ZELDA FACES A CRISIS
Morris expected Rodney Merriam to manifest wrath and indignation at the
recital of Ezra Dameron’s ill-doing, but the old gentleman in Seminary
Square listened in silence, and at the end, with something more than
his usual urbanity, asked Morris to have a cigar. He filled a cob pipe
for himself, however, and this was always a sign, Morris had observed,
of inward perturbation.
“Well, what are we going to do about it?” asked Merriam, presently.
“That’s the rub--there’s not much of anything that you can do. The
trust is a wide-open thing. He isn’t required to report to anybody and
he gives no bond; but he must get the court’s approval before he sells
anything; and then he must reinvest the money in other realty. It is
significant that he has been selling at desperate prices toward the end
of his trusteeship. He must be hard up.”
Merriam had never spoken of his brother-in-law to Leighton except in
terms of respect, and he hesitated now.
“My sister’s idea in making that will,” he began quietly, “was to deal
generously with a blackguard. It was her pride. She had made a mistake.”
He paused and the blood rushed to his face. He was checking his wrath
with difficulty.
“He had ruined her life. We were all opposed to her marrying Ezra
Dameron; but she was not a child, but a grown woman. She left her
property to Zelda through him; and she wouldn’t admit to the rest of
us, even at the end, that she did not trust him. She doubtless thought
his avarice would protect her child.”
He blurted this out fiercely, with a certain shamefacedness, and then
paused abruptly and stared at Leighton. Why, he asked himself, was he
speaking thus to the son of Morris Leighton!
The situation angered him and his wrath kindled again as his memory
swept the past; but he controlled himself, and bent forward in his
chair.
“Morris, I’m not at all surprised or disappointed in him. I have never,
at any time since Zee came home, had the slightest idea that her
father would ever be able to turn over her property. I’ve been curious
to know just what excuse he would offer for failing to settle on the
day appointed. And I have hoped that he would fail,--that’s the truth
about it. I have hoped that if he were to prove himself a thief I might
get Zee to leave him. It hasn’t, perhaps, been creditable to my sense
of Christian duty that I have felt so; but I have wanted to get that
reptile at my mercy. I should like to show him mercy; it would be a
revenge worth living for,--to be merciful to that ugly hypocrite. Now,
just what has Ezra been doing?”
And as the old man relighted his pipe, its bowl spurted angry flashes.
“He’s been speculating in one thing and another. I don’t know to what
extent, but that’s what Copeland tells me. He has a way of knowing
things, you know. It was he that told me of the sale of those lots.”
Merriam threw back his head and laughed in a very disagreeable way.
“A gambler! Ezra a gambler! Well, I’ll be damned! I suppose, Morris,
that where a doctor knows that a man has inherited some sort of poison
that lies dormant in the blood, he constantly expects it to manifest
itself. He can’t tell just how it will break out, but he knows that it
will come; and some day he sees the first signs of it, probably with
a satisfaction in the thought that the business of nature proceeds so
inexorably. That’s the way I have felt about Ezra Dameron. I knew the
yellow streak was in him and that it would show up some day; but I’ll
be damned if I thought the bucket shops would get him.” And Rodney
Merriam laughed again in a way that made Leighton uncomfortable.
“Now, Morris, if you have anything to propose, we’ll consider it.”
“As near as I can make out, all the property that Mr. Dameron will be
able to turn over to his daughter will be the farm out here and the old
homestead and the creek property. He sold the Dameron Block about two
months ago. He has sold the original holdings and he has not bought any
other real property with the money, as the will provided. There is, you
know, no penalty for a non-performance of the obligations of the trust.
His needs have undoubtedly grown quite recently, for he has been doing
business with Balcomb,--fooling away the property. Maybe he’s insane!”
“Don’t be a fool; he’s sane enough; he’s a thief, that’s all!” declared
Rodney, irascibly.
“If Miss Dameron wished to take advantage of her rights she might have
this last sale set aside. I will undertake to do that.”
“And a nice lot of publicity we’d get out of it, too. No, sir, we won’t
do that sort of business. My family has lived in this town a good many
years; and some of us have been fools, and some of us have failed; but
Zelda has the right key. She’s pitched it pretty high; but we’ll keep
it at the same note, if we can. How much did he get for those lots?”
“Twenty thousand dollars; but no doubt my friend Balcomb kept a
handsome commission. I’ll rather enjoy settling with him.”
“He’s one of the jewels produced by our college, isn’t he?”
“He was the bright particular star of my class. He was well fitted
by nature to be a clerk in a rural general store, or more likely, a
barker for a circus side-show or the advance agent for a hair tonic.
His education ruined him. He has the smooth facility of the superficial
mind,--even showed some literary gift, and wrote the best essays in the
class.”
“I know the type. A short horse, soon curried.”
“There’s the option on that piece of ground out on the creek. It might
possibly be binding on Miss Dameron after the trusteeship has been
closed. Balcomb’s pretty smooth, and if the old man is in straits, you
can’t tell what he’ll do.”
“Let him blow it all in, Morris. I shall be disappointed if there’s a
cent left. He can have the money. I want the girl!”
[Illustration: _Rodney Merriam_]
“Balcomb is undoubtedly swindling his associates in the land company;
they are quite likely to squeal. Balcomb wouldn’t hesitate about
throwing the blame for any irregularity on Dameron.”
“Let him do it. What do we care for Dameron!”
“But I thought you wanted to avoid a scandal, for Miss Dameron’s
sake,--for all your sakes.”
“Yes; to be sure,” responded Merriam, more tamely. “Balcomb’s pretty
crooked, I’ve no doubt, but he couldn’t have taught Ezra Dameron any
cussedness. You needn’t try to mitigate this thing.”
“You know I’m not trying to. I want to do the best thing and the right
thing. You are not anxious for publicity.”
“Most certainly not.”
“We’ve got to approach Miss Dameron, and tell her the whole matter. It
is not a pleasant thing to do, but if we get her help--if that should
seem the best way--”
They were deeply engrossed and did not hear the bell or the Japanese
boy opening the front door.
“Uncle Rodney!”
Both men sprang to their feet. Zelda stood in the library door.
“Glad to see you, Zee,” said her uncle, quietly.
She looked from one to the other and nodded to Morris.
“You don’t look so awfully glad, I must say. If I’ve come in upon a
conspiracy I’ll take myself off. The gloom here is so thick you could
grow mushrooms in it.”
“I’m glad you happened in, Zee. There’s something I wish to speak to
you about. We may as well discuss it now; and if it’s agreeable to you,
I should like Mr. Leighton to stay. It’s a legal matter that we may
want him to advise us about.”
“You have a serious air. I hope you haven’t been breaking any laws, you
two. Certainly, Mr. Leighton may stay.”
“Sit down, Morris,” said Merriam, deliberately.
Zelda had taken a chair in the corner away from the smoldering fire,
and Merriam found the chair that he liked least, with an unformed idea
that such self-immolation fitted him better for an unpleasant task. He
did not begin immediately, and while he collected his thoughts Zelda
watched him with amusement.
“If you knew how funny you look, Uncle Rodney, I’m sure you’d laugh.
And you seem a little ultra-serious, too, Mr. Leighton. Please, uncle,
don’t scold me!”
“Yes. Yes, to be sure,” said Merriam, absent-mindedly, and Leighton and
Zelda exchanged a smile.
“I want to speak to you about your property. There are some things
connected with your affairs that you must know.”
“But father attends to everything--you’ll certainly waste your talents
on me. Do let us talk of something cheerful.”
But her uncle went on now, and she listened attentively.
“You know that your property, what your mother had and wished to give
to you, was left in trust. Your father is the trustee.”
“Yes, I know that.”
She bent forward in her chair, her hands clasped in her lap. She was
wholly composed and heedful.
“Your father’s powers have been absolute. He is not required to give
an accounting to any one--except, of course, to you, when he turns over
the property on your birthday--that is, to-morrow.”
“Yes, I believe to-morrow is the first of October. I understand
perfectly that mother wished me to know that she trusted father,--as
she expected me to trust him. That is all very simple.”
There was a little sting in this, as though she knew what was coming
and wished to warn her uncle to desist. He shot a sharp glance at the
girl from his black eyes and went on, patiently and kindly.
“That is all very well. Everything was left to your father’s
discretion, but there were a few minor requirements. In case he should
sell real estate, he was to get the approval of the court; and he was
to buy other real estate with whatever he realized.”
“That’s probably important, but not amusing. I really dropped in to
ask what you were going to give me for my birthday. I’m almost sorry I
came.”
“Your father has sold some of the real estate--”
“Of course. You escape a lot of trouble by not having real estate, so
father says,--taxes and all that. But once more, pardon me!”
The color was dying out of her face and she twisted her fingers
together nervously. Her heart was beating fiercely. It had come at
last,--this hour in which she must face an attack upon her father. She
had known that it would come, and she knew that she should meet it.
It angered her that the terms her uncle used were unfamiliar. Law and
business were unknown worlds to her. She again followed her uncle’s
recital closely; he was speaking with a sharp precision that he had
never used before in talking to her.
“Your father has sold a great deal of your property,” he repeated; “and
it appears that through neglect,”--he hesitated--“or forgetfulness, the
court’s approval was not secured in at least one case. Of course, this
can be corrected.”
He waited, to study his ground a little, and he glanced at Leighton, as
though to make sure that the young man had not deserted him.
“Father is a little forgetful sometimes,” said Zelda. “He isn’t a young
man, you must remember.” The sympathy with which she spoke made Merriam
uncomfortable; and Leighton moved uneasily. It was not a pleasant
task,--that of telling a young woman that her father was a rascal.
“But while the order of court can be procured and injury to the
purchaser prevented, there is another side of the matter that we must
consider.”
“Yes, uncle,”--and she smiled a little forlornly. She knew that she
should meet the blow bravely when it fell; but it hurt her now to feel
her uncle’s kindness.
“It hurts me,--Zelda, it hurts me more than I can tell you, to have to
say that all is not quite clear about this transaction. Your father has
sold at an extraordinary price. I fear that he is in difficulties. In
this real estate matter you have your remedy. It is of this that I wish
to speak particularly. It is only right that I should protect you if I
can.”
“You are very kind; you are always good to me, Uncle Rodney.”
“The failure to get the court’s approval of the sale of the real estate
makes it possible for us to save it--this one piece, maybe, though
nearly all the rest is gone--to get it back, perhaps. The situation
is not agreeable. Your father received the money and I am afraid he
has made--at least we are led to suspect--that he has made--ill use
of it. But we may find it possible to set this sale aside, or get an
additional sum from the purchaser,--”
Merriam was looking intently at the floor as he spoke these sentences.
He was aware suddenly that Zelda had risen and crossed the room until
she stood before him, with flaming cheeks and flashing eyes. He
unconsciously rose and drew away from her. It seemed to Leighton that
the air in the room grew tense. The girl stood between the two men, her
lips parted, one hand on the back of a chair.
“Uncle Rodney, I never thought that you would--insult me--in your own
house--under the pretense of kindness! I should like to know what you
gentlemen mean, and what you think I am--that I should listen to such
things from you! To think that I should be willing to take advantage
of the law to defraud some one, on the theory that my father was
defrauding me--stealing from me, I suppose you mean!”
“Zee, one moment--”
“No, sir! I shall hear no more from you. I never want to see you
again,--either of you!” She had spoken brokenly, and the last three
words came slowly, with a kind of hiss. “But before I go, I wish to say
something to you, to ease your feelings of pity for me. It was by my
request--and by my order--that father sold that property; and he gave
_me_ the money--do you understand?--gave _me_ the money for it--and I
have spent it--_all of it!_”
She was gone so quickly that the front door slammed on her last word,
as though to add to the contempt that it carried.
Merriam ran into the hall, calling her name, but when he opened the
door the iron gate was swinging violently, and she was walking rapidly
away. Leighton seized his coat and hat in the hall and sped after her.
“Bring her back!” the old man roared after him.
“Miss Dameron, I’m sorry: I am sure--”
“Will you kindly stop following me?” she said, wheeling upon Morris,
and then she turned and continued her flight; but Morris followed.
Zelda continued straight ahead and did not look back or speak to him
again, though she knew that he was behind her.
She continued up High Street to a cross-town thoroughfare that led
to the old Merriam house. There was something wholly uncompromising
in her walk; and her spirit, Morris declared to himself, was equally
unyielding. Her assumption of responsibility for her father’s acts had
amazed him, and in the cool air of the autumn evening he debated with
himself as to how much, if anything, she really knew of Ezra Dameron’s
affairs. It was a fine thing for her to have swept aside her uncle’s
charges, and her words repeated themselves over and over again in his
mind with thrilling effect. If it was merely a blind defense, to give
her time for thought or inquiry, she had managed it with amazing dash.
When she reached the old house, Zelda ran up the steps, and pulled the
bell. She did not turn her head, but Leighton stood, feeling the least
bit foolish, until the door opened and Zelda disappeared within.