three hundred and those are dedicated to you." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +"_I'm sure that I can get them for you_" + + +"If you had _three thousand_!" She repeated it in surprise and yet with +an indescribable air, which to one versed in human nature would have +caught the attention and aroused strange inner inquiries. "Does the +Stickney Company want money so badly as that?" + +"That's not it. They have plainly told me that for three thousand +dollars and my services they would give me ten thousand dollars' stock +interest, but insist that the man who assumes the responsibility of the +position must be financially interested as well. But I haven't the +money, and without the money my experience appears to them valueless. I +despair of getting another situation in these hard times and--Grace, you +don't look sorry." + +"Because--" she paused, and her fine eyes roamed about her jealous of a +listener to her secret, but did not pierce the bush which rose up, +cloudy with blossoms, a few feet behind their bench--"because it is not +impossible for you to hope for those thousands. I think--I am sure that +I can get them for you." + +Her voice had sunk to a whisper, but it was a very clear whisper. + +Young Andrews looked at her in surprise; there was something besides +pleasure in that surprise. + +"Where?" he asked. + +She hesitated, and just at that moment the moon slipped behind a cloud. + +"Where, Grace, can you get three thousand dollars? From Mr. Stoughton? +He is generous to you, he pays you well for what you do for him, but I +do not think he would give you that amount, nor do I think he would risk +it on any venture involving my judgment. I should not like to have you +ask him. I should like to rise feeling absolutely independent of Mr. +Stoughton." + +"I never thought of asking him. There is another way. I'd--I'd like to +think it over. If your scheme is good--_very_ good, I might be brought +to aid you in the way my mind suggests. But I should want to be sure." + +She was not looking at him now. If she had been, she might have been +startled at his expression. Nor could he see her face; she had turned it +aside. + +"Grace," he prayed, "don't do anything rash. You handle so much money +that three thousand dollars may seem very little to you. But it's a +goodly sum to get or to replace if one loses it. You must not +borrow----" + +"I will not borrow." + +"Nor raise it in any way without telling me the sacrifice you must make +to obtain it. But it's all a dream; tell me that it's all a dream; you +were talking from your wishes, not from any certainty you have. Say so, +and I will not be disappointed. I do not want _your_ money; I'd rather +go poor and wait till the times change. Don't you see? I'd be more of a +man." + +"But you'd have to take it if I gave it to you, and--perhaps I shall. I +want to see you happy, Philip; I must see you happy. I'd be willing to +risk a good deal for that. I'm not so happy myself, father suffers so, +and the care of it weighs on me. You are all I have to make me glad, and +when you are troubled my heart goes down, down. But it's getting late, +dear. It's time we went home. Don't ask me what's in my mind, but dream +of riches. I'm sure they will come. You shall earn them with the three +thousand dollars you want and which I will give you." + +"I shall earn them honestly," were the last words he said, as they rose +from the seat and began to move toward the gate. And the moon, coming +out from its temporary eclipse, shone on his clear-cut face as he said +this, but not on her bowed head and sidelong look. They were in the +shadow. + +There was something else in the shadow. As they moved away and +disappeared in the darkness the long, slim figure of a man rose from +behind the bush I have mentioned. He had a sparkling eye and a +thin-lipped mouth, and he smiled very curiously as he looked after the +pair before turning himself about and going the other way. + +It was not Fellows; it was his chosen confederate in the nefarious +scheme they had planned between them. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +"_I did as you bid me_" + + +Another meeting in the old church, but this time at night. The +somberness of the surroundings was undiminished by any light. They were +in absolute darkness. Absolute darkness, but not absolute silence. +Noises strange and suggestive, but not of any human agency, whispered, +sighed, rattled, and grumbled from far away recesses. The snap of wood, +the gnawing of rats, the rustling of bat wings disturbed the ears of one +of the guilty pair, till his voice took on unnatural tones as he tried +to tell his story to his greedy companion. They were again astride the +bench, and their thin faces were so near that their breaths commingled +at times; yet Fellows felt at moments so doubtful of all human presence +that instinctively his hand would go groping out till it touched the +other's arm or breast, when it would fall back again satisfied. He was +in a state of absolute terror of the darkness, the oppressive air, the +ghostly sounds, and possibly of the image raised by his own conscience, +yet he hugged to himself the thought of secrecy which it all involved, +and never thought of yielding up his scheme or even shortening his tale, +so long as the other listened and gave his mind to the problem which +promised them thousands without the usual humdrum method of working for +them. + +We will listen to what he had to say, leaving to your imagination the +breaks and guilty starts and moments of intense listening and anxious +fear with which he seasoned it. + +"I did as you bid me," he whispered. "Yesterday fresh orders came from +abroad, in cipher, as usual. (It's an unreadable cipher. I've had +experts on it many times.) I had hung it up, and though business was +heavy, my business, you know, I had eyes for our fair friend, and knew +every step she took about the offices. I even knew when her eyes first +fell on the cablegram. I had my door open, and I caught her looking up +from her work, and what was more, caught the pause in the click-click of +the typewriter as she looked and read. If she had not been able to read, +the click-click would have gone on, for I believe she could work that +typewriter with her eyes shut. But her attention was caught, and she +stopped. I tell you I've been humiliated for the last time. I'm in for +anything that will make that girl step down and out. What was that!" + +Muttered curses from his companion brought him back to his story. With a +gulp he went on: + +"You may bet your bottom dollar that I watched her after that, and sure +enough, in less than half an hour she had gone into the room where the +safe is. Instantly I prepared my _coup d'êtat_. I waited just long +enough to hear her voice in that one song she sings, then I jumped from +my seat and rushed to the door, shouting, 'Miss Lee! Miss Lee! Your +father! Your father!' making hullabaloo enough to raise the dead and +scare her out of her wits; for she dotes on that old man and would sell +her soul for his sake, I do believe. + +"Great heavens, it worked! As I live, it worked. I heard her voice fail +on that high upper note of hers, and then the sound of her feet +staggering, slipping over the floor, and in another moment the fumbling +of her hand on the knob and the slow opening of the door which she +seemed to have no power to manage. Helping her, I pulled it open, and +there beyond her and her white, shocked face, I saw--I saw----" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +"_'The safe door is opened,' I cried_" + + +"Go on! Don't be a fool; that was nothing." + +"I don't know; it was like a great sigh at my ear. But this is awful! +Couldn't we have one spark of light?" + +"And have the police upon us the next minute? Look up at that window. +You can see it, can't you?" + +"Yes, yes, but very faintly," Fellows whispered. + +"But you can see it. So could those outside, if we had one glimmer of +light in here. No, no, you'll have to stand the dark or quit. But you +shan't quit till you've told me what you saw in the room where the safe +is." + +"The safe door opening." His voice trembled so that the other shook him +to steady his nerves. "Not opened, mind you, but opening. It was like +magic, and I stared so that she forgot her fears and forgot her +questions. Turning from me with a startled cry, she looked behind her, +and saw what I saw, and tried to push me out. 'I'll come, I'll come,' +she whispered. 'Leave me a minute and I'll come.' + +"But I wasn't going to do that. 'The safe door is opened,' I cried. 'Did +you do it?' She didn't know what to say. I have never seen a woman in +such a state; then she whispered in awful agitation, 'Yes; I've been +given the combination by Mr. Stoughton. I'm duly following his orders. +But my father! What about my father? You frightened me so I forgot +that--' I waited, staring at her, but she didn't finish. She just +asked, 'My father? What has happened to him?' 'Nothing serious,' I +managed to say. I wished the old father was in ballyhack. But he'd +served his turn; I must say that he'd served his turn. 'A telephone +message,' I went on. 'He had had a nervous spell and wanted you. I said +that you could go home at noon.' She stood looking at me doubtfully; +then her eyes stole back to the safe. 'You will have to leave me here +for a few minutes,' she said. 'I have Mr. Stoughton's business to attend +to. He will not be pleased at my having given away his secret. He did +not wish it known who controlled his affairs in his absence, but now +that you do know, you will be doing the right thing to let me go on in +the way he has planned for me. His orders must be carried out.' + +"She is very determined, and understands herself only too well, but I +am manager, and I paid her back in her own coin. 'That's all very well,' +said I, 'but what proof have I that you are telling me the truth? You +have opened the safe--you say you have the combination--but people +sometimes surprise a combination and open a safe from other interests +than those of their employer. You seem a good girl, but _you are a +girl_, and there are men here much more likely to be in Mr. Stoughton's +confidence than yourself. With that open safe before us I cannot leave +you here alone. What you take from it I must see, and if possible be +present at your negotiations. That I consider a manager's duty under the +circumstances.' 'Mr. Fellows,' she asked, 'can you read this morning's +telegram?' 'No,' I felt bound to reply. 'Then that acquits you. I can.' +And again she tried to urge me to go out. But I would not be urged. I +was staring across the room at the open safe and in fancy clutching its +contents. In fact, I made one step toward them. But she drew herself up +with such an air that I paused. She's a big girl, you know, and not to +be fooled with when she's angry. 'Come a step farther and I will scream +for the watchman,' she whispered. All our talk had been low, for there +were listening ears everywhere--we couldn't risk that, and I stepped +back. Immediately she saw her advantage, and added, 'If you do not think +better of it and leave the room, I'll scream.' For answer to this I said +that I----" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +"_I have a scheme_" + + +"What?" + +A yell answered him. + +"Something hit me! Something hit me!" + +"Yes, I hit you; and I'll hit you again if you don't go on." + +Fellows shivered, attempted some puerile protest, balked, and +stammeringly obeyed his restless and irritated companion. + +"I--I said--I wasn't such a fool then as I am now--that she had lied +when she told me that she had the combination. There was no combination. +The safe did not even have a lock. The door opened with a spring. How +had she induced that spring to give way? I demanded to know." + +"And did she tell you?" + +"No. She merely repeated, 'I will scream, and that will cause a scandal +which will lead to your discharge, not mine.' So--so, I came out." + +"Blast your eyes! And when did _she_ come out?" + +"Within five minutes. I watched the clock." + +"And what did she have?" + +"Nothing in sight." + +"I see. A deep game. But I know a deeper. There is no possibility of +breaking into that safe by night, undetected by the watchman?" + +"None; and that watchman is incorruptible. The whole contents of the +safe wouldn't move him to connect himself with this job." + +"The job must be done by day and during office hours?" + +"Yes." + +"And cannot be done without the assistance of this girl?" + +"You've heard." + +"Very well; I have a scheme. Now listen to me." + +Not even the rat which at that minute nibbled at Fellows's boot heel +could have heard what followed. The panting of two breasts was, however, +audible; and when, fifty minutes later, both crawled out of the cellar +window among the rubbish which littered the rear of this once holy +place, the one was trembling with excitement and the other with fear. +They parted at the first thoroughfare, neither having eyes to see nor +hearts to appreciate the touching scene which miles away was taking +place in a little flat not very far from Harlem. An old man, frail in +body, but with a sturdy spirit yet, was looking up from his pillow at +the loving face of a young girl who was bending over him. + +"I cannot sleep to-night," he said to her; "I cannot sleep; but that +must not disturb you. I have so many things to think, pleasant things; +but you have only cares, and must rest from them. You look very tired +to-night, tired and worried. Leave me and sleep. I want to see you +bright in the morning." + +[Illustration: "_An old man was looking up at the loving face of a young +girl_"] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"_She will go in_" + + +The next day there was a dearth of assistants in the office. One was +sick, one had pleaded a long-delayed vacation, two had business for the +concern which took them into different quarters of the city, and Mr. +Beers, who was next in authority to Mr. Fellows, had been summoned to +serve on the grand jury. Perhaps it was this knowledge that Mr. Beers +would be absent which had led to the manager's easiness in regard to the +others. For he had been easy, or so Miss Lee thought when she arrived in +the morning and saw the office almost empty. However, it did not trouble +her much. On the contrary, the quiet and non-surveillance of the two +clerks who did the business of the day seemed rather to elate her, and +she went about her work, copying letters and taking down notes with an +alacrity and air of cheerful hope which caused the manager to cast +toward her more than one suspicious look from his desk in the adjoining +room. _He_ was not busy, though he had been the first to arrive that +morning; and he had brought with him a large square package which he had +taken into the room which held the safe. He pretended to be busy, but +any one watching him closely would have noticed that his eyes, and not +his hands, were all that were engaged, and they were anywhere but on his +desk or the letter he appeared to be reading. An observer would also +have noticed that his nervousness was of the extreme sort, and that the +trembling which shook his whole body increased visibly whenever his +glance fell on the door of Mr. Beers's private room, opening at his +back. No one was supposed to be in that room to-day, and had Miss Lee +not been one minute late this especial morning, perhaps there might not +have been. But in that one minute's grace a man had entered the office +who had not gone out again, and where could he be if not in that one +closed room? + +The room which held the safe was open as usual, and many of Mr. +Fellows's glances traveled that way. He had entered it once only since +his first hurried visit of the early morning, but only to pull down the +shade over the glass in the door communicating with the outside hall. +This was his usual custom, and it attracted no attention. Why shouldn't +he enter it again? He thought he would. A fascination was upon him. The +problem he had given Beau Johnson to solve was to receive a test this +day which would make him a rich man or a felon; but before that hour why +not make his own study, his own investigation? True, he had made these +many times before, but not with such lights to guide him. He might +learn---- + +But no, the very conceit was folly. He knew his own limitations, else he +had not called in the services of this crook. He could learn nothing by +himself, but he might look the place over and see if all was in shape +for the great attempt. That was only his duty. Beau Johnson had a right +to expect that of him. If the scrub woman had moved anything---- + +At the thought that this possibly might have happened, he jumped to his +feet and hurried into the outer office; but when he turned toward the +room of the safe, he met Miss Lee's eye fixed upon him with such a keen, +inquiring look that he faltered in his determination, and went in +another direction instead. _She_ knew that he had no business in that +room, and she also knew that he knew she knew this. Any pretense that he +had would only rouse her suspicions, and these must be lulled to the +point of security, or she might not enter there herself, and on her +entering there everything depended. Almost immediately upon the thought +he was back in his seat, and the weary moments crept on. Would she never +make her accustomed visit to that room? No cablegram had come that +morning, but she would find some reason for going in. Of that he had +been assured by Johnson. Why, he had not been told. "She will go in," +Beau Johnson had said, and Fellows believed him. He believed everything +the other said, otherwise he could not have gone on with this business. +But she was very long about it. Harlowe would be coming back---- + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +"_A block of steel_" + + +Ah, he had an idea! It was not his own, but for the moment he thought it +was. He would leave the office himself and thus give her an opportunity +to quit her work and shut herself up with the safe. But--(was his mind +leaving him?) there was something to be done first. The way must be +cleared for the man in hiding to enter that room before she did. How was +this to be accomplished? A dozen suggestions had been given him by his +confederate, but he had forgotten them all. He was in too great a whirl +to think, yet he must think; some way must be found. Ah, he had it. +Taking up the receiver at his side, he telephoned to a German friend to +call him up in five minutes, giving him the number of the telephone in +the farthest room. This he did in German, telling him it was a joke and +that he was not to insist upon an answer. Then he waited. In five +minutes this farther bell rang. Calling to Miss Lee, he asked her to +answer for him, saying he was very busy. As she rose, he gave a +preconcerted signal on the door of Mr. Beers's room. As she disappeared +in the one beyond, the dapper figure of Johnson crossed the outer office +and slipped into the one holding the safe. A minute later she was back +reporting the message and getting instructions, but the one thing she +had to fear had been done; the trap had been laid, and now for its +victim! + +It was not long before that victim responded to the call. On the +departure of the manager from the room Grace Lee rose, and with a +conscious look toward the two clerks, slipped across the floor to the +open door of the safe room. Entering, she swung to the door, which +closed with a snap; then, with just a moment of hesitation, in which she +seemed to be trying to regain her breath, she passed quickly across to +the safe and took up her stand before it. So directly and so quickly had +she done this that she had not seen the slim, immovable figure drawn up +against the wall at her right behind the projection of a large bookcase. +Nor did any influence for good or evil cause her to turn after she had +reached the safe. All her thoughts, all her hopes, all the dreams which +she had cherished seemed to be concentrated in the blank, eyeless object +which confronted her, impenetrable to all appearance--a block of steel +without visible opening--an enigma among safes--the problem of all +problems to every cracksman in town but one--which was about to be +solved if one could judge from the thrill which now shook her, and in +shaking her communicated the same excitement to the silent, breathless, +determined man in her rear, watching her as the tiger watches the +quarry, and with the same tiger spring latent in his eye. In a moment +her secret would be out, and then---- + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +"_I am from headquarters_" + + +For just a minute Grace Lee paused before the blank door of the safe, +then she passed around to an unused speaking tube in the neighboring +wall. Halting before it, in low but distinct tones she began to sing the +famous aria from "The Magic Flute." + +All agog, with eyes starting and ears alert, the man behind listened and +watched. Nothing happened. + +Then came a change. Gradually her voice rose, sweet and piercing, till +it reached that famous F in alt so rarely attempted, so exciting to the +ear when fairly taken and fairly held. Grace Lee could take it, and as +it hung, sweet and deliciously thrilling in the air, Beau Johnson saw, +to his amazement, though he was in a way prepared for it, the heavy safe +door slip softly ajar. She had done it with her voice. How, he could +only vaguely guess. He was better educated than most of his class, or he +could not have understood it at all. As it was, he laid it to the +vibration caused by a certain definite note acting on some delicate +mechanism set in accord with that note, which mechanism starting another +and a stronger one gradually led up to that which drew the bolts and set +the door ajar. Whether his theory were true or not mattered little at +the moment. The event for which he waited had been accomplished and +accomplished before his eyes. To profit by it was his next thought, and +to this end he held himself ready for the spring which had laid latent +in his eyes since he first saw her advance toward the safe. + +She was ignorant of his presence. This was evident from the jaunty way +she turned from the tube, still singing, but in a desultory way, which +showed that her thoughts were no longer on her music. But she was not so +engrossed that she did not see him. The moment that her face turned his +way, her eyes enlarged, her body stiffened, her whole personality took +on power and purpose and _she_ sprang more quickly than he did and shut +the safe door with one quick movement of her hand that fastened it as +securely as before. Then she drew herself up to meet his rush, a noble +figure of resolute womanhood which any other man would have hesitated to +assail. But he was proof to any appeal of this kind. She had been +quicker than he who was esteemed the readiest in his class, and he owed +her a grudge, if only for that. Smiling--it was a way of his when deeply +moved or deeply dangerous--he accosted her with smooth and treacherous +words. + +"Don't scream, young lady; screaming will do you no good. Mr. Fellows +has left the business to me and I am quite competent to manage it. I am +from headquarters--a detective. Yesterday you aroused the manager's +suspicions, and I was detailed this morning to watch you. What do you +want from Mr. Stoughton's safe? An honest answer may help you. Nothing +else will." + +[Illustration: "_She was ignorant of his presence_"] + +"I want----" she hesitated, eyeing him over with an insight and an +undoubted air of self-command which told the hardy rascal that in this +woman he was likely to meet his match. "I want some securities of Mr. +Stoughton's which he has ordered me to dispose of for him. I am in his +confidence, as I can prove to you if you will give me the opportunity. I +have papers at home that will satisfy any one of my right to open this +safe and to negotiate such papers as are designated in Mr. Stoughton's +cablegrams." + +"I don't doubt it." The words came easily from the mobile lips of the +wily Beau Johnson. "But it was not to do Mr. Stoughton's business that +you opened the safe just now. You have had no orders to-day; you had no +order yesterday. Another purpose is in your mind--a personal purpose. It +is this abuse of Mr. Stoughton's confidence which brings me here. _You +want three thousand dollars badly!_" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +"_You do not answer_" + + +She recoiled. Strong as she was, she was not proof against this +surprise. + +"How do you know that?" she asked, her voice losing its clear tone. "I +do not deny it, but how could you know what I thought to be a secret +between----" + +"You and your lover? Well--we--the police know many things, young lady. +We have a gift. We also have a kind of foreknowledge. I could tell you +something of your future if you will deign to listen to me. Your lover +is an honest man. What do you suppose he will do when he hears that you +have been arrested for attempted burglary on your employer's effects?" + +He had been slowly advancing as he reeled off these glib sentences, but +he paused as he met her smile. It was not of the same sort as his, but +it was not without a certain suggestiveness which he felt it would be +best for him to understand before he threw off his mask. + +"I don't know what he will do," said she, meeting the false detective's +eye as she laid her hand on the safe, "but I know what I shall do if you +carry out the purpose you threaten. Show my papers to the police and +demand evidence of my having any bad intentions in opening this safe +this morning. I think you will have difficulty in producing any. I think +that you will only prove yourself a fool. Are you so strong with the +authorities as to brave that?" + +Astonished at her insight and more than astonished at her self-control, +the experienced cracksman paused, and then in tones he rarely used, +remarked quietly: + +"You are playing with your life, Miss Lee. I have a pistol leveled at +you from my pocket, and I'm the man to fire if you give me the slightest +occasion to do so. I'm Beau Johnson, miss, a detective if you please, +but also a tolerably experienced cracksman, and I want a taste of those +bonds." + +"And Mr. Fellows?" + +The words rang out clear and fearlessly. + +"Oh, he? He's a muff. You needn't concern yourself about him. The +matter's between us two. Three thousand dollars for you, and a little +more, perhaps, for me, and I to take all the blame." + +Her eye stole toward the door. No one could enter that way, she knew. +Even her screams, if she survived them, might alarm, but could not bring +her help for several minutes, if not longer. Yet she did not tremble; +only grew a shade paler. + +"You do not answer. What have you to say?" + +"This." She was like marble now. "You will not kill me, because that +would be virtually to kill yourself. You cannot leave this room without +my help, nor fire a shot without being caught like a rat in a trap. I +want three thousand dollars, and I mean to have them, but I do not see +how you are going to get the few more which you promise yourself. +Certainly I am not going to aid you in doing so, and you cannot open +that safe. You have not the musical training." + +"No." The word came like a shot, possibly in lieu of a shot, for if +ever he felt murderous it was at that moment. "I have not a musical +training, but that does not make me helpless. In a few moments I shall +have the pleasure of hearing you test your voice again. There's the +office clock ticking; count the strokes." + +She stood fascinated. What did he mean by this? Involuntarily she did +his bidding. + +"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, _eleven_!" + +"Yes," he repeated, "eleven! And at half past your old father dies." + +"Dies?" Her lips did not frame the words; her eyes looked it, her whole +sinking, suddenly collapsing figure gave voice to the maddening query, +"_Dies?_" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +"_Now, if Fellows will stay away_" + + +"Yes. Such is the understanding if I do not telephone my pals to hold +off. He's not at home; he's with my friends. They don't care very much +about old men, and if I have not a decent show of money by half-past +eleven this morning the orders are to knock him on the head. It won't +take a very hard knock. He was far from being in prime condition this +morning." + +She had shown great feeling at the beginning of this address, but at its +close she drew herself up again and met him with something of her old +composure. + +"These are all lies," said she. "My father would never leave his house +at the instigation of any gang. In the first place, he is not strong +enough to attempt the stairs. You cannot deceive me in this fashion." + +"He might be carried down." + +"He wouldn't submit to that, nor would the other lodgers in the house +allow it without an express order from me." + +"They got the order; not from you, but from him. He demanded to be +allowed to go. You see, Mr. Fellows sent a message that you were hurt--I +will speak the whole truth, and say dying. The old man could not be held +after that. He went with the messenger." + +Her cheeks were now like ashes. She had gauged the man before her and +felt that he was fully capable of this villainy. How great a villainy +she alone knew who had the history of this old man in her heart. + +"He went with the messenger," repeated Johnson, watching her face with a +cruel leer. "That messenger knew where to take him. You may be sure it +was to a place quite unknown to the police and to every one else but +myself. Five minutes more gone, miss. In just twenty-five minutes more +you will be an orphan and one impediment to your marriage will be at an +end. How about the other?" + +"Oh!" she wailed. "If I could really believe you!" + +"I can smooth away that doubt. If you will promise not to compromise me +with the clerks or any one inside there, I will allow you to telephone +home and learn the truth of what I have told you. Anything further will +end all business between us and wind up your father's affairs at the +hour set. I can afford to humor you for ten minutes more in this +nonsense." + +"I will do it," she cried. "I must know what I am fighting before----" +She caught herself back, but he was quite able to finish the sentence +for her. + +"Before you submit to the inevitable," he smiled. + +Her head fell and he pointed toward the door. + +"I will trust you to guard my--our interests," said he. "Open and go +directly to your own telephone." + +With a staggering step she obeyed. Creeping up stealthily behind her he +watched her manner of opening the door and profited by the one quick +glance he got of the office as she stepped through and passed hurriedly +forward to her desk. There was no one within sight. Mr. Fellows had not +yet returned and the clerks were too remote to notice her agitation or +pay attention to her gait or the tremulousness of her tone as she called +for her home number. + +"Couldn't be better," thought he. "Now if Fellows will stay away long +enough, I'll be able to double the boodle I've promised myself." This +with a chuckle. + +Meantime Miss Lee had got in her message. The answer sent her flying +toward him. + +"He's gone! He's gone!" she gasped. "My old, old father! Oh, you wretch! +Save him and----" + +"You save me first," he whispered, and was about to draw her back into +the room with the safe, when the outer door opened and a stranger +entered on business. + +Her agony at the interruption and the few necessary words it involved +caused the visitor to stare. But she was able to make herself +intelligible and to turn him over to one of the clerks, after which she +rejoined Johnson, closing the door quietly behind her. + +His greeting was characteristic. + +"You waste breath," said he, "by all this emotion. You'll need it to +open the safe." + +"What guarantee have I that you will keep your part of the contract?" +she cried. "I sing--the door opens--you help yourself, and you go. That +does not restore to me my father." + +"Oh, I'll play fair. In proof of it, here's my pistol. If on our going +out I do not stop with you at the telephone and let you communicate with +your father and send my own message of release, then shoot me in the +back. I give you leave." + +Taking the pistol he held out, she cocked it, and looking into the +chambers, found they were all full. + +"I know how to use it," she said simply. + +Admiration showed in his face. He bowed and pointed toward the tube. + +"Now for the song," he cried. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"_It was not paper I meant to have_" + + +With a bound she took her stand. She was white as death and greatly +excited. Watching her curiously, the crafty villain noted the quick +throbbing of her throat and the feverish grip on the pistol. + +"Time is galloping," he remarked. + +She gave a gasp, opened her lips and essayed to sing. An awful, +indescribable murmur was all that could be heard. Stiffening herself, +she resolutely calmed down her agitation and tried again. The result was +but little better than before. Turning with a cry, she looked with +horror-stricken eyes into the unmoved, slightly sardonic face of the man +behind her. + +"I cannot sing! You have frightened away my voice. I cannot raise that +note even to save my father's life. I'm choking, choking." Then as she +caught the devilish gleam lighting up his eye, she added, "You will +never have those thousands! The safe is closed to us both." + +He laughed, a very low, cautious laugh, but it made her eyes distend +with uncertainty and dread. + +"You fail to do justice to my fore-*thought," said he. + +"I took this into my calculations. I know women; they can be wicked +enough, but they lack coolness. Let me see now what I can do. I cannot +sing, but I have a little _aide de camp_ which can." + +Walking away from her, he approached a small table on which stood an +object she had never seen in that room before. It was covered with a +cloth, and as he removed this cloth, she reeled with surprise; then she +became still with hope and the rush of fresh and overpowering emotions. + +A graphophone stood revealed, one of the finest quality. It was set to +play the air so often on her lips, and in another moment that keen, high +note rang through the room,--that and no more. + +It answered. Slowly, softly, after one breathless moment, the door they +both watched with fascinated gaze swung slowly ajar, just as they had +seen it do at the beginning of this interview, and Johnson, coming +forward, pulled it open with a jerk and began to fumble among the +contents of the safe. + +She could have killed him easily. He had forgotten--but so had she, and +there was no one else by to remind her. Had there been, he would have +seen a strange spectacle, for no sooner had Johnson's hand struck those +shelves and minute drawers, than Grace Lee's whole attitude and +expression changed. From a terrified, incapable woman, she became again +her old self, strong, self-controlled, watchful. Creeping up behind him, +she looked over his shoulders as he examined with his quick, experienced +eye the various papers he drew out, noting his anger and growing +disappointment as he found them unavailable for immediate use. Conscious +of her presence, his rage grew till it shot forth in words. Not stinting +oaths, he whirled on her after a moment and asked where the securities +were. "_You_ meant to have them; you know where the ready money is. Show +me, show me at once or----" + +Then a great anguish passed across her face, a look of farewell to +hopes sweet and dearly cherished. If he saw it he did not heed. All his +evil, indomitable will shone in the eye he turned up askance at her, and +though she held the means of killing him in her hand, she bowed to that +will, and leaning over him, she whispered in his ear: + +"It was not paper I meant to have, but--but something else--I----" + +She stopped, for breath was leaving her. His slim, assured hand was +straying toward a certain knob hidden partly from sight, but plain to +the touch if his fingers crept that way. + +"Listen!" She was gasping now, but her hand laid on his shoulder +emphasized her words. "There are jewels at the other end; Mrs. +Stoughton's bridal jewels. They are worth thousands. I--I--meant to take +those. They are in a compartment under that lower drawer. Yes, +yes--there they are; take them and be gone. I--I have lost--but you will +give me back my father? See! there are not many minutes left. Oh, be +merciful and----" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"_Now for my part of the bargain_" + + +He was looking at the jewels, appraising them, making sure they were +real and marketable. She was looking at them, too, with a wild longing +and a bitter disappointment, which he, turning at that moment to mark +her looks, saw and rated at its full value. + +"Well, I guess they'll do," he exclaimed, pausing in his task of +thrusting the gems in his pocket to hand her a bracelet ornamented with +one small diamond. "But I expected more from all this fuss and feathers. +Was it to guard these----" + +"Yes," she murmured, thrusting the bracelet into the neck of her dress +and stepping quickly back. "They are priceless to the owner. +Associations you know. Mrs. Stoughton is dead--There! that will do. Now +for my part of the bargain," and bethinking her at last of the pistol, +she raised it and pointed it full in his face. "You will close that door +now and send the telephone you promised." + +He rose and banged to the door. + +"All right," he cried. "You've behaved well. Now hide that pistol in +your waist and we'll step into the outer office." + +She did as she was bid, and in a moment more they were crossing the +floor outside. As they did so, she noticed that the two clerks had been +sent out to luncheon, leaving them alone with Mr. Fellows. This was not +encouraging, nor did she like the click which at this moment Beau +Johnson made with his tongue. It sounded like a preconcerted signal. +Whether so or not, it brought Mr. Fellows from his room, and in another +instant he was standing with them before the telephone. There was a +clock over the safe-room door. It stood at just twenty-five minutes +after eleven. + +"Hurry!" she whispered as the other took up the receiver. + +She did not need to say it. His own anxiety seemed to be as great as +hers, but his anxiety was to be gone. The nerve which sustained him +while the issue was doubtful gave some slight tokens of failing, now +that his efforts had brought success and only this small obligation lay +between him and the enjoyment of the booty he had won at such a risk. +She was sure that his voice trembled as he uttered the familiar. +"Hello!" and during the interchange of words which followed, the strain +was perhaps as great on him as on her. + +"Hello! how's the old man?" + +She could hear the answer. It swept her fears away in a moment. + +"Well, but anxious about the girl." + +"She's all right, everything's all right. Take the sick man home and +tell him that his daughter will be there almost as soon as he is." + +"I must hear my father's voice." It was Grace who was speaking. "I will +give a cry that will echo through this building if you do not put me in +communication with him at once." + +Her hand went out to the receiver. + +The veins on Beau Johnson's forehead stood out threateningly. + +"Curse you!" he muttered; but he gave the order just the same. + +"Hello! Don't shut off. The girl's nervous; wants to hear her father's +voice. Have him up! two words from him will answer." + +"Father!" + +Grace's mouth was at the phone. + +No reply. + +She cast one look at Johnson. + +"They're getting him on his feet," he grumbled. _His_ eye was on the +door. + +"Father!" she called again, her voice tremulous with doubt and anxiety. + +A murmur this time, but she recognized it. + +"It's he! it's he," she cried. "He's safe; he's well. _Father!_" + +But Johnson had no time for dilly-dallying. Catching the receiver back, +he took his place again at the phone and shouted a few final +injunctions. Then he faced her with the question: + +"Are you satisfied?" She nodded, speechless at last and almost +breathless from exhaustion. He bowed and made for the door. As he opened +it, Mr. Fellows slid forward and joined him. Both were leaving. He as +well as Johnson. She caught the look which the manager threw her as he +closed the door behind them. There was threat in that look and her heart +strings tightened as she stood alone there facing her fearful duty. Mr. +Fellows was a thief! The manager of this concern was even then perhaps +walking off with the booty wrenched from her care by the devil's own +inquisition. What should she do? Send for Philip? Yes, that was all her +tortured mind could grasp. She would send for her own Philip and get his +advice before she notified the police or sent the inevitable cablegram. +She was too ill, too shaken to do more. Philip! Philip! + +She was fainting--she felt it, and was raising her voice to call in one +of the clerks, when the outer door opened and Mr. Fellows came in. She +had not expected him back. She had fondly believed that he had gone with +his professional comrade; and the sight of him caused her to rise again +to her feet. + +"You!" she murmured, facing him in dull wonder at his renewed look of +threat. "I cannot stay in the same room with you. You are----" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +"_What have you done among you_" + + +"Never mind me," came clearly and coldly from his lips. "It is of +yourself you must think. Here, officer!" he cried, opening the door +again and ushering in a man in plain clothes, but evidently one of the +force. "This is the young lady. I accuse her of taking advantage of her +power to open Mr. Stoughton's private safe to steal his jewels. Her +confederate has escaped. He had a pistol and I had no means of stopping +him. But she is right here and you will make no mistake in arresting +her. The booty is on her, and smart as she is, she cannot deny that +proof." + +With a cry, Grace's hand went up to her throat. + +Then she settled into her usual self once more. + +The officer, eyeing her, asked what she had to say for herself. + +"A great deal," was her low answer. "But I shall not say it here. If Mr. +Fellows will go with me to wherever you take people suspected of what +you suspect me, I can soon make plain my position. But first I should +like to send for my friend, Mr. Philip Andrews. He is with the Stickney +Company, and he is acquainted with my affairs and the understanding +between Mr. Stoughton and myself by which I have access to that +gentleman's safe and do much of his private business for him." + +"That's all right. Send for Mr. Andrews if you wish, but you mustn't +expect to talk to him without witnesses. Is that your coat and hat?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, put them on." + +Mr. Fellows advanced and whispered something in the officer's ear. +Immediately the suspicious look grew in his eyes, and he watched her +every movement with increased care. She saw this and stepped up to him. + +"I shall not deny having this piece of jewelry about my person," she +said, drawing the bracelet from its hiding place. "The man whom Mr. +Fellows calls my confederate gave it to me and I took it; but it will be +hard for him or any one else to prove that it is a theft, harder than it +will be for me to prove who is the real culprit here and the man whom +you ought to arrest. Watch me, but watch him also; he is more deserving +of your close attention than I am." + +Her disdain, her poise, the beauty which came out on her face when she +was greatly stirred, gave her a striking appearance at that moment. The +officer stared, then followed her glance toward Mr. Fellows. What he saw +in him made him thoughtful. Turning back to Miss Lee, he said kindly +enough, "Will you let me have that bracelet?" + +She passed it over and he thrust it in his pocket. + +"Now," said he, "I will go first. In a few minutes follow me and go down +Nassau Street. A carriage will be at the curb. Take it. As for Mr. +Fellows----" + +"I cannot leave till some of the clerks come in." + +"We will all wait till a clerk comes." + +Mr. Fellows paled. + +"Here is one now." + +The door opened and Philip Andrews came in. + +[Illustration: "_The door opened and Philip Andrews came in_"] + +"Oh, Philip!" + +"What is this? What have you done among you?" + +It was no wonder he asked. At sight of him Grace Lee had fainted. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +"_So that was your motive_" + + +Two hours later Grace was explaining herself. She was still pale, but +very calm now, though a little sad. The sadness was not occasioned by +any doubt she felt about her father. She had telephoned home and learned +that he had arrived there and was well, and had nothing but good to say +of his captors. No, there was another cause for her manifest depression, +a cause not disconnected with Philip, toward whom her eyes ever and anon +stole with an uneasy appeal which her mother would have been troubled to +see. But it comforted Fellows, who began to regard her threats as idle +in face of the evidence of her complicity as afforded by the concealed +bracelet. + +The officer on duty was questioning her. Had she done this and that? +Yes, she had. Why? Then she told her story--the story you have already +read. As she proceeded with it, every eye sparkled under the graphic +tale, and the police, who had some acquaintance with Beau Johnson, +recognized his hand in all that she told. One face only wore a sneer, +and that was Fellows's. But no sneer could discredit a story told with +such vim and straightforward earnestness. As she mentioned the emptying +of the office, each person present turned and gave him a look. The +manager had undertaken a piece of work too big for him. His explanations +of the presence of the graphophone in this inner office were feeble and +contradictory. + +But he had his revenge, or thought he had, when she came to the jewels. +She had pointed them out, but only to save a worse disaster. Injury to +her father? "Yes, and----" She paused and her voice thrilled. "In one of +the secret drawers," she continued, "there was an immense amount of +currency in large denominations, the loss of which would cripple the +business, if not bankrupt Mr. Stoughton. His hand was feeling its way +along the face of this drawer. In another moment he would have +discovered the tiny knob by the manipulation of which this drawer opens. +To save the struggle which would have ensued, I directed his attention +elsewhere. I don't believe I did wrong." + +"But you accepted one of these articles as your share. Do you believe +you did right in this?" + +"Yes. I will not mention the smallness of the share, for that makes the +portion saved for the owner of little account. Yet that portion is +saved. I wish it had been a larger one." + +"No doubt. So that was your motive--to save this souvenir for Mr. +Stoughton?" + +Casting a proud look at Philip, she moved a step nearer to the table on +which the bracelet lay. "Will you be good enough," she asked her +interrogator, "to take up that bracelet and read the initials on the +inner side?" + +"R. S. T.," read the official. + +"Does any one here know Mrs. Stoughton's maiden name?" + +Evidently not, for all remained silent. + +"Does any one here know my mother's maiden name?" + +Philip started. + +"Yes," he cried, "I do. Her name was Rhoda Selden Titus." + +[Illustration: "_'R. S. T.' read the official_"] + +"R. S. T.," smiled Grace. "This bracelet was my mother's. Mr. Stoughton +allowed me to place this keepsake and some other valuables of mine in +his private safe. Gentlemen, the whole of those jewels were mine--my +sole and only fortune. I was keeping them for"--her eyes stole toward +Philip--"for my marriage portion, the secret and great surprise I had +planned for my future husband. They are worth some five thousand +dollars--my mother was the daughter of a wealthy man. They would have +given us a home if I could have kept them; they would also have given my +husband a start in business, and this I should have preferred, but I +could not let Mr. Stoughton's securities be endangered, and so they had +to go. Philip, cannot you forgive me when you think that it was through +my folly the secret of the safe became known?" + +"I forgive you?" He could not show his feelings, but his eyes were +eloquent; so were Fellows's; so were those of the various officials. + +"You can prove these statements, Miss Lee?" asked one. + +"Easily," she replied. + +Then they turned to Fellows. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +"_A jewel of far greater value_" + + +Grace never got back her jewels. The wily Johnson was not caught, though +Fellows turned state's evidence and did all he could to have the +professional netted in the same manner as himself. But she did not +suffer from this loss. When Mr. Stoughton learned the full particulars +of this daring robbery, he made good to her the value of those jewels, +and the prosperity of this young couple was secured. He was even present +at the wedding. Grace wore her mother's bracelet, but on her breast was +a jewel of far greater value. On its back was engraved, + + To brave G. L. + From her grateful friend, T. S. + +[Illustration: "_He was even present at the wedding_"] + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + +Changes have been made to the original publication as follows: + + Page 12 + + which for some inscrutible _changed to_ + which for some inscrutable + + Page 15 + + you're proposition, Mr. Fellows _changed to_ + your proposition, Mr. Fellows + + Page 69 + + window You can see it _changed to_ + window. You can see it + + Page 77 + + attempted some purile protest _changed to_ + attempted some puerile protest + + Page 78 + + done by day and duing _changed to_ + done by day and during + + Page 100 + + screaming will do no you good _changed to_ + screaming will do you no good + + Page 113 + + drew herself up againand met him with _changed to_ + drew herself up again and met him with + + Page 123 + + horrorstricken eyes into the unmoved _changed to_ + horror-stricken eyes into the unmoved + + Page 133 + + stood at just tw nty-five _changed to_ + stood at just twenty-five + + Page 134 + + want's to hear her _changed to_ + wants to hear her + + Page 153 + + Gentlemen the whole of those _changed to_ + Gentlemen, the whole of those + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Three Thousand Dollars, by Anna Katharine Green + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS *** + +***** This file should be named 32795-8.txt or 32795-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/7/9/32795/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +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 www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Three Thousand Dollars + +Author: Anna Katharine Green + +Release Date: June 13, 2010 [EBook #32795] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<hr /> + +<h1>THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS</h1> + + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="400" height="637" alt="Cover" title="" /> +</div> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a> +<img src="images/gs01.jpg" width="400" height="664" alt="Frontispiece" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Now state your problem"</span> +</div> + +<hr /> + + +<p class="center"><span class="tp1">THREE THOUSAND<br /> +DOLLARS</span><br /> +<br /><br /> +<span class="tp2">BY</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="tp3">ANNA KATHARINE GREEN</span><br /> +<br /><br /> +<span class="tp2">AUTHOR OF<br /> +"THE LEAVENWORTH CASE," "THE MILLIONAIRE BABY,"<br /> +"THE MAYOR'S WIFE," "THE FILIGREE BALL,"<br /> +ETC., ETC.</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/logo.jpg" width="200" height="253" alt="logo" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center"><span class="tp4">BOSTON</span><br /> +<span class="tp3">RICHARD G. BADGER</span><br /> +<span class="tp5">THE GORHAM PRESS</span><br /> +1910</p> + +<hr /> + + +<p class="tp2 center"><i>Copyright</i>, 1909, <i>by Richard G. Badger</i><br /> +<i>Copyright</i>, 1908 <i>and</i> 1909, <i>by the Crowell +Publishing Company</i></p> + +<hr class="hr3" /> + +<p class="tp2 center"><i>All Rights Reserved</i><br /> +<br /><br /> +<i>The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.</i> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +</p> + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="contents" id="contents"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<table summary="Contents"> +<tr> +<th class="thl"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span></th> +<th class="thr" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Page</span></th> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>I</i></td> +<td class="tdl">"<i>Do you know what would happen to him</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#i">9</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>II</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>Thousands in that safe</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ii">17</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>III</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>How does it stand</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iii">23</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>IV</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>Stenographers must be +counted</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iv">29</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>V</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>I've business with him</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#v">35</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>VI</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>If I could tell you his story</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vi">43</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>VII</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>I'm sure that I can get them for you</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vii">51</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>VIII</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>I did as you bid me</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#viii">59</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>IX</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>'The safe door is opened,' I cried</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ix">67</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span><i>X</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>I have a scheme</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#x">75</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XI</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>She will go in</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xi">81</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XII</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>A block of steel</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xii">89</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XIII</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>I am from headquarters</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiii">95</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XIV</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>You do not answer</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiv">103</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XV</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>Now, if Fellows will stay away</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xv">111</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XVI</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>It was not paper I meant to have</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvi">121</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XVII</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>Now for my part of the bargain</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvii">129</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XVIII</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>What have you done among you</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xviii">139</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XIX</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>So that was your motive</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xix">147</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr1"><i>XX</i></td> +<td class="tdl"> "<i>A jewel of far greater value</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xx">155</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +<a name="illustrations" id="illustrations"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<table summary="Illustrations"> + +<tr> +<th class="thr" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Opposite Page</span></th> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>Now state your problem</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#frontis">Frontis</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>He transferred his attention to the door</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#door"> 38</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>Grace, you have misunderstood me</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#me"> 48</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>An old man was looking up at the face of a young girl</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#girl"> 80</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>She was ignorant of his presence</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#presence"> 100</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>The door opened and Philip Andrews came in</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#in"> 144</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>'R. S. T.,' read the official</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#official"> 152</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">"<i>He was even present at the wedding</i>"</td> +<td class="tdr2"><a href="#wedding"> 158</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +<a name="i" id="i"></a>THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<small>CHAPTER I</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>Do you know what would happen to him?</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">NOW state your problem."</p> + +<p>The man who was thus addressed shifted uneasily on the long bench which +he and his companion bestrode. He was facing the speaker, and though +very little light sifted through the cobweb-covered window high over +their heads, he realized that what there was fell on his features, and +he was not sure of his features, or of what effect their expression +might have on the other man.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure we are quite alone in this big, desolate place?" he +asked.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> + +<p>It seemed a needless question. Though it was broad daylight outside and +they were in the very heart of the most populated district of lower New +York, they could not have been more isolated had the surrounding walls +been those of some old ruin in the heart of an untraversed desert.</p> + +<p>A short description of the place will explain this. They were in the +forsaken old church not far from Avenue A——, a building long given +over to desolation, and empty of everything but débris and one or two +broken stalls, which for some +<a name="inscrutable" id="inscrutable"></a><ins title="original has inscrutible">inscrutable</ins> +reason—possibly from some latent instinct of inherited reverence—had +not yet been converted into junk and sold to the old clothes men by the +rapacious denizens of the surrounding tenements.</p> + +<p>Perhaps you remember this building; perhaps some echo of the bygone and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +romantic has come to you as you passed its decaying walls once dedicated +to worship, but soulless now and only distinguishable from the +five-story tenements pressing up on either side, by its one high window +in which some bits of colored glass still lingered amid its twisted and +battered network. You may remember the building and you may remember the +stray glimpses afforded you through the arched opening in the lower +story of one of the adjacent tenements, of the churchyard in its rear +with its chipped and tumbling head-*stones just showing here and there +above the accumulated litter. But it is not probable that you have any +recollections of the interior of the church itself, shut as it has been +from the eye of the public for nearly a generation. And it is with the +interior we have to do—a great hollow vault where once<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> altar and +priest confronted a reverent congregation. There is no altar here now, +nor any chancel; hardly any floor. The timbers which held the pews have +rotted and fallen away, and what was once a cellar has received all this +rubbish and held it piled up in mounds which have blocked up most of the +windows and robbed the place even of the dim religious light which was +once its glory, so that when the man whose words we have just quoted +asked if they were quite alone and peered into the dim, belumbered +corners, it was but natural for his hardy, resolute, and unscrupulous +companion to snort with impatience and disgust as he answered:</p> + +<p>"Would I have brought you here if I hadn't known it was the safest place +in New York for this kind of talk? Why, man, there may be in this city +five men all told, who know the trick of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> the door I unfastened for you, +and not one of them is a cop. You may take my word for that. +Besides——"</p> + +<p>"But the kids? They're everywhere; and if one of them should have +followed us——"</p> + +<p>"Do you know what would happen to him? I'll tell you a story—no, I +won't; you're frightened enough already. But there's no kid here, nor +any one else but our two selves, unless it be some wandering spook from +the congregations laid outside; and spooks don't count. So out with +<a name="your" id="your"></a><ins title="original has you're">your</ins> proposition, Mr. Fellows. I——"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +<a name="ii" id="ii"></a><small>CHAPTER II</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>Thousands in that safe</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">NO names!" hoarsely interrupted the other. "If you speak my name again +I'll give the whole thing up."</p> + +<p>"No you won't; you're too deep in it for that. But I'll drop the Fellows +and just call you Sam. If that's too familiar, we'll drop the job. I'm +not so keen on it."</p> + +<p>"You will be. It's right in your line." Sam Fellows, as he was called, +was whispering now—a hot, eager whisper, breathing of guilt and +desperation. "If I could do it alone—but I haven't the wit—the——"</p> + +<p>"Experience," dryly put in the other. "Well, well!" he exclaimed +impatiently,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> as Fellows crept nearer, but said nothing.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to speak, but—Well, then, here's how it is!" he suddenly +conceded, warned by the other's eye. "The building is a twenty-story +one, chuck full and alive with business. The room I mean is on the +twelfth floor; it is one of five, all communicating, and all in constant +use except the one holding the safe. And that is visited constantly. +Some one is always going in and out. Indeed, it is a rule of the firm +that every one of the employees must go into that room once, at least, +during the day, and remain there for five minutes alone. I do it; every +one does it; it's a very mysterious proceeding which only a crank like +my employer would devise."</p> + +<p>"What do you do there?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. I'm speaking now for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> myself. The others—some of the +others—<i>one</i> of the others may open the safe. That's what I believe, +that's what I want to know about and <i>how it's done</i>. There are +thousands in that safe, and the old man being away——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, this is all very interesting. Go on. What you want is an artist +with a jimmy."</p> + +<p>"No, no. It's no such job as that. I want to know the person, the +trusted person who has all those securities within touch. It's a mania +with me. I should have been the man. I'm—I'm <i>manager</i>."</p> + +<p>The hoarseness with which this word was uttered, the instinct of shame +which made his eyes fall as it struggled from his lips, wakened a +curious little gleam of hardy cynicism in the steady gaze of his +listener.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, you're manager, are you!" came in slow retort, filling a silence +that had more of pain than pleasure in it. "Well, manager, your story is +very interesting, but by no means complete. Suppose you hurry on to the +next instalment."</p> + +<p>Cringing as from a blow, Fellows took up his tale, no longer creeping +nearer his would-be confederate, but, if anything, edging away.</p> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +<a name="iii" id="iii"></a><small>CHAPTER III</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>How does it stand</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">I'VE watched and watched and watched," said he, "but I can't pick out +the man. Letters come, orders are given, and those orders are carried +out, but <i>not by me</i>. I'm speaking now of investments, or the payment of +large sums; anything which calls for the opening of that safe where the +old man has stuffed away his thousands. Small matters fall to my share. +There is another safe, of which I hold the combination. Child's play, +but the other! It would make both of us independent, and yet leave +something for appearances. But it can't be worked. It stands in front of +a glass door from which the curtain is drawn every night.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> Every +passerby can look in. If it is opened it must be done in broad daylight +and by the person whom the old man trusts. By that means only would I +get my revenge, and revenge is what I want. He don't trust me, <i>me</i> who +have been with him for seven years and——"</p> + +<p>"Drop that, it isn't interesting. The facts are what I want. What kind +of safe is it?"</p> + +<p>"The strangest you ever saw. I don't know who made it. There's nothing +on it to show. Nor is there a lock or combination. But it opens. You can +just see the outline of a door. Steel—fine steel, and not so very +large, but the contents——"</p> + +<p>"We'll take its contents for granted. How does it stand? On a platform?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, one foot from the floor. The platform runs all the way across the +room and holds other things; a table<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> which nobody uses, a revolving +bookcase and a series of shelves, fitted with boxes containing old +receipts and such junk. Sometimes I go through these; but nothing ever +comes of it." He paused, as if the subject were distasteful.</p> + +<p>"And the safe is opened?"</p> + +<p>"Almost every week. I'm ashamed to tell you the old duffer's methods; +they're loony. But he isn't a lunatic. At any rate, they don't think so +in Wall Street."</p> + +<p>"I'll make a guess at his name."</p> + +<p>"Not yet. You'll have to swear——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, we're both in it. Never mind the heroics. It's too good a thing to +peach on. Me and the manager! I like that. Take it easy till the job's +done, anyway. And now I'll take a fly at the name. It's——"</p> + +<p>He had the grace to whisper.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +<a name="iv" id="iv"></a><small>CHAPTER IV</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>Stenographers must be counted</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap2">YOUNG Fellows squirmed and turned a shade paler, if one could trust the +sickly violet ray that shot down from the once exquisitely colored +window high up over their heads.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" he muttered; and the other grinned. Evidently the guess was a +correct one.</p> + +<p>"No, he's no lunatic," the professional quietly declared. "But he has +queer ways. Which of his queers do you object to?"</p> + +<p>"When his letters come, or more often his cablegrams, they are opened by +me and then put in plain view on a certain little bulletin board in the +main office. These are his orders. Any one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> who knows the cipher can +read them. I don't know the cipher. At night I take them down, number +them, and file them away. They have served their purpose. They have been +seen by the person whose business it is to carry out his instructions, +and the rest you must guess. His brokers know the secret, but it is +never discussed by us. The least word and the next cablegram would read +in good plain English, 'Fire him!' I've had that experience. I've had to +fire three since he went away two months ago."</p> + +<p>"That's good."</p> + +<p>"Why good?"</p> + +<p>"That cuts out three from your list. <i>The person is not among the ones +dismissed.</i>"</p> + +<p>"That's so." New life seemed to spring up in Fellows. "You'll do the +job," he cried. "Somehow, I never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> thought of going about it that way. +And I know another man that's out."</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"Myself, for one. There are only seven more."</p> + +<p>"Counting all?"</p> + +<p>"All."</p> + +<p>"Stenographers included?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, stenographers!"</p> + +<p>"Stenographers must be counted."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, seven men and one woman. Our stenographer is a woman."</p> + +<p>"What kind of a woman?"</p> + +<p>"A young girl. Ordinary, but good enough. I've never noticed her very +much."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about the men."</p> + +<p>"What's the use? You wouldn't take my word. They're a cheap lot, beneath +contempt in my estimation. There's not one of them clever enough for the +business. Jack Forbush comes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> the nearest to it, and probably is the +one. The way he keeps his eye on me makes me suspect him. Or is he, too, +playing my game?"</p> + +<p>"How can I tell? How can I tell anything from what you say? I'll have to +look into the matter myself. Give me the names and addresses and I'll +look the parties up. Get their rating, so to speak. Leave it to me, and +I'll land the old man's confidential clerk."</p> + +<p>"Here's the list. I thought you might want it."</p> + +<p>"Where's the girl's name?"</p> + +<p>"The girl! Oh, pshaw!"</p> + +<p>"Put her name down just the same."</p> + +<p>"There, then. Grace Lee. Address, 74 East —— Street. And now swear on +the honor of a gentleman——"</p> + +<p>Beau Johnson pulled the rim of Fellows's hat over his eyes to suggest +what he thought of this demand.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +<a name="v" id="v"></a><small>CHAPTER V</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>I've business with him</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap2">NEXT day there appeared at the offices of Thomas Stoughton, in Nassau +Street, a trim, well-looking man, who had urgent business with Mr. +Fellows, the manager. He was kept waiting for some time before being +introduced into that gentleman's private room; but this did not seem to +disturb him. There was plenty to look at, or so he seemed to think, and +his keen, noncommittal eyes flashed hither and thither and from face to +face with restless activity. He seemed particularly interested in the +bookkeeper of the establishment, but it was an interest which did not +last long, and when a neat, pleasant-faced young woman rose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> from her +seat and passed rapidly across the room, it was upon her his eyes +settled and remained fixed, with a growing attention, until a certain +door closed upon her with a sound like a snapping lock. Then he +transferred his attention to the door, and was still gazing at it when a +boy summoned him to the manager's office.</p> + +<p>He went in with reluctance. He had rather have watched that door. But he +had questions to ask, and so made a virtue of necessity. Mr. Fellows was +not pleased to see him. He started quite guiltily from his seat and only +sat again on compulsion—the compulsion of his visitor's steady and +quelling eye.</p> + +<p>"I've business with you, Mr. Fellows." Then, the boy being gone, "Which +is the room? The one opening out of the general office directly opposite +this?"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="door" id="door"></a> +<img src="images/gs02.jpg" width="400" height="672" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"He transferred his attention to the door"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +Mr. Fellows nodded.</p> + +<p>"I have just seen one of the employees go in there. I should like to see +that person come out. Do you mind talking with this door open? I know +enough about banking to hold up my end of the conversation."</p> + +<p>Fellows rose with a jerk and pushed the door back. His visitor smiled +easily and launched into a discussion about stocks and bonds +interspersed with a few assertions and questions not meant for the +general ear, as:</p> + +<p>"<i>It's the girl who is in there. Not ordinary, by any means. Just the +sort an old smudge like Stoughton would be apt to trust. Now what's +that?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Singing. She often sings. I've forbidden it, but she forgets, she +says</i>," answered Fellows.</p> + +<p>"<i>Pretty good music. Listen to that note. High as a prima donna's. Does<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +she sing at her work?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>No; I'd fire her if she did. It's only when she's walking about or +when</i>——"</p> + +<p>"<i>She's in that room?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Yes</i>."</p> + +<p>"At par? I buy nothing at par. <i>There! She's coming. I wish I dared +intercept her, rifle her pockets. Do you know if she has pockets?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>No; how should I?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Fellows, you're not worth your salt. Ah! there's a face for you, and I +can read it like a book. Did a letter or cablegram come to-day?</i>"</p> + +<p>"<i>Yes; didn't you see it? Hung up in the outer office</i>."</p> + +<p>"<i>I thought I saw something</i>. Ninety-five? That's a quotation worth +listening to. Three at ninety-five. <i>That girl's a trump. I will see +more of my lady.</i>" Here he took care to shut the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> door. "I've been the +rounds, Fellows. Private-detective work and all that. She is the only +puzzler among the group. You'll hear from me again; meanwhile treat the +girl well. Don't spring any traps; leave that to me."</p> + +<p>And Fellows, panting with excitement, promised, muttering under his +breath:</p> + +<p>"A woman! That's even worse than I thought. But we'll make the old +fellow pay for it. Those securities are ours. I already feel them in my +hand."</p> + +<p>The sinister twitch which marred the other's mouth emphasized the +assertion in a way Grace Lee's friends would have trembled to see.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +<a name="vi" id="vi"></a><small>CHAPTER VI</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>If I could tell you his story</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap2">THAT evening a young woman and a young man sat on one of the benches in +Central Park. They were holding hands, but modestly and with a clinging +affection. No one appeared in sight; they had the moon-light, the +fragrance of the spring foliage, and their true love all to themselves. +The woman was Grace, the young man was Philip Andrews, a candid-eyed, +whole-hearted fellow whom any girl might be proud to be seen with, much +more to be engaged to. Grace was proud, but she was more than that; her +heart was all involved in her hope—a good heart which he was equally +proud to have won. Yet while love was theirs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> and the surroundings +breathed peace and joy, they did not look quite happy. A cloud was on +his brow and something like a tear in her eye as she spoke gently but +with rare firmness.</p> + +<p>"Philip, we must wait. One love does not put out another. I cannot leave +my old father now. He is too feeble and much too dependent on me. +Philip, you do not know my father. You have seen him, it is true, many, +many times. You have talked with him and even have nursed him at odd +moments, when I had to be out of the room getting supper or supplying +some of his many wants. Yet you do not know him."</p> + +<p>"I know that he is intelligent."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, that is evident. Any one can see that. And you can see, too, +that he is frequently fretful and exacting, as all old people are. But +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> qualities he shows me—his strong, melancholy, but devoted nature, +quickened by an unusually unhappy life—that you do not see and cannot, +much as you like him and much as he likes you. Only the child who has +surprised him at odd moments, when he thought himself quite alone, +wringing his hands and weeping over some intolerable memory—who has +listened in the dead of night to his smothered but heart-breaking +groans, can know either his suffering or the one joy which palliates it. +If I could tell you his story—but that would be treason to one whose +rights I am bound to reverence. You will respect my silence, but you +must also take my word that he needs and has a right to all the pleasure +and all the hope my love can give him. I cannot be with him much; my +work forbids, but the little time I have is his,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> except on rare +occasions like this, and he knows it and is satisfied. Were I +married——. But you will wait, Philip. It may not be long—he grows +weaker every day. Besides, you are not ready yet yourself. You are doing +wonderfully well, but a year's freedom will help you materially, as it +will me. Every day is adding to our store; in a year we may be almost +independent."</p> + +<p>"Grace, you have misunderstood me. I said that I was no good without +you, that I needed your presence to make a man of me, but I did not mean +that you were to share my fortunes now. I would not ask that. I would be +a fool or worse, for, Grace, I'm not doing so well as you think. While I +knew that my present employment was for a specified time, I had hopes of +continuing on. But this cannot be. That's what I have to tell you +to-night. It looks as if our marriage would have to be postponed +indefinitely instead of hastened. And I can't bear it. You don't know +what you are to me, or what this disappointment is. I expected to be +raised, not dismissed, and if I had had——"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="me" id="me"></a> +<img src="images/gs03.jpg" width="400" height="671" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Grace, you have misunderstood me"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>"What?"</p> + +<p>The word came very softly, and with rare tenderness. It made him turn +and look at her sweet, upturned face, with its resources of strength and +shy, unfathomable smile. "What?" she asked again, with a closer pressure +of her hand. "You must finish all your sentences with <i>me</i>."</p> + +<p>"I'm ashamed." He uttered it breathlessly. "What am I, to say, 'If I had +three thousand dollars the Stickney Company would keep me?' I have +barely three hundred and those are dedicated to you."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +<a name="vii" id="vii"></a><small>CHAPTER VII</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>I'm sure that I can get them for you</i>"</p> + + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">IF you had <i>three thousand</i>!" She repeated it in surprise and yet with +an indescribable air, which to one versed in human nature would have +caught the attention and aroused strange inner inquiries. "Does the +Stickney Company want money so badly as that?"</p> + +<p>"That's not it. They have plainly told me that for three thousand +dollars and my services they would give me ten thousand dollars' stock +interest, but insist that the man who assumes the responsibility of the +position must be financially interested as well. But I haven't the +money, and without the money my experience appears to them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> valueless. I +despair of getting another situation in these hard times and—Grace, you +don't look sorry."</p> + +<p>"Because—" she paused, and her fine eyes roamed about her jealous of a +listener to her secret, but did not pierce the bush which rose up, +cloudy with blossoms, a few feet behind their bench—"because it is not +impossible for you to hope for those thousands. I think—I am sure that +I can get them for you."</p> + +<p>Her voice had sunk to a whisper, but it was a very clear whisper.</p> + +<p>Young Andrews looked at her in surprise; there was something besides +pleasure in that surprise.</p> + +<p>"Where?" he asked.</p> + +<p>She hesitated, and just at that moment the moon slipped behind a cloud.</p> + +<p>"Where, Grace, can you get three thousand dollars? From Mr. Stoughton? +He is generous to you, he pays<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> you well for what you do for him, but I +do not think he would give you that amount, nor do I think he would risk +it on any venture involving my judgment. I should not like to have you +ask him. I should like to rise feeling absolutely independent of Mr. +Stoughton."</p> + +<p>"I never thought of asking him. There is another way. I'd—I'd like to +think it over. If your scheme is good—<i>very</i> good, I might be brought +to aid you in the way my mind suggests. But I should want to be sure."</p> + +<p>She was not looking at him now. If she had been, she might have been +startled at his expression. Nor could he see her face; she had turned it +aside.</p> + +<p>"Grace," he prayed, "don't do anything rash. You handle so much money +that three thousand dollars may seem very little to you. But it's a +goodly sum to get or to replace if one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> loses it. You must not +borrow——"</p> + +<p>"I will not borrow."</p> + +<p>"Nor raise it in any way without telling me the sacrifice you must make +to obtain it. But it's all a dream; tell me that it's all a dream; you +were talking from your wishes, not from any certainty you have. Say so, +and I will not be disappointed. I do not want <i>your</i> money; I'd rather +go poor and wait till the times change. Don't you see? I'd be more of a +man."</p> + +<p>"But you'd have to take it if I gave it to you, and—perhaps I shall. I +want to see you happy, Philip; I must see you happy. I'd be willing to +risk a good deal for that. I'm not so happy myself, father suffers so, +and the care of it weighs on me. You are all I have to make me glad, and +when you are troubled my heart goes down, down. But it's getting late, +dear. It's time we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> went home. Don't ask me what's in my mind, but dream +of riches. I'm sure they will come. You shall earn them with the three +thousand dollars you want and which I will give you."</p> + +<p>"I shall earn them honestly," were the last words he said, as they rose +from the seat and began to move toward the gate. And the moon, coming +out from its temporary eclipse, shone on his clear-cut face as he said +this, but not on her bowed head and sidelong look. They were in the +shadow.</p> + +<p>There was something else in the shadow. As they moved away and +disappeared in the darkness the long, slim figure of a man rose from +behind the bush I have mentioned. He had a sparkling eye and a +thin-lipped mouth, and he smiled very curiously as he looked after the +pair before turning himself about and going the other way.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was not Fellows; it was his chosen confederate in the nefarious +scheme they had planned between them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +<a name="viii" id="viii"></a><small>CHAPTER VIII</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>I did as you bid me</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap">ANOTHER meeting in the old church, but this time at night. The +somberness of the surroundings was undiminished by any light. They were +in absolute darkness. Absolute darkness, but not absolute silence. +Noises strange and suggestive, but not of any human agency, whispered, +sighed, rattled, and grumbled from far away recesses. The snap of wood, +the gnawing of rats, the rustling of bat wings disturbed the ears of one +of the guilty pair, till his voice took on unnatural tones as he tried +to tell his story to his greedy companion. They were again astride the +bench, and their thin faces were so near that their breaths<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> commingled +at times; yet Fellows felt at moments so doubtful of all human presence +that instinctively his hand would go groping out till it touched the +other's arm or breast, when it would fall back again satisfied. He was +in a state of absolute terror of the darkness, the oppressive air, the +ghostly sounds, and possibly of the image raised by his own conscience, +yet he hugged to himself the thought of secrecy which it all involved, +and never thought of yielding up his scheme or even shortening his tale, +so long as the other listened and gave his mind to the problem which +promised them thousands without the usual humdrum method of working for +them.</p> + +<p>We will listen to what he had to say, leaving to your imagination the +breaks and guilty starts and moments of intense listening and anxious +fear with which he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> seasoned it.</p> + +<p>"I did as you bid me," he whispered. "Yesterday fresh orders came from +abroad, in cipher, as usual. (It's an unreadable cipher. I've had +experts on it many times.) I had hung it up, and though business was +heavy, my business, you know, I had eyes for our fair friend, and knew +every step she took about the offices. I even knew when her eyes first +fell on the cablegram. I had my door open, and I caught her looking up +from her work, and what was more, caught the pause in the click-click of +the typewriter as she looked and read. If she had not been able to read, +the click-click would have gone on, for I believe she could work that +typewriter with her eyes shut. But her attention was caught, and she +stopped. I tell you I've been humiliated for the last time. I'm in for +anything<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> that will make that girl step down and out. What was that!"</p> + +<p>Muttered curses from his companion brought him back to his story. With a +gulp he went on:</p> + +<p>"You may bet your bottom dollar that I watched her after that, and sure +enough, in less than half an hour she had gone into the room where the +safe is. Instantly I prepared my <i>coup d'êtat</i>. I waited just long +enough to hear her voice in that one song she sings, then I jumped from +my seat and rushed to the door, shouting, 'Miss Lee! Miss Lee! Your +father! Your father!' making hullabaloo enough to raise the dead and +scare her out of her wits; for she dotes on that old man and would sell +her soul for his sake, I do believe.</p> + +<p>"Great heavens, it worked! As I live, it worked. I heard her voice fail +on that high upper note of hers, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> then the sound of her feet +staggering, slipping over the floor, and in another moment the fumbling +of her hand on the knob and the slow opening of the door which she +seemed to have no power to manage. Helping her, I pulled it open, and +there beyond her and her white, shocked face, I saw—I saw——"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +<a name="ix" id="ix"></a><small>CHAPTER IX</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>'The safe door is opened,' I cried</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">GO on! Don't be a fool; that was nothing."</p> + +<p>"I don't know; it was like a great sigh at my ear. But this is awful! +Couldn't we have one spark of light?"</p> + +<p>"And have the police upon us the next minute? Look up at that +<a name="stop" id="stop"></a><ins title="fullstop added">window.</ins> You can see it, can't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, but very faintly," Fellows whispered.</p> + +<p>"But you can see it. So could those outside, if we had one glimmer of +light in here. No, no, you'll have to stand the dark or quit. But you +shan't quit till you've told me what you saw in the room where the safe +is."</p> + +<p>"The safe door opening." His voice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> trembled so that the other shook him +to steady his nerves. "Not opened, mind you, but opening. It was like +magic, and I stared so that she forgot her fears and forgot her +questions. Turning from me with a startled cry, she looked behind her, +and saw what I saw, and tried to push me out. 'I'll come, I'll come,' +she whispered. 'Leave me a minute and I'll come.'</p> + +<p>"But I wasn't going to do that. 'The safe door is opened,' I cried. 'Did +you do it?' She didn't know what to say. I have never seen a woman in +such a state; then she whispered in awful agitation, 'Yes; I've been +given the combination by Mr. Stoughton. I'm duly following his orders. +But my father! What about my father? You frightened me so I forgot +that—' I waited, staring at her, but she didn't finish. She just +asked,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> 'My father? What has happened to him?' 'Nothing serious,' I +managed to say. I wished the old father was in ballyhack. But he'd +served his turn; I must say that he'd served his turn. 'A telephone +message,' I went on. 'He had had a nervous spell and wanted you. I said +that you could go home at noon.' She stood looking at me doubtfully; +then her eyes stole back to the safe. 'You will have to leave me here +for a few minutes,' she said. 'I have Mr. Stoughton's business to attend +to. He will not be pleased at my having given away his secret. He did +not wish it known who controlled his affairs in his absence, but now +that you do know, you will be doing the right thing to let me go on in +the way he has planned for me. His orders must be carried out.'</p> + +<p>"She is very determined, and understands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> herself only too well, but I +am manager, and I paid her back in her own coin. 'That's all very well,' +said I, 'but what proof have I that you are telling me the truth? You +have opened the safe—you say you have the combination—but people +sometimes surprise a combination and open a safe from other interests +than those of their employer. You seem a good girl, but <i>you are a +girl</i>, and there are men here much more likely to be in Mr. Stoughton's +confidence than yourself. With that open safe before us I cannot leave +you here alone. What you take from it I must see, and if possible be +present at your negotiations. That I consider a manager's duty under the +circumstances.' 'Mr. Fellows,' she asked, 'can you read this morning's +telegram?' 'No,' I felt bound to reply. 'Then that acquits you. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> can.' +And again she tried to urge me to go out. But I would not be urged. I +was staring across the room at the open safe and in fancy clutching its +contents. In fact, I made one step toward them. But she drew herself up +with such an air that I paused. She's a big girl, you know, and not to +be fooled with when she's angry. 'Come a step farther and I will scream +for the watchman,' she whispered. All our talk had been low, for there +were listening ears everywhere—we couldn't risk that, and I stepped +back. Immediately she saw her advantage, and added, 'If you do not think +better of it and leave the room, I'll scream.' For answer to this I said +that I——"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +<a name="x" id="x"></a><small>CHAPTER X</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>I have a scheme</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">WHAT?"</p> + +<p>A yell answered him.</p> + +<p>"Something hit me! Something hit me!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I hit you; and I'll hit you again if you don't go on."</p> + +<p>Fellows shivered, attempted some <a name="puerile" id="puerile"></a><ins title="original has purile">puerile</ins> protest, balked, and +stammeringly obeyed his restless and irritated companion.</p> + +<p>"I—I said—I wasn't such a fool then as I am now—that she had lied +when she told me that she had the combination. There was no combination. +The safe did not even have a lock. The door opened with a spring. How +had she induced that spring to give way?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> I demanded to know."</p> + +<p>"And did she tell you?"</p> + +<p>"No. She merely repeated, 'I will scream, and that will cause a scandal +which will lead to your discharge, not mine.' So—so, I came out."</p> + +<p>"Blast your eyes! And when did <i>she</i> come out?"</p> + +<p>"Within five minutes. I watched the clock."</p> + +<p>"And what did she have?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing in sight."</p> + +<p>"I see. A deep game. But I know a deeper. There is no possibility of +breaking into that safe by night, undetected by the watchman?"</p> + +<p>"None; and that watchman is incorruptible. The whole contents of the +safe wouldn't move him to connect himself with this job."</p> + +<p>"The job must be done by day and <a name="during" id="during"></a><ins title="original has duing">during</ins> office hours?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And cannot be done without the assistance of this girl?"</p> + +<p>"You've heard."</p> + +<p>"Very well; I have a scheme. Now listen to me."</p> + +<p>Not even the rat which at that minute nibbled at Fellows's boot heel +could have heard what followed. The panting of two breasts was, however, +audible; and when, fifty minutes later, both crawled out of the cellar +window among the rubbish which littered the rear of this once holy +place, the one was trembling with excitement and the other with fear. +They parted at the first thoroughfare, neither having eyes to see nor +hearts to appreciate the touching scene which miles away was taking +place in a little flat not very far from Harlem. An old man, frail in +body, but with a sturdy spirit yet, was looking up from his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> pillow at +the loving face of a young girl who was bending over him.</p> + +<p>"I cannot sleep to-night," he said to her; "I cannot sleep; but that +must not disturb you. I have so many things to think, pleasant things; +but you have only cares, and must rest from them. You look very tired +to-night, tired and worried. Leave me and sleep. I want to see you +bright in the morning."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="girl" id="girl"></a> +<img src="images/gs04.jpg" width="400" height="672" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"An old man was looking up at the loving face of a young +girl"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +<a name="xi" id="xi"></a><small>CHAPTER XI</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>She will go in</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">THE next day there was a dearth of assistants in the office. One was +sick, one had pleaded a long-delayed vacation, two had business for the +concern which took them into different quarters of the city, and Mr. +Beers, who was next in authority to Mr. Fellows, had been summoned to +serve on the grand jury. Perhaps it was this knowledge that Mr. Beers +would be absent which had led to the manager's easiness in regard to the +others. For he had been easy, or so Miss Lee thought when she arrived in +the morning and saw the office almost empty. However, it did not trouble +her much. On the contrary, the quiet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> and non-surveillance of the two +clerks who did the business of the day seemed rather to elate her, and +she went about her work, copying letters and taking down notes with an +alacrity and air of cheerful hope which caused the manager to cast +toward her more than one suspicious look from his desk in the adjoining +room. <i>He</i> was not busy, though he had been the first to arrive that +morning; and he had brought with him a large square package which he had +taken into the room which held the safe. He pretended to be busy, but +any one watching him closely would have noticed that his eyes, and not +his hands, were all that were engaged, and they were anywhere but on his +desk or the letter he appeared to be reading. An observer would also +have noticed that his nervousness was of the extreme sort, and that the +trembling which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> shook his whole body increased visibly whenever his +glance fell on the door of Mr. Beers's private room, opening at his +back. No one was supposed to be in that room to-day, and had Miss Lee +not been one minute late this especial morning, perhaps there might not +have been. But in that one minute's grace a man had entered the office +who had not gone out again, and where could he be if not in that one +closed room?</p> + +<p>The room which held the safe was open as usual, and many of Mr. +Fellows's glances traveled that way. He had entered it once only since +his first hurried visit of the early morning, but only to pull down the +shade over the glass in the door communicating with the outside hall. +This was his usual custom, and it attracted no attention. Why shouldn't +he enter it again? He thought he would. A fascination was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> upon him. The +problem he had given Beau Johnson to solve was to receive a test this +day which would make him a rich man or a felon; but before that hour why +not make his own study, his own investigation? True, he had made these +many times before, but not with such lights to guide him. He might +learn——</p> + +<p>But no, the very conceit was folly. He knew his own limitations, else he +had not called in the services of this crook. He could learn nothing by +himself, but he might look the place over and see if all was in shape +for the great attempt. That was only his duty. Beau Johnson had a right +to expect that of him. If the scrub woman had moved anything——</p> + +<p>At the thought that this possibly might have happened, he jumped to his +feet and hurried into the outer office;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> but when he turned toward the +room of the safe, he met Miss Lee's eye fixed upon him with such a keen, +inquiring look that he faltered in his determination, and went in +another direction instead. <i>She</i> knew that he had no business in that +room, and she also knew that he knew she knew this. Any pretense that he +had would only rouse her suspicions, and these must be lulled to the +point of security, or she might not enter there herself, and on her +entering there everything depended. Almost immediately upon the thought +he was back in his seat, and the weary moments crept on. Would she never +make her accustomed visit to that room? No cablegram had come that +morning, but she would find some reason for going in. Of that he had +been assured by Johnson. Why, he had not been told. "She will go in,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +Beau Johnson had said, and Fellows believed him. He believed everything +the other said, otherwise he could not have gone on with this business. +But she was very long about it. Harlowe would be coming back——</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> + + +<hr /> +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +<a name="xii" id="xii"></a><small>CHAPTER XII</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>A block of steel</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">AH, he had an idea! It was not his own, but for the moment he thought it +was. He would leave the office himself and thus give her an opportunity +to quit her work and shut herself up with the safe. But—(was his mind +leaving him?) there was something to be done first. The way must be +cleared for the man in hiding to enter that room before she did. How was +this to be accomplished? A dozen suggestions had been given him by his +confederate, but he had forgotten them all. He was in too great a whirl +to think, yet he must think; some way must be found. Ah, he had it. +Taking up the receiver at his side, he telephoned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> to a German friend to +call him up in five minutes, giving him the number of the telephone in +the farthest room. This he did in German, telling him it was a joke and +that he was not to insist upon an answer. Then he waited. In five +minutes this farther bell rang. Calling to Miss Lee, he asked her to +answer for him, saying he was very busy. As she rose, he gave a +preconcerted signal on the door of Mr. Beers's room. As she disappeared +in the one beyond, the dapper figure of Johnson crossed the outer office +and slipped into the one holding the safe. A minute later she was back +reporting the message and getting instructions, but the one thing she +had to fear had been done; the trap had been laid, and now for its +victim!</p> + +<p>It was not long before that victim responded to the call. On the +departure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> of the manager from the room Grace Lee rose, and with a +conscious look toward the two clerks, slipped across the floor to the +open door of the safe room. Entering, she swung to the door, which +closed with a snap; then, with just a moment of hesitation, in which she +seemed to be trying to regain her breath, she passed quickly across to +the safe and took up her stand before it. So directly and so quickly had +she done this that she had not seen the slim, immovable figure drawn up +against the wall at her right behind the projection of a large bookcase. +Nor did any influence for good or evil cause her to turn after she had +reached the safe. All her thoughts, all her hopes, all the dreams which +she had cherished seemed to be concentrated in the blank, eyeless object +which confronted her, impenetrable to all appearance—a block<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> of steel +without visible opening—an enigma among safes—the problem of all +problems to every cracksman in town but one—which was about to be +solved if one could judge from the thrill which now shook her, and in +shaking her communicated the same excitement to the silent, breathless, +determined man in her rear, watching her as the tiger watches the +quarry, and with the same tiger spring latent in his eye. In a moment +her secret would be out, and then——</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +<a name="xiii" id="xiii"></a><small>CHAPTER XIII</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>I am from headquarters</i>"</p> + +<p class="cap2">FOR just a minute Grace Lee paused before the blank door of the safe, +then she passed around to an unused speaking tube in the neighboring +wall. Halting before it, in low but distinct tones she began to sing the +famous aria from "The Magic Flute."</p> + +<p>All agog, with eyes starting and ears alert, the man behind listened and +watched. Nothing happened.</p> + +<p>Then came a change. Gradually her voice rose, sweet and piercing, till +it reached that famous F in alt so rarely attempted, so exciting to the +ear when fairly taken and fairly held. Grace Lee could take it, and as +it hung, sweet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> and deliciously thrilling in the air, Beau Johnson saw, +to his amazement, though he was in a way prepared for it, the heavy safe +door slip softly ajar. She had done it with her voice. How, he could +only vaguely guess. He was better educated than most of his class, or he +could not have understood it at all. As it was, he laid it to the +vibration caused by a certain definite note acting on some delicate +mechanism set in accord with that note, which mechanism starting another +and a stronger one gradually led up to that which drew the bolts and set +the door ajar. Whether his theory were true or not mattered little at +the moment. The event for which he waited had been accomplished and +accomplished before his eyes. To profit by it was his next thought, and +to this end he held himself ready for the spring which had laid latent +in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> eyes since he first saw her advance toward the safe.</p> + +<p>She was ignorant of his presence. This was evident from the jaunty way +she turned from the tube, still singing, but in a desultory way, which +showed that her thoughts were no longer on her music. But she was not so +engrossed that she did not see him. The moment that her face turned his +way, her eyes enlarged, her body stiffened, her whole personality took +on power and purpose and <i>she</i> sprang more quickly than he did and shut +the safe door with one quick movement of her hand that fastened it as +securely as before. Then she drew herself up to meet his rush, a noble +figure of resolute womanhood which any other man would have hesitated to +assail. But he was proof to any appeal of this kind. She had been +quicker than he who was esteemed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> readiest in his class, and he owed +her a grudge, if only for that. Smiling—it was a way of his when deeply +moved or deeply dangerous—he accosted her with smooth and treacherous +words.</p> + +<p>"Don't scream, young lady; screaming will +<a name="do" id="do"></a><ins title="original has do no you">do you no</ins> good. +Mr. Fellows has left the business to me and I am quite competent to +manage it. I am from headquarters—a detective. Yesterday you aroused +the manager's suspicions, and I was detailed this morning to watch you. +What do you want from Mr. Stoughton's safe? An honest answer may help +you. Nothing else will."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="presence" id="presence"></a> +<img src="images/gs05.jpg" width="400" height="670" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"She was ignorant of his presence"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>"I want——" she hesitated, eyeing him over with an insight and an +undoubted air of self-command which told the hardy rascal that in this +woman he was likely to meet his match. "I want some securities of Mr. +Stoughton's which he has ordered me to dispose of for him. I am in his +confidence, as I can prove to you if you will give me the opportunity. I +have papers at home that will satisfy any one of my right to open this +safe and to negotiate such papers as are designated in Mr. Stoughton's +cablegrams."</p> + +<p>"I don't doubt it." The words came easily from the mobile lips of the +wily Beau Johnson. "But it was not to do Mr. Stoughton's business that +you opened the safe just now. You have had no orders to-day; you had no +order yesterday. Another purpose is in your mind—a personal purpose. It +is this abuse of Mr. Stoughton's confidence which brings me here. <i>You +want three thousand dollars badly!</i>"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +<a name="xiv" id="xiv"></a><small>CHAPTER XIV</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>You do not answer</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap2">SHE recoiled. Strong as she was, she was not proof against this +surprise.</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?" she asked, her voice losing its clear tone. "I +do not deny it, but how could you know what I thought to be a secret +between——"</p> + +<p>"You and your lover? Well—we—the police know many things, young lady. +We have a gift. We also have a kind of foreknowledge. I could tell you +something of your future if you will deign to listen to me. Your lover +is an honest man. What do you suppose he will do when he hears that you +have been arrested for attempted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> burglary on your employer's effects?"</p> + +<p>He had been slowly advancing as he reeled off these glib sentences, but +he paused as he met her smile. It was not of the same sort as his, but +it was not without a certain suggestiveness which he felt it would be +best for him to understand before he threw off his mask.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what he will do," said she, meeting the false detective's +eye as she laid her hand on the safe, "but I know what I shall do if you +carry out the purpose you threaten. Show my papers to the police and +demand evidence of my having any bad intentions in opening this safe +this morning. I think you will have difficulty in producing any. I think +that you will only prove yourself a fool. Are you so strong with the +authorities as to brave that?"</p> + +<p>Astonished at her insight and more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> than astonished at her self-control, +the experienced cracksman paused, and then in tones he rarely used, +remarked quietly:</p> + +<p>"You are playing with your life, Miss Lee. I have a pistol leveled at +you from my pocket, and I'm the man to fire if you give me the slightest +occasion to do so. I'm Beau Johnson, miss, a detective if you please, +but also a tolerably experienced cracksman, and I want a taste of those +bonds."</p> + +<p>"And Mr. Fellows?"</p> + +<p>The words rang out clear and fearlessly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he? He's a muff. You needn't concern yourself about him. The +matter's between us two. Three thousand dollars for you, and a little +more, perhaps, for me, and I to take all the blame."</p> + +<p>Her eye stole toward the door. No<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> one could enter that way, she knew. +Even her screams, if she survived them, might alarm, but could not bring +her help for several minutes, if not longer. Yet she did not tremble; +only grew a shade paler.</p> + +<p>"You do not answer. What have you to say?"</p> + +<p>"This." She was like marble now. "You will not kill me, because that +would be virtually to kill yourself. You cannot leave this room without +my help, nor fire a shot without being caught like a rat in a trap. I +want three thousand dollars, and I mean to have them, but I do not see +how you are going to get the few more which you promise yourself. +Certainly I am not going to aid you in doing so, and you cannot open +that safe. You have not the musical training."</p> + +<p>"No." The word came like a shot,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> possibly in lieu of a shot, for if +ever he felt murderous it was at that moment. "I have not a musical +training, but that does not make me helpless. In a few moments I shall +have the pleasure of hearing you test your voice again. There's the +office clock ticking; count the strokes."</p> + +<p>She stood fascinated. What did he mean by this? Involuntarily she did +his bidding.</p> + +<p>"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, <i>eleven</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," he repeated, "eleven! And at half past your old father dies."</p> + +<p>"Dies?" Her lips did not frame the words; her eyes looked it, her whole +sinking, suddenly collapsing figure gave voice to the maddening query, +"<i>Dies?</i>"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr /> + + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +<a name="xv" id="xv"></a><small>CHAPTER XV</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>Now, if Fellows will stay away</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">YES. Such is the understanding if I do not telephone my pals to hold +off. He's not at home; he's with my friends. They don't care very much +about old men, and if I have not a decent show of money by half-past +eleven this morning the orders are to knock him on the head. It won't +take a very hard knock. He was far from being in prime condition this +morning."</p> + +<p>She had shown great feeling at the beginning of this address, but at its +close she drew herself up <a name="again" id="again"></a><ins title="original has againand">again and</ins> met him with +something of her old composure.</p> + +<p>"These are all lies," said she. "My father would never leave his house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +at the instigation of any gang. In the first place, he is not strong +enough to attempt the stairs. You cannot deceive me in this fashion."</p> + +<p>"He might be carried down."</p> + +<p>"He wouldn't submit to that, nor would the other lodgers in the house +allow it without an express order from me."</p> + +<p>"They got the order; not from you, but from him. He demanded to be +allowed to go. You see, Mr. Fellows sent a message that you were hurt—I +will speak the whole truth, and say dying. The old man could not be held +after that. He went with the messenger."</p> + +<p>Her cheeks were now like ashes. She had gauged the man before her and +felt that he was fully capable of this villainy. How great a villainy +she alone knew who had the history of this old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> man in her heart.</p> + +<p>"He went with the messenger," repeated Johnson, watching her face with a +cruel leer. "That messenger knew where to take him. You may be sure it +was to a place quite unknown to the police and to every one else but +myself. Five minutes more gone, miss. In just twenty-five minutes more +you will be an orphan and one impediment to your marriage will be at an +end. How about the other?"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she wailed. "If I could really believe you!"</p> + +<p>"I can smooth away that doubt. If you will promise not to compromise me +with the clerks or any one inside there, I will allow you to telephone +home and learn the truth of what I have told you. Anything further will +end all business between us and wind up your father's affairs at the +hour set. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> can afford to humor you for ten minutes more in this +nonsense."</p> + +<p>"I will do it," she cried. "I must know what I am fighting before——" +She caught herself back, but he was quite able to finish the sentence +for her.</p> + +<p>"Before you submit to the inevitable," he smiled.</p> + +<p>Her head fell and he pointed toward the door.</p> + +<p>"I will trust you to guard my—our interests," said he. "Open and go +directly to your own telephone."</p> + +<p>With a staggering step she obeyed. Creeping up stealthily behind her he +watched her manner of opening the door and profited by the one quick +glance he got of the office as she stepped through and passed hurriedly +forward to her desk. There was no one within sight. Mr. Fellows had not +yet returned and the clerks were too remote<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> to notice her agitation or +pay attention to her gait or the tremulousness of her tone as she called +for her home number.</p> + +<p>"Couldn't be better," thought he. "Now if Fellows will stay away long +enough, I'll be able to double the boodle I've promised myself." This +with a chuckle.</p> + +<p>Meantime Miss Lee had got in her message. The answer sent her flying +toward him.</p> + +<p>"He's gone! He's gone!" she gasped. "My old, old father! Oh, you wretch! +Save him and——"</p> + +<p>"You save me first," he whispered, and was about to draw her back into +the room with the safe, when the outer door opened and a stranger +entered on business.</p> + +<p>Her agony at the interruption and the few necessary words it involved +caused the visitor to stare. But she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> was able to make herself +intelligible and to turn him over to one of the clerks, after which she +rejoined Johnson, closing the door quietly behind her.</p> + +<p>His greeting was characteristic.</p> + +<p>"You waste breath," said he, "by all this emotion. You'll need it to +open the safe."</p> + +<p>"What guarantee have I that you will keep your part of the contract?" +she cried. "I sing—the door opens—you help yourself, and you go. That +does not restore to me my father."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll play fair. In proof of it, here's my pistol. If on our going +out I do not stop with you at the telephone and let you communicate with +your father and send my own message of release, then shoot me in the +back. I give you leave."</p> + +<p>Taking the pistol he held out, she cocked it, and looking into the +chambers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> found they were all full.</p> + +<p>"I know how to use it," she said simply.</p> + +<p>Admiration showed in his face. He bowed and pointed toward the tube.</p> + +<p>"Now for the song," he cried.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +<a name="xvi" id="xvi"></a><small>CHAPTER XVI</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>It was not paper I meant to have</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap">WITH a bound she took her stand. She was white as death and greatly +excited. Watching her curiously, the crafty villain noted the quick +throbbing of her throat and the feverish grip on the pistol.</p> + +<p>"Time is galloping," he remarked.</p> + +<p>She gave a gasp, opened her lips and essayed to sing. An awful, +indescribable murmur was all that could be heard. Stiffening herself, +she resolutely calmed down her agitation and tried again. The result was +but little better than before. Turning with a cry, she looked with +<a name="horror" id="horror"></a><ins title="original has horrorstricken">horror-stricken</ins> eyes into the unmoved, slightly +sardonic face of the man behind her.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I cannot sing! You have frightened away my voice. I cannot raise that +note even to save my father's life. I'm choking, choking." Then as she +caught the devilish gleam lighting up his eye, she added, "You will +never have those thousands! The safe is closed to us both."</p> + +<p>He laughed, a very low, cautious laugh, but it made her eyes distend +with uncertainty and dread.</p> + +<p>"You fail to do justice to my fore-*thought," said he.</p> + +<p>"I took this into my calculations. I know women; they can be wicked +enough, but they lack coolness. Let me see now what I can do. I cannot +sing, but I have a little <i>aide de camp</i> which can."</p> + +<p>Walking away from her, he approached a small table on which stood an +object she had never seen in that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> room before. It was covered with a +cloth, and as he removed this cloth, she reeled with surprise; then she +became still with hope and the rush of fresh and overpowering emotions.</p> + +<p>A graphophone stood revealed, one of the finest quality. It was set to +play the air so often on her lips, and in another moment that keen, high +note rang through the room,—that and no more.</p> + +<p>It answered. Slowly, softly, after one breathless moment, the door they +both watched with fascinated gaze swung slowly ajar, just as they had +seen it do at the beginning of this interview, and Johnson, coming +forward, pulled it open with a jerk and began to fumble among the +contents of the safe.</p> + +<p>She could have killed him easily. He had forgotten—but so had she, and +there was no one else by to remind her.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> Had there been, he would have +seen a strange spectacle, for no sooner had Johnson's hand struck those +shelves and minute drawers, than Grace Lee's whole attitude and +expression changed. From a terrified, incapable woman, she became again +her old self, strong, self-controlled, watchful. Creeping up behind him, +she looked over his shoulders as he examined with his quick, experienced +eye the various papers he drew out, noting his anger and growing +disappointment as he found them unavailable for immediate use. Conscious +of her presence, his rage grew till it shot forth in words. Not stinting +oaths, he whirled on her after a moment and asked where the securities +were. "<i>You</i> meant to have them; you know where the ready money is. Show +me, show me at once or——"</p> + +<p>Then a great anguish passed across<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> her face, a look of farewell to +hopes sweet and dearly cherished. If he saw it he did not heed. All his +evil, indomitable will shone in the eye he turned up askance at her, and +though she held the means of killing him in her hand, she bowed to that +will, and leaning over him, she whispered in his ear:</p> + +<p>"It was not paper I meant to have, but—but something else—I——"</p> + +<p>She stopped, for breath was leaving her. His slim, assured hand was +straying toward a certain knob hidden partly from sight, but plain to +the touch if his fingers crept that way.</p> + +<p>"Listen!" She was gasping now, but her hand laid on his shoulder +emphasized her words. "There are jewels at the other end; Mrs. +Stoughton's bridal jewels. They are worth thousands. I—I—meant to take +those. They are in a compartment under that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> lower drawer. Yes, +yes—there they are; take them and be gone. I—I have lost—but you will +give me back my father? See! there are not many minutes left. Oh, be +merciful and——"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +<a name="xvii" id="xvii"></a><small>CHAPTER XVII</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>Now for my part of the bargain</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap2">HE was looking at the jewels, appraising them, making sure they were +real and marketable. She was looking at them, too, with a wild longing +and a bitter disappointment, which he, turning at that moment to mark +her looks, saw and rated at its full value.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess they'll do," he exclaimed, pausing in his task of +thrusting the gems in his pocket to hand her a bracelet ornamented with +one small diamond. "But I expected more from all this fuss and feathers. +Was it to guard these——"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she murmured, thrusting the bracelet into the neck of her dress +and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> stepping quickly back. "They are priceless to the owner. +Associations you know. Mrs. Stoughton is dead—There! that will do. Now +for my part of the bargain," and bethinking her at last of the pistol, +she raised it and pointed it full in his face. "You will close that door +now and send the telephone you promised."</p> + +<p>He rose and banged to the door.</p> + +<p>"All right," he cried. "You've behaved well. Now hide that pistol in +your waist and we'll step into the outer office."</p> + +<p>She did as she was bid, and in a moment more they were crossing the +floor outside. As they did so, she noticed that the two clerks had been +sent out to luncheon, leaving them alone with Mr. Fellows. This was not +encouraging, nor did she like the click which at this moment Beau +Johnson<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> made with his tongue. It sounded like a preconcerted signal. +Whether so or not, it brought Mr. Fellows from his room, and in another +instant he was standing with them before the telephone. There was a +clock over the safe-room door. It stood at just +<a name="twenty" id="twenty"></a><ins title="orignal has tw nty-five">twenty-five</ins> +minutes after eleven.</p> + +<p>"Hurry!" she whispered as the other took up the receiver.</p> + +<p>She did not need to say it. His own anxiety seemed to be as great as +hers, but his anxiety was to be gone. The nerve which sustained him +while the issue was doubtful gave some slight tokens of failing, now +that his efforts had brought success and only this small obligation lay +between him and the enjoyment of the booty he had won at such a risk. +She was sure that his voice trembled as he uttered the familiar. +"Hello!" and during the inter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>change of words which followed, the strain +was perhaps as great on him as on her.</p> + +<p>"Hello! how's the old man?"</p> + +<p>She could hear the answer. It swept her fears away in a moment.</p> + +<p>"Well, but anxious about the girl."</p> + +<p>"She's all right, everything's all right. Take the sick man home and +tell him that his daughter will be there almost as soon as he is."</p> + +<p>"I must hear my father's voice." It was Grace who was speaking. "I will +give a cry that will echo through this building if you do not put me in +communication with him at once."</p> + +<p>Her hand went out to the receiver.</p> + +<p>The veins on Beau Johnson's forehead stood out threateningly.</p> + +<p>"Curse you!" he muttered; but he gave the order just the same.</p> + +<p>"Hello! Don't shut off. The girl's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> nervous; +<a name="wants" id="wants"></a><ins title="original has want's">wants</ins> to hear her +father's voice. Have him up! two words from him will answer."</p> + +<p>"Father!"</p> + +<p>Grace's mouth was at the phone.</p> + +<p>No reply.</p> + +<p>She cast one look at Johnson.</p> + +<p>"They're getting him on his feet," he grumbled. <i>His</i> eye was on the +door.</p> + +<p>"Father!" she called again, her voice tremulous with doubt and anxiety.</p> + +<p>A murmur this time, but she recognized it.</p> + +<p>"It's he! it's he," she cried. "He's safe; he's well. <i>Father!</i>"</p> + +<p>But Johnson had no time for dilly-dallying. Catching the receiver back, +he took his place again at the phone and shouted a few final +injunctions. Then he faced her with the question:</p> + +<p>"Are you satisfied?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> She nodded, speechless at last and almost +breathless from exhaustion. He bowed and made for the door. As he opened +it, Mr. Fellows slid forward and joined him. Both were leaving. He as +well as Johnson. She caught the look which the manager threw her as he +closed the door behind them. There was threat in that look and her heart +strings tightened as she stood alone there facing her fearful duty. Mr. +Fellows was a thief! The manager of this concern was even then perhaps +walking off with the booty wrenched from her care by the devil's own +inquisition. What should she do? Send for Philip? Yes, that was all her +tortured mind could grasp. She would send for her own Philip and get his +advice before she notified the police or sent the inevitable cablegram. +She was too ill, too shaken to do more.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> Philip! Philip!</p> + +<p>She was fainting—she felt it, and was raising her voice to call in one +of the clerks, when the outer door opened and Mr. Fellows came in. She +had not expected him back. She had fondly believed that he had gone with +his professional comrade; and the sight of him caused her to rise again +to her feet.</p> + +<p>"You!" she murmured, facing him in dull wonder at his renewed look of +threat. "I cannot stay in the same room with you. You are——"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span></p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +<a name="xviii" id="xviii"></a><small>CHAPTER XVIII</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>What have you done among you</i>"</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/quote.png" width="8" height="7" alt="open quote" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="cap">NEVER mind me," came clearly and coldly from his lips. "It is of +yourself you must think. Here, officer!" he cried, opening the door +again and ushering in a man in plain clothes, but evidently one of the +force. "This is the young lady. I accuse her of taking advantage of her +power to open Mr. Stoughton's private safe to steal his jewels. Her +confederate has escaped. He had a pistol and I had no means of stopping +him. But she is right here and you will make no mistake in arresting +her. The booty is on her, and smart as she is, she cannot deny that +proof."</p> + +<p>With a cry, Grace's hand went up to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> her throat.</p> + +<p>Then she settled into her usual self once more.</p> + +<p>The officer, eyeing her, asked what she had to say for herself.</p> + +<p>"A great deal," was her low answer. "But I shall not say it here. If Mr. +Fellows will go with me to wherever you take people suspected of what +you suspect me, I can soon make plain my position. But first I should +like to send for my friend, Mr. Philip Andrews. He is with the Stickney +Company, and he is acquainted with my affairs and the understanding +between Mr. Stoughton and myself by which I have access to that +gentleman's safe and do much of his private business for him."</p> + +<p>"That's all right. Send for Mr. Andrews if you wish, but you mustn't +expect to talk to him without witnesses. Is that your coat and hat?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, put them on."</p> + +<p>Mr. Fellows advanced and whispered something in the officer's ear. +Immediately the suspicious look grew in his eyes, and he watched her +every movement with increased care. She saw this and stepped up to him.</p> + +<p>"I shall not deny having this piece of jewelry about my person," she +said, drawing the bracelet from its hiding place. "The man whom Mr. +Fellows calls my confederate gave it to me and I took it; but it will be +hard for him or any one else to prove that it is a theft, harder than it +will be for me to prove who is the real culprit here and the man whom +you ought to arrest. Watch me, but watch him also; he is more deserving +of your close attention than I am."</p> + +<p>Her disdain, her poise, the beauty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> which came out on her face when she +was greatly stirred, gave her a striking appearance at that moment. The +officer stared, then followed her glance toward Mr. Fellows. What he saw +in him made him thoughtful. Turning back to Miss Lee, he said kindly +enough, "Will you let me have that bracelet?"</p> + +<p>She passed it over and he thrust it in his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Now," said he, "I will go first. In a few minutes follow me and go down +Nassau Street. A carriage will be at the curb. Take it. As for Mr. +Fellows——"</p> + +<p>"I cannot leave till some of the clerks come in."</p> + +<p>"We will all wait till a clerk comes."</p> + +<p>Mr. Fellows paled.</p> + +<p>"Here is one now."</p> + +<p>The door opened and Philip Andrews came in.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="in" id="in"></a> +<img src="images/gs06.jpg" width="400" height="668" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"The door opened and Philip Andrews came in"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +"Oh, Philip!"</p> + +<p>"What is this? What have you done among you?"</p> + +<p>It was no wonder he asked. At sight of him Grace Lee had fainted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +<a name="xix" id="xix"></a><small>CHAPTER XIX</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>So that was your motive</i>"</p> + + +<p class="cap2">TWO hours later Grace was explaining herself. She was still pale, but +very calm now, though a little sad. The sadness was not occasioned by +any doubt she felt about her father. She had telephoned home and learned +that he had arrived there and was well, and had nothing but good to say +of his captors. No, there was another cause for her manifest depression, +a cause not disconnected with Philip, toward whom her eyes ever and anon +stole with an uneasy appeal which her mother would have been troubled to +see. But it comforted Fellows, who began to regard her threats as idle +in face of the evidence of her complicity as afforded by the concealed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +bracelet.</p> + +<p>The officer on duty was questioning her. Had she done this and that? +Yes, she had. Why? Then she told her story—the story you have already +read. As she proceeded with it, every eye sparkled under the graphic +tale, and the police, who had some acquaintance with Beau Johnson, +recognized his hand in all that she told. One face only wore a sneer, +and that was Fellows's. But no sneer could discredit a story told with +such vim and straightforward earnestness. As she mentioned the emptying +of the office, each person present turned and gave him a look. The +manager had undertaken a piece of work too big for him. His explanations +of the presence of the graphophone in this inner office were feeble and +contradictory.</p> + +<p>But he had his revenge, or thought he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> had, when she came to the jewels. +She had pointed them out, but only to save a worse disaster. Injury to +her father? "Yes, and——" She paused and her voice thrilled. "In one of +the secret drawers," she continued, "there was an immense amount of +currency in large denominations, the loss of which would cripple the +business, if not bankrupt Mr. Stoughton. His hand was feeling its way +along the face of this drawer. In another moment he would have +discovered the tiny knob by the manipulation of which this drawer opens. +To save the struggle which would have ensued, I directed his attention +elsewhere. I don't believe I did wrong."</p> + +<p>"But you accepted one of these articles as your share. Do you believe +you did right in this?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I will not mention the smallness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> of the share, for that makes the +portion saved for the owner of little account. Yet that portion is +saved. I wish it had been a larger one."</p> + +<p>"No doubt. So that was your motive—to save this souvenir for Mr. +Stoughton?"</p> + +<p>Casting a proud look at Philip, she moved a step nearer to the table on +which the bracelet lay. "Will you be good enough," she asked her +interrogator, "to take up that bracelet and read the initials on the +inner side?"</p> + +<p>"R. S. T.," read the official.</p> + +<p>"Does any one here know Mrs. Stoughton's maiden name?"</p> + +<p>Evidently not, for all remained silent.</p> + +<p>"Does any one here know my mother's maiden name?"</p> + +<p>Philip started.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he cried, "I do. Her name was Rhoda Selden Titus."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="official" id="official"></a> +<img src="images/gs07.jpg" width="400" height="671" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"'R. S. T.' read the official"</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>"R. S. T.," smiled Grace. "This bracelet was my mother's. Mr. Stoughton +allowed me to place this keepsake and some other valuables of mine in +his private safe. <a name="comma" id="comma"></a><ins title="comma added">Gentlemen,</ins> the whole of those jewels were mine—my +sole and only fortune. I was keeping them for"—her eyes stole toward +Philip—"for my marriage portion, the secret and great surprise I had +planned for my future husband. They are worth some five thousand +dollars—my mother was the daughter of a wealthy man. They would have +given us a home if I could have kept them; they would also have given my +husband a start in business, and this I should have preferred, but I +could not let Mr. Stoughton's securities be endangered, and so they had +to go. Philip, cannot you forgive me when you think that it was through +my folly the secret of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> safe became known?"</p> + +<p>"I forgive you?" He could not show his feelings, but his eyes were +eloquent; so were Fellows's; so were those of the various officials.</p> + +<p>"You can prove these statements, Miss Lee?" asked one.</p> + +<p>"Easily," she replied.</p> + +<p>Then they turned to Fellows.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +<a name="xx" id="xx"></a><small>CHAPTER XX</small></h2> + +<p class="center sub">"<i>A jewel of far greater value</i>"</p> + +<p class="cap2">GRACE never got back her jewels. The wily Johnson was not caught, though +Fellows turned state's evidence and did all he could to have the +professional netted in the same manner as himself. But she did not +suffer from this loss. When Mr. Stoughton learned the full particulars +of this daring robbery, he made good to her the value of those jewels, +and the prosperity of this young couple was secured. He was even present +at the wedding. Grace wore her mother's bracelet, but on her breast was +a jewel of far greater value. On its back was engraved,</p> + +<p class="center">To brave G. L.<br /> +From her grateful friend, T. S.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="wedding" id="wedding"></a> +<img src="images/gs08.jpg" width="600" height="358" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"He was even present at the wedding"</span> +</div> + + +<hr /> + +<h4>Transcriber's Note:</h4> + +<p class="center">Changes have been made to the original publication as follows:</p> + +<table summary="Transcriber's Note"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 12</td> +<td class="tdl2">which for some inscrutible <i>changed to</i><br /> +which for some <a href="#inscrutable">inscrutable</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 15</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + you're proposition, Mr. Fellows <i>changed to</i><br /> + <a href="#your">your</a> proposition, Mr. Fellows</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 69</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + window You can see it <i>changed to</i><br /> + <a href="#stop">window.</a> You can see it</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 77</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + attempted some purile protest <i>changed to</i><br /> + attempted some <a href="#puerile">puerile</a> protest</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 78</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + done by day and duing <i>changed to</i><br /> + done by day and <a href="#during">during</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 100</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + screaming will do no you good <i>changed to</i><br /> + screaming will <a href="#do">do you no</a> good</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 113</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + drew herself up againand met him with <i>changed to</i><br /> + drew herself up <a href="#again">again and</a> met him with</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 123</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + horrorstricken eyes into the unmoved <i>changed to</i><br /> + <a href="#horror">horror-stricken</a> eyes into the unmoved</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 133</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + stood at just tw nty-five <i>changed to</i><br /> + stood at just <a href="#twenty">twenty</a>-five</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 134</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + want's to hear her <i>changed to</i><br /> + <a href="#wants">wants</a> to hear her</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl">Page 153</td> +<td class="tdl2"> + + Gentlemen the whole of those <i>changed to</i><br /> + <a href="#comma">Gentlemen,</a> the whole of those</td> +</tr> +</table> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Three Thousand Dollars, by Anna Katharine Green + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS *** + +***** This file should be named 32795-h.htm or 32795-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/7/9/32795/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +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 www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Three Thousand Dollars + +Author: Anna Katharine Green + +Release Date: June 13, 2010 [EBook #32795] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + +THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS + + + + +[Illustration: "_Now state your problem_"] + + + + + THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS + + BY + + ANNA KATHARINE GREEN + + + AUTHOR OF + + "THE LEAVENWORTH CASE," "THE MILLIONAIRE BABY," + "THE MAYOR'S WIFE," "THE FILIGREE BALL," + ETC., ETC. + + + BOSTON + RICHARD G. BADGER + THE GORHAM PRESS + 1910 + + + + + Copyright, 1909, by Richard G. Badger + Copyright, 1908 and 1909, by the Crowell + Publishing Company + + All Rights Reserved + + The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I "Do you know what would happen to him" 9 + + II "Thousands in that safe" 17 + + III "How does it stand" 23 + + IV "Stenographers must be counted" 29 + + V "I've business with him" 35 + + VI "If I could tell you his story" 43 + + VII "I'm sure that I can get them for you" 51 + + VIII "I did as you bid me" 59 + + IX "'The safe door is opened,' I cried" 67 + + X "I have a scheme" 75 + + XI "She will go in" 81 + + XII "A block of steel" 89 + + XIII "I am from headquarters" 95 + + XIV "You do not answer" 103 + + XV "Now, if Fellows will stay away" 111 + + XVI "It was not paper I meant to have" 121 + + XVII "Now for my part of the bargain" 129 + + XVIII "What have you done among you" 139 + + XIX "So that was your motive" 147 + + XX "A jewel of far greater value" 155 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + OPPOSITE PAGE + + "Now state your problem" Frontis + + "He transferred his attention to the door" 38 + + "Grace, you have misunderstood me" 48 + + "An old man was looking up at the face of a young girl" 80 + + "She was ignorant of his presence" 100 + + "The door opened and Philip Andrews came in" 144 + + "'R. S. T.,' read the official" 152 + + "He was even present at the wedding" 158 + + + + +THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS + +CHAPTER I + +"_Do you know what would happen to him?_" + + +"Now state your problem." + +The man who was thus addressed shifted uneasily on the long bench which +he and his companion bestrode. He was facing the speaker, and though +very little light sifted through the cobweb-covered window high over +their heads, he realized that what there was fell on his features, and +he was not sure of his features, or of what effect their expression +might have on the other man. + +"Are you sure we are quite alone in this big, desolate place?" he +asked. + +It seemed a needless question. Though it was broad daylight outside and +they were in the very heart of the most populated district of lower New +York, they could not have been more isolated had the surrounding walls +been those of some old ruin in the heart of an untraversed desert. + +A short description of the place will explain this. They were in the +forsaken old church not far from Avenue A----, a building long given +over to desolation, and empty of everything but debris and one or two +broken stalls, which for some inscrutable reason--possibly from some +latent instinct of inherited reverence--had not yet been converted into +junk and sold to the old clothes men by the rapacious denizens of the +surrounding tenements. + +Perhaps you remember this building; perhaps some echo of the bygone and +romantic has come to you as you passed its decaying walls once dedicated +to worship, but soulless now and only distinguishable from the +five-story tenements pressing up on either side, by its one high window +in which some bits of colored glass still lingered amid its twisted and +battered network. You may remember the building and you may remember the +stray glimpses afforded you through the arched opening in the lower +story of one of the adjacent tenements, of the churchyard in its rear +with its chipped and tumbling head-*stones just showing here and there +above the accumulated litter. But it is not probable that you have any +recollections of the interior of the church itself, shut as it has been +from the eye of the public for nearly a generation. And it is with the +interior we have to do--a great hollow vault where once altar and +priest confronted a reverent congregation. There is no altar here now, +nor any chancel; hardly any floor. The timbers which held the pews have +rotted and fallen away, and what was once a cellar has received all this +rubbish and held it piled up in mounds which have blocked up most of the +windows and robbed the place even of the dim religious light which was +once its glory, so that when the man whose words we have just quoted +asked if they were quite alone and peered into the dim, belumbered +corners, it was but natural for his hardy, resolute, and unscrupulous +companion to snort with impatience and disgust as he answered: + +"Would I have brought you here if I hadn't known it was the safest place +in New York for this kind of talk? Why, man, there may be in this city +five men all told, who know the trick of the door I unfastened for you, +and not one of them is a cop. You may take my word for that. +Besides----" + +"But the kids? They're everywhere; and if one of them should have +followed us----" + +"Do you know what would happen to him? I'll tell you a story--no, I +won't; you're frightened enough already. But there's no kid here, nor +any one else but our two selves, unless it be some wandering spook from +the congregations laid outside; and spooks don't count. So out with +your proposition, Mr. Fellows. I----" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +"_Thousands in that safe_" + + +"No names!" hoarsely interrupted the other. "If you speak my name again +I'll give the whole thing up." + +"No you won't; you're too deep in it for that. But I'll drop the Fellows +and just call you Sam. If that's too familiar, we'll drop the job. I'm +not so keen on it." + +"You will be. It's right in your line." Sam Fellows, as he was called, +was whispering now--a hot, eager whisper, breathing of guilt and +desperation. "If I could do it alone--but I haven't the wit--the----" + +"Experience," dryly put in the other. "Well, well!" he exclaimed +impatiently, as Fellows crept nearer, but said nothing. + +"I'm going to speak, but--Well, then, here's how it is!" he suddenly +conceded, warned by the other's eye. "The building is a twenty-story +one, chuck full and alive with business. The room I mean is on the +twelfth floor; it is one of five, all communicating, and all in constant +use except the one holding the safe. And that is visited constantly. +Some one is always going in and out. Indeed, it is a rule of the firm +that every one of the employees must go into that room once, at least, +during the day, and remain there for five minutes alone. I do it; every +one does it; it's a very mysterious proceeding which only a crank like +my employer would devise." + +"What do you do there?" + +"Nothing. I'm speaking now for myself. The others--some of the +others--_one_ of the others may open the safe. That's what I believe, +that's what I want to know about and _how it's done_. There are +thousands in that safe, and the old man being away----" + +"Yes, this is all very interesting. Go on. What you want is an artist +with a jimmy." + +"No, no. It's no such job as that. I want to know the person, the +trusted person who has all those securities within touch. It's a mania +with me. I should have been the man. I'm--I'm _manager_." + +The hoarseness with which this word was uttered, the instinct of shame +which made his eyes fall as it struggled from his lips, wakened a +curious little gleam of hardy cynicism in the steady gaze of his +listener. + +"Oh, you're manager, are you!" came in slow retort, filling a silence +that had more of pain than pleasure in it. "Well, manager, your story is +very interesting, but by no means complete. Suppose you hurry on to the +next instalment." + +Cringing as from a blow, Fellows took up his tale, no longer creeping +nearer his would-be confederate, but, if anything, edging away. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +"_How does it stand_" + + +"I've watched and watched and watched," said he, "but I can't pick out +the man. Letters come, orders are given, and those orders are carried +out, but _not by me_. I'm speaking now of investments, or the payment of +large sums; anything which calls for the opening of that safe where the +old man has stuffed away his thousands. Small matters fall to my share. +There is another safe, of which I hold the combination. Child's play, +but the other! It would make both of us independent, and yet leave +something for appearances. But it can't be worked. It stands in front of +a glass door from which the curtain is drawn every night. Every +passerby can look in. If it is opened it must be done in broad daylight +and by the person whom the old man trusts. By that means only would I +get my revenge, and revenge is what I want. He don't trust me, _me_ who +have been with him for seven years and----" + +"Drop that, it isn't interesting. The facts are what I want. What kind +of safe is it?" + +"The strangest you ever saw. I don't know who made it. There's nothing +on it to show. Nor is there a lock or combination. But it opens. You can +just see the outline of a door. Steel--fine steel, and not so very +large, but the contents----" + +"We'll take its contents for granted. How does it stand? On a platform?" + +"Yes, one foot from the floor. The platform runs all the way across the +room and holds other things; a table which nobody uses, a revolving +bookcase and a series of shelves, fitted with boxes containing old +receipts and such junk. Sometimes I go through these; but nothing ever +comes of it." He paused, as if the subject were distasteful. + +"And the safe is opened?" + +"Almost every week. I'm ashamed to tell you the old duffer's methods; +they're loony. But he isn't a lunatic. At any rate, they don't think so +in Wall Street." + +"I'll make a guess at his name." + +"Not yet. You'll have to swear----" + +"Oh, we're both in it. Never mind the heroics. It's too good a thing to +peach on. Me and the manager! I like that. Take it easy till the job's +done, anyway. And now I'll take a fly at the name. It's----" + +He had the grace to whisper. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +"_Stenographers must be counted_" + + +Young Fellows squirmed and turned a shade paler, if one could trust the +sickly violet ray that shot down from the once exquisitely colored +window high up over their heads. + +"Hush!" he muttered; and the other grinned. Evidently the guess was a +correct one. + +"No, he's no lunatic," the professional quietly declared. "But he has +queer ways. Which of his queers do you object to?" + +"When his letters come, or more often his cablegrams, they are opened by +me and then put in plain view on a certain little bulletin board in the +main office. These are his orders. Any one who knows the cipher can +read them. I don't know the cipher. At night I take them down, number +them, and file them away. They have served their purpose. They have been +seen by the person whose business it is to carry out his instructions, +and the rest you must guess. His brokers know the secret, but it is +never discussed by us. The least word and the next cablegram would read +in good plain English, 'Fire him!' I've had that experience. I've had to +fire three since he went away two months ago." + +"That's good." + +"Why good?" + +"That cuts out three from your list. _The person is not among the ones +dismissed._" + +"That's so." New life seemed to spring up in Fellows. "You'll do the +job," he cried. "Somehow, I never thought of going about it that way. +And I know another man that's out." + +"Who?" + +"Myself, for one. There are only seven more." + +"Counting all?" + +"All." + +"Stenographers included?" + +"Oh, stenographers!" + +"Stenographers must be counted." + +"Well, then, seven men and one woman. Our stenographer is a woman." + +"What kind of a woman?" + +"A young girl. Ordinary, but good enough. I've never noticed her very +much." + +"Tell me about the men." + +"What's the use? You wouldn't take my word. They're a cheap lot, beneath +contempt in my estimation. There's not one of them clever enough for the +business. Jack Forbush comes the nearest to it, and probably is the +one. The way he keeps his eye on me makes me suspect him. Or is he, too, +playing my game?" + +"How can I tell? How can I tell anything from what you say? I'll have to +look into the matter myself. Give me the names and addresses and I'll +look the parties up. Get their rating, so to speak. Leave it to me, and +I'll land the old man's confidential clerk." + +"Here's the list. I thought you might want it." + +"Where's the girl's name?" + +"The girl! Oh, pshaw!" + +"Put her name down just the same." + +"There, then. Grace Lee. Address, 74 East ---- Street. And now swear on +the honor of a gentleman----" + +Beau Johnson pulled the rim of Fellows's hat over his eyes to suggest +what he thought of this demand. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +"_I've business with him_" + + +Next day there appeared at the offices of Thomas Stoughton, in Nassau +Street, a trim, well-looking man, who had urgent business with Mr. +Fellows, the manager. He was kept waiting for some time before being +introduced into that gentleman's private room; but this did not seem to +disturb him. There was plenty to look at, or so he seemed to think, and +his keen, noncommittal eyes flashed hither and thither and from face to +face with restless activity. He seemed particularly interested in the +bookkeeper of the establishment, but it was an interest which did not +last long, and when a neat, pleasant-faced young woman rose from her +seat and passed rapidly across the room, it was upon her his eyes +settled and remained fixed, with a growing attention, until a certain +door closed upon her with a sound like a snapping lock. Then he +transferred his attention to the door, and was still gazing at it when a +boy summoned him to the manager's office. + +He went in with reluctance. He had rather have watched that door. But he +had questions to ask, and so made a virtue of necessity. Mr. Fellows was +not pleased to see him. He started quite guiltily from his seat and only +sat again on compulsion--the compulsion of his visitor's steady and +quelling eye. + +"I've business with you, Mr. Fellows." Then, the boy being gone, "Which +is the room? The one opening out of the general office directly opposite +this?" + +[Illustration: "_He transferred his attention to the door_"] + +Mr. Fellows nodded. + +"I have just seen one of the employees go in there. I should like to see +that person come out. Do you mind talking with this door open? I know +enough about banking to hold up my end of the conversation." + +Fellows rose with a jerk and pushed the door back. His visitor smiled +easily and launched into a discussion about stocks and bonds +interspersed with a few assertions and questions not meant for the +general ear, as: + +"_It's the girl who is in there. Not ordinary, by any means. Just the +sort an old smudge like Stoughton would be apt to trust. Now what's +that?_" + +"_Singing. She often sings. I've forbidden it, but she forgets, she +says_," answered Fellows. + +"_Pretty good music. Listen to that note. High as a prima donna's. Does +she sing at her work?_" + +"_No; I'd fire her if she did. It's only when she's walking about or +when_----" + +"_She's in that room?_" + +"_Yes_." + +"At par? I buy nothing at par. _There! She's coming. I wish I dared +intercept her, rifle her pockets. Do you know if she has pockets?_" + +"_No; how should I?_" + +"_Fellows, you're not worth your salt. Ah! there's a face for you, and I +can read it like a book. Did a letter or cablegram come to-day?_" + +"_Yes; didn't you see it? Hung up in the outer office_." + +"_I thought I saw something_. Ninety-five? That's a quotation worth +listening to. Three at ninety-five. _That girl's a trump. I will see +more of my lady._" Here he took care to shut the door. "I've been the +rounds, Fellows. Private-detective work and all that. She is the only +puzzler among the group. You'll hear from me again; meanwhile treat the +girl well. Don't spring any traps; leave that to me." + +And Fellows, panting with excitement, promised, muttering under his +breath: + +"A woman! That's even worse than I thought. But we'll make the old +fellow pay for it. Those securities are ours. I already feel them in my +hand." + +The sinister twitch which marred the other's mouth emphasized the +assertion in a way Grace Lee's friends would have trembled to see. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +"_If I could tell you his story_" + + +That evening a young woman and a young man sat on one of the benches in +Central Park. They were holding hands, but modestly and with a clinging +affection. No one appeared in sight; they had the moon-light, the +fragrance of the spring foliage, and their true love all to themselves. +The woman was Grace, the young man was Philip Andrews, a candid-eyed, +whole-hearted fellow whom any girl might be proud to be seen with, much +more to be engaged to. Grace was proud, but she was more than that; her +heart was all involved in her hope--a good heart which he was equally +proud to have won. Yet while love was theirs and the surroundings +breathed peace and joy, they did not look quite happy. A cloud was on +his brow and something like a tear in her eye as she spoke gently but +with rare firmness. + +"Philip, we must wait. One love does not put out another. I cannot leave +my old father now. He is too feeble and much too dependent on me. +Philip, you do not know my father. You have seen him, it is true, many, +many times. You have talked with him and even have nursed him at odd +moments, when I had to be out of the room getting supper or supplying +some of his many wants. Yet you do not know him." + +"I know that he is intelligent." + +"Yes, yes, that is evident. Any one can see that. And you can see, too, +that he is frequently fretful and exacting, as all old people are. But +the qualities he shows me--his strong, melancholy, but devoted nature, +quickened by an unusually unhappy life--that you do not see and cannot, +much as you like him and much as he likes you. Only the child who has +surprised him at odd moments, when he thought himself quite alone, +wringing his hands and weeping over some intolerable memory--who has +listened in the dead of night to his smothered but heart-breaking +groans, can know either his suffering or the one joy which palliates it. +If I could tell you his story--but that would be treason to one whose +rights I am bound to reverence. You will respect my silence, but you +must also take my word that he needs and has a right to all the pleasure +and all the hope my love can give him. I cannot be with him much; my +work forbids, but the little time I have is his, except on rare +occasions like this, and he knows it and is satisfied. Were I +married----. But you will wait, Philip. It may not be long--he grows +weaker every day. Besides, you are not ready yet yourself. You are doing +wonderfully well, but a year's freedom will help you materially, as it +will me. Every day is adding to our store; in a year we may be almost +independent." + +"Grace, you have misunderstood me. I said that I was no good without +you, that I needed your presence to make a man of me, but I did not mean +that you were to share my fortunes now. I would not ask that. I would be +a fool or worse, for, Grace, I'm not doing so well as you think. While I +knew that my present employment was for a specified time, I had hopes of +continuing on. But this cannot be. That's what I have to tell you +to-night. It looks as if our marriage would have to be postponed +indefinitely instead of hastened. And I can't bear it. You don't know +what you are to me, or what this disappointment is. I expected to be +raised, not dismissed, and if I had had----" + +[Illustration: "_Grace, you have misunderstood me_"] + +"What?" + +The word came very softly, and with rare tenderness. It made him turn +and look at her sweet, upturned face, with its resources of strength and +shy, unfathomable smile. "What?" she asked again, with a closer pressure +of her hand. "You must finish all your sentences with _me_." + +"I'm ashamed." He uttered it breathlessly. "What am I, to say, 'If I had +three thousand dollars the Stickney Company would keep me?' I have +barely three hundred and those are dedicated to you." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +"_I'm sure that I can get them for you_" + + +"If you had _three thousand_!" She repeated it in surprise and yet with +an indescribable air, which to one versed in human nature would have +caught the attention and aroused strange inner inquiries. "Does the +Stickney Company want money so badly as that?" + +"That's not it. They have plainly told me that for three thousand +dollars and my services they would give me ten thousand dollars' stock +interest, but insist that the man who assumes the responsibility of the +position must be financially interested as well. But I haven't the +money, and without the money my experience appears to them valueless. I +despair of getting another situation in these hard times and--Grace, you +don't look sorry." + +"Because--" she paused, and her fine eyes roamed about her jealous of a +listener to her secret, but did not pierce the bush which rose up, +cloudy with blossoms, a few feet behind their bench--"because it is not +impossible for you to hope for those thousands. I think--I am sure that +I can get them for you." + +Her voice had sunk to a whisper, but it was a very clear whisper. + +Young Andrews looked at her in surprise; there was something besides +pleasure in that surprise. + +"Where?" he asked. + +She hesitated, and just at that moment the moon slipped behind a cloud. + +"Where, Grace, can you get three thousand dollars? From Mr. Stoughton? +He is generous to you, he pays you well for what you do for him, but I +do not think he would give you that amount, nor do I think he would risk +it on any venture involving my judgment. I should not like to have you +ask him. I should like to rise feeling absolutely independent of Mr. +Stoughton." + +"I never thought of asking him. There is another way. I'd--I'd like to +think it over. If your scheme is good--_very_ good, I might be brought +to aid you in the way my mind suggests. But I should want to be sure." + +She was not looking at him now. If she had been, she might have been +startled at his expression. Nor could he see her face; she had turned it +aside. + +"Grace," he prayed, "don't do anything rash. You handle so much money +that three thousand dollars may seem very little to you. But it's a +goodly sum to get or to replace if one loses it. You must not +borrow----" + +"I will not borrow." + +"Nor raise it in any way without telling me the sacrifice you must make +to obtain it. But it's all a dream; tell me that it's all a dream; you +were talking from your wishes, not from any certainty you have. Say so, +and I will not be disappointed. I do not want _your_ money; I'd rather +go poor and wait till the times change. Don't you see? I'd be more of a +man." + +"But you'd have to take it if I gave it to you, and--perhaps I shall. I +want to see you happy, Philip; I must see you happy. I'd be willing to +risk a good deal for that. I'm not so happy myself, father suffers so, +and the care of it weighs on me. You are all I have to make me glad, and +when you are troubled my heart goes down, down. But it's getting late, +dear. It's time we went home. Don't ask me what's in my mind, but dream +of riches. I'm sure they will come. You shall earn them with the three +thousand dollars you want and which I will give you." + +"I shall earn them honestly," were the last words he said, as they rose +from the seat and began to move toward the gate. And the moon, coming +out from its temporary eclipse, shone on his clear-cut face as he said +this, but not on her bowed head and sidelong look. They were in the +shadow. + +There was something else in the shadow. As they moved away and +disappeared in the darkness the long, slim figure of a man rose from +behind the bush I have mentioned. He had a sparkling eye and a +thin-lipped mouth, and he smiled very curiously as he looked after the +pair before turning himself about and going the other way. + +It was not Fellows; it was his chosen confederate in the nefarious +scheme they had planned between them. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +"_I did as you bid me_" + + +Another meeting in the old church, but this time at night. The +somberness of the surroundings was undiminished by any light. They were +in absolute darkness. Absolute darkness, but not absolute silence. +Noises strange and suggestive, but not of any human agency, whispered, +sighed, rattled, and grumbled from far away recesses. The snap of wood, +the gnawing of rats, the rustling of bat wings disturbed the ears of one +of the guilty pair, till his voice took on unnatural tones as he tried +to tell his story to his greedy companion. They were again astride the +bench, and their thin faces were so near that their breaths commingled +at times; yet Fellows felt at moments so doubtful of all human presence +that instinctively his hand would go groping out till it touched the +other's arm or breast, when it would fall back again satisfied. He was +in a state of absolute terror of the darkness, the oppressive air, the +ghostly sounds, and possibly of the image raised by his own conscience, +yet he hugged to himself the thought of secrecy which it all involved, +and never thought of yielding up his scheme or even shortening his tale, +so long as the other listened and gave his mind to the problem which +promised them thousands without the usual humdrum method of working for +them. + +We will listen to what he had to say, leaving to your imagination the +breaks and guilty starts and moments of intense listening and anxious +fear with which he seasoned it. + +"I did as you bid me," he whispered. "Yesterday fresh orders came from +abroad, in cipher, as usual. (It's an unreadable cipher. I've had +experts on it many times.) I had hung it up, and though business was +heavy, my business, you know, I had eyes for our fair friend, and knew +every step she took about the offices. I even knew when her eyes first +fell on the cablegram. I had my door open, and I caught her looking up +from her work, and what was more, caught the pause in the click-click of +the typewriter as she looked and read. If she had not been able to read, +the click-click would have gone on, for I believe she could work that +typewriter with her eyes shut. But her attention was caught, and she +stopped. I tell you I've been humiliated for the last time. I'm in for +anything that will make that girl step down and out. What was that!" + +Muttered curses from his companion brought him back to his story. With a +gulp he went on: + +"You may bet your bottom dollar that I watched her after that, and sure +enough, in less than half an hour she had gone into the room where the +safe is. Instantly I prepared my _coup d'etat_. I waited just long +enough to hear her voice in that one song she sings, then I jumped from +my seat and rushed to the door, shouting, 'Miss Lee! Miss Lee! Your +father! Your father!' making hullabaloo enough to raise the dead and +scare her out of her wits; for she dotes on that old man and would sell +her soul for his sake, I do believe. + +"Great heavens, it worked! As I live, it worked. I heard her voice fail +on that high upper note of hers, and then the sound of her feet +staggering, slipping over the floor, and in another moment the fumbling +of her hand on the knob and the slow opening of the door which she +seemed to have no power to manage. Helping her, I pulled it open, and +there beyond her and her white, shocked face, I saw--I saw----" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +"_'The safe door is opened,' I cried_" + + +"Go on! Don't be a fool; that was nothing." + +"I don't know; it was like a great sigh at my ear. But this is awful! +Couldn't we have one spark of light?" + +"And have the police upon us the next minute? Look up at that window. +You can see it, can't you?" + +"Yes, yes, but very faintly," Fellows whispered. + +"But you can see it. So could those outside, if we had one glimmer of +light in here. No, no, you'll have to stand the dark or quit. But you +shan't quit till you've told me what you saw in the room where the safe +is." + +"The safe door opening." His voice trembled so that the other shook him +to steady his nerves. "Not opened, mind you, but opening. It was like +magic, and I stared so that she forgot her fears and forgot her +questions. Turning from me with a startled cry, she looked behind her, +and saw what I saw, and tried to push me out. 'I'll come, I'll come,' +she whispered. 'Leave me a minute and I'll come.' + +"But I wasn't going to do that. 'The safe door is opened,' I cried. 'Did +you do it?' She didn't know what to say. I have never seen a woman in +such a state; then she whispered in awful agitation, 'Yes; I've been +given the combination by Mr. Stoughton. I'm duly following his orders. +But my father! What about my father? You frightened me so I forgot +that--' I waited, staring at her, but she didn't finish. She just +asked, 'My father? What has happened to him?' 'Nothing serious,' I +managed to say. I wished the old father was in ballyhack. But he'd +served his turn; I must say that he'd served his turn. 'A telephone +message,' I went on. 'He had had a nervous spell and wanted you. I said +that you could go home at noon.' She stood looking at me doubtfully; +then her eyes stole back to the safe. 'You will have to leave me here +for a few minutes,' she said. 'I have Mr. Stoughton's business to attend +to. He will not be pleased at my having given away his secret. He did +not wish it known who controlled his affairs in his absence, but now +that you do know, you will be doing the right thing to let me go on in +the way he has planned for me. His orders must be carried out.' + +"She is very determined, and understands herself only too well, but I +am manager, and I paid her back in her own coin. 'That's all very well,' +said I, 'but what proof have I that you are telling me the truth? You +have opened the safe--you say you have the combination--but people +sometimes surprise a combination and open a safe from other interests +than those of their employer. You seem a good girl, but _you are a +girl_, and there are men here much more likely to be in Mr. Stoughton's +confidence than yourself. With that open safe before us I cannot leave +you here alone. What you take from it I must see, and if possible be +present at your negotiations. That I consider a manager's duty under the +circumstances.' 'Mr. Fellows,' she asked, 'can you read this morning's +telegram?' 'No,' I felt bound to reply. 'Then that acquits you. I can.' +And again she tried to urge me to go out. But I would not be urged. I +was staring across the room at the open safe and in fancy clutching its +contents. In fact, I made one step toward them. But she drew herself up +with such an air that I paused. She's a big girl, you know, and not to +be fooled with when she's angry. 'Come a step farther and I will scream +for the watchman,' she whispered. All our talk had been low, for there +were listening ears everywhere--we couldn't risk that, and I stepped +back. Immediately she saw her advantage, and added, 'If you do not think +better of it and leave the room, I'll scream.' For answer to this I said +that I----" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +"_I have a scheme_" + + +"What?" + +A yell answered him. + +"Something hit me! Something hit me!" + +"Yes, I hit you; and I'll hit you again if you don't go on." + +Fellows shivered, attempted some puerile protest, balked, and +stammeringly obeyed his restless and irritated companion. + +"I--I said--I wasn't such a fool then as I am now--that she had lied +when she told me that she had the combination. There was no combination. +The safe did not even have a lock. The door opened with a spring. How +had she induced that spring to give way? I demanded to know." + +"And did she tell you?" + +"No. She merely repeated, 'I will scream, and that will cause a scandal +which will lead to your discharge, not mine.' So--so, I came out." + +"Blast your eyes! And when did _she_ come out?" + +"Within five minutes. I watched the clock." + +"And what did she have?" + +"Nothing in sight." + +"I see. A deep game. But I know a deeper. There is no possibility of +breaking into that safe by night, undetected by the watchman?" + +"None; and that watchman is incorruptible. The whole contents of the +safe wouldn't move him to connect himself with this job." + +"The job must be done by day and during office hours?" + +"Yes." + +"And cannot be done without the assistance of this girl?" + +"You've heard." + +"Very well; I have a scheme. Now listen to me." + +Not even the rat which at that minute nibbled at Fellows's boot heel +could have heard what followed. The panting of two breasts was, however, +audible; and when, fifty minutes later, both crawled out of the cellar +window among the rubbish which littered the rear of this once holy +place, the one was trembling with excitement and the other with fear. +They parted at the first thoroughfare, neither having eyes to see nor +hearts to appreciate the touching scene which miles away was taking +place in a little flat not very far from Harlem. An old man, frail in +body, but with a sturdy spirit yet, was looking up from his pillow at +the loving face of a young girl who was bending over him. + +"I cannot sleep to-night," he said to her; "I cannot sleep; but that +must not disturb you. I have so many things to think, pleasant things; +but you have only cares, and must rest from them. You look very tired +to-night, tired and worried. Leave me and sleep. I want to see you +bright in the morning." + +[Illustration: "_An old man was looking up at the loving face of a young +girl_"] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"_She will go in_" + + +The next day there was a dearth of assistants in the office. One was +sick, one had pleaded a long-delayed vacation, two had business for the +concern which took them into different quarters of the city, and Mr. +Beers, who was next in authority to Mr. Fellows, had been summoned to +serve on the grand jury. Perhaps it was this knowledge that Mr. Beers +would be absent which had led to the manager's easiness in regard to the +others. For he had been easy, or so Miss Lee thought when she arrived in +the morning and saw the office almost empty. However, it did not trouble +her much. On the contrary, the quiet and non-surveillance of the two +clerks who did the business of the day seemed rather to elate her, and +she went about her work, copying letters and taking down notes with an +alacrity and air of cheerful hope which caused the manager to cast +toward her more than one suspicious look from his desk in the adjoining +room. _He_ was not busy, though he had been the first to arrive that +morning; and he had brought with him a large square package which he had +taken into the room which held the safe. He pretended to be busy, but +any one watching him closely would have noticed that his eyes, and not +his hands, were all that were engaged, and they were anywhere but on his +desk or the letter he appeared to be reading. An observer would also +have noticed that his nervousness was of the extreme sort, and that the +trembling which shook his whole body increased visibly whenever his +glance fell on the door of Mr. Beers's private room, opening at his +back. No one was supposed to be in that room to-day, and had Miss Lee +not been one minute late this especial morning, perhaps there might not +have been. But in that one minute's grace a man had entered the office +who had not gone out again, and where could he be if not in that one +closed room? + +The room which held the safe was open as usual, and many of Mr. +Fellows's glances traveled that way. He had entered it once only since +his first hurried visit of the early morning, but only to pull down the +shade over the glass in the door communicating with the outside hall. +This was his usual custom, and it attracted no attention. Why shouldn't +he enter it again? He thought he would. A fascination was upon him. The +problem he had given Beau Johnson to solve was to receive a test this +day which would make him a rich man or a felon; but before that hour why +not make his own study, his own investigation? True, he had made these +many times before, but not with such lights to guide him. He might +learn---- + +But no, the very conceit was folly. He knew his own limitations, else he +had not called in the services of this crook. He could learn nothing by +himself, but he might look the place over and see if all was in shape +for the great attempt. That was only his duty. Beau Johnson had a right +to expect that of him. If the scrub woman had moved anything---- + +At the thought that this possibly might have happened, he jumped to his +feet and hurried into the outer office; but when he turned toward the +room of the safe, he met Miss Lee's eye fixed upon him with such a keen, +inquiring look that he faltered in his determination, and went in +another direction instead. _She_ knew that he had no business in that +room, and she also knew that he knew she knew this. Any pretense that he +had would only rouse her suspicions, and these must be lulled to the +point of security, or she might not enter there herself, and on her +entering there everything depended. Almost immediately upon the thought +he was back in his seat, and the weary moments crept on. Would she never +make her accustomed visit to that room? No cablegram had come that +morning, but she would find some reason for going in. Of that he had +been assured by Johnson. Why, he had not been told. "She will go in," +Beau Johnson had said, and Fellows believed him. He believed everything +the other said, otherwise he could not have gone on with this business. +But she was very long about it. Harlowe would be coming back---- + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +"_A block of steel_" + + +Ah, he had an idea! It was not his own, but for the moment he thought it +was. He would leave the office himself and thus give her an opportunity +to quit her work and shut herself up with the safe. But--(was his mind +leaving him?) there was something to be done first. The way must be +cleared for the man in hiding to enter that room before she did. How was +this to be accomplished? A dozen suggestions had been given him by his +confederate, but he had forgotten them all. He was in too great a whirl +to think, yet he must think; some way must be found. Ah, he had it. +Taking up the receiver at his side, he telephoned to a German friend to +call him up in five minutes, giving him the number of the telephone in +the farthest room. This he did in German, telling him it was a joke and +that he was not to insist upon an answer. Then he waited. In five +minutes this farther bell rang. Calling to Miss Lee, he asked her to +answer for him, saying he was very busy. As she rose, he gave a +preconcerted signal on the door of Mr. Beers's room. As she disappeared +in the one beyond, the dapper figure of Johnson crossed the outer office +and slipped into the one holding the safe. A minute later she was back +reporting the message and getting instructions, but the one thing she +had to fear had been done; the trap had been laid, and now for its +victim! + +It was not long before that victim responded to the call. On the +departure of the manager from the room Grace Lee rose, and with a +conscious look toward the two clerks, slipped across the floor to the +open door of the safe room. Entering, she swung to the door, which +closed with a snap; then, with just a moment of hesitation, in which she +seemed to be trying to regain her breath, she passed quickly across to +the safe and took up her stand before it. So directly and so quickly had +she done this that she had not seen the slim, immovable figure drawn up +against the wall at her right behind the projection of a large bookcase. +Nor did any influence for good or evil cause her to turn after she had +reached the safe. All her thoughts, all her hopes, all the dreams which +she had cherished seemed to be concentrated in the blank, eyeless object +which confronted her, impenetrable to all appearance--a block of steel +without visible opening--an enigma among safes--the problem of all +problems to every cracksman in town but one--which was about to be +solved if one could judge from the thrill which now shook her, and in +shaking her communicated the same excitement to the silent, breathless, +determined man in her rear, watching her as the tiger watches the +quarry, and with the same tiger spring latent in his eye. In a moment +her secret would be out, and then---- + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +"_I am from headquarters_" + + +For just a minute Grace Lee paused before the blank door of the safe, +then she passed around to an unused speaking tube in the neighboring +wall. Halting before it, in low but distinct tones she began to sing the +famous aria from "The Magic Flute." + +All agog, with eyes starting and ears alert, the man behind listened and +watched. Nothing happened. + +Then came a change. Gradually her voice rose, sweet and piercing, till +it reached that famous F in alt so rarely attempted, so exciting to the +ear when fairly taken and fairly held. Grace Lee could take it, and as +it hung, sweet and deliciously thrilling in the air, Beau Johnson saw, +to his amazement, though he was in a way prepared for it, the heavy safe +door slip softly ajar. She had done it with her voice. How, he could +only vaguely guess. He was better educated than most of his class, or he +could not have understood it at all. As it was, he laid it to the +vibration caused by a certain definite note acting on some delicate +mechanism set in accord with that note, which mechanism starting another +and a stronger one gradually led up to that which drew the bolts and set +the door ajar. Whether his theory were true or not mattered little at +the moment. The event for which he waited had been accomplished and +accomplished before his eyes. To profit by it was his next thought, and +to this end he held himself ready for the spring which had laid latent +in his eyes since he first saw her advance toward the safe. + +She was ignorant of his presence. This was evident from the jaunty way +she turned from the tube, still singing, but in a desultory way, which +showed that her thoughts were no longer on her music. But she was not so +engrossed that she did not see him. The moment that her face turned his +way, her eyes enlarged, her body stiffened, her whole personality took +on power and purpose and _she_ sprang more quickly than he did and shut +the safe door with one quick movement of her hand that fastened it as +securely as before. Then she drew herself up to meet his rush, a noble +figure of resolute womanhood which any other man would have hesitated to +assail. But he was proof to any appeal of this kind. She had been +quicker than he who was esteemed the readiest in his class, and he owed +her a grudge, if only for that. Smiling--it was a way of his when deeply +moved or deeply dangerous--he accosted her with smooth and treacherous +words. + +"Don't scream, young lady; screaming will do you no good. Mr. Fellows +has left the business to me and I am quite competent to manage it. I am +from headquarters--a detective. Yesterday you aroused the manager's +suspicions, and I was detailed this morning to watch you. What do you +want from Mr. Stoughton's safe? An honest answer may help you. Nothing +else will." + +[Illustration: "_She was ignorant of his presence_"] + +"I want----" she hesitated, eyeing him over with an insight and an +undoubted air of self-command which told the hardy rascal that in this +woman he was likely to meet his match. "I want some securities of Mr. +Stoughton's which he has ordered me to dispose of for him. I am in his +confidence, as I can prove to you if you will give me the opportunity. I +have papers at home that will satisfy any one of my right to open this +safe and to negotiate such papers as are designated in Mr. Stoughton's +cablegrams." + +"I don't doubt it." The words came easily from the mobile lips of the +wily Beau Johnson. "But it was not to do Mr. Stoughton's business that +you opened the safe just now. You have had no orders to-day; you had no +order yesterday. Another purpose is in your mind--a personal purpose. It +is this abuse of Mr. Stoughton's confidence which brings me here. _You +want three thousand dollars badly!_" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +"_You do not answer_" + + +She recoiled. Strong as she was, she was not proof against this +surprise. + +"How do you know that?" she asked, her voice losing its clear tone. "I +do not deny it, but how could you know what I thought to be a secret +between----" + +"You and your lover? Well--we--the police know many things, young lady. +We have a gift. We also have a kind of foreknowledge. I could tell you +something of your future if you will deign to listen to me. Your lover +is an honest man. What do you suppose he will do when he hears that you +have been arrested for attempted burglary on your employer's effects?" + +He had been slowly advancing as he reeled off these glib sentences, but +he paused as he met her smile. It was not of the same sort as his, but +it was not without a certain suggestiveness which he felt it would be +best for him to understand before he threw off his mask. + +"I don't know what he will do," said she, meeting the false detective's +eye as she laid her hand on the safe, "but I know what I shall do if you +carry out the purpose you threaten. Show my papers to the police and +demand evidence of my having any bad intentions in opening this safe +this morning. I think you will have difficulty in producing any. I think +that you will only prove yourself a fool. Are you so strong with the +authorities as to brave that?" + +Astonished at her insight and more than astonished at her self-control, +the experienced cracksman paused, and then in tones he rarely used, +remarked quietly: + +"You are playing with your life, Miss Lee. I have a pistol leveled at +you from my pocket, and I'm the man to fire if you give me the slightest +occasion to do so. I'm Beau Johnson, miss, a detective if you please, +but also a tolerably experienced cracksman, and I want a taste of those +bonds." + +"And Mr. Fellows?" + +The words rang out clear and fearlessly. + +"Oh, he? He's a muff. You needn't concern yourself about him. The +matter's between us two. Three thousand dollars for you, and a little +more, perhaps, for me, and I to take all the blame." + +Her eye stole toward the door. No one could enter that way, she knew. +Even her screams, if she survived them, might alarm, but could not bring +her help for several minutes, if not longer. Yet she did not tremble; +only grew a shade paler. + +"You do not answer. What have you to say?" + +"This." She was like marble now. "You will not kill me, because that +would be virtually to kill yourself. You cannot leave this room without +my help, nor fire a shot without being caught like a rat in a trap. I +want three thousand dollars, and I mean to have them, but I do not see +how you are going to get the few more which you promise yourself. +Certainly I am not going to aid you in doing so, and you cannot open +that safe. You have not the musical training." + +"No." The word came like a shot, possibly in lieu of a shot, for if +ever he felt murderous it was at that moment. "I have not a musical +training, but that does not make me helpless. In a few moments I shall +have the pleasure of hearing you test your voice again. There's the +office clock ticking; count the strokes." + +She stood fascinated. What did he mean by this? Involuntarily she did +his bidding. + +"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, _eleven_!" + +"Yes," he repeated, "eleven! And at half past your old father dies." + +"Dies?" Her lips did not frame the words; her eyes looked it, her whole +sinking, suddenly collapsing figure gave voice to the maddening query, +"_Dies?_" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +"_Now, if Fellows will stay away_" + + +"Yes. Such is the understanding if I do not telephone my pals to hold +off. He's not at home; he's with my friends. They don't care very much +about old men, and if I have not a decent show of money by half-past +eleven this morning the orders are to knock him on the head. It won't +take a very hard knock. He was far from being in prime condition this +morning." + +She had shown great feeling at the beginning of this address, but at its +close she drew herself up again and met him with something of her old +composure. + +"These are all lies," said she. "My father would never leave his house +at the instigation of any gang. In the first place, he is not strong +enough to attempt the stairs. You cannot deceive me in this fashion." + +"He might be carried down." + +"He wouldn't submit to that, nor would the other lodgers in the house +allow it without an express order from me." + +"They got the order; not from you, but from him. He demanded to be +allowed to go. You see, Mr. Fellows sent a message that you were hurt--I +will speak the whole truth, and say dying. The old man could not be held +after that. He went with the messenger." + +Her cheeks were now like ashes. She had gauged the man before her and +felt that he was fully capable of this villainy. How great a villainy +she alone knew who had the history of this old man in her heart. + +"He went with the messenger," repeated Johnson, watching her face with a +cruel leer. "That messenger knew where to take him. You may be sure it +was to a place quite unknown to the police and to every one else but +myself. Five minutes more gone, miss. In just twenty-five minutes more +you will be an orphan and one impediment to your marriage will be at an +end. How about the other?" + +"Oh!" she wailed. "If I could really believe you!" + +"I can smooth away that doubt. If you will promise not to compromise me +with the clerks or any one inside there, I will allow you to telephone +home and learn the truth of what I have told you. Anything further will +end all business between us and wind up your father's affairs at the +hour set. I can afford to humor you for ten minutes more in this +nonsense." + +"I will do it," she cried. "I must know what I am fighting before----" +She caught herself back, but he was quite able to finish the sentence +for her. + +"Before you submit to the inevitable," he smiled. + +Her head fell and he pointed toward the door. + +"I will trust you to guard my--our interests," said he. "Open and go +directly to your own telephone." + +With a staggering step she obeyed. Creeping up stealthily behind her he +watched her manner of opening the door and profited by the one quick +glance he got of the office as she stepped through and passed hurriedly +forward to her desk. There was no one within sight. Mr. Fellows had not +yet returned and the clerks were too remote to notice her agitation or +pay attention to her gait or the tremulousness of her tone as she called +for her home number. + +"Couldn't be better," thought he. "Now if Fellows will stay away long +enough, I'll be able to double the boodle I've promised myself." This +with a chuckle. + +Meantime Miss Lee had got in her message. The answer sent her flying +toward him. + +"He's gone! He's gone!" she gasped. "My old, old father! Oh, you wretch! +Save him and----" + +"You save me first," he whispered, and was about to draw her back into +the room with the safe, when the outer door opened and a stranger +entered on business. + +Her agony at the interruption and the few necessary words it involved +caused the visitor to stare. But she was able to make herself +intelligible and to turn him over to one of the clerks, after which she +rejoined Johnson, closing the door quietly behind her. + +His greeting was characteristic. + +"You waste breath," said he, "by all this emotion. You'll need it to +open the safe." + +"What guarantee have I that you will keep your part of the contract?" +she cried. "I sing--the door opens--you help yourself, and you go. That +does not restore to me my father." + +"Oh, I'll play fair. In proof of it, here's my pistol. If on our going +out I do not stop with you at the telephone and let you communicate with +your father and send my own message of release, then shoot me in the +back. I give you leave." + +Taking the pistol he held out, she cocked it, and looking into the +chambers, found they were all full. + +"I know how to use it," she said simply. + +Admiration showed in his face. He bowed and pointed toward the tube. + +"Now for the song," he cried. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"_It was not paper I meant to have_" + + +With a bound she took her stand. She was white as death and greatly +excited. Watching her curiously, the crafty villain noted the quick +throbbing of her throat and the feverish grip on the pistol. + +"Time is galloping," he remarked. + +She gave a gasp, opened her lips and essayed to sing. An awful, +indescribable murmur was all that could be heard. Stiffening herself, +she resolutely calmed down her agitation and tried again. The result was +but little better than before. Turning with a cry, she looked with +horror-stricken eyes into the unmoved, slightly sardonic face of the man +behind her. + +"I cannot sing! You have frightened away my voice. I cannot raise that +note even to save my father's life. I'm choking, choking." Then as she +caught the devilish gleam lighting up his eye, she added, "You will +never have those thousands! The safe is closed to us both." + +He laughed, a very low, cautious laugh, but it made her eyes distend +with uncertainty and dread. + +"You fail to do justice to my fore-*thought," said he. + +"I took this into my calculations. I know women; they can be wicked +enough, but they lack coolness. Let me see now what I can do. I cannot +sing, but I have a little _aide de camp_ which can." + +Walking away from her, he approached a small table on which stood an +object she had never seen in that room before. It was covered with a +cloth, and as he removed this cloth, she reeled with surprise; then she +became still with hope and the rush of fresh and overpowering emotions. + +A graphophone stood revealed, one of the finest quality. It was set to +play the air so often on her lips, and in another moment that keen, high +note rang through the room,--that and no more. + +It answered. Slowly, softly, after one breathless moment, the door they +both watched with fascinated gaze swung slowly ajar, just as they had +seen it do at the beginning of this interview, and Johnson, coming +forward, pulled it open with a jerk and began to fumble among the +contents of the safe. + +She could have killed him easily. He had forgotten--but so had she, and +there was no one else by to remind her. Had there been, he would have +seen a strange spectacle, for no sooner had Johnson's hand struck those +shelves and minute drawers, than Grace Lee's whole attitude and +expression changed. From a terrified, incapable woman, she became again +her old self, strong, self-controlled, watchful. Creeping up behind him, +she looked over his shoulders as he examined with his quick, experienced +eye the various papers he drew out, noting his anger and growing +disappointment as he found them unavailable for immediate use. Conscious +of her presence, his rage grew till it shot forth in words. Not stinting +oaths, he whirled on her after a moment and asked where the securities +were. "_You_ meant to have them; you know where the ready money is. Show +me, show me at once or----" + +Then a great anguish passed across her face, a look of farewell to +hopes sweet and dearly cherished. If he saw it he did not heed. All his +evil, indomitable will shone in the eye he turned up askance at her, and +though she held the means of killing him in her hand, she bowed to that +will, and leaning over him, she whispered in his ear: + +"It was not paper I meant to have, but--but something else--I----" + +She stopped, for breath was leaving her. His slim, assured hand was +straying toward a certain knob hidden partly from sight, but plain to +the touch if his fingers crept that way. + +"Listen!" She was gasping now, but her hand laid on his shoulder +emphasized her words. "There are jewels at the other end; Mrs. +Stoughton's bridal jewels. They are worth thousands. I--I--meant to take +those. They are in a compartment under that lower drawer. Yes, +yes--there they are; take them and be gone. I--I have lost--but you will +give me back my father? See! there are not many minutes left. Oh, be +merciful and----" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"_Now for my part of the bargain_" + + +He was looking at the jewels, appraising them, making sure they were +real and marketable. She was looking at them, too, with a wild longing +and a bitter disappointment, which he, turning at that moment to mark +her looks, saw and rated at its full value. + +"Well, I guess they'll do," he exclaimed, pausing in his task of +thrusting the gems in his pocket to hand her a bracelet ornamented with +one small diamond. "But I expected more from all this fuss and feathers. +Was it to guard these----" + +"Yes," she murmured, thrusting the bracelet into the neck of her dress +and stepping quickly back. "They are priceless to the owner. +Associations you know. Mrs. Stoughton is dead--There! that will do. Now +for my part of the bargain," and bethinking her at last of the pistol, +she raised it and pointed it full in his face. "You will close that door +now and send the telephone you promised." + +He rose and banged to the door. + +"All right," he cried. "You've behaved well. Now hide that pistol in +your waist and we'll step into the outer office." + +She did as she was bid, and in a moment more they were crossing the +floor outside. As they did so, she noticed that the two clerks had been +sent out to luncheon, leaving them alone with Mr. Fellows. This was not +encouraging, nor did she like the click which at this moment Beau +Johnson made with his tongue. It sounded like a preconcerted signal. +Whether so or not, it brought Mr. Fellows from his room, and in another +instant he was standing with them before the telephone. There was a +clock over the safe-room door. It stood at just twenty-five minutes +after eleven. + +"Hurry!" she whispered as the other took up the receiver. + +She did not need to say it. His own anxiety seemed to be as great as +hers, but his anxiety was to be gone. The nerve which sustained him +while the issue was doubtful gave some slight tokens of failing, now +that his efforts had brought success and only this small obligation lay +between him and the enjoyment of the booty he had won at such a risk. +She was sure that his voice trembled as he uttered the familiar. +"Hello!" and during the interchange of words which followed, the strain +was perhaps as great on him as on her. + +"Hello! how's the old man?" + +She could hear the answer. It swept her fears away in a moment. + +"Well, but anxious about the girl." + +"She's all right, everything's all right. Take the sick man home and +tell him that his daughter will be there almost as soon as he is." + +"I must hear my father's voice." It was Grace who was speaking. "I will +give a cry that will echo through this building if you do not put me in +communication with him at once." + +Her hand went out to the receiver. + +The veins on Beau Johnson's forehead stood out threateningly. + +"Curse you!" he muttered; but he gave the order just the same. + +"Hello! Don't shut off. The girl's nervous; wants to hear her father's +voice. Have him up! two words from him will answer." + +"Father!" + +Grace's mouth was at the phone. + +No reply. + +She cast one look at Johnson. + +"They're getting him on his feet," he grumbled. _His_ eye was on the +door. + +"Father!" she called again, her voice tremulous with doubt and anxiety. + +A murmur this time, but she recognized it. + +"It's he! it's he," she cried. "He's safe; he's well. _Father!_" + +But Johnson had no time for dilly-dallying. Catching the receiver back, +he took his place again at the phone and shouted a few final +injunctions. Then he faced her with the question: + +"Are you satisfied?" She nodded, speechless at last and almost +breathless from exhaustion. He bowed and made for the door. As he opened +it, Mr. Fellows slid forward and joined him. Both were leaving. He as +well as Johnson. She caught the look which the manager threw her as he +closed the door behind them. There was threat in that look and her heart +strings tightened as she stood alone there facing her fearful duty. Mr. +Fellows was a thief! The manager of this concern was even then perhaps +walking off with the booty wrenched from her care by the devil's own +inquisition. What should she do? Send for Philip? Yes, that was all her +tortured mind could grasp. She would send for her own Philip and get his +advice before she notified the police or sent the inevitable cablegram. +She was too ill, too shaken to do more. Philip! Philip! + +She was fainting--she felt it, and was raising her voice to call in one +of the clerks, when the outer door opened and Mr. Fellows came in. She +had not expected him back. She had fondly believed that he had gone with +his professional comrade; and the sight of him caused her to rise again +to her feet. + +"You!" she murmured, facing him in dull wonder at his renewed look of +threat. "I cannot stay in the same room with you. You are----" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +"_What have you done among you_" + + +"Never mind me," came clearly and coldly from his lips. "It is of +yourself you must think. Here, officer!" he cried, opening the door +again and ushering in a man in plain clothes, but evidently one of the +force. "This is the young lady. I accuse her of taking advantage of her +power to open Mr. Stoughton's private safe to steal his jewels. Her +confederate has escaped. He had a pistol and I had no means of stopping +him. But she is right here and you will make no mistake in arresting +her. The booty is on her, and smart as she is, she cannot deny that +proof." + +With a cry, Grace's hand went up to her throat. + +Then she settled into her usual self once more. + +The officer, eyeing her, asked what she had to say for herself. + +"A great deal," was her low answer. "But I shall not say it here. If Mr. +Fellows will go with me to wherever you take people suspected of what +you suspect me, I can soon make plain my position. But first I should +like to send for my friend, Mr. Philip Andrews. He is with the Stickney +Company, and he is acquainted with my affairs and the understanding +between Mr. Stoughton and myself by which I have access to that +gentleman's safe and do much of his private business for him." + +"That's all right. Send for Mr. Andrews if you wish, but you mustn't +expect to talk to him without witnesses. Is that your coat and hat?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, put them on." + +Mr. Fellows advanced and whispered something in the officer's ear. +Immediately the suspicious look grew in his eyes, and he watched her +every movement with increased care. She saw this and stepped up to him. + +"I shall not deny having this piece of jewelry about my person," she +said, drawing the bracelet from its hiding place. "The man whom Mr. +Fellows calls my confederate gave it to me and I took it; but it will be +hard for him or any one else to prove that it is a theft, harder than it +will be for me to prove who is the real culprit here and the man whom +you ought to arrest. Watch me, but watch him also; he is more deserving +of your close attention than I am." + +Her disdain, her poise, the beauty which came out on her face when she +was greatly stirred, gave her a striking appearance at that moment. The +officer stared, then followed her glance toward Mr. Fellows. What he saw +in him made him thoughtful. Turning back to Miss Lee, he said kindly +enough, "Will you let me have that bracelet?" + +She passed it over and he thrust it in his pocket. + +"Now," said he, "I will go first. In a few minutes follow me and go down +Nassau Street. A carriage will be at the curb. Take it. As for Mr. +Fellows----" + +"I cannot leave till some of the clerks come in." + +"We will all wait till a clerk comes." + +Mr. Fellows paled. + +"Here is one now." + +The door opened and Philip Andrews came in. + +[Illustration: "_The door opened and Philip Andrews came in_"] + +"Oh, Philip!" + +"What is this? What have you done among you?" + +It was no wonder he asked. At sight of him Grace Lee had fainted. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +"_So that was your motive_" + + +Two hours later Grace was explaining herself. She was still pale, but +very calm now, though a little sad. The sadness was not occasioned by +any doubt she felt about her father. She had telephoned home and learned +that he had arrived there and was well, and had nothing but good to say +of his captors. No, there was another cause for her manifest depression, +a cause not disconnected with Philip, toward whom her eyes ever and anon +stole with an uneasy appeal which her mother would have been troubled to +see. But it comforted Fellows, who began to regard her threats as idle +in face of the evidence of her complicity as afforded by the concealed +bracelet. + +The officer on duty was questioning her. Had she done this and that? +Yes, she had. Why? Then she told her story--the story you have already +read. As she proceeded with it, every eye sparkled under the graphic +tale, and the police, who had some acquaintance with Beau Johnson, +recognized his hand in all that she told. One face only wore a sneer, +and that was Fellows's. But no sneer could discredit a story told with +such vim and straightforward earnestness. As she mentioned the emptying +of the office, each person present turned and gave him a look. The +manager had undertaken a piece of work too big for him. His explanations +of the presence of the graphophone in this inner office were feeble and +contradictory. + +But he had his revenge, or thought he had, when she came to the jewels. +She had pointed them out, but only to save a worse disaster. Injury to +her father? "Yes, and----" She paused and her voice thrilled. "In one of +the secret drawers," she continued, "there was an immense amount of +currency in large denominations, the loss of which would cripple the +business, if not bankrupt Mr. Stoughton. His hand was feeling its way +along the face of this drawer. In another moment he would have +discovered the tiny knob by the manipulation of which this drawer opens. +To save the struggle which would have ensued, I directed his attention +elsewhere. I don't believe I did wrong." + +"But you accepted one of these articles as your share. Do you believe +you did right in this?" + +"Yes. I will not mention the smallness of the share, for that makes the +portion saved for the owner of little account. Yet that portion is +saved. I wish it had been a larger one." + +"No doubt. So that was your motive--to save this souvenir for Mr. +Stoughton?" + +Casting a proud look at Philip, she moved a step nearer to the table on +which the bracelet lay. "Will you be good enough," she asked her +interrogator, "to take up that bracelet and read the initials on the +inner side?" + +"R. S. T.," read the official. + +"Does any one here know Mrs. Stoughton's maiden name?" + +Evidently not, for all remained silent. + +"Does any one here know my mother's maiden name?" + +Philip started. + +"Yes," he cried, "I do. Her name was Rhoda Selden Titus." + +[Illustration: "_'R. S. T.' read the official_"] + +"R. S. T.," smiled Grace. "This bracelet was my mother's. Mr. Stoughton +allowed me to place this keepsake and some other valuables of mine in +his private safe. Gentlemen, the whole of those jewels were mine--my +sole and only fortune. I was keeping them for"--her eyes stole toward +Philip--"for my marriage portion, the secret and great surprise I had +planned for my future husband. They are worth some five thousand +dollars--my mother was the daughter of a wealthy man. They would have +given us a home if I could have kept them; they would also have given my +husband a start in business, and this I should have preferred, but I +could not let Mr. Stoughton's securities be endangered, and so they had +to go. Philip, cannot you forgive me when you think that it was through +my folly the secret of the safe became known?" + +"I forgive you?" He could not show his feelings, but his eyes were +eloquent; so were Fellows's; so were those of the various officials. + +"You can prove these statements, Miss Lee?" asked one. + +"Easily," she replied. + +Then they turned to Fellows. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +"_A jewel of far greater value_" + + +Grace never got back her jewels. The wily Johnson was not caught, though +Fellows turned state's evidence and did all he could to have the +professional netted in the same manner as himself. But she did not +suffer from this loss. When Mr. Stoughton learned the full particulars +of this daring robbery, he made good to her the value of those jewels, +and the prosperity of this young couple was secured. He was even present +at the wedding. Grace wore her mother's bracelet, but on her breast was +a jewel of far greater value. On its back was engraved, + + To brave G. L. + From her grateful friend, T. S. + +[Illustration: "_He was even present at the wedding_"] + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + +Changes have been made to the original publication as follows: + + Page 12 + + which for some inscrutible _changed to_ + which for some inscrutable + + Page 15 + + you're proposition, Mr. Fellows _changed to_ + your proposition, Mr. Fellows + + Page 69 + + window You can see it _changed to_ + window. You can see it + + Page 77 + + attempted some purile protest _changed to_ + attempted some puerile protest + + Page 78 + + done by day and duing _changed to_ + done by day and during + + Page 100 + + screaming will do no you good _changed to_ + screaming will do you no good + + Page 113 + + drew herself up againand met him with _changed to_ + drew herself up again and met him with + + Page 123 + + horrorstricken eyes into the unmoved _changed to_ + horror-stricken eyes into the unmoved + + Page 133 + + stood at just tw nty-five _changed to_ + stood at just twenty-five + + Page 134 + + want's to hear her _changed to_ + wants to hear her + + Page 153 + + Gentlemen the whole of those _changed to_ + Gentlemen, the whole of those + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Three Thousand Dollars, by Anna Katharine Green + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS *** + +***** This file should be named 32795.txt or 32795.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/7/9/32795/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +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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