_Arabelle Seabright._
"Arabelle, I am not going to have a thing to do with this whole matter.
Suppose the bottom falls out and we are detected. Just imagine _my_
fate."
"Detected?" hissed Mrs. Arabelle Seabright, turning a scornful gaze upon
her husband. "You talk as though we have committed or are about to
commit some crime. You just stay in your place, please, and leave
matters to me."
"Do you mean to tell me that I need not meet the man?" asked Mr.
Seabright eagerly.
"Yes!" replied Mrs. Seabright.
He leaped out of his chair and waltzed across the room, kissed his wife
and darted through the door.
"Fool!" she muttered between her teeth.
Mrs. Arabelle Seabright in her room in the Domain Hotel was now awaiting
the arrival of a newspaper reporter, the next victim to be bent to her
will. It had been on her programme to have her daughter Eunice and her
husband present during a part of the interview with the reporter, but
as they were not entering enthusiastically into her plans she was rather
glad that they had declined to be present.
It was not long before a Mr. Gilman, reporter for the "Daily Columbian,"
was ushered into Mrs. Seabright's room.
"Let us understand each other at the outset, if possible," said Mrs.
Seabright, with a smile, directing a kindly gaze in the direction of the
young man. Mr. Gilman bowed deferentially, but said nothing.
"I am ambitious." said Mrs. Seabright.
"Ambitious people are the ones that carry the world forward," ventured
the young man modestly.
"I have an unbounded ambition,--an ambition to live in history as long
as a record of human affairs is kept. Oh! I hate death!" said Mrs.
Seabright with a shudder, stamping a foot upon the floor for emphasis.
"I have money with which to further my ambitions. I am aware of the
traditions of your paper, the 'Columbian.' I shall not ask you to
violate them. But if you will put your heart in your labor and be an
incessant worker in my interest, your ambitions will be gratified. A
fair exchange is no robbery. You put me on the way to attain my ends and
I shall do the like for you. Is it a bargain?"
"Whatever I may be able to do consistently, I shall certainly do, and
shall be duly appreciative of whatever may result in my favor in
consequence of work worthily done," said the young man with so much
fervor that Mrs. Seabright knew that she was well fortified in that
direction.
Bit by bit the Almaville public was educated as to the Seabrights. They
were descendants of sires that took a prominent part in the affairs of
the Colonies during and succeeding the period of the American
Revolution. Mr. Seabright inherited a large fortune which a keen
business sense had enabled him to increase very materially. He had now
moved to Almaville to found one of the largest furniture manufacturing
establishments in the country. He was so absorbed in business pursuits
that he did not relish social affairs much, but his charming wife was
such a dispenser of hospitality that she made up for his deficiency.
Eunice, reputed to be the sole heir to the Seabright millions, was a
girl of great beauty, highly accomplished, and the center of attraction
of any group of which she formed a part.
A valuable tract of land had already been purchased for the
manufacturing establishment and a contract for the construction of the
plant had been let. As soon as a suitable location could be found, Mr.
Seabright was going to erect a mansion in Almaville that would be the
pride of the South. An option had been taken on a piece of property in
the West End that about measured up to the requirements, and the
likelihood was that the residence would be constructed there.
The mere prospect had caused the prices of the property in that
vicinity, already valuable, to soar much higher.
The public soon perceived that the conservative, the reliable
"Columbian," the paper of the Southern aristocracy, was favorably
impressed with the Seabrights as a valuable addition to the commercial
and social life of Almaville, and even the most exclusive circles
prepared to make room for the newcomers.
The Hon. H. G. Volrees sat in his law office with his chair tilted back,
his chestnut brown hair much rumpled upon his large Daniel Webster
looking head. Here was one of the most astute legal minds of the state
and the real head of the Democratic party of the state. He was now
forty-five years old and unmarried. He had never held public office but
was seriously considering entering the race for United States Senator. A
venerable senator was to retire within about three years and the
position could be his if he but indicated a willingness to accept.
The Hon. H. G. Volrees had large ambitions. He was anxious to restore
the old time prestige of the South in the councils of the nation. He was
a well-to-do man but did not have the money to gain an assured social
position at the nation's capital. He fancied he detected the flavor of
ambition in those flattering notices concerning the Seabrights.
"It may be that my hour has come," said Mr. Volrees, picking up the
paper and looking again at the published picture of Eunice. He closed
his desk and went to his hotel.
Mrs. Arabelle Seabright's net had caught its fish. And what had the fish
caught? Now _that_ is the vital question.