THE PROFESSOR SUMS UP
In Upper Asquewan Falls the clock on the old town hall struck nine. Mr.
Magee, on guard in Baldpate's dreary office, counted the strokes. She
must be half-way down the mountain now--perhaps at this very moment she
heard Quimby's ancient gate creaking in the wind. He could almost see
her as she tramped along through the snow, the lovely heroine of the
most romantic walk of all romantic walks on Baldpate to date. Half-way
to the waiting-room where she had wept so bitterly; half-way to the
curious station agent with the mop of ginger hair. To-night there would
be no need of a troubadour to implore "Weep no more, my lady". William
Hallowell Magee had removed the cause for tears.
It was a long vigil he had begun, but there was no boredom in it for
Billy Magee. He was too great a lover of contrast for that. As he looked
around on the ill-assorted group he guarded, he compared them with the
happier people of the inn's summer nights, about whom the girl had told
him. Instead of these surly or sad folk sitting glumly under the pistol
of romantic youth he saw maids garbed in the magic of muslin flit
through the shadows. Lights glowed softly; a waltz came up from the
casino on the breath of the summer breeze. Under the red and white
awnings youth and joy and love had their day--or their night. The hermit
was on hand with his postal-carded romance. The trees gossiped in
whispers on the mountain.
And, too, the rocking-chair fleet gossiped in whispers on the veranda,
pausing only when the admiral sailed by in his glory. Eagerly it ran
down its game. This girl--this Myra Thornhill--he remembered, had
herself been a victim. After Kendrick disappeared she had come there no
more, for there were ugly rumors of the man who had fled. Mr. Magee saw
the girl and her long-absent lover whispering together in the firelight;
he wondered if they, too, imagined themselves at Baldpate in the summer;
if they heard the waltz in the casino, and the laughter of men in the
grill-room.
Ten o'clock, said the town hall pompously. She was at the station now.
In the room of her tears she was waiting; perhaps her only companion the
jacky of the "See the World" poster, whose garb was but a shade bluer
than her eyes. Who was she? What was the bribe money of the Suburban
Railway to her? Mr. Magee did not know, but he trusted her, and he was
glad she had won through him. He saw Professor Bolton walk through the
flickering half-light to join Myra Thornhill and Kendrick.
It must be half past by now. Yes--from far below in the valley came the
whistle of a train. Now--she was boarding it. She and the money.
Boarding it--for where? For what purpose? Again the train whistled.
"The siege," remarked Mr. Magee, "is more than half over, ladies and
gentlemen."
The professor of Comparative Literature approached him and took a chair
at his side.
"I want to talk with you, Mr. Magee," he said.
"A welcome diversion," assented Magee, his eyes still on the room.
"I have discussed matters with Miss Thornhill," said the professor in a
low voice. "She has convinced me that in this affair you have acted from
a wholly disinterested point of view. A mistaken idea of chivalry,
perhaps. The infatuation of the moment for a pretty face--a thing to
which all men with red blood in their veins are susceptible--a pleasant
thing that I would be the last to want banished from the world."
"Miss Thornhill," replied Billy Magee, "has sized up the situation
perfectly--except for one rather important detail. It is not the
infatuation of the moment, Professor. Say rather that of a lifetime."
"Ah, yes," the old man returned. "Youth--how sure it always is of that.
I do not deprecate the feeling. Once, long ago, I, too, had youth and
faith. We will not dwell on that, however. Miss Thornhill assures me
that Henry Bentley, the son of my friend John Bentley, esteems you
highly. She asserts that you are in every respect, as far as her
knowledge goes, an admirable young man. I feel sure that after calm
contemplation you will see that what you have done is very unfortunate.
The package of money which in a giddy moment you have given into a young
lady's keeping is much desired by the authorities as evidence against a
very corrupt political ring. I am certain that when you know all the
details you will be glad to return with me to Reuton and do all in your
power to help us regain possession of that package."
And now the town hall informed Mr. Magee that the hour was eleven. He
pictured a train flying like a black shadow through the white night. Was
she on it--safe?
"Professor Bolton," he said, "there couldn't possibly be any one
anywhere more eager than I to learn all the details of this affair--to
hear your real reason for coming to Baldpate Inn, and to have the
peroxide-blond incident properly classified and given its niche in
history. But let me tell you again my action of to-night was no mere
madness of the moment. I shall stick to it through thick and thin. Now,
about the blondes."
"The blondes," repeated the professor dreamily. "Ah, yes, I must make a
small confession of guilt there. I did not come here to escape the
results of that indiscreet remark, but I really made it--about a year
ago. Shall I ever forget? Hardly--the newspapers and my wife won't let
me. I can never again win a new honor, however dignified, without being
referred to in print as the peroxide-blond advocate. The thing has made
me furious. However, I did not come to Baldpate Inn to avoid the results
of a lying newspaper story, though many a time, a year ago, when I
started to leave my house and saw the reporters camped on my door-step,
I longed for the seclusion of some such spot as this. On the night when
Mr. Kendrick and I climbed Baldpate Mountain, I remarked as much to him.
And so it occurred to me that if I found any need of explaining my
presence here, the blond incident would do very well. It was only--a
white lie."
"A blond one," corrected Mr. Magee. "I forgive you, Professor. And I'm
mighty glad the incident really happened, despite the pain it caused
you. For it in a way condones my own offense--and it makes you human,
too."
"If to err is human, it does," agreed Professor Bolton. "To begin with,
I am a member of the faculty of the University of Reuton, situated, as
you no doubt know, in the city of the same name. For a long time I have
taken a quiet interest in our municipal politics. I have been up in
arms--linguistic arms--against this odd character Cargan, who came from
the slums to rule us with a rod of iron. Every one knows he is corrupt,
that he is wealthy through the sale of privilege, that there is actually
a fixed schedule of prices for favors in the way of city ordinances. I
have often denounced him to my friends. Since I have met him--well, it
is remarkable, is it not, the effect of personality on one's opinions? I
expected to face a devil, with the usual appurtenances. Instead I have
found a human, rather likable man. I can well understand now why it is
that the mob follows him like sheep. However, that is neither here nor
there. He is a crook, and must be punished--even though I do like him
immensely."
Mr. Magee smiled over to where the great bulk of Cargan slouched in a
chair.
"He's a bully old scout," he remarked.
"Even so," replied the professor, "his high-handed career of graft in
Reuton must come to a speedy close. He is of a type fast vanishing
through the awakening public conscience. And his career will end, I
assure you, despite the fact that you, Mr. Magee, have seen fit to send
our evidence scurrying through the night at the behest of a chit of a
girl. I beg your pardon--I shall continue. Young Drayton, the new county
prosecutor, was several years back a favorite pupil of mine. After he
left law school he fell under the spell of the picturesque mayor of
Reuton. Cargan liked him and he rose rapidly. Drayton had no thought of
ever turning against his benefactor when he accepted the first favors,
but later the open selling of men's souls began to disgust him. When
Cargan offered him the place of prosecutor, a few months ago, Drayton
assured him that he would keep his oath of office. The mayor laughed.
Drayton insisted. Cargan had not yet met the man he could not handle. He
gave Drayton the place."
The old man leaned forward, and tapped Magee on the knee.
"It was in me, remember," he went on, "that Drayton confided his resolve
to serve the public. I was delighted at the news. A few weeks ago he
informed me his first opportunity was at hand. Through one of the men in
his office he had learned that Hayden of the Suburban Electric was
seeking to consolidate that road, which had fallen into partial
disrepute under his management during the illness of Thornhill, the
president, with the Civic. The consolidation would raise the value of
the Suburban nearly two million dollars--at the public's expense. Hayden
had seen Cargan. Cargan had drafted Ordinance Number 45, and informed
Hayden that his price for passing it through the council would be the
sum you have juggled in your possession on Baldpate Mountain--two
hundred thousand dollars."
"A mere trifle," remarked Magee sarcastically.
"So Cargan made Hayden see. Through long experience in these matters the
mayor has become careless. He is the thing above the law, if not the law
itself. He would have had no fear in accepting this money on Main Street
at midday. He had no fear when he came here and found he was being spied
on.
"But Hayden--there was the difficulty that began the drama of Baldpate
Inn. Hayden had few scruples, but as events to-night have well proved,
Mr. Magee, he was a coward at heart. I do not know just why he lies on
your bed up-stairs at this moment, a suicide--that is a matter between
Kendrick and him, and one which Kendrick himself has not yet fathomed.
As I say, Hayden was afraid of being caught. Andy Rutter, manager of
Baldpate Inn for the last few summers, is in some way mixed up in the
Suburban. It was he who suggested to Hayden that an absolutely secluded
spot for passing this large sum of money would be the inn. The idea
appealed to Hayden. Cargan tried to laugh him out of it. The mayor did
not relish the thought of a visit to Baldpate Mountain in the dead of
winter, particularly as he considered such precautions unnecessary. But
Hayden was firm; this spot, he pointed out, was ideal, and the mayor at
last laughingly gave in. The sum involved was well worth taking a little
trouble to gain."
Professor Bolton paused, and blinked his dim old eyes.
"So the matter was arranged," he continued. "Mr. Bland, a clerk in
Hayden's employ, was sent up here with the money, which he placed in the
safe on the very night of our arrival. The safe had been left open by
Rutter; Bland did not have the combination. He put the package inside,
swung shut the door, and awaited the arrival of the mayor."
"I was present," smiled Magee, "at the ceremony you mention."
"Yes? All these plans, as I have said, were known to Drayton. A few
nights ago he came to me. He wanted to send an emissary to Baldpate--a
man whom Cargan had never met--one who could perhaps keep up the
pretense of being here for some other reason than a connection with the
bribe. He asked me to undertake the mission, to see all I could, and if
possible to secure the package of money. This last seemed hardly likely.
At any rate, I was to gather all the evidence I could. I hesitated. My
library fire never looked so alluring as on that night. Also, I was
engaged in some very entertaining researches."
"I beg your pardon?" said Billy Magee.
"Some very entertaining research work."
"Yes," reflected Magee slowly, "I suppose such things do exist. Go on,
please."
"I had loudly proclaimed my championship of civic virtue, however, and
here was a chance to serve Reuton. I acquiesced. The day I was to start
up here, poor Kendrick came back. He, too, had been a student of mine; a
friend of both Drayton and Hayden. Seven years ago he and Hayden were
running the Suburban together, under Thornhill's direction. The two
young men became mixed up in a rather shady business deal, which was
more of Hayden's weaving than Kendrick's. Hayden came to Kendrick with
the story that they were about to be found out, and suggested that one
assume the blame and go away. I am telling you all this in confidence as
a friend of my friends, the Bentleys, and a young man whom I like and
trust despite your momentary madness in the matter of yellow locks--we
are all susceptible.
"Kendrick went. For seven years he stayed away, in an impossible tropic
town, believing himself sought by the law, for so Hayden wrote him. Not
long ago he discovered that the matter in which he and Hayden had
offended had never been disclosed after all. He hurried back to the
states. You can imagine his bitterness. He had been engaged to Myra
Thornhill, and the fact that Hayden was also in love with her may have
had something to do with his treachery to his friend."
Magee's eyes strayed to where the two victims of the dead man's
falsehood whispered together in the shadows, and he wondered at the
calmness with which Kendrick had greeted Hayden in the room above.
"When Kendrick arrived," Professor Bolton went on, "first of all he
consulted his old friend Drayton. Drayton informed him that he had
nothing to fear should his misstep be made public, for in reality there
was, at this late day, no crime committed in the eyes of the law. He
also told Kendrick how matters stood, and of the net he was spreading
for Hayden. He had some fears, he said, about sending a man of my years
alone to Baldpate Inn. Kendrick begged for the chance to come, too. So,
without making his return known in Reuton, three nights ago he
accompanied me here. Three nights--it seems years. I had secured keys
for us both from John Bentley. As we climbed the mountain, I noticed
your light, and we agreed it would be best if only one of us revealed
ourselves to the intruders in the inn. So Kendrick let himself in by a
side door while I engaged you and Bland in the office. He spent the
night on the third floor. In the morning I told the whole affair to
Quimby, knowing his interest in both Hayden and Kendrick, and secured
for Kendrick the key to the annex. Almost as soon as I arrived--"
"The curtain went up on the melodrama," suggested Mr. Magee.
"You state it vividly and with truth," Professor Bolton replied. "Night
before last the ordinance numbered 45 was due to pass the council. It
was arranged that when it did, Hayden, through his man Rutter, or
personally, would telephone the combination of the safe to the mayor of
Reuton. Cargan and Bland sat in the office watching for the flash of
light at the telephone switchboard, while you and I were Max's prisoners
above. Something went wrong. Hayden heard that the courts would issue an
injunction making Ordinance Number 45 worthless. So, although the
council obeyed Cargan's instructions and passed the bill, Hayden refused
to give the mayor the combination."
The old man paused and shook his head wonderingly.
"Then melodrama began in dead earnest," he continued. "I have always
been a man of peace, and the wild scuffle that claimed me for one of its
leading actors from that moment will remain in my memory as long as I
live. Cargan dynamited the safe. Kendrick held him up; you held up
Kendrick. I peeked through your window and saw you place the package of
money under a brick in your fireplace--"
"You--the curtains were down," interrupted Magee.
"I found a half-inch of open space," explained the old man. "Yes, I
actually lay on my stomach in the snow and watched you. In the morning,
for the first time in my life, I committed robbery. My punishment was
swift and sure. Bland swooped down upon me. Again this afternoon, I came
upon the precious package, after a long search, in the hands of the
Hermit of Baldpate. I thought we were safe at last when I handed the
package to Kendrick in my room to-night--but I had not counted on the
wild things a youth like you will do for love of a designing maid."
Twelve o'clock! The civic center of Upper Asquewan Falls proclaimed it.
Mr. Magee had never been in Reuton. He was sorry he hadn't. He had to
construct from imagination alone the great Reuton station through which
the girl and the money must now be hurrying--where? The question would
not down. Was she--as the professor believed--designing?
"No," said Mr. Magee, answering aloud his own question. "You are wrong,
sir. I do not know just what the motives of Miss Norton were in desiring
this money, but I will stake my reputation as an honest hold-up man that
they were perfectly all right."
"Perhaps," replied the other, quite unconvinced. "But--what honest
motive could she have? I am able to assign her no role in this little
drama. I have tried. I am able to see no connection between her and the
other characters. What--"
"Pardon me," broke in Magee. "But would you mind telling me why Miss
Thornhill came up to Baldpate to join in the chase for the package?"
"Her motive," replied the professor, "does her great credit. For several
years her father, Henry Thornhill, has been forced through illness to
leave the management of the railway's affairs to his vice-president,
Hayden. Late yesterday the old man heard of this proposed bribe--on his
sick bed. He was very nearly insane at the thought of the disgrace it
would bring upon him. He tried to rise himself and prevent the passing
of the package. His daughter--a brave loyal girl--herself undertook the
task."
"Then," said Mr. Magee, "Miss Thornhill is not distressed at the loss of
the most important evidence in the case."
"I have explained the matter to her," returned Professor Bolton. "There
is no chance whatever that her father's name will be implicated. Both
Drayton and myself have the highest regard for his integrity. The whole
affair was arranged when he was too ill to dream of it. His good name
will be smirched in no way. The only man involved on the giver's side is
dead in the room above. The man we are after now is Cargan. Miss
Thornhill has agreed that it is best to prosecute. That eliminates her."
"Did Miss Thornhill and Kendrick meet for the first time, after his
exile, up-stairs--in number seven?" Mr. Magee wanted to know.
"Yes," answered Professor Bolton. "In one of his letters long ago Hayden
told Kendrick he was engaged to the girl. It was the last letter
Kendrick received from him."
There was a pause.
"The important point now," the old man went on, "is the identity of this
girl to whom you have made your princely gift, out of the goodness of
your young heart. I propose to speak to the woman she has introduced as
her mother, and elicit what information I can."
He crossed the floor, followed by Mr. Magee, and stood by the woman's
chair. She looked up, her eyes heavy with sleep, her appearance more
tawdry than ever in that faint light.
"Madam," remarked the professor, with the air of a judge trying a case,
"your daughter has to-night made her escape from this place with a large
sum of money earnestly desired by the prosecuting attorney of Reuton
county. In the name of the law, I command you to tell me her
destination, and what she proposes to do with that package of
greenbacks."
The woman blinked stupidly in the dusk.
"She ain't my daughter," she replied, and Mr. Magee's heart leaped up.
"I can tell you that much. I keep a boarding-house in Reuton and
Miss--the girl you speak about--has been my boarder for three years. She
brought me up here as a sort of chaperon, though I don't see as I'm old
enough for that yet. You don't get nothing else out of me--except that
she is a perfectly lovely young woman, and your money couldn't be safer
with the president of the United States."
The puzzled professor of Comparative Literature caressed his bald head
thoughtfully. "I--er--" he remarked. Mr. Magee could have embraced this
faded woman for her news. He looked at his watch. It was twelve-twenty.
"The siege is over," he cried. "I shall not attempt to direct your
actions any longer. Mr. Peters, will you please go down to the village
and bring back Mr. Quimby and--the coroner?"
"The coroner!" The mayor of Reuton jumped to his feet. "I don't want to
be in on any inquest scene. Come on, Max, let's get out of here."
Bland stood up, his face was white and worried, his gay plumage no
longer set the tone for his mood.
"I think I'll go, too," he announced, looking hopefully at Magee.
"I'm no longer your jailer," Magee said. "Professor, these gentlemen are
your witnesses Do you wish to detain them?"
"See here," cried the mayor angrily, "there ain't no question but that
you can find me in Reuton any time you want me. At the little room on
Main Street--anybody can tell you my hours--the door's always open to
any reformer that has the nerve to climb the stairs. Look me up there.
I'll make it interesting for you."
"I certainly shall," the professor replied. "And very soon. Until then
you may go when and where you please."
"Thanks," sneered the mayor. "I'll expect you. I'll be ready. I've had
to get ready to answer your kind before. You think you got me, eh? Well,
you're a fool to think that. As for Drayton, the pup, the
yellow-streaked pup--I'll talk to Mister Drayton when I get back to
Reuton."
"Before you go, Bland," remarked Magee, smiling, "I want to ask about
Arabella. Where did you get her?"
"Some of it happened to a friend of mine," the ex-haberdasher answered,
"a friend that keeps a clothing store. I got this suit there. I changed
the story, here and there. He didn't write her no note, though he
thought seriously of it. And he didn't run away and hide. The last I
seen of him he was testing the effect of the heart-balm on sale behind
the swinging doors."
Mr. Magee laughed, but over the long lean face of Bland not the ghost of
a smile flitted. He was frightened, through and through.
"You're a fine bunch," sneered Mr. Max. "Reformers, eh? Well, you'll get
what the rest of 'em always got. We'll tie you up in knots and leave you
on the door-step of some orphan asylum before we're through with you."
"Come on, Lou," said Cargan. "Drayton's a smart guy, Doc. Where's his
proof? Eloped with the bundle of dry goods this young man's taken a
fancy to. And even if he had the money--I've been up against this many a
time. You're wasting your talents, Doc. Good night! Come on, boys."
The three stamped out through the dining-room, and from the window Mr.
Magee watched them disappear down the road that stretched to Asquewan
Falls.