IN WHICH PHIL RECOVERS HIS MONEY.
"You don't mean to say that Farringford here, whom everybody in St.
Louis knows, is your father--do you?" continued Mr. Gray, apparently
amazed at the absurdity of the proposition, while his friend and the
sergeant laughed heartily.
"That is precisely what I mean to say," I replied, in the most
determined tone.
Farringford shook his head, and was apparently sorry that I had turned
out to be such an abominable liar.
"What is your name?" inquired the sergeant.
"Philip Farringford."
I had taken especial pains not to give my full name to my father when
he questioned me, and he doubtless supposed that I had invented the
name for the occasion. He looked at me, and shook his head. Very
likely, by this time, he was willing to believe I had deceived him, and
that I had lost no money, for if I could lie about one thing I could
about another.
"Do you justify this young man in calling you his father, Farringford?"
said Mr. Gray.
"I am sorry to say I cannot. Gentlemen, I have endeavored to act in
good faith," replied my father. "I have always found that the truth
would serve me better than falsehood."
"Did you call him your son?"
"I did, but used the expression as a kind of harmless fib to carry my
purpose with this Lynch, who had robbed the boy of nearly a hundred
dollars."
"It is false!" exclaimed Lynch.
"Keep cool, if you please, sir," interposed the sergeant. "We have
heard your story, and now we will hear the other side."
"Philip may have deceived me, but I believed that he had been robbed,
and I did the best I could to get his money back, after he had pointed
out to me the man who took it from him. Certainly he is not my son.
I never saw him till yesterday; and I am sorry he has thought it
necessary to repeat my fib, or falsehood, if you please," continued
Farringford.
"Nevertheless, I hope I shall be able to prove in due time that he is
my father," I added.
"But, my lad, everybody knows that Farringford has no children," said
Mr. Gray.
"Never mind that now. I want to know whether any robbery has been
committed," interposed the sergeant, impatiently.
"Let the boy tell his own story," replied Mr. Gray.
"Here is Lynch's purse," I began, handing it to the sergeant.
"Then you did take these things from him?"
"I did; but he told me to put my hand in his pocket and take out the
pocket-book and the purse."
"Very probable!" sneered Lynch.
"It's all true," said Farringford.
"Well, go on, young man."
"I was coming down the Missouri River in the steamer Fawn--"
"She arrived last Tuesday morning," interposed Mr. Lamar, the gentleman
with Mr. Gray.
"Yes, sir. I was with Mr. Gracewood and his family."
"What Gracewood?"
"Henry."
"Is he a brother of Robert Gracewood of Glencoe?"
"I don't know. He had a brother in St. Louis," said Mr. Lamar, who was
an elderly gentleman, and appeared to know everybody and everything.
"He bought a place at Glencoe a year ago."
"His wife's brother was a Mr. Sparkley."
"It's the same man. But he separated from his wife years ago, cleared
out, and has not been heard from since."
I explained that the family had been reunited, and were on their way
to St. Louis. I had endeavored to find Mr. Gracewood's brother, but
without success, in order to inform him of what had occurred up the
river. The fact that he had moved from the city explained why I had not
found his name in the Directory. I continued my story, with frequent
interruptions, much to the disgust of the sergeant, who was interested
only in the criminal aspect of the case. I told how Lynch had robbed
me at Leavenworth, how I had identified him in St. Louis, and followed
him and Farringford from Forstellar's to Front Street.
"Every word of that story is true so far as it relates to me," said
Farringford.
"I watched Lynch and Farringford, the former trying to get rid of the
latter all the time, until at last he laid violent hands upon him," I
continued. "I couldn't stand it any longer; I went up behind Lynch,
threw my hands around his neck, and stuck my knees into his back till
he went down. He begged me to let him up, and promised to restore my
money if I would. Then, when I was not willing to let him up without
some security, he told me to take his pocket-book and purse. That was
just what was going on when these gentlemen came out of Plum Street."
"Then you did not knock him down till he laid hands upon Farringford?"
added the sergeant.
"No, sir; I did not till he took hold of my father."
"Your father!" exclaimed Mr. Gray. "The rest of your story is so
straightforward that I hoped you would abandon that fiction."
"It is no fiction."
"It matters not to me whether it is fact or fiction," interposed
the sergeant. "I only wish to know whether or not a crime has been
committed in St. Louis. If the boy knocked this Lynch down in order to
save Farringford from injury, it is no crime, whether father or not."
"I cried, 'Police!' as loud as I could, as soon as we struck the
ground," I added.
"Can you identify your money?" asked the sergeant.
"Not every piece of it; but there was a five-dollar gold coin, with a
hole through the middle, dated 1850. The clerk of the Fawn would not
take it for my passage for five dollars."
The officer poured the gold from the purse upon the table, and
instantly picked out the coin I had described, which Lynch had perhaps
found it as difficult to pass as I had. He looked at the date, and
declared it was 1850.
"That is very good evidence, my boy," said the officer, bestowing a
smile of approval upon me. "Can you give me any more."
"If you can find Captain Davis, of the Fawn, he will say that I left
the boat with Lynch."
"Where is he?"
"He has gone up to Alton with the Fawn. When Mr. Gracewood comes, he
will tell you the same thing."
"Your witnesses are not at hand. In what boat did you come down the
river."
"In the Fawn."
"And you, Mr. Lynch?"
"In the Daylight."
"Where from?"
"St. Joe."
The sergeant continued to question and cross-question Lynch for half an
hour. His statements were confused and contradictory, and being based
upon falsehoods, they could not well be otherwise. It appeared that
the Daylight, in which he had arrived, came down the river immediately
after the Fawn, which made my story the more probable.
"I do not see that any crime has been committed in St. Louis," said the
officer, after his long and patient investigation.
"Then you don't call it a crime to knock a man down, and take his
purse and pocket-book from him?" added Lynch, in deep disgust.
"I believe the young man's story," replied the officer. "If your money
had been taken from you by force, you would not have walked quietly
through the streets with those who robbed you, passing an officer on
your way without hinting at what had happened. The young man's story
is straightforward and consistent, except as to his relations with
Farringford, which is not material. I am of the opinion that you
commenced the assault upon Farringford."
"Not so."
"Both Farringford and the young man agree in all essential points."
Lynch growled and protested, but finally declared that he was satisfied
to let the matter drop where it was. He had recovered his money, and he
could not complain.
"But I have not recovered mine, and I am not satisfied," I added,
feeling that the discharge of Lynch was total defeat to me.
"You were robbed in the territory of Kansas, and not in the city of St.
Louis," replied the officer.
"Must I lose my money for that reason?"
"Certainly not; but the complaint against Lynch must be made at
Leavenworth, and a requisition from the governor of the territory must
be sent here."
The case was full of difficulties, and Lynch, in charge of a policeman,
was sent out of the room to enable us to consider the best means of
proceeding. I could not go back to Leavenworth very conveniently, and
it would cost me more than the amount of money I had lost. We decided
to let the matter rest till the next day, and Lynch was called in again.
"I propose to detain you till to-morrow, when Farringford will complain
of you for an assault," said the officer.
"I would rather give a hundred dollars than be detained," said Lynch.
"We don't settle cases in that way. Of course we intend to reach the
robbery matter in some manner."
"I will give the boy the money he claims to have lost," added the
culprit.
"If you wish to restore the money, you can," replied the sergeant.
"I do not admit the truth of his story."
"Then you shall not give him any money. You shall not be swindled here."
"If I admit the--"
"Don't commit yourself unless you choose to do so. Whatever you say may
be used as evidence to convict you."
"You put me in a tight place," said Lynch. "If I commit myself, you
will prosecute me. If I don't commit myself, I cannot give the boy the
money."
"I did not say I should prosecute you. The crime, if any, was committed
beyond the limits of this state. I cannot enter a complaint. The young
man may do so if he thinks best."
"Can I make Phil a present of a hundred dollars?" demanded Lynch,
desperately.
"You can do as you please with your own money," answered the officer.
The robber counted a hundred dollars from his pocket-book, and handed
it to Mr. Lamar, who declared that the amount was right, and the bills
were good. It was passed to me; but I declined to receive any more than
I had lost, and changing a bill, I returned two dollars and a half.
"I will make no complaint for assault now," said Farringford.
"Then I cannot detain him. If the young man chooses to complain of
Lynch in Leavenworth, he is still liable to prosecution."
"I will risk that," said Lynch, more cheerfully.
"You can leave," added the officer.
The rascal promptly availed himself of this permission, and left the
office.
"I am sorry to have a case settled in that manner. I know that man as a
notorious blackleg," continued the officer.
"I don't see that it could be settled in any other way now," replied
Mr. Gray. "We have done nothing to prejudice the interests of justice.
The young man can prosecute now."
"I can't afford to go to Kansas to do so," I replied.
"We will keep watch of him," said the sergeant.
We all left the office together. The two gentlemen who had manifested
so much interest in the affair were unwilling to part with Farringford
and me. Mr. Gray asked me what had induced me to say that Farringford
was my father.
"It's a long story, gentlemen; and I have to convince him as well as
you of the truth of what I say. If you will go to my boarding-house I
will do so."
I told them where it was, and they consented to accompany me. When we
reached the house, Mrs. Greenough was astonished at the number of my
visitors, but I conducted them all to my chamber.