RESTITUTION
Softly Sam crossed the room and closed the door. This left him and Tom
alone and unobserved in the vacant offices formerly occupied by Mr.
Royse. The closing of the door also enabled them to hear more plainly,
as it shut out noises from the street.
“Just state your case, Mr. Doolittle,” said the lawyer. “And be as
brief as possible, as I am very busy.”
“Well, it’s this way,” began Mr. Doolittle. He then went into details
concerning the business relations he had had with Tom’s father. Much of
this was new to Tom, but some was an old story. In a way, however, it
revealed to him that his father had trusted Mr. Doolittle and Captain
Hawkesbury a great deal farther than was prudent. It also revealed
the fact that Mr. Taylor had larger business dealings than Tom had
suspected.
Most of what Mr. Doolittle related was strictly businesslike--sharp
practice, perhaps, but nothing criminal in it. Tom waited anxiously for
some reference to the railroad land--that on which stood one end of the
big bridge.
Presently Mr. Doolittle, with Captain Hawkesbury putting in a word or
two, came to that. It was a complicated transaction. Mr. Taylor did owe
some money to the two conspirators, but they could have paid themselves
by the sale of a much less valuable piece of property than that along
the river where the railroad was sure to come.
“But we thought we had a right to make as much as we could, since we
took the risks,” Mr. Doolittle said.
“Then, as I understand it,” the lawyer put in, “you destroyed the real
deed of trust--”
“No, we didn’t exactly destroy it,” said Captain Hawkesbury, “but we
didn’t put it on file.”
“It’s the same thing!” exclaimed the lawyer. “In other words, you
converted this property to your own uses.”
“We sold it to the railroad,” Mr. Doolittle admitted.
“And now, since a complication has arisen, and since the railroad
has made a demand on you to show them better authority than you have
hitherto shown as owners and sellers of this land, you want me to take
your case and help you out of a dilemma; is that it?” asked Mr. Royse.
“That’s it,” said Mr. Doolittle, eagerly. “We hear you are the best
corporation lawyer in these parts, and so the captain and I planned to
come to you. I don’t mind admitting that the railroad lawyer has made
me nervous.”
“Will you take the case?” asked Captain Hawkesbury. “We will pay you
well. You had better give him a retaining fee now, Mr. Doolittle.”
“He had better do nothing of the kind,” said Mr. Royse, with unexpected
energy.
“Wha--what?” stammered Mr. Doolittle, and though Tom and Sam could only
hear through the ventilation opening, and could not see, still they
could fancy the look of surprise on the face of the crabbed, wealthy
man. “Won’t you take a retaining fee? It’s usual.”
“Not with me--in a case like this.”
“You mean you don’t want a retaining fee?” asked Captain Hawkesbury.
“I mean I don’t want your case!” exclaimed the lawyer. “I would not
handle such a case! It is little--if anything--short of criminal!”
“Be careful!” blurted out the captain.
“It is you who had better be careful,” said the lawyer. “I don’t want
your case--no decent member of the bar would. In fact I am not sure but
what I ought to proceed against you.”
“Don’t you dare!” cried Mr. Doolittle.
“Oh, I’m not afraid,” was the retort. “The only question is about
getting the evidence against you. If I knew this young Tom Taylor--”
“You’re going to know him, and very soon,” said Tom in a whisper to his
chum, as, with a grim smile on his face, he started toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Sam asked.
“Up there to face them,” was the answer.
“It is nothing short of taking the money the railroad company paid for
the land, and using it yourselves,” the lawyer went on. “The money
should go to Mr. Taylor’s widow and his son. If I knew him--”
“Don’t you dare proceed against us!” cried Mr. Doolittle. “If you try
to make use of the information we gave you I’ll have you disbarred. You
don’t dare!”
“Oh, yes I do dare,” was the calm assurance. “In fact I have just
made up my mind that I will endeavor to find this young man and his
mother, and see what I can do to make restitution to them. I feel that
I would be concealing a crime if I did not. I wish I could see this Tom
Taylor--”
“You’re going to see him!” exclaimed Tom. “Come on, Sam!”
He fairly jumped up the stairs, three at a time, Sam following. At the
head of the second flight was a door similar to the one they had first
entered. Without knocking, Tom entered. He came at a dramatic moment.
Mr. Doolittle and Captain Hawkesbury had arisen, and were facing the
lawyer. Mr. Royse was a big man, and he remained seated. It was easy to
see that he was not at all alarmed. Righteous indignation showed in his
face. At the entrance of Tom and Sam the two conspirators faced about
suddenly.
“You--here?” gasped Mr. Doolittle.
“Tom Taylor!” echoed Captain Hawkesbury. “How dare you leave the
Academy?” he demanded, too flustered, evidently, to return the salute
which Tom and Sam gave with military precision.
“We have a permit, Captain Hawkesbury,” Tom said, calmly. “I beg your
pardon, sir,” he went on to the lawyer, “but I accidentally overheard
you express a wish to see me.”
“To see you? I’m afraid I haven’t the honor of--”
“I’m Tom Taylor, a cadet at the United States Military Academy,” Tom
said. “It is my father’s land those two men sold to the railroad,” and
he pointed an accusing finger.
“Here’s a copy of the trust deed they spoke of, or, rather, a rough
draft of it,” he went on, putting on the desk in front of the lawyer
the pasted paper that had so strangely come back to him.
“Oh--ah!” said Mr. Royse, seemingly rather at a loss to know what
action to take.
“Will you act for me--for my mother?” Tom went on, eagerly. “I can’t
pay you a big retaining fee, but I understand it is sometimes the
practice for lawyers to take cases like this on a contingency fee
basis.”
“It is done every day,” Mr. Royse said. “I shall look into this
matter--”
“If you dare take up this case, and proceed against us,” fairly shouted
Mr. Doolittle, “I’ll have you--I’ll have you--”
Captain Hawkesbury touched his companion on the arm.
“We had better go to see another lawyer,” he suggested.
“I think so myself,” said Mr. Royse, dryly, “though I doubt if you can
get a reputable one to take up your case. Good afternoon. You will
probably hear from me very soon,” he added, significantly.
Mr. Doolittle opened his mouth, as though to splutter out some angry
words, but Captain Hawkesbury, with a vindictive look at Tom and Sam,
led his companion from the room.
“Now, let’s get down to business,” suggested Mr. Royse, as Tom
presented his chum, Sam.
Tom told his story quickly. It fitted in with what he had heard through
the ventilating hole, and he explained to the lawyer how it had come
about that the two cadets had followed the conspirators.
“I didn’t think, when I moved my office upstairs, that I would get a
case like this,” said the lawyer. “But I’ll do my best for you, Tom.
Mind, I don’t promise anything, but it looks very much as though your
mother would get her rights.”
“That’s all I want,” Tom said. “It will be a big load off my shoulders
to know that my mother is provided for. And now what is the next thing
to do?”
“You may leave everything to me,” said the lawyer. “I will at once
start the ball rolling.”
“I--I’m not prepared to pay anything--now,” Tom faltered.
“I wouldn’t ask you to,” was the laughing answer. “I turned down
one retaining fee this afternoon, so you may know I’m not suffering
financially. No, leave everything to me, and I’ll communicate with you
at West Point.”
“And that’s the place we’d better be heading for on the double quick,
Tom,” put in Sam. “If we don’t hustle we’ll overstay our leave and that
may give Captain Hawkesbury a chance to skin us.”
“I fancy he won’t do much more skinning,” said Mr. Royse,
significantly. “If I can bring this matter home to him it will be a
bad mark against him.”
“It’s too bad,” Tom said, “but--”
“It’s best to have it all come out,” the lawyer assured him.
Tom left the pasted copy of the trust deed with Mr. Royse, and the two
cadets reached West Point just in time not to be reported. They saw
nothing of Captain Hawkesbury, and it became known that night that he
had left the Academy on a two days furlough.
“Probably he and Doolittle have gone off to try and stop the exposure,”
Sam said.
“It looks that way,” Tom admitted.
Tom was so excited by what he had just gone through that he did not
sleep well that night. Nor did he give the proper attention to his
lessons the next day. He made a failure and was given some demerits.
Events occurred rapidly during the next few days. Mr. Royse was busy,
sending telegrams and letters, having lawyers in other cities look up
records, and in communicating with the railroad company.
Captain Hawkesbury returned to West Point glummer than ever, and “as
mean as they make ’em,” to quote Sam Leland. He seemed to be eagerly
looking to catch Tom in some violation of rules, that he might punish
him. But Tom refrained from taking part in any pranks during those
perilous times, though several of his chums took chances.
Then came the climax.
Mr. Royse sent Tom a telegram which read:
“Restitution will be made. Railroad company has in trust large sum
of money owing on land. This will come to your mother and you. Can
also force Doolittle and Hawkesbury to pay back all they wrongfully
took. Charges to be preferred against Captain Hawkesbury, of conduct
unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.”
“Whew!” whistled Tom, as he showed this to Sam. “Things are certainly
happening!”