"Good lord, Jim! You've almost made me lose my case. I have only
three minutes to get to the court-house. Hold up the climax until I
get back, if you can."
I jumped for the elevator and rushed to my appointment, getting there
just in time. The news of the morning had so raised my spirits that I
was filled with an immense enthusiasm. Everything went my way. My
summing up was a masterpiece of logic, if I do say so myself, and my
client received a substantial judgment.
There is no moment sweeter in a young lawyer's life than when another
lawyer, of big reputation, congratulates him on his conduct of a case.
My cup was filled to overflowing, and I must confess I had little
thought for Jim's affairs when I lunched that day with Stevenson and
McGuire, councils for the L. L. & G. The prognostications that they
made for my future were so exaggerated that a bigger man than I might
well have been excused for increased head and chest measurements.
At half past two I went back to the office to announce the good news to
Jim. I had made up my mind before luncheon to spend the afternoon on
the links in honor of my victory, but the clouds, which had been heavy
during the morning, by two o'clock opened up a steady drizzle. Jim was
at his desk when I came in bringing the glad tidings. He got up and
gripped my hand.
"Good boy, Bupps! I knew you'd do it. Thank the Lord your affairs are
going well anyway."
"Has something happened since I've been out?" I asked.
"Yes. The First National telephoned about eleven o'clock saying that
Helen wanted to borrow quite a large sum of money on her railroad stock
and asking if I knew about it. They thought the money was probably for
me and they wanted to ask if I'd be willing to wait a few days."
"How much was it?"
"Fifty thousand dollars."
"Is the stock worth that much, Jim?"
"Yes," said Jim seriously, "the stock is worth twice that. That's why
I have to go slow. She could sell that stock for fifty thousand at any
broker's in five minutes."
I whistled. "Gee! Fifty thousand. Woods must have asked her for it
because he knew you were after him."
"It's open warfare now. I told the bank I knew what the money was for
and that it would cause no inconvenience to me to have them hold up the
loan for a few days. In fact I asked Sherwood, the cashier, to wait
until he saw me before making the loan."
Just then the telephone rang. Jim answered it.
"Hello--Yes--Woods?--Where are you now?" He listened a moment. "I
understand--Eight-thirty promptly?--I'll be there--Yes, I
understand--I'll be there."
He hung up the receiver and looked at me with twinkling eyes.
"The shoe is beginning to pinch, Bupps. That was Woods. He asks me to
meet him alone this evening at the country-club, at eight-thirty
promptly. Says he wants to see me urgently on business that concerns
us both."
"Did he ask you to come alone?"
"Yes. He distinctly said that I was to come alone and be prompt."
"Jim," I argued, "you can't go out there alone to meet that man. It's
too infernally dangerous."
"There's no danger, Bupps; but I'm not going alone. Helen is going
with me."
He opened the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a leather
portfolio, into which he put all the letters and telegrams that were
scattered about his desk.
"I'm going to prove to Helen, in his presence, what kind of man he is;
that he loves her only for the money I gave her, and to save his yellow
hide. I'm going to tear out of her heart all the affection she ever
had for him. I think, after that, she will not only come back to me,
but she will love me all the more for having known Frank Woods. No
matter how badly a leg or an arm may be shattered, a quick, clean
operation may cause the parts to grow together again, stronger than
they were before. I think I win, Bupps."
"Still, I believe you ought to carry a gun, in case he gets nasty."
"I will, if you like," he responded; "but I won't use it, no matter
what happens."
I left the office, vaguely disquieted with the thought of Jim going out
to the club to face a man as dangerous and desperate as Frank Woods.
When a fellow of his standing sees the penitentiary looming up in his
foreground he's capable of anything. Helen, herself, in the crazed
condition I had seen her the other night, was an added element of
danger. I didn't like the looks of the situation any way I turned.
I climbed into my car and drove slowly through the wet slippery
streets. The windshield was so covered with rain-drops that I lowered
it to see the better, and the autumn rain, beating into my face, soon
swept away my gloomy forebodings. After all, no man was going to stick
his neck into the hangman's noose, no matter how eager he was for
revenge. This was the twentieth century, in which no man could
deliberately flout the law. Frank Woods would never have invited Jim
to a "rendezvous" so public as the country-club, if he planned
mischief. When he found out how much Jim knew, realizing the game was
up, he would leave town quietly. Helen certainly would shake Woods
when she learned of his dishonesty and trickery. Surely, no woman with
Helen's pride could learn how she had been duped without hating the man
who duped her.
I stopped at the University Union and found the card room well filled
with bridge players. The rainy afternoon had driven the golfers to
cards, and as one of the men, Terry O'Connel, was on the point of
leaving, I took his place. I played till seven and then started home
to dinner. The rain had stopped and a fresh chilly wind was rippling
the pools in the streets and rapidly drying the sidewalks. The
prospect of a cold blustery evening made me look forward with pleasure
to the warm comfort of my study, and a good book.
I had just finished a solitary dinner--mother being confined to her
room--and had settled down in dressing gown and slippers before my
cheerful fire, when the telephone rang. I put down my book and tried
to think of some excuse for staying home, in case it was my
bridge-playing friends of the afternoon wanting me to come back to the
club. A strange voice called from the other end of the wire.
"Mr. Thompson?"
"Yes."
"There has been an accident to your brother-in-law's car."
"What?--Where?--Who is this talking?" I shouted breathlessly.
"This is Captain Wadsworth of the North District Police Station
speaking. Your brother-in-law had a very bad accident with his car at
the second bridge on the Blandesville Road. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Felderson were pretty badly injured."
"Where are they now?" I gasped, fear clutching at my throat.
"They have been taken to St. Mary's Hospital."
I slammed down the receiver and tore into my clothes. I ran out to the
car and drove through the dark wet streets regardless of speed laws.
From out the gray gloom, the heavy bulk and lighted windows of St.
Mary's loomed just ahead. I ran up the steps and went at once to the
office. Three nurses were standing there talking.
"Can you tell me where they have taken Mr. and Mrs. Felderson?"
"Were they the people in the automobile accident?"