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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lion and the Mouse, by Charles Klein
+
+
+*********************************************************
+THERE IS AN ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF THIS TITLE WITH LINKED
+CONTENTS WHICH MAY BE VIEWED AS EBOOK (# 14204) at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14204
+*********************************************************
+
+
+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'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+Title: The Lion and the Mouse
+       A Story of an American Life
+
+Author: Charles Klein
+
+Posting Date: October 25, 2014 [EBook #5119]
+Release Date: February, 2004
+First Posted: May 4, 2002
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LION AND THE MOUSE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+The Lion and the Mouse
+
+by
+
+Charles Klein
+
+A Story of an American Life
+
+
+
+Novelized from the play by
+
+Arthur Hornblow
+
+
+
+   "Judges and Senates have been bought for gold;
+   Love and esteem have never been sold."
+               POPE
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+Chapter I
+
+Chapter II
+
+Chapter III
+
+Chapter IV
+
+Chapter V
+
+Chapter VI
+
+Chapter VII
+
+Chapter VIII
+
+Chapter IX
+
+Chapter X
+
+Chapter XI
+
+Chapter XII
+
+Chapter XIII
+
+Chapter XIV
+
+Chapter XV
+
+Chapter XVI
+
+
+
+
+THE LION AND THE MOUSE
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+There was unwonted bustle in the usually sleepy and dignified New York
+offices of the Southern and Transcontinental Railroad Company in lower
+Broadway. The supercilious, well-groomed clerks who, on ordinary days,
+are far too preoccupied with their own personal affairs to betray the
+slightest interest in anything not immediately concerning them, now
+condescended to bestir themselves and, gathered in little groups,
+conversed in subdued, eager tones. The slim, nervous fingers of half a
+dozen haughty stenographers, representing as many different types of
+business femininity, were busily rattling the keys of clicking
+typewriters, each of their owners intent on reducing with all possible
+despatch the mass of letters which lay piled up in front of her.
+Through the heavy plate-glass swinging doors, leading to the elevators
+and thence to the street, came and went an army of messengers and
+telegraph boys, noisy and insolent. Through the open windows the hoarse
+shouting of news-venders, the rushing of elevated trains, the clanging
+of street cars, with the occasional feverish dash of an ambulance--all
+these familiar noises of a great city had the far-away sound peculiar
+to top floors of the modern sky-scraper. The day was warm and sticky,
+as is not uncommon in early May, and the overcast sky and a distant
+rumbling of thunder promised rain before night.
+
+The big express elevators, running smoothly and swiftly, unloaded every
+few moments a number of prosperous-looking men who, chatting volubly
+and affably, made their way immediately through the outer offices
+towards another and larger inner office on the glass door of which was
+the legend "Directors Room. Private." Each comer gave a patronizing nod
+in recognition of the deferential salutation of the clerks. Earlier
+arrivals had preceded them, and as they opened the door there issued
+from the Directors Room a confused murmur of voices, each different in
+pitch and tone, some deep and deliberate, others shrill and nervous,
+but all talking earnestly and with animation as men do when the subject
+under discussion is of common interest. Now and again a voice was heard
+high above the others, denoting anger in the speaker, followed by the
+pleading accents of the peace-maker, who was arguing his irate
+colleague into calmness. At intervals the door opened to admit other
+arrivals, and through the crack was caught a glimpse of a dozen
+directors, some seated, some standing near a long table covered with
+green baize.
+
+It was the regular quarterly meeting of the directors of the Southern
+and Transcontinental Railroad Company, but it was something more than
+mere routine that had called out a quorum of such strength and which
+made to-day's gathering one of extraordinary importance in the history
+of the road. That the business on hand was of the greatest significance
+was easily to be inferred from the concerned and anxious expression on
+the directors' faces and the eagerness of the employes as they plied
+each other with questions.
+
+"Suppose the injunction is sustained?" asked a clerk in a whisper. "Is
+not the road rich enough to bear the loss?"
+
+The man he addressed turned impatiently to the questioner: "That's all
+you know about railroading. Don't you understand that this suit we have
+lost will be the entering wedge for hundreds of others. The very
+existence of the road may be at stake. And between you and me," he
+added in a lower key, "with Judge Rossmore on the bench we never stood
+much show. It's Judge Rossmore that scares 'em, not the injunction.
+They've found it easy to corrupt most of the Supreme Court judges, but
+Judge Rossmore is one too many for them. You could no more bribe him
+than you could have bribed Abraham Lincoln."
+
+"But the newspapers say that he, too, has been caught accepting $50,000
+worth of stock for that decision he rendered in the Great Northwestern
+case."
+
+"Lies! All those stories are lies," replied the other emphatically.
+Then looking cautiously around to make sure no one overheard, he added
+contemptuously, "The big interests fear him, and they're inventing
+these lies to try and injure him. They might as well try to blow up
+Gibraltar. The fact is the public is seriously aroused this time and
+the railroads are in a panic."
+
+It was true. The railroad, which heretofore had considered itself
+superior to law, had found itself checked in its career of outlawry and
+oppression. The railroad, this modern octopus of steam and steel which
+stretches its greedy tentacles out over the land, had at last been
+brought to book.
+
+At first, when the country was in the earlier stages of its
+development, the railroad appeared in the guise of a public benefactor.
+It brought to the markets of the East the produce of the South and
+West. It opened up new and inaccessible territory and made oases of
+waste places. It brought to the city coal, lumber, food and other prime
+necessaries of life, taking back to the farmer and the woodsman in
+exchange, clothes and other manufactured goods. Thus, little by little,
+the railroad wormed itself into the affections of the people and
+gradually became an indispensable part of the life it had itself
+created. Tear up the railroad and life itself is extinguished.
+
+So when the railroad found it could not be dispensed with, it grew
+dissatisfied with the size of its earnings. Legitimate profits were not
+enough. Its directors cried out for bigger dividends, and from then on
+the railroad became a conscienceless tyrant, fawning on those it feared
+and crushing without mercy those who were defenceless. It raised its
+rates for hauling freight, discriminating against certain localities
+without reason or justice, and favouring other points where its own
+interests lay. By corrupting government officials and other unlawful
+methods it appropriated lands, and there was no escape from its
+exactions and brigandage. Other roads were built, and for a brief
+period there was held out the hope of relief that invariably comes from
+honest competition. But the railroad either absorbed its rivals or
+pooled interests with them, and thereafter there were several masters
+instead of one.
+
+Soon the railroads began to war among themselves, and in a mad scramble
+to secure business at any price they cut each other's rates and
+unlawfully entered into secret compacts with certain big shippers,
+permitting the latter to enjoy lower freight rates than their
+competitors. The smaller shippers were soon crushed out of existence in
+this way. Competition was throttled and prices went up, making the
+railroad barons richer and the people poorer. That was the beginning of
+the giant Trusts, the greatest evil American civilization has yet
+produced, and one which, unless checked, will inevitably drag this
+country into the throes of civil strife.
+
+From out of this quagmire of corruption and rascality emerged the
+Colossus, a man so stupendously rich and with such unlimited powers for
+evil that the world has never looked upon his like. The famous Croesus,
+whose fortune was estimated at only eight millions in our money, was a
+pauper compared with John Burkett Ryder, whose holdings no man could
+count, but which were approximately estimated at a thousand millions of
+dollars. The railroads had created the Trust, the ogre of corporate
+greed, of which Ryder was the incarnation, and in time the Trust became
+master of the railroads, which after all seemed but retributive justice.
+
+John Burkett Ryder, the richest man in the world--the man whose name
+had spread to the farthest corners of the earth because of his wealth,
+and whose money, instead of being a blessing, promised to become not
+only a curse to himself but a source of dire peril to all mankind--was
+a genius born of the railroad age. No other age could have brought him
+forth; his peculiar talents fitted exactly the conditions of his time.
+Attracted early in life to the newly discovered oil fields of
+Pennsylvania, he became a dealer in the raw product and later a
+refiner, acquiring with capital, laboriously saved, first one refinery,
+then another. The railroads were cutting each other's throats to secure
+the freight business of the oil men, and John Burkett Ryder saw his
+opportunity. He made secret overtures to the road, guaranteeing a vast
+amount of business if he could get exceptionally low rates, and the
+illegal compact was made. His competitors, undersold in the market,
+stood no chance, and one by one they were crushed out of existence.
+Ryder called these manouvres "business"; the world called them
+brigandage. But the Colossus prospered and slowly built up the
+foundations of the extraordinary fortune which is the talk and the
+wonder of the world today. Master now of the oil situation, Ryder
+succeeded in his ambition of organizing the Empire Trading Company, the
+most powerful, the most secretive, and the most wealthy business
+institution the commercial world has yet known.
+
+Yet with all this success John Burkett Ryder was still not content. He
+was now a rich man, richer by many millions that he had dreamed he
+could ever be, but still he was unsatisfied. He became money mad. He
+wanted to be richer still, to be the richest man in the world, the
+richest man the world had ever known. And the richer he got the
+stronger the idea grew upon him with all the force of a morbid
+obsession. He thought of money by day, he dreamt of it at night. No
+matter by what questionable device it was to be procured, more gold and
+more must flow into his already overflowing coffers. So each day,
+instead of spending the rest of his years in peace, in the enjoyment of
+the wealth he had accumulated, he went downtown like any
+twenty-dollar-a-week clerk to the tall building in lower Broadway and,
+closeted with his associates, toiled and plotted to make more money.
+
+He acquired vast copper mines and secured control of this and that
+railroad. He had invested heavily in the Southern and Transcontinental
+road and was chairman of its board of directors. Then he and his
+fellow-conspirators planned a great financial coup. The millions were
+not coming in fast enough. They must make a hundred millions at one
+stroke. They floated a great mining company to which the public was
+invited to subscribe. The scheme having the endorsement of the Empire
+Trading Company no one suspected a snare, and such was the magic of
+John Ryder's name that gold flowed in from every point of the compass.
+The stock sold away above par the day it was issued. Men deemed
+themselves fortunate if they were even granted an allotment. What
+matter if, a few days later, the house of cards came tumbling down, and
+a dozen suicides were strewn along Wall Street, that sinister
+thoroughfare which, as a wit has said, has a graveyard at one end and
+the river at the other! Had Ryder any twinges of conscience? Hardly.
+Had he not made a cool twenty millions by the deal?
+
+Yet this commercial pirate, this Napoleon of finance, was not a wholly
+bad man. He had his redeeming qualities, like most bad men. His most
+pronounced weakness, and the one that had made him the most conspicuous
+man of his time, was an entire lack of moral principle. No honest or
+honourable man could have amassed such stupendous wealth. In other
+words, John Ryder had not been equipped by Nature with a conscience. He
+had no sense of right, or wrong, or justice where his own interests
+were concerned. He was the prince of egoists. On the other hand, he
+possessed qualities which, with some people, count as virtues. He was
+pious and regular in his attendance at church and, while he had done
+but little for charity, he was known to have encouraged the giving of
+alms by the members of his family, which consisted of a wife, whose
+timid voice was rarely heard, and a son Jefferson, who was the destined
+successor to his gigantic estate.
+
+Such was the man who was the real power behind the Southern and
+Transcontinental Railroad. More than anyone else Ryder had been aroused
+by the present legal action, not so much for the money interest at
+stake as that any one should dare to thwart his will. It had been a pet
+scheme of his, this purchase for a song, when the land was cheap, of
+some thousand acres along the line, and it is true that at the time of
+the purchase there had been some idea of laying the land out as a park.
+But real estate values had increased in astonishing fashion, the road
+could no longer afford to carry out the original scheme, and had
+attempted to dispose of the property for building purposes, including a
+right of way for a branch road. The news, made public in the
+newspapers, had raised a storm of protest. The people in the vicinity
+claimed that the railroad secured the land on the express condition of
+a park being laid out, and in order to make a legal test they had
+secured an injunction, which had been sustained by Judge Rossmore of
+the United States Circuit Court.
+
+These details were hastily told and re-told by one clerk to another as
+the babel of voices in the inner room grew louder, and more directors
+kept arriving from the ever-busy elevators. The meeting was called for
+three o'clock. Another five minutes and the chairman would rap for
+order. A tall, strongly built man with white moustache and kindly smile
+emerged from the directors room and, addressing one of the clerks,
+asked:
+
+"Has Mr. Ryder arrived yet?"
+
+The alacrity with which the employe hastened forward to reply would
+indicate that his interlocutor was a person of more than ordinary
+importance.
+
+"No, Senator, not yet. We expect him any minute." Then with a
+deferential smile he added: "Mr. Ryder usually arrives on the stroke,
+sir."
+
+The senator gave a nod of acquiescence and, turning on his heel,
+greeted with a grasp of the hand and affable smile his fellow-directors
+as they passed in by twos and threes.
+
+Senator Roberts was in the world of politics what his friend John
+Burkett Ryder was in the world of finance--a leader of men. He started
+life in Wisconsin as an errand boy, was educated in the public schools,
+and later became clerk in a dry-goods store, finally going into
+business for his own account on a large scale. He was elected to the
+Legislature, where his ability as an organizer soon gained the
+friendship of the men in power, and later was sent to Congress, where
+he was quickly initiated in the game of corrupt politics. In 1885 he
+entered the United States Senate. He soon became the acknowledged
+leader of a considerable majority of the Republican senators, and from
+then on he was a figure to be reckoned with. A very ambitious man, with
+a great love of power and few scruples, it is little wonder that only
+the practical or dishonest side of politics appealed to him. He was in
+politics for all there was in it, and he saw in his lofty position only
+a splendid opportunity for easy graft.
+
+He did not hesitate to make such alliances with corporate interests
+seeking influence at Washington as would enable him to accomplish this
+purpose, and in this way he had met and formed a strong friendship with
+John Burkett Ryder. Each being a master in his own field was useful to
+the other. Neither was troubled with qualms of conscience, so they
+never quarrelled. If the Ryder interests needed anything in the Senate,
+Roberts and his followers were there to attend to it. Just now the
+cohort was marshalled in defence of the railroads against the attacks
+of the new Rebate bill. In fact, Ryder managed to keep the Senate busy
+all the time. When, on the other hand, the senators wanted
+anything--and they often did--Ryder saw that they got it, lower rates
+for this one, a fat job for that one, not forgetting themselves.
+Senator Roberts was already a very rich man, and although the world
+often wondered where he got it, no one had the courage to ask him.
+
+But the Republican leader was stirred with an ambition greater than
+that of controlling a majority in the Senate. He had a daughter, a
+marriageable young woman who, at least in her father's opinion, would
+make a desirable wife for any man. His friend Ryder had a son, and this
+son was the only heir to the greatest fortune ever amassed by one man,
+a fortune which, at its present rate of increase, by the time the
+father died and the young couple were ready to inherit, would probably
+amount to over SIX BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. Could the human mind grasp the
+possibilities of such a colossal fortune? It staggered the imagination.
+Its owner, or the man who controlled it, would be master of the world!
+Was not this a prize any man might well set himself out to win? The
+senator was thinking of it now as he stood exchanging banal remarks
+with the men who accosted him. If he could only bring off that marriage
+he would be content. The ambition of his life would be attained. There
+was no difficulty as far as John Ryder was concerned. He favoured the
+match and had often spoken of it. Indeed, Ryder desired it, for such an
+alliance would naturally further his business interests in every way.
+Roberts knew that his daughter Kate had more than a liking for Ryder's
+handsome young son. Moreover, Kate was practical, like her father, and
+had sense enough to realize what it would mean to be the mistress of
+the Ryder fortune. No, Kate was all right, but there was young Ryder to
+reckon with. It would take two in this case to make a bargain.
+
+Jefferson Ryder was, in truth, an entirely different man from his
+father. It was difficult to realize that both had sprung from the same
+stock. A college-bred boy with all the advantages his father's wealth
+could give him, he had inherited from the parent only those
+characteristics which would have made him successful even if born
+poor--activity, pluck, application, dogged obstinacy, alert mentality.
+To these qualities he added what his father sorely lacked--a high
+notion of honour, a keen sense of right and wrong. He had the honest
+man's contempt for meanness of any description, and he had little
+patience with the lax so-called business morals of the day. For him a
+dishonourable or dishonest action could have no apologist, and he could
+see no difference between the crime of the hungry wretch who stole a
+loaf of bread and the coal baron who systematically robbed both his
+employes and the public. In fact, had he been on the bench he would
+probably have acquitted the human derelict who, in despair, had
+appropriated the prime necessary of life, and sent the over-fed,
+conscienceless coal baron to jail.
+
+"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." This simple and
+fundamental axiom Jefferson Ryder had adopted early in life, and it had
+become his religion--the only one, in fact, that he had. He was never
+pious like his father, a fact much regretted by his mother, who could
+see nothing but eternal damnation in store for her son because he never
+went to church and professed no orthodox creed. She knew him to be a
+good lad, but to her simple mind a conduct of life based merely on a
+system of moral philosophy was the worst kind of paganism. There could,
+she argued, be no religion, and assuredly no salvation, outside the
+dogmatic teachings of the Church. But otherwise Jefferson was a model
+son and, with the exception of this bad habit of thinking for himself
+on religious matters, really gave her no anxiety. When Jefferson left
+college, his father took him into the Empire Trading Company with the
+idea of his eventually succeeding him as head of the concern, but the
+different views held by father and son on almost every subject soon led
+to stormy scenes that made the continuation of the arrangement
+impossible. Senator Roberts was well aware of these unfortunate
+independent tendencies in John Ryder's son, and while he devoutly
+desired the consummation of Jefferson's union with his daughter, he
+quite realized that the young man was a nut which was going to be
+exceedingly hard to crack.
+
+"Hello, senator, you're always on time!"
+
+Disturbed in his reflections, Senator Roberts looked up and saw the
+extended hand of a red-faced, corpulent man, one of the directors. He
+was no favourite with the senator, but the latter was too keen a man of
+the world to make enemies uselessly, so he condescended to place two
+fingers in the outstretched fat palm.
+
+"How are you, Mr. Grimsby? Well, what are we going to do about this
+injunction? The case has gone against us. I knew Judge Rossmore's
+decision would be for the other side. Public opinion is aroused. The
+press--"
+
+Mr. Grimsby's red face grew more apoplectic as he blurted out:
+
+"Public opinion and the press be d---d. Who cares for public opinion?
+What is public opinion, anyhow? This road can manage its own affairs or
+it can't. If it can't I for one quit railroading. The press! Pshaw!
+It's all graft, I tell you. It's nothing but a strike! I never knew one
+of these virtuous outbursts that wasn't. First the newspapers bark
+ferociously to advertise themselves; then they crawl round and whine
+like a cur. And it usually costs something to fix matters."
+
+The senator smiled grimly.
+
+"No, no, Grimsby--not this time. It's more serious than that. Hitherto
+the road has been unusually lucky in its bench decisions--"
+
+The senator gave a covert glance round to see if any long ears were
+listening. Then he added:
+
+"We can't expect always to get a favourable decision like that in the
+Cartwright case, when franchise rights valued at nearly five millions
+were at stake. Judge Stollmann proved himself a true friend in that
+affair."
+
+Grimsby made a wry grimace as he retorted:
+
+"Yes, and it was worth it to him. A Supreme Court judge don't get a
+cheque for $20,000 every day. That represents two years' pay."
+
+"It might represent two years in jail if it were found out," said the
+senator with a forced laugh.
+
+Grimsby saw an opportunity, and he could not resist the temptation.
+Bluntly he said:
+
+"As far as jail's concerned, others might be getting their deserts
+there too."
+
+The senator looked keenly at Grimsby from under his white eyebrows.
+Then in a calm, decisive tone he replied:
+
+"It's no question of a cheque this time. The road could not buy Judge
+Rossmore with $200,000. He is absolutely unapproachable in that way."
+
+The apoplectic face of Mr. Grimsby looked incredulous.
+
+It was hard for these men who plotted in the dark, and cheated the
+widow and the orphan for love of the dollar, to understand that there
+were in the world, breathing the same air as they, men who put honour,
+truth and justice above mere money-getting. With a slight tinge of
+sarcasm he asked:
+
+"Is there any man in our public life who is unapproachable from some
+direction or other?"
+
+"Yes, Judge Rossmore is such a man. He is one of the few men in
+American public life who takes his duties seriously. In the strictest
+sense of the term, he serves his country instead of serving himself. I
+am no friend of his, but I must do him that justice."
+
+He spoke sharply, in an irritated tone, as if resenting the insinuation
+of this vulgarian that every man in public life had his price. Roberts
+knew that the charge was true as far as he and the men he consorted
+with were concerned, but sometimes the truth hurts. That was why he had
+for a moment seemed to champion Judge Rossmore, which, seeing that the
+judge himself was at that very moment under a cloud, was an absurd
+thing for him to do.
+
+He had known Rossmore years before when the latter was a city
+magistrate in New York. That was before he, Roberts, had become a
+political grafter and when the decent things in life still appealed to
+him. The two men, although having few interests in common, had seen a
+good deal of one another until Roberts went to Washington when their
+relations were completely severed. But he had always watched Rossmore's
+career, and when he was made a judge of the Supreme Court at a
+comparatively early age he was sincerely glad. If anything could have
+convinced Roberts that success can come in public life to a man who
+pursues it by honest methods it was the success of James Rossmore. He
+could never help feeling that Rossmore had been endowed by Nature with
+certain qualities which had been denied to him, above all that ability
+to walk straight through life with skirts clean which he had found
+impossible himself. To-day Judge Rossmore was one of the most
+celebrated judges in the country. He was a brilliant jurist and a
+splendid after-dinner speaker. He was considered the most learned and
+able of all the members of the judiciary, and his decisions were noted
+as much for their fearlessness as for their wisdom. But what was far
+more, he enjoyed a reputation for absolute integrity. Until now no
+breath of slander, no suspicion of corruption, had ever touched him.
+Even his enemies acknowledged that. And that is why there was a panic
+to-day among the directors of the Southern and Transcontinental
+Railroad. This honest, upright man had been called upon in the course
+of his duty to decide matters of vital importance to the road, and the
+directors were ready to stampede because, in their hearts, they knew
+the weakness of their case and the strength of the judge.
+
+Grimsby, unconvinced, returned to the charge.
+
+"What about these newspaper charges? Did Judge Rossmore take a bribe
+from the Great Northwestern or didn't he? You ought to know."
+
+"I do know," answered the senator cautiously and somewhat curtly, "but
+until Mr. Ryder arrives I can say nothing. I believe he has been
+inquiring into the matter. He will tell us when he comes."
+
+The hands of the large clock in the outer room pointed to three. An
+active, dapper little man with glasses and with books under his arm
+passed hurriedly from another office into the directors room.
+
+"There goes Mr. Lane with the minutes. The meeting is called. Where's
+Mr. Ryder?"
+
+There was a general move of the scattered groups of directors toward
+the committee room. The clock overhead began to strike. The last stroke
+had not quite died away when the big swinging doors from the street
+were thrown open and there entered a tall, thin man, gray-headed, and
+with a slight stoop, but keen eyed and alert. He was carefully dressed
+in a well-fitting frock coat, white waistcoat, black tie and silk hat.
+
+It was John Burkett Ryder, the Colossus.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+At fifty-six, John Burkett Ryder was surprisingly well preserved. With
+the exception of the slight stoop, already noted, and the rapidly
+thinning snow-white hair, his step was as light and elastic, and his
+brain as vigorous and alert, as in a man of forty. Of old English
+stock, his physical make-up presented all those strongly marked
+characteristics of our race which, sprung from Anglo-Saxon ancestry,
+but modified by nearly 300 years of different climate and customs, has
+gradually produced the distinct and true American type, as easily
+recognizable among the family of nations as any other of the earth's
+children. Tall and distinguished-looking, Ryder would have attracted
+attention anywhere. Men who have accomplished much in life usually bear
+plainly upon their persons the indefinable stamp of achievement,
+whether of good or evil, which renders them conspicuous among their
+fellows. We turn after a man in the street and ask, Who is he? And nine
+times out of ten the object of our curiosity is a man who has made his
+mark--a successful soldier, a famous sailor, a celebrated author, a
+distinguished lawyer, or even a notorious crook.
+
+There was certainly nothing in John Ryder's outward appearance to
+justify Lombroso's sensational description of him: "A social and
+physiological freak, a degenerate and a prodigy of turpitude who, in
+the pursuit of money, crushes with the insensibility of a steel machine
+everyone who stands in his way." On the contrary, Ryder, outwardly at
+least, was a prepossessing-looking man. His head was well-shaped, and
+he had an intellectual brow, while power was expressed in every gesture
+of his hands and body. Every inch of him suggested strength and
+resourcefulness. His face, when in good humour, frequently expanded in
+a pleasant smile, and he had even been known to laugh boisterously,
+usually at his own stories, which he rightly considered very droll, and
+of which he possessed a goodly stock. But in repose his face grew stern
+and forbidding, and when his prognathous jaw, indicative of will-power
+and bull-dog tenacity, snapped to with a click-like sound, those who
+heard it knew that squalls were coming.
+
+But it was John Ryder's eyes that were regarded as the most reliable
+barometer of his mental condition. Wonderful eyes they were, strangely
+eloquent and expressive, and their most singular feature was that they
+possessed the uncanny power of changing colour like a cat's. When their
+owner was at peace with the world, and had temporarily shaken off the
+cares of business, his eyes were of the most restful, beautiful blue,
+like the sky after sunrise on a Spring morning, and looking into their
+serene depths it seemed absurd to think that this man could ever harm a
+fly. His face, while under the spell of this kindly mood, was so
+benevolent and gentle, so frank and honest that you felt there was
+nothing in the world--purse, honour, wife, child--that, if needs be,
+you would not entrust to his keeping.
+
+When this period of truce was ended, when the plutocrat was once more
+absorbed in controlling the political as well as the commercial
+machinery of the nation, then his eyes took on a snakish, greenish hue,
+and one could plainly read in them the cunning, the avariciousness, the
+meanness, the insatiable thirst for gain that had made this man the
+most unscrupulous money-getter of his time. But his eyes had still
+another colour, and when this last transformation took place those
+dependent on him, and even his friends, quaked with fear. For they were
+his eyes of anger. On these dreaded occasions his eyes grew black as
+darkest night and flashed fire as lightning rends the thundercloud.
+Almost ungovernable fury was, indeed, the weakest spot in John Ryder's
+armour, for in these moments of appalling wrath he was reckless of what
+he said or did, friendship, self-interest, prudence--all were
+sacrificed.
+
+Such was the Colossus on whom all eyes were turned as he entered.
+Instantly the conversations, stopped as by magic. The directors nudged
+each other and whispered. Instinctively, Ryder singled out his crony,
+Senator Roberts, who advanced with effusive gesture:
+
+"Hello, Senator!"
+
+"You're punctual as usual, Mr. Ryder. I never knew you to be late!"
+
+The great man chuckled, and the little men standing around, listening
+breathlessly, chuckled in respectful sympathy, and they elbowed and
+pushed one another in their efforts to attract Ryder's notice, like so
+many cowardly hyenas not daring to approach the lordly wolf. Senator
+Roberts made a remark in a low tone to Ryder, whereupon the latter
+laughed. The bystanders congratulated each other silently. The great
+man was pleased to be in a good humour. And as Ryder turned with the
+senator to enter the Directors Room the light from the big windows fell
+full on his face, and they noticed that his eyes were of the softest
+blue.
+
+"No squalls to-day," whispered one.
+
+"Wait and see," retorted a more experienced colleague. "Those eyes are
+more fickle than the weather."
+
+Outside the sky was darkening, and drops of rain were already falling.
+A flash of lightning presaged the coming storm.
+
+Ryder passed on and into the Directors Room followed by Senator Roberts
+and the other directors, the procession being brought up by the dapper
+little secretary bearing the minutes.
+
+The long room with its narrow centre table covered with green baize was
+filled with directors scattered in little groups and all talking at
+once with excited gesture. At the sight of Ryder the chattering stopped
+as if by common consent, and the only sound audible was of the
+shuffling of feet and the moving of chairs as the directors took their
+places around the long table.
+
+With a nod here and there Ryder took his place in the chairman's seat
+and rapped for order. Then at a sign from the chair the dapper little
+secretary began in a monotonous voice to read the minutes of the
+previous meeting. No one listened, a few directors yawned. Others had
+their eyes riveted on Ryder's face, trying to read there if he had
+devised some plan to offset the crushing blow of this adverse decision,
+which meant a serious loss to them all. He, the master mind, had served
+them in many a like crisis in the past. Could he do so again? But John
+Ryder gave no sign. His eyes, still of the same restful blue, were
+fixed on the ceiling watching a spider marching with diabolical intent
+on a wretched fly that had become entangled in its web. And as the
+secretary ambled monotonously on, Ryder watched and watched until he
+saw the spider seize its helpless prey and devour it. Fascinated by the
+spectacle, which doubtless suggested to him some analogy to his own
+methods, Ryder sat motionless, his eyes fastened on the ceiling, until
+the sudden stopping of the secretary's reading aroused him and told him
+that the minutes were finished. Quickly they were approved, and the
+chairman proceeded as rapidly as possible with the regular business
+routine. That disposed of, the meeting was ready for the chief business
+of the day. Ryder then calmly proceeded to present the facts in the
+case.
+
+Some years back the road had acquired as an investment some thousands
+of acres of land located in the outskirts of Auburndale, on the line of
+their road. The land was bought cheap, and there had been some talk of
+laying part of it out as a public park. This promise had been made at
+the time in good faith, but it was no condition of the sale. If,
+afterwards, owing to the rise in the value of real estate, the road
+found it impossible to carry out the original idea, surely they were
+masters of their own property! The people of Auburndale thought
+differently and, goaded on by the local newspapers, had begun action in
+the courts to restrain the road from diverting the land from its
+alleged original purpose. They had succeeded in getting the injunction,
+but the road had fought it tooth and nail, and finally carried it to
+the Supreme Court, where Judge Rossmore, after reserving his opinion,
+had finally sustained the injunction and decided against the railroad.
+That was the situation, and he would now like to hear from the members
+of the board.
+
+Mr. Grimsby rose. Self-confident and noisily loquacious, as most men of
+his class are in simple conversation, he was plainly intimidated at
+speaking before such a crowd. He did not know where to look nor what to
+do with his hands, and he shuffled uneasily on his feet, while streams
+of nervous perspiration ran down his fat face, which he mopped
+repeatedly with a big coloured handkerchief. At last, taking courage,
+he began:
+
+"Mr. Chairman, for the past ten years this road has made bigger
+earnings in proportion to its carrying capacity than any other railroad
+in the United States. We have had fewer accidents, less injury to
+rolling stock, less litigation and bigger dividends. The road has been
+well managed and"--here he looked significantly in Ryder's
+direction--"there has been a big brain behind the manager. We owe you
+that credit, Mr. Ryder!"
+
+Cries of "Hear! Hear!" came from all round the table.
+
+Ryder bowed coldly, and Mr. Grimsby continued: "But during the last
+year or two things have gone wrong. There has been a lot of litigation,
+most of which has gone against us, and it has cost a heap of money. It
+reduced the last quarterly dividend very considerably, and the new
+complication--this Auburndale suit, which also has gone against us--is
+going to make a still bigger hole in our exchequer. Gentlemen, I don't
+want to be a prophet of misfortune, but I'll tell you this--unless
+something is done to stop this hostility in the courts you and I stand
+to lose every cent we have invested in the road. This suit which we
+have just lost means a number of others. What I would ask our chairman
+is what has become of his former good relations with the Supreme Court,
+what has become of his influence, which never failed us. What are these
+rumours regarding Judge Rossmore? He is charged in the newspapers with
+having accepted a present from a road in whose favour he handed down a
+very valuable decision. How is it that our road cannot reach Judge
+Rossmore and make him presents?"
+
+The speaker sat down, flushed and breathless. The expression on every
+face showed that the anxiety was general. The directors glanced at
+Ryder, but his face was expressionless as marble. Apparently he took
+not the slightest interest in this matter which so agitated his
+colleagues.
+
+Another director rose. He was a better speaker than Mr. Grimsby, but
+his voice had a hard, rasping quality that smote the ears unpleasantly.
+He said:
+
+"Mr. Chairman, none of us can deny what Mr. Grimsby has just put before
+us so vividly. We are threatened not with one, but with a hundred such
+suits, unless something is done either to placate the public or to
+render its attacks harmless. Rightly or wrongly, the railroad is hated
+by the people, yet we are only what railroad conditions compel us to
+be. With the present fierce competition, no fine question of ethics can
+enter into our dealings as a business organization. With an irritated
+public and press on one side, and a hostile judiciary on the other, the
+outlook certainly is far from bright. But is the judiciary hostile? Is
+it not true that we have been singularly free from litigation until
+recently, and that most of the decisions were favourable to the road?
+Judge Rossmore is the real danger. While he is on the bench the road is
+not safe. Yet all efforts to reach him have failed and will fail. I do
+not take any stock in the newspaper stories regarding Judge Rossmore.
+They are preposterous. Judge Rossmore is too strong a man to be got rid
+of so easily."
+
+The speaker sat down and another rose, his arguments being merely a
+reiteration of those already heard. Ryder did not listen to what was
+being said. Why should he? Was he not familiar with every possible
+phase of the game? Better than these men who merely talked, he was
+planning how the railroad and all his other interests could get rid of
+this troublesome judge.
+
+It was true. He who controlled legislatures and dictated to Supreme
+Court judges had found himself powerless when each turn of the legal
+machinery had brought him face to face with Judge Rossmore. Suit after
+suit had been decided against him and the interests he represented, and
+each time it was Judge Rossmore who had handed down the decision. So
+for years these two men had fought a silent but bitter duel in which
+principle on the one side and attempted corruption on the other were
+the gauge of battle. Judge Rossmore fought with the weapons which his
+oath and the law directed him to use, Ryder with the only weapons he
+understood--bribery and trickery. And each time it had been Rossmore
+who had emerged triumphant. Despite every manoeuvre Ryder's experience
+could suggest, notwithstanding every card that could be played to
+undermine his credit and reputation, Judge Rossmore stood higher in the
+country's confidence than when he was first appointed.
+
+So when Ryder found he could not corrupt this honest judge with gold,
+he decided to destroy him with calumny. He realized that the sordid
+methods which had succeeded with other judges would never prevail with
+Rossmore, so he plotted to take away from this man the one thing he
+cherished most--his honour. He would ruin him by defaming his
+character, and so skilfully would he accomplish his work that the judge
+himself would realize the hopelessness of resistance. No scruples
+embarrassed Ryder in arriving at this determination. From his point of
+view he was fully justified. "Business is business. He hurts my
+interests; therefore I remove him." So he argued, and he considered it
+no more wrong to wreck the happiness of this honourable man than he
+would to have shot a burglar in self-defence. So having thus
+tranquillized his conscience he had gone to work in his usually
+thorough manner, and his success had surpassed the most sanguine
+expectations.
+
+This is what he had done.
+
+Like many of our public servants whose labours are compensated only in
+niggardly fashion by an inconsiderate country, Judge Rossmore was a man
+of but moderate means. His income as Justice of the Supreme Court was
+$12,000 a year, but for a man in his position, having a certain
+appearance to keep up, it little more than kept the wolf from the door.
+He lived quietly but comfortably in New York City with his wife and his
+daughter Shirley, an attractive young woman who had graduated from
+Vassar and had shown a marked taste for literature. The daughter's
+education had cost a good deal of money, and this, together with life
+insurance and other incidentals of keeping house in New York, had about
+taken all he had. Yet he had managed to save a little, and those years
+when he could put by a fifth of his salary the judge considered himself
+lucky. Secretly, he was proud of his comparative poverty. At least the
+world could never ask him "where he got it."
+
+Ryder was well acquainted with Judge Rossmore's private means. The two
+men had met at a dinner, and although Ryder had tried to cultivate the
+acquaintance, he never received much encouragement. Ryder's son
+Jefferson, too, had met Miss Shirley Rossmore and been much attracted
+to her, but the father having more ambitious plans for his heir quickly
+discouraged all attentions in that direction. He himself, however,
+continued to meet the judge casually, and one evening he contrived to
+broach the subject of profitable investments. The judge admitted that
+by careful hoarding and much stinting he had managed to save a few
+thousand dollars which he was anxious to invest in something good.
+
+Quick as the keen-eyed vulture swoops down on its prey the wily
+financier seized the opportunity thus presented. And he took so much
+trouble in answering the judge's inexperienced questions, and generally
+made himself so agreeable, that the judge found himself regretting that
+he and Ryder had, by force of circumstances, been opposed to each other
+in public life so long. Ryder strongly recommended the purchase of
+Alaskan Mining stock, a new and booming enterprise which had lately
+become very active in the market. Ryder said he had reasons to believe
+that the stock would soon advance, and now there was an opportunity to
+get it cheap.
+
+A few days after he had made the investment the judge was surprised to
+receive certificates of stock for double the amount he had paid for. At
+the same time he received a letter from the secretary of the company
+explaining that the additional stock was pool stock and not to be
+marketed at the present time. It was in the nature of a bonus to which
+he was entitled as one of the early shareholders. The letter was full
+of verbiage and technical details of which the judge understood
+nothing, but he thought it very liberal of the company, and putting the
+stock away in his safe soon forgot all about it. Had he been a business
+man he would have scented peril. He would have realized that he had now
+in his possession $50,000 worth of stock for which he had not paid a
+cent, and furthermore had deposited it when a reorganization came.
+
+But the judge was sincerely grateful for Ryder's apparently
+disinterested advice and wrote two letters to him, one in which he
+thanked him for the trouble he had taken, and another in which he asked
+him if he was sure the company was financially sound, as the investment
+he contemplated making represented all his savings. He added in the
+second letter that he had received stock for double the amount of his
+investment, and that being a perfect child in business transactions he
+had been unable to account for the extra $50,000 worth until the
+secretary of the company had written him assuring him that everything
+was in order. These letters Ryder kept.
+
+From that time on the Alaskan Mining Company underwent mysterious
+changes. New capitalists gained control and the name was altered to the
+Great Northwestern Mining Company. Then it became involved in
+litigation, and one suit, the outcome of which meant millions to the
+company, was carried to the Supreme Court, where Judge Rossmore was
+sitting. The judge had by this time forgotten all about the company in
+which he owned stock. He did not even recall its name. He only knew
+vaguely that it was a mine and that it was situated in Alaska. Could he
+dream that the Great Northwestern Mining Company and the company to
+which he had entrusted his few thousands were one and the same? In
+deciding on the merits of the case presented to him right seemed to him
+to be plainly with the Northwestern, and he rendered a decision to that
+effect. It was an important decision, involving a large sum, and for a
+day or two it was talked about. But as it was the opinion of the most
+learned and honest judge on the bench no one dreamed of questioning it.
+
+But very soon ugly paragraphs began to appear in the newspapers. One
+paper asked if it were true that Judge Rossmore owned stock in the
+Great Northwestern Mining Company which had recently benefited so
+signally by his decision. Interviewed by a reporter, Judge Rossmore
+indignantly denied being interested in any way in the company.
+Thereupon the same paper returned to the attack, stating that the judge
+must surely be mistaken as the records showed a sale of stock to him at
+the time the company was known as the Alaskan Mining Company. When he
+read this the judge was overwhelmed. It was true then! They had not
+slandered him. It was he who had lied, but how innocently--how
+innocently!
+
+His daughter Shirley, who was his greatest friend and comfort, was then
+in Europe. She had gone to the Continent to rest, after working for
+months on a novel which she had just published. His wife, entirely
+without experience in business matters and somewhat of an invalid, was
+helpless to advise him. But to his old and tried friend, ex-Judge
+Stott, Judge Rossmore explained the facts as they were. Stott shook his
+head. "It's a conspiracy!" he cried. "And John B. Ryder is behind it."
+Rossmore refused to believe that any man could so deliberately try to
+encompass another's destruction, but when more newspaper stories came
+out he began to realize that Stott was right and that his enemies had
+indeed dealt him a deadly blow. One newspaper boldly stated that Judge
+Rossmore was down on the mining company's books for $50,000 more stock
+than he had paid for, and it went on to ask if this were payment for
+the favourable decision just rendered. Rossmore, helpless, child-like
+as he was in business matters, now fully realized the seriousness of
+his position. "My God! My God!" he cried, as he bowed his head down on
+his desk. And for a whole day he remained closeted in his library, no
+one venturing near him.
+
+As John Ryder sat there sphinx-like at the head of the directors' table
+he reviewed all this in his mind. His own part in the work was now done
+and well done, and he had come to this meeting to-day to tell them of
+his triumph.
+
+The speaker, to whom he had paid such scant attention, resumed his
+seat, and there followed a pause and an intense silence which was
+broken only by the pattering of the rain against the big windows. The
+directors turned expectantly to Ryder, waiting for him to speak. What
+could the Colossus do now to save the situation? Cries of "the Chair!
+the Chair!" arose on every side. Senator Roberts leaned over to Ryder
+and whispered something in his ear.
+
+With an acquiescent gesture, John Ryder tapped the table with his gavel
+and rose to address his fellow directors. Instantly the room was silent
+again as the tomb. One might have heard a pin drop, so intense was the
+attention. All eyes were fixed on the chairman. The air itself seemed
+charged with electricity, that needed but a spark to set it ablaze.
+
+Speaking deliberately and dispassionately, the Master Dissembler began.
+
+They had all listened carefully, he said, to what had been stated by
+previous speakers. The situation no doubt was very critical, but they
+had weathered worse storms and he had every reason to hope they would
+outlive this storm. It was true that public opinion was greatly
+incensed against the railroads and, indeed, against all organized
+capital, and was seeking to injure them through the courts. For a time
+this agitation would hurt business and lessen the dividends, for it
+meant not only smaller annual earnings but that a lot of money must be
+spent in Washington.
+
+The eyes of the listeners, who were hanging on every word,
+involuntarily turned in the direction of Senator Roberts, but the
+latter, at that moment busily engaged in rummaging among a lot of
+papers, seemed to have missed this significant allusion to the road's
+expenses in the District of Columbia. Ryder continued:
+
+In his experience such waves of reform were periodical and soon wear
+themselves out, when things go on just as they did before. Much of the
+agitation, doubtless, was a strike for graft. They would have to go
+down in their pockets, he supposed, and then these yellow newspapers
+and these yellow magazines that were barking at their heels would let
+them go. But in regard to the particular case now at issue--this
+Auburndale decision--there had been no way of preventing it. Influence
+had been used, but to no effect. The thing to do now was to prevent any
+such disasters in future by removing the author of them.
+
+The directors bent eagerly forward. Had Ryder really got some plan up
+his sleeve after all? The faces around the table looked brighter, and
+the directors cleared their throats and settled themselves down in
+their chairs as audiences do in the theatre when the drama is reaching
+its climax.
+
+The board, continued Ryder with icy calmness, had perhaps heard, and
+also seen in the newspapers, the stories regarding Judge Rossmore and
+his alleged connection with the Great Northwestern Company. Perhaps
+they had not believed these stories. It was only natural. He had not
+believed them himself. But he had taken the trouble to inquire into the
+matter very carefully, and he regretted to say that the stories were
+true. In fact, they were no longer denied by Judge Rossmore himself.
+
+The directors looked at each other in amazement. Gasps of astonishment,
+incredulity, satisfaction were heard all over the room. The rumours
+were true, then? Was it possible? Incredible!
+
+Investigation, Ryder went on, had shown that Judge Rossmore was not
+only interested in the company in whose favour, as Judge of the Supreme
+Court, he had rendered an important decision, but what was worse, he
+had accepted from that company a valuable gift--that is, $50,000 worth
+of stock--for which he had given absolutely nothing in return unless,
+as some claimed, the weight of his influence on the bench. These facts
+were very ugly and so unanswerable that Judge Rossmore did not attempt
+to answer them, and the important news which he, the chairman, had to
+announce to his fellow-directors that afternoon, was that Judge
+Rossmore's conduct would be made the subject of an inquiry by Congress.
+
+This was the spark that was needed to ignite the electrically charged
+air. A wild cry of triumph went up from this band of jackals only too
+willing to fatten their bellies at the cost of another man's ruin, and
+one director, in his enthusiasm, rose excitedly from his chair and
+demanded a vote of thanks for John Ryder.
+
+Ryder coldly opposed the motion. No thanks were due to him, he said
+deprecatingly, nor did he think the occasion called for congratulations
+of any kind. It was surely a sad spectacle to see this honoured judge,
+this devoted father, this blameless citizen threatened with ruin and
+disgrace on account of one false step. Let them rather sympathize with
+him and his family in their misfortune. He had little more to tell. The
+Congressional inquiry would take place immediately, and in all
+probability a demand would be made upon the Senate for Judge Rossmore's
+impeachment. It was, he added, almost unnecessary for him to remind the
+Board that, in the event of impeachment, the adverse decision in the
+Auburndale case would be annulled and the road would be entitled to a
+new trial.
+
+Ryder sat down, and pandemonium broke loose, the delighted directors
+tumbling over each other in their eagerness to shake hands with the man
+who had saved them. Ryder had given no hint that he had been a factor
+in the working up of this case against their common enemy, in fact he
+had appeared to sympathise with him, but the directors knew well that
+he and he alone had been the master mind which had brought about the
+happy result.
+
+On a motion to adjourn, the meeting broke up, and everyone began to
+troop towards the elevators. Outside the rain was now coming down in
+torrents and the lights that everywhere dotted the great city only
+paled when every few moments a vivid flash of lightning rent the
+enveloping gloom.
+
+Ryder and Senator Roberts went down in the elevator together. When they
+reached the street the senator inquired in a low tone:
+
+"Do you think they really believed Rossmore was influenced in his
+decision?"
+
+Ryder glanced from the lowering clouds overhead to his electric
+brougham which awaited him at the curb and replied indifferently:
+
+"Not they. They don't care. All they want to believe is that he is to
+be impeached. The man was dangerous and had to be removed--no matter by
+what means. He is our enemy--my enemy--and I never give quarter to my
+enemies!"
+
+As he spoke his prognathous jaw snapped to with a click-like sound, and
+in his eyes now coal-black were glints of fire. At the same instant
+there was a blinding flash, accompanied by a terrific crash, and the
+splinters of the flag-pole on the building opposite, which had been
+struck by a bolt, fell at their feet.
+
+"A good or a bad omen?" asked the senator with a nervous laugh. He was
+secretly afraid of lightning but was ashamed to admit it.
+
+"A bad omen for Judge Rossmore!" rejoined Ryder coolly, as he slammed
+to the door of the cab, and the two men drove rapidly off in the
+direction of Fifth Avenue.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+Of all the spots on this fair, broad earth where the jaded globe
+wanderer, surfeited with hackneyed sight-seeing, may sit in perfect
+peace and watch the world go by, there is none more fascinating nor one
+presenting a more brilliant panorama of cosmopolitan life than that
+famous corner on the Paris boulevards, formed by the angle of the
+Boulevard des Capucines and the Place de l'Opera. Here, on the
+"terrace" of the Cafe de la Paix, with its white and gold facade and
+long French windows, and its innumerable little marble-topped tables
+and rattan chairs, one may sit for hours at the trifling expense of a
+few sous, undisturbed even by the tip-seeking garcon, and, if one
+happens to be a student of human nature, find keen enjoyment in
+observing the world-types, representing every race and nationality
+under the sun, that pass and re-pass in a steady, never ceasing,
+exhaustless stream. The crowd surges to and fro, past the little
+tables, occasionally toppling over a chair or two in the crush, moving
+up or down the great boulevards, one procession going to the right, in
+the direction of the Church of the Madeleine, the other to the left
+heading toward the historic Bastille, both really going nowhere in
+particular, but ambling gently and good humouredly along enjoying the
+sights--and life!
+
+Paris, queen of cities! Light-hearted, joyous, radiant Paris--the
+playground of the nations, the Mecca of the pleasure-seekers, the city
+beautiful! Paris--the siren, frankly immoral, always seductive, ever
+caressing! City of a thousand political convulsions, city of a million
+crimes--her streets have run with human blood, horrors unspeakable have
+stained her history, civil strife has scarred her monuments, the German
+conqueror insolently has bivouaced within her walls. Yet, like a virgin
+undefiled, she shows no sign of storm and stress, she offers her
+dimpled cheek to the rising sun, and when fall the shadows of night and
+a billion electric bulbs flash in the siren's crown, her resplendent,
+matchless beauty dazzles the world!
+
+As the supreme reward of virtue, the good American is promised a visit
+to Paris when he dies. Those, however, of our sagacious fellow
+countrymen who can afford to make the trip, usually manage to see
+Lutetia before crossing the river Styx. Most Americans like Paris--some
+like it so well that they have made it their permanent home--although
+it must be added that in their admiration they rarely include the
+Frenchman. For that matter, we are not as a nation particularly fond of
+any foreigner, largely because we do not understand him, while the
+foreigner for his part is quite willing to return the compliment. He
+gives the Yankee credit for commercial smartness, which has built up
+America's great material prosperity; but he has the utmost contempt for
+our acquaintance with art, and no profound respect for us as scientists.
+
+Is it not indeed fortunate that every nation finds itself superior to
+its neighbour? If this were not so each would be jealous of the other,
+and would cry with envy like a spoiled child who cannot have the moon
+to play with. Happily, therefore, for the harmony of the world, each
+nation cordially detests the other and the much exploited "brotherhood
+of man" is only a figure of speech. The Englishman, confident that he
+is the last word of creation, despises the Frenchman, who, in turn,
+laughs at the German, who shows open contempt for the Italian, while
+the American, conscious of his superiority to the whole family of
+nations, secretly pities them all.
+
+The most serious fault which the American--whose one god is Mammon and
+chief characteristic hustle--has to find with his French brother is
+that he enjoys life too much, is never in a hurry and, what to the
+Yankee mind is hardly respectable, has a habit of playing dominoes
+during business hours. The Frenchman retorts that his American brother,
+clever person though he be, has one or two things still to learn. He
+has, he declares, no philosophy of life. It is true that he has learned
+the trick of making money, but in the things which go to satisfy the
+soul he is still strangely lacking. He thinks he is enjoying life, when
+really he is ignorant of what life is. He admits it is not the
+American's fault, for he has never been taught how to enjoy life. One
+must be educated to that as everything else. All the American is taught
+is to be in a perpetual hurry and to make money no matter how. In this
+mad daily race for wealth, he bolts his food, not stopping to masticate
+it properly, and consequently suffers all his life from dyspepsia. So
+he rushes from the cradle to the grave, and what's the good, since he
+must one day die like all the rest?
+
+And what, asks the foreigner, has the American hustler accomplished
+that his slower-going Continental brother has not done as well? Are
+finer cities to be found in America than in Europe, do Americans paint
+more beautiful pictures, or write more learned or more entertaining
+books, has America made greater progress in science? Is it not a fact
+that the greatest inventors and scientists of our time--Marconi, who
+gave to the world wireless telegraphy, Professor Curie, who discovered
+radium, Pasteur, who found a cure for rabies, Santos-Dumont, who has
+almost succeeded in navigating the air, Professor Rontgen who
+discovered the X-ray--are not all these immortals Europeans? And those
+two greatest mechanical inventions of our day, the automobile and the
+submarine boat, were they not first introduced and perfected in France
+before we in America woke up to appreciate their use? Is it, therefore,
+not possible to take life easily and still achieve?
+
+The logic of these arguments, set forth in Le Soir in an article on the
+New World, appealed strongly to Jefferson Ryder as he sat in front of
+the Cafe de la Paix, sipping a sugared Vermouth. It was five o'clock,
+the magic hour of the aperitif, when the glutton taxes his wits to
+deceive his stomach and work up an appetite for renewed gorging. The
+little tables were all occupied with the usual before-dinner crowd.
+There were a good many foreigners, mostly English and Americans and a
+few Frenchmen, obviously from the provinces, with only a sprinkling of
+real Parisians.
+
+Jefferson's acquaintance with the French language was none too
+profound, and he had to guess at half the words in the article, but he
+understood enough to follow the writer's arguments. Yes, it was quite
+true, he thought, the American idea of life was all wrong. What was the
+sense of slaving all one's life, piling up a mass of money one cannot
+possibly spend, when there is only one life to live? How much saner the
+man who is content with enough and enjoys life while he is able to.
+These Frenchmen, and indeed all the Continental nations, had solved the
+problem. The gaiety of their cities, and this exuberant joy of life
+they communicated to all about them, were sufficient proofs of it.
+
+Fascinated by the gay scene around him Jefferson laid the newspaper
+aside. To the young American, fresh from prosaic money-mad New York,
+the City of Pleasure presented indeed a novel and beautiful spectacle.
+How different, he mused, from his own city with its one fashionable
+thoroughfare--Fifth Avenue--monotonously lined for miles with hideous
+brownstone residences, and showing little real animation except during
+the Saturday afternoon parade when the activities of the smart set,
+male and female, centred chiefly in such exciting diversions as going
+to Huyler's for soda, taking tea at the Waldorf, and trying to outdo
+each other in dress and show. New York certainly was a dull place with
+all its boasted cosmopolitanism. There was no denying that. Destitute
+of any natural beauty, handicapped by its cramped geographical position
+between two rivers, made unsightly by gigantic sky-scrapers and that
+noisy monstrosity the Elevated Railroad, having no intellectual
+interests, no art interests, no interest in anything not immediately
+connected with dollars, it was a city to dwell in and make money in,
+but hardly a city to LIVE in. The millionaires were building
+white-marble palaces, taxing the ingenuity and the originality of the
+native architects, and thus to some extent relieving the general
+ugliness and drab commonplaceness, while the merchant princes had begun
+to invade the lower end of the avenue with handsome shops. But in spite
+of all this, in spite of its pretty girls--and Jefferson insisted that
+in this one important particular New York had no peer--in spite of its
+comfortable theatres and its wicked Tenderloin, and its Rialto made so
+brilliant at night by thousands of elaborate electric signs, New York
+still had the subdued air of a provincial town, compared with the
+exuberant gaiety, the multiple attractions, the beauties, natural and
+artificial, of cosmopolitan Paris.
+
+The boulevards were crowded, as usual at that hour, and the crush of
+both vehicles and pedestrians was so great as to permit of only a
+snail-like progress. The clumsy three-horse
+omnibuses--Madeleine-Bastille--crowded inside and out with passengers
+and with their neatly uniformed drivers and conductors, so different in
+appearance and manner from our own slovenly street-car rowdies, were
+endeavouring to breast a perfect sea of fiacres which, like a swarm of
+mosquitoes, appeared to be trying to go in every direction at once,
+their drivers vociferating torrents of vituperous abuse on every man,
+woman or beast unfortunate enough to get in their way. As a dispenser
+of unspeakable profanity, the Paris cocher has no equal. He is unique,
+no one can approach him. He also enjoys the reputation of being the
+worst driver in the world. If there is any possible way in which he can
+run down a pedestrian or crash into another vehicle he will do it,
+probably for the only reason that it gives him another opportunity to
+display his choice stock of picturesque expletives.
+
+But it was a lively, good-natured crowd and the fashionably gowned
+women and the well-dressed men, the fakirs hoarsely crying their
+catch-penny devices, the noble boulevards lined as far as the eye could
+reach with trees in full foliage, the magnificent Opera House with its
+gilded dome glistening in the warm sunshine of a June afternoon, the
+broad avenue directly opposite, leading in a splendid straight line to
+the famous Palais Royal, the almost dazzling whiteness of the houses
+and monuments, the remarkable cleanliness and excellent condition of
+the sidewalks and streets, the gaiety and richness of the shops and
+restaurants, the picturesque kiosks where they sold newspapers and
+flowers--all this made up a picture so utterly unlike anything he was
+familiar with at home that Jefferson sat spellbound, delighted.
+
+Yes, it was true, he thought, the foreigner had indeed learned the
+secret of enjoying life. There was assuredly something else in the
+world beyond mere money-getting. His father was a slave to it, but he
+would never be. He was resolved on that. Yet, with all his ideas of
+emancipation and progress, Jefferson was a thoroughly practical young
+man. He fully understood the value of money, and the possession of it
+was as sweet to him as to other men. Only he would never soil his soul
+in acquiring it dishonourably. He was convinced that society as at
+present organized was all wrong and that the feudalism of the middle
+ages had simply given place to a worse form of slavery--capitalistic
+driven labour--which had resulted in the actual iniquitous conditions,
+the enriching of the rich and the impoverishment of the poor. He was
+familiar with the socialistic doctrines of the day and had taken a keen
+interest in this momentous question, this dream of a regenerated
+mankind. He had read Karl Marx and other socialistic writers, and while
+his essentially practical mind could hardly approve all their programme
+for reorganizing the State, some of which seemed to him utopian,
+extravagant and even undesirable, he realised that the socialistic
+movement was growing rapidly all over the world and the day was not far
+distant when in America, as to-day in Germany and France, it would be a
+formidable factor to reckon with.
+
+But until the socialistic millennium arrived and society was
+reorganized, money, he admitted, would remain the lever of the world,
+the great stimulus to effort. Money supplied not only the necessities
+of life but also its luxuries, everything the material desire craved
+for, and so long as money had this magic purchasing power, so long
+would men lie and cheat and rob and kill for its possession. Was life
+worth living without money? Could one travel and enjoy the glorious
+spectacles Nature affords--the rolling ocean, the majestic mountains,
+the beautiful lakes, the noble rivers--without money? Could the
+book-lover buy books, the art-lover purchase pictures? Could one have
+fine houses to live in, or all sorts of modern conveniences to add to
+one's comfort, without money? The philosophers declared contentment to
+be happiness, arguing that the hod-carrier was likely to be happier in
+his hut than the millionaire in his palace; but was not that mere
+animal contentment, the happiness which knows no higher state, the
+ignorance of one whose eyes have never been raised to the heights?
+
+No, Jefferson was no fool. He loved money for what pleasure,
+intellectual or physical, it could give him, but he would never allow
+money to dominate his life as his father had done. His father, he knew
+well, was not a happy man, neither happy himself nor respected by the
+world. He had toiled all his life to make his vast fortune and now he
+toiled to take care of it. The galley slave led a life of luxurious
+ease compared with John Burkett Ryder. Baited by the yellow newspapers
+and magazines, investigated by State committees, dogged by
+process-servers, haunted by beggars, harassed by blackmailers,
+threatened by kidnappers, frustrated in his attempts to bestow charity
+by the cry "tainted money"--certainly the lot of the world's richest
+man was far from being an enviable one.
+
+That is why Jefferson had resolved to strike out for himself. He had
+warded off the golden yoke which his father proposed to put on his
+shoulders, declining the lucrative position made for him in the Empire
+Trading Company, and he had gone so far as to refuse also the private
+income his father offered to settle on him. He would earn his own
+living. A man who has his bread buttered for him seldom accomplishes
+anything he had said, and while his father had appeared to be angry at
+this open opposition to his will, he was secretly pleased at his son's
+grit. Jefferson was thoroughly in earnest. If needs be, he would forego
+the great fortune that awaited him rather than be forced into
+questionable business methods against which his whole manhood revolted.
+
+Jefferson Ryder felt strongly about these matters, and gave them more
+thought than would be expected of most young men with his
+opportunities. In fact, he was unusually serious for his age. He was
+not yet thirty, but he had done a great deal of reading, and he took a
+keen interest in all the political and sociological questions of the
+hour. In personal appearance, he was the type of man that both men and
+women like--tall and athletic looking, with smooth face and clean-cut
+features. He had the steel-blue eyes and the fighting jaw of his
+father, and when he smiled he displayed two even rows of very white
+teeth. He was popular with men, being manly, frank and cordial in his
+relations with them, and women admired him greatly, although they were
+somewhat intimidated by his grave and serious manner. The truth was
+that he was rather diffident with women, largely owing to lack of
+experience with them.
+
+He had never felt the slightest inclination for business. He had the
+artistic temperament strongly developed, and his personal tastes had
+little in common with Wall Street and its feverish stock manipulating.
+When he was younger, he had dreamed of a literary or art career. At one
+time he had even thought of going on the stage. But it was to art that
+he turned finally. From an early age he had shown considerable skill as
+a draughtsman, and later a two years' course at the Academy of Design
+convinced him that this was his true vocation. He had begun by
+illustrating for the book publishers and for the magazines, meeting at
+first with the usual rebuffs and disappointments, but, refusing to be
+discouraged, he had kept on and soon the tide turned. His drawings
+began to be accepted. They appeared first in one magazine, then in
+another, until one day, to his great joy, he received an order from an
+important firm of publishers for six washdrawings to be used in
+illustrating a famous novel. This was the beginning of his real
+success. His illustrations were talked about almost as much as the
+book, and from that time on everything was easy. He was in great demand
+by the publishers, and very soon the young artist, who had begun his
+career of independence on nothing a year so to speak, found himself in
+a handsomely appointed studio in Bryant Park, with more orders coming
+in than he could possibly fill, and enjoying an income of little less
+than $5,000 a year. The money was all the sweeter to Jefferson in that
+he felt he had himself earned every cent of it. This summer he was
+giving himself a well-deserved vacation, and he had come to Europe
+partly to see Paris and the other art centres about which his fellow
+students at the Academy raved, but principally--although this he did
+not acknowledge even to himself--to meet in Paris a young woman in whom
+he was more than ordinarily interested--Shirley Rossmore, daughter of
+Judge Rossmore, of the United States Supreme Court, who had come abroad
+to recuperate after the labours on her new novel, "The American
+Octopus," a book which was then the talk of two hemispheres.
+
+Jefferson had read half a dozen reviews of it in as many American
+papers that afternoon at the New York Herald's reading room in the
+Avenue de l'Opera, and he chuckled with glee as he thought how
+accurately this young woman had described his father. The book had been
+published under the pseudonym "Shirley Green," and he alone had been
+admitted into the secret of authorship. The critics all conceded that
+it was the book of the year, and that it portrayed with a pitiless pen
+the personality of the biggest figure in the commercial life of
+America. "Although," wrote one reviewer, "the leading character in the
+book is given another name, there can be no doubt that the author
+intended to give to the world a vivid pen portrait of John Burkett
+Ryder. She has succeeded in presenting a remarkable character-study of
+the most remarkable man of his time."
+
+He was particularly pleased with the reviews, not only for Miss
+Rossmore's sake, but also because his own vanity was gratified. Had he
+not collaborated on the book to the extent of acquainting the author
+with details of his father's life, and his characteristics, which no
+outsider could possibly have learned? There had been no disloyalty to
+his father in doing this. Jefferson admired his father's smartness, if
+he could not approve his methods. He did not consider the book an
+attack on his father, but rather a powerfully written pen picture of an
+extraordinary man.
+
+Jefferson had met Shirley Rossmore two years before at a meeting of the
+Schiller Society, a pseudo-literary organization gotten up by a lot of
+old fogies for no useful purpose, and at whose monthly meetings the
+poet who gave the society its name was probably the last person to be
+discussed. He had gone out of curiosity, anxious to take in all the
+freak shows New York had to offer, and he had been introduced to a tall
+girl with a pale, thoughtful face and firm mouth. She was a writer,
+Miss Rossmore told him, and this was her first visit also to the
+evening receptions of the Schiller Society. Half apologetically she
+added that it was likely to be her last, for, frankly, she was bored to
+death. But she explained that she had to go to these affairs, as she
+found them useful in gathering material for literary use. She studied
+types and eccentric characters, and this seemed to her a capital
+hunting ground. Jefferson, who, as a rule, was timid with girls and
+avoided them, found this girl quite unlike the others he had known. Her
+quiet, forceful demeanour appealed to him strongly, and he lingered
+with her, chatting about his work, which had so many interests in
+common with her own, until refreshments were served, when the affair
+broke up. This first meeting had been followed by a call at the
+Rossmore residence, and the acquaintance had kept up until Jefferson,
+for the first time since he came to manhood, was surprised and somewhat
+alarmed at finding himself strangely and unduly interested in a person
+of the opposite sex.
+
+The young artist's courteous manner, his serious outlook on life, his
+high moral principles, so rarely met with nowadays in young men of his
+age and class, could hardly fail to appeal to Shirley, whose ideals of
+men had been somewhat rudely shattered by those she had hitherto met.
+Above all, she demanded in a man the refinement of the true gentleman,
+together with strength of character and personal courage. That
+Jefferson Ryder came up to this standard she was soon convinced. He was
+certainly a gentleman: his views on a hundred topics of the hour
+expressed in numerous conversations assured her as to his principles,
+while a glance at his powerful physique left no doubt possible as to
+his courage. She rightly guessed that this was no poseur trying to make
+an impression and gain her confidence. There was an unmistakable ring
+of sincerity in all his words, and his struggle at home with his
+father, and his subsequent brave and successful fight for his own
+independence and self-respect, more than substantiated all her
+theories. And the more Shirley let her mind dwell on Jefferson Ryder
+and his blue eyes and serious manner, the more conscious she became
+that the artist was encroaching more upon her thoughts and time than
+was good either for her work or for herself.
+
+So their casual acquaintance grew into a real friendship and
+comradeship. Further than that Shirley promised herself it should never
+go. Not that Jefferson had given her the slightest hint that he
+entertained the idea of making her his wife one day, only she was
+sophisticated enough to know the direction in which run the minds of
+men who are abnormally interested in one girl, and long before this
+Shirley had made up her mind that she would never marry. Firstly, she
+was devoted to her father and could not bear the thought of ever
+leaving him; secondly, she was fascinated by her literary work and she
+was practical enough to know that matrimony, with its visions of
+slippers and cradles, would be fatal to any ambition of that kind. She
+liked Jefferson immensely--more, perhaps, than any man she had yet
+met--and she did not think any the less of him because of her resolve
+not to get entangled in the meshes of Cupid. In any case he had not
+asked her to marry him--perhaps the idea was far from his thoughts.
+Meantime, she could enjoy his friendship freely without fear of
+embarrassing entanglements.
+
+When, therefore, she first conceived the idea of portraying in the
+guise of fiction the personality of John Burkett Ryder, the Colossus of
+finance whose vast and ever-increasing fortune was fast becoming a
+public nuisance, she naturally turned to Jefferson for assistance. She
+wanted to write a book that would be talked about, and which at the
+same time would open the eyes of the public to this growing peril in
+their midst--this monster of insensate and unscrupulous greed who, by
+sheer weight of his ill-gotten gold, was corrupting legislators and
+judges and trying to enslave the nation. The book, she argued, would
+perform a public service in awakening all to the common danger.
+Jefferson fully entered into her views and had furnished her with the
+information regarding his father that she deemed of value. The book had
+proven a success beyond their most sanguine expectations, and Shirley
+had come to Europe for a rest after the many weary months of work that
+it took to write it.
+
+The acquaintance of his son with the daughter of Judge Rossmore had not
+escaped the eagle eye of Ryder, Sr., and much to the financier's
+annoyance, and even consternation, he had ascertained that Jefferson
+was a frequent caller at the Rossmore home. He immediately jumped to
+the conclusion that this could mean only one thing, and fearing what he
+termed "the consequences of the insanity of immature minds," he had
+summoned Jefferson peremptorily to his presence. He told his son that
+all idea of marriage in that quarter was out of the question for two
+reasons: One was that Judge Rossmore was his most bitter enemy, the
+other was that he had hoped to see his son, his destined successor,
+marry a woman of whom he, Ryder, Sr., could approve. He knew of such a
+woman, one who would make a far more desirable mate than Miss Rossmore.
+He alluded, of course, to Kate Roberts, the pretty daughter of his old
+friend, the Senator. The family interests would benefit by this
+alliance, which was desirable from every point of view. Jefferson had
+listened respectfully until his father had finished and then grimly
+remarked that only one point of view had been overlooked--his own. He
+did not care for Miss Roberts; he did not think she really cared for
+him. The marriage was out of the question. Whereupon Ryder, Sr., had
+fumed and raged, declaring that Jefferson was opposing his will as he
+always did, and ending with the threat that if his son married Shirley
+Rossmore without his consent he would disinherit him.
+
+Jefferson was cogitating on these incidents of the last few months when
+suddenly a feminine voice which he quickly recognised called out in
+English:
+
+"Hello! Mr. Ryder."
+
+He looked up and saw two ladies, one young, the other middle aged,
+smiling at him from an open fiacre which had drawn up to the curb.
+Jefferson jumped from his seat, upsetting his chair and startling two
+nervous Frenchmen in his hurry, and hastened out, hat in hand.
+
+"Why, Miss Rossmore, what are you doing out driving?" he asked. "You
+know you and Mrs. Blake promised to dine with me to-night. I was coming
+round to the hotel in a few moments."
+
+Mrs. Blake was a younger sister of Shirley's mother. Her husband had
+died a few years previously, leaving her a small income, and when she
+had heard of her niece's contemplated trip to Europe she had decided to
+come to Paris to meet her and incidentally to chaperone her. The two
+women were stopping at the Grand Hotel close by, while Jefferson had
+found accommodations at the Athenee.
+
+Shirley explained. Her aunt wanted to go to the dressmaker's, and she
+herself was most anxious to go to the Luxembourg Gardens to hear the
+music. Would he take her? Then they could meet Mrs. Blake at the hotel
+at seven o'clock and all go to dinner. Was he willing?
+
+Was he? Jefferson's face fairly glowed. He ran back to his table on the
+terrasse to settle for his Vermouth, astonished the waiter by not
+stopping to notice the short change he gave him, and rushed back to the
+carriage.
+
+A dirty little Italian girl, shrewd enough to note the young man's
+attention to the younger of the American women, wheedled up to the
+carriage and thrust a bunch of flowers in Jefferson's face.
+
+"Achetez des fleurs, monsieur, pour la jolie dame?"
+
+Down went Jefferson's hand in his pocket and, filling the child's hand
+with small silver, he flung the flowers in the carriage. Then he turned
+inquiringly to Shirley for instructions so he could direct the cocher.
+Mrs. Blake said she would get out here. Her dressmaker was close by, in
+the Rue Auber, and she would walk back to the hotel to meet them at
+seven o'clock. Jefferson assisted her to alight and escorted her as far
+as the porte-cochere of the modiste's, a couple of doors away. When he
+returned to the carriage, Shirley had already told the coachman where
+to go. He got in and the fiacre started.
+
+"Now," said Shirley, "tell me what you have been doing with yourself
+all day."
+
+Jefferson was busily arranging the faded carriage rug about Shirley,
+spending more time in the task perhaps than was absolutely necessary,
+and she had to repeat the question.
+
+"Doing?" he echoed with a smile, "I've been doing two things--waiting
+impatiently for seven o'clock and incidentally reading the notices of
+your book."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+"Tell me, what do the papers say?"
+
+Settling herself comfortably back in the carriage, Shirley questioned
+Jefferson with eagerness, even anxiety. She had been impatiently
+awaiting the arrival of the newspapers from "home," for so much
+depended on this first effort. She knew her book had been praised in
+some quarters, and her publishers had written her that the sales were
+bigger every day, but she was curious to learn how it had been received
+by the reviewers.
+
+In truth, it had been no slight achievement for a young writer of her
+inexperience, a mere tyro in literature, to attract so much attention
+with her first book. The success almost threatened to turn her head,
+she had told her aunt laughingly, although she was sure it could never
+do that. She fully realized that it was the subject rather than the
+skill of the narrator that counted in the book's success, also the fact
+that it had come out at a timely moment, when the whole world was
+talking of the Money Peril. Had not President Roosevelt, in a recent
+sensational speech, declared that it might be necessary for the State
+to curb the colossal fortunes of America, and was not her hero, John
+Burkett Ryder, the richest of them all? Any way they looked at it, the
+success of the book was most gratifying.
+
+While she was an attractive, aristocratic-looking girl, Shirley
+Rossmore had no serious claims to academic beauty. Her features were
+irregular, and the firm and rather thin mouth lines disturbed the
+harmony indispensable to plastic beauty. Yet there was in her face
+something far more appealing--soul and character. The face of the
+merely beautiful woman expresses nothing, promises nothing. It presents
+absolutely no key to the soul within, and often there is no soul within
+to have a key to. Perfect in its outlines and coloring, it is a delight
+to gaze upon, just as is a flawless piece of sculpture, yet the delight
+is only fleeting. One soon grows satiated, no matter how beautiful the
+face may be, because it is always the same, expressionless and
+soulless. "Beauty is only skin deep," said the philosopher, and no
+truer dictum was ever uttered. The merely beautiful woman, who
+possesses only beauty and nothing else, is kept so busy thinking of her
+looks, and is so anxious to observe the impression her beauty makes on
+others, that she has neither the time nor the inclination for matters
+of greater importance. Sensible men, as a rule, do not lose their
+hearts to women whose only assets are their good looks. They enjoy a
+flirtation with them, but seldom care to make them their wives. The
+marrying man is shrewd enough to realize that domestic virtues will be
+more useful in his household economy than all the academic beauty ever
+chiselled out of block marble.
+
+Shirley was not beautiful, but hers was a face that never failed to
+attract attention. It was a thoughtful and interesting face, with an
+intellectual brow and large, expressive eyes, the face of a woman who
+had both brain power and ideals, and yet who, at the same time, was in
+perfect sympathy with the world. She was fair in complexion, and her
+fine brown eyes, alternately reflective and alert, were shaded by long
+dark lashes. Her eyebrows were delicately arched, and she had a good
+nose. She wore her hair well off the forehead, which was broader than
+in the average woman, suggesting good mentality. Her mouth, however,
+was her strongest feature. It was well shaped, but there were firm
+lines about it that suggested unusual will power. Yet it smiled
+readily, and when it did there was an agreeable vision of strong,
+healthy-looking teeth of dazzling whiteness. She was a little over
+medium height and slender in figure, and carried herself with that
+unmistakable air of well-bred independence that bespeaks birth and
+culture. She dressed stylishly, and while her gowns were of rich
+material, and of a cut suggesting expensive modistes, she was always so
+quietly attired and in such perfect taste, that after leaving her one
+could never recall what she had on.
+
+At the special request of Shirley, who wanted to get a glimpse of the
+Latin Quarter, the driver took a course down the Avenue de l'Opera,
+that magnificent thoroughfare which starts at the Opera and ends at the
+Theatre Francais, and which, like many others that go to the
+beautifying of the capital, the Parisians owe to the much-despised
+Napoleon III. The cab, Jefferson told her, would skirt the Palais Royal
+and follow the Rue de Rivoli until it came to the Chatelet, when it
+would cross the Seine and drive up the Boulevard St. Michel--the
+students' boulevard--until it reached the Luxembourg Gardens. Like most
+of his kind, the cocker knew less than nothing of the art of driving,
+and he ran a reckless, zig-zag flight, in and out, forcing his way
+through a confusing maze of vehicles of every description, pulling
+first to the right, then to the left, for no good purpose that was
+apparent, and averting only by the narrowest of margins half a dozen
+bad collisions. At times the fiacre lurched in such alarming fashion
+that Shirley was visibly perturbed, but when Jefferson assured her that
+all Paris cabs travelled in this crazy fashion and nothing ever
+happened, she was comforted.
+
+"Tell me," he repeated, "what do the papers say about the book?"
+
+"Say?" he echoed. "Why, simply that you've written the biggest book of
+the year, that's all!"
+
+"Really! Oh, do tell me all they said!" She was fairly excited now, and
+in her enthusiasm she grasped Jefferson's broad, sunburnt hand which
+was lying outside the carriage rug. He tried to appear unconscious of
+the contact, which made his every nerve tingle, as he proceeded to tell
+her the gist of the reviews he had read that afternoon.
+
+"Isn't that splendid!" she exclaimed, when he had finished. Then she
+added quickly:
+
+"I wonder if your father has seen it?"
+
+Jefferson grinned. He had something on his conscience, and this was a
+good opportunity to get rid of it. He replied laconically:
+
+"He probably has read it by this time. I sent him a copy myself."
+
+The instant the words were out of his mouth he was sorry, for Shirley's
+face had changed colour.
+
+"You sent him a copy of 'The American Octopus?'" she cried. "Then he'll
+guess who wrote the book."
+
+"Oh, no, he won't," rejoined Jefferson calmly. "He has no idea who sent
+it to him. I mailed it anonymously."
+
+Shirley breathed a sigh of relief. It was so important that her
+identity should remain a secret. As daughter of a Supreme Court judge
+she had to be most careful. She would not embarrass her father for
+anything in the world. But it was smart of Jefferson to have sent
+Ryder, Sr., the book, so she smiled graciously on his son as she asked:
+
+"How do you know he got it? So many letters and packages are sent to
+him that he never sees himself."
+
+"Oh, he saw your book all right," laughed Jefferson. "I was around the
+house a good deal before sailing, and one day I caught him in the
+library reading it."
+
+They both laughed, feeling like mischievous children who had played a
+successful trick on the hokey-pokey man. Jefferson noted his
+companion's pretty dimples and fine teeth, and he thought how
+attractive she was, and stronger and stronger grew the idea within him
+that this was the woman who was intended by Nature to share his life.
+Her slender hand still covered his broad, sunburnt one, and he fancied
+he felt a slight pressure. But he was mistaken. Not the slightest
+sentiment entered into Shirley's thoughts of Jefferson. She regarded
+him only as a good comrade with whom she had secrets she confided in no
+one else. To that extent and to that extent alone he was privileged
+above other men. Suddenly he asked her:
+
+"Have you heard from home recently?"
+
+A soft light stole into the girl's face. Home! Ah, that was all she
+needed to make her cup of happiness full. Intoxicated with this new
+sensation of a first literary success, full of the keen pleasure this
+visit to the beautiful city was giving her, bubbling over with the joy
+of life, happy in the almost daily companionship of the man she liked
+most in the world after her father, there was only one thing
+lacking--home! She had left New York only a month before, and she was
+homesick already. Her father she missed most. She was fond of her
+mother, too, but the latter, being somewhat of a nervous invalid, had
+never been to her quite what her father had been. The playmate of her
+childhood, companion of her girlhood, her friend and adviser in
+womanhood, Judge Rossmore was to his daughter the ideal man and father.
+Answering Jefferson's question she said:
+
+"I had a letter from father last week. Everything was going on at home
+as when I left. Father says he misses me sadly, and that mother is
+ailing as usual."
+
+She smiled, and Jefferson smiled too. They both knew by experience that
+nothing really serious ailed Mrs. Rossmore, who was a good deal of a
+hypochondriac, and always so filled with aches and pains that, on the
+few occasions when she really felt well, she was genuinely alarmed.
+
+The fiacre by this time had emerged from the Rue de Rivoli and was
+rolling smoothly along the fine wooden pavement in front of the
+historic Conciergerie prison where Marie Antoinette was confined before
+her execution. Presently they recrossed the Seine, and the cab, dodging
+the tram car rails, proceeded at a smart pace up the "Boul' Mich',"
+which is the familiar diminutive bestowed by the students upon that
+broad avenue which traverses the very heart of their beloved Quartier
+Latin. On the left frowned the scholastic walls of the learned
+Sorbonne, in the distance towered the majestic dome of the Pantheon
+where Rousseau, Voltaire and Hugo lay buried.
+
+Like most of the principal arteries of the French capital, the
+boulevard was generously lined with trees, now in full bloom, and the
+sidewalks fairly seethed with a picturesque throng in which mingled
+promiscuously frivolous students, dapper shop clerks, sober citizens,
+and frisky, flirtatious little ouvrieres, these last being all hatless,
+as is characteristic of the work-girl class, but singularly attractive
+in their neat black dresses and dainty low-cut shoes. There was also
+much in evidence another type of female whose extravagance of costume
+and boldness of manner loudly proclaimed her ancient profession.
+
+On either side of the boulevard were shops and cafes, mostly cafes,
+with every now and then a brasserie, or beer hall. Seated in front of
+these establishments, taking their ease as if beer sampling constituted
+the only real interest in their lives, were hundreds of students,
+reckless and dare-devil, and suggesting almost anything except serious
+study. They all wore frock coats and tall silk hats, and some of the
+latter were wonderful specimens of the hatter's art. A few of the more
+eccentric students had long hair down to their shoulders, and wore
+baggy peg-top trousers of extravagant cut, which hung in loose folds
+over their sharp-pointed boots. On their heads were queer plug hats
+with flat brims.
+
+Shirley laughed outright and regretted that she did not have her kodak
+to take back to America some idea of their grotesque appearance, and
+she listened with amused interest as Jefferson explained that these men
+were notorious poseurs, aping the dress and manners of the old-time
+student as he flourished in the days of Randolph and Mimi and the other
+immortal characters of Murger's Bohemia. Nobody took them seriously
+except themselves, and for the most part they were bad rhymesters of
+decadent verse. Shirley was astonished to see so many of them busily
+engaged smoking cigarettes and imbibing glasses of a pale-green
+beverage, which Jefferson told her was absinthe.
+
+"When do they read?" she asked. "When do they attend lectures?"
+
+"Oh," laughed Jefferson, "only the old-fashioned students take their
+studies seriously. Most of the men you see there are from the
+provinces, seeing Paris for the first time, and having their fling.
+Incidentally they are studying life. When they have sown their wild
+oats and learned all about life--provided they are still alive and have
+any money left--they will begin to study books. You would be surprised
+to know how many of these young men, who have been sent to the
+University at a cost of goodness knows what sacrifices, return to their
+native towns in a few months wrecked in body and mind, without having
+once set foot in a lecture room, and, in fact, having done nothing
+except inscribe their names on the rolls."
+
+Shirley was glad she knew no such men, and if she ever married and had
+a son she would pray God to spare her that grief and humiliation. She
+herself knew something about the sacrifices parents make to secure a
+college education for their children. Her father had sent her to
+Vassar. She was a product of the much-sneered-at higher education for
+women, and all her life she would be grateful for the advantages given
+her. Her liberal education had broadened her outlook on life and
+enabled her to accomplish the little she had. When she graduated her
+father had left her free to follow her own inclinations. She had little
+taste for social distractions, and still she could not remain idle. For
+a time she thought of teaching to occupy her mind, but she knew she
+lacked the necessary patience, and she could not endure the drudgery of
+it, so, having won honors at college in English composition, she
+determined to try her hand at literature. She wrote a number of essays
+and articles on a hundred different subjects which she sent to the
+magazines, but they all came back with politely worded excuses for
+their rejection. But Shirley kept right on. She knew she wrote well; it
+must be that her subjects were not suitable. So she adopted new
+tactics, and persevered until one day came a letter of acceptance from
+the editor of one of the minor magazines. They would take the article
+offered--a sketch of college life--and as many more in similar vein as
+Miss Rossmore could write. This success had been followed by other
+acceptances and other commissions, until at the present time she was a
+well-known writer for the leading publications. Her great ambition had
+been to write a book, and "The American Octopus," published under an
+assumed name, was the result.
+
+The cab stopped suddenly in front of beautiful gilded gates. It was the
+Luxembourg, and through the tall railings they caught a glimpse of
+well-kept lawns, splashing fountains and richly dressed children
+playing. From the distance came the stirring strains of a brass band.
+
+The coachman drove up to the curb and Jefferson jumped down, assisting
+Shirley to alight. In spite of Shirley's protest Jefferson insisted on
+paying.
+
+"Combien?" he asked the cocher.
+
+The jehu, a surly, thick-set man with a red face and small, cunning
+eyes like a ferret, had already sized up his fares for two sacre
+foreigners whom it would be flying in the face of Providence not to
+cheat, so with unblushing effrontery he answered:
+
+"Dix francs, Monsieur!" And he held up ten fingers by way of
+illustration.
+
+Jefferson was about to hand up a ten-franc piece when Shirley
+indignantly interfered. She would not submit to such an imposition.
+There was a regular tariff and she would pay that and nothing more. So,
+in better French than was at Jefferson's command, she exclaimed:
+
+"Ten francs? Pourquoi dix francs? I took your cab by the hour. It is
+exactly two hours. That makes four francs." Then to Jefferson she
+added: "Give him a franc for a pourboire--that makes five francs
+altogether."
+
+Jefferson, obedient to her superior wisdom, held out a five-franc
+piece, but the driver shrugged his shoulders disdainfully. He saw that
+the moment had come to bluster so he descended from his box fully
+prepared to carry out his bluff. He started in to abuse the two
+Americans whom in his ignorance he took for English.
+
+"Ah, you sale Anglais! You come to France to cheat the poor Frenchman.
+You make me work all afternoon and then pay me nothing. Not with this
+coco! I know my rights and I'll get them, too."
+
+All this was hurled at them in a patois French, almost unintelligible
+to Shirley, and wholly so to Jefferson. All he knew was that the
+fellow's attitude was becoming unbearably insolent and he stepped
+forward with a gleam in his eye that might have startled the man had he
+not been so busy shaking his fist at Shirley. But she saw Jefferson's
+movement and laid her hand on his arm.
+
+"No, no, Mr. Ryder--no scandal, please. Look, people are beginning to
+come up! Leave him to me. I know how to manage him."
+
+With this the daughter of a United States Supreme Court judge proceeded
+to lay down the law to the representative of the most lazy and
+irresponsible class of men ever let loose in the streets of a civilised
+community. Speaking with an air of authority, she said:
+
+"Now look here, my man, we have no time to bandy words here with you. I
+took your cab at 3.30. It is now 5.30. That makes two hours. The rate
+is two francs an hour, or four francs in all. We offer you five francs,
+and this includes a franc pourboire. If this settlement does not suit
+you we will get into your cab and you will drive us to the nearest
+police-station where the argument can be continued."
+
+The man's jaw dropped. He was obviously outclassed. These foreigners
+knew the law as well as he did. He had no desire to accept Shirley's
+suggestion of a trip to the police-station, where he knew he would get
+little sympathy, so, grumbling and giving vent under his breath to a
+volley of strange oaths, he grabbed viciously at the five-franc piece
+Jefferson held out and, mounting his box, drove off.
+
+Proud of their victory, they entered the gardens, following the
+sweet-scented paths until they came to where the music was. The band of
+an infantry regiment was playing, and a large crowd had gathered. Many
+people were sitting on the chairs provided for visitors for the modest
+fee of two sous; others were promenading round and round a great circle
+having the musicians in its centre. The dense foliage of the trees
+overhead afforded a perfect shelter from the hot rays of the sun, and
+the place was so inviting and interesting, so cool and so full of sweet
+perfumes and sounds, appealing to and satisfying the senses, that
+Shirley wished they had more time to spend there. She was very fond of
+a good brass band, especially when heard in the open air. They were
+playing Strauss's Blue Danube, and the familiar strains of the
+delightful waltz were so infectious that both were seized by a desire
+to get up and dance.
+
+There was constant amusement, too, watching the crowd, with its many
+original and curious types. There were serious college professors, with
+gold-rimmed spectacles, buxom nounous in their uniform cloaks and long
+ribbon streamers, nicely dressed children romping merrily but not
+noisily, more queer-looking students in shabby frock coats, tight at
+the waist, trousers too short, and comical hats, stylishly dressed
+women displaying the latest fashions, brilliantly uniformed army
+officers strutting proudly, dangling their swords--an attractive and
+interesting crowd, so different, thought the two Americans, from the
+cheap, evil-smelling, ill-mannered mob of aliens that invades their own
+Central Park the days when there is music, making it a nuisance instead
+of a pleasure. Here everyone belonged apparently to the better class;
+the women and children were richly and fashionably dressed, the
+officers looked smart in their multi-coloured uniforms, and, no matter
+how one might laugh at the students, there was an atmosphere of
+good-breeding and refinement everywhere which Shirley was not
+accustomed to see in public places at home. A sprinkling of workmen and
+people of the poorer class were to be seen here and there, but they
+were in the decided minority. Shirley, herself a daughter of the
+Revolution, was a staunch supporter of the immortal principles of
+Democracy and of the equality of man before the law. But all other talk
+of equality was the greatest sophistry and charlatanism. There could be
+no real equality so long as some people were cultured and refined and
+others were uneducated and vulgar. Shirley believed in an aristocracy
+of brains and soap. She insisted that no clean person, no matter how
+good a democrat, should be expected to sit close in public places to
+persons who were not on speaking terms with the bath-tub. In America
+this foolish theory of a democracy, which insists on throwing all
+classes, the clean and the unclean, promiscuously together, was
+positively revolting, making travelling in the public vehicles almost
+impossible, and it was not much better in the public parks. In
+France--also a Republic--where they likewise paraded conspicuously the
+clap-trap "Egalite, Fraternite," they managed these things far better.
+The French lower classes knew their place. They did not ape the dress,
+nor frequent the resorts of those above them in the social scale. The
+distinction between the classes was plainly and properly marked, yet
+this was not antagonistic to the ideal of true democracy; it had not
+prevented the son of a peasant from becoming President of the French
+Republic. Each district in Paris had its own amusement, its own
+theatres, its own parks. It was not a question of capital refusing to
+fraternize with labour, but the very natural desire of persons of
+refinement to mingle with clean people rather than to rub elbows with
+the Great Unwashed.
+
+"Isn't it delightful here?" said Shirley. "I could stay here forever,
+couldn't you?"
+
+"With you--yes," answered Jefferson, with a significant smile.
+
+Shirley tried to look angry. She strictly discouraged these
+conventional, sentimental speeches which constantly flung her sex in
+her face.
+
+"Now, you know I don't like you to talk that way, Mr. Ryder. It's most
+undignified. Please be sensible."
+
+Quite subdued, Jefferson relapsed into a sulky silence. Presently he
+said:
+
+"I wish you wouldn't call me Mr. Ryder. I meant to ask you this before.
+You know very well that you've no great love for the name, and if you
+persist you'll end by including me in your hatred of the hero of your
+book."
+
+Shirley looked at him with amused curiosity.
+
+"What do you mean?" she asked. "What do you want me to call you?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know," he stammered, rather intimidated by this
+self-possessed young woman who looked him calmly through and through.
+"Why not call me Jefferson? Mr. Ryder is so formal."
+
+Shirley laughed outright, a merry, unrestrained peal of honest
+laughter, which made the passers-by turn their heads and smile, too,
+commenting the while on the stylish appearance of the two Americans
+whom they took for sweethearts. After all, reasoned Shirley, he was
+right. They had been together now nearly every hour in the day for over
+a month. It was absurd to call him Mr. Ryder. So, addressing him with
+mock gravity, she said:
+
+"You're right, Mr. Ryder--I mean Jefferson. You're quite right. You are
+Jefferson from this time on, only remember"--here she shook her gloved
+finger at him warningly--"mind you behave yourself! No more such
+sentimental speeches as you made just now."
+
+Jefferson beamed. He felt at least two inches taller, and at that
+moment he would not have changed places with any one in the world. To
+hide the embarrassment his gratification caused him he pulled out his
+watch and exclaimed:
+
+"Why, it's a quarter past six. We shall have all we can do to get back
+to the hotel and dress for dinner."
+
+Shirley rose at once, although loath to leave.
+
+"I had no idea it was so late," she said. "How the time flies!" Then
+mockingly she added: "Come, Jefferson--be a good boy and find a cab."
+
+They passed out of the Gardens by the gate facing the Theatre de
+l'Odeon, where there was a long string of fiacres for hire. They got
+into one and in fifteen minutes they were back at the Grand Hotel.
+
+At the office they told Shirley that her aunt had already come in and
+gone to her room, so she hurried upstairs to dress for dinner while
+Jefferson proceeded to the Hotel de l'Athenee on the same mission. He.
+had still twenty-five minutes before dinner time, and he needed only
+ten minutes for a wash and to jump into his dress suit, so, instead of
+going directly to his hotel, he sat down at the Cafe de la Paix. He was
+thirsty, and calling for a vermouth frappe he told the garcon to bring
+him also the American papers.
+
+The crowd on the boulevard was denser than ever. The business offices
+and some of the shops were closing, and a vast army of employes,
+homeward bound, helped to swell the sea of humanity that pushed this
+way and that.
+
+But Jefferson had no eyes for the crowd. He was thinking of Shirley.
+What singular, mysterious power had this girl acquired over him? He,
+who had scoffed at the very idea of marriage only a few months before,
+now desired it ardently, anxiously! Yes, that was what his life
+lacked--such a woman to be his companion and helpmate! He loved
+her--there was no doubt of that. His every thought, waking and
+sleeping, was of her, all his plans for the future included her. He
+would win her if any man could. But did she care for him? Ah, that was
+the cruel, torturing uncertainty! She appeared cold and indifferent,
+but perhaps she was only trying him. Certainly she did not seem to
+dislike him.
+
+The waiter returned with the vermouth and the newspapers. All he could
+find were the London Times, which he pronounced T-e-e-m-s, and some
+issues of the New York Herald. The papers were nearly a month old, but
+he did not care for that. Jefferson idly turned over the pages of the
+Herald. His thoughts were still running on Shirley, and he was paying
+little attention to what he was reading. Suddenly, however, his eyes
+rested on a headline which made him sit up with a start. It read as
+follows:
+
+JUDGE ROSSMORE IMPEACHED
+
+JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT TO BE TRIED ON BRIBERY CHARGES
+
+The despatch, which was dated Washington two weeks back, went on to say
+that serious charges affecting the integrity of Judge Rossmore had been
+made the subject of Congressional inquiry, and that the result of the
+inquiry was so grave that a demand for impeachment would be at once
+sent to the Senate. It added that the charges grew out of the recent
+decision in the Great Northwestern Mining Company case, it being
+alleged that Judge Rossmore had accepted a large sum of money on
+condition of his handing down a decision favourable to the company.
+
+Jefferson was thunderstruck. He read the despatch over again to make
+sure there was no mistake. No, it was very plain--Judge Rossmore of
+Madison Avenue. But how preposterous, what a calumny! The one judge on
+the bench at whom one could point and say with absolute conviction:
+"There goes an honest man!" And this judge was to be tried on a charge
+of bribery! What could be the meaning of it? Something terrible must
+have happened since Shirley's departure from home, that was certain. It
+meant her immediate return to the States and, of course, his own. He
+would see what could be done. He would make his father use his great
+influence. But how could he tell Shirley? Impossible, he could not! She
+would not believe him if he did. She would probably hear from home in
+some other way. They might cable. In any case he would say nothing yet.
+He paid for his vermouth and hurried away to his hotel to dress.
+
+It was just striking seven when he re-entered the courtyard of the
+Grand Hotel. Shirley and Mrs. Blake were waiting for him. Jefferson
+suggested having dinner at the Cafe de Paris, but Shirley objected that
+as the weather was warm it would be more pleasant to dine in the open
+air, so they finally decided on the Pavilion d'Armonville where there
+was music and where they could have a little table to themselves in the
+garden.
+
+They drove up the stately Champs Elysees, past the monumental Arc de
+Triomphe, and from there down to the Bois. All were singularly quiet.
+Mrs. Blake was worrying about her new gown, Shirley was tired, and
+Jefferson could not banish from his mind the terrible news he had just
+read. He avoided looking at Shirley until the latter noticed it and
+thought she must have offended him in some way. She was more sorry than
+she would have him know, for, with all her apparent coldness, Jefferson
+was rapidly becoming very indispensable to her happiness.
+
+They dined sumptuously and delightfully with all the luxury of
+surroundings and all the delights of cooking that the French culinary
+art can perfect. A single glass of champagne had put Shirley in high
+spirits and she had tried hard to communicate some of her good humour
+to Jefferson who, despite all her efforts, remained quiet and
+preoccupied. Finally losing patience she asked him bluntly:
+
+"Jefferson, what's the matter with you to-night? You've been sulky as a
+bear all evening."
+
+Pleased to see she had not forgotten their compact of the afternoon in
+regard to his name, Jefferson relaxed somewhat and said apologetically:
+
+"Excuse me, I've been feeling a bit seedy lately. I think I need
+another sea voyage. That's the only time when I feel really
+first-class--when I'm on the water."
+
+The mention of the sea started Shirley to talk about her future plans.
+She wasn't going back to America until September. She had arranged to
+make a stay of three weeks in London and then she would be free. Some
+friends of hers from home, a man and his wife who owned a steam yacht,
+were arranging a trip to the Mediterranean, including a run over to
+Cairo. They had asked her and Mrs. Blake to go and she was sure they
+would ask Jefferson, too. Would he go?
+
+There was no way out of it. Jefferson tried to work up some enthusiasm
+for this yachting trip, which he knew very well could never come off,
+and it cut him to the heart to see this poor girl joyously making all
+these preparations and plans, little dreaming of the domestic calamity
+which at that very moment was hanging over her head.
+
+It was nearly ten o'clock when they had finished. They sat a little
+longer listening to the gipsy music, weird and barbaric. Very
+pointedly, Shirley remarked:
+
+"I for one preferred the music this afternoon."
+
+"Why?" inquired Jefferson, ignoring the petulant note in her voice.
+
+"Because you were more amiable!" she retorted rather crossly.
+
+This was their first misunderstanding, but Jefferson said nothing. He
+could not tell her the thoughts and fears that had been haunting him
+all night. Soon afterward they re-entered their cab and returned to the
+boulevards which were ablaze with light and gaiety. Jefferson suggested
+going somewhere else, but Mrs. Blake was tired and Shirley, now quite
+irritated at what she considered Jefferson's unaccountable
+unsociability, declined somewhat abruptly. But she could never remain
+angry long, and when they said good-night she whispered demurely:
+
+"Are you cross with me, Jeff?"
+
+He turned his head away and she saw that his face was singularly drawn
+and grave.
+
+"Cross--no. Good-night. God bless you!" he said, hoarsely gulping down
+a lump that rose in his throat. Then grasping her hand he hurried away.
+
+Completely mystified, Shirley and her companion turned to the office to
+get the key of their room. As the man handed it to Shirley he passed
+her also a cablegram which had just come. She changed colour. She did
+not like telegrams. She always had a dread of them, for with her sudden
+news was usually bad news. Could this, she thought, explain Jefferson's
+strange behaviour? Trembling, she tore open the envelope and read:
+
+  Come home at once,
+
+  Mother.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+Rolling, tumbling, splashing, foaming water as far as the eye could
+reach in every direction. A desolate waste, full of life, movement and
+colour, extending to the bleak horizon and like a vast ploughed field
+cut up into long and high liquid ridges, all scurrying in one direction
+in serried ranks and with incredible speed as if pursued by a fearful
+and unseen enemy. Serenely yet boisterously, gracefully yet
+resistlessly, the endless waves passed on--some small, others
+monstrous, with fleecy white combs rushing down their green sides like
+toy Niagaras and with a seething, boiling sound as when flame touches
+water. They went by in a stately, never ending procession, going
+nowhere, coming from nowhere, but full of dignity and importance, their
+breasts heaving with suppressed rage because there was nothing in their
+path that they might destroy. The dancing, leaping water reflected
+every shade and tint--now a rich green, then a deep blue and again a
+dirty gray as the sun hid for a moment behind a cloud, and as a gust of
+wind caught the top of the combers decapitating them at one mad rush,
+the spray was dashed high in the air, flashing out all the prismatic
+colours. Here and yonder, the white caps rose, disappeared and came
+again, and the waves grew and then diminished in size. Then others
+rose, towering, became larger, majestic, terrible; the milk-like comb
+rose proudly, soared a brief moment, then fell ignominiously, and the
+wave diminished passed on humiliated. Over head, a few scattered cirrus
+clouds flitted lazily across the blue dome of heaven, while a dozen
+Mother Carey chickens screamed hoarsely as they circled in the air. The
+strong and steady western breeze bore on its powerful pinions the sweet
+and eternal music of the wind and sea.
+
+Shirley stood at the rail under the bridge of the ocean greyhound that
+was carrying her back to America with all the speed of which her mighty
+engines were capable. All day and all night, half naked stokers, so
+grimed with oil and coal dust as to lose the slightest semblance to
+human beings, feverishly shovelled coal, throwing it rapidly and evenly
+over roaring furnaces kept at a fierce white heat. The vast boilers,
+shaken by the titanic forces generating in their cavern-like depths,
+sent streams of scalding, hissing steam through a thousand valves,
+cylinders and pistons, turning wheels and cranks as it distributed the
+tremendous power which was driving the steel monster through the seas
+at the prodigious speed of four hundred miles in the twenty-four hours.
+Like a pulsating heart in some living thing, the mammoth engines
+throbbed and panted, and the great vessel groaned and creaked as she
+rose and fell to the heavy swell, and again lurched forward in
+obedience to each fresh propulsion from her fast spinning screws. Out
+on deck, volumes of dense black smoke were pouring from four gigantic
+smoke stacks and spread out in the sky like some endless cinder path
+leading back over the course the ship had taken.
+
+They were four days out from port. Two days more and they would sight
+Sandy Hook, and Shirley would know the worst. She had caught the North
+German Lloyd boat at Cherbourg two days after receiving the cablegram
+from New York. Mrs. Blake had insisted on coming along in spite of her
+niece's protests. Shirley argued that she had crossed alone when
+coming; she could go back the same way. Besides, was not Mr. Ryder
+returning home on the same ship? He would be company and protection
+both. But Mrs. Blake was bent on making the voyage. She had not seen
+her sister for many years and, moreover, this sudden return to America
+had upset her own plans. She was a poor sailor, yet she loved the ocean
+and this was a good excuse for a long trip. Shirley was too exhausted
+with worry to offer further resistance and by great good luck the two
+women had been able to secure at the last moment a cabin to themselves
+amidships. Jefferson, less fortunate, was compelled, to his disgust, to
+share a stateroom with another passenger, a fat German brewer who was
+returning to Cincinnati, and who snored so loud at night that even the
+thumping of the engines was completely drowned by his eccentric nasal
+sounds.
+
+The alarming summons home and the terrible shock she had experienced
+the following morning when Jefferson showed her the newspaper article
+with its astounding and heart rending news about her father had almost
+prostrated Shirley. The blow was all the greater for being so entirely
+unlooked for. That the story was true she could not doubt. Her mother
+would not have cabled except under the gravest circumstances. What
+alarmed Shirley still more was that she had no direct news of her
+father. For a moment her heart stood still--suppose the shock of this
+shameful accusation had killed him? Her blood froze in her veins, she
+clenched her fists and dug her nails into her flesh as she thought of
+the dread possibility that she had looked upon him in life for the last
+time. She remembered his last kind words when he came to the steamer to
+see her off, and his kiss when he said good-bye and she had noticed a
+tear of which he appeared to be ashamed. The hot tears welled up in her
+own eyes and coursed unhindered down her cheeks.
+
+What could these preposterous and abominable charges mean? What was
+this lie they had invented to ruin her father? That he had enemies she
+well knew. What strong man had not? Indeed, his proverbial honesty had
+made him feared by all evil-doers and on one occasion they had gone so
+far as to threaten his life. This new attack was more deadly than
+all--to sap and destroy his character, to deliberately fabricate lies
+and calumnies which had no foundation whatever. Of course, the
+accusation was absurd, the Senate would refuse to convict him, the
+entire press would espouse the cause of so worthy a public servant.
+Certainly, everything would be done to clear his character. But what
+was being done? She could do nothing but wait and wait. The suspense
+and anxiety were awful.
+
+Suddenly she heard a familiar step behind her, and Jefferson joined her
+at the rail. The wind was due West and blowing half a gale, so where
+they were standing--one of the most exposed parts of the ship--it was
+difficult to keep one's feet, to say nothing of hearing anyone speak.
+There was a heavy sea running, and each approaching wave looked big
+enough to engulf the vessel, but as the mass of moving water reached
+the bow, the ship rose on it, light and graceful as a bird, shook off
+the flying spray as a cat shakes her fur after an unwelcome bath, and
+again drove forward as steady and with as little perceptible motion as
+a railway train. Shirley was a fairly good sailor and this kind of
+weather did not bother her in the least, but when it got very rough she
+could not bear the rolling and pitching and then all she was good for
+was to lie still in her steamer chair with her eyes closed until the
+water was calmer and the pitching ceased.
+
+"It's pretty windy here, Shirley," shouted Jefferson, steadying himself
+against a stanchion. "Don't you want to walk a little?"
+
+He had begun to call her by her first name quite naturally, as if it
+were a matter of course. Indeed their relations had come to be more
+like those of brother and sister than anything else. Shirley was too
+much troubled over the news from home to have a mind for other things,
+and in her distress she had turned to Jefferson for advice and help as
+she would have looked to an elder brother. He had felt this impulse to
+confide in him and consult his opinion and it had pleased him more than
+he dared betray. He had shown her all the sympathy of which his warm,
+generous nature was capable, yet secretly he did not regret that events
+had necessitated this sudden return home together on the same ship. He
+was sorry for Judge Rossmore, of course, and there was nothing he would
+not do on his return to secure a withdrawal of the charges. That his
+father would use his influence he had no doubt. But meantime he was
+selfish enough to be glad for the opportunity it gave him to be a whole
+week alone with Shirley. No matter how much one may be with people in
+city or country or even when stopping at the same hotel or house, there
+is no place in the world where two persons, especially when they are of
+the opposite sex, can become so intimate as on shipboard. The reason is
+obvious. The days are long and monotonous. There is nowhere to go,
+nothing to see but the ocean, nothing to do but read, talk or
+promenade. Seclusion in one's stuffy cabin is out of the question, the
+public sitting rooms are noisy and impossible, only a steamer chair on
+deck is comfortable and once there snugly wrapped up in a rug it is
+surprising how quickly another chair makes its appearance alongside and
+how welcome one is apt to make the intruder.
+
+Thus events combined with the weather conspired to bring Shirley and
+Jefferson more closely together. The sea had been rough ever since they
+sailed, keeping Mrs. Blake confined to her stateroom almost
+continuously. They were, therefore, constantly in one another's
+company, and slowly, unconsciously, there was taking root in their
+hearts the germ of the only real and lasting love--the love born of
+something higher than mere physical attraction, the nobler, more
+enduring affection that is born of mutual sympathy, association and
+companionship.
+
+"Isn't it beautiful?" exclaimed Shirley ecstatically. "Look at those
+great waves out there! See how majestically they soar and how
+gracefully they fall!"
+
+"Glorious!" assented Jefferson sharing her enthusiasm. "There's nothing
+to compare with it. It's Nature's grandest spectacle. The ocean is the
+only place on earth that man has not defiled and spoiled. Those waves
+are the same now as they were on the day of creation."
+
+"Not the day of creation. You mean during the aeons of time creation
+was evolving," corrected Shirley.
+
+"I meant that of course," assented Jefferson. "When one says 'day' that
+is only a form of speech."
+
+"Why not be accurate?" persisted Shirley. "It was the use of that
+little word 'day' which has given the theologians so many sleepless
+nights."
+
+There was a roguish twinkle in her eye. She well knew that he thought
+as she did on metaphysical questions, but she could not resist teasing
+him.
+
+Like Jefferson, she was not a member of any church, although her nature
+was deeply religious. Hers was the religion the soul inculcates, not
+that which is learned by rote in the temple. She was a Christian
+because she thought Christ the greatest figure in world history, and
+also because her own conduct of life was modelled upon Christian
+principles and virtues. She was religious for religion's sake and not
+for public ostentation. The mystery of life awed her and while her
+intelligence could not accept all the doctrines of dogmatic religion
+she did not go so far as Jefferson, who was a frank agnostic. She would
+not admit that we do not know. The longings and aspirations of her own
+soul convinced her of the existence of a Supreme Being, First Cause,
+Divine Intelligence--call it what you will--which had brought out of
+chaos the wonderful order of the universe. The human mind was, indeed,
+helpless to conceive such a First Cause in any form and lay prostrate
+before the Unknown, yet she herself was an enthusiastic delver into
+scientific hypothesis and the teachings of Darwin, Spencer, Haeckel had
+satisfied her intellect if they had failed to content her soul. The
+theory of evolution as applied to life on her own little planet
+appealed strongly to her because it accounted plausibly for the
+presence of man on earth. The process through which we had passed could
+be understood by every intelligence. The blazing satellite, violently
+detached from the parent sun starting on its circumscribed orbit--that
+was the first stage, the gradual subsidence of the flames and the
+cooling of the crust--the second stage: the gases mingling and forming
+water which covered the earth--the third stage; the retreating of the
+waters and the appearance of the land--the fourth stage; the appearance
+of vegetation and animal life--the fifth stage; then, after a long
+interval and through constant evolution and change the appearance of
+man, which was the sixth stage. What stages still to come, who knows?
+This simple account given by science was, after all, practically
+identical with the biblical legend!
+
+It was when Shirley was face to face with Nature in her wildest and
+most primitive aspects that this deep rooted religious feeling moved
+her most strongly. At these times she felt herself another being,
+exalted, sublimated, lifted from this little world with its petty
+affairs and vanities up to dizzy heights. She had felt the same
+sensation when for the first time she had viewed the glories of the
+snow clad Matterhorn, she had felt it when on a summer's night at sea
+she had sat on deck and watched with fascinated awe the resplendent
+radiance of the countless stars, she felt it now as she looked at the
+foaming, tumbling waves.
+
+"It is so beautiful," she murmured as she turned to walk. The ship was
+rolling a little and she took Jefferson's arm to steady herself.
+Shirley was an athletic girl and had all the ease and grace of carriage
+that comes of much tennis and golf playing. Barely twenty-four years
+old, she was still in the first flush of youth and health, and there
+was nothing she loved so much as exercise and fresh air. After a few
+turns on deck, there was a ruddy glow in her cheeks that was good to
+see and many an admiring glance was cast at the young couple as they
+strode briskly up and down past the double rows of elongated steamer
+chairs.
+
+They had the deck pretty much to themselves. It was only four o'clock,
+too early for the appetite-stimulating walk before dinner, and their
+fellow passengers were basking in the sunshine, stretched out on their
+chairs in two even rows like so many mummies on exhibition. Some were
+reading, some were dozing. Two or three were under the weather,
+completely prostrated, their bilious complexion of a deathly greenish
+hue. At each new roll of the ship, they closed their eyes as if
+resigned to the worst that might happen and their immediate neighbours
+furtively eyed each of their movements as if apprehensive of what any
+moment might bring forth. A few couples were flirting to their heart's
+content under the friendly cover of the life-boats which, as on most of
+the transatlantic liners, were more useful in saving reputations than
+in saving life. The deck steward was passing round tea and biscuits,
+much to the disgust of the ill ones, but to the keen satisfaction of
+the stronger stomached passengers who on shipboard never seem to be
+able to get enough to eat and drink. On the bridge, the second officer,
+a tall, handsome man with the points of his moustache trained upwards a
+la Kaiser Wilhelm, was striding back and forth, every now and then
+sweeping the horizon with his glass and relieving the monotony of his
+duties by ogling the better looking women passengers.
+
+"Hello, Shirley!" called out a voice from a heap of rugs as Shirley and
+Jefferson passed the rows of chairs.
+
+They stopped short and discovered Mrs. Blake ensconced in a cozy
+corner, sheltered from the wind.
+
+"Why, aunt Milly," exclaimed Shirley surprised. "I thought you were
+downstairs. I didn't think you could stand this sea."
+
+"It is a little rougher than I care to have it," responded Mrs. Blake
+with a wry grimace and putting her hand to her breast as if to appease
+disturbing qualms. "It was so stuffy in the cabin I could not bear it.
+It's more pleasant here but it's getting a little cool and I think I'll
+go below. Where have you children been all afternoon?"
+
+Jefferson volunteered to explain.
+
+"The children have been rhapsodizing over the beauties of the ocean,"
+he laughed. With a sly glance at Shirley, he added, "Your niece has
+been coaching me in metaphysics."
+
+Shirley shook her finger at him.
+
+"Now Jefferson, if you make fun of me I'll never talk seriously with
+you again."
+
+"Wie geht es, meine damen?"
+
+Shirley turned on hearing the guttural salutation. It was Captain
+Hegermann, the commander of the ship, a big florid Saxon with great
+bushy golden whiskers and a basso voice like Edouard de Reszke. He was
+imposing in his smart uniform and gold braid and his manner had the
+self-reliant, authoritative air usual in men who have great
+responsibilities and are accustomed to command. He was taking his
+afternoon stroll and had stopped to chat with his lady passengers. He
+had already passed Mrs. Blake a dozen times and not noticed her, but
+now her pretty niece was with her, which altered the situation. He
+talked to the aunt and looked at Shirley, much to the annoyance of
+Jefferson, who muttered things under his breath.
+
+"When shall we be in, captain?" asked Mrs. Blake anxiously, forgetting
+that this was one of the questions which according to ship etiquette
+must never be asked of the officers.
+
+But as long as he could ignore Mrs. Blake and gaze at Shirley Capt.
+Hegermann did not mind. He answered amiably:
+
+"At the rate we are going, we ought to sight Fire Island sometime
+to-morrow evening. If we do, that will get us to our dock about 11
+o'clock Friday morning, I fancy." Then addressing Shirley direct he
+said:
+
+"And you, fraulein, I hope you won't be glad the voyage is over?"
+
+Shirley sighed and a worried, anxious look came into her face.
+
+"Yes, Captain, I shall be very glad. It is not pleasure that is
+bringing me back to America so soon."
+
+The captain elevated his eyebrows. He was sorry the young lady had
+anxieties to keep her so serious, and he hoped she would find
+everything all right on her arrival. Then, politely saluting, he passed
+on, only to halt again a few paces on where his bewhiskered gallantry
+met with more encouragement.
+
+Mrs. Blake rose from her chair. The air was decidedly cooler, she would
+go downstairs and prepare for dinner. Shirley said she would remain on
+deck a little longer. She was tired of walking, so when her aunt left
+them she took her chair and told Jefferson to get another. He wanted
+nothing better, but before seating himself he took the rugs and wrapped
+Shirley up with all the solicitude of a mother caring for her first
+born. Arranging the pillow under her head, he asked:
+
+"Is that comfortable?"
+
+She nodded, smiling at him.
+
+"You're a good boy, Jeff. But you'll spoil me."
+
+"Nonsense," he stammered as he took another chair and put himself by
+her side. "As if any fellow wouldn't give his boots to do a little job
+like that for you!"
+
+She seemed to take no notice of the covert compliment. In fact, she
+already took it as a matter of course that Jefferson was very fond of
+her.
+
+Did she love him? She hardly knew. Certainly she thought more of him
+than of any other man she knew and she readily believed that she could
+be with him for the rest of her life and like him better every day.
+Then, too, they had become more intimate during the last few days. This
+trouble, this unknown peril had drawn them together. Yes, she would be
+sorry if she were to see Jefferson paying attention to another woman.
+Was this love? Perhaps.
+
+These thoughts were running through her mind as they sat there side by
+side isolated from the main herd of passengers, each silent, watching
+through the open rail the foaming water as it rushed past. Jefferson
+had been casting furtive glances at his companion and as he noted her
+serious, pensive face he thought how pretty she was. He wondered what
+she was thinking of and suddenly inspired no doubt by the mysterious
+power that enables some people to read the thoughts of others, he said
+abruptly:
+
+"Shirley, I can read your thoughts. You were thinking of me."
+
+She was startled for a moment but immediately recovered her self
+possession. It never occurred to her to deny it. She pondered for a
+moment and then replied:
+
+"You are right, Jeff, I was thinking of you. How did you guess?"
+
+He leaned over her chair and took her hand. She made no resistance. Her
+delicate, slender hand lay passively in his big brown one and met his
+grasp frankly, cordially. He whispered:
+
+"What were you thinking of me--good or bad?"
+
+"Good, of course. How could I think anything bad of you?"
+
+She turned her eyes on him in wonderment. Then she went on:
+
+"I was wondering how a girl could distinguish between the feeling she
+has for a man she merely likes, and the feeling she has for a man she
+loves."
+
+Jefferson bent eagerly forward so as to lose no word that might fall
+from those coveted lips.
+
+"In what category would I be placed?" he asked.
+
+"I don't quite know," she answered, laughingly. Then seriously, she
+added: "Jeff, why should we act like children? Your actions, more than
+your words, have told me that you love me. I have known it all along.
+If I have appeared cold and indifferent it is because"--she hesitated.
+
+"Because?" echoed Jefferson anxiously, as if his whole future depended
+on that reason.
+
+"Because I was not sure of myself. Would it be womanly or honourable on
+my part to encourage you, unless I felt I reciprocated your feelings?
+You are young, one day you will be very rich, the whole world lies
+before you. There are plenty of women who would willingly give you
+their love."
+
+"No--no!" he burst out in vigorous protest, "it is you I want, Shirley,
+you alone."
+
+Grasping her hand more closely, he went on, passion vibrating in every
+note of his voice. "I love you, Shirley. I've loved you from the very
+first evening I met you. I want you to be my wife."
+
+Shirley looked straight up into the blue eyes so eagerly bent down on
+hers, so entreating in their expression, and in a gentle voice full of
+emotion she answered:
+
+"Jefferson, you have done me the greatest honour a man can do a woman.
+Don't ask me to answer you now. I like you very much--I more than like
+you. Whether it is love I feel for you--that I have not yet determined.
+Give me time. My present trouble and then my literary work---"
+
+"I know," agreed Jefferson, "that this is hardly the time to speak of
+such matters. Your father has first call on your attention. But as to
+your literary work. I do not understand."
+
+"Simply this. I am ambitious. I have had a little success--just enough
+to crave for more. I realize that marriage would put an extinguisher on
+all aspirations in that direction."
+
+"Is marriage so very commonplace?" grumbled Jefferson.
+
+"Not commonplace, but there is no room in marriage for a woman having
+personal ambitions of her own. Once married her duty is to her husband
+and her children--not to herself."
+
+"That is right," he replied; "but which is likely to give you greater
+joy--a literary success or a happy wifehood? When you have spent your
+best years and given the public your best work they will throw you over
+for some new favorite. You'll find yourself an old woman with nothing
+more substantial to show as your life work than that questionable
+asset, a literary reputation. How many literary reputations to-day
+conceal an aching heart and find it difficult to make both ends meet?
+How different with the woman who married young and obeys Nature's
+behest by contributing her share to the process of evolution. Her life
+is spent basking in the affection of her husband and the chubby smiles
+of her dimpled babes, and when in the course of time she finds herself
+in the twilight of her life, she has at her feet a new generation of
+her own flesh and blood. Isn't that better than a literary reputation?"
+
+He spoke so earnestly that Shirley looked at him in surprise. She knew
+he was serious but she had not suspected that he thought so deeply on
+these matters. Her heart told her that he was uttering the true
+philosophy of the ages. She said:
+
+"Why, Jefferson, you talk like a book. Perhaps you are right, I have no
+wish to be a blue stocking and deserted in my old age, far from it. But
+give me time to think. Let us first ascertain the extent of this
+disaster which has overtaken my father. Then if you still care for me
+and if I have not changed my mind," here she glanced slyly at him, "we
+will resume our discussion."
+
+Again she held out her hand which he had released.
+
+"Is it a bargain?" she asked.
+
+"It's a bargain," he murmured, raising the white hand to his lips. A
+fierce longing rose within him to take her in his arms and kiss
+passionately the mouth that lay temptingly near his own, but his
+courage failed him. After all, he reasoned, he had not yet the right.
+
+A few minutes later they left the deck and went downstairs to dress for
+dinner. That same evening they stood again at the rail watching the
+mysterious phosphorescence as it sparkled in the moonlight. Her
+thoughts travelling faster than the ship, Shirley suddenly asked:
+
+"Do you really think Mr. Ryder will use his influence to help my
+father?"
+
+Jefferson set his jaw fast and the familiar Ryder gleam came into his
+eyes as he responded:
+
+"Why not? My father is all powerful. He has made and unmade judges and
+legislators and even presidents. Why should he not be able to put a
+stop to these preposterous proceedings? I will go to him directly we
+land and we'll see what can be done."
+
+So the time on shipboard had passed, Shirley alternately buoyed up with
+hope and again depressed by the gloomiest forebodings. The following
+night they passed Fire Island and the next day the huge steamer dropped
+anchor at Quarantine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+A month had passed since the memorable meeting of the directors of the
+Southern and Transcontinental Railroad in New York and during that time
+neither John Burkett Ryder nor Judge Rossmore had been idle. The former
+had immediately set in motion the machinery he controlled in the
+Legislature at Washington, while the judge neglected no step to
+vindicate himself before the public.
+
+Ryder, for reasons of his own--probably because he wished to make the
+blow the more crushing when it did fall--had insisted on the
+proceedings at the board meeting being kept a profound secret and some
+time elapsed before the newspapers got wind of the coming Congressional
+inquiry. No one had believed the stories about Judge Rossmore but now
+that a quasi-official seal had been set on the current gossip, there
+was a howl of virtuous indignation from the journalistic muck rakers.
+What was the country coming to? they cried in double leaded type. After
+the embezzling by life insurance officers, the rascality of the
+railroads, the looting of city treasuries, the greed of the Trusts, the
+grafting of the legislators, had arisen a new and more serious
+scandal--the corruption of the Judiciary. The last bulwark of the
+nation had fallen, the country lay helpless at the mercy of legalized
+sandbaggers. Even the judges were no longer to be trusted, the most
+respected one among them all had been unable to resist the tempter. The
+Supreme Court, the living voice of the Constitution, was honeycombed
+with graft. Public life was rotten to the core!
+
+Neither the newspapers nor the public stopped to ascertain the truth or
+the falsity of the charges against Judge Rossmore. It was sufficient
+that the bribery story furnished the daily sensation which newspaper
+editors and newspaper readers must have. The world is ever more prompt
+to believe ill rather than good of a man, and no one, except in
+Rossmore's immediate circle of friends, entertained the slightest doubt
+of his guilt. It was common knowledge that the "big interests" were
+behind the proceedings, and that Judge Rossmore was a scapegoat,
+sacrificed by the System because he had been blocking their game. If
+Rossmore had really accepted the bribe, and few now believed him
+spotless, he deserved all that was coming to him. Senator Roberts was
+very active in Washington preparing the case against Judge Rossmore.
+The latter being a democrat and "the interests" controlling a
+Republican majority in the House, it was a foregone conclusion that the
+inquiry would be against him, and that a demand would at once be made
+upon the Senate for his impeachment.
+
+Almost prostrated by the misfortune which had so suddenly and
+unexpectedly come upon him, Judge Rossmore was like a man demented. His
+reason seemed to be tottering, he spoke and acted like a man in a
+dream. Naturally he was entirely incapacitated for work and he had
+applied to Washington to be temporarily relieved from his judicial
+duties. He was instantly granted a leave of absence and went at once to
+his home in Madison Avenue, where he shut himself up in his library,
+sitting for hours at his desk wrestling with documents and legal tomes
+in a pathetic endeavour to find some way out, trying to elude this net
+in which unseen hands had entangled him.
+
+What an end to his career! To have struggled and achieved for half a
+century, to have built up a reputation year by year, as a man builds a
+house brick by brick, only to see the whole crumble to his feet like
+dust! To have gained the respect of the country, to have made a name as
+the most incorruptible of public servants and now to be branded as a
+common bribe taker! Could he be dreaming? It was too incredible! What
+would his daughter say--his Shirley? Ah, the thought of the expression
+of incredulity and wonder on her face when she heard the news cut him
+to the heart like a knife thrust. Yet, he mused, her very unwillingness
+to believe it should really be his consolation. Ah, his wife and his
+child--they knew he had been innocent of wrong doing. The very idea was
+ridiculous. At most he had been careless. Yes, he was certainly to
+blame. He ought to have seen the trap so carefully prepared and into
+which he had walked as if blindfolded. That extra $50,000 worth of
+stock, on which he had never received a cent interest, had been the
+decoy in a carefully thought out plot. They, the plotters, well knew
+how ignorant he was of financial matters and he had been an easy
+victim. Who would believe his story that the stock had been sent to him
+with a plausibly-worded letter to the effect that it represented a
+bonus on his own investment? Now he came to think of it, calmly and
+reasonably, he would not believe it himself. As usual, he had mislaid
+or destroyed the secretary's letter and there was only his word against
+the company's books to substantiate what would appear a most improbable
+if not impossible occurrence.
+
+It was his conviction of his own good faith that made his present
+dilemma all the more cruel. Had he really been a grafter, had he really
+taken the stock as a bribe he would not care so much, for then he would
+have foreseen and discounted the chances of exposure. Yes, there was no
+doubt possible. He was the victim of a conspiracy, there was an
+organized plot to ruin him, to get him out of the way. The "interests"
+feared him, resented his judicial decisions and they had halted at
+nothing to accomplish their purpose. How could he fight them back, what
+could he do to protect himself? He had no proofs of a conspiracy, his
+enemies worked in the dark, there was no way in which he could reach
+them or know who they were.
+
+He thought of John Burkett Ryder. Ah, he remembered now. Ryder was the
+man who had recommended the investment in Alaskan stock. Of course, why
+did he not think of it before? He recollected that at the time he had
+been puzzled at receiving so much stock and he had mentioned it to
+Ryder, adding that the secretary had told him it was customary. Oh, why
+had he not kept the secretary's letter? But Ryder would certainly
+remember it. He probably still had his two letters in which he spoke of
+making the investment. If those letters could be produced at the
+Congressional inquiry they would clear him at once. So losing no time,
+and filled with renewed hope he wrote to the Colossus a strong, manly
+letter which would have melted an iceberg, urging Mr. Ryder to come
+forward now at this critical time and clear him of this abominable
+charge, or in any case to kindly return the two letters he must have in
+his possession, as they would go far to help him at the trial. Three
+days passed and no reply from Ryder. On the fourth came a polite but
+frigid note from Mr. Ryder's private secretary. Mr. Ryder had received
+Judge Rossmore's letter and in reply begged to state that he had a
+vague recollection of some conversation with the judge in regard to
+investments, but he did not think he had advised the purchase of any
+particular stock, as that was something he never did on principle, even
+with his most intimate friends. He had no wish to be held accountable
+in case of loss, etc. As to the letter which Judge Rossmore mentioned
+as having written to Mr. Ryder in regard to having received more stock
+than he had bought, of that Mr. Ryder had no recollection whatsoever.
+Judge Rossmore was probably mistaken as to the identity of his
+correspondent. He regretted he could not be of more service to Judge
+Rossmore, and remained his very obedient servant.
+
+It was very evident that no help was to be looked for in that quarter.
+There was even decided hostility in Ryder's reply. Could it be true
+that the financier was really behind these attacks upon his character,
+was it possible that one man merely to make more money would
+deliberately ruin his fellow man whose hand he had grasped in
+friendship? He had been unwilling to believe it when his friend
+ex-judge Stott had pointed to Ryder as the author of all his
+misfortunes, but this unsympathetic letter with its falsehoods, its
+lies plainly written all over its face, was proof enough. Yes, there
+was now no doubt possible. John Burkett Ryder was his enemy and what an
+enemy! Many a man had committed suicide when he had incurred the enmity
+of the Colossus. Judge Rossmore, completely discouraged, bowed his head
+to the inevitable.
+
+His wife, a nervous, sickly woman, was helpless to comfort or aid him.
+She had taken their misfortune as a visitation of an inscrutable Deity.
+She knew, of course, that her husband was wholly innocent of the
+accusations brought against him and if his character could be cleared
+and himself rehabilitated before the world, she would be the first to
+rejoice. But if it pleased the Almighty in His wisdom to sorely try her
+husband and herself and inflict this punishment upon them it was not
+for the finite mind to criticise the ways of Providence. There was
+probably some good reason for the apparent cruelty and injustice of it
+which their earthly understanding failed to grasp. Mrs. Rossmore found
+much comfort in this philosophy, which gave a satisfactory ending to
+both ends of the problem, and she was upheld in her view by the rector
+of the church which she had attended regularly each Sunday for the past
+five and twenty years. Christian resignation in the hour of trial,
+submission to the will of Heaven were, declared her spiritual adviser,
+the fundamental principles of religion. He could only hope that Mrs.
+Rossmore would succeed in imbuing her husband with her Christian
+spirit. But when the judge's wife returned home and saw the keen mental
+distress of the man who had been her companion for twenty-five long
+years, the comforter in her sorrows, the joy and pride of her young
+wifehood, she forgot all about her smug churchly consoler, and her
+heart went out to her husband in a spontaneous burst of genuine human
+sympathy. Yes, they must do something at once. Where men had failed
+perhaps a woman could do something. She wanted to cable at once for
+Shirley, who was everything in their household--organizer, manager,
+adviser--but the judge would not hear of it. No, his daughter was
+enjoying her holiday in blissful ignorance of what had occurred. He
+would not spoil it for her. They would see; perhaps things would
+improve. But he sent for his old friend ex-Judge Stott.
+
+They were life-long friends, having become acquainted nearly thirty
+years ago at the law school, at the time when both were young men about
+to enter on a public career. Stott, who was Rossmore's junior, had
+begun as a lawyer in New York and soon acquired a reputation in
+criminal practice. He afterwards became assistant district attorney and
+later, when a vacancy occurred in the city magistrature, he was
+successful in securing the appointment. On the bench he again met his
+old friend Rossmore and the two men once more became closely intimate.
+The regular court hours, however, soon palled on a man of Judge Stott's
+nervous temperament and it was not long before he retired to take up
+once more his criminal practice. He was still a young man, not yet
+fifty, and full of vigor and fight. He had a blunt manner but his heart
+was in the right place, and he had a record as clean as his close
+shaven face. He was a hard worker, a brilliant speaker and one of the
+cleverest cross-examiners at the bar. This was the man to whom Judge
+Rossmore naturally turned for legal assistance.
+
+Stott was out West when he first heard of the proceedings against his
+old friend, and this indignity put upon the only really honest man in
+public life whom he knew, so incensed him that he was already hurrying
+back to his aid when the summons reached him.
+
+Meantime, a fresh and more serious calamity had overwhelmed Judge
+Rossmore. Everything seemed to combine to break the spirit of this man
+who had dared defy the power of organized capital. Hardly had the news
+of the Congressional inquiry been made public, than the financial world
+was startled by an extraordinary slump in Wall Street. There was
+nothing in the news of the day to justify a decline, but prices fell
+and fell. The bears had it all their own way, the big interests
+hammered stocks all along the line, "coppers" especially being the
+object of attack. The market closed feverishly and the next day the
+same tactics were pursued. From the opening, on selling orders coming
+from no one knew where, prices fell to nothing, a stampede followed and
+before long it became a panic. Pandemonium reigned on the floor of the
+Stock Exchange. White faced, dishevelled brokers shouted and struggled
+like men possessed to execute the orders of their clients. Big
+financial houses, which stood to lose millions on a falling market,
+rallied and by rush orders to buy, attempted to stem the tide, but all
+to no purpose. One firm after another went by the board unable to
+weather the tempest, until just before closing time, the stock ticker
+announced the failure of the Great Northwestern Mining Co. The drive in
+the market had been principally directed against its securities, and
+after vainly endeavoring to check the bear raid, it had been compelled
+to declare itself bankrupt. It was heavily involved, assets nil, stock
+almost worthless. It was probable that the creditors would not see ten
+cents on the dollar. Thousands were ruined and Judge Rossmore among
+them. All the savings of a lifetime--nearly $55,000 were gone. He was
+practically penniless, at a time when he needed money most. He still
+owned his house in Madison Avenue, but that would have to go to settle
+with his creditors. By the time everything was paid there would only
+remain enough for a modest competence. As to his salary, of course he
+could not touch that so long as this accusation was hanging over his
+head. And if he were impeached it would stop altogether. The salary,
+therefore, was not to be counted on. They must manage as best they
+could and live more cheaply, taking a small house somewhere in the
+outskirts of the city where he could prepare his case quietly without
+attracting attention.
+
+Stott thought this was the best thing they could do and he volunteered
+to relieve his friend by taking on his own hands all the arrangements
+of the sale of the house and furniture, which offer the judge accepted
+only too gladly. Meantime, Mrs. Rossmore went to Long Island to see
+what could be had, and she found at the little village of Massapequa
+just what they were looking for--a commodious, neatly-furnished
+two-story cottage at a modest rental. Of course, it was nothing like
+what they had been accustomed to, but it was clean and comfortable, and
+as Mrs. Rossmore said, rather tactlessly, beggars cannot be choosers.
+Perhaps it would not be for long. Instant possession was to be had, so
+deposit was paid on the spot and a few days later the Rossmores left
+their mansion on Madison Avenue and took up their residence in
+Massapequa, where their advent created quite a fluster in local social
+circles.
+
+Massapequa is one of the thousand and one flourishing communities
+scattered over Long Island, all of which are apparently modelled after
+the same pattern. Each is an exact duplicate of its neighbour in
+everything except the name--the same untidy railroad station, the same
+sleepy stores, the same attractive little frame residences, built for
+the most part on the "Why pay Rent? Own your own Home" plan. A healthy
+boom in real estate imparts plenty of life to them all and Massapequa
+is particularly famed as being the place where the cat jumped to when
+Manhattan had to seek an outlet for its congested population and
+ever-increasing army of home seekers. Formerly large tracts of flat
+farm lands, only sparsely shaded by trees, Massapequa, in common with
+other villages of its kind, was utterly destitute of any natural
+attractions. There was the one principal street leading to the station,
+with a few scattered stores on either side, a church and a bank.
+Happily, too, for those who were unable to survive the monotony of the
+place, it boasted of a pretty cemetery. There were also a number of
+attractive cottages with spacious porches hung with honeysuckle and of
+these the Rossmores occupied one of the less pretentious kind.
+
+But although Massapequa, theoretically speaking, was situated only a
+stone's throw from the metropolis, it might have been situated in the
+Great Sahara so far as its inhabitants took any active interest in the
+doings of gay Gotham. Local happenings naturally had first claim upon
+Massapequa's attention--the prowess of the local baseball team, Mrs.
+Robinson's tea party and the highly exciting sessions of the local
+Pinochle Club furnishing food for unlimited gossip and scandal. The
+newspapers reached the village, of course, but only the local news
+items aroused any real interest, while the women folk usually
+restricted their readings to those pages devoted to Daily Hints for the
+Home, Mrs. Sayre's learned articles on Health and Beauty and Fay
+Stanton's Daily Fashions. It was not surprising, therefore, that the
+fame of Judge Rossmore and the scandal in which he was at present
+involved had not penetrated as far as Massapequa and that the natives
+were considerably mystified as to who the new arrivals in their midst
+might be.
+
+Stott had been given a room in the cottage so that he might be near at
+hand to work with the judge in the preparation of the defence, and he
+came out from the city every evening. It was now June. The Senate would
+not take action until it convened in December, but there was a lot of
+work to be done and no time to be lost.
+
+The evening following the day of their arrival they were sitting on the
+porch enjoying the cool evening air after dinner. The judge was
+smoking. He was not a slave to the weed, but he enjoyed a quiet pipe
+after meals, claiming that it quieted his nerves and enabled him to
+think more clearly. Besides, it was necessary to keep at bay the
+ubiquitous Long Island mosquito. Mrs. Rossmore had remained for a
+moment in the dining-room to admonish Eudoxia, their new and only
+maid-of-all-work, not to wreck too much of the crockery when she
+removed the dinner dishes. Suddenly Stott, who was perusing an evening
+paper, asked:
+
+"By the way, where's your daughter? Does she know of this radical
+change in your affairs?"
+
+Judge Rossmore started. By what mysterious agency had this man
+penetrated his own most intimate thoughts? He was himself thinking of
+Shirley that very moment, and by some inexplicable means--telepathy
+modern psychologists called it--the thought current had crossed to
+Stott, whose mind, being in full sympathy, was exactly attuned to
+receive it. Removing the pipe from his mouth the judge replied:
+
+"Shirley's in Paris. Poor girl, I hadn't the heart to tell her. She has
+no idea of what's happened. I didn't want to spoil her holiday."
+
+He was silent for a moment. Then, after a few more puffs he added
+confidentially in a low tone, as if he did not care for his wife to
+hear:
+
+"The truth is, Stott, I couldn't bear to have her return now. I
+couldn't look my own daughter in the face."
+
+A sound as of a great sob which he had been unable to control cut short
+his speech. His eyes filled with tears and he began to smoke furiously
+as if ashamed of this display of emotion. Stott, blowing his nose with
+suspicious vigor, replied soothingly:
+
+"You mustn't talk like that. Everything will come out all right, of
+course. But I think you are wrong not to have told your daughter. Her
+place is here at your side. She ought to be told even if only in
+justice to her. If you don't tell her someone else will, or, what's
+worse, she'll hear of it through the newspapers."
+
+"Ah, I never thought of that!" exclaimed the judge, visibly perturbed
+at the suggestion about the newspapers.
+
+"Don't you agree with me?" demanded Stott, appealing to Mrs. Rossmore,
+who emerged from the house at that instant. "Don't you think your
+daughter should be informed of what has happened?"
+
+"Most assuredly I do," answered Mrs. Rossmore determinedly. "The judge
+wouldn't hear of it, but I took the law into my own hands. I've cabled
+for her."
+
+"You cabled for Shirley?" cried the judge incredulously. He was so
+unaccustomed to seeing his ailing, vacillating wife do anything on her
+own initiative and responsibility that it seemed impossible. "You
+cabled for Shirley?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes," replied Mrs. Rossmore triumphantly and secretly pleased that for
+once in her life she had asserted herself. "I cabled yesterday. I
+simply couldn't bear it alone any longer."
+
+"What did you say?" inquired the judge apprehensively.
+
+"I just told her to come home at once. To-morrow we ought to get an
+answer."
+
+Stott meantime had been figuring on the time of Shirley's probable
+arrival. If the cablegram had been received in Paris the previous
+evening it would be too late to catch the French boat. The North German
+Lloyd steamer was the next to leave and it touched at Cherbourg. She
+would undoubtedly come on that. In a week at most she would be here.
+Then it became a question as to who should go to meet her at the dock.
+The judge could not go, that was certain. It would be too much of an
+ordeal. Mrs. Rossmore did not know the lower part of the city well, and
+had no experience in meeting ocean steamships. There was only one way
+out--would Stott go? Of course he would and he would bring Shirley back
+with him to Massapequa. So during the next few days while Stott and the
+judge toiled preparing their case, which often necessitated brief trips
+to the city, Mrs. Rossmore, seconded with sulky indifference by
+Eudoxia, was kept busy getting a room ready for her daughter's arrival.
+Eudoxia, who came originally from County Cork, was an Irish lady with a
+thick brogue and a husky temper. She was amiable enough so long as
+things went to her satisfaction, but when they did not suit her she was
+a termagant. She was neither beautiful nor graceful, she was not young
+nor was she very clean. Her usual condition was dishevelled, her face
+was all askew, and when she dressed up she looked like a valentine. Her
+greatest weakness was a propensity for smashing dishes, and when
+reprimanded she would threaten to take her traps and skidoo. This news
+of the arrival of a daughter failed to fill her with enthusiasm.
+Firstly, it meant more work; secondly she had not bargained for it.
+When she took the place it was on the understanding that the family
+consisted only of an elderly gentleman and his wife, that there was
+practically no work, good wages, plenty to eat, with the privilege of
+an evening out when she pleased. Instead of this millennium she soon
+found Stott installed as a permanent guest and now a daughter was to be
+foisted on her. No wonder hard working girls were getting sick and
+tired of housework!
+
+As already hinted there was no unhealthy curiosity among Massapequans
+regarding their new neighbors from the city but some of the more
+prominent people of the place considered it their duty to seek at least
+a bowing acquaintance with the Rossmores by paying them a formal visit.
+So the day following the conversation on the porch when the judge and
+Stott had gone to the city on one of their periodical excursions, Mrs.
+Rossmore was startled to see a gentleman of clerical appearance
+accompanied by a tall, angular woman enter their gate and ring the bell.
+
+The Rev. Percival Pontifex Beetle and his sister Miss Jane Beetle
+prided themselves on being leaders in the best social circle in
+Massapequa. The incumbent of the local Presbyterian church, the Rev.
+Deetle, was a thin, sallow man of about thirty-five. He had a
+diminutive face with a rather long and very pointed nose which gave a
+comical effect to his physiognomy. Theology was written all over his
+person and he wore the conventional clerical hat which, owing to his
+absurdly small face, had the unfortunate appearance of being several
+sizes too large for him. Miss Deetle was a gaunt and angular spinster
+who had an unhappy trick of talking with a jerk. She looked as if she
+were constantly under self-restraint and was liable at any moment to
+explode into a fit of rage and only repressed herself with considerable
+effort. As they came up the stoop, Eudoxia, already instructed by Mrs.
+Rossmore, was ready for them. With her instinctive respect for the
+priestly garb she was rather taken back on seeing a clergyman, but she
+brazened it out:
+
+"Mr. Rossmore's not home." Then shaking her head, she added: "They
+don't see no visitors."
+
+Unabashed, the Rev. Deetle drew a card from a case and handing it to
+the girl said pompously:
+
+"Then we will see Mrs. Rossmore. I saw her at the window as we came
+along. Here, my girl, take her this card. Tell her that the Reverend
+Pontifex Deetle and Miss Deetle have called to present their
+compliments."
+
+Brushing past Eudoxia, who vainly tried to close the door, the Rev.
+Deetle coolly entered the house, followed by his sister, and took a
+seat in the parlour.
+
+"She'll blame me for this," wailed the girl, who had not budged and who
+stood there fingering the Rev. Deetle's card.
+
+"Blame you? For what?" demanded the clerical visitor in surprise.
+
+"She told me to say she was out--but I can't lie to a minister of the
+Gospel--leastways not to his face. I'll give her your card, sir."
+
+The reverend caller waited until Eudoxia had disappeared, then he rose
+and looked around curiously at the books and pictures.
+
+"Hum--not a Bible or a prayer book or a hymn book, not a picture or
+anything that would indicate the slightest reverence for holy things."
+
+He picked up a few papers that were lying on the table and after
+glancing at them threw them down in disgust.
+
+"Law reports--Wall Street reports--the god of this world. Evidently
+very ordinary people, Jane."
+
+He looked at his sister, but she sat stiffly and primly in her chair
+and made no reply. He repeated:
+
+"Didn't you hear me? I said they are ordinary people."
+
+"I've no doubt," retorted Miss Deetle, "and as such they will not thank
+us for prying into their affairs."
+
+"Prying, did you say?" said the parson, resenting this implied
+criticism of his actions.
+
+"Just plain prying," persisted his sister angrily. "I don't see what
+else it is."
+
+The Rev. Pontifex straightened up and threw out his chest as he replied:
+
+"It is protecting my flock. As Leader of the Unified All Souls
+Baptismal Presbytery, it is my duty to visit the widows and orphans of
+this community."
+
+"These people are neither widows or orphans," objected Miss Deetle.
+
+"They are strangers," insisted the Rev. Pontifex, "and it is my duty to
+minister to them--if they need it. Furthermore it is my duty to my
+congregation to find out who is in their midst. No less than three of
+the Lady Trustees of my church have asked me who and what these people
+are and whence they came."
+
+"The Lady Trustees are a pack of old busybodies," growled his sister.
+
+Her brother raised his finger warningly.
+
+"Jane, do you know you are uttering a blasphemy? These Rossmore people
+have been here two weeks They have visited no one, no one visits them.
+They have avoided a temple of worship, they have acted most
+mysteriously. Who are they? What are they hiding? Is it fair to my
+church, is it fair to my flock? It is not a bereavement, for they don't
+wear mourning. I'm afraid it may be some hidden scandal--"
+
+Further speculations on his part were interrupted by the entrance of
+Mrs. Rossmore, who thought rightly that the quickest way to get rid of
+her unwelcome visitors was to hurry downstairs as quickly as possible.
+
+"Miss Deetle--Mr. Deetle. I am much honoured," was her not too effusive
+greeting.
+
+The Reverend Pontifex, anxious to make a favourable impression, was all
+smiles and bows. The idea of a possible scandal had for the moment
+ceased to worry him.
+
+"The honour is ours," he stammered. "I--er--we--er--my sister Jane and
+I called to--"
+
+"Won't you sit down?" said Mrs. Rossmore, waving him to a chair. He
+danced around her in a manner that made her nervous.
+
+"Thank you so much," he said with a smile that was meant to be amiable.
+He took a seat at the further end of the room and an awkward pause
+followed. Finally his sister prompted him:
+
+"You wanted to see Mrs. Rossmore about the festival," she said.
+
+"Oh, of course, I had quite forgotten. How stupid of me. The fact is,
+Mrs. Rossmore," he went on, "we are thinking of giving a festival next
+week--a festival with strawberries--and our trustees thought, in fact
+it occurred to me also that if you and Mr. Rossmore would grace the
+occasion with your presence it would give us an opportunity--so to
+speak--get better acquainted, and er--"
+
+Another awkward pause followed during which he sought inspiration by
+gazing fixedly in the fireplace. Then turning on Mrs. Rossmore so
+suddenly that the poor woman nearly jumped out of her chair he asked:
+
+"Do you like strawberries?"
+
+"It's very kind of you," interrupted Mrs. Rossmore, glad of the
+opportunity to get a word in edgeways. "Indeed, I appreciate your
+kindness most keenly but my husband and I go nowhere, nowhere at all.
+You see we have met with reverses and--"
+
+"Reverses," echoed the clerical visitor, with difficulty keeping his
+seat. This was the very thing he had come to find out and here it was
+actually thrown at him. He congratulated himself on his cleverness in
+having inspired so much confidence and thought with glee of his triumph
+when he returned with the full story to the Lady Trustees. Simulating,
+therefore, the deepest sympathy he tried to draw his hostess out:
+
+"Dear me, how sad! You met with reverses."
+
+Turning to his sister, who was sitting in her corner like a petrified
+mummy, he added:
+
+"Jane, do you hear? How inexpressibly sad! They have met with reverses!"
+
+He paused, hoping that Mrs. Rossmore would go on to explain just what
+their reverses had been, but she was silent. As a gentle hint he said
+softly:
+
+"Did I interrupt you, Madam?"
+
+"Not at all, I did not speak," she answered.
+
+Thus baffled, he turned the whites of his eyes up to the ceiling and
+said:
+
+"When reverses come we naturally look for spiritual consolation. My
+dear Mrs. Rossmore, in the name of the Unified All Souls Baptismal
+Presbytery I offer you that consolation."
+
+Mrs. Rossmore looked helplessly from one to the other embarrassed as to
+what to say. Who were these strangers that intruded on her privacy
+offering a consolation she did not want? Miss Deetle, as if glad of the
+opportunity to joke at her brother's expense, said explosively:
+
+"My dear Pontifex, you have already offered a strawberry festival which
+Mrs. Rossmore has been unable to accept."
+
+"Well, what of it?" demanded Mr. Deetle, glaring at his sister for the
+irrelevant interruption.
+
+"You are both most kind," murmured Mrs. Rossmore; "but we could not
+accept in any case. My daughter is returning home from Paris next week."
+
+"Ah, your daughter--you have a daughter?" exclaimed Mr. Deetle,
+grasping at the slightest straw to add to his stock of information.
+"Coming from Paris, too! Such a wicked city!"
+
+He had never been to Paris, he went on to explain, but he had read
+enough about it and he was grateful that the Lord had chosen Massapequa
+as the field of his labours. Here at least, life was sweet and
+wholesome and one's hopes of future salvation fairly reasonable. He was
+not a brilliant talker when the conversation extended beyond Massapequa
+but he rambled on airing his views on the viciousness of the foreigner
+in general, until Mrs. Rossmore, utterly wearied, began to wonder when
+they would go. Finally he fell back upon the weather.
+
+"We are very fortunate in having such pleasant weather, don't you think
+so, Madam? Oh, Massapequa is a lovely spot, isn't it? We think it's the
+one place to live in. We are all one happy family. That's why my sister
+and I called to make your acquaintance."
+
+"You are very good, I'm sure. I shall tell my husband you came and
+he'll be very pleased."
+
+Having exhausted his conversational powers and seeing that further
+efforts to pump Mrs. Rossmore were useless, the clerical visitor rose
+to depart:
+
+"It looks like rain. Come, Jane, we had better go. Good-bye, Madam, I
+am delighted to have made this little visit and I trust you will assure
+Mr. Rossmore that All Souls Unified Baptismal Presbytery always has a
+warm welcome for him."
+
+They bowed and Mrs. Rossmore bowed. The agony was over and as the door
+closed on them Mrs. Rossmore gave a sigh of relief.
+
+That evening Stott and the judge came home earlier than usual and from
+their dejected appearance Mrs. Rossmore divined bad news. The judge was
+painfully silent throughout the meal and Stott was unusually grave.
+Finally the latter took her aside and broke it to her gently. In spite
+of their efforts and the efforts of their friends the Congressional
+inquiry had resulted in a finding against the judge and a demand had
+already been made upon the Senate for his impeachment. They could do
+nothing now but fight it in the Senate with all the influence they
+could muster. It was going to be hard but Stott was confident that
+right would prevail. After dinner as they were sitting in silence on
+the porch, each measuring the force of this blow which they had
+expected yet had always hoped to ward off, the crunching sound of a
+bicycle was heard on the quiet country road. The rider stopped at their
+gate and came up the porch holding out an envelope to the judge, who,
+guessing the contents, had started forward. He tore it open. It was a
+cablegram from Paris and read as follows:
+
+     Am sailing on the Kaiser Wilhelm to-day.
+
+                      Shirley.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+The pier of the North German Lloyd Steamship Company, at Hoboken,
+fairly sizzled with bustle and excitement. The Kaiser Wilhelm had
+arrived at Sandy Hook the previous evening and was now lying out in
+midstream. She would tie up at her dock within half an hour. Employes
+of the line, baggage masters, newspaper reporters, Custom House
+officers, policemen, detectives, truck drivers, expressmen,
+longshoremen, telegraph messengers and anxious friends of incoming
+passengers surged back and forth in seemingly hopeless confusion. The
+shouting of orders, the rattling of cab wheels, the shrieking of
+whistles was deafening. From out in the river came the deep toned
+blasts of the steamer's siren, in grotesque contrast with the strident
+tooting of a dozen diminutive tugs which, puffing and snorting, were
+slowly but surely coaxing the leviathan into her berth alongside the
+dock. The great vessel, spick and span after a coat of fresh paint
+hurriedly put on during the last day of the voyage, bore no traces of
+gale, fog and stormy seas through which she had passed on her 3,000
+mile run across the ocean. Conspicuous on the bridge, directing the
+docking operations, stood Capt. Hegermann, self satisfied and smiling,
+relieved that the responsibilities of another trip were over, and at
+his side, sharing the honours, was the grizzled pilot who had brought
+the ship safely through the dangers of Gedney's Channel, his shabby pea
+jacket, old slouch hat, top boots and unkempt beard standing out in
+sharp contrast with the immaculate white duck trousers, the white and
+gold caps and smart full dress uniforms of the ship's officers. The
+rails on the upper decks were seen to be lined with passengers, all
+dressed in their shore going clothes, some waving handkerchiefs at
+friends they already recognized, all impatiently awaiting the shipping
+of the gangplank.
+
+Stott had come early. They had received word at Massapequa the day
+before that the steamer had been sighted off Fire Island and that she
+would be at her pier the next morning at 10 o'clock. Stott arrived at
+9.30 and so found no difficulty in securing a front position among the
+small army of people, who, like himself, had come down to meet friends.
+
+As the huge vessel swung round and drew closer, Stott easily picked out
+Shirley. She was scanning eagerly through a binocular the rows of
+upturned faces on the dock, and he noted that a look of disappointment
+crossed her face at not finding the object of her search. She turned
+and said something to a lady in black and to a man who stood at her
+side. Who they might be Stott had no idea. Fellow passengers, no doubt.
+One becomes so intimate on shipboard; it seems a friendship that must
+surely last a lifetime, whereas the custom officers have not finished
+rummaging through your trunks when these easily-made steamer friends
+are already forgotten. Presently Shirley took another look and her
+glass soon lighted on him. Instantly she recognized her father's old
+friend. She waved a handkerchief and Stott raised his hat. Then she
+turned quickly and spoke again to her friends, whereupon they all moved
+in the direction of the gangplank, which was already being lowered.
+
+Shirley was one of the first to come ashore. Stott was waiting for her
+at the foot of the gangplank and she threw her arms round his neck and
+kissed him. He had known her ever since she was a little tot in arms,
+and bystanders who noticed them meet had no doubt that they were father
+and daughter. Shirley was deeply moved; a great lump in her throat
+seemed to choke her utterance. So far she had been able to bear up, but
+now that home was so near her heart failed her. She had hoped to find
+her father on the dock. Why had he not come? Were things so bad then?
+She questioned Judge Stott anxiously, fearfully.
+
+He reassured her. Both her mother and father were well. It was too long
+a trip for them to make, so he had volunteered.
+
+"Too long a trip," echoed Shirley puzzled. "This is not far from our
+house. Madison Avenue is no distance. That could not have kept father
+away."
+
+"You don't live on Madison Avenue any longer. The house and its
+contents have been sold," replied Stott gravely, and in a few words he
+outlined the situation as it was.
+
+Shirley listened quietly to the end and only the increasing pallor of
+her face and an occasional nervous twitching at the corner of her mouth
+betrayed the shock that this recital of her father's misfortunes was to
+her. Ah, this she had little dreamed of! Yet why not? It was but logic.
+When wrecked in reputation, one might as well be wrecked in fortune,
+too. What would their future be, how could that proud, sensitive man
+her father bear this humiliation, this disgrace? To be condemned to a
+life of obscurity, social ostracism, and genteel poverty! Oh, the
+thought was unendurable! She herself could earn money, of course. If
+her literary work did not bring in enough, she could teach and what she
+earned would help out. Certainly her parents should never want for
+anything so long as she could supply it. She thought bitterly how
+futile now were plans of marriage, even if she had ever entertained
+such an idea seriously. Henceforward, she did not belong to herself.
+Her life must be devoted to clearing her father's name. These
+reflections were suddenly interrupted by the voice of Mrs. Blake
+calling out:
+
+"Shirley, where have you been? We lost sight of you as we left the
+ship, and we have been hunting for you ever since."
+
+Her aunt, escorted by Jefferson Ryder, had gone direct to the Customs
+desk and in the crush they had lost trace of her. Shirley introduced
+Stott.
+
+"Aunt Milly, this is Judge Stott, a very old friend of father's. Mrs.
+Blake, my mother's sister. Mother will be surprised to see her. They
+haven't met for ten years."
+
+"This visit is going to be only a brief one," said Mrs. Blake. "I
+really came over to chaperone Shirley more than anything else."
+
+"As if I needed chaperoning with Mr. Ryder for an escort!" retorted
+Shirley. Then presenting Jefferson to Stott, she said:
+
+"This is Mr. Jefferson Ryder--Judge Stott. Mr. Ryder has been very kind
+to me abroad."
+
+The two men bowed and shook hands.
+
+"Any relation to J.B.?" asked Stott good humouredly.
+
+"His son--that's all," answered Jefferson laconically.
+
+Stott now looked at the young man with more interest. Yes, there was a
+resemblance, the same blue eyes, the fighting jaw. But how on earth did
+Judge Rossmore's daughter come to be travelling in the company of John
+Burkett Ryder's son? The more he thought of it the more it puzzled him,
+and while he cogitated, Shirley and her companions wrestled with the
+United States Customs, and were undergoing all the tortures invented by
+Uncle Sam to punish Americans for going abroad.
+
+Shirley and Mrs. Blake were fortunate in securing an inspector who was
+fairly reasonable. Of course, he did not for a moment believe their
+solemn statement, already made on the ship, that they had nothing
+dutiable, and he rummaged among the most intimate garments of their
+wardrobe in a wholly indecent and unjustifiable manner, but he was
+polite and they fared no worse than all the other women victims of
+this, the most brutal custom house inspection system in the world.
+
+Jefferson had the misfortune to be allotted an inspector who was half
+seas over with liquor and the man was so insolent and threatening in
+manner that it was only by great self-restraint that Jefferson
+controlled himself. He had no wish to create a scandal on the dock, nor
+to furnish good "copy" for the keen-eyed, long-eared newspaper
+reporters who would be only too glad of such an opportunity for a
+"scare head". But when the fellow compelled him to open every trunk and
+valise and then put his grimy hands to the bottom and by a quick upward
+movement jerked the entire contents out on the dock, he interfered:
+
+"You are exceeding your authority," he exclaimed hotly. "How dare you
+treat my things in this manner?"
+
+The drunken uniformed brute raised his bloodshot, bleary eyes and took
+Jefferson in from tip to toe. He clenched his fist as if about to
+resort to violence, but he was not so intoxicated as to be quite blind
+to the fact that this passenger had massive square shoulders, a
+determined jaw and probably a heavy arm. So contenting himself with a
+sneer, he said:
+
+"This ain't no country for blooming English docks. You're not in
+England now you know. This is a free country. See?"
+
+"I see this," replied Jefferson, furious, "that you are a drunken
+ruffian and a disgrace to the uniform you wear. I shall report your
+conduct immediately," with which he proceeded to the Customs desk to
+lodge a complaint.
+
+He might have spared himself the trouble. The silver-haired,
+distinguished looking old officer in charge knew that Jefferson's
+complaint was well founded, he knew that this particular inspector was
+a drunkard and a discredit to the government which employed him, but at
+the same time he also knew that political influence had been behind his
+appointment and that it was unsafe to do more than mildly reprimand
+him. When, therefore, he accompanied Jefferson to the spot where the
+contents of the trunks lay scattered in confusion all over the dock, he
+merely expostulated with the officer, who made some insolent reply.
+Seeing that it was useless to lose further time, Jefferson repacked his
+trunks as best he could and got them on a cab. Then he hurried over to
+Shirley's party and found them already about to leave the pier.
+
+"Come and see us, Jeff," whispered Shirley as their cab drove through
+the gates.
+
+"Where," he asked, "Madison Avenue?"
+
+She hesitated for a moment and then replied quickly:
+
+"No, we are stopping down on Long Island for the Summer--at a cute
+little place called Massapequa. Run down and see us."
+
+He raised his hat and the cab drove on.
+
+
+
+There was greater activity in the Rossmore cottage at Massapequa than
+there had been any day since the judge and his wife went to live there.
+Since daybreak Eudoxia had been scouring and polishing in honour of the
+expected arrival and a hundred times Mrs. Rossmore had climbed the
+stairs to see that everything was as it should be in the room which had
+been prepared for Shirley. It was not, however, without a passage at
+arms that Eudoxia consented to consider the idea of an addition to the
+family. Mrs. Rossmore had said to her the day before:
+
+"My daughter will be here to-morrow, Eudoxia."
+
+A look expressive of both displeasure and astonishment marred the
+classic features of the hireling. Putting her broom aside and placing
+her arms akimbo she exclaimed in an injured tone:
+
+"And it's a dayther you've got now? So it's three in family you are!
+When I took the place it's two you tould me there was!"
+
+"Well, with your kind permission," replied Mrs. Rossmore, "there will
+be three in future. There is nothing in the Constitution of the United
+States that says we can't have a daughter without consulting our help,
+is there?"
+
+The sarcasm of this reply did not escape even the dull-edged wits of
+the Irish drudge. She relapsed into a dignified silence and a few
+minutes later was discovered working with some show of enthusiasm.
+
+The judge was nervous and fidgety. He made a pretence to read, but it
+was plain to see that his mind was not on his book. He kept leaving his
+chair to go and look at the clock; then he would lay the volume aside
+and wander from room to room like a lost soul. His thoughts were on the
+dock at Hoboken.
+
+By noon every little detail had been attended to and there was nothing
+further to do but sit and wait for the arrival of Stott and Shirley.
+They were to be expected any moment now. The passengers had probably
+got off the steamer by eleven o'clock. It would take at least two hours
+to get through the Customs and out to Massapequa. The judge and his
+wife sat on the porch counting the minutes and straining their ears to
+catch the first sound of the train from New York.
+
+"I hope Stott broke the news to her gently," said the judge.
+
+"I wish we had gone to meet her ourselves," sighed his wife.
+
+The judge was silent and for a moment or two he puffed vigorously at
+his pipe, as was his habit when disturbed mentally. Then he said:
+
+"I ought to have gone, Martha, but I was afraid. I'm afraid to look my
+own daughter in the face and tell her that I am a disgraced man, that I
+am to be tried by the Senate for corruption, perhaps impeached and
+turned off the bench as if I were a criminal. Shirley won't believe it,
+sometimes I can't believe it myself. I often wake up in the night and
+think of it as part of a dream, but when the morning comes it's still
+true--it's still true!"
+
+He smoked on in silence. Then happening to look up he noticed that his
+wife was weeping. He laid his hand gently on hers.
+
+"Don't cry, dear, don't make it harder for me to bear. Shirley must see
+no trace of tears."
+
+"I was thinking of the injustice of it all," replied Mrs. Rossmore,
+wiping her eyes.
+
+"Fancy Shirley in this place, living from hand to mouth," went on the
+judge.
+
+"That's the least," answered his wife. "She's a fine, handsome girl,
+well educated and all the rest of it. She ought to make a good
+marriage." No matter what state of mind Mrs. Rossmore might be in, she
+never lost sight of the practical side of things.
+
+"Hardly with her father's disgrace hanging over her head," replied the
+judge wearily. "Who," he added, "would have the courage to marry a girl
+whose father was publicly disgraced?"
+
+Both relapsed into another long silence, each mentally reviewing the
+past and speculating on the future. Suddenly Mrs. Rossmore started.
+Surely she could not be mistaken! No, the clanging of a locomotive bell
+was plainly audible. The train was in. From the direction of the
+station came people with parcels and hand bags and presently there was
+heard the welcome sound of carriage wheels crunching over the stones. A
+moment later they saw coming round the bend in the road a cab piled up
+with small baggage.
+
+"Here they are! Here they are!" cried Mrs. Rossmore. "Come, Eudoxia!"
+she called to the servant, while she herself hurried down to the gate.
+The judge, fully as agitated as herself, only showing his emotion in a
+different way, remained on the porch pale and anxious.
+
+The cab stopped at the curb and Stott alighted, first helping out Mrs.
+Blake. Mrs. Rossmore's astonishment on seeing her sister was almost
+comical.
+
+"Milly!" she exclaimed.
+
+They embraced first and explained afterwards. Then Shirley got out and
+was in her mother's arms.
+
+"Where's father?" was Shirley's first question.
+
+"There--he's coming!"
+
+The judge, unable to restrain his impatience longer, ran down from the
+porch towards the gate. Shirley, with a cry of mingled grief and joy,
+precipitated herself on his breast.
+
+"Father! Father!" she cried between her sobs. "What have they done to
+you?"
+
+"There--there, my child. Everything will be well--everything will be
+well."
+
+Her head lay on his shoulder and he stroked her hair with his hand,
+unable to speak from pent up emotion.
+
+Mrs. Rossmore could not recover from her stupefaction on seeing her
+sister. Mrs. Blake explained that she had come chiefly for the benefit
+of the voyage and announced her intention of returning on the same
+steamer.
+
+"So you see I shall bother you only a few days," she said.
+
+"You'll stay just as long as you wish," rejoined Mrs. Rossmore.
+"Happily we have just one bedroom left." Then turning to Eudoxia, who
+was wrestling with the baggage, which formed a miniature Matterhorn on
+the sidewalk, she gave instructions:
+
+"Eudoxia, you'll take this lady's baggage to the small bedroom
+adjoining Miss Shirley's. She is going to stop with us for a few days."
+
+Taken completely aback at the news of this new addition, Eudoxia looked
+at first defiance. She seemed on the point of handing in her
+resignation there and then. But evidently she thought better of it,
+for, taking a cue from Mrs. Rossmore, she asked in the sarcastic manner
+of her mistress:
+
+"Four is it now, M'm? I suppose the Constitootion of the United States
+allows a family to be as big as one likes to make it. It's hard on us
+girls, but if it's the law, it's all right, M'm. The more the merrier!"
+With which broadside, she hung the bags all over herself and staggered
+off to the house.
+
+Stott explained that the larger pieces and the trunks would come later
+by express. Mrs. Rossmore took him aside while Mrs. Blake joined
+Shirley and the judge.
+
+"Did you tell Shirley?" asked Mrs. Rossmore. "How did she take it?"
+
+"She knows everything," answered Stott, "and takes it very sensibly. We
+shall find her of great moral assistance in our coming fight in the
+Senate," he added confidently.
+
+Realizing that the judge would like to be left alone with Shirley, Mrs.
+Rossmore invited Mrs. Blake to go upstairs and see the room she would
+have, while Stott said he would be glad of a washup. When they had gone
+Shirley sidled up to her father in her old familiar way.
+
+"I've just been longing to see you, father," she said. She turned to
+get a good look at him and noticing the lines of care which had
+deepened during her absence she cried: "Why, how you've changed! I can
+scarcely believe it's you. Say something. Let me hear the sound of your
+voice, father."
+
+The judge tried to smile.
+
+"Why, my dear girl, I---"
+
+Shirley threw her arms round his neck.
+
+"Ah, yes, now I know it's you," she cried.
+
+"Of course it is, Shirley, my dear girl. Of course it is. Who else
+should it be?"
+
+"Yes, but it isn't the same," insisted Shirley. "There is no ring to
+your voice. It sounds hollow and empty, like an echo. And this place,"
+she added dolefully, "this awful place--"
+
+She glanced around at the cracked ceilings, the cheaply papered walls,
+the shabby furniture, and her heart sank as she realized the extent of
+their misfortune. She had come back prepared for the worst, to help win
+the fight for her father's honour, but to have to struggle against
+sordid poverty as well, to endure that humiliation in addition to
+disgrace--ah, that was something she had not anticipated! She changed
+colour and her voice faltered. Her father had been closely watching for
+just such signs and he read her thoughts.
+
+"It's the best we can afford, Shirley," he said quietly. "The blow has
+been complete. I will tell you everything. You shall judge for
+yourself. My enemies have done for me at last."
+
+"Your enemies?" cried Shirley eagerly. "Tell me who they are so I may
+go to them."
+
+"Yes, dear, you shall know everything. But not now. You are tired after
+your journey. To-morrow sometime Stott and I will explain everything."
+
+"Very well, father, as you wish," said Shirley gently. "After all," she
+added in an effort to appear cheerful, "what matter where we live so
+long as we have each other?"
+
+She drew away to hide her tears and left the room on pretence of
+inspecting the house. She looked into the dining-room and kitchen and
+opened the cupboards, and when she returned there were no visible signs
+of trouble in her face.
+
+"It's a cute little house, isn't it?" she said. "I've always wanted a
+little place like this--all to ourselves. Oh, if you only knew how
+tired I am of New York and its great ugly houses, its retinue of
+servants and its domestic and social responsibilities! We shall be able
+to live for ourselves now, eh, father?"
+
+She spoke with a forced gaiety that might have deceived anyone but the
+judge. He understood the motive of her sudden change in manner and
+silently he blessed her for making his burden lighter.
+
+"Yes, dear, it's not bad," he said. "There's not much room, though."
+
+"There's quite enough," she insisted. "Let me see." She began to count
+on her fingers. "Upstairs--three rooms, eh? and above that three more--"
+
+"No," smiled the judge, "then comes the roof?"
+
+"Of course," she laughed, "how stupid of me--a nice gable roof, a
+sloping roof that the rain runs off beautifully. Oh, I can see that
+this is going to be awfully jolly--just like camping out. You know how
+I love camping out. And you have a piano, too."
+
+She went over to the corner where stood one of those homely instruments
+which hardly deserve to be dignified by the name piano, with a cheap,
+gaudily painted case outside and a tin pan effect inside, and which are
+usually to be found in the poorer class of country boarding houses.
+Shirley sat down and ran her fingers over the keys, determined to like
+everything.
+
+"It's a little old," was her comment, "but I like these zither effects.
+It's just like the sixteenth-century spinet. I can see you and mother
+dancing a stately minuet," she smiled.
+
+"What's that about mother dancing?" demanded Mrs. Rossmore, who at that
+instant entered the room. Shirley arose and appealed to her:
+
+"Isn't it absurd, mother, when you come to think of it, that anybody
+should accuse father of being corrupt and of having forfeited the right
+to be judge? Isn't it still more absurd that we should be helpless and
+dejected and unhappy because we are on Long Island instead of Madison
+Avenue? Why should Manhattan Island be a happier spot than Long Island?
+Why shouldn't we be happy anywhere; we have each other. And we do need
+each other. We never knew how much till to-day, did we? We must stand
+by each other now. Father is going to clear his name of this
+preposterous charge and we're going to help him, aren't we, mother?
+We're not helpless just because we are women. We're going to work,
+mother and I."
+
+"Work?" echoed Mrs. Rossmore, somewhat scandalized.
+
+"Work," repeated Shirley very decisively.
+
+The judge interfered. He would not hear of it.
+
+"You work, Shirley? Impossible!"
+
+"Why not? My book has been selling well while I was abroad. I shall
+probably write others. Then I shall write, too, for the newspapers and
+magazines. It will add to our income."
+
+"Your book--'The American Octopus,' is selling well?" inquired the
+judge, interested.
+
+"So well," replied Shirley, "that the publishers wrote me in Paris that
+the fourth edition was now on the press. That means good royalties. I
+shall soon be a fashionable author. The publishers will be after me for
+more books and we'll have all the money we want. Oh, it is so
+delightful, this novel sensation of a literary success!" she exclaimed
+with glee. "Aren't you proud of me, dad?"
+
+The judge smiled indulgently. Of course he was glad and proud. He
+always knew his Shirley was a clever girl. But by what strange
+fatality, he thought to himself, had his daughter in this book of hers
+assailed the very man who had encompassed his own ruin? It seemed like
+the retribution of heaven. Neither his daughter nor the financier was
+conscious of the fact that each was indirectly connected with the
+impeachment proceedings. Ryder could not dream that "Shirley Green",
+the author of the book which flayed him so mercilessly, was the
+daughter of the man he was trying to crush. Shirley, on the other hand,
+was still unaware of the fact that it was Ryder who had lured her
+father to his ruin.
+
+Mrs. Rossmore now insisted on Shirley going to her room to rest. She
+must be tired and dusty. After changing her travelling dress she would
+feel refreshed and more comfortable. When she was ready to come down
+again luncheon would be served. So leaving the judge to his papers,
+mother and daughter went upstairs together, and with due maternal pride
+Mrs. Rossmore pointed out to Shirley all the little arrangements she
+had made for her comfort. Then she left her daughter to herself while
+she hurried downstairs to look after Eudoxia and luncheon.
+
+When, at last, she could lock herself in her room where no eye could
+see her, Shirley threw herself down on the bed and burst into a torrent
+of tears. She had kept up appearances as long as it was possible, but
+now the reaction had set in. She gave way freely to her pent up
+feelings, she felt that unless she could relieve herself in this way
+her heart would break. She had been brave until now, she had been
+strong to hear everything and see everything, but she could not keep it
+up forever. Stott's words to her on the dock had in part prepared her
+for the worst, he had told her what to expect at home, but the
+realization was so much more vivid. While hundreds of miles of ocean
+still lay between, it had all seemed less real, almost attractive as a
+romance in modern life, but now she was face to face with the grim
+reality--this shabby cottage, cheap neighbourhood and commonplace
+surroundings, her mother's air of resignation to the inevitable, her
+father's pale, drawn face telling so eloquently of the keen mental
+anguish through which he had passed. She compared this pitiful
+spectacle with what they had been when she left for Europe, the fine
+mansion on Madison Avenue with its rich furnishings and well-trained
+servants, and her father's proud aristocratic face illumined with the
+consciousness of his high rank in the community, and the attention he
+attracted every time he appeared on the street or in public places as
+one of the most brilliant and most respected judges on the bench. Then
+to have come to this all in the brief space of a few months! It was
+incredible, terrible, heart rending! And what of the future? What was
+to be done to save her father from this impeachment which she knew well
+would hurry him to his grave? He could not survive that humiliation,
+that degradation. He must be saved in the Senate, but how--how?
+
+She dried her eyes and began to think. Surely her woman's wit would
+find some way. She thought of Jefferson. Would he come to Massapequa?
+It was hardly probable. He would certainly learn of the change in their
+circumstances and his sense of delicacy would naturally keep him away
+for some time even if other considerations, less unselfish, did not.
+Perhaps he would be attracted to some other girl he would like as well
+and who was not burdened with a tragedy in her family. Her tears began
+to flow afresh until she hated herself for being so weak while there
+was work to be done to save her father. She loved Jefferson. Yes, she
+had never felt so sure of it as now. She felt that if she had him there
+at that moment she would throw herself in his arms crying: "Take me,
+Jefferson, take me away, where you will, for I love you! I love you!"
+But Jefferson was not there and the rickety chairs in the tiny bedroom
+and the cheap prints on the walls seemed to jibe at her in her misery.
+If he were there, she thought as she looked into a cracked mirror, he
+would think her very ugly with her eyes all red from crying. He would
+not marry her now in any case. No self-respecting man would. She was
+glad that she had spoken to him as she had in regard to marriage, for
+while a stain remained upon her father's name marriage was out of the
+question. She might have yielded on the question of the literary
+career, but she would never allow a man to taunt her afterwards with
+the disgrace of her own flesh and blood. No, henceforth her place was
+at her father's side until his character was cleared. If the trial in
+the Senate were to go against him, then she could never see Jefferson
+again. She would give up all idea of him and everything else. Her
+literary career would be ended, her life would be a blank. They would
+have to go abroad, where they were not known, and try and live down
+their shame, for no matter how innocent her father might be the world
+would believe him guilty. Once condemned by the Senate, nothing could
+remove the stigma. She would have to teach in order to contribute
+towards the support, they would manage somehow. But what a future, how
+unnecessary, how unjust!
+
+Suddenly she thought of Jefferson's promise to interest his father in
+their case and she clutched at the hope this promise held out as a
+drowning man clutches at a drifting straw. Jefferson would not forget
+his promise and he would come to Massapequa to tell her of what he had
+done. She was sure of that. Perhaps, after all, there was where their
+hope lay. Why had she not told her father at once? It might have
+relieved his mind. John Burkett Ryder, the Colossus, the man of
+unlimited power! He could save her father and he would. And the more
+she thought about it, the more cheerful and more hopeful she became,
+and she started to dress quickly so that she might hurry down to tell
+her father the good news. She was actually sorry now that she had said
+so many hard things of Mr. Ryder in her book and she was worrying over
+the thought that her father's case might be seriously prejudiced if the
+identity of the author were ever revealed, when there came a knock at
+her door. It was Eudoxia.
+
+"Please, miss, will you come down to lunch?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+A whirling maelstrom of human activity and dynamic energy--the city
+which above all others is characteristic of the genius and virility of
+the American people--New York, with its congested polyglot population
+and teeming millions, is assuredly one of the busiest, as it is one of
+the most strenuous and most noisy places on earth. Yet, despite its
+swarming streets and crowded shops, ceaselessly thronged with men and
+women eagerly hurrying here and there in the pursuit of business or
+elusive pleasure, all chattering, laughing, shouting amid the
+deafening, multisonous roar of traffic incidental to Gotham's daily
+life, there is one part of the great metropolis where there is no
+bustle, no noise, no crowd, where the streets are empty even in
+daytime, where a passer-by is a curiosity and a child a phenomenon.
+This deserted village in the very heart of the big town is the
+millionaires' district, the boundaries of which are marked by Carnegie
+hill on the north, Fiftieth Street on the south, and by Fifth and
+Madison Avenues respectively on the west and east. There is nothing
+more mournful than the outward aspect of these princely residences
+which, abandoned and empty for three-quarters of the year, stand in
+stately loneliness, as if ashamed of their isolation and utter
+uselessness. Their blinds drawn, affording no hint of life within,
+enveloped the greater part of the time in the stillness and silence of
+the tomb, they appear to be under the spell of some baneful curse. No
+merry-voiced children romp in their carefully railed off gardens, no
+sounds of conversation or laughter come from their hermetically closed
+windows, not a soul goes in or out, at most, at rare intervals, does
+one catch a glimpse of a gorgeously arrayed servant gliding about in
+ghostly fashion, supercilious and suspicious, and addressing the chance
+visitor in awed whispers as though he were the guardian of a house of
+affliction. It is, indeed, like a city of the dead.
+
+So it appeared to Jefferson as he walked up Fifth Avenue, bound for the
+Ryder residence, the day following his arrival from Europe. Although he
+still lived at his father's house, for at no time had there been an
+open rupture, he often slept in his studio, finding it more convenient
+for his work, and there he had gone straight from the ship. He felt,
+however, that it was his duty to see his mother as soon as possible;
+besides he was anxious to fulfil his promise to Shirley and find what
+his father could do to help Judge Rossmore. He had talked about the
+case with several men the previous evening at the club and the general
+impression seemed to be that, guilty or innocent, the judge would be
+driven off the bench. The "interests" had forced the matter as a party
+issue, and the Republicans being in control in the Senate the outcome
+could hardly be in doubt. He had learned also of the other misfortunes
+which had befallen Judge Rossmore and he understood now the reason for
+Shirley's grave face on the dock and her little fib about summering on
+Long Island. The news had been a shock to him, for, apart from the fact
+that the judge was Shirley's father, he admired him immensely as a man.
+Of his perfect innocence there could, of course, be no question: these
+charges of bribery had simply been trumped up by his enemies to get him
+off the bench. That was very evident. The "interests" feared him and so
+had sacrificed him without pity, and as Jefferson walked along Central
+Park, past the rows of superb palaces which face its eastern wall, he
+wondered in which particular mansion had been hatched this wicked,
+iniquitous plot against a wholly blameless American citizen. Here, he
+thought, were the citadels of the plutocrats, America's aristocracy of
+money, the strongholds of her Coal, Railroad, Oil, Gas and Ice barons,
+the castles of her monarchs of Steel, Copper, and Finance. Each of
+these million-dollar residences, he pondered, was filled from cellar to
+roof with costly furnishings, masterpieces of painting and sculpture,
+priceless art treasures of all kinds purchased in every corner of the
+globe with the gold filched from a Trust-ridden people. For every stone
+in those marble halls a human being, other than the owner, had been
+sold into bondage, for each of these magnificent edifices, which the
+plutocrat put up in his pride only to occupy it two months in the year,
+ten thousand American men, women and children had starved and sorrowed.
+
+Europe, thought Jefferson as he strode quickly along, pointed with envy
+to America's unparalleled prosperity, spoke with bated breath of her
+great fortunes. Rather should they say her gigantic robberies, her
+colossal frauds! As a nation we were not proud of our
+multi-millionaires. How many of them would bear the search-light of
+investigation? Would his own father? How many millions could one man
+make by honest methods? America was enjoying unprecedented prosperity,
+not because of her millionaires, but in spite of them. The United
+States owed its high rank in the family of nations to the country's
+vast natural resources, its inexhaustible vitality, its great wheat
+fields, the industrial and mechanical genius of its people. It was the
+plain American citizen who had made the greatness of America, not the
+millionaires who, forming a class by themselves of unscrupulous
+capitalists, had created an arrogant oligarchy which sought to rule the
+country by corrupting the legislature and the judiciary. The
+plutocrats--these were the leeches, the sores in the body politic. An
+organized band of robbers, they had succeeded in dominating legislation
+and in securing control of every branch of the nation's industry,
+crushing mercilessly and illegally all competition. They were the Money
+Power, and such a menace were they to the welfare of the people that,
+it had been estimated, twenty men in America had it in their power, by
+reason of the vast wealth which they controlled, to come together, and
+within twenty-four hours arrive at an understanding by which every
+wheel of trade and commerce would be stopped from revolving, every
+avenue of trade blocked and every electric key struck dumb. Those
+twenty men could paralyze the whole country, for they controlled the
+circulation of the currency and could create a panic whenever they
+might choose. It was the rapaciousness and insatiable greed of these
+plutocrats that had forced the toilers to combine for self-protection,
+resulting in the organization of the Labor Unions which, in time,
+became almost as tyrannical and unreasonable as the bosses. And the
+breach between capital on the one hand and labour on the other was
+widening daily, masters and servants snarling over wages and hours, the
+quarrel ever increasing in bitterness and acrimony until one day the
+extreme limit of patience would be reached and industrial strikes would
+give place to bloody violence.
+
+Meantime the plutocrats, wholly careless of the significant signs of
+the times and the growing irritation and resentment of the people,
+continued their illegal practices, scoffing at public opinion, snapping
+their fingers at the law, even going so far in their insolence as to
+mock and jibe at the President of the United States. Feeling secure in
+long immunity and actually protected in their wrong doing by the
+courts--the legal machinery by its very elaborateness defeating the
+ends of justice--the Trust kings impudently defied the country and
+tried to impose their own will upon the people. History had thus
+repeated itself. The armed feudalism of the middle ages had been
+succeeded in twentieth century America by the tyranny of capital.
+
+Yet, ruminated the young artist as he neared the Ryder residence, the
+American people had but themselves to blame for their present
+thralldom. Forty years before Abraham Lincoln had warned the country
+when at the close of the war he saw that the race for wealth was
+already making men and women money-mad. In 1864 he wrote these words:
+
+"Yes, we may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing its
+close. It has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood. The best blood
+of the flower of American youth has been freely offered upon our
+country's altar that the nation might live. It has been indeed a trying
+hour for the Republic, but I see in the near future a crisis
+approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of
+my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned
+and an era of corruption in high places will follow and the money power
+of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the
+prejudices of the people until all the wealth is aggregated in a few
+hands and the Republic is destroyed."
+
+Truly prophetic these solemn words were to-day. Forgetting the austere
+simplicity of their forebears, a love of show and ostentation had
+become the ruling passion of the American people. Money, MONEY,
+_MONEY_! was to-day the only standard, the only god! The whole nation,
+frenzied with a wild lust for wealth no matter how acquired, had
+tacitly acquiesced in all sorts of turpitude, every description of
+moral depravity, and so had fallen an easy victim to the band of
+capitalistic adventurers who now virtually ruled the land. With the
+thieves in power, the courts were powerless, the demoralization was
+general and the world was afforded the edifying spectacle of an entire
+country given up to an orgy of graft--treason in the Senate--corruption
+in the Legislature, fraudulent elections, leaks in government reports,
+trickery in Wall Street, illegal corners in coal, meat, ice and other
+prime necessaries of life, the deadly horrors of the Beef and Drug
+Trusts, railroad conspiracies, insurance scandals, the wrecking of
+savings banks, police dividing spoils with pickpockets and sharing the
+wages of prostitutes, magistrates charged with blackmailing--a foul
+stench of social rottenness and decay! What, thought Jefferson, would
+be the outcome--Socialism or Anarchy?
+
+Still, he mused, one ray of hope pierced the general gloom--the common
+sense, the vigour and the intelligence of the true American man and
+woman, the love for a "square deal" which was characteristic of the
+plain people, the resistless force of enlightened public opinion. The
+country was merely passing through a dark phase in its history, it was
+the era of the grafters. There would come a reaction, the rascals would
+be exposed and driven off, and the nation would go on upward toward its
+high destiny. The country was fortunate, too, in having a strong
+president, a man of high principles and undaunted courage who had
+already shown his capacity to deal with the critical situation. America
+was lucky with her presidents. Picked out by the great political
+parties as mere figureheads, sometimes they deceived their sponsors,
+and showed themselves men and patriots. Such a president was Theodore
+Roosevelt. After beginning vigorous warfare on the Trusts, attacking
+fearlessly the most rascally of the band, the chief of the nation had
+sounded the slogan of alarm in regard to the multi-millionaires. The
+amassing of colossal fortunes, he had declared, must be stopped--a man
+might accumulate more than sufficient for his own needs and for the
+needs of his children, but the evil practice of perpetuating great and
+ever-increasing fortunes for generations yet unborn was recognized as a
+peril to the State. To have had the courage to propose such a sweeping
+and radical restrictive measure as this should alone, thought
+Jefferson, ensure for Theodore Roosevelt a place among America's
+greatest and wisest statesmen. He and Americans of his calibre would
+eventually perform the titanic task of cleansing these Augean stables,
+the muck and accumulated filth of which was sapping the health and
+vitality of the nation.
+
+Jefferson turned abruptly and went up the wide steps of an imposing
+white marble edifice, which took up the space of half a city block. A
+fine example of French Renaissance architecture, with spire roofs,
+round turrets and mullioned windows dominating the neighbouring houses,
+this magnificent home of the plutocrat, with its furnishings and art
+treasures, had cost John Burkett Ryder nearly ten millions of dollars.
+It was one of the show places of the town, and when the "rubber neck"
+wagons approached the Ryder mansion and the guides, through their
+megaphones, expatiated in awe-stricken tones on its external and hidden
+beauties, there was a general craning of vertebrae among the "seeing
+New York"-ers to catch a glimpse of the abode of the richest man in the
+world.
+
+Only a few privileged ones were ever permitted to penetrate to the
+interior of this ten-million-dollar home. Ryder was not fond of
+company, he avoided strangers and lived in continual apprehension of
+the subpoena server. Not that he feared the law, only he usually found
+it inconvenient to answer questions in court under oath. The explicit
+instructions to the servants, therefore, were to admit no one under any
+pretext whatever unless the visitor had been approved by the Hon.
+Fitzroy Bagley, Mr. Ryder's aristocratic private secretary, and to
+facilitate this preliminary inspection there had been installed between
+the library upstairs and the front door one of those ingenious electric
+writing devices, such as are used in banks, on which a name is hastily
+scribbled, instantly transmitted elsewhere, immediately answered and
+the visitor promptly admitted or as quickly shown the door.
+
+Indeed the house, from the street, presented many of the
+characteristics of a prison. It had massive doors behind a row of
+highly polished steel gates, which would prove as useful in case of
+attempted invasion as they were now ornamental, and heavily barred
+windows, while on either side of the portico were great marble columns
+hung with chains and surmounted with bronze lions rampant. It was
+unusual to keep the town house open so late in the summer, but Mr.
+Ryder was obliged for business reasons to be in New York at this time,
+and Mrs. Ryder, who was one of the few American wives who do not always
+get their own way, had good-naturedly acquiesced in the wishes of her
+lord.
+
+Jefferson did not have to ring at the paternal portal. The sentinel
+within was at his post; no one could approach that door without being
+seen and his arrival and appearance signalled upstairs. But the great
+man's son headed the list of the privileged ones, so without ado the
+smartly dressed flunkey opened wide the doors and Jefferson was under
+his father's roof.
+
+"Is my father in?" he demanded of the man.
+
+"No, sir," was the respectful answer. "Mr. Ryder has gone out driving,
+but Mr. Bagley is upstairs." Then after a brief pause he added: "Mrs.
+Ryder is in, too."
+
+In this household where the personality of the mistress was so
+completely overshadowed by the stronger personality of the master the
+latter's secretary was a more important personage to the servants than
+the unobtrusive wife.
+
+Jefferson went up the grand staircase hung on either side with fine old
+portraits and rare tapestries, his feet sinking deep in the rich velvet
+carpet. On the first landing was a piece of sculptured marble of
+inestimable worth, seen in the soft warm light that sifted through a
+great pictorial stained-glass window overhead, the subject representing
+Ajax and Ulysses contending for the armour of Achilles. To the left of
+this, at the top of another flight leading to the library, was hung a
+fine full-length portrait of John Burkett Ryder. The ceilings here as
+in the lower hall were richly gilt and adorned with paintings by famous
+modern artists. When he reached this floor Jefferson was about to turn
+to the right and proceed direct to his mother's suite when he heard a
+voice near the library door. It was Mr. Bagley giving instructions to
+the butler.
+
+The Honourable Fitzroy Bagley, a younger son of a British peer, had
+left his country for his country's good, and in order to turn an honest
+penny, which he had never succeeded in doing at home, he had entered
+the service of America's foremost financier, hoping to gather a few of
+the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table and disguising the
+menial nature of his position under the high-sounding title of private
+secretary. His job called for a spy and a toady and he filled these
+requirements admirably. Excepting with his employer, of whom he stood
+in craven fear, his manner was condescendingly patronizing to all with
+whom he came in contact, as if he were anxious to impress on these
+American plebeians the signal honour which a Fitzroy, son of a British
+peer, did them in deigning to remain in their "blarsted" country. In
+Mr. Ryder's absence, therefore, he ran the house to suit himself,
+bullying the servants and not infrequently issuing orders that were
+contradictory to those already given by Mrs. Ryder. The latter offered
+no resistance, she knew he was useful to her husband and, what to her
+mind was a still better reason for letting him have his own way, she
+had always had the greatest reverence for the British aristocracy. It
+would have seemed to her little short of vulgarity to question the
+actions of anyone who spoke with such a delightful English accent.
+Moreover, he dressed with irreproachable taste, was an acknowledged
+authority on dinner menus and social functions and knew his Burke
+backwards--altogether an accomplished and invaluable person.
+
+Jefferson could not bear the sight of him; in fact, it was this man's
+continual presence in the house that had driven him to seek refuge
+elsewhere. He believed him to be a scoundrel as he certainly was a cad.
+Nor was his estimate of the English secretary far wrong. The man, like
+his master, was a grafter, and the particular graft he was after now
+was either to make a marriage with a rich American girl or to so
+compromise her that the same end would be attained. He was shrewd
+enough to realize that he had little chance to get what he wanted in
+the open matrimonial market, so he determined to attempt a raid and
+carry off an heiress under her father's nose, and the particular
+proboscis he had selected was that of his employer's friend, Senator
+Roberts. The senator and Miss Roberts were frequently at the Ryder
+House and in course of time the aristocratic secretary and the daughter
+had become quite intimate. A flighty girl, with no other purpose in
+life beyond dress and amusement and having what she termed "a good
+time," Kate thought it excellent pastime to flirt with Mr. Bagley, and
+when she discovered that he was serious in his attentions she felt
+flattered rather than indignant. After all, she argued, he was of noble
+birth. If his two brothers died he would be peer of England, and she
+had enough money for both. He might not make a bad husband. But she was
+careful to keep her own counsel and not let her father have any
+suspicion of what was going on. She knew that his heart was set on her
+marrying Jefferson Ryder and she knew better than anyone how impossible
+that dream was. She herself liked Jefferson quite enough to marry him,
+but if his eyes were turned in another direction--and she knew all
+about his attentions to Miss Rossmore--she was not going to break her
+heart about it. So she continued to flirt secretly with the Honourable
+Fitzroy while she still led the Ryders and her own father to think that
+she was interested in Jefferson.
+
+"Jorkins," Mr. Bagley was saying to the butler, "Mr. Ryder will occupy
+the library on his return. See that he is not disturbed."
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the butler respectfully. The man turned to go when
+the secretary called him back.
+
+"And, Jorkins, you will station another man at the front entrance.
+Yesterday it was left unguarded, and a man had the audacity to address
+Mr. Ryder as he was getting out of his carriage. Last week a reporter
+tried to snapshot him. Mr. Ryder was furious. These things must not
+happen again, Jorkins. I shall hold you responsible."
+
+"Very good, sir." The butler bowed and went downstairs. The secretary
+looked up and saw Jefferson. His face reddened and his manner grew
+nervous.
+
+"Hello! Back from Europe, Jefferson? How jolly! Your mother will be
+delighted. She's in her room upstairs."
+
+Declining to take the hint, and gathering from Bagley's embarrassed
+manner that he wanted to get rid of him, Jefferson lingered purposely.
+When the butler had disappeared, he said:
+
+"This house is getting more and more like a barracks every day. You've
+got men all over the place. One can't move a step without falling over
+one."
+
+Mr. Bagley drew himself up stiffly, as he always did when assuming an
+air of authority.
+
+"Your father's personality demands the utmost precaution," he replied.
+"We cannot leave the life of the richest and most powerful financier in
+the world at the mercy of the rabble."
+
+"What rabble?" inquired Jefferson, amused.
+
+"The common rabble--the lower class--the riff-raff," explained Mr.
+Bagley.
+
+"Pshaw!" laughed Jefferson. "If our financiers were only half as
+respectable as the common rabble, as you call them, they would need no
+bars to their houses."
+
+Mr. Bagley sneered and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Your father has warned me against your socialistic views." Then, with
+a lofty air, he added: "For four years I was third groom of the
+bedchamber to the second son of England's queen. I know my
+responsibilities."
+
+"But you are not groom of the bedchamber here," retorted Jefferson.
+
+"Whatever I am," said Mr. Bagley haughtily, "I am answerable to your
+father alone."
+
+"By the way, Bagley," asked Jefferson, "when do you expect father to
+return? I want to see him."
+
+"I'm afraid it's quite impossible," answered the secretary with studied
+insolence. "He has three important people to see before dinner. There's
+the National Republican Committee and Sergeant Ellison of the Secret
+Service from Washington--all here by appointment. It's quite
+impossible."
+
+"I didn't ask you if it were possible. I said I wanted to see him and I
+will see him," answered Jefferson quietly but firmly, and in a tone and
+manner which did not admit of further opposition. "I'll go and leave
+word for him on his desk," he added.
+
+He started to enter the library when the secretary, who was visibly
+perturbed, attempted to bar his way.
+
+"There's some one in there," he said in an undertone. "Someone waiting
+for your father."
+
+"Is there?" replied Jefferson coolly. "I'll see who it is," with which
+he brushed past Mr. Bagley and entered the library.
+
+He had guessed aright. A woman was there. It was Kate Roberts.
+
+"Hello, Kate! how are you?" They called each other by their first
+names, having been acquainted for years, and while theirs was an
+indifferent kind of friendship they had always been on good terms. At
+one time Jefferson had even begun to think he might do what his father
+wished and marry the girl, but it was only after he had met and known
+Shirley Rossmore that he realized how different one woman can be from
+another. Yet Kate had her good qualities. She was frivolous and silly
+as are most girls with no brains and nothing else to do in life but
+dress and spend money, but she might yet be happy with some other
+fellow, and that was why it made him angry to see this girl with
+$100,000 in her own right playing into the hands of an unscrupulous
+adventurer. He had evidently disturbed an interesting tete-a-tete. He
+decided to say nothing, but mentally he resolved to spoil Mr. Bagley's
+game and save Kate from her own folly. On hearing his voice Kate turned
+and gave a little cry of genuine surprise.
+
+"Why, is it you, Jeff? I thought you were in Europe."
+
+"I returned yesterday," he replied somewhat curtly. He crossed over to
+his father's desk where he sat down to scribble a few words, while Mr.
+Bagley, who had followed him in scowling, was making frantic dumb signs
+to Kate.
+
+"I fear I intrude here," said Jefferson pointedly.
+
+"Oh, dear no, not at all," replied Kate in some confusion. "I was
+waiting for my father. How is Paris?" she asked.
+
+"Lovely as ever," he answered.
+
+"Did you have a good time?" she inquired.
+
+"I enjoyed it immensely. I never had a better one."
+
+"You probably were in good company," she said significantly. Then she
+added: "I believe Miss Rossmore was in Paris."
+
+"Yes, I think she was there," was his non-committal answer.
+
+To change the conversation, which was becoming decidedly personal, he
+picked up a book that was lying on his father's desk and glanced at the
+title. It was "The American Octopus."
+
+"Is father still reading this?" he asked. "He was at it when I left."
+
+"Everybody is reading it," said Kate. "The book has made a big
+sensation. Do you know who the hero is?"
+
+"Who?" he asked with an air of the greatest innocence.
+
+"Why, no less a personage than your father--John Burkett Ryder himself!
+Everybody says it's he--the press and everybody that's read it. He says
+so himself."
+
+"Really?" he exclaimed with well-simulated surprise. "I must read it."
+
+"It has made a strong impression on Mr. Ryder," chimed in Mr. Bagley.
+"I never knew him to be so interested in a book before. He's trying his
+best to find out who the author is. It's a jolly well written book and
+raps you American millionaires jolly well--what?"
+
+"Whoever wrote the book," interrupted Kate, "is somebody who knows Mr.
+Ryder exceedingly well. There are things in it that an outsider could
+not possibly know."
+
+"Phew!" Jefferson whistled softly to himself. He was treading dangerous
+ground. To conceal his embarrassment, he rose.
+
+"If you'll excuse me, I'll go and pay my filial respects upstairs. I'll
+see you again." He gave Kate a friendly nod, and without even glancing
+at Mr. Bagley left the room.
+
+The couple stood in silence for a few moments after he disappeared.
+Then Kate went to the door and listened to his retreating footsteps.
+When she was sure that he was out of earshot she turned on Mr. Bagley
+indignantly.
+
+"You see what you expose me to. Jefferson thinks this was a rendezvous."
+
+"Well, it was to a certain extent," replied the secretary unabashed.
+"Didn't you ask me to see you here?"
+
+"Yes," said Kate, taking a letter from her bosom, "I wanted to ask you
+what this means?"
+
+"My dear Miss Roberts--Kate--I"--stammered the secretary.
+
+"How dare you address me in this manner when you know I and Mr. Ryder
+are engaged?"
+
+No one knew better than Kate that this was not true, but she said it
+partly out of vanity, partly out of a desire to draw out this
+Englishman who made such bold love to her.
+
+"Miss Roberts," replied Mr. Bagley loftily, "in that note I expressed
+my admiration--my love for you. Your engagement to Mr. Jefferson Ryder
+is, to say the least, a most uncertain fact." There was a tinge of
+sarcasm in his voice that did not escape Kate.
+
+"You must not judge from appearances," she answered, trying to keep up
+the outward show of indignation which inwardly she did not feel. "Jeff
+and I may hide a passion that burns like a volcano. All lovers are not
+demonstrative, you know."
+
+The absurdity of this description as applied to her relations with
+Jefferson appealed to her as so comical that she burst into laughter in
+which the secretary joined.
+
+"Then why did you remain here with me when the Senator went out with
+Mr. Ryder, senior?" he demanded.
+
+"To tell you that I cannot listen to your nonsense any longer,"
+retorted the girl.
+
+"What?" he cried, incredulously. "You remain here to tell me that you
+cannot listen to me when you could easily have avoided listening to me
+without telling me so. Kate, your coldness is not convincing."
+
+"You mean you think I want to listen to you?" she demanded.
+
+"I do," he answered, stepping forward as if to take her in his arms.
+
+"Mr. Bagley!" she exclaimed, recoiling.
+
+"A week ago," he persisted, "you called me Fitzroy. Once, in an
+outburst of confidence, you called me Fitz."
+
+"You hadn't asked me to marry you then," she laughed mockingly. Then
+edging away towards the door she waved her hand at him playfully and
+said teasingly: "Good-bye, Mr. Bagley, I am going upstairs to Mrs.
+Ryder. I will await my father's return in her room. I think I shall be
+safer."
+
+He ran forward to intercept her, but she was too quick for him. The
+door slammed in his face and she was gone.
+
+Meantime Jefferson had proceeded upstairs, passing through long and
+luxuriously carpeted corridors with panelled frescoed walls, and hung
+with grand old tapestries and splendid paintings, until he came to his
+mother's room. He knocked.
+
+"Come in!" called out the familiar voice. He entered. Mrs. Ryder was
+busy at her escritoire looking over a mass of household accounts.
+
+"Hello, mother!" he cried, running up and hugging her in his boyish,
+impulsive way. Jefferson had always been devoted to his mother, and
+while he deplored her weakness in permitting herself to be so
+completely under the domination of his father, she had always found him
+an affectionate and loving son.
+
+"Jefferson!" she exclaimed when he released her. "My dear boy, when did
+you arrive?"
+
+"Only yesterday. I slept at the studio last night. You're looking
+bully, mother. How's father?"
+
+Mrs. Ryder sighed while she looked her son over proudly. In her heart
+she was glad Jefferson had turned out as he had. Her boy certainly
+would never be a financier to be attacked in magazines and books.
+Answering his question she said:
+
+"Your father is as well as those busybodies in the newspapers will let
+him be. He's considerably worried just now over that new book 'The
+American Octopus.' How dare they make him out such a monster? He's no
+worse than other successful business men. He's richer, that's all, and
+it makes them jealous. He's out driving now with Senator Roberts. Kate
+is somewhere in the house--in the library, I think."
+
+"Yes, I found her there," replied Jefferson dryly. "She was with that
+cad, Bagley. When is father going to find that fellow out?"
+
+"Oh, Jefferson," protested his mother, "how can you talk like that of
+Mr. Bagley. He is such a perfect gentleman. His family connections
+alone should entitle him to respect. He is certainly the best secretary
+your father ever had. I'm sure I don't know what we should do without
+him. He knows everything that a gentleman should."
+
+"And a good deal more, I wager," growled Jefferson. "He wasn't groom of
+the backstairs to England's queen for nothing." Then changing the
+topic, he said suddenly: "Talking about Kate, mother, we have got to
+reach some definite understanding. This talk about my marrying her must
+stop. I intend to take the matter up with father to-day."
+
+"Oh, of course, more trouble!" replied his mother in a resigned tone.
+She was so accustomed to having her wishes thwarted that she was never
+surprised at anything. "We heard of your goings on in Paris. That Miss
+Rossmore was there, was she not?"
+
+"That has got nothing to do with it," replied Jefferson warmly. He
+resented Shirley's name being dragged into the discussion. Then more
+calmly he went on: "Now, mother, be reasonable, listen. I purpose to
+live my own life. I have already shown my father that I will not be
+dictated to, and that I can earn my own living. He has no right to
+force this marriage on me. There has never been any misunderstanding on
+Kate's part. She and I understand each other thoroughly."
+
+"Well, Jefferson, you may be right from your point of view," replied
+his mother weakly. She invariably ended by agreeing with the last one
+who argued with her. "You are of age, of course. Your parents have only
+a moral right over you. Only remember this: it would be foolish of you
+to do anything now to anger your father. His interests are your
+interests. Don't do anything to jeopardize them. Of course, you can't
+be forced to marry a girl you don't care for, but your father will be
+bitterly disappointed. He had set his heart on this match. He knows all
+about your infatuation for Miss Rossmore and it has made him furious. I
+suppose you've heard about her father?"
+
+"Yes, and it's a dastardly outrage," blurted out Jefferson. "It's a
+damnable conspiracy against one of the most honourable men that ever
+lived, and I mean to ferret out and expose the authors. I came here
+to-day to ask father to help me."
+
+"You came to ask your father to help you?" echoed his mother
+incredulously.
+
+"Why not?" demanded Jefferson. "Is it true then that he is selfishness
+incarnate? Wouldn't he do that much to help a friend?"
+
+"You've come to the wrong house, Jeff. You ought to know that. Your
+father is far from being Judge Rossmore's friend. Surely you have sense
+enough to realize that there are two reasons why he would not raise a
+finger to help him. One is that he has always been his opponent in
+public life, the other is that you want to marry his daughter."
+
+Jefferson sat as if struck dumb. He had not thought of that. Yes, it
+was true. His father and the father of the girl he loved were mortal
+enemies. How was help to be expected from the head of those "interests"
+which the judge had always attacked, and now he came to think of it,
+perhaps his own father was really at the bottom of these abominable
+charges! He broke into a cold perspiration and his voice was altered as
+he said:
+
+"Yes, I see now, mother. You are right." Then he added bitterly: "That
+has always been the trouble at home. No matter where I turn, I am up
+against a stone wall--the money interests. One never hears a glimmer of
+fellow-feeling, never a word of human sympathy, only cold calculation,
+heartless reasoning, money, money, money! Oh, I am sick of it. I don't
+want any of it. I am going away where I'll hear no more of it."
+
+His mother laid her hand gently on his shoulder.
+
+"Don't talk that way, Jefferson. Your father is not a bad man at heart,
+you know that. His life has been devoted to money making and he has
+made a greater fortune than any man living or dead. He is only what his
+life has made him. He has a good heart. And he loves you--his only son.
+But his business enemies--ah! those he never forgives."
+
+Jefferson was about to reply when suddenly a dozen electric bells
+sounded all over the house.
+
+"What's that?" exclaimed Jefferson, alarmed, and starting towards the
+door.
+
+"Oh, that's nothing," smiled his mother. "We have had that put in since
+you went away. Your father must have just come in. Those bells announce
+the fact. It was done so that if there happened to be any strangers in
+the house they could be kept out of the way until he reached the
+library safely."
+
+"Oh," laughed Jefferson, "he's afraid some one will kidnap him?
+Certainly he would be a rich prize. I wouldn't care for the job myself,
+though. They'd be catching a tartar."
+
+His speech was interrupted by a timid knock at the door.
+
+"May I come in to say good-bye?" asked a voice which they recognized as
+Kate's. She had successfully escaped from Mr. Bagley's importunities
+and was now going home with the Senator. She smiled amiably at
+Jefferson and they chatted pleasantly of his trip abroad. He was
+sincerely sorry for this girl whom they were trying to foist on him.
+Not that he thought she really cared for him, he was well aware that
+hers was a nature that made it impossible to feel very deeply on any
+subject, but the idea of this ready-made marriage was so foreign, so
+revolting to the American mind! He thought it would be a kindness to
+warn her against Bagley.
+
+"Don't be foolish, Kate," he said. "I was not blind just now in the
+library. That man is no good."
+
+As is usual when one's motives are suspected, the girl resented his
+interference. She knew he hated Mr. Bagley and she thought it mean of
+him to try and get even in this way. She stiffened up and replied
+coldly:
+
+"I think I am able to look after myself, Jefferson. Thanks, all the
+same."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders and made no reply. She said good-bye to Mrs.
+Ryder, who was again immersed in her tradespeople bills, and left the
+room, escorted by Jefferson, who accompanied her downstairs and on to
+the street where Senator Roberts was waiting for her in the open
+victoria. The senator greeted with unusual cordiality the young man
+whom he still hoped to make his son-in-law.
+
+"Come and see us, Jefferson," he said. "Come to dinner any evening. We
+are always alone and Kate and I will be glad to see you."
+
+"Jefferson has so little time now, father. His work and--his friends
+keep him pretty busy."
+
+Jefferson had noted both the pause and the sarcasm, but he said
+nothing. He smiled and the senator raised his hat. As the carriage
+drove off the young man noticed that Kate glanced at one of the upper
+windows where Mr. Bagley stood behind a curtain watching. Jefferson
+returned to the house. The psychological moment had arrived. He must go
+now and confront his father in the library.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+The library was the most important room in the Ryder mansion, for it
+was there that the Colossus carried through his most important business
+deals, and its busiest hours were those which most men devote to rest.
+But John Burkett Ryder never rested. There could be no rest for any man
+who had a thousand millions of dollars to take care of. Like Macbeth,
+he could sleep no more. When the hum of business life had ceased down
+town and he returned home from the tall building in lower Broadway,
+then his real work began. The day had been given to mere business
+routine; in his own library at night, free from inquisitive ears and
+prying eyes, he could devise new schemes for strengthening his grip
+upon the country, he could evolve more gigantic plans for adding to his
+already countless millions.
+
+Here the money Moloch held court like any king, with as much ceremony
+and more secrecy, and having for his courtiers some of the most
+prominent men in the political and industrial life of the nation.
+Corrupt senators, grafting Congressmen, ambitious railroad presidents,
+insolent coal barons who impudently claimed they administered the coal
+lands in trust for the Almighty, unscrupulous princes of finance and
+commerce, all visited this room to receive orders or pay from the head
+of the "System." Here were made and unmade governors of States, mayors
+of cities, judges, heads of police, cabinet ministers, even presidents.
+Here were turned over to confidential agents millions of dollars to
+overturn the people's vote in the National elections; here were
+distributed yearly hundreds of thousands of dollars to grafters, large
+and small, who had earned it in the service of the "interests."
+
+Here, secretly and unlawfully, the heads of railroads met to agree on
+rates which by discriminating against one locality in favour of another
+crushed out competition, raised the cost to the consumer, and put
+millions in the pockets of the Trust. Here were planned tricky
+financial operations, with deliberate intent to mislead and deceive the
+investing public, operations which would send stocks soaring one day,
+only a week later to put Wall Street on the verge of panic. Half a
+dozen suicides might result from the coup, but twice as many millions
+of profits had gone into the coffers of the "System." Here, too, was
+perpetrated the most heinous crime that can be committed against a free
+people--the conspiring of the Trusts abetted by the railroads, to
+arbitrarily raise the prices of the necessaries of life--meat, coal,
+oil, ice, gas--wholly without other justification than that of greed,
+which, with these men, was the unconquerable, all-absorbing passion. In
+short, everything that unscrupulous leaders of organized capital could
+devise to squeeze the life blood out of the patient, defenceless toiler
+was done within these four walls.
+
+It was a handsome room, noble in proportions and abundantly lighted by
+three large and deeply recessed, mullioned windows, one in the middle
+of the room and one at either end. The lofty ceiling was a marvellously
+fine example of panelled oak of Gothic design, decorated with gold, and
+the shelves for books which lined the walls were likewise of oak,
+richly carved. In the centre of the wall facing the windows was a
+massive and elaborately designed oak chimney-piece, reaching up to the
+ceiling, and having in the middle panel over the mantel a fine
+three-quarter length portrait of George Washington. The room was
+furnished sumptuously yet quietly, and fully in keeping with the rich
+collection of classic and modern authors that filled the bookcases, and
+in corners here and there stood pedestals with marble busts of
+Shakespeare, Goethe and Voltaire. It was the retreat of a scholar
+rather than of a man of affairs.
+
+When Jefferson entered, his father was seated at his desk, a long black
+cigar between his lips, giving instructions to Mr. Bagley. Mr. Ryder
+looked up quickly as the door opened and the secretary made a movement
+forward as if to eject the intruder, no matter who he might be. They
+were not accustomed to having people enter the sanctum of the Colossus
+so unceremoniously. But when he saw who it was, Mr. Ryder's stern, set
+face relaxed and he greeted his son amiably.
+
+"Why, Jeff, my boy, is that you? Just a moment, until I get rid of
+Bagley, and I'll be with you."
+
+Jefferson turned to the book shelves and ran over the titles while the
+financier continued his business with the secretary.
+
+"Now, Bagley. Come, quick. What is it?"
+
+He spoke in a rapid, explosive manner, like a man who has only a few
+moments to spare before he must rush to catch a train. John Ryder had
+been catching trains all his life, and he had seldom missed one.
+
+"Governor Rice called. He wants an appointment," said Mr. Bagley,
+holding out a card.
+
+"I can't see him. Tell him so," came the answer, quick as a flash. "Who
+else?" he demanded. "Where's your list?"
+
+Mr. Bagley took from the desk a list of names and read them over.
+
+"General Abbey telephoned. He says you promised--"
+
+"Yes, yes," interrupted Ryder impatiently, "but not here. Down town,
+to-morrow, any time. Next?"
+
+The secretary jotted down a note against each name and then said:
+
+"There are some people downstairs in the reception room. They are here
+by appointment."
+
+"Who are they?"
+
+"The National Republican Committee and Sergeant Ellison of the Secret
+Service from Washington," replied Mr. Bagley.
+
+"Who was here first?" demanded the financier.
+
+"Sergeant Ellison, sir."
+
+"Then I'll see him first, and the Committee afterwards. But let them
+all wait until I ring. I wish to speak with my son." He waved his hand
+and the secretary, knowing well from experience that this was a sign
+that there must be no further discussion, bowed respectfully and left
+the room. Jefferson turned and advanced towards his father, who held
+out his hand.
+
+"Well, Jefferson," he said kindly, "did you have a good time abroad?"
+
+"Yes, sir, thank you. Such a trip is a liberal education in itself."
+
+"Ready for work again, eh? I'm glad you're back, Jefferson. I'm busy
+now, but one of these days I want to have a serious talk with you in
+regard to your future. This artist business is all very well--for a
+pastime. But it's not a career--surely you can appreciate that--for a
+young man with such prospects as yours. Have you ever stopped to think
+of that?"
+
+Jefferson was silent. He did not want to displease his father; on the
+other hand, it was impossible to let things drift as they had been
+doing. There must be an understanding sooner or later. Why not now?
+
+"The truth is, sir," he began timidly, "I'd like a little talk with you
+now, if you can spare the time."
+
+Ryder, Sr., looked first at his watch and then at his son, who, ill at
+ease, sat nervously on the extreme edge of a chair. Then he said with a
+smile:
+
+"Well, my boy, to be perfectly frank, I can't--but--I will. Come, what
+is it?" Then, as if to apologize for his previous abruptness, he added,
+"I've had a very busy day, Jeff. What with Trans-Continental and
+Trans-Atlantic and Southern Pacific, and Wall Street, and Rate Bills,
+and Washington I feel like Atlas shouldering the world."
+
+"The world wasn't intended for one pair of shoulders to carry, sir,"
+rejoined Jefferson calmly.
+
+His father looked at him in amazement. It was something new to hear
+anyone venturing to question or comment upon anything he said.
+
+"Why not?" he demanded, when he had recovered from his surprise.
+"Julius Caesar carried it. Napoleon carried it--to a certain extent.
+However, that's neither here nor there. What is it, boy?"
+
+Unable to remain a moment inactive, he commenced to pick among the mass
+of papers on his desk, while Jefferson was thinking what to say. The
+last word his father uttered gave him a cue, and he blurted out
+protestingly:
+
+"That's just it, sir. You forget that I'm no longer a boy. It's time to
+treat me as if I were a man."
+
+Ryder, Sr., leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily.
+
+"A man at twenty-eight? That's an excellent joke. Do you know that a
+man doesn't get his horse sense till he's forty?"
+
+"I want you to take me seriously," persisted Jefferson.
+
+Ryder, Sr., was not a patient man. His moments of good humour were of
+brief duration. Anything that savoured of questioning his authority
+always angered him. The smile went out of his face and he retorted
+explosively: "Go on--damn it all! Be serious if you want, only don't
+take so long about it. But understand one thing. I want no preaching,
+no philosophical or socialistic twaddle. No Tolstoi--he's a great
+thinker, and you're not. No Bernard Shaw--he's funny, and you're not.
+Now go ahead."
+
+This beginning was not very encouraging, and Jefferson felt somewhat
+intimidated. But he realized that he might not have another such
+opportunity, so he plunged right in.
+
+"I should have spoken to you before if you had let me," he said. "I
+often--"
+
+"If I let you?" interrupted his father. "Do you expect me to sit and
+listen patiently to your wild theories of social reform? You asked me
+one day why the wages of the idle rich was wealth and the wages of hard
+work was poverty, and I told you that I worked harder in one day than a
+tunnel digger works in a life-time. Thinking is a harder game than any.
+You must think or you won't know. Napoleon knew more about war than all
+his generals put together. I know more about money than any man living
+to-day. The man who knows is the man who wins. The man who takes advice
+isn't fit to give it. That's why I never take yours. Come, don't be a
+fool, Jeff--give up this art nonsense. Come back to the Trading
+Company. I'll make you vice-president, and I'll teach you the business
+of making millions."
+
+Jefferson shook his head. It was hard to have to tell his own father
+that he did not think the million-making business quite a respectable
+one, so he only murmured:
+
+"It's impossible, father. I am devoted to my work. I even intend to go
+away and travel a few years and see the world. It will help me
+considerably."
+
+Ryder, Sr., eyed his son in silence for a few moments; then he said
+gently:
+
+"Don't be obstinate, Jeff. Listen to me. I know the world better than
+you do. You mustn't go away. You are the only flesh and blood I have."
+
+He stopped speaking for a moment, as if overcome by a sudden emotion
+over which he had no control. Jefferson remained silent, nervously
+toying with a paper cutter. Seeing that his words had made no effect,
+Ryder thumped his desk with his fist and cried:
+
+"You see my weakness. You see that I want you with me, and now you take
+advantage--you take advantage--"
+
+"No, father, I don't," protested Jefferson; "but I want to go away.
+Although I have my studio and am practically independent, I want to go
+where I shall be perfectly free--where my every move will not be
+watched--where I can meet my fellow-man heart to heart on an equal
+basis, where I shall not be pointed out as the son of Ready Money
+Ryder. I want to make a reputation of my own as an artist."
+
+"Why not study theology and become a preacher?" sneered Ryder. Then,
+more amiably, he said: "No, my lad, you stay here. Study my
+interests--study the interests that will be yours some day."
+
+"No," said Jefferson doggedly, "I'd rather go--my work and my
+self-respect demand it."
+
+"Then go, damn it, go!" cried his father in a burst of anger. "I'm a
+fool for wasting my time with an ungrateful son." He rose from his seat
+and began to pace the room.
+
+"Father," exclaimed Jefferson starting forward, "you do me an
+injustice."
+
+"An injustice?" echoed Mr. Ryder turning round. "Ye gods! I've given
+you the biggest name in the commercial world; the most colossal fortune
+ever accumulated by one man is waiting for you, and you say I've done
+you an injustice!"
+
+"Yes--we are rich," said Jefferson bitterly. "But at what a cost! You
+do not go into the world and hear the sneers that I get everywhere. You
+may succeed in muzzling the newspapers and magazines, but you cannot
+silence public opinion. People laugh when they hear the name
+Ryder--when they do not weep. All your millions cannot purchase the
+world's respect. You try to throw millions to the public as a bone to a
+dog, and they decline the money on the ground that it is tainted.
+Doesn't that tell you what the world thinks of your methods?"
+
+Ryder laughed cynically. He went back to his desk, and, sitting facing
+his son, he replied:
+
+"Jefferson, you are young. It is one of the symptoms of youth to worry
+about public opinion. When you are as old as I am you will understand
+that there is only one thing which counts in this world--money. The man
+who has it possesses power over the man who has it not, and power is
+what the ambitious man loves most."
+
+He stopped to pick up a book. It was "The American Octopus." Turning
+again to his son, he went on:
+
+"Do you see this book? It is the literary sensation of the year. Why?
+Because it attacks me--the richest man in the world. It holds me up as
+a monster, a tyrant, a man without soul, honour or conscience, caring
+only for one thing--money; having but one passion--the love of power,
+and halting at nothing, not even at crime, to secure it. That is the
+portrait they draw of your father."
+
+Jefferson said nothing. He was wondering if his sire had a suspicion
+who wrote it and was leading up to that. But Ryder, Sr., continued:
+
+"Do I care? The more they attack me the more I like it. Their puny pen
+pricks have about the same effect as mosquito bites on the pachyderm.
+What I am, the conditions of my time made me. When I started in
+business a humble clerk, forty years ago, I had but one goal--success;
+I had but one aim--to get rich. I was lucky. I made a little money, and
+I soon discovered that I could make more money by outwitting my
+competitors in the oil fields. Railroad conditions helped me. The whole
+country was money mad. A wave of commercial prosperity swept over the
+land and I was carried along on its crest. I grew enormously rich, my
+millions increasing by leaps and bounds. I branched out into other
+interests, successful always, until my holdings grew to what they are
+to-day--the wonder of the twentieth century. What do I care for the
+world's respect when my money makes the world my slave? What respect
+can I have for a people that cringe before money and let it rule them?
+Are you aware that not a factory wheel turns, not a vote is counted,
+not a judge is appointed, not a legislator seated, not a president
+elected without my consent? I am the real ruler of the United
+States--not the so-called government at Washington. They are my puppets
+and this is my executive chamber. This power will be yours one day,
+boy, but you must know how to use it when it comes."
+
+"I never want it, father," said Jefferson firmly. "To me your words
+savour of treason. I couldn't imagine that American talking that way."
+He pointed to the mantel, at the picture of George Washington.
+
+Ryder, Sr., laughed. He could not help it if his son was an idealist.
+There was no use getting angry, so he merely shrugged his shoulders and
+said:
+
+"All right, Jeff. We'll discuss the matter later, when you've cut your
+wisdom teeth. Just at present you're in the clouds. But you spoke of my
+doing you an injustice. How can my love of power do you an injustice?"
+
+"Because," replied Jefferson, "you exert that power over your family as
+well as over your business associates. You think and will for everybody
+in the house, for everyone who comes in contact with you. Yours is an
+influence no one seems able to resist. You robbed me of my right to
+think. Ever since I was old enough to think, you have thought for me;
+ever since I was old enough to choose, you have chosen for me. You have
+chosen that I should marry Kate Roberts. That is the one thing I wished
+to speak to you about. The marriage is impossible."
+
+Ryder, Sr., half sprang from his seat. He had listened patiently, he
+thought, to all that his headstrong son had said, but that he should
+repudiate in this unceremonious fashion what was a tacit understanding
+between the two families, and, what was more, run the risk of injuring
+the Ryder interests--that was inconceivable. Leaving his desk, he
+advanced into the centre of the room, and folding his arms confronted
+Jefferson.
+
+"So," he said sternly, "this is your latest act of rebellion, is it?
+You are going to welsh on your word? You are going to jilt the girl?"
+
+"I never gave my word," answered Jefferson hotly. "Nor did Kate
+understand that an engagement existed. You can't expect me to marry a
+girl I don't care a straw about. It would not be fair to her."
+
+"Have you stopped to think whether it would be fair to me?" thundered
+his father.
+
+His face was pale with anger, his jet-black eyes flashed, and his white
+hair seemed to bristle with rage. He paced the floor for a few moments,
+and then turning to Jefferson, who had not moved, he said more calmly:
+
+"Don't be a fool, Jeff. I don't want to think for you, or to choose for
+you, or to marry for you. I did not interfere when you threw up the
+position I made for you in the Trading Company and took that studio. I
+realized that you were restless under the harness, so I gave you plenty
+of rein. But I know so much better than you what is best for you.
+Believe me I do. Don't--don't be obstinate. This marriage means a great
+deal to my interests--to your interests. Kate's father is all powerful
+in the Senate. He'll never forgive this disappointment. Hang it all,
+you liked the girl once, and I made sure that--"
+
+He stopped suddenly, and the expression on his face changed as a new
+light dawned upon him.
+
+"It isn't that Rossmore girl, is it?" he demanded. His face grew dark
+and his jaw clicked as he said between his teeth: "I told you some time
+ago how I felt about her. If I thought that it was Rossmore's daughter!
+You know what's going to happen to him, don't you?"
+
+Thus appealed to, Jefferson thought this was the most favourable
+opportunity he would have to redeem his promise to Shirley. So, little
+anticipating the tempest he was about to unchain, he answered:
+
+"I am familiar with the charges that they have trumped up against him.
+Needless to say, I consider him entirely innocent. What's more, I
+firmly believe he is the victim of a contemptible conspiracy. And I'm
+going to make it my business to find out who the plotters are. I came
+to ask you to help me. Will you?"
+
+For a moment Ryder was speechless from utter astonishment. Then, as he
+realized the significance of his son's words and their application to
+himself he completely lost control of himself. His face became livid,
+and he brought his fist down on his desk with a force that shook the
+room.
+
+"I will see him in hell first!" he cried. "Damn him! He has always
+opposed me. He has always defied my power, and now his daughter has
+entrapped my son. So it's her you want to go to, eh? Well, I can't make
+you marry a girl you don't want, but I can prevent you throwing
+yourself away on the daughter of a man who is about to be publicly
+disgraced, and, by God, I will."
+
+"Poor old Rossmore," said Jefferson bitterly. "If the history of every
+financial transaction were made known, how many of us would escape
+public disgrace? Would you?" he cried.
+
+Ryder, Sr., rose, his hands working dangerously. He made a movement as
+if about to advance on his son, but by a supreme effort he controlled
+himself.
+
+"No, upon my word, it's no use disinheriting you, you wouldn't care. I
+think you'd be glad; on my soul, I do!" Then calming down once more, he
+added: "Jefferson, give me your word of honour that your object in
+going away is not to find out this girl and marry her unknown to me. I
+don't mind your losing your heart, but, damn it, don't lose your head.
+Give me your hand on it."
+
+Jefferson reluctantly held out his hand.
+
+"If I thought you would marry that girl unknown to me, I'd have
+Rossmore sent out of the country and the woman too. Listen, boy. This
+man is my enemy, and I show no mercy to my enemies. There are more
+reasons than one why you cannot marry Miss Rossmore. If she knew one of
+them she would not marry you."
+
+"What reasons?" demanded Jefferson.
+
+"The principal one," said Ryder, slowly and deliberately, and eyeing
+his son keenly as if to judge of the effect of his words, "the
+principal one is that it was through my agents that the demand was made
+for her father's impeachment."
+
+"Ah," cried Jefferson, "then I guessed aright! Oh, father, how could
+you have done that? If you only knew him!"
+
+Ryder, Sr., had regained command of his temper, and now spoke calmly
+enough.
+
+"Jefferson, I don't have to make any apologies to you for the way I
+conduct my business. The facts contained in the charge were brought to
+my attention. I did not see why I should spare him. He never spared me.
+I shall not interfere, and the probabilities are that he will be
+impeached. Senator Roberts said this afternoon that it was a certainty.
+You see yourself how impossible a marriage with Miss Rossmore would be,
+don't you?"
+
+"Yes, father, I see now. I have nothing more to say."
+
+"Do you still intend going away?"
+
+"Yes," replied Jefferson bitterly. "Why not? You have taken away the
+only reason why I should stay."
+
+"Think it well over, lad. Marry Kate or not, as you please, but I want
+you to stay here."
+
+"It's no use. My mind is made up," answered Jefferson decisively.
+
+The telephone rang, and Jefferson got up to go. Mr. Ryder took up the
+receiver.
+
+"Hallo! What's that? Sergeant Ellison? Yes, send him up."
+
+Putting the telephone down, Ryder, Sr., rose, and crossing the room
+accompanied his son to the door.
+
+"Think it well over, Jeff. Don't be hasty."
+
+"I have thought it over, sir, and I have decided to go."
+
+A few moments later Jefferson left the house.
+
+Ryder, Sr., went back to his desk and sat for a moment in deep thought.
+For the first time in his life he was face to face with defeat; for the
+first time he had encountered a will as strong as his own. He who could
+rule parliaments and dictate to governments now found himself powerless
+to rule his own son. At all costs, he mused, the boy's infatuation for
+Judge Rossmore's daughter must be checked, even if he had to blacken
+the girl's character as well as the father's, or, as a last resort,
+send the entire family out of the country. He had not lost sight of his
+victim since the carefully prepared crash in Wall Street, and the sale
+of the Rossmore home following the bankruptcy of the Great Northwestern
+Mining Company. His agents had reported their settlement in the quiet
+little village on Long Island, and he had also learned of Miss
+Rossmore's arrival from Europe, which coincided strangely with the
+home-coming of his own son. He decided, therefore, to keep a closer
+watch on Massapequa now than ever, and that is why to-day's call of
+Sergeant Ellison, a noted sleuth in the government service, found so
+ready a welcome.
+
+The door opened, and Mr. Bagley entered, followed by a tall, powerfully
+built man whose robust physique and cheap looking clothes contrasted
+strangely with the delicate, ultra-fashionably attired English
+secretary.
+
+"Take a seat, Sergeant," said Mr. Ryder, cordially motioning his
+visitor to a chair. The man sat down gingerly on one of the rich
+leather-upholstered chairs. His manner was nervous and awkward, as if
+intimidated in the presence of the financier.
+
+"Are the Republican Committee still waiting?" demanded Mr. Ryder.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the secretary.
+
+"I'll see them in a few minutes. Leave me with Sergeant Ellison."
+
+Mr. Bagley bowed and retired.
+
+"Well, Sergeant, what have you got to report?"
+
+He opened a box of cigars that stood on the desk and held it out to the
+detective.
+
+"Take a cigar," he said amiably.
+
+The man took a cigar, and also the match which Mr. Ryder held out. The
+financier knew how to be cordial with those who could serve him.
+
+"Thanks. This is a good one," smiled the sleuth, sniffing at the weed.
+"We don't often get a chance at such as these."
+
+"It ought to be good," laughed Ryder. "They cost two dollars apiece."
+
+The detective was so surprised at this unheard of extravagance that he
+inhaled a puff of smoke which almost choked him. It was like burning
+money.
+
+Ryder, with his customary bluntness, came right down to business.
+
+"Well, what have you been doing about the book?" he demanded. "Have you
+found the author of 'The American Octopus'?"
+
+"No, sir, I have not. I confess I'm baffled. The secret has been well
+kept. The publishers have shut up like a clam. There's only one thing
+that I'm pretty well sure of."
+
+"What's that?" demanded Ryder, interested.
+
+"That no such person as Shirley Green exists."
+
+"Oh," exclaimed, the financier, "then you think it is a mere nom de
+plume?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And what do you think was the reason for preserving the anonymity?"
+
+"Well, you see, sir, the book deals with a big subject. It gives some
+hard knocks, and the author, no doubt, felt a little timid about
+launching it under his or her real name. At least that's my theory,
+sir."
+
+"And a good one, no doubt," said Mr. Ryder. Then he added: "That makes
+me all the more anxious to find out who it is. I would willingly give
+this moment a check for $5,000 to know who wrote it. Whoever it is,
+knows me as well as I know myself. We must find the author."
+
+The sleuth was silent for a moment. Then he said:
+
+"There might be one way to reach the author, but it will be successful
+only in the event of her being willing to be known and come out into
+the open. Suppose you write to her in care of the publishers. They
+would certainly forward the letter to wherever she may be. If she does
+not want you to know who she is she will ignore your letter and remain
+in the background. If, on the contrary, she has no fear of you, and is
+willing to meet you, she will answer the letter."
+
+"Ah, I never thought of that!" exclaimed Ryder. "It's a good idea. I'll
+write such a letter at once. It shall go to-night."
+
+He unhooked the telephone and asked Mr. Bagley to come up. A few
+seconds later the secretary entered the room.
+
+"Bagley," said Mr. Ryder, "I want you to write a letter for me to Miss
+Shirley Green, author of that book 'The American Octopus. We will
+address it care of her publishers, Littleton & Co. Just say that if
+convenient I should like a personal interview with her at my office,
+No. 36 Broadway, in relation to her book, 'The American Octopus.' See
+that it is mailed to-night. That's all."
+
+Mr. Bagley bowed and retired. Mr. Ryder turned to the secret service
+agent.
+
+"There, that's settled. We'll see how it works. And now, Sergeant, I
+have another job for you, and if you are faithful to my interests you
+will not find me unappreciative. Do you know a little place on Long
+Island called Massapequa?"
+
+"Yes," grinned the detective, "I know it. They've got some fine
+specimens of 'skeeters' there."
+
+Paying no attention to this jocularity, Mr. Ryder continued:
+
+"Judge Rossmore is living there--pending the outcome of his case in the
+Senate. His daughter has just arrived from Europe. My son Jefferson
+came home on the same ship. They are a little more friendly than I care
+to have them. You understand. I want to know if my son visits the
+Rossmores, and if he does I wish to be kept informed of all that's
+going on. You understand?"
+
+"Perfectly, sir. You shall know everything."
+
+Mr. Ryder took a blank check from his desk and proceeded to fill it up.
+Then handing it to the detective, he said:
+
+"Here is $500 for you. Spare neither trouble or expense."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said the man as he pocketed the money. "Leave it to
+me."
+
+"That's about all, I think. Regarding the other matter, we'll see how
+the letter works."
+
+He touched a bell and rose, which was a signal to the visitor that the
+interview was at an end. Mr. Bagley entered.
+
+"Sergeant Ellison is going," said Mr. Ryder. "Have him shown out, and
+send the Republican Committee up."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+"What!" exclaimed Shirley, changing colour, "you believe that John
+Burkett Ryder is at the bottom of this infamous accusation against
+father?"
+
+It was the day following her arrival at Massapequa, and Shirley, the
+judge and Stott were all three sitting on the porch. Until now, by
+common consent, any mention of the impeachment proceedings had been
+avoided by everyone. The previous afternoon and evening had been spent
+listening to an account of Shirley's experiences in Europe and a smile
+had flitted across even the judge's careworn face as his daughter gave
+a humorous description of the picturesque Paris student with their long
+hair and peg-top trousers, while Stott simply roared with laughter. Ah,
+it was good to laugh again after so much trouble and anxiety! But while
+Shirley avoided the topic that lay nearest her heart, she was consumed
+with a desire to tell her father of the hope she had of enlisting the
+aid of John Burkett Ryder. The great financier was certainly able to do
+anything he chose, and had not his son Jefferson promised to win him
+over to their cause? So, to-day, after Mrs. Rossmore and her sister had
+gone down to the village to make some purchases Shirley timidly
+broached the matter. She asked Stott and her father to tell her
+everything, to hold back nothing. She wanted to hear the worst.
+
+Stott, therefore, started to review the whole affair from the
+beginning, explaining how her father in his capacity as Judge of the
+Supreme Court had to render decisions, several of which were adverse to
+the corporate interests of a number of rich men, and how since that
+time these powerful interests had used all their influence to get him
+put off the Bench. He told her about the Transcontinental case and how
+the judge had got mysteriously tangled up in the Great Northern Mining
+Company, and of the scandalous newspaper rumours, followed by the news
+of the Congressional inquiry. Then he told her about the panic in Wall
+Street, the sale of the house on Madison Avenue and the removal to Long
+Island.
+
+"That is the situation," said Stott when he had finished. "We are
+waiting now to see what the Senate will do. We hope for the best. It
+seems impossible that the Senate will condemn a man whose whole life is
+like an open book, but unfortunately the Senate is strongly Republican
+and the big interests are in complete control. Unless support comes
+from some unexpected quarter we must be prepared for anything."
+
+Support from some unexpected quarter! Stott's closing words rang in
+Shirley's head. Was that not just what she had to offer? Unable to
+restrain herself longer and her heart beating tumultuously from
+suppressed emotion, she cried:
+
+"We'll have that support! We'll have it! I've got it already! I wanted
+to surprise you! Father, the most powerful man in the United States
+will save you from being dishonoured!"
+
+The two men leaned forward in eager interest. What could the girl mean?
+Was she serious or merely jesting?
+
+But Shirley was never more serious in her life. She was jubilant at the
+thought that she had arrived home in time to invoke the aid of this
+powerful ally. She repeated enthusiastically:
+
+"We need not worry any more. He has but to say a word and these
+proceedings will be instantly dropped. They would not dare act against
+his veto. Did you hear, father, your case is as good as won!"
+
+"What do you mean, child? Who is this unknown friend?"
+
+"Surely you can guess when I say the most powerful man in the United
+States? None other than John Burkett Ryder!"
+
+She stopped short to watch the effect which this name would have on her
+hearers. But to her surprise neither her father nor Stott displayed the
+slightest emotion or even interest. Puzzled at this cold reception, she
+repeated:
+
+"Did you hear, father--John Burkett Ryder will come to your assistance.
+I came home on the same ship as his son and he promised to secure his
+father's aid."
+
+The judge puffed heavily at his pipe and merely shook his head, making
+no reply. Stott explained:
+
+"We can't look for help from that quarter, Shirley. You don't expect a
+man to cut loose his own kite, do you?"
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded Shirley, mystified.
+
+"Simply this--that John Burkett Ryder is the very man who is
+responsible for all your father's misfortunes."
+
+The girl sank back in her seat pale and motionless, as if she had
+received a blow. Was it possible? Could Jefferson's father have done
+them such a wrong as this? She well knew that Ryder, Sr., was a man who
+would stop at nothing to accomplish his purpose--this she had
+demonstrated conclusively in her book--but she had never dreamed that
+his hand would ever be directed against her own flesh and blood.
+Decidedly some fatality was causing Jefferson and herself to drift
+further and further apart. First, her father's trouble. That alone
+would naturally have separated them. And now this discovery that
+Jefferson's father had done hers this wrong. All idea of marriage was
+henceforth out of the question. That was irrevocable. Of course, she
+could not hold Jefferson to blame for methods which he himself
+abhorred. She would always think as much of him as ever, but whether
+her father emerged safely from the trial in the Senate or not--no
+matter what the outcome of the impeachment proceedings might be,
+Jefferson could never be anything else than a Ryder and from now on
+there would be an impassable gulf between the Rossmores and the Ryders.
+The dove does not mate with the hawk.
+
+"Do you really believe this, that John Ryder deliberately concocted the
+bribery charge with the sole purpose of ruining my father?" demanded
+Shirley when she had somewhat recovered.
+
+"There is no other solution of the mystery possible," answered Stott.
+"The Trusts found they could not fight him in the open, in a fair,
+honest way, so they plotted in the dark. Ryder was the man who had most
+to lose by your father's honesty on the bench. Ryder was the man he hit
+the hardest when he enjoined his Transcontinental Railroad. Ryder, I am
+convinced, is the chief conspirator."
+
+"But can such things be in a civilized community?" cried Shirley
+indignantly. "Cannot he be exposed, won't the press take the matter up,
+cannot we show conspiracy?"
+
+"It sounds easy, but it isn't," replied Stott. "I have had a heap of
+experience with the law, my child, and I know what I'm talking about.
+They're too clever to be caught tripping. They've covered their tracks
+well, be sure of that. As to the newspapers--when did you ever hear of
+them championing a man when he's down?"
+
+"And you, father--do you believe Ryder did this?"
+
+"I have no longer any doubt of it," answered the judge. "I think John
+Ryder would see me dead before he would raise a finger to help me. His
+answer to my demand for my letters convinced me that he was the arch
+plotter."
+
+"What letters do you refer to?" demanded Shirley.
+
+"The letters I wrote to him in regard to my making an investment. He
+advised the purchase of certain stock. I wrote him two letters at the
+time, which letters if I had them now would go a long way to clearing
+me of this charge of bribery, for they plainly showed that I regarded
+the transaction as a bona fide investment. Since this trouble began I
+wrote to Ryder asking him to return me these letters so I might use
+them in my defence. The only reply I got was an insolent note from his
+secretary saying that Mr. Ryder had forgotten all about the
+transaction, and in any case had not the letters I referred to."
+
+"Couldn't you compel him to return them?" asked Shirley.
+
+"We could never get at him," interrupted Stott. "The man is guarded as
+carefully as the Czar."
+
+"Still," objected Shirley, "it is possible that he may have lost the
+letters or even never received them."
+
+"Oh, he has them safe enough," replied Stott. "A man like Ryder keeps
+every scrap of paper, with the idea that it may prove useful some day.
+The letters are lying somewhere in his desk. Besides, after the
+Transcontinental decision he was heard to say that he'd have Judge
+Rossmore off the Bench inside of a year."
+
+"And it wasn't a vain boast--he's done it," muttered the judge.
+
+Shirley relapsed into silence. Her brain was in a whirl. It was true
+then. This merciless man of money, this ogre of monopolistic
+corporations, this human juggernaut had crushed her father merely
+because by his honesty he interfered with his shady business deals! Ah,
+why had she spared him in her book? She felt now that she had been too
+lenient, not bitter enough, not sufficiently pitiless. Such a man was
+entitled to no mercy. Yes, it was all clear enough now. John Burkett
+Ryder, the head of "the System," the plutocrat whose fabulous fortune
+gave him absolute control over the entire country, which invested him
+with a personal power greater than that of any king, this was the man
+who now dared attack the Judiciary, the corner stone of the
+Constitution, the one safeguard of the people's liberty. Where would it
+end? How long would the nation tolerate being thus ruthlessly trodden
+under the unclean heels of an insolent oligarchy? The capitalists,
+banded together for the sole purpose of pillage and loot, had already
+succeeded in enslaving the toiler. The appalling degradation of the
+working classes, the sordidness and demoralizing squalor in which they
+passed their lives, the curse of drink, the provocation to crime, the
+shame of the sweat shops--all which evils in our social system she had
+seen as a Settlement worker, were directly traceable to Centralized
+Wealth. The labor unions regulated wages and hours, but they were
+powerless to control the prices of the necessaries of life. The Trusts
+could at pleasure create famine or plenty. They usually willed to make
+it famine so they themselves might acquire more millions with which to
+pay for marble palaces, fast motor cars, ocean-going yachts and
+expensive establishments at Newport. Food was ever dearer and of poorer
+quality, clothes cost more, rents and taxes were higher. She thought of
+the horrors in the packing houses at Chicago recently made the subject
+of a sensational government report--putrid, pestiferous meats put up
+for human food amid conditions of unspeakable foulness, freely exposed
+to deadly germs from the expectorations of work people suffering from
+tuberculosis, in unsanitary rotten buildings soaked through with blood
+and every conceivable form of filth and decay, the beef barons careless
+and indifferent to the dictates of common decency so long as they could
+make more money. And while our public gasped in disgust at the
+sickening revelations of the Beef scandal and foreign countries quickly
+cancelled their contracts for American prepared meats, the millionaire
+packer, insolent in the possession of wealth stolen from a poisoned
+public, impudently appeared in public in his fashionable touring car,
+with head erect and self-satisfied, wholly indifferent to his shame.
+
+These and other evidences of the plutocracy's cruel grip upon the
+nation had ended by exasperating the people. There must be a limit
+somewhere to the turpitudes of a degenerate class of nouveaux riches.
+The day of reckoning was fast approaching for the grafters and among
+the first to taste the vengeance of the people would be the Colossus.
+But while waiting for the people to rise in their righteous wrath,
+Ryder was all powerful, and if it were true that he had instituted
+these impeachment proceedings her father had little chance. What could
+be done? They could not sit and wait, as Stott had said, for the action
+of the Senate. If it were true that Ryder controlled the Senate as he
+controlled everything else her father was doomed. No, they must find
+some other way.
+
+And long after the judge and Stott had left for the city Shirley sat
+alone on the porch engrossed in thought, taxing her brain to find some
+way out of the darkness. And when presently her mother and aunt
+returned they found her still sitting there, silent and preoccupied. If
+they only had those two letters, she thought. They alone might save her
+father. But how could they be got at? Mr. Ryder had put them safely
+away, no doubt. He would not give them up. She wondered how it would be
+to go boldly to him and appeal to whatever sense of honour and fairness
+that might be lying latent within him. No, such a man would not know
+what the terms "honour," "fairness" meant. She pondered upon it all day
+and at night when she went tired to bed it was her last thought as she
+dropped off to sleep.
+
+The following morning broke clear and fine. It was one of those
+glorious, ideal days of which we get perhaps half a dozen during the
+whole summer, days when the air is cool and bracing, champagne-like in
+its exhilarating effect, and when Nature dons her brightest dress, when
+the atmosphere is purer, the grass greener, the sky bluer, the flowers
+sweeter and the birds sing in more joyous chorus, when all creation
+seems in tune. Days that make living worth while, when one can forget
+the ugliness, the selfishness, the empty glitter of the man-made city
+and walk erect and buoyant in the open country as in the garden of God.
+
+Shirley went out for a long walk. She preferred to go alone so she
+would not have to talk. Hers was one of those lonely, introspective
+natures that resent the intrusion of aimless chatter when preoccupied
+with serious thoughts. Long Island was unknown territory to her and it
+all looked very flat and uninteresting, but she loved the country, and
+found keen delight in the fresh, pure air and the sweet scent of new
+mown hay waited from the surrounding fields. In her soft, loosefitting
+linen dress, her white canvas shoes, garden hat trimmed with red roses,
+and lace parasol, she made an attractive picture and every
+passer-by--with the exception of one old farmer and he was half
+blind--turned to look at this good-looking girl, a stranger in those
+parts and whose stylish appearance suggested Fifth Avenue rather than
+the commonplace purlieus of Massapequa.
+
+Every now and then Shirley espied in the distance the figure of a man
+which she thought she recognized as that of Jefferson. Had he come,
+after all? The blood went coursing tumultuously through her veins only
+a moment later to leave her face a shade paler as the man came nearer
+and she saw he was a stranger. She wondered what he was doing, if he
+gave her a thought, if he had spoken to his father and what the latter
+had said. She could realize now what Mr. Ryder's reply had been. Then
+she wondered what her future life would be. She could do nothing, of
+course, until the Senate had passed upon her father's case, but it was
+imperative that she get to work. In a day or two, she would call on her
+publishers and learn how her book was selling. She might get other
+commissions. If she could not make enough money in literary work she
+would have to teach. It was a dreary outlook at best, and she sighed as
+she thought of the ambitions that had once stirred her breast. All the
+brightness seemed to have gone out of her life, her father disgraced,
+Jefferson now practically lost to her--only her work remained.
+
+As she neared the cottage on her return home she caught sight of the
+letter carrier approaching the gate. Instantly she thought of
+Jefferson, and she hurried to intercept the man. Perhaps he had written
+instead of coming.
+
+"Miss Shirley Rossmore?" said the man eyeing her interrogatively.
+
+"That's I," said Shirley.
+
+The postman handed her a letter and passed on. Shirley glanced quickly
+at the superscription. No, it was not from Jefferson; she knew his
+handwriting too well. The envelope, moreover, bore the firm name of her
+publishers. She tore it open and found that it merely contained another
+letter which the publishers had forwarded. This was addressed to Miss
+Shirley Green and ran as follows:
+
+DEAR MADAM.--If convenient, I should like to see you at my office, No.
+36 Broadway, in relation to your book "The American Octopus." Kindly
+inform me as to the day and hour at which I may expect you.
+
+Yours truly,
+
+JOHN BURKETT RYDER, per B.
+
+Shirley almost shouted from sheer excitement. At first she was
+alarmed--the name John Burkett Ryder was such a bogey to frighten bad
+children with, she thought he might want to punish her for writing
+about him as she had. She hurried to the porch and sat there reading
+the letter over and over and her brain began to evolve ideas. She had
+been wondering how she could get at Mr. Ryder and here he was actually
+asking her to call on him. Evidently he had not the slightest idea of
+her identity, for he had been able to reach her only through her
+publishers and no doubt he had exhausted every other means of
+discovering her address. The more she pondered over it the more she
+began to see in this invitation a way of helping her father. Yes, she
+would go and beard the lion in his den, but she would not go to his
+office. She would accept the invitation only on condition that the
+interview took place in the Ryder mansion where undoubtedly the letters
+would be found. She decided to act immediately. No time was to be lost,
+so she procured a sheet of paper and an envelope and wrote as follows:
+
+MR. JOHN BURKETT RYDER,
+
+Dear Sir.--I do not call upon gentlemen at their business office.
+
+Yours, etc.,
+
+SHIRLEY GREEN.
+
+Her letter was abrupt and at first glance seemed hardly calculated to
+bring about what she wanted--an invitation to call at the Ryder home,
+but she was shrewd enough to see that if Ryder wrote to her at all it
+was because he was most anxious to see her and her abruptness would not
+deter him from trying again. On the contrary, the very unusualness of
+anyone thus dictating to him would make him more than ever desirous of
+making her acquaintance. So Shirley mailed the letter and awaited with
+confidence for Ryder's reply. So certain was she that one would come
+that she at once began to form her plan of action. She would leave
+Massapequa at once, and her whereabouts must remain a secret even from
+her own family. As she intended to go to the Ryder house in the assumed
+character of Shirley Green, it would never do to run the risk of being
+followed home by a Ryder detective to the Rossmore cottage. She would
+confide in one person only--Judge Stott. He would know where she was
+and would be in constant communication with her. But, otherwise, she
+must be alone to conduct the campaign as she judged fit. She would go
+at once to New York and take rooms in a boarding house where she would
+be known as Shirley Green. As for funds to meet her expenses, she had
+her diamonds, and would they not be filling a more useful purpose if
+sold to defray the cost of saving her father than in mere personal
+adornment? So that evening, while her mother was talking with the
+judge, she beckoned Stott over to the corner where she was sitting:
+
+"Judge Stott," she began, "I have a plan."
+
+He smiled indulgently at her.
+
+"Another friend like that of yesterday?" he asked.
+
+"No," replied the girl, "listen. I am in earnest now and I want you to
+help me. You said that no one on earth could resist John Burkett Ryder,
+that no one could fight against the Money Power. Well, do you know what
+I am going to do?"
+
+There was a quiver in her voice and her nostrils were dilated like
+those of a thoroughbred eager to run the race. She had risen from her
+seat and stood facing him, her fists clenched, her face set and
+determined. Stott had never seen her in this mood and he gazed at her
+half admiringly, half curiously.
+
+"What will you do?" he asked with a slightly ironical inflection in his
+voice.
+
+"I am going to fight John Burkett Ryder!" she cried.
+
+Stott looked at her open-mouthed.
+
+"You?" he said.
+
+"Yes, I," said Shirley. "I'm going to him and I intend to get those
+letters if he has them."
+
+Stott shook his head.
+
+"My dear child," he said, "what are you talking about? How can you
+expect to reach Ryder? We couldn't."
+
+"I don't know just how yet," replied Shirley, "but I'm going to try. I
+love my father and I'm going to leave nothing untried to save him."
+
+"But what can you do?" persisted Stott. "The matter has been sifted
+over and over by some of the greatest minds in the country."
+
+"Has any woman sifted it over?" demanded Shirley.
+
+"No, but--" stammered Stott.
+
+"Then it's about time one did," said the girl decisively. "Those
+letters my father speaks of--they would be useful, would they not?"
+
+"They would be invaluable."
+
+"Then I'll get them. If not--"
+
+"But I don't understand how you're going to get at Ryder," interrupted
+Stott.
+
+"This is how," replied Shirley, passing over to him the letter she had
+received that afternoon.
+
+As Stott recognized the well-known signature and read the contents, the
+expression of his face changed. He gasped for breath and sank into a
+chair from sheer astonishment.
+
+"Ah, that's different!" he cried, "that's different!"
+
+Briefly Shirley outlined her plan, explaining that she would go to live
+in the city immediately and conduct her campaign from there. If she was
+successful, it might save her father and if not, no harm could come of
+it.
+
+Stott demurred at first. He did not wish to bear alone the
+responsibility of such an adventure. There was no knowing what might
+happen to her, visiting a strange house under an assumed name. But when
+he saw how thoroughly in earnest she was and that she was ready to
+proceed without him, he capitulated. He agreed that she might be able
+to find the missing letters or if not, that she might make some
+impression on Ryder himself. She could show interest in the judge's
+case as a disinterested outsider and so might win his sympathies. From
+being a skeptic, Stott now became enthusiastic. He promised to
+cooperate in every way and to keep Shirley's whereabouts an absolute
+secret. The girl, therefore, began to make her preparations for
+departure from home by telling her parents that she had accepted an
+invitation to spend a week or two with an old college chum in New York.
+
+That same evening her mother, the judge, and Stott went for a stroll
+after dinner and left her to take care of the house. They had wanted
+Shirley to go, too, but she pleaded fatigue. The truth was that she
+wanted to be alone so she could ponder undisturbed over her plans. It
+was a clear, starlit night, with no moon, and Shirley sat on the porch
+listening to the chirping of the crickets and idly watching the flashes
+of the mysterious fireflies. She was in no mood for reading and sat for
+a long time rocking herself, engrossed in her thoughts. Suddenly she
+heard someone unfasten the garden gate. It was too soon for the return
+of the promenaders; it must be a visitor. Through the uncertain
+penumbra of the garden she discerned approaching a form which looked
+familiar. Yes, now there was no doubt possible. It was, indeed,
+Jefferson Ryder.
+
+She hurried down the porch to greet him. No matter what the father had
+done she could never think any the less of the son. He took her hand
+and for several moments neither one spoke. There are times when silence
+is more eloquent than speech and this was one of them. The gentle grip
+of his big strong hand expressed more tenderly than any words, the
+sympathy that lay in his heart for the woman he loved. Shirley said
+quietly:
+
+"You have come at last, Jefferson."
+
+"I came as soon as I could," he replied gently. "I saw Father only
+yesterday."
+
+"You need not tell me what he said," Shirley hastened to say.
+
+Jefferson made no reply. He understood what she meant. He hung his head
+and hit viciously with his walking stick at the pebbles that lay at his
+feet. She went on:
+
+"I know everything now. It was foolish of me to think that Mr. Ryder
+would ever help us."
+
+"I can't help it in any way," blurted out Jefferson. "I have not the
+slightest influence over him. His business methods I consider
+disgraceful--you understand that, don't you, Shirley?"
+
+The girl laid her hand on his arm and replied kindly:
+
+"Of course, Jeff, we know that. Come up and sit down."
+
+He followed her on the porch and drew up a rocker beside her.
+
+"They are all out for a walk," she explained.
+
+"I'm glad," he said frankly. "I wanted a quiet talk with you. I did not
+care to meet anyone. My name must be odious to your people."
+
+Both were silent, feeling a certain awkwardness. They seemed to have
+drifted apart in some way since those delightful days in Paris and on
+the ship. Then he said:
+
+"I'm going away, but I couldn't go until I saw you."
+
+"You are going away?" exclaimed Shirley, surprised.
+
+"Yes," he said, "I cannot stand it any more at home. I had a hot talk
+with my father yesterday about one thing and another. He and I don't
+chin well together. Besides this matter of your father's impeachment
+has completely discouraged me. All the wealth in the world could never
+reconcile me to such methods! I'm ashamed of the role my own flesh and
+blood has played in that miserable affair. I can't express what I feel
+about it."
+
+"Yes," sighed Shirley, "it is hard to believe that you are the son of
+that man!"
+
+"How is your father?" inquired Jefferson. "How does he take it?"
+
+"Oh, his heart beats and he can see and hear and speak," replied
+Shirley sadly, "but he is only a shadow of what he once was. If the
+trial goes against him, I don't think he'll survive it."
+
+"It is monstrous," cried Jefferson. "To think that my father should be
+responsible for this thing!"
+
+"We are still hoping for the best," added Shirley, "but the outlook is
+dark."
+
+"But what are you going to do?" he asked. "These surroundings are not
+for you--" He looked around at the cheap furnishings which he could see
+through the open window and his face showed real concern.
+
+"I shall teach or write, or go out as governess," replied Shirley with
+a tinge of bitterness. Then smiling sadly she added: "Poverty is easy;
+it is unmerited disgrace which is hard."
+
+The young man drew his chair closer and took hold of the hand that lay
+in her lap. She made no resistance.
+
+"Shirley," he said, "do you remember that talk we had on the ship? I
+asked you to be my wife. You led me to believe that you were not
+indifferent to me. I ask you again to marry me. Give me the right to
+take care of you and yours. I am the son of the world's richest man,
+but I don't want his money. I have earned a competence of my
+own--enough to live on comfortably. We will go away where you and your
+father and mother will make their home with us. Do not let the sins of
+the fathers embitter the lives of the children."
+
+"Mine has not sinned," said Shirley bitterly.
+
+"I wish I could say the same of mine," replied Jefferson. "It is
+because the clouds are dark about you that I want to come into your
+life to comfort you."
+
+The girl shook her head.
+
+"No, Jefferson, the circumstances make such a marriage impossible. Your
+family and everybody else would say that I had inveigled you into it.
+It is even more impossible now than I thought it was when I spoke to
+you on the ship. Then I was worried about my father's trouble and could
+give no thought to anything else. Now it is different. Your father's
+action has made our union impossible for ever. I thank you for the
+honour you have done me. I do like you. I like you well enough to be
+your wife, but I will not accept this sacrifice on your part. Your
+offer, coming at such a critical time, is dictated only by your noble,
+generous nature, by your sympathy for our misfortune. Afterwards, you
+might regret it. If my father were convicted and driven from the bench
+and you found you had married the daughter of a disgraced man you would
+be ashamed of us all, and if I saw that it would break my heart."
+
+Emotion stopped her utterance and she buried her face in her hands
+weeping silently.
+
+"Shirley," said Jefferson gently, "you are wrong. I love you for
+yourself, not because of your trouble. You know that. I shall never
+love any other woman but you. If you will not say 'yes' now, I shall go
+away as I told my father I would and one day I shall come back and then
+if you are still single I shall ask you again to be my wife."
+
+"Where are you going?" she asked.
+
+"I shall travel for a year and then, may be, I shall stay a couple of
+years in Paris, studying at the Beaux Arts. Then I may go to Rome. If I
+am to do anything worth while in the career I have chosen I must have
+that European training."
+
+"Paris! Rome!" echoed Shirley. "How I envy you! Yes, you are right. Get
+away from this country where the only topic, the only thought is money,
+where the only incentive to work is dollars. Go where there are still
+some ideals, where you can breathe the atmosphere of culture and art."
+
+Forgetting momentarily her own troubles, Shirley chatted on about life
+in the art centres of Europe, advised Jefferson where to go, with whom
+to study. She knew people in Paris, Rome and Munich and she would give
+him letters to them. Only, if he wanted to perfect himself in the
+languages, he ought to avoid Americans and cultivate the natives. Then,
+who could tell? if he worked hard and was lucky, he might have
+something exhibited at the Salon and return to America a famous painter.
+
+"If I do," smiled Jefferson, "you shall be the first to congratulate
+me. I shall come and ask you to be my wife. May I?" he added.
+
+Shirley smiled gravely.
+
+"Get famous first. You may not want me then."
+
+"I shall always want you," he whispered hoarsely, bending over her. In
+the dim light of the porch he saw that her tear-stained face was drawn
+and pale. He rose and held out his hand.
+
+"Good-bye," he said simply.
+
+"Good-bye, Jefferson." She rose and put her hand in his. "We shall
+always be friends. I, too, am going away."
+
+"You going away--where to?" he asked surprised.
+
+"I have work to do in connection with my father's case," she said.
+
+"You?" said Jefferson puzzled. "You have work to do--what work?"
+
+"I can't say what it is, Jefferson. There are good reasons why I can't.
+You must take my word for it that it is urgent and important work."
+Then she added: "You go your way, Jefferson; I will go mine. It was not
+our destiny to belong to each other. You will become famous as an
+artist. And I--"
+
+"And you--" echoed Jefferson.
+
+"I--I shall devote my life to my father. It's no use,
+Jefferson--really--I've thought it all out. You must not come back to
+me--you understand. We must be alone with our grief--father and I.
+Good-bye."
+
+He raised her hand to his lips.
+
+"Good-bye, Shirley. Don't forget me. I shall come back for you."
+
+He went down the porch and she watched him go out of the gate and down
+the road until she could see his figure no longer. Then she turned back
+and sank into her chair and burying her face in her handkerchief she
+gave way to a torrent of tears which afforded some relief to the weight
+on her heart. Presently the others returned from their walk and she
+told them about the visitor.
+
+"Mr. Ryder's son, Jefferson, was here. We crossed on the same ship. I
+introduced him to Judge Stott on the dock."
+
+The judge looked surprised, but he merely said:
+
+"I hope for his sake that he is a different man from his father."
+
+"He is," replied Shirley simply, and nothing more was said.
+
+Two days went by, during which Shirley went on completing the
+preparations for her visit to New York. It was arranged that Stott
+should escort her to the city. Shortly before they started for the
+train a letter arrived for Shirley. Like the first one it had been
+forwarded by her publishers. It read as follows:
+
+
+
+ MISS SHIRLEY GREEN,
+
+Dear Madam.--I shall be happy to see you at my residence--Fifth
+Avenue--any afternoon that you will mention.
+
+Yours very truly,
+
+JOHN BURKETT RYDER, per B.
+
+Shirley smiled in triumph as, unseen by her father and mother, she
+passed it over to Stott. She at once sat down and wrote this reply:
+
+MR. JOHN BURKETT RYDER,
+
+Dear Sir.--I am sorry that I am unable to comply with your request. I
+prefer the invitation to call at your private residence should come
+from Mrs. Ryder.
+
+Yours, etc.,
+
+SHIRLEY GREEN.
+
+She laughed as she showed this to Stott: "He'll write me again," she
+said, "and next time his wife will sign the letter."
+
+An hour later she left Massapequa for the city.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+The Hon. Fitzroy Bagley had every reason to feel satisfied with
+himself. His affaire de coeur with the Senator's daughter was
+progressing more smoothly than ever, and nothing now seemed likely to
+interfere with his carefully prepared plans to capture an American
+heiress. The interview with Kate Roberts in the library, so awkwardly
+disturbed by Jefferson's unexpected intrusion, had been followed by
+other interviews more secret and more successful, and the plausible
+secretary had contrived so well to persuade the girl that he really
+thought the world of her, and that a brilliant future awaited her as
+his wife, that it was not long before he found her in a mood to refuse
+him nothing.
+
+Bagley urged immediate marriage; he insinuated that Jefferson had
+treated her shamefully and that she owed it to herself to show the
+world that there were other men as good as the one who had jilted her.
+He argued that in view of the Senator being bent on the match with
+Ryder's son it would be worse than useless for him, Bagley, to make
+formal application for her hand, so, as he explained, the only thing
+which remained was a runaway marriage. Confronted with the fait
+accompli, papa Roberts would bow to the inevitable. They could get
+married quietly in town, go away for a short trip, and when the Senator
+had gotten over his first disappointment they would be welcomed back
+with open arms.
+
+Kate listened willingly enough to this specious reasoning. In her heart
+she was piqued at Jefferson's indifference and she was foolish enough
+to really believe that this marriage with a British nobleman, twice
+removed, would be in the nature of a triumph over him. Besides, this
+project of an elopement appealed strangely to her frivolous
+imagination; it put her in the same class as all her favourite novel
+heroines. And it would be capital fun!
+
+Meantime, Senator Roberts, in blissful ignorance of this little plot
+against his domestic peace, was growing impatient and he approached his
+friend Ryder once more on the subject of his son Jefferson. The young
+man, he said, had been back from Europe some time. He insisted on
+knowing what his attitude was towards his daughter. If they were
+engaged to be married he said there should be a public announcement of
+the fact. It was unfair to him and a slight to his daughter to let
+matters hang fire in this unsatisfactory way and he hinted that both
+himself and his daughter might demand their passports from the Ryder
+mansion unless some explanation were forthcoming.
+
+Ryder was in a quandary. He had no wish to quarrel with his useful
+Washington ally; he recognized the reasonableness of his complaint. Yet
+what could he do? Much as he himself desired the marriage, his son was
+obstinate and showed little inclination to settle down. He even hinted
+at attractions in another quarter. He did not tell the Senator of his
+recent interview with his son when the latter made it very plain that
+the marriage could never take place. Ryder, Sr., had his own reasons
+for wishing to temporize. It was quite possible that Jefferson might
+change his mind and abandon his idea of going abroad and he suggested
+to the Senator that perhaps if he, the Senator, made the engagement
+public through the newspapers it might have the salutary effect of
+forcing his son's hand.
+
+So a few mornings later there appeared among the society notes in
+several of the New York papers this paragraph:
+
+"The engagement is announced of Miss Katherine Roberts, only daughter
+of senator Roberts of Wisconsin, to Jefferson Ryder, son of Mr. John
+Burkett Ryder."
+
+Two persons in New York happened to see the item about the same time
+and both were equally interested, although it affected them in a
+different manner. One was Shirley Rossmore, who had chanced to pick up
+the newspaper at the breakfast table in her boarding house.
+
+"So soon?" she murmured to herself. Well, why not? She could not blame
+Jefferson. He had often spoken to her of this match arranged by his
+father and they had laughed over it as a typical marriage of
+convenience modelled after the Continental pattern. Jefferson, she
+knew, had never cared for the girl nor taken the affair seriously. Some
+powerful influences must have been at work to make him surrender so
+easily. Here again she recognized the masterly hand of Ryder, Sr., and
+more than ever she was eager to meet this extraordinary man and measure
+her strength with his. Her mind, indeed, was too full of her father's
+troubles to grieve over her own however much she might have been
+inclined to do so under other circumstances, and all that day she did
+her best to banish the paragraph from her thoughts. More than a week
+had passed since she left Massapequa and what with corresponding with
+financiers, calling on editors and publishers, every moment of her time
+had been kept busy. She had found a quiet and reasonable priced
+boarding house off Washington Square and here Stott had called several
+times to see her. Her correspondence with Mr. Ryder had now reached a
+phase when it was impossible to invent any further excuses for delaying
+the interview asked for. As she had foreseen, a day or two after her
+arrival in town she had received a note from Mrs. Ryder asking her to
+do her the honour to call and see her, and Shirley, after waiting
+another two days, had replied making an appointment for the following
+day at three o'clock. This was the same day on which the paragraph
+concerning the Ryder-Roberts engagement appeared in the society
+chronicles of the metropolis.
+
+Directly after the meagre meal which in New York boarding houses is
+dignified by the name of luncheon, Shirley proceeded to get ready for
+this portentous visit to the Ryder mansion. She was anxious to make a
+favourable impression on the financier, so she took some pains with her
+personal appearance. She always looked stylish, no matter what she
+wore, and her poverty was of too recent date to make much difference to
+her wardrobe, which was still well supplied with Paris-made gowns. She
+selected a simple close-fitting gown of gray chiffon cloth and a
+picture hat of Leghorn straw heaped with red roses, Shirley's favourite
+flower. Thus arrayed, she sallied forth at two o'clock--a little gray
+mouse to do battle with the formidable lion.
+
+The sky was threatening, so instead of walking a short way up Fifth
+Avenue for exercise, as she had intended doing, she cut across town
+through Ninth Street, and took the surface car on Fourth Avenue. This
+would put her down at Madison Avenue and Seventy-fourth Street, which
+was only a block from the Ryder residence. She looked so pretty and was
+so well dressed that the passers-by who looked after her wondered why
+she did not take a cab instead of standing on a street corner for a
+car. But one's outward appearance is not always a faithful index to the
+condition of one's pocketbook, and Shirley was rapidly acquiring the
+art of economy.
+
+It was not without a certain trepidation that she began this journey.
+So far, all her plans had been based largely on theory, but now that
+she was actually on her way to Mr. Ryder all sorts of misgivings beset
+her. Suppose he knew her by sight and roughly accused her of obtaining
+access to his house under false pretences and then had her ejected by
+the servants? How terrible and humiliating that would be! And even if
+he did not how could she possibly find those letters with him watching
+her, and all in the brief time of a conventional afternoon call? It had
+been an absurd idea from the first. Stott was right; she saw that now.
+But she had entered upon it and she was not going to confess herself
+beaten until she had tried. And as the car sped along Madison Avenue,
+gradually drawing nearer to the house which she was going to enter
+disguised as it were, like a burglar, she felt cold chills run up and
+down her spine--the same sensation that one experiences when one rings
+the bell of a dentist's where one has gone to have a tooth extracted.
+In fact, she felt so nervous and frightened that if she had not been
+ashamed before herself she would have turned back. In about twenty
+minutes the car stopped at the corner of Seventy-fourth Street. Shirley
+descended and with a quickened pulse walked towards the Ryder mansion,
+which she knew well by sight.
+
+There was one other person in New York who, that same morning, had read
+the newspaper item regarding the Ryder-Roberts betrothal, and he did
+not take the matter so calmly as Shirley had done. On the contrary, it
+had the effect of putting him into a violent rage. This was Jefferson.
+He was working in his studio when he read it and five minutes later he
+was tearing up-town to seek the author of it. He understood its object,
+of course; they wanted to force his hand, to shame him into this
+marriage, to so entangle him with the girl that no other alternative
+would be possible to an honourable man. It was a despicable trick and
+he had no doubt that his father was at the back of it. So his mind now
+was fully made up. He would go away at once where they could not make
+his life a burden with this odious marriage which was fast becoming a
+nightmare to him. He would close up his studio and leave immediately
+for Europe. He would show his father once for all that he was a man and
+expected to be treated as one.
+
+He wondered what Shirley was doing. Where had she gone, what was this
+mysterious work of which she had spoken? He only realized now, when she
+seemed entirely beyond his reach, how much he loved her and how empty
+his life would be without her. He would know no happiness until she was
+his wife. Her words on the porch did not discourage him. Under the
+circumstances he could not expect her to have said anything else. She
+could not marry into John Ryder's family with such a charge hanging
+over her own father's head, but, later, when the trial was over, no
+matter how it turned out, he would go to her again and ask her to be
+his wife.
+
+On arriving home the first person he saw was the ubiquitous Mr. Bagley,
+who stood at the top of the first staircase giving some letters to the
+butler. Jefferson cornered him at once, holding out the newspaper
+containing the offending paragraph.
+
+"Say, Bagley," he cried, "what does this mean? Is this any of your
+doing?"
+
+The English secretary gave his employer's son a haughty stare, and
+then, without deigning to reply or even to glance at the newspaper,
+continued his instructions to the servant:
+
+"Here, Jorkins, get stamps for all these letters and see they are
+mailed at once. They are very important."
+
+"Very good, sir."
+
+The man took the letters and disappeared, while Jefferson, impatient,
+repeated his question:
+
+"My doing?" sneered Mr. Bagley. "Really, Jefferson, you go too far! Do
+you suppose for one instant that I would condescend to trouble myself
+with your affairs?"
+
+Jefferson was in no mood to put up with insolence from anyone,
+especially from a man whom he heartily despised, so advancing
+menacingly he thundered:
+
+"I mean--were you, in the discharge of your menial-like duties,
+instructed by my father to send that paragraph to the newspapers
+regarding my alleged betrothal to Miss Roberts? Yes or No?"
+
+The man winced and made a step backward. There was a gleam in the Ryder
+eye which he knew by experience boded no good.
+
+"Really, Jefferson," he said in a more conciliatory tone, "I know
+absolutely nothing about the paragraph. This is the first I hear of it.
+Why not ask your father?"
+
+"I will," replied Jefferson grimly,
+
+He was turning to go in the direction of the library when Bagley
+stopped him.
+
+"You cannot possibly see him now," he said. "Sergeant Ellison of the
+Secret Service is in there with him, and your father told me not to
+disturb him on any account. He has another appointment at three o'clock
+with some woman who writes books."
+
+Seeing that the fellow was in earnest, Jefferson did not insist. He
+could see his father a little later or send him a message through his
+mother. Proceeding upstairs he found Mrs. Ryder in her room and in a
+few energetic words he explained the situation to his mother. They had
+gone too far with this matchmaking business, he said, his father was
+trying to interfere with his personal liberty and he was going to put a
+stop to it. He would leave at once for Europe. Mrs. Ryder had already
+heard of the projected trip abroad, so the news of this sudden
+departure was not the shock it might otherwise have been. In her heart
+she did not blame her son, on the contrary she admired his spirit, and
+if the temporary absence from home would make him happier, she would
+not hold him back. Yet, mother like, she wept and coaxed, but nothing
+would shake Jefferson in his determination and he begged his mother to
+make it very plain to his father that this was final and that a few
+days would see him on his way abroad. He would try and come back to see
+his father that afternoon, but otherwise she was to say good-bye for
+him. Mrs. Ryder promised tearfully to do what her son demanded and a
+few minutes later Jefferson was on his way to the front door.
+
+As he went down stairs something white on the carpet attracted his
+attention. He stooped and picked it up. It was a letter. It was in
+Bagley's handwriting and had evidently been dropped by the man to whom
+the secretary had given it to post. But what interested Jefferson more
+than anything else was that it was addressed to Miss Kate Roberts.
+Under ordinary circumstances, a king's ransom would not have tempted
+the young man to read a letter addressed to another, but he was
+convinced that his father's secretary was an adventurer and if he were
+carrying on an intrigue in this manner it could have only one meaning.
+It was his duty to unveil a rascal who was using the Ryder roof and
+name to further his own ends and victimize a girl who, although
+sophisticated enough to know better, was too silly to realize the risk
+she ran at the hands of an unscrupulous man. Hesitating no longer,
+Jefferson tore open the envelope and read:
+
+My dearest wife that is to be:
+
+I have arranged everything. Next Wednesday--just a week from to-day--we
+will go to the house of a discreet friend of mine where a minister will
+marry us; then we will go to City Hall and get through the legal part
+of it. Afterwards, we can catch the four o'clock train for Buffalo.
+Meet me in the ladies' room at the Holland House Wednesday morning at
+11 a.m. I will come there with a closed cab. Your devoted
+
+FITZ.
+
+"Phew!" Jefferson whistled. A close shave this for Senator Roberts, he
+thought. His first impulse was to go upstairs again to his mother and
+put the matter in her hands. She would immediately inform his father,
+who would make short work of Mr. Bagley. But, thought Jefferson, why
+should he spoil a good thing? He could afford to wait a day or two.
+There was no hurry. He could allow Bagley to think all was going
+swimmingly and then uncover the plot at the eleventh hour. He would
+even let this letter go to Kate, there was no difficulty in procuring
+another envelope and imitating the handwriting--and when Bagley was
+just preparing to go to the rendezvous he would spring the trap. Such a
+cad deserved no mercy. The scandal would be a knock-out blow, his
+father would discharge him on the spot and that would be the last they
+would see of the aristocratic English secretary. Jefferson put the
+letter in his pocket and left the house rejoicing.
+
+While the foregoing incidents were happening John Burkett Ryder was
+secluded in his library. The great man had come home earlier than
+usual, for he had two important callers to see by appointment that
+afternoon. One was Sergeant Ellison, who had to report on his mission
+to Massapequa; the other was Miss Shirley Green, the author of "The
+American Octopus," who had at last deigned to honour him with a visit.
+Pending the arrival of these visitors the financier was busy with his
+secretary trying to get rid as rapidly as possible of what business and
+correspondence there was on hand.
+
+The plutocrat was sitting at his desk poring over a mass of papers.
+Between his teeth was the inevitable long black cigar and when he
+raised his eyes to the light a close observer might have remarked that
+they were sea-green, a colour they assumed when the man of millions was
+absorbed in scheming new business deals. Every now and then he stopped
+reading the papers to make quick calculations on scraps of paper. Then
+if the result pleased him, a smile overspread his saturnine features.
+He rose from his chair and nervously paced the floor as he always did
+when thinking deeply.
+
+"Five millions," he muttered, "not a cent more. If they won't sell
+we'll crush them--"
+
+Mr. Bagley entered. Mr. Ryder looked up quickly.
+
+"Well, Bagley?" he said interrogatively. "Has Sergeant Ellison come?"
+
+"Yes, sir. But Mr. Herts is downstairs. He insists on seeing you about
+the Philadelphia gas deal. He says it is a matter of life and death."
+
+"To him--yes," answered the financier dryly. "Let him come up. We might
+as well have it out now."
+
+Mr. Bagley went out and returned almost immediately, followed by a
+short, fat man, rather loudly dressed and apoplectic in appearance. He
+looked like a prosperous brewer, while, as a matter of fact, he was
+president of a gas company, one of the shrewdest promoters in the
+country, and a big man in Wall Street. There was only one bigger man
+and that was John Ryder. But, to-day, Mr. Herts was not in good
+condition. His face was pale and his manner flustered and nervous. He
+was plainly worried.
+
+"Mr. Ryder," he began with excited gesture, "the terms you offer are
+preposterous. It would mean disaster to the stockholders. Our gas
+properties are worth six times that amount. We will sell out for twenty
+millions--not a cent less."
+
+Ryder shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Mr. Herts," he replied coolly, "I am busy to-day and in no mood for
+arguing. We'll either buy you out or force you out. Choose. You have
+our offer. Five millions for your gas property. Will you take it?"
+
+"We'll see you in hell first!" cried his visitor exasperated.
+
+"Very well," replied Ryder still unruffled, "all negotiations are off.
+You leave me free to act. We have an offer to buy cheap the old
+Germantown Gas Company which has charter rights to go into any of the
+streets of Philadelphia. We shall purchase that company, we will put
+ten millions new capital into it, and reduce the price of gas in
+Philadelphia to sixty cents a thousand. Where will you be then?"
+
+The face of the Colossus as he uttered this stand and deliver speech
+was calm and inscrutable. Conscious of the resistless power of his
+untold millions, he felt no more compunction in mercilessly crushing
+this business rival than he would in trampling out the life of a worm.
+The little man facing him looked haggard and distressed. He knew well
+that this was no idle threat. He was well aware that Ryder and his
+associates by the sheer weight of the enormous wealth they controlled
+could sell out or destroy any industrial corporation in the land. It
+was plainly illegal, but it was done every day, and his company was not
+the first victim nor the last. Desperate, he appealed humbly to the
+tyrannical Money Power:
+
+"Don't drive us to the wall, Mr. Ryder. This forced sale will mean
+disaster to us all. Put yourself in our place--think what it means to
+scores of families whose only support is the income from their
+investment in our company."
+
+"Mr. Herts," replied Ryder unmoved, "I never allow sentiment to
+interfere with business. You have heard my terms. I refuse to argue the
+matter further. What is it to be? Five millions or competition? Decide
+now or this interview must end!"
+
+He took out his watch and with his other hand touched a bell. Beads of
+perspiration stood on his visitor's forehead. In a voice broken with
+suppressed emotion he said hoarsely:
+
+"You're a hard, pitiless man, John Ryder! So be it--five millions. I
+don't know what they'll say. I don't dare return to them."
+
+"Those are my terms," said Ryder coldly. "The papers," he added, "will
+be ready for your signature to-morrow at this time, and I'll have a
+cheque ready for the entire amount. Good-day."
+
+Mr. Bagley entered. Ryder bowed to Herts, who slowly retired. When the
+door had closed on him Ryder went back to his desk, a smile of triumph
+on his face. Then he turned to his secretary:
+
+"Let Sergeant Ellison come up," he said.
+
+The secretary left the room and Mr. Ryder sank comfortably in his
+chair, puffing silently at his long black cigar. The financier was
+thinking, but his thoughts concerned neither the luckless gas president
+he had just pitilessly crushed, nor the detective who had come to make
+his report. He was thinking of the book "The American Octopus," and its
+bold author whom he was to meet in a very few minutes. He glanced at
+the clock. A quarter to three. She would be here in fifteen minutes if
+she were punctual, but women seldom are, he reflected. What kind of a
+woman could she be, this Shirley Green, to dare cross swords with a man
+whose power was felt in two hemispheres? No ordinary woman, that was
+certain. He tried to imagine what she looked like, and he pictured a
+tall, gaunt, sexless spinster with spectacles, a sort of nightmare in
+the garb of a woman. A sour, discontented creature, bitter to all
+mankind, owing to disappointments in early life and especially
+vindictive towards the rich, whom her socialistic and even
+anarchistical tendencies prompted her to hate and attack. Yet, withal,
+a brainy, intelligent woman, remarkably well informed as to political
+and industrial conditions--a woman to make a friend of rather than an
+enemy. And John Ryder, who had educated himself to believe that with
+gold he could do everything, that none could resist its power, had no
+doubt that with money he could enlist this Shirley Green in his
+service. At least it would keep her from writing more books about him.
+
+The door opened and Sergeant Ellison entered, followed by the
+secretary, who almost immediately withdrew.
+
+"Well, sergeant," said Mr. Ryder cordially, "what have you to tell me?
+I can give you only a few minutes. I expect a lady friend of yours."
+
+The plutocrat sometimes condescended to be jocular with his
+subordinates.
+
+"A lady friend of mine, sir?" echoed the man, puzzled.
+
+"Yes--Miss Shirley Green, the author," replied the financier, enjoying
+the detective's embarrassment. "That suggestion of yours worked out all
+right. She's coming here to-day."
+
+"I'm glad you've found her, sir."
+
+"It was a tough job," answered Ryder with a grimace. "We wrote her half
+a dozen times before she was satisfied with the wording of the
+invitation. But, finally, we landed her and I expect her at three
+o'clock. Now what about that Rossmore girl? Did you go down to
+Massapequa?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I have been there half a dozen times. In fact, I've just
+come from there. Judge Rossmore is there, all right, but his daughter
+has left for parts unknown."
+
+"Gone away--where?" exclaimed the financier.
+
+This was what he dreaded. As long as he could keep his eye on the girl
+there was little danger of Jefferson making a fool of himself; with her
+disappeared everything was possible.
+
+"I could not find out, sir. Their neighbours don't know much about
+them. They say they're haughty and stuck up. The only one I could get
+anything out of was a parson named Deetle. He said it was a sad case,
+that they had reverses and a daughter who was in Paris--"
+
+"Yes, yes," said Ryder impatiently, "we know all that. But where's the
+daughter now?"
+
+"Search me, sir. I even tried to pump the Irish slavey. Gee, what a
+vixen! She almost flew at me. She said she didn't know and didn't care."
+
+Ryder brought his fist down with force on his desk, a trick he had when
+he wished to emphasize a point.
+
+"Sergeant, I don't like the mysterious disappearance of that girl. You
+must find her, do you hear, you must find her if it takes all the
+sleuths in the country. Had my son been seen there?"
+
+"The parson said he saw a young fellow answering his description
+sitting on the porch of the Rossmore cottage the evening before the
+girl disappeared, but he didn't know who he was and hasn't seen him
+since."
+
+"That was my son, I'll wager. He knows where the girl is. Perhaps he's
+with her now. Maybe he's going to marry her. That must be prevented at
+any cost. Sergeant, find that Rossmore girl and I'll give you $1,000."
+
+The detective's face flushed with pleasure at the prospect of so
+liberal a reward. Rising he said:
+
+"I'll find her, sir. I'll find her."
+
+Mr. Bagley entered, wearing the solemn, important air he always
+affected when he had to announce a visitor of consequence. But before
+he could open his mouth Mr. Ryder said:
+
+"Bagley, when did you see my son, Jefferson, last?"
+
+"To-day, sir. He wanted to see you to say good-bye. He said he would be
+back."
+
+Ryder gave a sigh of relief and addressing the detective said:
+
+"It's not so bad as I thought." Then turning again to his secretary he
+asked:
+
+"Well, Bagley, what is it?"
+
+"There's a lady downstairs, sir--Miss Shirley Green."
+
+The financier half sprang from his seat.
+
+"Oh, yes. Show her up at once. Good-bye, sergeant, good-bye. Find that
+Rossmore woman and the $1,000 is yours."
+
+The detective went out and a few moments later Mr. Bagley reappeared
+ushering in Shirley.
+
+The mouse was in the den of the lion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Mr. Ryder remained at his desk and did not even look up when his
+visitor entered. He pretended to be busily preoccupied with his papers,
+which was a favourite pose of his when receiving strangers. This frigid
+reception invariably served its purpose, for it led visitors not to
+expect more than they got, which usually was little enough. For several
+minutes Shirley stood still, not knowing whether to advance or to take
+a seat. She gave a little conventional cough, and Ryder looked up. What
+he saw so astonished him that he at once took from his mouth the cigar
+he was smoking and rose from his seat. He had expected a gaunt old maid
+with spectacles, and here was a stylish, good-looking young woman, who
+could not possibly be over twenty-five. There was surely some mistake.
+This slip of a girl could not have written "The American Octopus." He
+advanced to greet Shirley.
+
+"You wish to see me, Madame?" he asked courteously. There were times
+when even John Burkett Ryder could be polite.
+
+"Yes," replied Shirley, her voice trembling a little in spite of her
+efforts to keep cool. "I am here by appointment. Three o'clock, Mrs.
+Ryder's note said. I am Miss Green."
+
+"You--Miss Green?" echoed the financier dubiously.
+
+"Yes, I am Miss Green--Shirley Green, author of 'The American Octopus.'
+You asked me to call. Here I am."
+
+For the first time in his life, John Ryder was nonplussed. He coughed
+and stammered and looked round for a place where he could throw his
+cigar. Shirley, who enjoyed his embarrassment, put him at his ease.
+
+"Oh, please go on smoking," she said; "I don't mind it in the least."
+
+Ryder threw the cigar into a receptacle and looked closely at his
+visitor.
+
+"So you are Shirley Green, eh?"
+
+"That is my nom-de-plume--yes," replied the girl nervously. She was
+already wishing herself back at Massapequa. The financier eyed her for
+a moment in silence as if trying to gauge the strength of the
+personality of this audacious young woman, who had dared to criticise
+his business methods in public print; then, waving her to a seat near
+his desk, he said:
+
+"Won't you sit down?"
+
+"Thank you," murmured Shirley. She sat down, and he took his seat at
+the other side of the desk, which brought them face to face. Again
+inspecting the girl with a close scrutiny that made her cheeks burn,
+Ryder said:
+
+"I rather expected--" He stopped for a moment as if uncertain what to
+say, then he added: "You're younger than I thought you were, Miss
+Green, much younger."
+
+"Time will remedy that," smiled Shirley. Then, mischievously, she
+added: "I rather expected to see Mrs. Ryder."
+
+There was the faintest suspicion of a smile playing around the corners
+of the plutocrat's mouth as he picked up a book lying on his desk and
+replied:
+
+"Yes--she wrote you, but I--wanted to see you about this."
+
+Shirley's pulse throbbed faster, but she tried hard to appear
+unconcerned as she answered:
+
+"Oh, my book--have you read it?"
+
+"I have," replied Ryder slowly and, fixing her with a stare that was
+beginning to make her uncomfortable, he went on: "No doubt your time is
+valuable, so I'll come right to the point. I want to ask you, Miss
+Green, where you got the character of your central figure--the Octopus,
+as you call him--John Broderick?"
+
+"From imagination--of course," answered Shirley.
+
+Ryder opened the book, and Shirley noticed that there were several
+passages marked. He turned the leaves over in silence for a minute or
+two and then he said:
+
+"You've sketched a pretty big man here--"
+
+"Yes," assented Shirley, "he has big possibilities, but I think he
+makes very small use of them."
+
+Ryder appeared not to notice her commentary, and, still reading the
+book, he continued:
+
+"On page 22 you call him 'the world's greatest individualized
+potentiality, a giant combination of materiality, mentality and
+money--the greatest exemplar of individual human will in existence
+to-day.' And you make indomitable will and energy the keystone of his
+marvellous success. Am I right?" He looked at her questioningly.
+
+"Quite right," answered Shirley.
+
+Ryder proceeded:
+
+"On page 26 you say 'the machinery of his money-making mind typifies
+the laws of perpetual unrest. It must go on, relentlessly,
+resistlessly, ruthlessly making money-making money and continuing to
+make money. It cannot stop until the machinery crumbles.'"
+
+Laying the book down and turning sharply on Shirley, he asked her
+bluntly:
+
+"Do you mean to say that I couldn't stop to-morrow if I wanted to?"
+
+She affected to not understand him.
+
+"You?" she inquired in a tone of surprise.
+
+"Well--it's a natural question," stammered Ryder, with a nervous little
+laugh; "every man sees himself in the hero of a novel just as every
+woman sees herself in the heroine. We're all heroes and heroines in our
+own eyes. But tell me what's your private opinion of this man. You drew
+the character. What do you think of him as a type, how would you
+classify him?"
+
+"As the greatest criminal the world has yet produced," replied Shirley
+without a moment's hesitation.
+
+The financier looked at the girl in unfeigned astonishment.
+
+"Criminal?" he echoed.
+
+"Yes, criminal," repeated Shirley decisively. "He is avarice, egotism,
+and ambition incarnate. He loves money because he loves power, and he
+loves power more than his fellow man."
+
+Ryder laughed uneasily. Decidedly, this girl had opinions of her own
+which she was not backward to express.
+
+"Isn't that rather strong?" he asked.
+
+"I don't think so," replied Shirley. Then quickly she asked: "But what
+does it matter? No such man exists."
+
+"No, of course not," said Ryder, and he relapsed into silence.
+
+Yet while he said nothing, the plutocrat was watching his visitor
+closely from under his thick eyebrows. She seemed supremely unconscious
+of his scrutiny. Her aristocratic, thoughtful face gave no sign that
+any ulterior motive had actuated her evidently very hostile attitude
+against him. That he was in her mind when she drew the character of
+John Broderick there was no doubt possible. No matter how she might
+evade the identification, he was convinced he was the hero of her book.
+Why had she attacked him so bitterly? At first, it occurred to him that
+blackmail might be her object; she might be going to ask for money as
+the price of future silence. Yet it needed but a glance at her refined
+and modest demeanour to dispel that idea as absurd. Then he remembered,
+too, that it was not she who had sought this interview, but himself.
+No, she was no blackmailer. More probably she was a dreamer--one of
+those meddling sociologists who, under pretence of bettering the
+conditions of the working classes, stir up discontent and bitterness of
+feeling. As such, she might prove more to be feared than a mere
+blackmailer whom he could buy off with money. He knew he was not
+popular, but he was no worse than the other captains of industry. It
+was a cut-throat game at best. Competition was the soul of commercial
+life, and if he had outwitted his competitors and made himself richer
+than all of them, he was not a criminal for that. But all these attacks
+in newspapers and books did not do him any good. One day the people
+might take these demagogic writings seriously and then there would be
+the devil to pay. He took up the book again and ran over the pages.
+This certainly was no ordinary girl. She knew more and had a more
+direct way of saying things than any woman he had ever met. And as he
+watched her furtively across the desk he wondered how he could use her;
+how instead of being his enemy, he could make her his friend. If he did
+not, she would go away and write more such books, and literature of
+this kind might become a real peril to his interests. Money could do
+anything; it could secure the services of this woman and prevent her
+doing further mischief. But how could he employ her? Suddenly an
+inspiration came to him. For some years he had been collecting material
+for a history of the Empire Trading Company. She could write it. It
+would practically be his own biography. Would she undertake it?
+
+Embarrassed by the long silence, Shirley finally broke it by saying:
+
+"But you didn't ask me to call merely to find out what I thought of my
+own work."
+
+"No," replied Ryder slowly, "I want you to do some work for me."
+
+He opened a drawer at the left-hand side of his desk and took out
+several sheets of foolscap and a number of letters. Shirley's heart
+beat faster as she caught sight of the letters. Were her father's among
+them? She wondered what kind of work John Burkett Ryder had for her to
+do and if she would do it whatever it was. Some literary work probably,
+compiling or something of that kind. If it was well paid, why should
+she not accept? There would be nothing humiliating in it; it would not
+tie her hands in any way. She was a professional writer in the market
+to be employed by whoever could pay the price. Besides, such work might
+give her better opportunities to secure the letters of which she was in
+search. Gathering in one pile all the papers he had removed from the
+drawer, Mr. Ryder said:
+
+"I want you to put my biography together from this material. But
+first," he added, taking up "The American Octopus," "I want to know
+where you got the details of this man's life."
+
+"Oh, for the most part--imagination, newspapers, magazines," replied
+Shirley carelessly. "You know the American millionaire is a very
+overworked topic just now--and naturally I've read--"
+
+"Yes, I understand," he said, "but I refer to what you haven't
+read--what you couldn't have read. For example, here." He turned to a
+page marked in the book and read aloud: "As an evidence of his petty
+vanity, when a youth he had a beautiful Indian girl tattooed just above
+the forearm." Ryder leaned eagerly forward as he asked her searchingly:
+"Now who told you that I had my arm tattooed when I was a boy?"
+
+"Have you?" laughed Shirley nervously. "What a curious coincidence!"
+
+"Let me read you another coincidence," said Ryder meaningly. He turned
+to another part of the book and read: "the same eternal long black
+cigar always between his lips..." "General Grant smoked, too,"
+interrupted Shirley. "All men who think deeply along material lines
+seem to smoke."
+
+"Well, we'll let that go. But how about this?" He turned back a few
+pages and read: "John Broderick had loved, when a young man, a girl who
+lived in VERMONT, BUT CIRCUMSTANCES SEPARATED THEM." He stopped and
+stared at Shirley a moment and then he said: "I loved a girl when I was
+a lad and she came from Vermont, and circumstances separated us. That
+isn't coincidence, for presently you make John Broderick marry a young
+woman who had money. I married a girl with money."
+
+"Lots of men marry for money," remarked Shirley.
+
+"I said WITH money, not for money," retorted Ryder. Then turning again
+to the book, he said: "Now, this is what I can't understand, for no one
+could have told you this but I myself. Listen." He read aloud: "WITH
+ALL HIS PHYSICAL BRAVERY AND PERSONAL COURAGE, JOHN BRODERICK WAS
+INTENSELY AFRAID OF DEATH. IT WAS ON HIS MIND CONSTANTLY." "Who told
+you that?" he demanded somewhat roughly. "I swear I've never mentioned
+it to a living soul."
+
+"Most men who amass money are afraid of death," replied Shirley with
+outward composure, "for death is about the only thing that can separate
+them from their money."
+
+Ryder laughed, but it was a hollow, mocking laugh, neither sincere nor
+hearty. It was a laugh such as the devil may have given when driven out
+of heaven.
+
+"You're quite a character!" He laughed again, and Shirley, catching the
+infection, laughed, too. "It's me and it isn't me," went on Ryder
+flourishing the book. "This fellow Broderick is all right; he's
+successful and he's great, but I don't like his finish."'
+
+"It's logical," ventured Shirley.
+
+"It's cruel," insisted Ryder.
+
+"So is the man who reverses the divine law and hates his neighbour
+instead of loving him," retorted Shirley.
+
+She spoke more boldly, beginning to feel more sure of her ground, and
+it amused her to fence in this way with the man of millions. So far,
+she thought, he had not got the best of her. She was fast becoming used
+to him, and her first feeling of intimidation was passing away.
+
+"Um!" grunted Ryder, "you're a curious girl; upon my word you interest
+me!" He took the mass of papers lying at his elbow and pushed them over
+to her. "Here," he said, "I want you to make as clever a book out of
+this chaos as you did out of your own imagination."
+
+Shirley turned the papers over carelessly.
+
+"So you think your life is a good example to follow?" she asked with a
+tinge of irony.
+
+"Isn't it?" he demanded.
+
+The girl looked him square in the face.
+
+"Suppose," she said, "we all wanted to follow it, suppose we all wanted
+to be the richest, the most powerful personage in the world?"
+
+"Well--what then?" he demanded.
+
+"I think it would postpone the era of the Brotherhood of man
+indefinitely, don't you?"
+
+"I never thought of it from that point of view," admitted the
+billionaire. "Really," he added, "you're an extraordinary girl. Why,
+you can't be more than twenty--or so."
+
+"I'm twenty-four--or so," smiled Shirley.
+
+Ryder's face expanded in a broad smile. He admired this girl's pluck
+and ready wit. He grew more amiable and tried to gain her confidence.
+In a coaxing tone he said:
+
+"Come, where did you get those details? Take me into your confidence."
+
+"I have taken you into my confidence," laughed Shirley, pointing at her
+book. "It cost you $1.50!" Turning over the papers he had put before
+her she said presently: "I don't know about this."
+
+"You don't think my life would make good reading?" he asked with some
+asperity.
+
+"It might," she replied slowly, as if unwilling to commit herself as to
+its commercial or literary value. Then she said frankly: "To tell you
+the honest truth, I don't consider mere genius in money-making is
+sufficient provocation for rushing into print. You see, unless you come
+to a bad end, it would have no moral."
+
+Ignoring the not very flattering insinuation contained in this last
+speech, the plutocrat continued to urge her:
+
+"You can name your own price if you will do the work," he said. "Two,
+three or even five thousand dollars. It's only a few months' work."
+
+"Five thousand dollars?" echoed Shirley. "That's a lot of money."
+Smiling, she added: "It appeals to my commercial sense. But I'm afraid
+the subject does not arouse my enthusiasm from an artistic standpoint."
+
+Ryder seemed amused at the idea of any one hesitating to make five
+thousand dollars. He knew that writers do not run across such
+opportunities every day.
+
+"Upon my word," he said, "I don't know why I'm so anxious to get you to
+do the work. I suppose it's because you don't want to. You remind me of
+my son. Ah, he's a problem!"
+
+Shirley started involuntarily when Ryder mentioned his son. But he did
+not notice it.
+
+"Why, is he wild?" she asked, as if only mildly interested.
+
+"Oh, no, I wish he were," said Ryder.
+
+"Fallen in love with the wrong woman, I suppose," she said.
+
+"Something of the sort--how did you guess?" asked Ryder surprised.
+
+Shirley coughed to hide her embarrassment and replied indifferently.
+
+"So many boys do that. Besides," she added with a mischievous twinkle
+in her eyes, "I can hardly imagine that any woman would be the right
+one unless you selected her yourself!"
+
+Ryder made no answer. He folded his arms and gazed at her. Who was this
+woman who knew him so well, who could read his inmost thoughts, who
+never made a mistake? After a silence he said:
+
+"Do you know you say the strangest things?"
+
+"Truth is strange," replied Shirley carelessly. "I don't suppose you
+hear it very often."
+
+"Not in that form," admitted Ryder.
+
+Shirley had taken on to her lap some of the letters he had passed her,
+and was perusing them one after another.
+
+"All these letters from Washington consulting you on politics and
+finance--they won't interest the world."
+
+"My secretary picked them out," explained Ryder. "Your artistic sense
+will tell you what to use."
+
+"Does your son still love this girl? I mean the one you abject to?"
+inquired Shirley as she went on sorting the papers.
+
+"Oh, no, he does not care for her any more," answered Ryder hastily.
+
+"Yes, he does; he still loves her," said Shirley positively.
+
+"How do you know?" asked Ryder amazed.
+
+"From the way you say he doesn't," retorted Shirley.
+
+Ryder gave his caller a look in which admiration was mingled with
+astonishment.
+
+"You are right again," he said. "The idiot does love the girl."
+
+"Bless his heart," said Shirley to herself. Aloud she said:
+
+"I hope they'll both outwit you."
+
+Ryder laughed in spite of himself. This young woman certainly
+interested him more than any other he had ever known.
+
+"I don't think I ever met anyone in my life quite like you," he said.
+
+"What's the objection to the girl?" demanded Shirley.
+
+"Every objection. I don't want her in my family."
+
+"Anything against her character?"
+
+To better conceal the keen interest she took in the personal turn the
+conversation had taken, Shirley pretended to be more busy than ever
+with the papers.
+
+"Yes--that is no--not that I know of," replied Ryder. "But because a
+woman has a good character, that doesn't necessarily make her a
+desirable match, does it?"
+
+"It's a point in her favor, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes--but--" He hesitated as if uncertain what to say.
+
+"You know men well, don't you, Mr. Ryder?"
+
+"I've met enough to know them pretty well," he replied.
+
+"Why don't you study women for a change?" she asked. "That would enable
+you to understand a great many things that I don't think are quite
+clear to you now."
+
+Ryder laughed good humouredly. It was decidedly a novel sensation to
+have someone lecturing him.
+
+"I'm studying you," he said, "but I don't seem to make much headway. A
+woman like you whose mind isn't spoiled by the amusement habit has
+great possibilities--great possibilities. Do you know you're the first
+woman I ever took into my confidence--I mean at sight?" Again he fixed
+her with that keen glance which in his business life had taught him how
+to read men. He continued: "I'm acting on sentiment--something I rarely
+do, but I can't help it. I like you, upon my soul I do, and I'm going
+to introduce you to my wife--my son--"
+
+He took the telephone from his desk as if he were going to use it.
+
+"What a commander-in-chief you would have made--how natural it is for
+you to command," exclaimed Shirley in a burst of admiration that was
+half real, half mocking. "I suppose you always tell people what they
+are to do and how they are to do it. You are a born general. You know
+I've often thought that Napoleon and Caesar and Alexander must have
+been great domestic leaders as well as imperial rulers. I'm sure of it
+now."
+
+Ryder listened to her in amazement. He was not quite sure if she were
+making fun of him or not.
+
+"Well, of all--" he began. Then interrupting himself he said amiably:
+"Won't you do me the honour to meet my family?"
+
+Shirley smiled sweetly and bowed.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Ryder, I will."
+
+She rose from her seat and leaned over the manuscripts to conceal the
+satisfaction this promise of an introduction to the family circle gave
+her. She was quick to see that it meant more visits to the house, and
+other and perhaps better opportunities to find the objects of her
+search. Ryder lifted the receiver of his telephone and talked to his
+secretary in another room, while Shirley, who was still standing,
+continued examining the papers and letters.
+
+"Is that you, Bagley? What's that? General Dodge? Get rid of him. I
+can't see him to-day. Tell him to come to-morrow. What's that? My son
+wants to see me? Tell him to come to the phone."
+
+At that instant Shirley gave a little cry, which in vain she tried to
+suppress. Ryder looked up.
+
+"What's the matter?" he demanded startled.
+
+"Nothing--nothing!" she replied in a hoarse whisper. "I pricked myself
+with a pin. Don't mind me."
+
+She had just come across her father's missing letters, which had got
+mixed up, evidently without Ryder's knowledge, in the mass of papers he
+had handed her. Prepared as she was to find the letters somewhere in
+the house, she never dreamed that fate would put them so easily and so
+quickly into her hands; the suddenness of their appearance and the
+sight of her father's familiar signature affected her almost like a
+shock. Now she had them, she must not let them go again; yet how could
+she keep them unobserved? Could she conceal them? Would he miss them?
+She tried to slip them in her bosom while Ryder was busy at the 'phone,
+but he suddenly glanced in her direction and caught her eye. She still
+held the letters in her hand, which shook from nervousness, but he
+noticed nothing and went on speaking through the 'phone:
+
+"Hallo, Jefferson, boy! You want to see me. Can you wait till I'm
+through? I've got a lady here. Going away? Nonsense! Determined, eh?
+Well, I can't keep you here if you've made up your mind. You want to
+say good-bye. Come up in about five minutes and I'll introduce you to a
+very interesting person." He laughed and hung up the receiver. Shirley
+was all unstrung, trying to overcome the emotion which her discovery
+had caused her, and in a strangely altered voice, the result of the
+nervous strain she was under, she said:
+
+"You want me to come here?"
+
+She looked up from the letters she was reading across to Ryder, who was
+standing watching her on the other side of the desk. He caught her
+glance and, leaning over to take some manuscript, he said:
+
+"Yes, I don't want these papers to get--"
+
+His eye suddenly rested on the letters she was holding. He stopped
+short, and reaching forward he tried to snatch them from her.
+
+"What have you got there?" he exclaimed.
+
+He took the letters and she made no resistance. It would be folly to
+force the issue now, she thought. Another opportunity would present
+itself. Ryder locked the letters up very carefully in the drawer on the
+left-hand side of his desk, muttering to himself rather than speaking
+to Shirley:
+
+"How on earth did they get among my other papers?"
+
+"From Judge Rossmore, were they not?" said Shirley boldly.
+
+"How did you know it was Judge Rossmore?" demanded Ryder suspiciously.
+"I didn't know that his name had been mentioned."
+
+"I saw his signature," she said simply. Then she added: "He's the
+father of the girl you don't like, isn't he?"
+
+"Yes, he's the----"
+
+A cloud came over the financier's face; his eyes darkened, his jaws
+snapped and he clenched his fist.
+
+"How you must hate him!" said Shirley, who observed the change.
+
+"Not at all," replied Ryder recovering his self-possession and suavity
+of manner. "I disagree with his politics and his methods, but--I know
+very little about him except that he is about to be removed from
+office."
+
+"About to be?" echoed Shirley. "So his fate is decided even before he
+is tried?" The girl laughed bitterly. "Yes," she went on, "some of the
+newspapers are beginning to think he is innocent of the things of which
+he is accused."
+
+"Do they?" said Ryder indifferently.
+
+"Yes," she persisted, "most people are on his side."
+
+She planted her elbows on the desk in front of her, and looking him
+squarely in the face, she asked him point blank:
+
+"Whose side are you on--really and truly?"
+
+Ryder winced. What right had this woman, a stranger both to Judge
+Rossmore and himself, to come here and catechise him? He restrained his
+impatience with difficulty as he replied:
+
+"Whose side am I on? Oh, I don't know that I am on any side. I don't
+know that I give it much thought. I--"
+
+"Do you think this man deserves to be punished?" she demanded.
+
+She had resumed her seat at the desk and partly regained her
+self-possession.
+
+"Why do you ask? What is your interest in this matter?"
+
+"I don't know," she replied evasively; "his case interests me, that's
+all. Its rather romantic. Your son loves this man's daughter. He is in
+disgrace--many seem to think unjustly." Her voice trembled with emotion
+as she continued: "I have heard from one source or another--you know I
+am acquainted with a number of newspaper men--I have heard that life no
+longer has any interest for him, that he is not only disgraced but
+beggared, that he is pining away slowly, dying of a broken heart, that
+his wife and daughter are in despair. Tell me, do you think he deserves
+such a fate?"
+
+Ryder remained thoughtful a moment, and then he replied:
+
+"No, I do not--no--"
+
+Thinking that she had touched his sympathies, Shirley followed up her
+advantage:
+
+"Oh, then, why not come to his rescue--you, who are so rich, so
+powerful; you, who can move the scales of justice at your will--save
+this man from humiliation and disgrace!"
+
+Ryder shrugged his shoulders, and his face expressed weariness, as if
+the subject had begun to bore him.
+
+"My dear girl, you don't understand. His removal is necessary."
+
+Shirley's face became set and hard. There was a contemptuous ring to
+her words as she retorted:
+
+"Yet you admit that he may be innocent!"
+
+"Even if I knew it as a fact, I couldn't move."
+
+"Do you mean to say that if you had positive proof?" She pointed to the
+drawer in the desk where he had placed the letters. "If you had
+absolute proof in that drawer, for instance? Wouldn't you help him
+then?"
+
+Ryder's face grew cold and inscrutable; he now wore his fighting mask.
+
+"Not even if I had the absolute proof in that drawer?" he snapped
+viciously.
+
+"Have you absolute proof in that drawer?" she demanded.
+
+"I repeat that even if I had, I could not expose the men who have been
+my friends. It's noblesse oblige in politics as well as in society, you
+know."
+
+He smiled again at her, as if he had recovered his good humour after
+their sharp passage at arms.
+
+"Oh, it's politics--that's what the papers said. And you believe him
+innocent. Well, you must have some grounds for your belief."
+
+"Not necessarily--"
+
+"You said that even if you had the proofs, you could not produce them
+without sacrificing your friends, showing that your friends are
+interested in having this man put off the bench--" She stopped and
+burst into hysterical laughter. "Oh, I think you're having a joke at my
+expense," she went on, "just to see how far you can lead me. I daresay
+Judge Rossmore deserves all he gets. Oh, yes--I'm sure he deserves it."
+She rose and walked to the other side of the room to conceal her
+emotion.
+
+Ryder watched her curiously.
+
+"My dear young lady, how you take this matter to heart!"
+
+"Please forgive me," laughed Shirley, and averting her face to conceal
+the fact that her eyes were filled with tears. "It's my artistic
+temperament, I suppose. It's always getting me into trouble. It
+appealed so strongly to my sympathies--this story of hopeless love
+between two young people--with the father of the girl hounded by
+corrupt politicians and unscrupulous financiers. It was too much for
+me. Ah! ah! I forgot where I was!"
+
+She leaned against a chair, sick and faint from nervousness, her whole
+body trembling. At that moment there was a knock at the library door
+and Jefferson Ryder appeared. Not seeing Shirley, whose back was
+towards him, he advanced to greet his father.
+
+"You told me to come up in five minutes," he said. "I just wanted to
+say--"
+
+"Miss Green," said Ryder, Sr., addressing Shirley and ignoring whatever
+it was that the young man wanted to say, "this is my son Jefferson.
+Jeff--this is Miss Green."
+
+Jefferson looked in the direction indicated and stood as if rooted to
+the floor. He was so surprised that he was struck dumb. Finally,
+recovering himself, he exclaimed:
+
+"Shirley!"
+
+"Yes, Shirley Green, the author," explained Ryder, Sr., not noticing
+the note of familiar recognition in his exclamation.
+
+Shirley advanced, and holding out her hand to Jefferson, said demurely:
+
+"I am very pleased to meet you, Mr. Ryder." Then quickly, in an
+undertone, she added: "Be careful; don't betray me!"
+
+Jefferson was so astounded that he did not see the outstretched hand.
+All he could do was to stand and stare first at her and then at his
+father.
+
+"Why don't you shake hands with her?" said Ryder, Sr., "She won't bite
+you." Then he added: "Miss Green is going to do some literary work for
+me, so we shall see a great deal of her. It's too bad you're going
+away!" He chuckled at his own pleasantry.
+
+"Father!" blurted out Jefferson, "I came to say that I've changed my
+mind. You did not want me to go, and I feel I ought to do something to
+please you."
+
+"Good boy," said Ryder pleased. "Now you're talking common sense." He
+turned to Shirley, who was getting ready to make her departure: "Well,
+Miss Green, we may consider the matter settled. You undertake the work
+at the price I named and finish it as soon as you can. Of course, you
+will have to consult me a good deal as you go along, so I think it
+would be better for you to come and stay here while the work is
+progressing. Mrs. Ryder can give you a suite of rooms to yourself,
+where you will be undisturbed and you will have all your material close
+at hand. What do you say?"
+
+Shirley was silent for a moment. She looked first at Ryder and then at
+his son, and from them her glance went to the little drawer on the
+left-hand side of the desk. Then she said quietly:
+
+"As you think best, Mr. Ryder. I am quite willing to do the work here."
+
+Ryder, Sr., escorted her to the top of the landing and watched her as
+she passed down the grand staircase, ushered by the gorgeously
+uniformed flunkies, to the front door and the street.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+Shirley entered upon her new duties in the Ryder household two days
+later. She had returned to her rooms the evening of her meeting with
+the financier in a state bordering upon hysteria. The day's events had
+been so extraordinary that it seemed to her they could not be real, and
+that she must be in a dream. The car ride to Seventy-fourth Street, the
+interview in the library, the discovery of her father's letters, the
+offer to write the biography, and, what to her was still more
+important, the invitation to go and live in the Ryder home--all these
+incidents were so remarkable and unusual that it was only with
+difficulty that the girl persuaded herself that they were not figments
+of a disordered brain.
+
+But it was all true enough. The next morning's mail brought a letter
+from Mrs. Ryder, who wrote to the effect that Mr. Ryder would like the
+work to begin at once, and adding that a suite of rooms would be ready
+for her the following afternoon. Shirley did not hesitate. Everything
+was to be gained by making the Ryder residence her headquarters, her
+father's very life depended upon the successful outcome of her present
+mission, and this unhoped for opportunity practically ensured success.
+She immediately wrote to Massapequa. One letter was to her mother,
+saying that she was extending her visit beyond the time originally
+planned. The other letter was to Stott. She told him all about the
+interview with Ryder, informed him of the discovery of the letters, and
+after explaining the nature of the work offered to her, said that her
+address for the next few weeks would be in care of John Burkett Ryder.
+All was going better than she had dared to hope. Everything seemed to
+favour their plan. Her first step, of course, while in the Ryder home,
+would be to secure possession of her father's letters, and these she
+would dispatch at once to Massapequa, so they could be laid before the
+Senate without delay.
+
+So, after settling accounts with her landlady and packing up her few
+belongings, Shirley lost no time in transferring herself to the more
+luxurious quarters provided for her in the ten-million-dollar mansion
+uptown.
+
+At the Ryder house she was received cordially and with every mark of
+consideration. The housekeeper came down to the main hall to greet her
+when she arrived and escorted her to the suite of rooms, comprising a
+small working library, a bedroom simply but daintily furnished in pink
+and white and a private bathroom, which had been specially prepared for
+her convenience and comfort, and here presently she was joined by Mrs.
+Ryder.
+
+"Dear me," exclaimed the financier's wife, staring curiously at
+Shirley, "what a young girl you are to have made such a stir with a
+book! How did you do it? I'm sure I couldn't. It's as much as I can do
+to write a letter, and half the time that's not legible."
+
+"Oh, it wasn't so hard," laughed Shirley. "It was the subject that
+appealed rather than any special skill of mine. The trusts and their
+misdeeds are the favourite topics of the hour. The whole country is
+talking about nothing else. My book came at the right time, that's all."
+
+Although "The American Octopus" was a direct attack on her own husband,
+Mrs. Ryder secretly admired this young woman, who had dared to speak a
+few blunt truths. It was a courage which, alas! she had always lacked
+herself, but there was a certain satisfaction in knowing there were
+women in the world not entirely cowed by the tyrant Man.
+
+"I have always wanted a daughter," went on Mrs. Ryder, becoming
+confidential, while Shirley removed her things and made herself at
+home; "girls of your age are so companionable." Then, abruptly, she
+asked: "Do your parents live in New York?"
+
+Shirley's face flushed and she stooped over her trunk to hide her
+embarrassment.
+
+"No--not at present," she answered evasively. "My mother and father are
+in the country."
+
+She was afraid that more questions of a personal nature would follow,
+but apparently Mrs. Ryder was not in an inquisitive mood, for she asked
+nothing further. She only said:
+
+"I have a son, but I don't see much of him. You must meet my Jefferson.
+He is such a nice boy."
+
+Shirley tried to look unconcerned as she replied:
+
+"I met him yesterday. Mr. Ryder introduced him to me."
+
+"Poor lad, he has his troubles too," went on Mrs. Ryder. "He's in love
+with a girl, but his father wants him to marry someone else. They're
+quarrelling over it all the time."
+
+"Parents shouldn't interfere in matters of the heart," said Shirley
+decisively. "What is more serious than the choosing of a life
+companion, and who are better entitled to make a free selection than
+they who are going to spend the rest of their days together? Of course,
+it is a father's duty to give his son the benefit of his riper
+experience, but to insist on a marriage based only on business
+interests is little less than a crime. There are considerations more
+important if the union is to be a happy or a lasting one. The chief
+thing is that the man should feel real attachment for the woman he
+marries. Two people who are to live together as man and wife must be
+compatible in tastes and temper. You cannot mix oil and water. It is
+these selfish marriages which keep our divorce courts busy. Money alone
+won't buy happiness in marriage."
+
+"No," sighed Mrs. Ryder, "no one knows that better than I."
+
+The financier's wife was already most favourably impressed with her
+guest, and she chatted on as if she had known Shirley for years. It was
+rarely that she had heard so young a woman express such common-sense
+views, and the more she talked with her the less surprised she was that
+she was the author of a much-discussed book. Finally, thinking that
+Shirley might prefer to be alone, she rose to go, bidding her make
+herself thoroughly at home and to ring for anything she might wish. A
+maid had been assigned to look exclusively after her wants, and she
+could have her meals served in her room or else have them with the
+family as she liked. But Shirley, not caring to encounter Mr. Ryder's
+cold, searching stare more often than necessary, said she would prefer
+to take her meals alone.
+
+Left to herself, Shirley settled down to work in earnest. Mr. Ryder had
+sent to her room all the material for the biography, and soon she was
+completely absorbed in the task of sorting and arranging letters,
+making extracts from records, compiling data, etc., laying the
+foundations for the important book she was to write. She wondered what
+they would call it, and she smiled as a peculiarly appropriate title
+flashed through her mind--"The History of a Crime." Yet she thought
+they could hardly infringe on Victor Hugo; perhaps the best title was
+the simplest "The History of the Empire Trading Company." Everyone
+would understand that it told the story of John Burkett Ryder's
+remarkable career from his earliest beginnings to the present time. She
+worked feverishly all that evening getting the material into shape, and
+the following day found her early at her desk. No one disturbed her and
+she wrote steadily on until noon, Mrs. Ryder only once putting her head
+in the door to wish her good morning.
+
+After luncheon, Shirley decided that the weather was too glorious to
+remain indoors. Her health must not be jeopardized even to advance the
+interests of the Colossus, so she put on her hat and left the house to
+go for a walk. The air smelled sweet to her after being confined so
+long indoor, and she walked with a more elastic and buoyant step than
+she had since her return home. Turning down Fifth Avenue, she entered
+the park at Seventy-second Street, following the pathway until she came
+to the bend in the driveway opposite the Casino. The park was almost
+deserted at that hour, and there was a delightful sense of solitude and
+a sweet scent of new-mown hay from the freshly cut lawns. She found an
+empty bench, well shaded by an overspreading tree, and she sat down,
+grateful for the rest and quiet.
+
+She wondered what Jefferson thought of her action in coming to his
+father's house practically in disguise and under an assumed name. She
+must see him at once, for in him lay her hope of obtaining possession
+of the letters. Certainly she felt no delicacy or compunction in asking
+Jefferson to do her this service. The letters belonged to her father
+and they were being wrongfully withheld with the deliberate purpose of
+doing him an injury. She had a moral if not a legal right to recover
+the letters in any way that she could.
+
+She was so deeply engrossed in her thoughts that she had not noticed a
+hansom cab which suddenly drew up with a jerk at the curb opposite her
+bench. A man jumped out. It was Jefferson.
+
+"Hello, Shirley," he cried gaily; "who would have expected to find you
+rusticating on a bench here? I pictured you grinding away at home doing
+literary stunts for the governor." He grinned and then added: "Come for
+a drive. I want to talk to you."
+
+Shirley demurred. No, she could not spare the time. Yet, she thought to
+herself, why was not this a good opportunity to explain to Jefferson
+how he came to find her in his father's library masquerading under
+another name, and also to ask him to secure the letters for her? While
+she pondered Jefferson insisted, and a few minutes later she found
+herself sitting beside him in the cab. They started off at a brisk
+pace, Shirley sitting with her head back, enjoying the strong breeze
+caused by the rapid motion.
+
+"Now tell me," he said, "what does it all mean? I was so startled at
+seeing you in the library the other day that I almost betrayed you. How
+did you come to call on father?"
+
+Briefly Shirley explained everything. She told him how Mr. Ryder had
+written to her asking her to call and see him, and how she had eagerly
+seized at this last straw in the hope of helping her father, She told
+him about the letters, explaining how necessary they were for her
+father's defence and how she had discovered them. Mr. Ryder, she said,
+had seemed to take a fancy to her and had asked her to remain in the
+house as his guest while she was compiling his biography, and she had
+accepted the offer, not so much for the amount of money involved as for
+the splendid opportunity it afforded her to gain possession of the
+letters.
+
+"So that is the mysterious work you spoke of--to get those letters?"
+said Jefferson.
+
+"Yes, that is my mission. It was a secret. I couldn't tell you; I
+couldn't tell anyone. Only Judge Stott knows. He is aware I have found
+them and is hourly expecting to receive them from me. And now," she
+said, "I want your help."
+
+His only answer was to grasp tighter the hand she had laid in his. She
+knew that she would not have to explain the nature of the service she
+wanted. He understood.
+
+"Where are the letters?" he demanded.
+
+"In the left-hand drawer of your father's desk," she answered.
+
+He was silent for a few moments, and then he said simply:
+
+"I will get them."
+
+The cab by this time had got as far as Claremont, and from the hill
+summit they had a splendid view of the broad sweep of the majestic
+Hudson and the towering walls of the blue palisades. The day was so
+beautiful and the air so invigorating that Jefferson suggested a ramble
+along the banks of the river. They could leave the cab at Claremont and
+drive back to the city later. Shirley was too grateful to him for his
+promise of cooperation to make any further opposition, and soon they
+were far away from beaten highways, down on the banks of the historic
+stream, picking flowers and laughing merrily like two truant children
+bent on a self-made holiday. The place they had reached was just
+outside the northern boundaries of Harlem, a sylvan spot still
+unspoiled by the rude invasion of the flat-house builder. The land,
+thickly wooded, sloped down sharply to the water, and the perfect quiet
+was broken only by the washing of the tiny surf against the river bank
+and the shrill notes of the birds in the trees.
+
+Although it was late in October the day was warm, and Shirley soon
+tired of climbing over bramble-entangled verdure. The rich grass
+underfoot looked cool and inviting, and the natural slope of the ground
+affording an ideal resting-place, she sat there, with Jefferson
+stretched out at her feet, both watching idly the dancing waters of the
+broad Hudson, spangled with gleams of light, as they swept swiftly by
+on their journey to the sea.
+
+"Shirley," said Jefferson suddenly, "I suppose you saw that ridiculous
+story about my alleged engagement to Miss Roberts. I hope you
+understood that it was done without my consent."
+
+"If I did not guess it, Jeff," she answered, "your assurance would be
+sufficient. Besides," she added, "what right have I to object?"
+
+"But I want you to have the right," he replied earnestly. "I'm going to
+stop this Roberts nonsense in a way my father hardly anticipates. I'm
+just waiting a chance to talk to him. I'll show him the absurdity of
+announcing me engaged to a girl who is about to elope with his private
+secretary!"
+
+"Elope with the secretary?" exclaimed Shirley.
+
+Jefferson told her all about the letter he had found on the staircase,
+and the Hon. Fitzroy Bagley's plans for a runaway marriage with the
+senator's wealthy daughter.
+
+"It's a godsend to me," he said gleefully. "Their plan is to get
+married next Wednesday. I'll see my father on Tuesday; I'll put the
+evidence in his hands, and I don't think," he added grimly, "he'll
+bother me any more about Miss Roberts."
+
+"So you're not going away now?" said Shirley, smiling down at him.
+
+He sat up and leaned over towards her.
+
+"I can't, Shirley, I simply can't," he replied, his voice trembling.
+"You are more to me than I dreamed a woman could ever be. I realize it
+more forcibly every day. There is no use fighting against it. Without
+you, my work, my life means nothing."
+
+Shirley shook her head and averted her eyes.
+
+"Don't let us speak of that, Jeff," she pleaded gently. "I told you I
+did not belong to myself while my father was in peril."
+
+"But I must speak of it," he interrupted. "Shirley, you do yourself an
+injustice as well as me. You are not indifferent to me--I feel that.
+Then why raise this barrier between us?"
+
+A soft light stole into the girl's eyes. Ah, it was good to feel there
+was someone to whom she was everything in the world!
+
+"Don't ask me to betray my trust, Jeff," she faltered. "You know I am
+not indifferent to you--far from it. But I--"
+
+He came closer until his face nearly touched hers.
+
+"I love you--I want you," he murmured feverishly. "Give me the right to
+claim you before all the world as my future wife!"
+
+Every note of his rich, manly voice, vibrating with impetuous passion,
+sounded in Shirley's ear like a soft caress. She closed her eyes. A
+strange feeling of languor was stealing over her, a mysterious thrill
+passed through her whole body. The eternal, inevitable sex instinct was
+disturbing, for the first time, a woman whose life had been singularly
+free from such influences, putting to flight all the calculations and
+resolves her cooler judgment had made. The sensuous charm of the
+place--the distant splash of the water, the singing of the birds, the
+fragrance of the trees and grass--all these symbols of the joy of life
+conspired to arouse the love-hunger of the woman. Why, after all,
+should she not know happiness like other women? She had a sacred duty
+to perform, it was true; but would it be less well done because she
+declined to stifle the natural leanings of her womanhood? Both her soul
+and her body called out: "Let this man love you, give yourself to him,
+he is worthy of your love."
+
+Half unconsciously, she listened to his ardent wooing, her eyes shut,
+as he spoke quickly, passionately, his breath warm upon her cheek:
+
+"Shirley, I offer you all the devotion a man can give a woman. Say the
+one word that will make me the happiest or the most wretched of men.
+Yes or no! Only think well before you wreck my life. I love you--I love
+you! I will wait for you if need be until the crack of doom. Say--say
+you will be my wife!"
+
+She opened her eyes. His face was bent close over hers. Their lips
+almost touched.
+
+"Yes, Jefferson," she murmured, "I do love you!" His lips met hers in a
+long, passionate kiss. Her eyes closed and an ecstatic thrill seemed to
+convulse her entire being. The birds in the trees overhead sang in more
+joyful chorus in celebration of the betrothal.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+It was nearly seven o'clock when Shirley got back to Seventy-fourth
+Street. No one saw her come in, and she went direct to her room, and
+after a hasty dinner, worked until late into the night on her book to
+make up for lost time. The events of the afternoon caused her
+considerable uneasiness. She reproached herself for her weakness and
+for having yielded so readily to the impulse of the moment. She had
+said only what was the truth when she admitted she loved Jefferson, but
+what right had she to dispose of her future while her father's fate was
+still uncertain? Her conscience troubled her, and when she came to
+reason it out calmly, the more impossible seemed their union from every
+point of view. How could she become the daughter-in-law of the man who
+had ruined her own father? The idea was preposterous, and hard as the
+sacrifice would be, Jefferson must be made to see it in that light.
+Their engagement was the greatest folly; it bound each of them when
+nothing but unhappiness could possibly come of it. She was sure now
+that she loved Jefferson. It would be hard to give him up, but there
+are times and circumstances when duty and principle must prevail over
+all other considerations, and this she felt was one of them.
+
+The following morning she received a letter from Stott. He was
+delighted to hear the good news regarding her important discovery, and
+he urged her to lose no time in securing the letters and forwarding
+them to Massapequa, when he would immediately go to Washington and lay
+them before the Senate. Documentary evidence of that conclusive nature,
+he went on to say, would prove of the very highest value in clearing
+her father's name. He added that the judge and her mother were as well
+as circumstances would permit, and that they were not in the least
+worried about her protracted absence. Her Aunt Milly had already
+returned to Europe, and Eudoxia was still threatening to leave daily.
+
+Shirley needed no urging. She quite realized the importance of acting
+quickly, but it was not easy to get at the letters. The library was
+usually kept locked when the great man was away, and on the few
+occasions when access to it was possible, the lynx-eyed Mr. Bagley was
+always on guard. Short as had been her stay in the Ryder household,
+Shirley already shared Jefferson's antipathy to the English secretary,
+whose manner grew more supercilious and overbearing as he drew nearer
+the date when he expected to run off with one of the richest catches of
+the season. He had not sought the acquaintance of his employer's
+biographer since her arrival, and, with the exception of a rude stare,
+had not deigned to notice her, which attitude of haughty indifference
+was all the more remarkable in view of the fact that the Hon. Fitzroy
+usually left nothing unturned to cultivate a flirtatious intimacy with
+every attractive female he met. The truth was that what with Mr.
+Ryder's demands upon his services and his own preparations for his
+coming matrimonial venture, in which he had so much at stake, he had
+neither time nor inclination to indulge his customary amorous
+diversions.
+
+Miss Roberts had called at the house several times, ostensibly to see
+Mrs. Ryder, and when introduced to Shirley she had condescended to give
+the latter a supercilious nod. Her conversation was generally of the
+silly, vacuous sort, concerning chiefly new dresses or bonnets, and
+Shirley at once read her character--frivolous, amusement-loving,
+empty-headed, irresponsible--just the kind of girl to do something
+foolish without weighing the consequences. After chatting a few moments
+with Mrs. Ryder she would usually vanish, and one day, after one of
+these mysterious disappearances, Shirley happened to pass the library
+and caught sight of her and Mr. Bagley conversing in subdued and eager
+tones. It was very evident that the elopement scheme was fast maturing.
+If the scandal was to be prevented, Jefferson ought to see his father
+and acquaint him with the facts without delay. It was probable that at
+the same time he would make an effort to secure the letters. Meantime
+she must be patient. Too much hurry might spoil everything.
+
+So the days passed, Shirley devoting almost all her time to the history
+she had undertaken. She saw nothing of Ryder, Sr., but a good deal of
+his wife, to whom she soon became much attached. She found her an
+amiable, good-natured woman, entirely free from that offensive
+arrogance and patronizing condescension which usually marks the
+parvenue as distinct from the thoroughbred. Mrs. Ryder had no claims to
+distinguished lineage; on the contrary, she was the daughter of a
+country grocer when the then rising oil man married her, and of
+educational advantages she had had little or none. It was purely by
+accident that she was the wife of the richest man in the world, and
+while she enjoyed the prestige her husband's prominence gave her, she
+never allowed it to turn her head. She gave away large sums for
+charitable purposes and, strange to say, when the gift came direct from
+her, the money was never returned on the plea that it was "tainted."
+She shared her husband's dislike for entertaining, and led practically
+the life of a recluse. The advent of Shirley, therefore, into her quiet
+and uneventful existence was as welcome as sunshine when it breaks
+through the clouds after days of gloom. Quite a friendship sprang up
+between the two women, and when tired of writing, Shirley would go into
+Mrs. Ryder's room and chat until the financier's wife began to look
+forward to these little impromptu visits, so much she enjoyed them.
+
+Nothing more had been said concerning Jefferson and Miss Roberts. The
+young man had not yet seen his father, but his mother knew he was only
+waiting an opportunity to demand an explanation of the engagement
+announcements. Her husband, on the other hand, desired the match more
+than ever, owing to the continued importunities of Senator Roberts. As
+usual, Mrs. Ryder confided these little domestic troubles to Shirley.
+
+"Jefferson," she said, "is very angry. He is determined not to marry
+the girl, and when he and his father do meet there'll be another scene."
+
+"What objection has your son to Miss Roberts?" inquired Shirley
+innocently.
+
+"Oh, the usual reason," sighed the mother, "and I've no doubt he knows
+best. He's in love with another girl--a Miss Rossmore."
+
+"Oh, yes," answered Shirley simply. "Mr. Ryder spoke of her."
+
+Mrs. Ryder was silent, and presently she left the girl alone with her
+work.
+
+The next afternoon Shirley was in her room busy writing when there came
+a tap at her door. Thinking it was another visit from Mrs. Ryder, she
+did not look up, but cried out pleasantly:
+
+"Come in."
+
+John Ryder entered. He smiled cordially and, as if apologizing for the
+intrusion, said amiably:
+
+"I thought I'd run up to see how you were getting along."
+
+His coming was so unexpected that for a moment Shirley was startled,
+but she quickly regained her composure and asked him to take a seat. He
+seemed pleased to find her making such good progress, and he stopped to
+answer a number of questions she put to him. Shirley tried to be
+cordial, but when she looked well at him and noted the keen, hawk-like
+eyes, the cruel, vindictive lines about the mouth, the square-set,
+relentless jaw--Wall Street had gone wrong with the Colossus that day
+and he was still wearing his war paint--she recalled the wrong this man
+had done her father and she felt how bitterly she hated him. The more
+her mind dwelt upon it, the more exasperated she was to think she
+should be there, a guest, under his roof, and it was only with the
+greatest difficulty that she remained civil.
+
+"What is the moral of your life?" she demanded bluntly.
+
+He was quick to note the contemptuous tone in her voice, and he gave
+her a keen, searching look as if he were trying to read her thoughts
+and fathom the reason for her very evident hostility towards him.
+
+"What do you mean?" he asked.
+
+"I mean, what can you show as your life work? Most men whose lives are
+big enough to call for biographies have done something useful--they
+have been famous statesmen, eminent scientists, celebrated authors,
+great inventors. What have you done?"
+
+The question appeared to stagger him. The audacity of any one putting
+such a question to a man in his own house was incredible. He squared
+his jaws and his clenched fist descended heavily on the table.
+
+"What have I done?" he cried. "I have built up the greatest fortune
+ever accumulated by one man. My fabulous wealth has caused my name to
+spread to the four corners of the earth. Is that not an achievement to
+relate to future generations?"
+
+Shirley gave a little shrug of her shoulders.
+
+"Future generations will take no interest in you or your millions," she
+said calmly. "Our civilization will have made such progress by that
+time that people will merely wonder why we, in our day, tolerated men
+of your class so long. Now it is different. The world is money-mad. You
+are a person of importance in the eyes of the unthinking multitude, but
+it only envies you your fortune; it does not admire you personally.
+When you die people will count your millions, not your good deeds."
+
+He laughed cynically and drew up a chair near her desk. As a general
+thing, John Ryder never wasted words on women. He had but a poor
+opinion of their mentality, and considered it beneath the dignity of
+any man to enter into serious argument with a woman. In fact, it was
+seldom he condescended to argue with anyone. He gave orders and talked
+to people; he had no patience to be talked to. Yet he found himself
+listening with interest to this young woman who expressed herself so
+frankly. It was a decided novelty for him to hear the truth.
+
+"What do I care what the world says when I'm dead?" he asked with a
+forced laugh.
+
+"You do care," replied Shirley gravely. "You may school yourself to
+believe that you are indifferent to the good opinion of your fellow
+man, but right down in your heart you do care--every man does, whether
+he be multi-millionaire or a sneak thief."
+
+"You class the two together, I notice," he said bitterly.
+
+"It is often a distinction without a difference," she rejoined promptly.
+
+He remained silent for a moment or two toying nervously with a paper
+knife. Then, arrogantly, and as if anxious to impress her with his
+importance, he said:
+
+"Most men would be satisfied if they had accomplished what I have. Do
+you realize that my wealth is so vast that I scarcely know myself what
+I am worth? What my fortune will be in another fifty years staggers the
+imagination. Yet I started with nothing. I made it all myself. Surely I
+should get credit for that."
+
+"How did you make it?" retorted Shirley.
+
+"In America we don't ask how a man makes his money; we ask if he has
+got any."
+
+"You are mistaken," replied Shirley earnestly. "America is waking up.
+The conscience of the nation is being aroused. We are coming to realize
+that the scandals of the last few years were only the fruit of public
+indifference to sharp business practice. The people will soon ask the
+dishonest rich man where he got it, and there will have to be an
+accounting. What account will you be able to give?"
+
+He bit his lip and looked at her for a moment without replying. Then,
+with a faint suspicion of a sneer, he said:
+
+"You are a socialist--perhaps an anarchist!"
+
+"Only the ignorant commit the blunder of confounding the two," she
+retorted. "Anarchy is a disease; socialism is a science."
+
+"Indeed!" he exclaimed mockingly, "I thought the terms were synonymous.
+The world regards them both as insane."
+
+Herself an enthusiastic convert to the new political faith that was
+rising like a flood tide all over the world, the contemptuous tone in
+which this plutocrat spoke of the coming reorganization of society
+which was destined to destroy him and his kind spurred her on to
+renewed argument.
+
+"I imagine," she said sarcastically, "that you would hardly approve any
+social reform which threatened to interfere with your own business
+methods. But no matter how you disapprove of socialism on general
+principles, as a leader of the capitalist class you should understand
+what socialism is, and not confuse one of the most important movements
+in modern world-history with the crazy theories of irresponsible
+cranks. The anarchists are the natural enemies of the entire human
+family, and would destroy it were their dangerous doctrines permitted
+to prevail; the socialists, on the contrary, are seeking to save
+mankind from the degradation, the crime and the folly into which such
+men as you have driven it."
+
+She spoke impetuously, with the inspired exaltation of a prophet
+delivering a message to the people. Ryder listened, concealing his
+impatience with uneasy little coughs.
+
+"Yes," she went on, "I am a socialist and I am proud of it. The whole
+world is slowly drifting toward socialism as the only remedy for the
+actual intolerable conditions. It may not come in our time, but it will
+come as surely as the sun will rise and set tomorrow. Has not the flag
+of socialism waved recently from the White House? Has not a President
+of the United States declared that the State must eventually curb the
+great fortunes? What is that but socialism?"
+
+"True," retorted Ryder grimly, "and that little speech intended for the
+benefit of the gallery will cost him the nomination at the next
+Presidential election. We don't want in the White House a President who
+stirs up class hatred. Our rich men have a right to what is their own;
+that is guaranteed them by the Constitution."
+
+"Is it their own?" interrupted Shirley.
+
+Ryder ignored the insinuation and proceeded:
+
+"What of our boasted free institutions if a man is to be restricted in
+what he may and may not do? If I am clever enough to accumulate
+millions who can stop me?"
+
+"The people will stop you," said Shirley calmly. "It is only a question
+of time. Their patience is about exhausted. Put your ear to the ground
+and listen to the distant rumbling of the tempest which, sooner or
+later, will be unchained in this land, provoked by the iniquitous
+practices of organized capital. The people have had enough of the
+extortions of the Trusts. One day they will rise in their wrath and
+seize by the throat this knavish plutocracy which, confident in the
+power of its wealth to procure legal immunity and reckless of its
+danger, persists in robbing the public daily. But retribution is at
+hand. The growing discontent of the proletariat, the ever-increasing
+strikes and labour disputes of all kinds, the clamour against the
+Railroads and the Trusts, the evidence of collusion between both--all
+this is the writing on the wall. The capitalistic system is doomed;
+socialism will succeed it."
+
+"What is socialism?" he demanded scornfully. "What will it give the
+public that it has not got already?"
+
+Shirley, who never neglected an opportunity to make a convert, no
+matter how hardened he might be, picked up a little pamphlet printed
+for propaganda purposes which she had that morning received by mail.
+
+"Here," she said, "is one of the best and clearest definitions of
+socialism I have ever read:
+
+"Socialism is common ownership of natural resources and public
+utilities, and the common operation of all industries for the general
+good. Socialism is opposed to monopoly, that is, to private ownership
+of land and the instruments of labor, which is indirect ownership of
+men; to the wages system, by which labor is legally robbed of a large
+part of the product of labor; to competition with its enormous waste of
+effort and its opportunities for the spoliation of the weak by the
+strong. Socialism is industrial democracy. It is the government of the
+people by the people and for the people, not in the present restricted
+sense, but as regards all the common interests of men. Socialism is
+opposed to oligarchy and monarchy, and therefore to the tyrannies of
+business cliques and money kings. Socialism is for freedom, not only
+from the fear of force, but from the fear of want. Socialism proposes
+real liberty, not merely the right to vote, but the liberty to live for
+something more than meat and drink.
+
+"Socialism is righteousness in the relations of men. It is based on the
+fundamentals of religion, the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of
+men. It seeks through association and equality to realize fraternity.
+Socialism will destroy the motives which make for cheap manufacturers,
+poor workmanship and adulterations; it will secure the real utility of
+things. Use, not exchange, will be the object of labour. Things will be
+made to serve, not to sell. Socialism will banish war, for private
+ownership is back of strife between men. Socialism will purify
+politics, for private capitalism is the great source of political
+corruption. Socialism will make for education, invention and discovery;
+it will stimulate the moral development of men. Crime will have lost
+most of its motive and pauperism will have no excuse. That," said
+Shirley, as she concluded, "is socialism!"
+
+Ryder shrugged his shoulders and rose to go.
+
+"Delightful," he said ironically, "but in my judgment wholly Utopian
+and impracticable. It's nothing but a gigantic pipe dream. It won't
+come in this generation nor in ten generations if, indeed, it is ever
+taken seriously by a majority big enough to put its theories to the
+test. Socialism does not take into account two great factors that move
+the world--men's passions and human ambition. If you eliminate ambition
+you remove the strongest incentive to individual effort. From your own
+account a socialistic world would be a dreadfully tame place to live
+in--everybody depressingly good, without any of the feverish turmoil of
+life as we know it. Such a world would not appeal to me at all. I love
+the fray--the daily battle of gain and loss, the excitement of making
+or losing millions. That is my life!"
+
+"Yet what good is your money to you?" insisted Shirley. "You are able
+to spend only an infinitesimal part of it. You cannot even give it
+away, for nobody will have any of it."
+
+"Money!" he hissed rather than spoke, "I hate money. It means nothing
+to me. I have so much that I have lost all idea of its value. I go on
+accumulating it for only one purpose. It buys power. I love power--that
+is my passion, my ambition, to rule the world with my gold. Do you
+know," he went on and leaning over the desk in a dramatic attitude,
+"that if I chose I could start a panic in Wall Street to-morrow that
+would shake to their foundations every financial institution in the
+country? Do you know that I practically control the Congress of the
+United States and that no legislative measure becomes law unless it has
+my approval?"
+
+"The public has long suspected as much," replied Shirley. "That is why
+you are looked upon as a menace to the stability and honesty of our
+political and commercial life."
+
+An angry answer rose to his lips when the door opened and Mrs. Ryder
+entered.
+
+"I've been looking for you, John," she said peevishly. "Mr. Bagley told
+me you were somewhere in the house. Senator Roberts is downstairs."
+
+"He's come about Jefferson and his daughter, I suppose," muttered
+Ryder. "Well, I'll see him. Where is he?"
+
+"In the library. Kate came with him. She's in my room."
+
+They left Shirley to her writing, and when he had closed the door the
+financier turned to his wife and said impatiently:
+
+"Now, what are we going to do about Jefferson and Kate? The senator
+insists on the matter of their marriage being settled one way or
+another. Where is Jefferson?"
+
+"He came in about half an hour ago. He was upstairs to see me, and I
+thought he was looking for you," answered the wife.
+
+"Well," replied Ryder determinedly, "he and I have got to understand
+each other. This can't go on. It shan't."
+
+Mrs. Ryder put her hand on his arm, and said pleadingly:
+
+"Don't be impatient with the boy, John. Remember he is all we have. He
+is so unhappy. He wants to please us, but--"
+
+"But he insists on pleasing himself," said Ryder completing the
+sentence.
+
+"I'm afraid, John, that his liking for that Miss Rossmore is more
+serious than you realize--"
+
+The financier stamped his foot and replied angrily:
+
+"Miss Rossmore! That name seems to confront me at every turn--for years
+the father, now the daughter! I'm sorry, my dear," he went on more
+calmly, "that you seem inclined to listen to Jefferson. It only
+encourages him in his attitude towards me. Kate would make him an
+excellent wife, while what do we know about the other woman? Are you
+willing to sacrifice your son's future to a mere boyish whim?"
+
+Mrs. Ryder sighed.
+
+"It's very hard," she said, "for a mother to know what to advise. Miss
+Green says--"
+
+"What!" exclaimed her husband, "you have consulted Miss Green on the
+subject?"
+
+"Yes," answered his wife, "I don't know how I came to tell her, but I
+did. I seem to tell her everything. I find her such a comfort, John. I
+haven't had an attack of nerves since that girl has been in the house."
+
+"She is certainly a superior woman," admitted Ryder. "I wish she'd ward
+that Rossmore girl off. I wish she--" He stopped abruptly as if not
+venturing to give expression to his thoughts, even to his wife. Then he
+said: "If she were Kate Roberts she wouldn't let Jeff slip through her
+fingers."
+
+"I have often wished," went on Mrs. Ryder, "that Kate were more like
+Shirley Green. I don't think we would have any difficulty with Jeff
+then."
+
+"Kate is the daughter of Senator Roberts, and if this marriage is
+broken off in any way without the senator's consent, he is in a
+position to injure my interests materially. If you see Jefferson send
+him to me in the library. I'll go and keep Roberts in good humour until
+he comes."
+
+He went downstairs and Mrs. Ryder proceeded to her apartments, where
+she found Jefferson chatting with Kate. She at once delivered Ryder
+Sr.'s message.
+
+"Jeff, your father wants to see you in the library."
+
+"Yes, I want to see him," answered the young man grimly, and after a
+few moments more badinage with Kate he left the room.
+
+It was not a mere coincidence that had brought Senator Roberts and his
+daughter and the financier's son all together under the Ryder roof at
+the same time. It was part of Jefferson's well-prepared plan to expose
+the rascality of his father's secretary, and at the same time rid
+himself of the embarrassing entanglement with Kate Roberts. If the
+senator were confronted publicly with the fact that his daughter, while
+keeping up the fiction of being engaged to Ryder Jr., was really
+preparing to run off with the Hon. Fitzroy Bagley, he would have no
+alternative but to retire gracefully under fire and relinquish all idea
+of a marriage alliance with the house of Ryder. The critical moment had
+arrived. To-morrow, Wednesday, was the day fixed for the elopement. The
+secretary's little game had gone far enough. The time had come for
+action. So Jefferson had written to Senator Roberts, who was in
+Washington, asking him if it would be convenient for him to come at
+once to New York and meet himself and his father on a matter of
+importance. The senator naturally jumped to the conclusion that
+Jefferson and Ryder had reached an amicable understanding, and he
+immediately hurried to New York and with his daughter came round to
+Seventy-fourth Street.
+
+When Ryder Sr. entered the library, Senator Roberts was striding
+nervously up and down the room. This, he felt, was an important day.
+The ambition of his life seemed on the point of being attained.
+
+"Hello, Roberts," was Ryder's cheerful greeting. "What's brought you
+from Washington at a critical time like this? The Rossmore impeachment
+needs every friend we have."
+
+"Just as if you didn't know," smiled the senator uneasily, "that I am
+here by appointment to meet you and your son!"
+
+"To meet me and my son?" echoed Ryder astonished.
+
+The senator, perplexed and beginning to feel real alarm, showed the
+financier Jefferson's letter. Ryder read it and he looked pleased.
+
+"That's all right," he said, "if the lad asked you to meet us here it
+can mean only one thing--that at last he has made up his mind to this
+marriage."
+
+"That's what I thought," replied the senator, breathing more freely. "I
+was sorry to leave Washington at such a time, but I'm a father, and
+Kate is more to me than the Rossmore impeachment. Besides, to see her
+married to your son Jefferson is one of the dearest wishes of my life."
+
+"You can rest easy," said Ryder; "that is practically settled.
+Jefferson's sending for you proves that he is now ready to meet my
+wishes. He'll be here any minute. How is the Rossmore case progressing?"
+
+"Not so well as it might," growled the senator. "There's a lot of
+maudlin sympathy for the judge. He's a pretty sick man by all accounts,
+and the newspapers seem to be taking his part. One or two of the
+Western senators are talking Corporate influence and Trust legislation,
+but when it comes to a vote the matter will be settled on party lines."
+
+"That means that Judge Rossmore will be removed?" demanded Ryder
+sternly.
+
+"Yes, with five votes to spare," answered the senator.
+
+"That's not enough," insisted Ryder. "There must be at least twenty.
+Let there be no blunders, Roberts. The man is a menace to all the big
+commercial interests. This thing must go through."
+
+The door opened and Jefferson appeared. On seeing the senator talking
+with his father, he hesitated on the threshold.
+
+"Come in, Jeff," said his father pleasantly. "You expected to see
+Senator Roberts, didn't you?"
+
+"Yes, sir. How do you do, Senator?" said the young man, advancing into
+the room.
+
+"I got your letter, my boy, and here I am," said the senator smiling
+affably. "I suppose we can guess what the business is, eh?"
+
+"That he's going to marry Kate, of course," chimed in Ryder Sr. "Jeff,
+my lad, I'm glad you are beginning to see my way of looking at things.
+You're doing more to please me lately, and I appreciate it. You stayed
+at home when I asked you to, and now you've made up your mind regarding
+this marriage."
+
+Jefferson let his father finish his speech, and then he said calmly:
+
+"I think there must be some misapprehension as to the reason for my
+summoning Senator Roberts to New York. It had nothing to do with my
+marrying Miss Roberts, but to prevent her marriage with someone else."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Ryder, Sr.
+
+"Marriage with someone else?" echoed the senator. He thought he had not
+heard aright, yet at the same time he had grave misgivings. "What do
+you mean, sir?"
+
+Taking from his pocket a copy of the letter he had picked up on the
+staircase, Jefferson held it out to the girl's father.
+
+"Your daughter is preparing to run away with my father's secretary.
+To-morrow would have been too late. That is why I summoned you. Read
+this."
+
+The senator took the letter, and as he read his face grew ashen and his
+hand trembled violently. At one blow all his ambitious projects for his
+daughter had been swept away. The inconsiderate act of a silly,
+thoughtless girl had spoiled the carefully laid plans of a lifetime.
+The only consolation which remained was that the calamity might have
+been still more serious. This timely warning had saved his family from
+perhaps an even greater scandal. He passed the letter in silence to
+Ryder, Sr.
+
+The financier was a man of few words when the situation called for
+prompt action. After he had read the letter through, there was an
+ominous silence. Then he rang a bell. The butler appeared.
+
+"Tell Mr. Bagley I want him."
+
+The man bowed and disappeared.
+
+"Who the devil is this Bagley?" demanded the senater.
+
+"English--blue blood--no money," was Ryder's laconic answer.
+
+"That's the only kind we seem to get over here," growled the senator.
+"We furnish the money--they furnish the blood--damn his blue blood! I
+don't want any in mine." Turning to Jefferson, he said: "Jefferson,
+whatever the motives that actuated you, I can only thank you for this
+warning. I think it would have broken my heart if my girl had gone away
+with that scoundrel. Of course, under the circumstances, I must abandon
+all idea of your becoming my son-in-law. I release you from all
+obligations you may have felt yourself bound by."
+
+Jefferson bowed and remained silent.
+
+Ryder, Sr. eyed his son closely, an amused expression hovering on his
+face. After all, it was not so much he who had desired this match as
+Roberts, and as long as the senator was willing to withdraw, he could
+make no objection. He wondered what part, if any, his son had played in
+bringing about this sensational denouement to a match which had been so
+distasteful to him, and it gratified his paternal vanity to think that
+Jefferson after all might be smarter than he had given him credit for.
+
+At this juncture Mr. Bagley entered the room. He was a little taken
+aback on seeing the senator, but like most men of his class, his
+self-conceit made him confident of his ability to handle any emergency
+which might arise, and he had no reason to suspect that this hasty
+summons to the library had anything to do with his matrimonial plans.
+
+"Did you ask for me, sir? he demanded, addressing his employer.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Bagley," replied Ryder, fixing the secretary with a look that
+filled the latter with misgivings. "What steamers leave to-morrow for
+England?"
+
+"To-morrow?" echoed Mr. Bagley.
+
+"I said to-morrow," repeated Ryder, slightly raising his voice.
+
+"Let me see," stammered the secretary, "there is the White Star, the
+North German Lloyd, the Atlantic Transport--" "Have you any
+preference?" inquired the financier.
+
+"No, sir, none at all."
+
+"Then you'll go on board one of the ships to-night," said Ryder. "Your
+things will be packed and sent to you before the steamer sails
+to-morrow."
+
+The Hon. Fitzroy Bagley, third son of a British peer, did not
+understand even yet that he was discharged as one dismisses a housemaid
+caught kissing the policeman. He could not think what Mr. Ryder wanted
+him to go abroad for unless it were on some matter of business, and it
+was decidedly inconvenient for him to sail at this time.
+
+"But, sir," he stammered. "I'm afraid--I'm afraid----"
+
+"Yes," rejoined Ryder promptly, "I notice that--your hand is shaking."
+
+"I mean that I----"
+
+"You mean that you have other engagements!" said Ryder sternly.
+
+"Oh no--no but----"
+
+"No engagement at eleven o'clock to-morrow morning?" insisted Ryder.
+
+"With my daughter?" chimed in the senator.
+
+Mr. Bagley now understood. He broke out in a cold perspiration and he
+paled visibly. In the hope that the full extent of his plans were not
+known, he attempted to brazen it out.
+
+"No, certainly not, under no circumstances," he said.
+
+Ryder, Sr. rang a bell.
+
+"Perhaps she has an engagement with you. We'll ask her." To the butler,
+who entered, he said: "Tell Miss Roberts that her father would like to
+see her here."
+
+The man disappeared and the senator took a hand in cross-examining the
+now thoroughly uncomfortable secretary.
+
+"So you thought my daughter looked pale and that a little excursion to
+Buffalo would be a good thing for her? Well, it won't be a good thing
+for you, young man, I can assure you of that!"
+
+The English aristocrat began to wilt. His assurance of manner quite
+deserted him and he stammered painfully as he floundered about in
+excuses.
+
+"Not with me--oh dear, no," he said.
+
+"You never proposed to run away with my daughter?" cried the irate
+father.
+
+"Run away with her?" stammered Bagley.
+
+"And marry her?" shouted the senator, shaking his fist at him.
+
+"Oh say--this is hardly fair--three against one--really--I'm awfully
+sorry, eh, what?"
+
+The door opened and Kate Roberts bounced in. She was smiling and full
+of animal spirits, but on seeing the stern face of her father and the
+pitiable picture presented by her faithful Fitz she was intelligent
+enough to immediately scent danger.
+
+"Did you want to see me, father?" she inquired boldly.
+
+"Yes, Kate," answered the senator gravely, "we have just been having a
+talk with Mr. Bagley, in which you were one of the subjects of
+conversation. Can you guess what it was?"
+
+The girl looked from her father to Bagley and from him to the Ryders.
+Her aristocratic lover made a movement forward as if to exculpate
+himself but he caught Ryder's eye and remained where he was.
+
+"Well?" she said, with a nervous laugh.
+
+"Is it true?" asked the senator, "that you were about to marry this man
+secretly?"
+
+She cast down her eyes and answered:
+
+"I suppose you know everything."
+
+"Have you anything to add?" asked her father sternly.
+
+"No," said Kate shaking her head. "It's true. We intended to run away,
+didn't we Fitz?"
+
+"Never mind about Mr. Bagley," thundered her father. "Haven't you a
+word of shame for this disgrace you have brought upon me?"
+
+"Oh papa, don't be so cross. Jefferson did not care for me. I couldn't
+be an old maid. Mr. Bagley has a lovely castle in England, and one day
+he'll sit in the House of Lords. He'll explain everything to you."
+
+"He'll explain nothing," rejoined the senator grimly. "Mr. Bagley
+returns to England to-night. He won't have time to explain anything."
+
+"Returns to England?" echoed Kate dismayed.
+
+"Yes, and you go with me to Washington at once."
+
+The senator turned to Ryder.
+
+"Good-bye Ryder. The little domestic comedy is ended. I'm grateful it
+didn't turn out a drama. The next time I pick out a son-in-law I hope
+I'll have better luck."
+
+He shook hands with Jefferson, and left the room followed by his
+crestfallen daughter.
+
+Ryder, who had gone to write something at his desk, strode over to
+where Mr. Bagley was standing and handed him a cheque.
+
+"Here, sir, this settles everything to date. Good-day."
+
+"But I--I--" stammered the secretary helplessly.
+
+"Good-day, sir."
+
+Ryder turned his back on him and conversed with his son, while Mr.
+Bagley slowly, and as if regretfully, made his exit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+It was now December and the Senate had been in session for over a week.
+Jefferson had not forgotten his promise, and one day, about two weeks
+after Mr. Bagley's spectacular dismissal from the Ryder residence, he
+had brought Shirley the two letters. She did not ask him how he got
+them, if he forced the drawer or procured the key. It sufficed for her
+that the precious letters--the absolute proof of her father's
+innocence--were at last in her possession. She at once sent them off by
+registered mail to Stott, who immediately acknowledged receipt and at
+the same time announced his departure for Washington that night. He
+promised to keep her constantly informed of what he was doing and how
+her father's case was going. It could, he thought, be only a matter of
+a few days now before the result of the proceedings would be known.
+
+The approach of the crisis made Shirley exceedingly nervous, and it was
+only by the exercise of the greatest self-control that she did not
+betray the terrible anxiety she felt. The Ryder biography was nearly
+finished and her stay in Seventy-fourth Street would soon come to an
+end. She had a serious talk with Jefferson, who contrived to see a good
+deal of her, entirely unsuspected by his parents, for Mr. and Mrs.
+Ryder, had no reason to believe that their son had any more than a mere
+bowing acquaintance with the clever young authoress. Now that Mr.
+Bagley was no longer there to spy upon their actions these clandestine
+interviews had been comparatively easy. Shirley brought to bear all the
+arguments she could think of to convince Jefferson of the hopelessness
+of their engagement. She insisted that she could never be his wife;
+circumstances over which they had no control made that dream
+impossible. It were better, she said, to part now rather than incur the
+risk of being unhappy later. But Jefferson refused to be convinced. He
+argued and pleaded and he even swore--strange, desperate words that
+Shirley had never heard before and which alarmed her not a little--and
+the discussion ended usually by a kiss which put Shirley completely
+hors de combat.
+
+Meantime, John Ryder had not ceased worrying about his son. The removal
+of Kate Roberts as a factor in his future had not eliminated the danger
+of Jefferson taking the bit between his teeth one day and contracting a
+secret marriage with the daughter of his enemy, and when he thought of
+the mere possibility of such a thing happening he stormed and raved
+until his wife, accustomed as she was to his choleric outbursts, was
+thoroughly frightened. For some time after Bagley's departure, father
+and son got along together fairly amicably, but Ryder, Sr. was quick to
+see that Jefferson had something on his mind which was worrying him,
+and he rightly attributed it to his infatuation for Miss Rossmore. He
+was convinced that his son knew where the judge's daughter was,
+although his own efforts to discover her whereabouts had been
+unsuccessful. Sergeant Ellison had confessed absolute failure; Miss
+Rossmore, he reported, had disappeared as completely as if the earth
+had swallowed her, and further search was futile. Knowing well his
+son's impulsive, headstrong disposition, Ryder, Sr. believed him quite
+capable of marrying the girl secretly any time. The only thing that
+John Ryder did not know was that Shirley Rossmore was not the kind of a
+girl to allow any man to inveigle her into a secret marriage. The
+Colossus, who judged the world's morals by his own, was not of course
+aware of this, and he worried night and day thinking what he could do
+to prevent his son from marrying the daughter of the man he had wronged.
+
+The more he pondered over it, the more he regretted that there was not
+some other girl with whom Jefferson could fall in love and marry. He
+need not seek a rich girl--there was certainly enough money in the
+Ryder family to provide for both. He wished they knew a girl, for
+example, as attractive and clever as Miss Green. Ah! he thought, there
+was a girl who would make a man of Jefferson--brainy, ambitious,
+active! And the more he thought of it the more the idea grew on him
+that Miss Green would be an ideal daughter-in-law, and at the same time
+snatch his son from the clutches of the Rossmore woman.
+
+Jefferson, during all these weeks, was growing more and more impatient.
+He knew that any day now Shirley might take her departure from their
+house and return to Massapequa. If the impeachment proceedings went
+against her father it was more than likely that he would lose her
+forever, and if, on the contrary, the judge were acquitted, Shirley
+never would be willing to marry him without his father's consent; and
+this, he felt, he would never obtain. He resolved, therefore, to have a
+final interview with his father and declare boldly his intention of
+making Miss Rossmore his wife, regardless of the consequences.
+
+The opportunity came one evening after dinner. Ryder, Sr. was sitting
+alone in the library, reading, Mrs. Ryder had gone to the theatre with
+a friend, Shirley as usual was writing in her room, giving the final
+touches to her now completed "History of the Empire Trading Company."
+Jefferson took the bull by the horns and boldly accosted his
+redoubtable parent.
+
+"May I have a few minutes of your time, father?"
+
+Ryder, Sr. laid aside the paper he was reading and looked up. It was
+unusual for his son to come to him on any errand, and he liked to
+encourage it.
+
+"Certainly, Jefferson. What is it?"
+
+"I want to appeal to you, sir. I want you to use your influence, before
+it is too late, to save Judge Rossmore. A word from you at this time
+would do wonders in Washington."
+
+The financier swung half-round in his chair, the smile of greeting
+faded out of his face, and his voice was hard as he replied coldly:
+
+"Again? I thought we had agreed not to discuss Judge Rossmore any
+further?"
+
+"I can't help it, sir," rejoined Jefferson undeterred by his sire's
+hostile attitude, "that poor old man is practically on trial for his
+life. He is as innocent of wrongdoing as a child unborn, and you know
+it. You could save him if you would."
+
+"Jefferson," answered Ryder, Sr., biting his lip to restrain his
+impatience, "I told you before that I could not interfere even if I
+would; and I won't, because that man is my enemy. Important business
+interests, which you cannot possibly know anything about, demand his
+dismissal from the bench."
+
+"Surely your business interests don't demand the sacrifice of a man's
+life!" retorted Jefferson. "I know modern business methods are none too
+squeamish, but I should think you'd draw the line at deliberate murder!"
+
+Ryder sprang to his feet and for a moment stood glaring at the young
+man. His lips moved, but no sound came from them. Suppressed wrath
+rendered him speechless. What was the world coming to when a son could
+talk to his father in this manner?
+
+"How dare you presume to judge my actions or to criticise my methods?"
+he burst out, finally.
+
+"You force me to do so," answered Jefferson hotly. "I want to tell you
+that I am heartily ashamed of this whole affair and your connection
+with it, and since you refuse to make reparation in the only way
+possible for the wrong you and your associates have done Judge
+Rosmore--that is by saving him in the Senate--I think it only fair to
+warn you that I take back my word in regard to not marrying without
+your consent. I want you to know that I intend to marry Miss Rossmore
+as soon as she will consent to become my wife, that is," he added with
+bitterness, "if I can succeed in overcoming her prejudices against my
+family--"
+
+Ryder, Sr. laughed contemptuously.
+
+"Prejudices against a thousand million dollars?" he exclaimed
+sceptically.
+
+"Yes," replied Jefferson decisively, "prejudices against our family,
+against you and your business practices. Money is not everything. One
+day you will find that out. I tell you definitely that I intend to make
+Miss Rossmore my wife."
+
+Ryder, Sr. made no reply, and as Jefferson had expected an explosion,
+this unnatural calm rather startled him. He was sorry he had spoken so
+harshly. It was his father, after all.
+
+"You've forced me to defy you, father," he added. "I'm sorry---"
+
+Ryder, Sr. shrugged his shoulders and resumed his seat. He lit another
+cigar, and with affected carelessness he said:
+
+"All right, Jeff, my boy, we'll let it go at that. You're sorry--so am
+I. You've shown me your cards--I'll show you mine."
+
+His composed unruffled manner vanished. He suddenly threw off the mask
+and revealed the tempest that was raging within. He leaned across the
+desk, his face convulsed with uncontrollable passion, a terrifying
+picture of human wrath. Shaking his fist at his son he shouted:
+
+"When I get through with Judge Rossmore at Washington, I'll start after
+his daughter. This time to-morrow he'll be a disgraced man. A week
+later she will be a notorious woman. Then we'll see if you'll be so
+eager to marry her!"
+
+"Father!" cried Jefferson.
+
+"There is sure to be something in her life that won't bear inspection,"
+sneered Ryder. "There is in everybody's life. I'll find out what it is.
+Where is she to-day? She can't be found. No one knows where she is--not
+even her own mother. Something is wrong--the girl's no good!"
+
+Jefferson started forward as if to resent these insults to the woman he
+loved, but, realizing that it was his own father, he stopped short and
+his hands fell powerless at his side.
+
+"Well, is that all?" inquired Ryder, Sr. with a sneer.
+
+"That's all," replied Jefferson, "I'm going. Good-bye."
+
+"Good-bye," answered his father indifferently; "leave your address with
+your mother."
+
+Jefferson left the room, and Ryder, Sr., as if exhausted by the
+violence of his own outburst, sank back limp in his chair. The crisis
+he dreaded had come at last. His son had openly defied his authority
+and was going to marry the daughter of his enemy. He must do something
+to prevent it; the marriage must not take place, but what could he do?
+The boy was of age and legally his own master. He could do nothing to
+restrain his actions unless they put him in an insane asylum. He would
+rather see his son there, he mused, than married to the Rossmore woman.
+
+Presently there was a timid knock at the library door. Ryder rose from
+his seat and went to see who was there. To his surprise it was Miss
+Green.
+
+"May I come in?" asked Shirley.
+
+"Certainly, by all means. Sit down."
+
+He drew up a chair for her, and his manner was so cordial that it was
+easy to see she was a welcome visitor.
+
+"Mr. Ryder," she began in a low, tremulous voice, "I have come to see
+you on a very important matter. I've been waiting to see you all
+evening--and as I shall be here only a short time longer I--want to ask
+yon a great favour--perhaps the greatest you were ever asked--I want to
+ask you for mercy--for mercy to--"
+
+She stopped and glanced nervously at him, but she saw he was paying no
+attention to what she was saying. He was puffing heavily at his cigar,
+entirely preoccupied with his own thoughts. Her sudden silence aroused
+him. He apologized:
+
+"Oh, excuse me--I didn't quite catch what you were saying."
+
+She said nothing, wondering what had happened to render him so
+absent-minded. He read the question in her face, for, turning towards
+her, he exclaimed:
+
+"For the first time in my life I am face to face with defeat--defeat of
+the most ignominious kind--incapacity--inability to regulate my own
+internal affairs. I can rule a government, but I can't manage my own
+family--my own son. I'm a failure. Tell me," he added, appealing to
+her, "why can't I rule my own household, why can't I govern my own
+child?"
+
+"Why can't you govern yourself?" said Shirley quietly.
+
+Ryder looked keenly at her for a moment without answering her question;
+then, as if prompted by a sudden inspiration, he said:
+
+"You can help me, but not by preaching at me. This is the first time in
+my life I ever called on a living soul for help. I'm only accustomed to
+deal with men. This time there's a woman in the case--and I need your
+woman's wit--"
+
+"How can I help you?" asked Shirley.
+
+"I don't know," he answered with suppressed excitement. "As I told you,
+I am up against a blank wall. I can't see my way." He gave a nervous
+little laugh and went on: "God! I'm ashamed of myself--ashamed! Did you
+ever read the fable of the Lion and the Mouse? Well, I want you to gnaw
+with your sharp woman's teeth at the cords which bind the son of John
+Burkett Ryder to this Rossmore woman. I want you to be the mouse--to
+set me free of this disgraceful entanglement."
+
+"How? asked Shirley calmly.
+
+"Ah, that's just it--how?" he replied. "Can't you think--you're a
+woman--you have youth, beauty--brains." He stopped and eyed her closely
+until she reddened from the embarrassing scrutiny. Then he blurted out:
+"By George! marry him yourself--force him to let go of this other
+woman! Why not? Come, what do you say?"
+
+This unexpected suggestion came upon Shirley with all the force of a
+violent shock. She immediately saw the falseness of her position. This
+man was asking for her hand for his son under the impression that she
+was another woman. It would be dishonorable of her to keep up the
+deception any longer. She passed her hand over her face to conceal her
+confusion.
+
+"You--you must give me time to think," she stammered. "Suppose I don't
+love your son--I should want something--something to compensate."
+
+"Something to compensate?" echoed Ryder surprised and a little
+disconcerted. "Why, the boy will inherit millions--I don't know how
+many."
+
+"No--no, not money," rejoined Shirley; "money only compensates those
+who love money. It's something else--a man's honour--a man's life! It
+means nothing to you."
+
+He gazed at her, not understanding. Full of his own project, he had
+mind for nothing else. Ignoring therefore the question of compensation,
+whatever she might mean by that, he continued:
+
+"You can win him if you make up your mind to. A woman with your
+resources can blind him to any other woman."
+
+"But if--he loves Judge Rossmore's daughter?" objected Shirley.
+
+"It's for you to make him forget her--and you can," replied the
+financier confidently. "My desire is to separate him from this Rossmore
+woman at any cost. You must help me." His sternness relaxed somewhat
+and his eyes rested on her kindly. "Do you know, I should be glad to
+think you won't have to leave us. Mrs. Ryder has taken a fancy to you,
+and I myself shall miss you when you go."
+
+"You ask me to be your son's wife and you know nothing of my family,"
+said Shirley.
+
+"I know you--that is sufficient," he replied.
+
+"No--no you don't," returned Shirley, "nor do you know your son. He has
+more constancy--more strength of character than you think--and far more
+principle than you have."
+
+"So much the greater the victory for you," he answered good humouredly.
+
+"Ah," she said reproachfully, "you do not love your son."
+
+"I do love him," replied Ryder warmly. "It's because I love him that
+I'm such a fool in this matter. Don't you see that if he marries this
+girl it would separate us, and I should lose him. I don't want to lose
+him. If I welcomed her to my house it would make me the laughing-stock
+of all my friends and business associates. Come, will you join forces
+with me?"
+
+Shirley shook her head and was about to reply when the telephone bell
+rang. Ryder took up the receiver and spoke to the butler downstairs:
+
+"Who's that? Judge Stott? Tell him I'm too busy to see anyone. What's
+that? A man's life at stake? What's that to do with me? Tell him--"
+
+On hearing Stott's name, Shirley nearly betrayed herself. She turned
+pale and half-started up from her chair. Something serious must have
+happened to bring her father's legal adviser to the Ryder residence at
+such an hour! She thought he was in Washington. Could it be that the
+proceedings in the Senate were ended and the result known? She could
+hardly conceal her anxiety, and instinctively she placed her hand on
+Ryder's arm.
+
+"No, Mr. Ryder, do see Judge Stott! You must see him. I know who he is.
+Your son has told me. Judge Stott is one of Judge Rossmore's advisers.
+See him. You may find out something about the girl. You may find out
+where she is. If Jefferson finds out you have refused to see her
+father's friend at such a critical time it will only make him
+sympathize more deeply with the Rossmores, and you know sympathy is
+akin to love. That's what you want to avoid, isn't it?"
+
+Ryder still held the telephone, hesitating what to do. What she said
+sounded like good sense.
+
+"Upon my word--" he said. "You may be right and yet--"
+
+"Am I to help you or not?" demanded Shirley. "You said you wanted a
+woman's wit."
+
+"Yes," said Ryder, "but still--"
+
+"Then you had better see him," she said emphatically.
+
+Ryder turned to the telephone.
+
+"Hello, Jorkins, are you there? Show Judge Stott up here." He laid the
+receiver down and turned again to Shirley. "That's one thing I don't
+like about you," he said. "I allow you to decide against me and then I
+agree with you." She said nothing and he went on looking at her
+admiringly. "I predict that you'll bring that boy to your feet within a
+month. I don't know why, but I seem to feel that he is attracted to you
+already. Thank Heaven! you haven't a lot of troublesome relations. I
+think you said you were almost alone in the world. Don't look so
+serious," he added laughing. "Jeff is a fine fellow, and believe me an
+excellent catch as the world goes."
+
+Shirley raised her hand as if entreating him to desist.
+
+"Oh, don't--don't--please! My position is so false! You don't know how
+false it is!" she cried.
+
+At that instant the library door was thrown open and the butler
+appeared, ushering in Stott. The lawyer looked anxious, and his
+dishevelled appearance indicated that he had come direct from the
+train. Shirley scanned his face narrowly in the hope that she might
+read there what had happened. He walked right past her, giving no sign
+of recognition, and advanced direct towards Ryder, who had risen and
+remained standing at his desk.
+
+"Perhaps I had better go?" ventured Shirley, although tortured by
+anxiety to hear the news from Washington.
+
+"No," said Ryder quickly, "Judge Stott will detain me but a very few
+moments."
+
+Having delivered himself of this delicate hint, he looked towards his
+visitor as if inviting him to come to the point as rapidly as possible.
+
+"I must apologize for intruding at this unseemly hour, sir," said
+Stott, "but time is precious. The Senate meets to-morrow to vote. If
+anything is to be done for Judge Rossmore it must be done to-night."
+
+"I fail to see why you address yourself to me in this matter, sir,"
+replied Ryder with asperity.
+
+"As Judge Rossmore's friend and counsel," answered Stott, "I am
+impelled to ask your help at this critical moment."
+
+"The matter is in the hands of the United States Senate, sir," replied
+Ryder coldly.
+
+"They are against him!" cried Stott; "not one senator I've spoken to
+holds out any hope for him. If he is convicted it will mean his death.
+Inch by inch his life is leaving him. The only thing that can save him
+is the good news of the Senate's refusal to find him guilty."
+
+Stott was talking so excitedly and loudly that neither he nor Ryder
+heard the low moan that came from the corner of the room where Shirley
+was standing listening.
+
+"I can do nothing," repeated Ryder coldly, and he turned his back and
+began to examine some papers lying on his desk as if to notify the
+caller that the interview was ended. But Stott was not so easily
+discouraged. He went on:
+
+"As I understand it, they will vote on strictly party lines, and the
+party in power is against him. He's a marked man. You have the power to
+help him." Heedless of Ryder's gesture of impatience he continued:
+"When I left his bedside to-night, sir, I promised to return to him
+with good news; I have told him that the Senate ridicules the charges
+against him. I must return to him with good news. He is very ill
+to-night, sir." He halted for a moment and glanced in Shirley's
+direction, and slightly raising his voice so she might hear, he added:
+"If he gets worse we shall send for his daughter."
+
+"Where is his daughter?" demanded Ryder, suddenly interested.
+
+"She is working in her father's interests," replied Stott, and, he
+added significantly, "I believe with some hope of success."
+
+He gave Shirley a quick, questioning look. She nodded affirmatively.
+Ryder, who had seen nothing of this by-play, said with a sneer:
+
+"Surely you didn't come here to-night to tell me this?"
+
+"No, sir, I did not." He took from his pocket two letters--the two
+which Shirley had sent him--and held them out for Ryder's inspection.
+"These letters from Judge Rossmore to you," he said, "show you to be
+acquainted with the fact that he bought those shares as an
+investment--and did not receive them as a bribe."
+
+When he caught sight of the letters and he realized what they were,
+Ryder changed colour. Instinctively his eyes sought the drawer on the
+left-hand side of his desk. In a voice that was unnaturally calm, he
+asked:
+
+"Why don't you produce them before the Senate?"
+
+"It was too late," explained Stott, handing them to the financier. "I
+received them only two days ago. But if you come forward and declare--"
+
+Ryder made an effort to control himself.
+
+"I'll do nothing of the kind. I refuse to move in the matter. That is
+final. And now, sir," he added, raising his voice and pointing to the
+letters, "I wish to know how comes it that you had in your possession
+private correspondence addressed to me?"
+
+"That I cannot answer," replied Stott promptly.
+
+"From whom did you receive these letters?" demanded Ryder.
+
+Stott was dumb, while Shirley clutched at her chair as if she would
+fall. The financier repeated the question.
+
+"I must decline to answer," replied Stott finally.
+
+Shirley left her place and came slowly forward. Addressing Ryder, she
+said:
+
+"I wish to make a statement."
+
+The financier gazed at her in astonishment. What could she know about
+it, he wondered, and he waited with curiosity to hear what she was
+going to say. But Stott instantly realized that she was about to take
+the blame upon herself, regardless of the consequences to the success
+of their cause. This must be prevented at all hazards, even if another
+must be sacrificed, so interrupting her he said hastily to Ryder:
+
+"Judge Rossmore's life and honour are at stake and no false sense of
+delicacy must cause the failure of my object to save him. These letters
+were sent to me by--your son."
+
+"From my son'" exclaimed Ryder, starting. For a moment he staggered as
+if he had received a blow; he was too much overcome to speak or act.
+Then recovering himself, he rang a bell, and turned to Stott with
+renewed fury:
+
+"So," he cried, "this man, this judge whose honour is at stake and his
+daughter, who most likely has no honour at stake, between them have
+made a thief and a liar of my son! false to his father, false to his
+party; and you, sir, have the presumption to come here and ask me to
+intercede for him!" To the butler, who entered, he said: "See if Mr.
+Jefferson is still in the house. If he is, tell him I would like to see
+him here at once."
+
+The man disappeared, and Ryder strode angrily up and down the room with
+the letters in his hand. Then, turning abruptly on Stott, he said:
+
+"And now, sir, I think nothing more remains to be said. I shall keep
+these letters, as they are my property."
+
+"As you please. Good night, sir."
+
+"Good night," replied Ryder, not looking up.
+
+With a significant glance at Shirley, who motioned to him that she
+might yet succeed where he had failed, Stott left the room. Ryder
+turned to Shirley. His fierceness of manner softened down as he
+addressed the girl:
+
+"You see what they have done to my son--"
+
+"Yes," replied Shirley, "it's the girl's fault. If Jefferson hadn't
+loved her you would have helped the judge. Ah, why did they ever meet!
+She has worked on his sympathy and he--he took these letters for her
+sake, not to injure you. Oh, you must make some allowance for him!
+One's sympathy gets aroused in spite of oneself; even I feel sorry
+for--these people."
+
+"Don't," replied Ryder grimly, "sympathy is often weakness. Ah, there
+you are!" turning to Jefferson, who entered the room at that moment.
+
+"You sent for me, father?"
+
+"Yes," said Ryder, Sr., holding up the letters. "Have you ever seen
+these letters before?"
+
+Jefferson took the letters and examined them, then he passed them back
+to his father and said frankly:
+
+"Yes, I took them out of your desk and sent them to Mr. Stott in the
+hope they would help Judge Rossmore's case."
+
+Ryder restrained himself from proceeding to actual violence only with
+the greatest difficulty. His face grew white as death, his lips were
+compressed, his hands twitched convulsively, his eyes flashed
+dangerously. He took another cigar to give the impression that he had
+himself well under control, but the violent trembling of his hands as
+he lit it betrayed the terrific strain he was under.
+
+"So!" he said, "you deliberately sacrificed my interests to save this
+woman's father--you hear him, Miss Green? Jefferson, my boy, I think
+it's time you and I had a final accounting."
+
+Shirley made a motion as if about to withdraw. He stopped her with a
+gesture.
+
+"Please don't go, Miss Green. As the writer of my biography you are
+sufficiently well acquainted with my family affairs to warrant your
+being present at the epilogue. Besides, I want an excuse for keeping my
+temper. Sit down, Miss Green."
+
+Turning to Jefferson, he went on:
+
+"For your mother's sake, my boy, I have overlooked your little
+eccentricities of character. But now we have arrived at the parting of
+the ways--you have gone too far. The one aspect of this business I
+cannot overlook is your willingness to sell your own father for the
+sake of a woman."
+
+"My own father," interrupted Jefferson bitterly, "would not hesitate to
+sell me if his business and political interests warranted the
+sacrifice!"
+
+Shirley attempted the role of peacemaker. Appealing to the younger man,
+she said:
+
+"Please don't talk like that, Mr. Jefferson." Then she turned to Ryder,
+Sr.: "I don't think your son quite understands you, Mr. Ryder, and, if
+you will pardon me, I don't think you quite understand him. Do you
+realize that there is a man's life at stake--that Judge Rossmore is
+almost at the point of death and that favourable news from the Senate
+to-morrow is perhaps the only thing that can save him?"
+
+"Ah, I see," sneered Ryder, Sr. "Judge Stott's story has aroused your
+sympathy."
+
+"Yes, I--I confess my sympathy is aroused. I do feel for this father
+whose life is slowly ebbing away--whose strength is being sapped hourly
+by the thought of the disgrace--the injustice that is being done him! I
+do feel for the wife of this suffering man!"
+
+"Ah, its a complete picture!" cried Ryder mockingly. "The dying father,
+the sorrowing mother--and the daughter, what is she supposed to be
+doing?"
+
+"She is fighting for her father's life," cried Shirley, "and you, Mr.
+Jefferson, should have pleaded--pleaded--not demanded. It's no use
+trying to combat your father's will."
+
+"She is quite right, father I should have implored you. I do so now. I
+ask you for God's sake to help us!"
+
+Ryder was grim and silent. He rose from his seat and paced the room,
+puffing savagely at his cigar. Then he turned and said:
+
+"His removal is a political necessity. If he goes back on the bench
+every paltry justice of the peace, every petty official will think he
+has a special mission to tear down the structure that hard work and
+capital have erected. No, this man has been especially conspicuous in
+his efforts to block the progress of amalgamated interests."
+
+"And so he must be sacrificed?" cried Shirley indignantly.
+
+"He is a meddlesome man," insisted Ryder "and--"
+
+"He is innocent of the charges brought against him," urged Jefferson.
+
+"Mr. Ryder is not considering that point," said Shirley bitterly. "All
+he can see is that it is necessary to put this poor old man in the
+public pillory, to set him up as a warning to others of his class not
+to act in accordance with the principles of Truth and Justice--not to
+dare to obstruct the car of Juggernaut set in motion by the money gods
+of the country!"
+
+"It's the survival of the fittest, my dear," said Ryder coldly.
+
+"Oh!" cried Shirley, making a last appeal to the financier's heart of
+stone, "use your great influence with this governing body for good, not
+evil! Urge them to vote not in accordance with party policy and
+personal interest, but in accordance with their consciences--in
+accordance with Truth and Justice! Ah, for God's sake, Mr. Ryder! don't
+permit this foul injustice to blot the name of the highest tribunal in
+the Western world!"
+
+Ryder laughed cynically.
+
+"By Jove! Jefferson, I give you credit for having secured an eloquent
+advocate!"
+
+"Suppose," went on Shirley, ignoring his taunting comments, "suppose
+this daughter promises that she will never--never see your son
+again--that she will go away to some foreign country!"
+
+"No!" burst in Jefferson, "why should she? If my father is not man
+enough to do a simple act of justice without bartering a woman's
+happiness and his son's happiness, let him find comfort in his
+self-justification!"
+
+Shirley, completely unnerved, made a move towards the door, unable
+longer to bear the strain she was under. She tottered as though she
+would fall. Ryder made a quick movement towards his son and took him by
+the arm. Pointing to Shirley he said in a low tone:
+
+"You see how that girl pleads your cause for you! She loves you, my
+boy!" Jefferson started. "Yes, she does," pursued Ryder, Sr. "She's
+worth a thousand of the Rossmore woman. Make her your wife and I'll--"
+
+"Make her my wife!" cried Jefferson joyously. He stared at his parent
+as if he thought he had suddenly been bereft of his senses.
+
+"Make her my wife?" he repeated incredulously.
+
+"Well, what do you say?" demanded Ryder, Sr.
+
+The young man advanced towards Shirley, hands outstretched.
+
+"Yes, yes, Shir--Miss Green, will you?" Seeing that Shirley made no
+sign, he said: "Not now, father; I will speak to her later."
+
+"No, no, to-night, at once!" insisted Ryder. Addressing Shirley, he
+went on: "Miss Green, my son is much affected by your disinterested
+appeal in his behalf. He--he--you can save him from himself--my son
+wishes you--he asks you to become his wife! Is it not so, Jefferson?"
+
+"Yes, yes, my wife!" advancing again towards Shirley.
+
+The girl shrank back in alarm.
+
+"No, no, no, Mr. Ryder, I cannot, I cannot!" she cried.
+
+"Why not?" demanded Ryder, Sr. appealingly. "Ah, don't--don't decide
+hastily--"
+
+Shirley, her face set and drawn and keen mental distress showing in
+every line of it, faced the two men, pale and determined. The time had
+come to reveal the truth. This masquerade could go on no longer. It was
+not honourable either to her father or to herself. Her self-respect
+demanded that she inform the financier of her true identity.
+
+"I cannot marry your son with these lies upon my lips!" she cried. "I
+cannot go on with this deception. I told you you did not know who I
+was, who my people were. My story about them, my name, everything about
+me is false, every word I have uttered is a lie, a fraud, a cheat! I
+would not tell you now, but you trusted me and are willing to entrust
+your son's future, your family honour in my keeping, and I can't keep
+back the truth from you. Mr. Ryder, I am the daughter of the man you
+hate. I am the woman your son loves. I am Shirley Rossmore!"
+
+Ryder took his cigar from his lips and rose slowly to his feet.
+
+"You? You?" he stammered.
+
+"Yes--yes, I am the Rossmore woman! Listen, Mr. Ryder. Don't turn away
+from me. Go to Washington on behalf of my father, and I promise you I
+will never see your son again--never, never!"
+
+"Ah, Shirley!" cried Jefferson, "you don't love me!"
+
+"Yes, Jeff, I do; God knows I do! But if I must break my own heart to
+save my father I will do it."
+
+"Would you sacrifice my happiness and your own?"
+
+"No happiness can be built on lies, Jeff. We must build on truth or our
+whole house will crumble and fall. We have deceived your father, but he
+will forgive that, won't you?" she said, appealing to Ryder, "and you
+will go to Washington, you will save my father's honour, his life, you
+will--?"
+
+They stood face to face--this slim, delicate girl battling for her
+father's life, arrayed against a cold-blooded, heartless, unscrupulous
+man, deaf to every impulse of human sympathy or pity. Since this woman
+had deceived him, fooled him, he would deal with her as with everyone
+else who crossed his will. She laid her hand on his arm, pleading with
+him. Brutally, savagely, he thrust her aside.
+
+"No, no, I will not!" he thundered. "You have wormed yourself into my
+confidence by means of lies and deceit. You have tricked me, fooled me
+to the very limit! Oh, it is easy to see how you have beguiled my son
+into the folly of loving you! And you--you have the brazen effrontery
+to ask me to plead for your father? No! No! No! Let the law take its
+course, and now Miss Rossmore--you will please leave my house to-morrow
+morning!"
+
+Shirley stood listening to what he had to say, her face white, her
+mouth quivering. At last the crisis had come. It was a fight to the
+finish between this man, the incarnation of corporate greed and
+herself, representing the fundamental principles of right and justice.
+She turned on him in a fury:
+
+"Yes, I will leave your house to-night! Do you think I would remain
+another hour beneath the roof of a man who is as blind to justice, as
+deaf to mercy, as incapable of human sympathy as you are!"
+
+She raised her voice; and as she stood there denouncing the man of
+money, her eyes flashing and her head thrown back, she looked like some
+avenging angel defying one of the powers of Evil.
+
+"Leave the room!" shouted Ryder, beside himself, and pointing to the
+door.
+
+"Father!" cried Jefferson, starting forward to protect the girl he
+loved.
+
+"You have tricked him as you have me!" thundered Ryder.
+
+"It is your own vanity that has tricked you!" cried Shirley
+contemptuously. "You lay traps for yourself and walk into them. You
+compel everyone around you to lie to you, to cajole you, to praise you,
+to deceive you! At least, you cannot accuse me of flattering you. I
+have never fawned upon you as you compel your family and your friends
+and your dependents to do. I have always appealed to your better nature
+by telling you the truth, and in your heart you know that I am speaking
+the truth now."
+
+"Go!" he commanded.
+
+"Yes, let us go, Shirley!" said Jefferson.
+
+"No, Jeff, I came here alone and I'm going alone!"
+
+"You are not. I shall go with you. I intend to make you my wife!"
+
+Ryder laughed scornfully.
+
+"No," cried Shirley. "Do you think I'd marry a man whose father is as
+deep a discredit to the human race as your father is? No, I wouldn't
+marry the son of such a merciless tyrant! He refuses to lift his voice
+to save my father. I refuse to marry his son!"
+
+She turned on Ryder with all the fury of a tiger:
+
+"You think if you lived in the olden days you'd be a Caesar or an
+Alexander. But you wouldn't! You'd be a Nero--a Nero! Sink my
+self-respect to the extent of marrying into your family!" she exclaimed
+contemptuously. "Never! I am going to Washington without your aid. I am
+going to save my father if I have to go on my knees to every United
+States Senator. I'll go to the White House; I'll tell the President
+what you are! Marry your son--no, thank you! No, thank you!"
+
+Exhausted by the vehemence of her passionate outburst, Shirley hurried
+from the room, leaving Ryder speechless, staring at his son.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+When Shirley reached her rooms she broke down completely, she threw
+herself upon a sofa and burst into a fit of violent sobbing. After all,
+she was only a woman and the ordeal through which she had passed would
+have taxed the strongest powers of endurance. She had borne up
+courageously while there remained the faintest chance that she might
+succeed in moving the financier to pity, but now that all hopes in that
+direction were shattered and she herself had been ordered harshly from
+the house like any ordinary malefactor, the reaction set in, and she
+gave way freely to her long pent-up anguish and distress. Nothing now
+could save her father--not even this journey to Washington which she
+determined to take nevertheless, for, according to what Stott had said,
+the Senate was to take a vote that very night.
+
+She looked at the time--eleven o'clock. She had told Mr. Ryder that she
+would leave his house at once, but on reflection it was impossible for
+a girl alone to seek a room at that hour. It would be midnight before
+she could get her things packed. No, she would stay under this hated
+roof until morning and then take the first train to Washington. There
+was still a chance that the vote might be delayed, in which case she
+might yet succeed in winning over some of the senators. She began to
+gather her things together and was thus engaged when she heard a knock
+at her door.
+
+"Who's there?" she called out.
+
+"It's I," replied a familiar voice.
+
+Shirley went to the door and opening it found Jefferson on the
+threshold. He made no attempt to enter, nor did she invite him in. He
+looked tired and careworn. "Of course, you're not going to-night?" he
+asked anxiously. "My father did not mean to-night."
+
+"No, Jeff," she said wearily; "not to-night. It's a little too late. I
+did not realize it. To-morrow morning, early."
+
+He seemed reassured and held out his hand:
+
+"Good-night, dearest--you're a brave girl. You made a splendid fight."
+
+"It didn't do much good," she replied in a disheartened, listless way.
+
+"But it set him thinking," rejoined Jefferson. "No one ever spoke to my
+father like that before. It did him good. He's still marching up and
+down the library, chewing the cud--"
+
+Noticing Shirley's tired face and her eyes, with great black circles
+underneath, he stopped short.
+
+"Now don't do any more packing to-night," he said. "Go to bed and in
+the morning I'll come up and help you. Good night!"
+
+"Good night, Jeff," she smiled.
+
+He went downstairs, and after doing some more packing she went to bed.
+But it was hours before she got to sleep, and then she dreamed that she
+was in the Senate Chamber and that she saw Ryder suddenly rise and
+denounce himself before the astonished senators as a perjurer and
+traitor to his country, while she returned to Massapequa with the glad
+news that her father was acquitted.
+
+Meantime, a solitary figure remained in the library, pacing to and fro
+like a lost soul in Purgatory. Mrs. Ryder had returned from the play
+and gone to bed, serenely oblivious of the drama in real life that had
+been enacted at home, the servants locked the house up for the night
+and still John Burkett Ryder walked the floor of his sanctum, and late
+into the small hours of the morning the watchman going his lonely
+rounds, saw a light in the library and the restless figure of his
+employer sharply silhouetted against the white blinds.
+
+For the first time in his life John Ryder realized that there was
+something in the world beyond Self. He had seen with his own eyes the
+sacrifice a daughter will make for the father she loves, and he asked
+himself what manner of a man that father could be to inspire such
+devotion in his child. He probed into his own heart and conscience and
+reviewed his past career. He had been phenomenally successful, but he
+had not been happy. He had more money than he knew what to do with, but
+the pleasures of the domestic circle, which he saw other men enjoy, had
+been denied to him. Was he himself to blame? Had his insensate craving
+for gold and power led him to neglect those other things in life which
+contribute more truly to man's happiness? In other words, was his life
+a mistake? Yes, it was true what this girl charged, he had been
+merciless and unscrupulous in his dealings with his fellow man. It was
+true that hardly a dollar of his vast fortune had been honestly earned.
+It was true that it had been wrung from the people by fraud and
+trickery. He had craved for power, yet now he had tasted it, what a
+hollow joy it was, after all! The public hated and despised him; even
+his so-called friends and business associates toadied to him merely
+because they feared him. And this judge--this father he had persecuted
+and ruined, what a better man and citizen he was, how much more worthy
+of a child's love and of the esteem of the world! What had Judge
+Rossmore done, after all, to deserve the frightful punishment the
+amalgamated interests had caused him to suffer? If he had blocked their
+game, he had done only what his oath, his duty commanded him to do.
+Such a girl as Shirley Rossmore could not have had any other kind of a
+father. Ah, if he had had such a daughter he might have been a better
+man, if only to win his child's respect and affection. John Ryder
+pondered long and deeply and the more he ruminated the stronger the
+conviction grew upon him that the girl was right and he was wrong.
+Suddenly, he looked at his watch. It was one o'clock. Roberts had told
+him that it would be an all night session and that a vote would
+probably not be taken until very late. He unhooked the telephone and
+calling "central" asked for "long distance" and connection with
+Washington.
+
+It was seven o'clock when the maid entered Shirley's room with her
+breakfast and she found its occupant up and dressed.
+
+"Why you haven't been to bed, Miss!" exclaimed the girl, looking at the
+bed in the inner room which seemed scarcely disturbed.
+
+"No, Theresa I--I couldn't sleep." Hastily pouring out a cup of tea she
+added. "I must catch that nine o'clock train to Washington. I didn't
+finish packing until nearly three."
+
+"Can I do anything for you, Miss?" inquired the maid. Shirley was as
+popular with the servants as with the rest of the household.
+
+"No," answered Shirley, "there are only a few, things to go in my suit
+case. Will you please have a cab here in half an hour?"
+
+The maid was about to go when she suddenly thought of something she had
+forgotten. She held out an envelope which she had left lying on the
+tray.
+
+"Oh, Miss, Mr. Jorkins said to give you this and master wanted to see
+you as soon as you had finished your breakfast."
+
+Shirley tore open the envelope and took out the contents. It was a
+cheque, payable to her order for $5,000 and signed "John Burkett Ryder."
+
+A deep flush covered the girl's face as she saw the money--a flush of
+annoyance rather than of pleasure. This man who had insulted her, who
+had wronged her father, who had driven her from his home, thought he
+could throw his gold at her and insolently send her her pay as one
+settles haughtily with a servant discharged for impertinence. She would
+have none of his money--the work she had done she would make him a
+present of. She replaced the cheque in the envelope and passed it back
+to Theresa.
+
+"Give this to Mr. Ryder and tell him I cannot see him."
+
+"But Mr. Ryder said--" insisted the girl.
+
+"Please deliver my message as I give it," commanded Shirley with
+authority. "I cannot see Mr. Ryder."
+
+The maid withdrew, but she had barely closed the door when it was
+opened again and Mrs. Ryder rushed in, without knocking. She was all
+flustered with excitement and in such a hurry that she had not even
+stopped to arrange her toilet.
+
+"My dear Miss Green," she gasped; "what's this I hear--going away
+suddenly without giving me warning?"
+
+"I wasn't engaged by the month," replied Shirley drily.
+
+"I know, dear, I know. I was thinking of myself. I've grown so used to
+you--how shall I get on without you--no one understands me the way you
+do. Dear me! The whole house is upset. Mr. Ryder never went to bed at
+all last night. Jefferson is going away, too--forever, he threatens. If
+he hadn't come and woke me up to say good-bye, I should never have
+known you intended to leave us. My boy's going--you're
+going--everyone's deserting me!"
+
+Mrs. Ryder was not accustomed to such prolonged flights of oratory and
+she sank exhausted on a chair, her eyes filling with tears.
+
+"Did they tell you who I am--the daughter of Judge Rossmore?" demanded
+Shirley.
+
+It had been a shock to Mrs. Ryder that morning when Jefferson burst
+into his mother's room before she was up and acquainted her with the
+events of the previous evening. The news that the Miss Green whom she
+had grown to love, was really the Miss Rossmore of whose relations with
+Jefferson her husband stood in such dread, was far from affecting the
+financier's wife as it had Ryder himself. To the mother's simple and
+ingenuous mind, free from prejudice and ulterior motive, the girl's
+character was more important than her name, and certainly she could not
+blame her son for loving such a woman as Shirley. Of course, it was
+unfortunate for Jefferson that his father felt this bitterness towards
+Judge Rossmore, for she herself could hardly have wished for a more
+sympathetic daughter-in-law. She had not seen her husband since the
+previous evening at dinner so was in complete ignorance as to what he
+thought of this new development, but the mother sighed as she thought
+how happy it would make her to see Jefferson happily married to the
+girl of his own choice, and in her heart she still entertained the hope
+that her husband would see it that way and thus prevent their son from
+leaving them as he threatened.
+
+"That's not your fault, my dear," she replied answering Shirley's
+question. "You are yourself--that's the main thing. You mustn't mind
+what Mr. Ryder says? Business and worry makes him irritable at times.
+If you must go, of course you must--you are the best judge of that, but
+Jefferson wants to see you before you leave." She kissed Shirley in
+motherly fashion, and added: "He has told me everything, dear. Nothing
+would make me happier than to see you become his wife. He's downstairs
+now waiting for me to tell him to come up."
+
+"It's better that I should not see him," replied Shirley slowly and
+gravely. "I can only tell him what I have already told him. My father
+comes first. I have still a duty to perform."
+
+"That's right, dear," answered Mrs. Ryder. "You're a good, noble girl
+and I admire you all the more for it. I'll let Jefferson be his own
+advocate. You'll see him for my sake!"
+
+She gave Shirley another affectionate embrace and left the room while
+the girl proceeded with her final preparations for departure. Presently
+there was a quick, heavy step in the corridor outside and Jefferson
+appeared in the doorway. He stood there waiting for her to invite him
+in. She looked up and greeted him cordially, yet it was hardly the kind
+of reception he looked for or that he considered he had a right to
+expect. He advanced sulkily into the room.
+
+"Mother said she had put everything right," he began. "I guess she was
+mistaken."
+
+"Your mother does not understand, neither do you," she replied
+seriously. "Nothing can be put right until my father is restored to
+honour and position."
+
+"But why should you punish me because my father fails to regard the
+matter as we do?" demanded Jefferson rebelliously.
+
+"Why should I punish myself--why should we punish those nearest and
+dearest?" answered Shirley gently, "the victims of human injustice
+always suffer where their loved ones are tortured. Why are things as
+they are--I don't know. I know they are--that's all."
+
+The young man strode nervously up and down the room while she gazed
+listlessly out of the window, looking for the cab that was to carry her
+away from this house of disappointment. He pleaded with her:
+
+"I have tried honourably and failed--you have tried honourably and
+failed. Isn't the sting of impotent failure enough to meet without
+striving against a hopeless love?" He approached her and said softly:
+"I love you Shirley--don't drive me to desperation. Must I be punished
+because you have failed? It's unfair. The sins of the fathers should
+not be visited upon the children."
+
+"But they are--it's the law," said Shirley with resignation.
+
+"The law?" he echoed.
+
+"Yes, the law," insisted the girl; "man's law, not God's, the same
+unjust law that punishes my father--man's law which is put into the
+hands of the powerful of the earth to strike at the weak."
+
+She sank into a chair and, covering up her face, wept bitterly. Between
+her sobs she cried brokenly:
+
+"I believed in the power of love to soften your father's heart, I
+believed that with God's help I could bring him to see the truth. I
+believed that Truth and Love would make him see the light, but it
+hasn't. I stayed on and on, hoping against hope until the time has gone
+by and it's too late to save him, too late! What can I do now? My going
+to Washington is a forlorn hope, a last, miserable, forlorn hope and in
+this hour, the darkest of all, you ask me to think of myself--my love,
+your love, your happiness, your future, my future! Ah, wouldn't it be
+sublime selfishness?"
+
+Jefferson kneeled down beside the chair and taking her hand in his,
+tried to reason with her and comfort her:
+
+"Listen, Shirley," he said, "do not do something you will surely
+regret. You are punishing me not only because I have failed but because
+you have failed too. It seems to me that if you believed it possible to
+accomplish so much, if you had so much faith--that you have lost your
+faith rather quickly. I believed in nothing, I had no faith and yet I
+have not lost hope."
+
+She shook her head and gently withdrew her hand.
+
+"It is useless to insist, Jefferson--until my father is cleared of this
+stain our lives--yours and mine--must lie apart."
+
+Someone coughed and, startled, they both looked up. Mr. Ryder had
+entered the room unobserved and stood watching them. Shirley
+immediately rose to her feet indignant, resenting this intrusion on her
+privacy after she had declined to receive the financier. Yet, she
+reflected quickly, how could she prevent it? He was at home, free to
+come and go as he pleased, but she was not compelled to remain in the
+same room with him. She picked up the few things that lay about and
+with a contemptuous toss of her head, retreated into the inner
+apartment, leaving father and son alone together.
+
+"Hum," grunted Ryder, Sr. "I rather thought I should find you here, but
+I didn't quite expect to find you on your knees--dragging our pride in
+the mud."
+
+"That's where our pride ought to be," retorted Jefferson savagely. He
+felt in the humor to say anything, no matter what the consequences.
+
+"So she has refused you again, eh?" said Ryder, Sr. with a grin.
+
+"Yes," rejoined Jefferson with growing irritation, "she objects to my
+family. I don't blame her."
+
+The financier smiled grimly as he answered:
+
+"Your family in general--me in particular, eh? I gleaned that much when
+I came in." He looked towards the door of the room in which Shirley had
+taken refuge and as if talking to himself he added: "A curious girl
+with an inverted point of view--sees everything different to others--I
+want to see her before she goes."
+
+He walked over to the door and raised his hand as if he were about to
+knock. Then he stopped as if he had changed his mind and turning
+towards his son he demanded:
+
+"Do you mean to say that she has done with you?"
+
+"Yes," answered Jefferson bitterly.
+
+"Finally?"
+
+"Yes, finally--forever!"
+
+"Does she mean it?" asked Ryder, Sr., sceptically.
+
+"Yes--she will not listen to me while her father is still in peril."
+
+There was an expression of half amusement, half admiration on the
+financier's face as he again turned towards the door.
+
+"It's like her, damn it, just like her!" he muttered.
+
+He knocked boldly at the door.
+
+"Who's there?" cried Shirley from within.
+
+"It is I--Mr. Ryder. I wish to speak to you."
+
+"I must beg you to excuse me," came the answer, "I cannot see you."
+
+Jefferson interfered.
+
+"Why do you want to add to the girl's misery? Don't you think she has
+suffered enough?"
+
+"Do you know what she has done?" said Ryder with pretended indignation.
+"She has insulted me grossly. I never was so humiliated in my life. She
+has returned the cheque I sent her last night in payment for her work
+on my biography. I mean to make her take that money. It's hers, she
+needs it, her father's a beggar. She must take it back. It's only
+flaunting her contempt for me in my face and I won't permit it."
+
+"I don't think her object in refusing that money was to flaunt contempt
+in your face, or in any way humiliate you," answered Jefferson. "She
+feels she has been sailing under false colours and desires to make some
+reparation."
+
+"And so she sends me back my money, feeling that will pacify me,
+perhaps repair the injury she has done me, perhaps buy me into entering
+into her plan of helping her father, but it won't. It only increases my
+determination to see her and her--" Suddenly changing the topic he
+asked: "When do you leave us?"
+
+"Now--at once--that is--I--don't know," answered Jefferson embarrassed.
+"The fact is my faculties are numbed--I seem to have lost my power of
+thinking. Father," he exclaimed, "you see what a wreck you have made of
+our lives!"
+
+"Now, don't moralize," replied his father testily, "as if your own
+selfishness in desiring to possess that girl wasn't the mainspring of
+all your actions!" Waving his son out of the room he added: "Now leave
+me alone with her for a few moments. Perhaps I can make her listen to
+reason."
+
+Jefferson stared at his father as if he feared he were out of his mind.
+
+"What do you mean? Are you--?" he ejaculated.
+
+"Go--go leave her to me," commanded the financier. "Slam the door when
+you go out and she'll think we've both gone. Then come up again
+presently."
+
+The stratagem succeeded admirably. Jefferson gave the door a vigorous
+pull and John Ryder stood quiet, waiting for the girl to emerge from
+sanctuary. He did not have to wait long. The door soon opened and
+Shirley came out slowly. She had her hat on and was drawing on her
+gloves, for through her window she had caught a glimpse of the cab
+standing at the curb. She started on seeing Ryder standing there
+motionless, and she would have retreated had he not intercepted her.
+
+"I wish to speak to you Miss--Rossmore," he began.
+
+"I have nothing to say," answered Shirley frigidly.
+
+"Why did you do this?" he asked, holding out the cheque.
+
+"Because I do not want your money," she replied with hauteur.
+
+"It was yours--you earned it," he said.
+
+"No, I came here hoping to influence you to help my father. The work I
+did was part of the plan. It happened to fall my way. I took it as a
+means to get to your heart."
+
+"But it is yours, please take it. It will be useful."
+
+"No," she said scornfully, "I can't tell you how low I should fall in
+my own estimation if I took your money! Money," she added, with ringing
+contempt, "why, that's all there is to YOU! It's your god! Shall I make
+your god my god? No, thank you, Mr. Ryder!"
+
+"Am I as bad as that?" he asked wistfully.
+
+"You are as bad as that!" she answered decisively.
+
+"So bad that I contaminate even good money?" He spoke lightly but she
+noticed that he winced.
+
+"Money itself is nothing," replied the girl, "it's the spirit that
+gives it--the spirit that receives it, the spirit that earns it, the
+spirit that spends it. Money helps to create happiness. It also creates
+misery. It's an engine of destruction when not properly used, it
+destroys individuals as it does nations. It has destroyed you, for it
+has warped your soul!"
+
+"Go on," he laughed bitterly, "I like to hear you!"
+
+"No, you don't, Mr. Ryder, no you don't, for deep down in your heart
+you know that I am speaking the truth. Money and the power it gives
+you, has dried up the well-springs of your heart."
+
+He affected to be highly amused at her words, but behind the mask of
+callous indifference the man suffered. Her words seared him as with a
+red hot iron. She went on:
+
+"In the barbaric ages they fought for possession, but they fought
+openly. The feudal barons fought for what they stole, but it was a fair
+fight. They didn't strike in the dark. At least, they gave a man a
+chance for his life. But when you modern barons of industry don't like
+legislation you destroy it, when you don't like your judges you remove
+them, when a competitor outbids you you squeeze him out of commercial
+existence! You have no hearts, you are machines, and you are cowards,
+for you fight unfairly."
+
+"It is not true, it is not true," he protested.
+
+"It is true," she insisted hotly, "a few hours ago in cold blood you
+doomed my father to what is certain death because you decided it was a
+political necessity. In other words he interfered with your personal
+interests--your financial interests--you, with so many millions you
+can't count them!" Scornfully she added: "Come out into the
+light--fight in the open! At least, let him know who his enemy is!"
+
+"Stop--stop--not another word," he cried impatiently, "you have
+diagnosed the disease. What of the remedy? Are you prepared to
+reconstruct human nature?"
+
+Confronting each other, their eyes met and he regarded her without
+resentment, almost with tenderness. He felt strangely drawn towards
+this woman who had defied and accused him, and made him see the world
+in a new light.
+
+"I don't deny," he admitted reluctantly, "that things seem to be as you
+describe them, but it is part of the process of evolution."
+
+"No," she protested, "it is the work of God!"
+
+"It is evolution!" he insisted.
+
+"Ah, that's it," she retorted, "you evolve new ideas, new schemes, new
+tricks--you all worship different gods--gods of your own making!"
+
+He was about to reply when there was a commotion at the door and
+Theresa entered, followed by a man servant to carry down the trunk.
+
+"The cab is downstairs, Miss," said the maid.
+
+Ryder waved them away imperiously. He had something further to say
+which he did not care for servants to hear. Theresa and the man
+precipitately withdrew, not understanding, but obeying with alacrity a
+master who never brooked delay in the execution of his orders. Shirley,
+indignant, looked to him for an explanation.
+
+"You don't need them," he exclaimed with a quiet smile in which was a
+shade of embarrassment. "I--I came here to tell you that I--" He
+stopped as if unable to find words, while Shirley gazed at him in utter
+astonishment. "Ah," he went on finally, "you have made it very hard for
+me to speak." Again he paused and then with an effort he said slowly:
+"An hour ago I had Senator Roberts on the long distance telephone, and
+I'm going to Washington. It's all right about your father. The matter
+will be dropped. You've beaten me. I acknowledge it. You're the first
+living soul who ever has beaten John Burkett Ryder."
+
+Shirley started forward with a cry of mingled joy and surprise. Could
+she believe her ears? Was it possible that the dreaded Colossus had
+capitulated and that she had saved her father? Had the forces of right
+and justice prevailed, after all? Her face transfigured, radiant she
+exclaimed breathlessly:
+
+"What, Mr. Ryder, you mean that you are going to help my father?"
+
+"Not for his sake--for yours," he answered frankly.
+
+Shirley hung her head. In her moment of triumph, she was sorry for all
+the hard things she had said to this man. She held out her hand to him.
+
+"Forgive me," she said gently, "it was for my father. I had no faith. I
+thought your heart was of stone."
+
+Impulsively Ryder drew her to him, he clasped her two hands in his and
+looking down at her kindly he said, awkwardly:
+
+"So it was--so it was! You accomplished the miracle. It's the first
+time I've acted on pure sentiment. Let me tell you something. Good
+sentiment is bad business and good business is bad sentiment--that's
+why a rich man is generally supposed to have such a hard time getting
+into the Kingdom of Heaven." He laughed and went on, "I've given ten
+millions apiece to three universities. Do you think I'm fool enough to
+suppose I can buy my way? But that's another matter. I'm going to
+Washington on behalf of your father because I--want you to marry my
+son. Yes, I want you in the family, close to us. I want your respect,
+my girl. I want your love. I want to earn it. I know I can't buy it.
+There's a weak spot in every man's armour and this is mine--I always
+want what I can't get and I can't get your love unless I earn it."
+
+Shirley remained pensive. Her thoughts were out on Long Island, at
+Massapequa. She was thinking of their joy when they heard the news--her
+father, her mother and Stott. She was thinking of the future, bright
+and glorious with promise again, now that the dark clouds were passing
+away. She thought of Jefferson and a soft light came into her eyes as
+she foresaw a happy wifehood shared with him.
+
+"Why so sober," demanded Ryder, "you've gained your point, your father
+is to be restored to you, you'll marry the man you love?"
+
+"I'm so happy!" murmured Shirley. "I don't deserve it. I had no faith."
+
+Ryder released her and took out his watch.
+
+"I leave in fifteen minutes for Washington," he said. "Will you trust
+me to go alone?"
+
+"I trust you gladly," she answered smiling at him. "I shall always be
+grateful to you for letting me convert you."
+
+"You won me over last night," he rejoined, "when you put up that fight
+for your father. I made up my mind that a girl so loyal to her father
+would be loyal to her husband. You think," he went on, "that I do not
+love my son--you are mistaken. I do love him and I want him to be
+happy. I am capable of more affection than people think. It is Wall
+Street," he added bitterly, "that has crushed all sentiment out of me."
+
+Shirley laughed nervously, almost hysterically.
+
+"I want to laugh and I feel like crying," she cried. "What will
+Jefferson say--how happy he will be!"
+
+"How are you going to tell him?" inquired Ryder uneasily.
+
+"I shall tell him that his dear, good father has relented and--"
+
+"No, my dear," he interrupted, "you will say nothing of the sort. I
+draw the line at the dear, good father act. I don't want him to think
+that it comes from me at all."
+
+"But," said Shirley puzzled, "I shall have to tell him that you--"
+
+"What?" exclaimed Ryder, "acknowledge to my son that I was in the
+wrong, that I've seen the error of my ways and wish to repent? Excuse
+me," he added grimly, "it's got to come from him. He must see the error
+of HIS ways."
+
+"But the error of his way," laughed the girl, "was falling in love with
+me. I can never prove to him that that was wrong!"
+
+The financier refused to be convinced. He shook his head and said
+stubbornly:
+
+"Well, he must be put in the wrong somehow or other! Why, my dear
+child," he went on, "that boy has been waiting all his life for an
+opportunity to say to me: 'Father, I knew I was in the right, and I
+knew you were wrong.' Can't you see," he asked, "what a false position
+it places me in? Just picture his triumph!"
+
+"He'll be too happy to triumph," objected Shirley.
+
+Feeling a little ashamed of his attitude, he said:
+
+"I suppose you think I'm very obstinate." Then, as she made no reply,
+he added: "I wish I didn't care what you thought."
+
+Shirley looked at him gravely for a moment and then she replied
+seriously:
+
+"Mr. Ryder, you're a great man--you're a genius--your life is full of
+action, energy, achievement. But it appears to be only the good, the
+noble and the true that you are ashamed of. When your money triumphs
+over principle, when your political power defeats the ends of justice,
+you glory in your victory. But when you do a kindly, generous, fatherly
+act, when you win a grand and noble victory over yourself, you are
+ashamed of it. It was a kind, generous impulse that has prompted you to
+save my father and take your son and myself to your heart. Why are you
+ashamed to let him see it? Are you afraid he will love you? Are you
+afraid I shall love you? Open your heart wide to us--let us love you."
+
+Ryder, completely vanquished, opened his arms and Shirley sprang
+forward and embraced him as she would have embraced her own father. A
+solitary tear coursed down the financier's cheek. In thirty years he
+had not felt, or been touched by, the emotion of human affection.
+
+The door suddenly opened and Jefferson entered. He started on seeing
+Shirley in his father's arms.
+
+"Jeff, my boy," said the financier, releasing Shirley and putting her
+hand in his son's, "I've done something you couldn't do--I've convinced
+Miss Green--I mean Miss Rossmore--that we are not so bad after all!"
+
+Jefferson, beaming, grasped his father's hand.
+
+"Father!" he exclaimed.
+
+"That's what I say--father!" echoed Shirley.
+
+They both embraced the financier until, overcome with emotion, Ryder,
+Sr., struggled to free himself and made his escape from the room crying:
+
+"Good-bye, children--I'm off for Washington!"
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lion and the Mouse, by Charles Klein
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