Chapter XXIV: Aunt Rachel’s Will, 337 (6)

“Nary red,” he added, as I did not ask the question which would suggest the revelation he evidently wished to make. “Not a cent—up to my eyes in debt beside—one, two or three thousand dollars. O, well! When a man understands himself, these things are easy enough. By the way, Glasswood, don’t you want to try your hand in this business? I know of a new company, which is going to be the cock of the walk on State Street. You can buy it for twenty to-day. It will be twenty-five to-morrow, for it is going like hot cakes. Everybody is after it. I have been tempted to sell my Ballyhack and invest in it.”

“What’s the company?”

“The Bustumup—Indian name, you know. It’s going up like a rocket, now.”

“Perhaps it will come down like one.”

“No fear of that. If I had ten thousand dollars to-day, I would put every cent of it into Bustumups. If you want two, three or five hundred shares of it, I will get them for you at the lowest figure. Your name, you know, would help the thing along.”

My name! Of course I was flattered. If I could have raised four or five thousand dollars, I should have been glad to give the company the benefit of my name!

“I should like to go in, but I have no capital,” I replied, with the modesty of a man without means.

“Do as I did!” exclaimed Cormorin, in whom the champagne had now banished every thing like caution.

“How did you do?”

“I used the bank funds!” he replied, hitting the table a tremendous rap. “But I don’t mean that the bank shall ever lose a single cent by me. I mean to be honest. I mean to pay every cent I borrow. I don’t see why money should lie idle in my drawer in the bank, when I can make something out of it, without wronging, cheating or defrauding man, woman or child. Glasswood, give me your hand. I have spoken frankly to you. If you betray me, of course I shall have to take the next steamer for foreign parts, and I’m afraid the bank would then be the loser by the operation.”

“I will never betray you,” I replied, clasping his offered hand.

“Thank you, Glasswood! You are a noble fellow. To-morrow those infernal directors will examine into the condition of our bank. My cash is five thousand short—just the sum I paid for the Ballyhacks. You understand me?”

I had drank so much champagne that I not only understood, but sympathized with him. He had done just what I had, though I was not stupid enough to betray myself to him.

“I understand you, Cormorin,” I replied. “Go on and tell me what you are driving at just as though I were your own brother.”

“Exactly so; just as though you were my own brother. I borrowed five thousand dollars from the bank. It will be missed to-morrow. Lend me five one thousand dollar bills, or the same amount in some other form, for two hours to-morrow, and I shall be all right. You shall hold my stock as collateral. It is worth double the amount; and I will do the same thing for you when your cash is counted, if you want to make something on your own account.”

“I’ll do it,” I replied, without a moment of reflection.

“You are a good fellow, Glasswood. Your fortune is made, and so is mine.”

I should not have been so prompt in acceding to his request without the aid of the champagne. Though I knew what I was about well enough, I was reckless. I was fascinated with the idea of making five or ten thousand dollars in “coppers,” and thus discharging my obligation to the bank.

“We don’t always know when our directors intend to make an examination,” I suggested.

“I can always tell by the looks of them. No matter; there is time enough after they begin. Our banks are near enough to each other to enable us to make a connection,” laughed Cormorin.

We discussed the matter still further, but we were perfectly agreed. We separated with an arrangement to meet in the forenoon of the next day, to carry out the plan we had devised. I did not deem it prudent to go directly home, and I spent an hour on the Common, waiting for the fumes of the wine I had drank to work off. When I went to Needham Street, I found that Lilian was still out, probably purchasing her new black silk dress. She came at last, and we ate a dried-up dinner at five o’clock. She had purchased her dress, and was in the best of spirits.

The next day, when I went to the bank, I quietly transferred six thousand dollars from my drawer to my pocket, with hardly a tithe of the compunction with which I had appropriated my first loan. O, I intended to be honest! The bank was not to lose a penny by me. For five thousand of the money, Cormorin was to give me collateral worth ten thousand in the market. With the other thousand I intended to pay my uncle, and silence his carping for all time.

Cormorin was punctual in his call for his share of the funds. He handed me the certificates and I gave him the money. In the course of the forenoon Captain Halliard, faithful to his threat, paid me a visit. I was not ready for him then, but I showed him one-half of Cormorin’s certificates. They did not abate his persistency for payment of the note, and I promised to pay him at three o’clock in the afternoon, without fail. As I had the money in my pocket, I could safely make the promise.

At the appointed time he presented himself before me.

_CHAPTER XVII._

PROVIDING FOR THE WORST.

“THERE is your money, principal and interest,” said I to my uncle, carelessly tossing him the bills. “You have compelled me to sacrifice my coppers, but I am rid of you now.”

“Rid of me! It isn’t necessary for you to be impudent, Paley,” replied the Captain.

“I assure you, it is a very great satisfaction for me to feel that there is now no possible way in which you can annoy me.”

“I don’t want to annoy you.”

“I thought you did. You have been crowding me pretty hard. You have compelled me to pay this note, for no other purpose than to annoy me. You have done your worst, and I hope you are satisfied.”

“You may have the money again, if you want it,” said he; for, like other bullies, when he felt that his power was gone, he was disposed to make peace.

“I don’t want it now. I have sold out my stock at a loss to gratify your malice. If you can do anything more to crush me, I hope you will do it.”

“I don’t want to crush you. What are you talking about?” added my uncle, impatiently.

“I don’t know what you mean by crowding me so hard, then.”

“Paley, you are living too fast. All I have done has been for your good.”

“I don’t see it; and I don’t exactly know by what right you purpose to take the management of my affairs into your own hands. You have an offer for my house, and you have attempted to drive me out of it. Let me say that I would go into bankruptcy, or into the State Prison, before I would submit to any such dictation. I am of age and I think I am able to take care of myself. I hear that Aunt Rachel is better to-day, and is steadily improving. I shall take the first occasion to tell her how you have used me.”

“Do you want to make trouble in the family?” asked he, evidently startled by my threat; for the handling of the invalid’s property was of some importance even to a gentleman of Captain Halliard’s wealth.

“I want justice done, though the heavens fall. Aunt Rachel never intended that I should be driven up to pay this thousand dollars, as you have done the business.”

“I did what I thought was best for you and for her.”

“All right; if you are satisfied, I am.”

I think my uncle was rather sorry he had crowded me so hard. He had failed to accomplish his purpose of driving me out of my house, and he knew that I had some influence with my aunt. He was disposed to back out, but I was not willing that he should do so. I did not like the idea of having him around me in the capacity of a guardian, prying into my affairs, and listening to every breath of scandal that related to me.

The sharp words I had spoken produced some effect upon him. But it occurred to me that his malice would be dangerous, and I did not deem it prudent to provoke him any farther. He was intimate with Mr. Bristlebach, and his influence might imperil my situation. It would be utter ruin for me to be discharged before I had replaced the sums I had “borrowed.” I moderated my wrath, therefore, and refrained from enforcing my threat. My uncle left me, and I was willing to wait until he made the next move.

I remained at the bank until half-past three o’clock, at which time I had agreed to meet Cormorin, at Young’s. He was nearly half an hour late, but he came, and I saw by his countenance that every thing had gone well with him. I should say, in the light of subsequent experience, that every thing had gone ill with him, for the successful concealment of guilt, whatever consequences might follow its exposure, is the greatest misfortune that can befall a man, inasmuch as it leads him farther and deeper into crime.

“Five thousand; there are the identical bills you lent me,” said Cormorin, as he laid the money upon the table before me. “I’m all right now, and I hope I shall not have occasion to repeat this folly.”

“You will make enough by your operation in Ballyhacks to afford you a sufficient capital for future operations.”

“That’s so. I shall be worth ten or fifteen thousand dollars next week, as sure as I live. I am going to pay what I owe the bank, and then keep square with the world. You have done me a good turn to-day, Glasswood, and I am not one of the kind that forget such things.”

“Here are your certificates. I am glad to have been able to serve you,” I replied, as I handed him the papers. “You said something about another company in which a fellow might make a good thing.”

“I did—the Bustumup. Its stock’s going up just as that of the Ballyhack did.”

“What can I have it for?”

“I am interested in this company, and if you take the stock at once you shall have it for twenty, though it went at twenty-two to-day.”

“I will take two hundred and fifty shares of it.”

“You are sensible,” replied Cormorin. “You have the money in your fist, and you can return it in a week or two, and put ten thousand dollars into your pocket.”

I had not told Cormorin my secret, and I think he was anxious to have me invest the five thousand dollars, I had taken from the bank, that we might stand on an equal footing. He desired to possess as strong a hold upon me as I had upon him. I was satisfied of the truth of what he had told me in regard to his own “coppers.” I had inquired for myself, and I realized that he was making ten if not fifteen thousand dollars by his operation.

I felt compelled to take the step he suggested. I owed my bank three thousand dollars, and while Aunt Rachel was so feeble, I had no hope of obtaining the amount from her. I must do something to save myself from possible exposure. The brilliant example of Cormorin loomed up before me. If he had made a large sum in “coppers,” there was no reason why I should not do the same. It was necessary that I should make the effort, and I gave him the five thousand dollars he had just returned to me, to be invested in Bustumups.

“It will be a safe operation, Glasswood,” continued Cormorin. “Bustumups are sure to go up.”

I did not regard this last expression as one to be taken in the metaphorical sense.

“You have looked into this matter, Cormorin, and of course you understand it. As things now stand, you and I must hang together.”

“That’s so; count on me for anything you want.”

“Thank you. Now won’t you have a bottle of champagne with me?”

“I am much obliged to you, Glasswood, but I can’t stop any longer now. I must get your stock for you before four, or it will cost you twenty-five to-morrow.”

“You are confident that this is a safe thing for me—are you not?”

“Oh, perfectly confident!” exclaimed he. “If you don’t believe in it, don’t do it.”

“I rely upon your statements, and go in upon the assurance of what you say.”

“Of course you must run your own risk. I can only advise you to do what I would do myself.”

“That’s enough.”

He left me to procure the certificates of stock in the Bustumup Company. I was to wait in the private room I had taken until his return. I was alone, and when I began to think what I was doing, I was appalled at the possibility of failure. I was in debt to the bank in the sum of eight thousand dollars. If my investment should go wrong I could not hope to make good the loss. I should be obliged to flee from my wife and my home, and end my days in exile, if I should be so fortunate as to escape without detection. A cold sweat stood on my forehead as I thought of the possibility of discovery, of being arrested even before I supposed any one suspected me, and of being condemned to the State Prison for ten years or more.

I rang the bell, and ordered a bottle of champagne. I drank several glasses of it, and the fumes went to my brain. I felt better. My thoughts began to flow in another direction under the influence of the sparkling fluid. Bustumups would advance every day. In a week or two they would go up to a hundred dollars a share. If they did this, I should make twenty thousand dollars, besides having my capital returned to me. I should be able to pay off the bank, and have seventeen thousand dollars left. My dream of future success was colored with the pinkiest tint of the wine I drank.

I intended to be cautious. If, after my stock had gone up to fifty, there were any signs of a reaction, I would sell, and still make ten thousand dollars. Cormorin was sure the stock would be twenty-five the next day. If it was, I should clear twelve hundred and fifty dollars. But if it only went up to thirty-five in a week, it would enable me to pay off what I owed the bank, and I should be content even with that.

My new friend brought me the coveted shares, and helped me finish the bottle of champagne before me. For some reason or other he declined to punish a second one with me, and we separated. I went home with my shares in my pocket. When the fumes of the champagne passed off, I was uneasy again. I felt that I stood upon the brink of a precipice. If Bustumups went down instead of going up, I was ruined. There was no possible way for me to redeem myself.

Though my uncle knew I was dealing in stocks—or rather took my word for it—and was plunging into a sea of speculation, he did not warn me against it. He had not a word of caution to utter, and probably had no suspicion that I might be tempted to meddle with the funds of the bank. If he had been as solicitous as he pretended to be for my welfare, he would have warned me of the perils of my course. For my own part, my uncle was a mystery to me.

Lilian with the black silk in prospect, was as happy as a queen. In the evening Tom Flynn called. He was hardly seated before Mrs. Oliphant and Bertha made us a call. “Dear ma” appeared to be cured of her evil propensity, probably because another daughter, through my indirect agency, was in a fair way of being disposed of. We had sacred music, and a lively time generally. I was quite satisfied that Tom would, at no distant day, make my wife’s sister his bride. This prospect was quite enough to appease Mrs. Oliphant, and she really looked quite amiable under the indications of this happy event.

Tom escorted Bertha and her mother home at ten o’clock, and the next day the noble fellow told me with a blush, that he did not leave the house on Tremont Street till the clock struck twelve. A question or two from me brought out the fact that they were engaged. I envied Tom—he was so happy. Why should he not be? He owed the bank nothing. He had not soiled his soul by taking what did not belong to him. He was a strictly moral and religious young man. He would have gone without his dinner rather than stay away from the evening prayer-meeting. I say I envied him. I did; and I would have given all the world, had it been mine to give, for his peace of mind.

I could not sleep that night when I went to bed. I got up and drank nearly half a bottle of Smith’s old sherry, which stupefied my brain, and gave me the needed rest from the goadings of conscience and the terrors of the future. My fate depended upon the success of the Bustumup Company. If that went down, I might be called at any time to flee from my wife, and wander in fear and trembling as an exile in some strange land. If I was in peril of exposure I could not remain to face the blast of popular condemnation. My pride would not permit me to live where any man could look down upon me with either pity or contempt.

At twelve o’clock, when I run out for a lunch, I found that Bustumups were quoted at twenty-five. This fact assured me, for already I had practically paid off more than one-third of my debt. The stock went a little higher before two o’clock, and my courage was correspondingly increased. I was rather disturbed, however, at the close of the bank, to see my uncle in close conversation with Mr. Bristlebach. I fancied that I was the subject of their remarks, especially as the president cast frequent glances at me. Captain Halliard looked ugly.

I had shown him a portion of the certificates which Cormorin had lent me. He was a shrewd business man, and though he had not objected to the statement that I had saved half my salary, and invested it in stocks, he might well have doubted the truth of it. Perhaps he had been thinking over my affairs, and had come to the conclusion that my assertions were doubtful. On two occasions he had driven me up to the payment of money, and both times I had met the demand.

Cormorin told me that he always ascertained when the directors intended to make an examination. Captain Halliard meant mischief. He intended, at least, to put me in condition to let Aunt Rachel alone. I am confident he did not really believe that I had borrowed any thing of the bank; but probably he wanted to satisfy himself that I did not obtain my ready money from the drawer. As the conversation continued I became alarmed. The President almost invariably left the bank soon after two o’clock. To-day he remained. As he had done once before since I occupied my position, he might examine the condition of the cash department.

I meant to be on the sure side. I ran into the bank where Cormorin was, and told him what I suspected. He promptly offered to help me out, on the same terms that I had performed a similar service for him.

“I want eight thousand,” I whispered. “I will return it to-morrow morning.”

“Eight thousand!” exclaimed he. “Why, you are only five thousand short.”

“Eight,” I replied, firmly.

“How’s that?”

“I was three thousand short when I made the little arrangement.”

“Thunder!” ejaculated he, impatiently. “Then you are the eagle and I am the lamb.”

“We are both honest fellows, and mean to pay all we owe,” I replied. “Do you suppose I would have accommodated you, the other day, if I had not been in hot water myself? Of course if I go down, you go with me.”

“But the security?” he asked.

“Two hundred and fifty shares of Bustumups.”

“They are worth only six thousand or so.”

“But will be worth more than eight in a few days; you shall have your bills back to-morrow morning, without fail.”

I gave him my certificates and he handed me the money; but he gnashed his teeth as he did so. If I fell, I should drag him down with me.

“Is everything right in your drawer?” asked Heavyside, the cashier, slyly, of me, when I returned.

“Certainly it is,” I replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Bristlebach is going to look over our accounts and cash this afternoon.”

“All right,” I answered, carelessly.

I deposited the eight thousand in my drawer, balanced my cash, and put the trunk into the safe. Paying no attention to any one, and especially not to my uncle, I sauntered leisurely out of the bank.

_CHAPTER XVIII._

BUSTUMUPS AT FIFTY.

BY the ruse in which Cormorin had instructed me, and for which he had furnished the funds, I had provided against any exposure. By this time I was fully satisfied that my uncle was working against me; not that he intended to ruin me, but only to maintain his own power and influence over me. There are men of this stamp in the world, who will punish their best friends when they refuse to be guided by them. Captain Halliard was as jealous of his influence as he was of his money.

As my account with the bank was now square, I had no fear of the investigation which was in progress. Mr. Heavyside, who had never been suspected of even an irregularity, had been so kind as to inform me of the proposed examination. I had in him a good friend, and a mortgage on his future fidelity to me. I should defeat my uncle this time, as I had before, but it was annoying to be subjected to his espionage, though I could not afford to have a serious quarrel with him.

I went home at about the usual hour. My Bustumups had done so well that I was tolerably light-hearted. Lilian was as joyous as a dream in June. Bertha had been with her all the forenoon, and I heard much in praise of Tom Flynn. We dined, and then I proposed to Lilian that we should ride out into the country. She was glad to go, and we went. On my return home at six o’clock, Biddy handed me a note from Mr. Bristlebach. I recognized his heavy hand-writing, and my blood ceased to flow in its channels. I tore open the envelope. It was simply a request to appear at the bank immediately.

What could it mean? My cash was all right. They could not have discovered the truth. That was simply impossible. If there was any trouble at the present time, Cormorin, and not myself, would be the sufferer. If there had been a discovery of the whole truth, Mr. Bristlebach was not the man to have sent a note to me; he would have sent a constable. I decided to go at once to the bank, for I was satisfied, from the manner in which the message had come, and by the assurance that my cash was all right, that nothing very serious could be charged upon me. I told Lilian I was going down town for an hour, and she did not bother me with any troublesome questions.

On my arrival at the bank I found the president and my uncle in the directors’ room. Both of them looked severe, but Captain Halliard did not seem to be so much at his ease as usual. I knew him well enough to be able to read his thoughts, and whatever mischief was brewing he was at the bottom of it.

“Mr. Glasswood, of course you are aware that There is a deficiency in your account?” said Mr. Bristlebach.

“No, sir, I am not aware of it,” I replied; and as I spoke the literal truth, I answered with confidence.

“You are not?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you balance your cash to-day?”

“I did, sir; and at half-past two it was all right.”

“You put a bold face on the matter.”

“Certainly I do, sir. I am innocent of the charge, and I can afford to speak the truth.”

“Nevertheless, your cash is short.”

“It was not short at half-past two to-day,” I replied, glancing at my uncle.

He was uneasy, and did not confront me when I gazed at him.

“It is not a large deficiency,” added Mr. Bristlebach, “but large enough to demand inquiry.”

“May I ask how much you found it short,” I inquired.

“Only three hundred dollars.”

“There may be some mistake—I hope there is,” suggested my uncle.

“Who counted the cash?” I asked.

“We counted it together,” replied the president. “I wish to add that I do not regard you as a defaulter or any thing of that sort. I sent for you to enable you to explain the matter.”

“I have no further explanation to make. I left my cash all right to-day,” I added, confidently.

“He is so sure, that I rather think some mistake has been made,” added Captain Halliard.

“Probably there has been. Mr. Glasswood, I have had the utmost confidence in you. When I suspected you before, a second examination convinced me of your integrity. I have no doubt it will be so this time.”

“I cannot undertake to keep my cash right, if other persons are allowed to go to my drawer,” I continued, rather savagely.

“What!” exclaimed my uncle, springing to his feet.

“I said what I meant to say,” I replied.

The remark hit just where I intended it should. Mr. Bristlebach and my uncle had been counting my cash. I had left it all right. If the deficiency was insignificant, it was still enough to ruin me. I had already made up my mind how my cash happened to be short. If the president had made the examination himself there would have been no deficiency. Of course I mean to say that Captain Halliard himself had been the author of the mischief. In other words, he had either taken three hundred dollars from my cash, or had falsely reported his count.

Before I ventured to make this violent statement, I put my uncle fairly on trial, and called up all the circumstances of our present relations to testify against him. He was determined to maintain his influence over me, and to prevent me from saying any thing to Aunt Rachel about him. I had refused to give up my house at his bidding, and prevented him from obliging his friend, Mr. Brentbone. I had roundly reproached him for his conduct to me, and used language which he could not tolerate in any one. I was satisfied that he had a strong motive for desiring to obtain a hold upon me.

A strong motive, however, is not sufficient to explain so dastardly an act as that in which I had dared to implicate my uncle. A man of integrity, simply an honest man, would not be guilty of so vile a deed. Was my uncle capable of such an act? He had procured my situation for me by bringing up a charge against Tom Flynn which both he and I knew was false—one which he himself had disproved as soon as his purpose was accomplished. If he would do one mean thing, he would not halt at another.

He had compelled me to pay the thousand dollars I owed Aunt Rachel, out of sheer malice, and only to put me in a position where he could control me. The mild speech of the president of the bank assured me that I was not to be harshly dealt with; and my uncle gently suggested that there might be a mistake.

“Be careful what you say, Mr. Glasswood,” said the president. “Now I’m going out to get a cup of tea; when I come back we will ascertain whether there is a mistake or not.”

Mr. Bristlebach left the room. My uncle looked embarrassed, thrust his fingers into his vest pockets, and seemed to be feeling for something. I was tempted to spring upon him, and throw out the contents of those pockets, for I was satisfied that the deficiency in my cash could be accounted for only in that way.

“Paley, you have been speculating in coppers,” said he.

“I have; but that is my business,” I replied, roughly.

“I propose to pay the bank the amount your cash is short, and to hush the matter up where it is.”

“I don’t ask you to do any thing of the sort.”

“I am on your bond, and I must do it. No matter about that. I expected, after you told me what you were doing in coppers, to find a deficit of thousands. I was prepared to pay even that, for you are of my own flesh and blood.”

“You are very affectionate!”

“I have succeeded in quieting Mr. Bristlebach.”

“I see you have.”

“You talk to me as though I had done you an injury instead of a kindness,” added he, reproachfully.

“That is what you have done.”

“Your cash is three hundred short,” said he, putting his hands into his vest pockets again.

Perhaps I was insane under the pressure of his implied charge; at any rate, under the impulse of the moment, without consciously determining to do it, I sprung upon him like a tiger; and having no warning of my purpose myself, I gave him none. I thrust my hands into his vest pockets, and drew from them whatever they contained. I retreated into the farther corner of the room to examine my capture. The deed was done so quick that Captain Halliard had no time to resist, though he seized me by the shoulders. I was furious, and shook him off like a child.

“What do you mean, you villain?” gasped he.

I paid no attention to him, but proceeded to examine my prize. Among other things I found three bills, of one hundred dollars each.

“Do you mean to rob me, Paley?” demanded he; but, like Hamlet’s ghost, he appeared to be “more in sorrow than in anger;” and more in fear than in sorrow.

“Do you carry your money in your vest pockets, sir?” I demanded.

“Sometimes I do.”

“You took these bills from my trunk when you counted my cash.”

“Nonsense, Paley!”

“I can swear to one of them, at least,” I replied, holding up one of the bills, on the face of which some clown had written a sentence about depreciated currency, that had attracted my attention. “I left this bill in my trunk in the vault at half-past two to-day; at half-past six I find it in your pocket.”

“Do you think—”

“I know!” I interrupted, him, in the most savage manner. “If I can find a policeman, I will put you on the track to the State Prison.”

“Don’t be absurd, Paley,” interposed my uncle; but I saw that there was no heart in the remark. “There must have been a mistake in the counting.”

“You stole this money from my trunk to get me into trouble.”

“Didn’t I tell the president that I would pay the deficit?” asked my uncle. “Hush up! There comes Mr. Bristlebach! Not a word of this to him.”

“You confess, then, that you took this money from my trunk?”

“By-and-by we will talk about it,” he replied, with much agitation.

I had proved my case. My uncle was a villain. He had taken three hundred dollars from my cash—not enough to make me look like a defaulter—for the purpose of maintaining his influence over me, and to keep me from telling bad stories about him to Aunt Rachel. Guilty as I was, I made myself believe that I was an innocent man, because I was not guilty in the direction he accused me. Mr. Bristlebach returned to the room.

“I am satisfied, from what Mr. Glasswood says, that there must have been a mistake in our count,” said my uncle. “As I told you, I was confident my nephew was honest, but I was fearful, when I learned that he had been speculating in coppers. I thought, as I was on his bond, we had better look into the matter. I am perfectly satisfied now.”

This very consistent statement was assented to by the president, but my cash was counted again, at the request of Captain Halliard. I was in doubt whether to restore the three hundred I had wrested from the conspirator, but I concluded that I could not afford to expose him. We counted the cash, which was mostly in large bills, and of course I was fully vindicated. The president was profuse in his apologies, and my uncle was kind enough to take the burden of the blunder on himself. He could even see where he had made the mistake. I left the bank with him, and we walked up the street together.

“That was an awkward mistake of mine,” said he.

“Very,” I replied, with a sneer.

“But I think I can explain it.”

“I don’t think you can.”

“You seem to have taken it into your head that I mean to injure you.”

“I have.”

“You are mistaken. I am on your bond. Money is so plenty with you, that I was afraid I might be called upon to pay the bond. Bristlebach is so intimate with me that I could satisfy myself without doing you any harm. That was all I intended.”

“And that’s the reason why you took three hundred dollars out of my trunk, I suppose?”

“Mr. Bristlebach handed me that money himself. I wanted to pay out that amount to-night, and I drew a check for it. I entirely forgot it when we counted the cash, and that was the deficit. Here is the check; as you put the money back, I took the check from your drawer. That’s the whole story.”

“Why didn’t you explain it to Mr. Bristlebach, then?” I asked, believing not a word he said.

“Because it was so stupid of me to forget that the check had been paid out of your cash.”

“Very stupid, indeed!”

“I will tell him about it to-morrow,” added my uncle.

As I have said before, a man in my situation could not afford to quarrel with one so powerful as Captain Halliard. I kept my own counsel, not wholly certain that he would not yet be called upon to pay the amount of his bond on my account. We parted in peace, and I was abundantly pleased that I had been able to fight off the charge.

The next morning, when I went to the bank, I took the eight thousand from the cash, which Cormorin had lent me, and returned it to him. He was a happy man then. I doubt whether he slept a wink the night before, for the idea of being responsible for my deficit, as well as his own, could not have been very comforting to him.

I was all right at the bank, and my uncle treated me with “distinguished consideration.” On several occasions he assured me he should use his influence in my favor with Aunt Rachel. If I wished for the money he had compelled me to pay—solely for my own good—he would let me have it again. Indeed, if I was short at any time, he would lend me a thousand dollars. I thought I might have occasion to avail myself of his offer, and I was pleasant and pliable. I said nothing more about the three hundred dollars.

For a week all was well with me. Ballyhacks went up to seventy-five; but Bustumups were slower, and had only touched forty in the same time. This figure satisfied me, inasmuch as it enabled me to pay my debt at the bank. Yet I believed, with the utmost confidence, that there was five or ten thousand more in the stock for me, and as long as things were easy at the bank, I did not think of realizing.

Then I was sick for ten days, and was obliged to stay in the house, but even while my brain was on fire with fever I went down town one day. I dared not leave my deficit to be discovered by my substitute. I compelled poor Cormorin to lend me the eight thousand again, on the security of my Bustumups. They were worth nearly this sum in the market by this time, and he did not object very strenuously.

As soon as I was able to get out, I hastened back to the bank, and took my place at the counter. Cormorin had sold his stock at eighty. Bustumups were quoted at fifty, with a prospect of a further advance. My friend had made thirteen thousand dollars. When I had made him whole, he instantly resigned his place, fearful, I think, of getting into trouble through my agency. He went to New York, to go into business there. I did not care. My stocks at fifty paid my debt, and left me forty-five hundred surplus. I was excited over the prospect. I should be a rich man in a few weeks.

But everything did not turn out just as I anticipated.

_CHAPTER XIX._

A CRASH IN COPPERS.

I WAS worth forty-five hundred dollars while Bustumups were quoted at fifty. Every day, while they hung at about this figure, I debated with myself the policy of selling, paying my debt, and investing my surplus in some other concern. Perhaps I should have done so, if I had known of a company in which I could place entire confidence. I missed Cormorin very much, for I needed his advice; and I had come to regard him as an oracle in the matter of coppers.

It looked like madness to sacrifice a stock which might go up to eighty or a hundred, as the Ballyhack had, and though my debt worried me, I could not make up my mind to let it go. If I could put ten thousand dollars in my pocket, my fortune would be made, for with this sum I could operate on a large scale. There was no danger of another examination of my cash at present, and I was secure. But Bustumups did not advance as rapidly as I wished. They hung at about fifty. I was told that parties were investigating the condition of the mine, and that as soon as they reported, the stock would go up as rapidly as Ballyhack had done. I was willing to wait patiently for a week or two, while the stock about held its own. Its trifling fluctuations up and down troubled me, but the parties who worked it convinced me that these were only accidental changes.

Though I saw my uncle every day, he did not allude to his own villainy, and I was prudent enough to wait until I was out of the woods before I did so. In the course of a couple of weeks, when I had made my ten thousand dollars, I intended to resign my position, and then I could afford to express my mind very freely to Captain Halliard. With ten thousand dollars in my exchequer, I could go into any business that suited me, and make money enough to support me in a style becoming my abilities.

I still had strong hopes that the fortune of Aunt Rachel would be mine. She was now apparently rapidly regaining her health, and I determined to improve my chances as soon as I could. On the following Saturday afternoon I took Lilian down to Springhaven with me, and we both used our best efforts to win her regard. I took her out to ride, I read to her, and the old lady seemed as fond of me as when I was a boy. I was her only nephew, and it had been often reported that I was to be her heir, though on what authority I did not know. I invited her to spend a week or a month at my house in Boston, and she promised to do so as soon as she was able.

A rumor that the parties who were investigating the condition of the mine intended to make a favorable report sent Bustumups to fifty-five, and I was very happy. I was worth nearly six thousand dollars. At the end of another week the stock went up to sixty, and the balance of worldly wealth in my favor was seven thousand dollars. The game was becoming intensely exciting. Another week or so would realize all my hopes. I should be free and safe.

While every thing was in this cheerful condition Aunt Rachel sent for me, and I hastened to Springhaven, for I could not afford to neglect her summons. She was ready to go home with me, and she accompanied me to my house in Needham street. The old lady was a little surprised to find that I lived in elegant style, as she was pleased to express it; but then she regarded the salary I received, which was double what her minister had, as princely in itself. Simple as were her views of social economy, she did not accuse me of extravagance. Lilian understood the matter perfectly, and was all tenderness and devotion.

One morning, after she had been at our house three days, Aunt Rachel asked me if I knew a certain Squire Townsend, a lawyer, whom the old lady had been acquainted with in the early years of her life. I had heard of him. He was an attorney of the old school, and I hoped she intended to make her will while she was thus kindly disposed towards me. She begged me to see the old gentleman, and ask him to call upon her during the forenoon.

“Do you see much of Captain Halliard, Paley?” asked my aunt, as I was going out.

“I see him nearly every day.”

“I wonder he has not been up to see me yet,” added the old lady.

I did not wonder. I had not taken the trouble to tell him that Aunt Rachel was at my house.

“Do you wish to see him?” I asked.

“Not particularly. He has done considerable business for me.”

“I know it. He did some for you while you were sick.”

“Did he?”

“He made me pay the thousand dollars I borrowed of you.”

“What, Captain Halliard!” exclaimed the old lady.

“He did.”

“Why, I didn’t tell him to do that.”

“I know you didn’t, but he showed me a power of attorney from you, and I couldn’t have helped myself if I had wished to do so; but I paid it, and it’s of no consequence now.”

“I didn’t mean you should pay that money. I shouldn’t have cried if you had never paid it. I’ll talk with Squire Townsend about it. Couldn’t you take care of my property for me just as well as your uncle?”

“Well, I suppose I could,” I replied, rather indifferently.

“I never liked your uncle very well. He is too sharp for me. I’ll see what can be done.”

“I wouldn’t say anything about meddling with Captain Halliard, at present,” I suggested, for I was somewhat afraid of him myself.

“I’ll see about it; but I didn’t mean he should trouble you about that money. He’d no business to do it, and I shall tell him so when I see him.”

I did not intend she should see him at present. I went to the office of Squire Townsend, on my way down town, and left a message for him to call upon my aunt. I was fully persuaded in my own mind that she intended to make a will, and that she had come up to Boston in order to have the instrument drawn up by her old friend. Every thing looked rosy to me, for the old lady would certainly leave me the larger portion, if not the whole, of her worldly wealth.

When I went home in the afternoon I learned that Squire Townsend had spent a couple of hours with Aunt Rachel, but Lilian had not heard a word that passed between them. Then the squire had called a carriage, and they had gone off together. I was not very anxious to know where they had gone, though I concluded that it was only to the office of her old friend for the purpose of having the will properly signed and witnessed. Now, as always before, Aunt Rachel kept her own counsel. She never told how much she was worth, or what she intended to do with her property. She was true to her antecedents, and during the remainder of her stay she never mentioned the nature of her business with Squire Townsend, as she invariably called him. She said a good deal about the worthy lawyer’s history, and told stories about him at school. She was glad to meet him once more before she left the world, but she did not hint that she had special business with him.

The old lady staid her week out, and then said she must go home. She did not think the city agreed with her. She did not sleep as well nights as at Springhaven. Both Lilian and I pressed her to remain longer, and promised to do every thing we could to make her happy, but she was resolute, and I attended her home, a week to a day from the time she arrived.

I never saw her again.

During the week that Aunt Rachel was with me, Bustumups began to look a little shaky. From sixty the stock went down to fifty-five in one day, but it immediately rallied, and those who managed it assured me it was only because money was a little tight, and a considerable portion of the stock had been forced upon the market. I proposed to sell, as I had promised myself that I would on the first appearance of a decline.

“Don’t do it,” said the operator. “Wait three days, and you can take sixty, if not sixty-five, for your stock. If you crowd it upon the market at once, you will drive it down, and cheat yourself out of twelve hundred dollars.”

But it looks shaky,” I pleaded.

“The best stocks on the street go up and down by turns. Wait till day after to-morrow, at least.”

I did wait, because I did not like to have twenty-five hundred dollars taken out of my pocket at one swoop. Two days after, I was in a fever of anxiety about my Bustumups. They had gone up and down under the influence of various rumors, good and bad, and no one could foresee the end. At noon Tom Flynn went out for his lunch.

“The coppers are in a bad way,” said he, taking his place at the counter on his return.

“What is the matter with them?” I inquired, with my heart in my throat, for my very reputation rested upon the prosperity of the coppers.

“Ballyhacks have dropped down from eighty to fifty,” added Tom.

“What?” I exclaimed.

“That’s what they say. Did you own any?”

“No, no; no Ballyhacks,” I replied, struggling to conceal my emotion.

I had not told Tom I was speculating in coppers, and I think he knew nothing about it, though he might have heard something of the kind.

“Did you own any coppers?” he inquired, with a tone and look that indicated the sympathy he felt for me.

“None of any consequence,” I replied.

I dared not talk with him about the matter lest I should expose my emotion. With the stunning intelligence he had communicated to me on my mind, it was simply impossible for me to discharge my duties in the bank. I could hardly tell a hundred-dollar bill from a thousand. I told the cashier that I was sick, and was fearful that I should faint again if I did not get out in the air. He took my place, and I staggered out into the street. There were people on the sidewalk, but I could not see them. Every thing seemed to be without form or shape. I was in a fearful agony of mind, and dreaded lest I should drop senseless upon the pavement.

I went into a saloon and drank a glass of brandy. I sat down at one of the little tables to gather up my shattered senses. Ruin stared me in the face. If Ballyhacks had fallen from eighty to fifty, what hope could there be for Bustumups? After all, the mischief might be confined to this particular stock, and mine might be still on the top of the wave. The brandy I had drank seemed to have no effect upon me. I took another glass, and my courage began to rise a little. The saloon was nearly filled with people, and there was a confused jabber of tongues all around me. Men spoke to me, and called me by name. I replied mechanically, but I could not have told a minute later who had spoken to me.

“But they are a fraud,” said a gentleman, seating himself at the table next to mine.

“Certainly they are,” replied the other. “The Ballyhack mine has produced some copper; but they say there is not a particle of metal on the Bustumup track—not an ounce! The managers of this affair ought to be indicted and sent to the State Prison.”

“Merciful Heavens!” I ejaculated to myself, “I am ruined!”

“Ballyhack has gone down to forty within half an hour,” added one of the gentlemen.

“I heard a man offer Bustumups just now for twenty, and people laughed at him,” added the other. “I don’t believe they will bring ten.”

“Probably not. There is not a dollar of value in them. The thing is an unmitigated swindle.”

The whole of the savage truth was poured into my ears. A moment later, I heard some one say that the managers of the Bustumup Company had found it convenient to disappear. I was almost a maniac. I cursed my folly because I had not sold my stock when it began to look shaky. The villains who had comforted me and made promises that I should sell at sixty were simply designing knaves, who had fraudulently worked this stock up to sixty, while there was not a penny of real value in it.

The first shock bore heavily upon me, but I soon recovered in some measure from its effect. I went into the street, and inquired for myself, in regard to the coppers. There were two or three substantial companies which were actually producing metal and paying handsome dividends. The other companies were swindles; and Bustumup was the most egregious humbug of the whole. I tried to get an offer for my stock, and found it would not bring a dollar a share. Indeed, it could not be sold at any price. In a word, the five thousand dollars I had borrowed from the bank was a total loss.

I will not attempt to describe the misery into which I was so suddenly plunged. If I had sold my stock a week before, I might have paid my debt and had five thousand dollars left. Now I was a defaulter in the sum of eight thousand dollars. It was horrible to think of. There was no possible way, that I could see, to escape the consequences. What should I do?

I went back to the bank and told Mr. Heavyside that I was better. I resumed my place at the counter, and did my work till the bank closed, sustained by the brandy I had drank. I tried to devise some plan by which I could conceal my deficit for a time. I could think of nothing satisfactory. An examination of the affairs of the bank was sure to betray me. I was tempted to commit suicide, as others have done under the same pressure of guilt.