BOUGHT OFF.
Bolton's reply did not quite suit Mr. Ray, but he felt that if he said
too much about the will it would give it an exaggerated importance in
the eyes of the man before him. So he answered carelessly, "Oh, very
well! The document is of no value, and though I should prefer to have
it, I won't insist. I will give you the hundred dollars, but I wish it
understood that it is all I can give you at any time. Don't apply to
me again, for it will be of no use."
"I understand," said Bolton, non-committally.
"Shall I give you a check?"
"I could do better with the money. My name is not known now at any
bank."
"Well, I think I can accommodate you. I believe I have that sum in my
desk."
He opened a drawer in his secretary, and produced a hundred dollars in
crisp new bills. They had been taken from the bank the day before for
a different purpose.
Bolton took them joyfully. It was long since he had had so much money
in his possession. He had been his own worst enemy. Once a prosperous
lawyer, he had succumbed to the love of drink, and gradually lost his
clients and his position. But he had decided to turn over a new leaf,
and he saw in this money the chance to reinstate himself, and in time
recover his lost position.
"Thank you," he said; but while there was relief there was no
gratitude in his tone.
"And now," said Stephen Ray, "I must ask you to leave me. I have
important business to attend to. You will excuse me if I suggest it
would be better to go away--to a distance--and try to build yourself
up somewhere where you are not known."
"I might go to Savannah."
"Yes, to Savannah, if you think it will be to your advantage," said
Ray with equanimity.
The other noticed his manner, and he said to himself, "He is willing
to have me visit Savannah. _It is clear that Ernest did not die
there."_
Benjamin Bolton left the house in a pleasant frame of mind. It was not
the sum which he had received that exhilarated him. He looked upon it
only as the first instalment. It was clear that Stephen Ray feared
him, for he was not an open-handed man, and would not have parted with
his money unnecessarily.
Bolton had not arranged his campaign, but he was determined to raise
himself in the world by playing on the fears of the man he had just
visited.
"I wonder," he said to himself, "whether Dudley Ray's son is really
dead. He was a strong and healthy boy, and he may still be living."
This was a point not easy to ascertain.
He went to a restaurant and obtained a substantial meal, of which he
stood very much in need. Then he went out for a stroll. He did not
propose to leave the place yet.
As he was walking along he met Clarence Ray again, but not now on his
bicycle. The boy recognized him.
"Are you going to stay in town?" asked Clarence, curiously.
"Not long."
"Did you get through your business with pa?"
"Yes, for the present. By the way, I suppose you know that you have a
cousin about your own age. I used to know him and his father."
"Did you? His father is dead."
"So I have understood. Do you happen to know where the son is?"
"Somewhere out West, I think."
Bolton pricked up his ears. So it seemed that Stephen Ray had deceived
him.
"I would give five dollars to know where he is," he said slowly.
"Have you got five dollars?" Clarence asked, doubtfully.
By way of answer Bolton took a roll of bills from his pocket. They
were those which Stephen Ray had given him.
"Do you mean it?" asked Clarence, in a more respectful tone. Since
Bolton had money, he regarded him differently.
"Yes, I mean it."
"Why didn't you ask pa?"
"He never liked the boy nor his father, and I don't think he would
tell me."
"That is true. He didn't like either of them."
"I suppose you couldn't find out for me?" said Bolton, tentatively.
"I don't know but I could," answered Clarence, briskly.
He had a special use for five dollars, and it struck him that he might
just as well earn the money offered by the stranger.
"If you could, I would cheerfully pay you the five dollars. You see I
used to know Ernest Ray and his father, and I would be pleased to meet
Ernest again."
"Just so," said Clarence, complaisantly. "How long are you going to
remain in town?"
"I did think of going to Elmira to-night, but I think on the whole I
will stay at the hotel here till to-morrow morning."
"That will give me time to find out," said Clarence.
"All right! You had better not ask your father, for he is so
prejudiced I don't think he would tell you."
"That's so. He will be going out this evening, and then I will search
in his desk. I saw a letter there once in which the boy's name was
mentioned. But I say, if you've got money why don't you buy some new
clothes? You look awfully shabby."
"Your suggestion is a good one," said Bolton, smiling. "Come to look
at myself I _do_ appear shabby. But then I'm no dude. I dare say when
you rode into me this morning you took me for a tramp."
"Well, you _did_ look like one."
"That's so. I can't blame you."
"Shall I find you at the hotel this evening?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll see what I can do."
About seven o'clock Squire Ray went out to attend to a business
meeting, and Clarence was left in possession of the study. He locked
the door and began to ransack his father's desk. At length he
succeeded in his quest.
Benjamin Bolton was sitting in the public room of the hotel an hour
later smoking a cigar, and from time to time looking towards the door.
Presently Clarence entered, and went up to him.
"Have you got it?" asked Bolton, eagerly.
"Yes," nodded Clarence.
He took a piece of paper from his vest pocket and handed it to Bolton.
It read thus: _"Ernest Ray, Oak Forks, Iowa."_
"How did you get it?" asked Bolton.
"I found a letter in pa's desk from an old man named Peter Brant,
asking pa for some money for the boy, who was living with him."
"When was that letter written?"
"About two years ago."
"Thank you. This gives me a clue. Come out of doors and I will give
you what I promised. It isn't best that any one should think we had
dealings together."
Five minutes later Clarence started for home, happy in the possession
of a five-dollar bill.
"I never paid any money more cheerfully in my life," mused Bolton.
"Now I must find the boy!"