AN ODD CLIENT
That night, when Tom got to bed, he thought so intently about what had
happened, that he could hardly sleep. He tried to outline some plan,
by which he might get at the bottom of the mystery that seemed to be
developing, but he could concoct none that appeared satisfactory.
“I’m sure of one or two things,” he said to himself. “One is that
Sandow doesn’t like me, and, I believe he’s a little bit afraid of
what he thinks I know. Another is that Mr. Cutler doesn’t like me, but
he isn’t alarmed that I know anything. He’d have me discharged if he
could. And another thing is that Sandow and Cutler are in with each
other. And the last thing is that it has to do with the estate of Dr.
Spidderkins.
“But I don’t see what I can do. I don’t know anything about law, and if
I spoke to Mr. Boise, Cutler might make it appear that everything was
all right, and I would only be laughed at. No, I’ll lay low for a while
yet.”
“Well, Tom,” said Mr. Keen the next morning, “I see you got the papers
all right. I found them on my desk, when I came in. But you should not
have opened the envelope they were in. Some of them might have been
lost.”
“I didn’t open the envelope.”
“You didn’t? Why, I found it open on my desk.”
“It was closed when I left it there.”
“That’s odd,” remarked Mr. Keen in a low voice, but he did not in the
least doubt Tom’s word. “Was there any one in the office but yourself?”
he asked. “Maybe the envelope fell to the floor off my desk, and, being
quite full, burst open. The janitor may have picked it up.”
“Mr. Cutler was in his room, when I came back last night,” replied Tom.
“He had some one with him. But I don’t believe the envelope could have
fallen off your desk. I placed it right in the middle.”
“Strange how it could have come open then,” went on Mr. Keen. “It
looks as if the envelope was opened, and then sealed up again, but not
securely. Well, it doesn’t matter much.”
But Tom could see that the lawyer was annoyed by the incident, though
the telephone boy was glad there was no hint of suspicion against
himself.
At the same time, there came into Tom’s mind, a vague suspicion
against Mr. Cutler. Yet, what object would that lawyer have in opening
the envelope containing papers in a case, which, presumably, all the
partners knew about?
“Or could it have been Sandow?” thought Tom. “He might have sneaked in
and opened the envelope, when Cutler left him alone for a minute. That
Sandow is a sneak, I believe. I have proof enough of that in the way
he tried to make me believe that mysterious message I heard him give
Cutler didn’t amount to anything.”
But Tom had little more time for thought that morning, as the
switchboard kept him almost constantly engaged. The firm had several
important cases to attend to, and inquiries and messages concerning
them were constantly coming in.
“Whew! My ear aches!” exclaimed Tom to himself, after an hour during
which he had been engaged in putting plugs in, taking them out,
shifting cams and pressing buttons. “This sort of life is lively
enough, at times, to suit almost any one. But I guess I’ll have a
chance now to look at my law book.”
For Tom still stuck to the resolution he had made, to “read law” during
his spare moments. He was looking intently at the book, yet alert for
any telephone call that might come in, when he became aware that a
stranger had entered the office. He looked up to see a man, evidently
a farmer in his “Sunday” clothes, standing beside the telephone desk.
“Is my case ready?” asked the man, evidently taking it for granted that
Tom was either a member of the firm, or, at least, must keep track of
all the cases.
“I don’t know,” the boy answered politely. “What is the name, please,
and who did you want to see?”
“Wa’al, I reckon I want to see Boise, Keen & Cutler. That’s the way all
the letters is signed that I git. Which one be you?”
“None of them,” answered Tom, with a smile. “But if you tell me which
member of the firm you wish to see I’ll inquire about your case for
you.”
“Wa’al, I’m switched if I know. Jest as I say, all the letters was
signed with the hull three names.”
“Were there any initial under the name?” inquired Tom, for it was the
practice of the firm to sign the names of all three partners, together
with the first letter of the name of whichever particular lawyer
happened to dictate the letter.
“Here, look for yourself,” invited the farmer, holding out a missive.
“That’s the last one I got, an’ it says my case was comin’ off to-day.”
Tom looked at the letter. It was one concerning a lawsuit over some
water-rights on a farm, and from the fact that the letter “B” was
below the firm signature, the boy concluded that Mr. Boise had written
it.
“I guess you want to see the senior partner, Mr. Boise,” said Tom.
“Take a chair, Mr. Kendall, and I’ll find out when he can see you.”
“How’d you know my name was Kendall?” asked the odd client sharply.
“You ain’t one of them gold-brick swindlers, be ye? I understand they
call a man by his name as soon as they set eyes on him.”
“I saw your name at the top of this letter,” replied the boy, handing
the missive back.
Then, when the farmer was carefully stowing the letter away in his
wallet, Tom quietly slipped a plug into the hole connecting with the
’phone in the room of Mr. Boise, and asked when the lawyer could see
Mr. Kendall.
“Send him in in five minutes,” came back the answer.
By this time the farmer had buttoned his coat over his pocketbook, and
he looked up at Tom.
“Wa’al, when ye goin’ to do it?” he asked.
“Do what?”
“Ye said ye’d find out when the head lawyer would see me.”
“So I did. He’ll see you in five minutes.”
“Look a-here, young man!” exclaimed Mr. Kendall. “Don’t try none of
them tricks. I’m sharp, even if I do come from the country.”
“What tricks?” asked Tom innocently, for he was not aware that he had
done anything out of the ordinary.
“Why, you said you’d go see when the lawyer would see me. Now you
say he’ll see me in five minutes. You may be one of them new-fangled
mind-readers I’ve heard tell about, but I don’t believe it. I don’t
take no stock in it. Now you go find out when the lawyer will see me.
My time’s valuable, for I’ve got a lot of work to do, out at the farm.”
“I did find out, Mr. Kendall. Mr. Boise will see you in five minutes.”
“Hold on thar!” exclaimed the farmer. “You can’t fool me. I’ve watched
you every minute, an’ you ain’t left your chair sence I come in. All
you’ve been doin’ is play with them there cords. Now you git right up
an’ find out when Mr. Boise will see me! I ain’t so green as I look.”
“Oh, I see!” exclaimed Tom, comprehending. “You see, I telephoned to
him.”
“Telephoned to him? You can’t fool me that way. I know what a telephone
is. We’ve got ’em out our way, an’ a bell rings when you telephone.
Besides, there ain’t no telephone here, and who ever heard of
telephonin’ from one room to another?”
“But you see this is a private exchange switchboard,” explained Tom,
and he told how it was possible to speak to a lawyer in the next room,
without leaving his seat. He made it quite clear to the farmer.
“Oh, I understand,” said Mr. Kendall. “I’m sorry I made such a fuss
about it, ’specially when you ain’t well. Did you see a doctor about
it?”
“About what?” asked the boy, wondering what new notion the farmer had.
“About your ear ache. I see you have to wear some instrument on yer
head. I had a nephew once that had ear ache dreadful bad. We done
everything for him, blew smoke into it, put bags of hot pepper in, but
it didn’t do no good. Then I poured some hot sweet oil in, and that
worked fine. Ever try it?”
“But I have no ear ache.”
“You ain’t? Then what ye got that contraption on yer head for?”
“Oh, that’s the telephone receiver. I have it clamped over my ear so I
will have both hands free to use on the plugs.”
“Oh!” remarked Mr. Kendall. “I wondered what in the world it was for.
Suthin’ like blinders on a hoss.”
Just then one of the drops fell, and Tom, inserting a plug, heard Mr.
Boise speaking to him.
“I’ll see Mr. Kendall now,” he said.
“Mr. Boise will attend to your case now,” repeated Tom to the farmer.
“Wa’al, I’ll be switched, ef that ain’t quite an invention,” exclaimed
the farmer, as he arose to go into the inner office. “I never heard of
telephonin’ to a man twenty feet from ye. Next thing they’ll be havin’
flyin’ machines t’ go from one room t’ another.”