Books: Helping Himself
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Horatio Alger >> Helping Himself
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"It looks tempting, Willis," she said, "but I don't dare to take the
risk." Ford was deeply disappointed, but did not betray it.
"It is for you to decide," said he, carelessly, then drifted to
other subjects.
Ten minutes later he pressed his hand upon his breast, while his
features worked convulsively. "I believe I am sick," he said.
"What can I do for you, my dear son?" asked the housekeeper, in
alarm.
"If you have a glass of brandy!" gasped Willis.
"I will go downstairs and get some," she said, hurriedly.
No sooner had she left the room than Willis sprang to his feet,
locked the door, then went to the bureau, unlocked the upper
drawer--he had a key in his pocket which fitted the lock and,
thrusting in his hand, drew out a long envelope containing one
five-hundred-dollar government bond and five bonds of one hundred
dollars each, which he thrust into his side pocket. Then, closing
the drawer, he unlocked the door of the room, and when his step-
mother returned he threw himself back in his chair, groaning. He
took the glass of brandy the housekeeper brought him, and, after a
few minutes, professing himself much better, left the house.
"Saved!" he exclaimed, triumphantly. "Now I shall be all right
again."
CHAPTER XV
AN ARTFUL TRAP
Willis Ford was anxious to get away. He feared that Mrs. Estabrook
might go to the bureau and discover the loss before he got out of
the house, which would make it awkward for him. Once out in the
street, he breathed more freely. He had enough with him to pay his
only debt, and give him four hundred dollars extra. It might be
supposed he would feel some compunction at robbing his stepmother of
her all. Whatever her faults, she was devoted to him. But Willis
Ford had a hard, selfish nature, and the only thought that troubled
him was the fear that he might be found out. Indeed, the
housekeeper's suspicions would be likely to fall upon him unless
they could be turned in some other direction. Who should it be?
There came to him an evil suggestion which made his face brighten
with relief and malicious joy. The new boy, Grant Thornton, was a
member of the household. He probably had the run of the house. What
more probable than that he should enter Mrs. Estabrook's chamber and
search her bureau? This was the way Willis reasoned. He knew that
his stepmother hated Grant, and would be very willing to believe
anything against him. He would take care that suspicion should fall
in that direction. He thought of a way to heighten that suspicion.
What it was my readers will learn in due time.
The next day, at half-past eight o'clock in the morning, on his way
down Broadway, Willis Ford dropped into the Grand Central Hotel, and
walked through the reading room in the rear. Here sat Jim Morrison
and Tom Calder, waiting for him by appointment.
Ford took a chair beside them.
"Good-morning," he said, cheerfully.
"Have you brought the money?" asked Morrison, anxiously.
"Hush! don't speak so loud," said Ford, cautiously. "We don't want
everybody to know our business."
"All right," said Morrison, in a lower voice; "but have you brought
it?"
"Yes."
"You're a trump!" said Morrison, his face expressing his joy.
"That is to say, I've brought what amounts to the same thing."
"If it's your note," said Morrison, with sharp disappointment, "I
don't want it."
"It isn't a note. It's what will bring the money."
"What is it, then?"
"It's government bonds for six hundred dollars."
"I don't know anything about bonds," said Morrison. "Besides, the
amount is more than six hundred dollars."
"These bonds are worth a hundred and twelve, amounting in all to six
hundred and seventy-two dollars. That's forty more than I owe you. I
won't make any account of that, however, as you will have to dispose
of them."
"I may get into trouble," said Morrison, suspiciously. "Where did
they come from?"
"That does not concern you," said Ford, haughtily. "Don't I give
them to you?"
"But where did you get them?"
"That is my business. If you don't want them, say the word, and I'll
take them back."
"And when will you pay the money?"
"I don't know," answered Ford, curtly.
"Maybe he'll sell 'em for us himself," suggested Tom Calder.
"Good, Tom! Why can't you sell 'em and give me the money? Then you
can pay the exact sum and save the forty dollars."
"I don't choose to do so," said Ford. "It seems to me you are
treating me in a very strange manner. I offer you more than I owe
you, and you make no end of objections to receiving it."
"I am afraid I'll get into trouble if I offer the bonds for sale,"
said Morrison, doggedly. "I don't know anybody in the business
except you."
"Yes, you do," said Ford, a bright idea occurring to him.
"Who?"
"You know the boy in our office."
"Grant Thornton?" said Tom.
"Yes, Grant Thornton. Manage to see him, and ask him to dispose of
the bonds for you. He will bring them to our office, and I will
dispose of them without asking any questions."
"First rate!" said Tom. "That'll do, won't it, Jim?"
"I don't see why it won't," answered Morrison, appearing satisfied.
"I would suggest that you see him some time today."
"Good! Hand over the bonds."
Willis Ford had already separated the bonds into two parcels, six
hundred in one and four hundred in the other. The first of these he
passed over to Jim Morrison.
"Put it into your pocket at once," he said. "We don't want anyone to
see them. There is a telegraph boy looking at us."
"I'm going to see if it is all there," muttered Morrison; and he
drew from the envelope the two bonds, and ascertained, by a personal
inspection, that they were as represented.
"It's all right," he said.
"You might have taken my word for it," said Willis Ford, offended.
"In matters of business I take no one's word," chuckled the
confidence man.
"I wonder what they're up to," said the little telegraph boy to
himself. "I know one of them fellers is a gambler. Wonder who that
feller with him is? Them must be gov'ment bonds."
Johnny Cavanagh was an observing boy, and mentally photographed upon
his memory the faces of the entire group, though he never expected
to see any of them again.
When Grant was hurrying through Wall Street about noon he came upon
Tom Calder and Morrison.
"Hello, there, Grant," said Tom, placing his hand upon his shoulder.
"What's the matter, Tom? I'm in a hurry," said Grant.
"Jim Morrison's got a little business for you."
"What is it?"
"He wants you to sell gov'ment bonds for him."
"You'd better take them round to our office."
"I haven't got time," said Morrison. "Just attend to them, like a
good fellow, and I'll give you a dollar for your trouble."
"How much have you got?"
"Six hundred--a five hundred and a one."
"Are they yours?"
"Yes; I've had 'em two years, but now I've got to raise money."
"What do you want for them?"
"Regular price, whatever it is."
"When will you call for the money?"
"Meet me at Fifth Avenue Hotel with it tomorrow morning at nine
o'clock."
"I shall have to meet you earlier--say half-past eight."
"All right. Here's the bonds."
Grant put the envelope into his pocket, and hurried to the Exchange.
When he returned to the office he carried the bonds to Willis Ford.
"Mr. Ford," he said, "an acquaintance of mine handed them to me to
be sold."
"Some one you know?" queried Ford.
"I know him slightly."
"Well, I suppose it's all right. I'll make out a check to your
order, and you can collect the money at the bank."
Grant interposed no objection, and put the check in his pocket.
"The boy's fallen into the trap," said Willis to himself,
exultantly, as he proceeded to enter the transaction on the books.
CHAPTER XVI
GRANT FALLS UNDER SUSPICION
In furtherance of his scheme to throw suspicion upon Grant, Willis
Ford decided to make another call upon his stepmother the succeeding
evening. It occurred to him that she might possibly connect his
visit of the evening before with her loss, and he wished to
forestall this.
"Is Mrs. Estabrook at home?" he asked of the servant.
"Yes, sir."
When the housekeeper made her appearance he carefully scrutinized
her face. She was calm and placid, and it was clear that she had not
discovered the abstraction of the bonds.
"I dare say you are surprised to see me so soon again," he
commenced.
"I am always glad to see you, Willis," she said. "Come upstairs."
"What a pleasant room you have, mother!"
"Yes, I am very comfortable. Have you had any return of your
sickness?" she asked, anxiously.
"No, I have been perfectly well. By the way, mother, I have a
special object in calling."
"What is it, Willis?"
"I want to speak to you about those bonds of yours. If you will only
sell them out, and invest in Erie, I am sure you will make in six
months a sum equal to several years interest."
"That may be, Willis, but I am very timid about taking a risk. Those
bonds represent all the property I have."
Willis Ford's conscience pricked him a little, when he heard her
speaking thus of the property he had so heartlessly stolen; but he
did not show it in his manner.
"What is the date of your bonds, mother?" he asked.
"I don't know. Does that make any difference?"
"It makes some difference. Those that have longest to run are most
valuable."
"I can easily tell," said the housekeeper, as she rose from her
chair and opened the bureau drawer, in full confidence that the
bonds were safe.
It was an exciting moment for Willis Ford, knowing the sad discovery
that awaited her.
She put her hand in that part of the drawer where she supposed the
bonds to be, and found nothing. A shade of anxiety overspread her
face, and she searched hurriedly in other parts of the drawer.
"Don't you find them, mother?" asked Willis.
"It is very strange," said Mrs. Estabrook, half to herself.
"What is strange?"
"I always kept the bonds in the right-hand corner of this drawer."
"And you can't find them?"
"I have looked all over the drawer."
"You may have put them, by mistake, in one of the other drawers."
"Heaven grant it!" said Mrs. Estabrook, her face white with anxiety.
"Let me help you, mother," said Willis, rising.
She did not object, for her hands trembled with nervousness.
The other drawers were opened and were thoroughly searched, but, of
course, the bonds were not found.
Mrs. Estabrook seemed near fainting.
"I have been robbed," she said. "I am ruined."
"But who could have robbed you?" asked Ford, innocently.
"I-don't-know. Oh, Willis! it was cruel!" and the poor woman burst
into tears. "All these years I have been saving, and now I have lost
all. I shall die in the poorhouse after all."
"Not while I am living, mother," said Willis. "But the bonds must be
found. They must be mislaid."
"No, no! they are stolen. I shall never see them again."
"But who has taken them? Ha! I have an idea."
"What is it?" asked the housekeeper, faintly.
"That boy--Grant Thornton--he lives in the house, doesn't he?"
"Yes," answered Mrs. Estabrook, in excitement. "Do you think he can
have robbed me?"
"What a fool I am! I ought to have suspected when---"
"When what?"
"When he brought some bonds to me to-day to sell."
"He did!" exclaimed Mrs. Estabrook; "what were they?"
"A five-hundred-dollar and a hundred-dollar bond."
"I had a five-hundred and five one-hundred-dollar bonds. They were
mine--the young villain!"
"I greatly fear so, mother."
"You ought to have kept them, Willis. Oh! why didn't you? Where is
the boy? I will see Mr. Reynolds at once."
"Wait a minute, till I tell you all I know. The boy said the bonds
were handed to him by an acquaintance."
"It was a falsehood."
"Do you know the number of your bonds, mother?"
"Yes, I have them noted down, somewhere."
"Good! I took the number of those the boy gave me for sale."
Mrs. Estabrook found the memorandum. It was compared with one which
Willis Ford brought with him, and the numbers were identical. Four
numbers, of course, were missing from Ford's list.
"That seems pretty conclusive, mother. The young rascal has stolen
your bonds, and offered a part of them for sale. It was certainly
bold in him to bring them to our office. Is he in the house?"
"I'll go and see."
"And bring Mr. Reynolds with you, if you can find him."
In an excited state, scarcely knowing what she did, the housekeeper
went downstairs and found both parties of whom she was in search in
the same room. She poured out her story in an incoherent manner,
inveighing against Grant as a thief.
When Grant, with some difficulty, understood what was the charge
against him, he was almost speechless with indignation.
"Do you mean to say I stole your bonds?" he demanded.
"Yes, I do; and it was a base, cruel act."
"I agree with you in that, Mrs. Estabrook. It was base and cruel,
but I had nothing to do with it."
"You dare to say that, when you brought the bonds to my son, Willis,
to be sold to-day?"
"Is this true, Grant?" asked Mr. Reynolds. "Did you sell any bonds
at the office to-day?"
"Yes, sir."
The broker looked grave.
"Where did you get them?" he asked.
"They were handed to me by an acquaintance in Wall Street."
"Who was he?"
"His name is James Morrison."
"What do you know of him? Is he in any business?"
"I know very little of him, sir."
"Have you handed him the money?"
"No, sir. I am to meet him to-morrow morning at the Fifth Avenue
Hotel, and pay him."
"Why doesn't he call at the office?"
"I don't know," answered Grant, puzzled. "I suggested to him to
bring the bonds to the office himself, but he said he was in haste,
and offered me a dollar to attend to the matter."
"This seems a mysterious case."
"Excuse me, Mr. Reynolds, but I think it is plain enough," said the
housekeeper, spitefully. "That boy opened my bureau drawer, and
stole the bonds."
"That is not true, Mr. Reynolds," exclaimed Grant, indignantly.
"How did you know the bonds were offered for sale at my office
to-day, Mrs. Estabrook?" inquired the broker.
"My son--Willis Ford--told me."
"When did you see him?"
"Just now."
"Is he in the house?"
"Yes, sir. I left him in my room."
"Ask him to be kind enough to accompany you here."
The housekeeper left the room. Grant and his employer remained
silent during her absence.
CHAPTER XVII
THE TELLTALE KEY
Willis Ford entered the presence of his employer with an air of
confidence which he did not feel. Knowing his own guilt, he felt ill
at ease and nervous; but the crisis had come and he must meet it.
"Take a seat, Mr. Ford," said Mr. Reynolds, gravely. "Your
stepmother tells me that she has lost some government bonds?"
"All I had in the world," moaned the housekeeper.
"Yes, sir; I regret to say that she has been robbed."
"I learn, moreover, that a part of the bonds were brought to my
office for sale to-day?"
"Yes, sir."
"And by Grant Thornton?"
"He can answer that question for himself, sir. He is present."
"It is true," said Grant, quietly.
"Did you ask him where the bonds came from?"
"He volunteered the information. He said they were intrusted to him
for sale by a friend."
"Acquaintance," corrected Grant.
"It may have been so. I understood him to say friend."
"You had no suspicions that anything was wrong?" asked the broker.
"No; I felt perfect confidence in the boy."
Grant was rather surprised to hear this. If this were the case,
Willis Ford had always been very successful, in concealing his real
sentiments.
"How did you pay him?"
"In a check to his own order."
"Have you collected the money on that check, Grant?" asked Mr.
Reynolds.
"Yes, sir."
"Have you paid it out to the party from whom you obtained the
bonds?"
"No, sir; I am to meet him to-morrow morning at the Fifth Avenue
Hotel."
Willis Ford's countenance changed when he heard this statement. He
supposed that Jim Morrison already had his money and was safely off
with it. Now it was clear that Grant would not be allowed to pay it
to him, and his own debt would remain unpaid. That being the case,
Morrison would be exasperated, and there was no knowing what he
would say.
"What do you know of this man, Grant?"
"Very little, sir."
"How does he impress you--as an honest, straightforward man?"
Grant shook his head.
"Not at all," he said.
"Yet you took charge of his business for him?"
"Yes, sir; but not willingly. He offered me a dollar for my trouble,
and as I did not know there was anything wrong, I consented.
Besides---" Here Grant paused.
"Well?"
"Will you excuse my continuing, Mr. Reynolds?"
"No," answered the broker, firmly. "On the other hand, I insist upon
your saying what you had in your mind."
"Having seen Mr. Ford in this man's company, I concluded he was all
right."
Willis Ford flushed and looked disconcerted.
"Is this true, Mr. Ford?" asked the broker. "Do you know this man?"
"What do you say his name was, Thornton?" asked Ford, partly to gain
time.
"James Morrison."
"Yes; I know him. He was introduced to me by an intimate friend of
that boy," indicating Grant.
Willis Ford smiled triumphantly. He felt that he had checkmated our
hero.
"Is this true, Grant?"
"I presume so," answered Grant, coolly. "You refer to Tom Calder, do
you not, Mr. Ford?"
"I believe that is his name."
"He is not an intimate friend of mine, but we came from the same
village. It is that boy who was with me when I first met you, Mr.
Reynolds."
The broker's face cleared.
"Yes, I remember him. But how do you happen to know Tom Calder, Mr.
Ford?"
"He had a room at the same house with me. He introduced himself as a
friend of this boy."
"Do you know anything of him--how he earns his living?"
"Haven't the faintest idea," answered Ford. "My acquaintance with
him is very slight."
"There seems a mystery here," said the broker. "This Morrison gives
Grant two bonds to dispose of, which are identified as belonging to
my housekeeper. How did he obtain possession of them? That is the
question."
"There isn't much doubt about that," said Mrs. Estabrook. "This boy
whom you have taken into your family has taken them."
"You are entirely mistaken, Mrs. Estabrook," said Grant,
indignantly.
"Of course you say so!" retorted the housekeeper; "but it stands to
reason that that is the way it happened. You took them and gave them
to this man--that is, if there is such a man."
"Your son says there is, Mrs. Estabrook," said the broker, quietly.
"Well, I don't intend to say how it happened. Likely enough the man
is a thief, and that boy is his accomplice."
"You will oblige me by not jumping at conclusions, Mrs. Estabrook,"
said Mr. Reynolds. "Whoever has taken the bonds is likely to be
discovered. Meanwhile your loss will, at all events, be partially
made up, since Grant has the money realized from the sale of the
greater part of them."
"I should like to place the money in your hands, Mr. Reynolds," said
Grant.
"But it belongs to me," said the housekeeper.
"That is undoubtedly true," said her employer; "but till the matter
is ascertained beyond a doubt I will retain the money."
"How can there be any doubt?" asked the housekeeper, discontented.
"I do not think there is; but I will tell you now. You claim that
your bonds were marked by certain numbers, two of which belong to
those which were bought by Mr. Ford at the office to-day?"
"Yes, sir."
"Meanwhile, you and your stepson have had time to compare notes, and
you have had a chance to learn his numbers."
Mrs. Estabrook turned livid.
"I didn't expect to have such a charge brought against me, Mr.
Reynolds, and by you," she said, her voice trembling with passion.
"I have brought no such charge, Mrs. Estabrook. I have only
explained how there may be doubt of your claim to the money."
"I thought you knew me better, sir."
"I think I do, and I also think I know Grant better than to think
him capable of abstracting your bonds. Yet you have had no
hesitation in bringing this serious charge against him."
"That is different, sir."
"Pardon me, I can see no difference. He has the same right that you
have to be considered innocent till he is proved to be guilty."
"You must admit, sir," said Willis Ford, "that appearances are very
much against Grant."
"I admit nothing, at present; for the affair seems to be
complicated. Perhaps, Mr. Ford, you can offer some suggestion that
will throw light upon the mystery."
"I don't think it very mysterious, sir. My mother kept her bonds in
the upper drawer of her bureau. This boy had the run of the house.
What was to prevent his entering my mother's room, opening the
drawer, and taking anything he found of value?"
"What was to prevent some one else doing it, Mr. Ford--myself, for
example?"
"Of course that is different, Mr. Reynolds."
"Well, I don't know. I am honest, and so, I believe, is Grant."
"Thank you, sir," said Grant, gratefully.
"It just occurred to me," said Ford, "to ask my mother if she has at
any time lost or mislaid her keys."
"Well thought of, Mr. Ford," and Mr. Reynolds turned to his
housekeeper for a reply.
"No," answered Mrs. Estabrook. "I keep my keys in my pocket, and I
have them there yet."
So saying, she produced four keys attached to a ring.
"Then," continued Ford, "if Grant chances to have a key which will
fit the bureau drawer, that would be evidence against him."
"Show me any keys you may have, Grant," said the broker.
Grant thrust his hand in his pocket and drew out two keys. He looked
at them in astonishment.
"One of them unlocks my valise," he said. "The other is a strange
key. I did not know I had it."
Ford smiled maliciously. "Let us see if it will open the bureau
drawer," he said.
The party adjourned to the housekeeper's room. The key was put into
the lock of the bureau drawer and opened it at once.
"I think there is no more to be said," said Willis Ford,
triumphantly.
Grant looked the picture of surprise and dismay.
CHAPTER XVIII
GRANT'S ENEMIES TRIUMPH
It is not too much to say that Grant was overwhelmed by the
unexpected discovery, in his pocket, of a key that fitted the
housekeeper's drawer. He saw at once how strong it made the evidence
against him, and yet he knew himself to be innocent. The most
painful thought was, that Mr. Reynolds would believe him to be
guilty.
In fact, the broker for the first time began to think that Grant
might possibly have yielded to temptation.
"Can't you account for the possession of that key?" he asked.
"No, sir," answered Grant, in painful embarrassment. "I have
occasion to use but one key, and that is the key to my valise."
"I think you had occasion to use the other," sneered Ford.
"Mr. Ford," retorted Grant, indignantly, "you are determined to
think me guilty; but I care nothing for your opinion. I should be
very sorry if Mr. Reynolds should think me capable of such
baseness."
"Your guilt seems pretty clear," said Ford, sarcastically; "as I
have no doubt Mr. Reynolds will agree."
"Speak for yourself, Mr. Ford," said the banker, quietly.
"I hope you are not going to shield that young thief, Mr. Reynolds,"
said the housekeeper. "His guilt is as clear as noonday. I think he
ought to be arrested."
"You are rather in a hurry, Mrs. Estabrook," said Mr. Reynolds; "and
I must request you to be careful how you make charges against me."
"Against you?" asked the housekeeper, alarmed at his tone.
"Yes," answered the broker, sternly. "You have insinuated that I
intend to shield a supposed thief. I have only to say that at
present the theft is to be proved."
"I submit, sir," said Ford, "that the evidence is pretty strong.
The boy is proved to have had the bonds in his possession, he admits
that he sold a part of them and has the money in his possession, and
a key is found in his possession which will open the drawer in which
the bonds were kept."
"Who put the key in my pocket?" demanded Grant, quickly.
For a moment Willis Ford looked confused, and his momentary
confusion was not lost upon Grant or the banker.
"No doubt you put it there yourself," he answered, sharply, after a
monent's pause.
"That matter will be investigated," said the broker.
"I think the money ought to be paid to me," said the housekeeper.
"Can you prove your ownership of the bonds?" asked the broker.
"I can," answered Willis Ford, flippantly. "I have seen them."
"I should like some additional evidence," said Mr. Reynolds. "You
are related to Mrs. Esta-brook, and may be supposed to have some
interest in the matter."
"What proof can I have?" asked the housekeeper, disturbed by this
unexpected obstacle.
"Have you the memorandum of the broker who bought you the bonds."
"I don't know, sir."
"Then you had better look."
The housekeeper searched the drawer, and produced, triumphantly, a
memorandum to the effect that she had purchased the bonds of a
well-known house in Wall Street.
"So far, so good!" said the broker. "It appears that besides the
bonds sold you had four one-hundred-dollar bonds?"
"Yes, sir."
"You had not parted with them?"
"No, sir."
"They will some time be put on the market, and then we shall have a
clew to the mystery."
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