extremely unconcerned that the young man smiled slightly. Mellen, who
had been leaning forward in his chair, straightened himself and asked
curtly: “Why?”
Mr. Herzog arched his eyebrows with a sort of amazed inquisitiveness and
said nothing, intending his silence as a snub. But he changed his mind
and said: “They were very cheap.”
The richest man in the world turned toward Grinnell. Before he could ask
any questions the young man said pleasantly: “You told me so yourself.
Don’t you remember, Mr. Mellen?”
“Did _you_ buy any, Mr. Grinnell?” Mel-len’s voice had a serious ring.
The young man’s face took on a boyishly confidential look. He said:
“I bought some for my father-in-law. He had been waiting for them to go
down. So had I. You see, my marriage was to come off as soon as I had
invested his money.”
Mellen’s eyes opened wide, and Dawson, in a very quiet tone, asked: “And
did you invest yours as well?”
“It seems to me,” said Grinnell, “that we are drifting toward family
matters--”
“I beg your pardon,” said the president stiffly.
“I understood,” the young man said apologetically, “that you wished to
speak to me on some business matter. I haven’t overdrawn my account,
have I?”
“Perhaps we had better discuss this at the bank, Mr. Grinnell; if you
could come--”
“I’m very sorry, Mr. Dawson, but I start on my wedding tour in an hour.
I have no business secrets from Mr. Herzog, so if it is a business
matter we may discuss it here. In all probability I would repeat our
conversation to him.”
Dawson’s face flushed violently; his nostrils dilated unpleasantly.
Mellen’s face turned perceptibly paler and the lines of it became
harder. But his voice was steady and his manner almost matter-of-fact as
he said to the young man: “Then it is almost certain you are not going
to deposit too much gold hereafter at the Metropolitan Bank.”
“I am not going to deposit any more gold at any bank, because--”
Grinnell hesitated.
“Yes?” Mellen’s eyes were fixed on the young man’s face, is if he
thought every fleeting expression was as important as the words
themselves.
“Because I haven’t any more gold to deposit,” finished Grinnell, very
calmly.
“That is now. But will you not produce any more gold?” The richest man
in the world spoke very quietly and very distinctly.
“I never produced any. I sold the Assay Office the last ounce I ever had
over a month ago.”
“You must have obtained it somewhere, somehow,” said the richest man in
the world. His manner conveyed an impression of patience. “Did you buy
it?”
“No, sir. I didn’t buy it.” The young man’s calmness was not theatrical
and it had a quieting effect. He paused an instant; then he went on: “In
fact, I had no gold of my own. It was all my father-in-law’s.” He turned
away and rose as if to go to the window.
Mellen spoke sharply: “Mr. Grinnell!”
“Yes.” He looked the richest man in the world straight in the eyes.
Mellen said rudely: “Explain yourself, sir!”
“Mr. Mellen!” interjected Herzog. His voice conveyed a rebuke; but his
look was austere rather than offended.
Grinnell frowned. He spoke to Mellen with impatience in his voice: “Mr.
Mellen, you have asked me many questions, which you had no right to
ask. I’ve not said anything about it before; but I tell you now that you
annoy me!”
Mellen turned livid. “I--” he began. “Listen, please,” interrupted
Grinnell quickly, his face growing stem. “I am going to tell you about
that gold. That is, I shall tell if you do not interrupt me. I don’t
wish you to ask me any more questions--not one.”
[Illustration: 0215]
For many years no one had spoken thus to Mellen. But he answered
nothing; his eyes were fixed on Grinnell’s lips with a fascinated
stare. Dawson, unconsciously, had allowed a frown of intense interest to
contract his brows. Mr. Herzog’s head was bent forward as if not to lose
a word, his bright little eyes blinking furiously. Grinnell spoke very
clearly and deliberately:
“My father-in-law, Mr. Robinson, two years ago at the height of the boom
thought the stock-market must collapse sooner or later: I became engaged
to his daughter, whom I had known ever since I was a boy. He naturally
talked over his affairs with me in a general way, though I am not a
business man.” He paused as if to pick his next words. A curious smile
flickered for a fraction of a minute on Mr. Herzog’s lips.
“He wished to sell most of his stock holdings in various companies and
then buy bonds. But if stocks were too high, bonds were not low enough.
It was therefore decided to sell stocks at once, but to defer the
purchase of bonds until a more propitious occasion. That occasion came
last week. Mr. Herzog bought the bonds for him. That’s where _he_ comes
in.”
The young man paused again. Mellen did not interrupt; he nodded twice,
not quickly at all, but in an acquiescent manner that invited further
revelations. Grinnell continued slowly:
“Mr. Robinson had been a rich man for years, but I did not suspect how
rich until he had sold all his stocks, when he told me he had fifty-four
millions to his credit at his banks. To me this was so incredible that
it made me think a man with that much cash in bank might do other things
just as incredible. He is one of the unknown millionaires whom the
newspapers discover when their wills are probated. That fact, the
ignorance as to the extent of his wealth, also would help. As at that
time so many of our financial institutions were unsafe because their
officers were gambling in stocks and underwriting ventures, we
concluded to lose the interest on it and turn it into gold. Once we
had accumulated fifty millions in gold, the existence of which was
unsuspected by bankers or brokers or newspapers, it was obvious that
there were various ways in which the gold and the secret of it could
be made valuable. Mr. Robinson, lacking the excitement of active
speculation in stocks, and having retired from active business, was
quite willing to indulge in a few psychological experiments. I had
suggested various plans. He accepted one of them. So, we got the gold
together.” Grinnell made an end of speaking and looked at Mr. Herzog
meditatively, as if trying to remember whether he had forgotten
anything, and speculating on whether he need say anything more. Herzog,
oblivious of the presence of Mellen and Dawson, asked eagerly:
“Yes, but _how? Where_ did you get that much gold?” It was the one thing
he could not guess.
“There was only one way that I could see. We withdrew gold coin from
circulation, gradually, all over the country, but principally in San
Francisco. We spent two years at it. It took a great deal of care and
trouble. Indeed, that was the hardest part. As fast as we got it I took
it to my house, which I had bought for that very purpose, and melted it
into bars so heavy that no burglar could carry away one. I painted them
black and put them in the cellar, near the back wall. They were safe.”
“Ah!” The sigh came from the Hebrew banker who now leaned back in his
chair and looked at Dawson. The president’s lips were slightly parted,
and the frown was still on his face, his eyes on Grinnell. Mellen’s face
had lost its tense look. He said, very quietly: “I see!”
“I deposited the gold, as Assay Office checks, in Mr. Dawson’s bank, and
stopped calling on my _fiancée_. Later, I bought the bonds. I didn’t see
Mr. Herzog until they were cheap.”
The president, his voice husky with anger, said: “Then you
deliberately--”
“Don’t!” commanded the young man sharply. “Of course, I assumed that
business training and Wall Street practices did not kill the imaginative
faculty. That is what I had to work on. No financier can be great that
has not great imagination. And you gentlemen are great financiers.
If you will recall my exact words at the various times that I had
the pleasure of seeing you, Mr. Dawson, you will not find one that is
untrue. I made no assertion that was not justified by facts. I recall
every word because I studied them very carefully.” There was no
self-complacency in the young man’s manner. It was a trifle deprecatory
toward the end; the light in his eyes kept it from being humility.
“You scound----”
“Richard!” interjected the richest man in the world, soothingly. He had
already reckoned the extent of his enormous losses, for he would have to
buy back at high prices bonds he had sold at low, and he would have to
reverse the process in stocks. Grinnell, or his father-in-law, probably
had made fifteen or twenty millions through the mistake. Mellen’s
losses, because of the imaginative faculty, would probably be twice as
great. But gold was gold still, and therefore, he was not ruined. He
would retrieve the loss. He saw what he must do.
He turned with a look of almost benignity to the young man and said
suavely: “Mr. Grinnell, I should like to have you come to see me when
you have time. You have told me a very interesting story. I should
like to see more of you. You are rich, but--” He stopped, to look
encouragingly at the young man.
“Oh, no,” laughed Grinnell, “my father-in-law is. But even he is not in
your class.”
“Come and see me anyhow. There is no telling what class _you_ will be
in.” In his mild earnestness and soft voice there was an unmistakable
promise. The young man did not answer. Dawson now smiled affably.
“Mr. Grinnell, you are still one of our depositors, you know,” he said,
with an air of claiming family relationship.
“Yes; to the extent of $342. I’ll give that to the detectives who--Oh,
no offence, Mr. Dawson. I’m sorry I must leave you. We married men have
trials.” He shook hands warmly with Mr. Herzog, nodded pleasantly to
Dawson and Mellen, and said: “Good-morning, gentlemen.”
As the door closed on George Kitchell Grinnell, Mellen, thinking of the
new working alliance he must effect with Herzog in order to facilitate
the campaign of retreat and re-conquest, turned to the Hebrew banker and
said quietly, “Now, Herzog let us get down to business.”