GOLD AND BILLS.
Stumpy was an excited young man. He had come into the parlor on the
invitation of Leopold, and had very modestly coiled himself away in the
most obscure corner of the room. He was very much interested in the
reading of Harvey Barth's diary, and especially in regard to the
mysterious passenger. When Leopold read the name of "Joel Wormbury," he
could no longer contain himself. He leaped from his corner, and shouted
as though he had been hailing the Rosabel half a mile off.
"My father!" repeated he; and all eyes were fixed upon him.
Stumpy was excited, not so much, we must do him the justice to say,
because there was money involved in the fact, as because the name and
memory of his father were dear to him.
"That man was Stumpy's father as true as the world!" said Mr.
Bennington.
"It is a very remarkable affair," added Mr. Hamilton. "Such things don't
often happen."
"But I haven't the slightest doubt that this Wallbridge was Joel
Wormbury," replied the landlord.
"I'm sure of it," exclaimed Stumpy. "I know all about that Bible; I've
seen it twenty times; and mother always used to put it into father's
chest when he was going away fishing."
"I don't know about that, Stumpy," interposed Mr. Bennington, with a
smile of incredulity; "I'm afraid it won't hold water."
"What's the reason it won't?" demanded Stumpy, who was entirely
satisfied in regard to the identity of the sacred volume. "I used to
carry it to Sunday school sometimes; and I've seen my father's name
written in forty places in it, wherever there was a page or part of a
page not printed on, just as Harvey Barth says in his diary. I don't
believe there is any mistake about that."
"But the writer of this journal appears to have been considerably
exercised about the passenger's change of name," said Mr. Hamilton,
before the landlord had an opportunity to explain why he doubted the
truth of the statement in regard to the Bible. "Harvey Barth hoped Mr.
Wallbridge had not done anything wrong."
"He hadn't done anything wrong," protested Stumpy, warmly.
"Why should he change his name, then?" asked the ex-congressman. "For
the fact that he did so appears to be well established."
"There was a reason for it," replied the landlord, "though as Stumpy
says, Joel Wormbury had done nothing wrong. Joel was attacked by a man
in liquor, and in self-defence he struck the assailant on the head with
a bottle, and supposed that he had killed him. He left Rockhaven in a
great hurry, in order to escape the consequences. He did not even go to
his house before he left town, afraid, perhaps, of finding a constable
there waiting for him. He went off in such a hurry, that I don't believe
he thought to take his Bible with him."
The landlord bestowed a smiling glance upon Stumpy, satisfied that he
had as completely demolished the Bible argument as though he had been a
practised theologian.
"If my mother was only here, she could tell you all about that," said
Stumpy.
"Do you think he went home for the Bible before he left?" asked Mr.
Bennington.
"I know he didn't."
"Where did he get the Bible, then?" asked the landlord.
"I'll tell you; and I won't say a word that I can't prove," replied
Stumpy, warmly.
"You are not among enemies, or those who are at all inclined to doubt
your word, young man," added Mr. Hamilton.
"I'll tell you about it, then; but I wish my mother was here, with the
letters my father wrote to her."
"We are willing to believe all you say, Stumpy," said the landlord.
"You thought that what I said would not hold water, just now."
"But I explained why I thought so."
"And the doubt was certainly a reasonable one," added the merchant; "now
we only wait for you to remove it."
"I will do that and I can prove all I say by my father's last letter to
my mother, which is post-marked at Gloucester, Mass., in which he told
all about the fight, and gave the reasons why he cleared out."
In answer to a question asked by one of the ladies, Stumpy related more
fully the particulars of Joel Wormbury's departure from Rockhaven.
"About six months before my father went off for the last time, he
returned to Gloucester from a fishing trip to the Georges," continued
Stumpy. "He expected to go again in a few weeks; so he left his chest in
Gloucester. His Bible was in that chest; but, as he found work coopering
at home, he did not go again till he left after the fight. In his letter
to my mother, he said he had got his chest, and that he had the Bible
all right. He wrote, too, that he meant to read it more than he had ever
done before, and not use it to scribble in. That was the last letter we
ever got from father. We heard that he had gone out to attend to the
trawls, and was lost in a fog, not being able to find his way back to
the vessel. Of course we hadn't any doubt that he was dead, after we
got a letter from the captain of the schooner in which my father sailed.
That's all I know about it."
"But how came he in Havana?" asked Mr. Hamilton.
"That's more than I know, sir," answered Stumpy.
"Harvey Barth could not have known anything about Joel Wormbury," added
Leopold; "and he wrote his diary, it appears on the very day the Waldo
was lost."
"There can be no doubt that Wallbridge and Joel Wormbury were one and
the same person," said Mr. Hamilton. "The name which Harvey Barth found
on the paper, the initials, on his valise, the name on the shirt, and
written forty times in the Bible, fully establish the fact in my mind."
"And in mine, too," said Leopold. "Stumpy, the gold is yours, and I will
give it to you whenever you are ready to take it."
"This is a go!" exclaimed Stumpy, with a broad grin on his brown face.
"We need the money bad enough; and my mother will jump up six feet when
she hears the news. Somebody else won't feel good about it, I'll bet."
Stumpy did not explain to whom the last remark related; but he
experienced the most lively satisfaction when he thought of the pleasure
it would afford him to see his mother tender the seven hundred dollars
in payment of the mortgage note. It occurred to him then that the
business ought not to be postponed a single day, for Squire Moses had
announced his intention of foreclosing the mortgage at once.
"How much money is there in the bag?" asked the merchant.
"Twelve hundred dollars in gold," replied Leopold; "and the diary says
Joel Wormbury saved it in two years from his earnings in Cuba."
"Joel was an industrious and prudent man," added the landlord.
"It is very fortunate that the hidden treasure fell into honest hands,"
continued Mr. Hamilton, turning to Leopold; whereupon all the company
clapped their hands, and the skipper of the Rosabel blushed like a
school-girl.
"He's a noble fellow!" exclaimed Miss Rosabel.
"A pious swell," added Charley Redmond, with a sneer.
The business of the meeting having been thus happily accomplished, the
occupants of the parlor departed.
"Come Stumpy, I want to hand the money over to you," said Leopold.
"I don't want it now," replied Stumpy. "I shouldn't dare to take it into
the house, for fear my beloved grandad should steal it. I think he would
find some way to do it, without calling the deed by any hard name."
"What are you going to do with the gold, Stumpy?" asked Mr. Hamilton.
"Hand it over to my mother. Squire Moses is going to foreclose the
mortgage on the house we live in right off. I want to head him off on
that before night."
"But gold, you know, is worth a large premium just now. I saw by my
paper which came to-day that it was 208 in New York," continued the
merchant.
"I'll go and tell my mother about it," said Stumpy, moving off.
"Stop a moment, my boy," interposed Mr. Hamilton. "If you are going to
pay off the mortgage you should do so in currency, not in gold. I will
buy your coin, and assist you in this business."
"Thank you, sir," replied Stumpy, warmly.
"I will pay you the market rate for your gold, whatever the papers
report it to be for to-day."
Mr. Hamilton was certainly very kind; and Stumpy felt that, with such a
powerful friend, he had the weather-gage of his avaricious grandfather.
Leopold led the way to the shop of his uncle, and the New York merchant
joined them.
"I want the gold, uncle," said Leopold.
"What for you want him?" demanded Herr Schlager.
"I have found the owner."
"_Donner and blitz!_ Den he is no more your golt."
"No, uncle; but I feel better in handing it over to Stumpy than I should
in spending it myself," laughed Leopold.
"_Himmel!_ Stumpy!"
"Yes Stumpy." And the money-digger briefly stated the facts which had
been discovered.
"_Donner and blitz!_ I'm glad for der poy, but sorry for you," added the
watch-maker, as he took from the safe the shot-bag containing the
treasure.
"Take it, Stumpy. It is yours," said Leopold. "Open it."
"I can't exactly believe in this thing yet, Le," replied Stumpy, as,
with trembling hand, he cut the red tape, and demolished the sacred seal
of Herr Schlager.
Turning the bag over, he poured the gold out upon the counter. The money
was American coin, which Joel Wormbury had probably purchased in Havana,
to avoid the necessity of exchanging it after his return to Rockhaven.
Mr. Hamilton counted the money, and found that Harvey Barth's statement
was again correct.
"Now figure it up, my boy. Then we will finish this transaction at
once," said the merchant. "I shall not be able to pay you in full for it
to-day; but I have credits in Belfast and Rockland, and you shall have
the whole of it by to-morrow night for we intend to cross the bay in the
Orion to-morrow."
Leopold and Stumpy both did the sum, multiplying twelve hundred by two
hundred and eight, and pointing off two decimals in the product.
"Twenty-four hundred and ninety-six dollars!" exclaimed Leopold.
"That's what I make it," added Stumpy, "What a pile of money!"
Mr. Hamilton, who had left New York prepared to pay the heavy expenses
of his yacht excursion, counted off twelve one hundred dollar bills,
which he handed to Stumpy.
"I will give you my note for the balance," said the merchant.
"Creation!" cried Stumpy, looking the bills over, his eyes dilated till
they were nearly as big as saucers--small saucers. "Here's more money
than I ever saw!"
Mr. Hamilton wrote the note, and gave it to Stumpy. It was made payable
to the order of Sarah Wormbury.
"But I don't want all this money. I don't know what to do with it,"
exclaimed Stumpy, embarrassed by his sudden riches.
"You shall have the rest to-morrow night," added Mr. Hamilton.
"I would rather not have it just yet."
"As you please. If I retain it, I shall pay you interest," replied the
merchant.
"Interest! Hold on, now, hold on, all!" almost shouted Stumpy, turning
from the bills which still lay on the counter, and looking Leopold
square in the face. "I'm a hog! I'm a pig, just out of the sty!"
"What's the matter now?" demanded Mr. Hamilton, laughing heartily at the
odd manner of Stumpy.
"Here I've been thinking of myself and my folks all the time! Here I've
been thinking of what I should do with all this money, and never had a
thought of Le, who found it, and kept it for me and my folks. I'll do
the fair thing Le."
"What do you mean?" asked the merchant.
"I shall divy with Le; I shall give him at least five hundred.
"Not a cent," protested Leopold.
"You bet!" added Stumpy. "I've been thinking all the time about getting
my mother out of trouble, and only just now it comes into my head that
Le's father is in hot water. I'll tell you what we'll do, Le: I'll give
you five hundred--"
[Illustration: STUMPY POURING OUT THE GOLD. Page 302.]
"No, you won't! not a cent," said, Leopold, decidedly. "I should feel as
though I had been paid for being honest."
"I hope he won't take any part of the money which your father earned,
and kept sacredly for his family," interposed Mr. Hamilton. "I grant
that he deserves it."
"Not a cent," repeated Leopold.
"I never should have got a dollar of it, if it hadn't been for him,"
Stumpy argued.
"No matter for that," said Leopold.
"I know now!" exclaimed Stumpy, as if a new thought had taken possession
of him. "Just subtract seven hundred from twenty-four hundred and
ninety-six, Le."
"Seventeen hundred and ninety-six," replied Leopold.
"That's just the amount I don't want. Of course when I say 'I,' my folks
is meant. Now, Le, your father wants money just as badly as my mother
does; and we will lend the seventeen hundred and ninety-six dollars to
him, taking his note on interest, just as Mr. Hamilton would give it.
But I would rather give you five hundred of the money."
"You can't give me a dollar; but if you will lend some of the money to
my father, I should like it first rate."
"I will--the whole of it," protested Stumpy.
"This is quite a sensible arrangement, my boys," said the merchant; "and
I have so much confidence in Mr. Bennington's integrity, that I will
indorse his note. But it strikes me that you are going rather too fast,
Stumpy."
"Why, sir?"
"Perhaps I have led you too rapidly over the ground. Whatever property
your father left--this money included--belongs to his family. I suppose
an administrator ought to be appointed."
"Creation! That would be Squire Moses!" exclaimed Stumpy, aghast.
"No; your mother may be appointed."
"My mother! Well, now I think of it, I believe she was appointed. I
didn't know much about such things at the time."
"Be that as it may, before you lend the money to Mr. Bennington, or give
any to Leopold, you had better see your mother. I will go to the house
with you, for I am really quite interested in this matter."
"Thank you, sir; you are very kind, and I am ever so much obliged to
you," answered Stumpy. "But I shouldn't feel right--administrator or
not--if Le's father wasn't helped out of trouble."
"I was not aware that Mr. Bennington was in difficulty."
"He is--up to his eyes; and I know very well that my grandfather--that's
Squire Moses--means to get the Sea Cliff House away from him, if he can,
and let Ethan Wormbury have it. This money must save him. He's been a
good friend to me, and I should be a hog if I didn't help him out.
Mother will do it, too, I know; for if it hadn't been for Le, we
shouldn't have seen this money."
"We will talk with your mother about it," replied Mr. Hamilton, as he
put the gold back into the shot-bag, and asked the watch-maker to keep
it in the safe till the next day, when he intended to dispose of it in
Rockland.
Stumpy placed the twelve hundred dollars in bills in his wallet, and put
it in his pocket; but he did not remove his hand from it till he
reached his mother's house. If the widow's son was almost crazy in the
whirl of remarkable events which so suddenly altered the fortunes of the
family, it was hardly to be wondered at; and doubtless the ardor and
fury with which he rushed into the house, with his hand still clutching
the wallet in his pocket, would have startled his mother, if she had not
been sadly occupied with an affair of her own. Squire Moses, Ethan, and
the village lawyer were with her, and were about to give the legal
notice of the foreclosure of the mortgage. The old man was afraid that
he should be cheated out of his prey if he waited any longer. Stumpy
rushed into the house, followed by Mr. Hamilton and Leopold.
"O, my son," exclaimed Mrs. Wormbury, "the house is to be taken from
us!"
"Not now," interposed Squire Moses. "I told you that you might stay here
till the first of August. I'm not a hard man, to turn you out without
any notice. I always mean to do what is just right."
"Of course. I have been expecting it, after what you said; but it comes
very hard to be turned out of house and home," sobbed Mrs. Wormbury.
"You shall not be turned out, mother," cried Stumpy, blubbered himself,
when he saw the tears in his mother's eyes; "neither now nor on the
first of August."
"Why Stumpfield, what do you mean?"
"Perhaps the boy means to pay the note of seven hundred dollars,"
sneered Squire Moses. "But I don't want any nonsense about this
business."
"That's just what I'm going to do, grandpa," shouted Stumpy, drawing the
wallet from his pocket, and taking from it the roll of bills.
Squire Moses turned round, amazed at the announcement of his grandson,
and for the first time discovered the presence of Mr. Hamilton.
"I'm glad to see you, Mr. Hamilton," said he, extending his withered
hand to the merchant. "This is disagreeable business."
"I should think it was--to turn your son's widow out of house and home,"
replied the ex-congressman, dryly.
"The mortgage note has been due for years," pleaded the squire. "Of
course the widow can't pay it, and--"
"Yes, she can!" yelled Stumpy. "She never did get any favors from you,
and she don't ask for any now. Here's the seven hundred dollars. My
mother wants the note, and a release of the mortgage."
Squire Moses actually turned pale, as much from anger as from the
failure of a profitable operation for the future.
"I don't understand this," said he.
"Here's your money, when you give my mother the papers," replied Stumpy.
"That's easy enough to understand--isn't it?"
"Where did you get the money, Stumpy?" demanded the squire.
"That don't make any difference," added Stumpy, shaking his head.
"I don't think it does," interposed Mr. Hamilton. "The young man's
position appears to be quite correct."
Squire Moses looked at the merchant, and immediately concluded that this
rich New Yorker had advanced the money. He bit his lips till they bled,
but finally went off with Ethan and the lawyer, to procure the necessary
papers to discharge the mortgage.
"I don't understand it any better than Squire Moses," said Mrs.
Wormbury, when the hard creditor had gone.
"You will pay off the note, mother, with money earned by father's own
hands," replied Stumpy, gently.
"What do you mean, my son?" asked the widow, trembling with emotion.
Stumpy explained what he meant. Mrs. Wormbury listened, and wept when
she realized that her husband had perished in the waves, not on the
Georges, but within sight of his own home. The story was hardly finished
before Squire Moses returned alone, with the note and release. Mr.
Hamilton carefully examined the latter document, and declared that it
was correct.
"So it seems Joel was the passenger in the Waldo, who buried this
money," said the squire, as he put the bills in his pocket; for the
discovery made in the parlor of the Sea Cliff House was now following
the story of the hidden treasure up the main street.
"That's so," replied Stumpy; "and mother will always have the
satisfaction of knowing that this house was all paid for with his
earnings."
Squire Moses soon left, with the feeling that he had lost at least a
thousand dollars by the finding of the hidden treasure.