The exterior of Aladdin's Palace, familiar as it already was to
Carroll, struck him that afternoon as looking more than usually unreal,
ephemeral, and unsubstantial. The Moorish arches, of the thinnest
white pine; the arabesque screens and lattices that looked as if made
of pierced cardboard; the golden minarets that seemed to be glued to
the shell-like towers, and the hollow battlements that visibly warped
and cracked in the fierce sunlight,--all appeared more than ever like a
theatrical scene that might sink through the ground, or vanish on
either side to the sound of the prompter's whistle. Recalling
Raymond's cynical insinuations, he could not help fancying that the
house had been built by a conscientious genie with a view to the
possibility of the lamp and the ring passing, with other effects, into
the hands of the sheriff.
Nevertheless, the servant who took Captain Carroll's horse summoned
another domestic, who preceded him into a small waiting-room off the
gorgeous central hall, which looked not unlike the private bar-room of
a first-class hotel, and presented him with a sherry cobbler. It was a
peculiarity of Aladdin's Palace that the host seldom did the honors of
his own house, but usually deputed the task to some friend, and
generally the last new-comer. Carroll was consequently not surprised
when he was presently joined by an utter stranger, who again pressed
upon him the refreshment he had just declined. "You see," said the
transitory host, "I'm a stranger myself here, and haven't got the ways
of the regular customers; but call for anything you like, and I'll see
it got for you. Jim" (the actual Christian name of Aladdin) "is
headin' a party through the stables. Would you like to join 'em--they
ain't more than half through now--or will you come right to the
billiard-room--the latest thing out in stained glass and iron--ez
pretty as fresh paint? or will you meander along to the bridal suite,
and see the bamboo and silver dressing-room, and the white satin and
crystal bed that cost fifteen thousand dollars as it stands. Or," he
added, confidentially, "would you like to cut the whole cussed thing,
and I'll get out Jim's 2.32 trotter and his spider-legged buggy and
we'll take a spin over to the Springs afore dinner?" It was, however,
more convenient to Carroll's purpose to conceal his familiarity with
the Aladdin treasures, and to politely offer to follow his guide
through the house. "I reckon Jim's pretty busy just now," continued
the stranger; "what with old Doc West going under so suddent, just ez
he'd got things boomin' with that railroad and his manufactory company.
The stocks went down to nothing this morning; and, 'twixt you and me,
the boys say," he added, mysteriously sinking his voice, "it was jest
the tightest squeeze there whether there wouldn't be a general burst-up
all round. But Jim was over at San Antonio afore the Doctor's body was
laid out; just ran that telegraph himself for about two hours; had a
meeting of trustees and directors afore the Coroner came; had the
Doctor's books and papers brought over here in a buggy, and another
meeting before luncheon. Why, by the time the other fellows began to
drop in to know if the Doctor was really dead, Jim Prince had
discounted the whole affair two years ahead. Why, bless you, nearly
everybody is in it. That Spanish woman over there, with the pretty
daughter--that high-toned Greaser with the big house--you know who I
mean." ...
"I don't think I do," said Carroll, coldly. "I know a lady named
Saltonstall, with several daughters."
"That's her; thought I'd seen you there once. Well, the Doctor's got
her into it, up to the eyes. I reckon she's mortgaged everything to
him."
It required all Carroll's trained self-possession to prevent his
garrulous guide from reading his emotion in his face. This, then, was
the secret of Maruja's melancholy. Poor child! how bravely she had
borne up under it; and HE, in his utter selfishness, had never
suspected it. Perhaps that letter was her delicate way of breaking the
news to him, for he should certainly now hear it all from Aladdin's
lips. And this man, who evidently had succeeded to the control of Dr.
West's property, doubtless had possession of the letters too! Humph!
He shut his lips firmly together, and strode along by the side of his
innocent guide, erect and defiant.
He did not have long to wait. The sound of voices, the opening of
doors, and the trampling of feet indicated that the other party were
being "shown over" that part of the building Carroll and his companion
were approaching. "There's Jim and his gang now," said his cicerone;
"I'll tell him you're here, and step out of this show business myself.
So long! I reckon I'll see you at dinner." At this moment Prince and
a number of ladies and gentlemen appeared at the further end of the
hall; his late guide joined them, and apparently indicated Carroll's
presence, as, with a certain lounging, off-duty, officer-like way, the
young man sauntered on.
Aladdin, like others of his class, objected to the military,
theoretically and practically; but he was not above recognizing their
social importance in a country of no society, and of even being
fascinated by Carroll's quiet and secure self-possession and
self-contentment in a community of restless ambition and aggressive
assertion. He came forward to welcome him cordially; he introduced him
with an air of satisfaction; he would have preferred if he had been in
uniform, but he contented himself with the fact that Carroll, like all
men of disciplined limbs, carried himself equally well in mufti.
"You have shown us everything," said Carroll, smiling, "except the
secret chamber where you keep the magic lamp and ring. Are we not to
see the spot where the incantation that produces these marvels is held,
even if we are forbidden to witness the ceremony? The ladies are dying
to see your sanctum--your study--your workshop--where you really live."
"You'll find it a mere den, as plain as my bed-room," said Prince, who
prided himself on the Spartan simplicity of his own habits, and was not
averse to the exhibition. "Come this way." He crossed the hall, and
entered a small, plainly furnished room, containing a table piled with
papers, some of which were dusty and worn-looking. Carroll instantly
conceived the idea that these were Dr. West's property. He took his
letter quietly from his pocket; and, when the attention of the others
was diverted, laid it on the table, with the remark, in an undertone,
audible only to Prince, "From Mrs. Saltonstall."
Aladdin had that sublime audacity which so often fills the place of
tact. Casting a rapid glance at Carroll, he cried, "Hallo!" and,
wheeling suddenly round on his following guests, with a bewildering
extravagance of playful brusqueness, actually bundled them from the
room. "The incantation is on!" he cried, waving his arms in the air;
"the genie is at work. No admittance except on business! Follow Miss
Wilson," he added, clapping both hands on the shoulders of the
prettiest and shyest young lady of the party, with an irresistible
paternal familiarity. "She's your hostess. I'll honor her drafts to
any amount;" and before they were aware of his purpose or that Carroll
was no longer among them, Aladdin had closed the door, that shut with a
spring lock, and was alone with the young man. He walked quickly to
his desk, took up the letter, and opened it.
His face of dominant, self-satisfied good-humor became set and stern.
Without taking the least notice of Carroll, he rose, and, stepping to a
telegraph instrument at a side table, manipulated half a dozen ivory
knobs with a sudden energy. Then he returned to the table, and began
hurriedly to glance over the memoranda and indorsements of the files of
papers piled upon it. Carroll's quick eye caught sight of a small
packet of letters in a writing of unmistakable feminine delicacy, and
made certain they were the ones he was in quest of. Without raising
his eyes, Mr. Prince asked, almost rudely,--
"Who else has she told this to?"
"If you refer to the contents of that letter, it was written and handed
to me about three hours ago. It has not been out of my possession
since then."
"Humph! Who's at the casa? There's Buchanan, and Raymond, and Victor
Guitierrez, eh?"
"I think I can say almost positively that Mrs. Saltonstall has seen no
one but her daughter since the news reached her, if that is what you
wish to know," said Carroll, still following the particular package of
letters with his eyes, as Mr. Prince continued his examination. Prince
stopped.
"Are you sure?"
"Almost sure."
Prince rose, this time with a greater ease of manner, and, going to the
table, ran his fingers over the knobs, as if mechanically. "One would
like to know at once all there is to know about a transaction that
changes the front of four millions of capital in about four hours, eh,
Captain?" he said, for the first time really regarding his guest.
"Just four hours ago, in this very room, we found out that the widow
Saltonstall owed Dr. West about a million, tied up in investments, and
we calculated to pull her through with perhaps the loss of half. If
she's got this assignment of the Doctor's property that she speaks of
in her letter, as collateral security, and it's all regular, and
she--so to speak--steps into Dr. West's place, by G-d, sir, we owe HIM
about three millions, and we've got to settle with HER--and that's all
about it. You've dropped a little bomb-shell in here, Captain, and the
splinters are flying around as far as San Francisco, now. I confess it
beats me regularly. I always thought the old man was a little keen
over there at the casa--but she was a woman, and he was a man for all
his sixty years, and THAT combination I never thought of. I only
wonder she hadn't gobbled him up before."
Captain Carroll's face betrayed no trace of the bewilderment and
satisfaction at this news of which he had been the unconscious bearer,
nor of resentment at the coarseness of its translation.
"There does not seem to be any memorandum of this assignment,"
continued Prince, turning over the papers.
"Have you looked here?" said Carroll, taking up the packet of letters.
"No--they seem to me some private letters she refers to in this letter,
and that she wants back again."
"Let us see," said Carroll, untying the packet. There were three or
four closely written notes in Spanish and English.
"Love-letters, I reckon," said Prince--"that's why the old girl wants
'em back. She don't care to have the wheedling that fetched the Doctor
trotted out to the public."
"Let us look more carefully," said Carroll, pleasantly, opening each
letter before Prince, yet so skillfully as to frustrate any attempt of
the latter to read them. "There does not seem to be any memorandum
here. They are evidently only private letters."
"Quite so," said Prince.
Captain Carroll retied the packet and put it in his pocket. "Then I'll
return them to her," he said, quietly.
"Hullo!--here--I say," said Prince, starting to his feet.
"I said I would return them to her," repeated Carroll, calmly.
"But I never gave them to you! I never consented to their withdrawal
from the papers."
"I'm sorry you did not," said Carroll, coldly; "it would have been more
polite."
"Polite! D--n it, sir! I call this stealing."
"Stealing, Mr. Prince, is a word that might be used by the person who
claims these letters to describe the act of any one who would keep them
from HER. It really can not apply to you or me."
"Once for all, do you refuse to return them to me?" said Prince, pale
with anger.
"Decidedly."
"Very well, sir! We shall see." He stepped to the corner and rang a
bell. "I have summoned my manager, and will charge you with the theft
in his presence."
"I think not."
"And why, sir?"
"Because the presence of a third party would enable me to throw this
glove in your face, which, as a gentleman, I couldn't do without
witnesses." Steps were heard along the passage; Prince was no coward
in a certain way; neither was he a fool. He knew that Carroll would
keep his word; he knew that he should have to fight him; that, whatever
the issue of the duel was, the cause of the quarrel would be known, and
scarcely redound to his credit. At present there were no witnesses to
the offered insult, and none would be wiser. The letters were not
worth it. He stepped to the door, opened it, said, "No matter," and
closed it again.
He returned with an affectation of carelessness. "You are right. I
don't know that I'm called upon to make a scene here which the LAW can
do for me as well elsewhere. It will settle pretty quick whether
you've got the right to those letters, and whether you've taken the
right way to get them sir."
"I have no desire to evade any responsibility in this matter, legal or
otherwise," said Carroll, coldly, rising to his feet.
"Look here," said Prince, suddenly, with a return of his brusque
frankness; "you might have ASKED me for those letters, you know."
"And you wouldn't have given them to me," said Carroll.
Prince laughed. "That's so! I say, Captain. Did they teach you this
sort of strategy at West Point?"
"They taught me that I could neither receive nor give an insult under a
white flag," said Carroll, pleasantly. "And they allowed me to make
exchanges under the same rule. I picked up this pocket-book on the
spot where the accident occurred to Dr. West. It is evidently his. I
leave it with you, who are his executor."
The instinct of reticence before a man with whom he could never be
confidential kept him from alluding to his other discovery.
Prince took the pocket-book, and opened it mechanically. After a
moment's scrutiny of the memoranda it contained, his face assumed
something of the same concentrated attention it wore at the beginning
of the interview. Raising his eyes suddenly to Carroll, he said,
quickly,--
"You have examined it?"
"Only so far as to see that it contained nothing of importance to the
person I represent," returned Carroll, simply.
The capitalist looked at the young officer's clear eyes. Something of
embarrassment came into his own as he turned them away.
"Certainly. Only memoranda of the Doctor's business. Quite important
to us, you know. But nothing referring to YOUR principal." He
laughed. "Thank you for the exchange. I say--take a drink!"
"Thank you--no!" returned Carroll, going to the door.
"Well, good-by."
He held out his hand. Carroll, with his clear eyes still regarding
him, passed quietly by the outstretched hand, opened the door, bowed,
and made his exit.
A slight flush came into Prince's cheek. Then, as the door closed, he
burst into a half-laugh. Had he been a dramatic villain, he would have
added to it several lines of soliloquy, in which he would have
rehearsed the fact that the opportunity for revenge had "come at last";
that the "haughty victor who had just left with his ill-gotten spoil
had put into his hands the weapon of his friend's destruction"; that
the "hour had come"; and, possibly he might have said, "Ha! ha!" But,
being a practical, good-natured, selfish rascal, not much better or
worse than his neighbors, he sat himself down at his desk and began to
carefully consider how HE could best make use of the memoranda jotted
down by Dr. West of the proofs of the existence of his son, and the
consequent discovery of a legal heir to his property.