SOMETHING HIDDEN.
While this exploring party were going through the block, Mr. Marcus
Wilkeson dressed himself with more than usual care, preparatory to a
call upon the unknown old gentleman over the way, who that very morning
had appeared at his window, the first time in three days, and tendered
the compliments of the season in two low bows and a smile. Having
carefully adjusted his necktie, and smoothed the creases of his gloves,
Mr. Wilkeson grasped his old friend, a hickory cane, by its sturdy
elbow, and marched forth to make his solitary visit.
As 'he turned the corner of the street upon which the unknown old
gentleman's residence was situated, thinking of the oddity of the call
he was about to make, and half inclined to abandon it, he saw, in a
doorway a few yards in front of him, a little girl who bore a striking
resemblance to the patient creature that he had often noticed sitting at
a window in the room of the pale mechanic. A single glance at the
cracked and dirty front of the building established its connection with
the weather-stained and shaky rear premises in which the worker toiled
at his strange task from morning to night, and far into the
morning again.
The little girl was earnestly talking with a rough, hungry-looking
fellow in a greasy cap and tattered blue overalls. As Marcus approached,
he heard the following fragment of conversation:
"Yer can't fool this child again, now, I tell yer. Why don't he pay me?
_that's_ what I want to know. I _will_ go up." The man stepped forward,
as if to ascend the stairs.
"Please don't, Mr. Gilsum," said the girl, in a sweet, pleading tone,
laying a red and toilworn little hand softly on his arm. "Papa will pay
you next week. He will, believe me, sir."
"So you told me last week," growled Mr. Gilsum, "and the week before
that. It's all humbug. Why don't he pay me now? _that's_ what I want to
know." Again he put a foot forward, and was again restrained by the hand
of the little girl.
"I have tried very hard to earn money, Mr. Gilsum," said the musical and
plaintive voice, _but_ have been disappointed. Next week I am sure I
will have some for you."
"Pshaw!" ejaculated the man, pulling the greasy cap over his eyes in a
spirit of savage determination. "I can't waste time talking. I _will_
find out why he don't pay me now."
The inexorable Mr. Gilsum pushed aside the feeble hand of the little
girl, and was about to go up the stairs in good earnest, when Marcus
Wilkeson, who had lingered near the door to catch the exact purport of
the conversation, called out to him:
"Hallo, my friend! what's the row?"
Mr. Gilsum stopped, and, turning, said snappishly:
"None of yer business. Unless," he prudently added, "yer a friend of the
comical old chap up stairs, and want to pay his debts."
"I am a friend, and I will pay them," rejoined Marcus, speaking from the
impulse of the moment. Since he had become rich, and could afford the
luxury, he frequently spoke and acted upon impulse, without regard to
consequences.
Mr. Gilsum's face suddenly changed from an aspect of moroseness to one
of bewitching amiability. He stood in the doorway, and said:
"It's only a matter of ten shillings, sir, for brass and screws, and
little odds and ends from my shop--the locksmith's shop over in the next
street--you may remember it, sir. I'm sure I don't want to be hard on
the gentleman."
To cut short explanations, which he hated, Marcus paid the locksmith his
ten shillings, and suggested that he need not wait longer. The
locksmith, having received the money, thought it incumbent upon him to
apologize and explain still further, till Marcus took hold of the door,
as if to close it, when he accepted the hint, and departed, mumbling an
apology as he went.
The young girl, who had looked on in amazement, turned a pair of soft
blue eyes toward the face of the stranger, and said:
"Papa will thank you very much, sir."
Marcus now had an opportunity to observe her more closely. Her figure
was slightly formed, and undersized for her apparent age of seventeen
years. Her face would have been plain, but for one peculiarity which
made it charming, in his practised judgment. This rare excellence was
her complexion, which showed a perfect pink and white, without
roughness, spot, or blemish, under the strong light of a noonday sun,
made more dazzling by its reflection from the snow. Marcus had never
seen but one such complexion, and that was many years ago. He looked at
it in silent wonder, until the delicate bloom in the centre of her
cheeks began to invade the neighboring white, and the large blue eyes
drooped in confusion.
"Pardon me, my child," said Marcus, in a gentle, reassuring voice.
She looked up, much embarrassed, and said:
"Will you be so good as to walk up and see my poor father, sir? He will
be delighted to meet a friend, for he is very much in want of one, sir."
"I do not know him, my child; but I should be happy to make his
acquaintance."
The girl was surprised to learn that her father's benefactor was a
stranger to him, and looked doubtingly at him for a moment--but only a
moment--and then ran briskly up the stairs, asking him to follow.
The stairs were uncarpeted, and had little feet-worn hollows in the
middle of them. The banisters were rickety, and had been notched by the
knives of reckless tenants. The first and second floors were occupied by
different families (so Marcus inferred from the distinct set of baby
cries issuing from each), and the halls were dirty, and flavored with a
decided odor of washing day. But on the third story he saw a clean,
white floor, and drew breaths of pure air from an open rear window, and
heard no noise save the dull sound of filing.
The little girl paused a second at a door bearing the inscription,
"Private," asked the visitor to please wait, and opened the door just
wide enough to admit her body, and entered, nearly closing it behind
her. In the one glance which Marcus then obtained of the interior of the
room, he saw the pale mechanic hastily rise from a jumble of cog wheels
before him, and put up a screen to shelter his work from observation,
after which he stepped forward, or rather sprang, to meet his child.
Mr. Wilkeson heard a few words of hurried conversation between the
father and daughter, and then the door was thrown wide open, and the
mechanic stood in full view. He was a man of medium height, of a spare
build, and attired in faded, seedy black. His head seemed altogether too
large for his body; and his almost livid complexion, hollow cheeks, and
gleaming eyes, told a story of constant and consuming thought. The
strange, fixed glitter of his eyes was unpleasant to behold. Marcus had
noticed the same thing in insane persons.
"My name is Minford," said the mechanic, in a deep and solemn voice,
"and I thank you for saving me from the annoying visits of that
impertinent fellow. I beg, sir, that you will give me your address, and
assure you that the sum shall positively be repaid to you next week."
"Never mind the repayment," said Marcus, kindly. "The sum was a trifle
for me."
The mechanic's eyes flashed with new fire, and his lower lip curved
with pride, as he answered:
"But I shall insist on returning it, sir. We are temporarily poor, sir;
but we are not beggars yet, I trust that, some day, we shall be in a
position to confer benefits, instead of receiving them."
Marcus knew that the man was turning over in his mind the troublesome
question of "MOTIVE," with which so many people like to make themselves
unhappy; and he therefore said:
"I took the liberty of assisting you, sir, because I am a neighbor of
yours, living on the other side of the block, in a house which can be
plainly seen from your window; and I think it is the duty of neighbors
to be neighborly, on New Year's day at least. My name is Marcus
Wilkeson."
The mechanic's face assumed a pleasanter expression. "Perhaps," said he,
"you are the gentleman that I have sometimes seen sitting with a book,
in a window covered with grape vines?"
"I am," returned Marcus.
"As a scholar, then--as one who is superior to mean motives and vulgar
curiosity--you are welcome to my poor home. Pray, walk in, sir. Pet,
give the gentleman a chair."
The girl, whose face had been clouded during the first part of this
conversation, brightened up at its close, and obeyed her father with
alacrity, brushing the clean chair with her handkerchief, to make it the
more acceptable to their visitor. She also took his hat and cane, and
placed them carefully away.
The room was simply but neatly furnished, and very clean. The hand of
taste and order was everywhere visible. Snow-white curtains festooned
the two small windows, and concealed all of a turn-up bedstead but two
of its legs. A small array of white crockery shone from an open closet;
and a squat-looking stove, which made the apartment agreeably warm, was
smartly polished, and was evaporating cheerful music out of a bright
teakettle. Through a door partly ajar could be seen another room,
covered with a rag carpet, and the companion of the first in simplicity
and neatness.
Marcus had not intended to look at the mechanic's corner, which was
almost completely screened from view, being desirous to justify the high
opinion which Mr. Minford had expressed of him; but his eyes were
irresistibly attracted to the mysterious spot, and obtained a clearer
glimpse, through an open space between the two screens, of a something
composed of cogwheels, springs, bands, and levers. His host, observing
this casual glance, much to the guest's mortification, rose, and placed
the screens close together at right angles, thus shutting out a view of
the corner.
Mr. Minford opened his lips as if to offer some explanation of the act,
but did not offer it. A moment afterward, he said:
"I have not always been a poor man, Mr. Wilkeson. Six years ago I
possessed a handsome fortune, which enabled me to pursue certain
philosophical experiments, in which I had taken great interest, at
leisure. An unfortunate speculation in real estate, year before last,
nearly ruined me. I converted the remains of my property into cash, and
went on with my experiments, undiscouraged. Like all laborers in the
cause of science--which is the cause of humanity--I have met with many
obstacles. Several times, when I have been on the point of perfecting my
great invention, some small, unforeseen difficulty has occurred,
compelling me to reconstruct large portions of the machinery. Eighteen
months passed away, and I found myself penniless. I tried to borrow
money, but without success. Now, who do you suppose has supported us the
last three months?"
"Some benevolent relative, perhaps," said Mr. Wilkeson, hazarding a wild
guess.
"You are right, sir. And a near and dear relative it is--no other than
my little Pet here." Mr. Minford placed his right hand fondly on the
shining head of the young girl, who sat on a low stool by his side,
looking into his face.
She blushed deeply, and said:
"You forget the unknown good friend who sent the letters with money to
you, papa."
"No, no, I don't, Pet," continued Mr. Minford, patting her playfully on
the cheeks; "but you were the dearest and sweetest of my guardian
angels. You know you were, you rogue. Why, sir, you will hardly believe
it, but this little creature, when she knew our money was nearly gone,
taught herself the art of embroidery, with the aid of some illustrations
from an old magazine, and in less than a fortnight could work so
beautifully, that she was able to earn from three to four dollars a
week. When she first told me that she was going out to look for work, I
opposed it fiercely; but the obstinate little Pet would have her way.
She was lucky enough to get a job from a milliner, and pleased her
employer so well, that steady work was given to her, until last week,
when the kind-hearted lady died, and now little Pet has nothing to do.
Some people think, because she is young--"
"Please don't talk about me any more, papa," said Pet, who had been
blushing deeply, and looking very beautiful in the visitor's eyes. "You
forget what the postman used to bring you every Saturday."
"No, I don't, you little, troublesome, impertinent Pet. I was just about
to speak of it, when you interrupted me. You must know, Mr. Wilkeson,
that every Saturday the postman, on his first morning round, delivered
to me a letter, marked 'New York City,' containing two dollars, without
a word of writing inside, and addressed to me in large capitals, each
nearly half an inch long. The object of this singular style of address
was either to make it so plain that the postman could not mistake, or to
disguise some handwriting which otherwise I might recognize. Now, as I
have no relatives living, and no friends that I know of, who would lend
me a dollar except on the best security, I am greatly puzzled, as you
may suppose, to guess the name of my unknown benefactor. Generous man!
For aught I know, he may now be dead, or himself reduced to poverty;
for, last Saturday, the regular weekly remittance failed to come."
"Then I see that I am just in season to help you," said Marcus Wilkeson,
who, during the recital of this brief history, had decided upon his
course of action.
"I thank you most gratefully," returned Mr. Minford, "and fully
appreciate the noble motives of your conduct. Your appearance convinces
me that you are entirely disinterested. But I should feel ashamed to
take money from you, without giving some security for its repayment. I
shall therefore insist upon making over to you a certain interest in the
invention, the most valuable of modern times, which lies almost finished
behind those screens. Let me give you some idea of it, and you can then
decide how much money you will advance, merely as a matter of business.
I cannot consent to put our negotiations upon any other ground. The
invention, then, is--" The speaker looked at the corner as he spoke,
and paused.
Marcus Wilkeson knew that the inventor was about to part with his secret
unwillingly, and that he would regret it forever after. To save him from
unpleasant feelings on that score, and to maintain friendly relations
between them for the future, Marcus put a stop to the reluctant
disclosure. He said:
"Never mind it, Mr. Minford. I know nothing of mechanical matters, and
take no interest in them. Your explanation would only be wasted on me.
Besides, it is entirely uncalled for, as I am willing to take your own
opinion of the invention, and will pay you five hundred dollars for a
one-tenth interest in it, if those terms will suit." Marcus took a keen
delight in acting upon this singular impulse, and was sorry he had not
said a "thousand," when he saw the glow of happiness that irradiated the
sweet face of Pet, still sitting on the stool by her father's side.
[Illustration: THE BOY BOG]
"Heaven bless you, sir!" said Mr. Minford. "You will be the means not
only of relieving me and my dear child, but also of conferring the boon
of a great discovery upon mankind. But your terms are too liberal,
sir. I shall insist upon assigning one fifth of my right to you, which,
mark my prediction, will prove of itself a fortune. Furthermore, I feel
that I ought, if only to show my complete confidence in you, to tell you
what it is. It is--" Mr. Minford hesitated for a word.
"Now I beg, as a particular favor, that you won't tell me," said Marcus,
goodhumoredly. "If you bore me with any of those dull details,
I'll--I'll take back my offer. As to the proportion of the invention
which I am to have, I will accept one fifth, since you insist on it, not
because I want it, but that we may not say another word about
the matter."
"As you please, sir. But how shall I sufficiently thank you?"
Marcus, who was already overcome with the gratitude which shone from the
large, soft eyes of the young girl, answered, with a laugh and a blush
(he had not outgrown the habit of reddening on occasions):
"By changing the subject."
Mr. Minford was about to protest against this extraordinary method of
thanking a benefactor, when a rap was heard at the door.