About a week after Mr Lawrence Croft had had his conversation with Miss
March on the stile steps at Midbranch, he was obliged to return to his
home in New York. He was not a man of business, but he had business;
and, besides this, he considered if he continued much longer to reside
in the utterly attractionless cottage at the Green Sulphur Springs, and
rode over every day to the very attractive house at Midbranch, that the
points mentioned in the previous chapter might get themselves reversed.
He was a man who was proud of being, under all circumstances, frank and
honest with himself. He did not wish, if it could be avoided, to deceive
other people, but he was prudent and careful about exhibiting his
motives and intended course of action to his associates. Himself,
however, he took into his strictest confidence. He was fond of the idea
that he went into the battle of life covered and protected by a great
shield, but that the inside of the shield was a mirror in which he could
always see himself. Looking into this mirror, he now saw that, if he did
not soon get away from Miss Roberta, he would lay down his shield and
surrender, and it was his intent that this should not happen until he
wished it to happen.
It was very natural when Lawrence reached New York, that he should take
pleasure in talking about Miss Roberta March and her family with any one
who knew them. He was particularly anxious, if he could do so delicately
and without exciting any suspicion of his object, to know as much as
possible about Sylvester March, the lady's father. In doing this, he did
not feel that he was prying into the affairs of others, but he could not
be true to himself unless he looked well in advance before he made the
step on which his mind was set. It was in this way that he happened to
learn that about two years before, Miss March had been engaged to be
married, but that the engagement had been broken off for reasons not
known to his informants, and he could find out nothing about the
gentleman, except that his name was Junius Keswick.
The fact that the lady had had a lover, put her in a new light before
Lawrence Croft. He had had an idea, suggested by the very friendly
nature of their intercourse, that she was a woman whose mind did not run
out to love or marriage, but now that he knew that she was susceptible
of being wooed and won, because these things had actually happened to
her, he was very glad that he had come away from Midbranch.
The impression soon became very strong upon the mind of Lawrence that he
would like to know what kind of man was this former lover. He had known
Miss March about a year, and at the time of his first acquaintaince with
her, she must have come very fresh from this engagement. To study the
man to whom Roberta March had been willing to engage herself, was, to
Lawrence's mode of thinking, if not a prerequisite procedure in his
contemplated course of action, at least a very desirable one.
But he was rather surprised to find that no one knew much about Mr
Junius Keswick, or could give him any account of his present
whereabouts, although he had been, at the time when his engagement was
in force, a resident of New York. To consult a directory was, therefore,
an obvious first step in the affair; and, with this intent, Mr Croft
entered, one morning, an apothecary's shop in a street which, though a
busy one, was in a rather out-of-the-way part of the city.
"We haven't any directory, sir," said the clerk, "but if you will step
across the street you can find one at that little shop with the green
door. Everybody goes there to look at the directory."
The green door on the opposite side of the street, approached by a
single flat step of stone, had a tin sign upon it, on which was painted:
"INFORMATION
OF EVERY VARIETY
FURNISHED WITHIN."
Pushing open the door, Lawrence entered a long, narrow room, not very
well lighted, with a short counter on one side, and some desks,
partially screened by a curtain, at the farther end. A boy was behind
the counter, and to him Lawrence addressed himself, asking permission to
look at a city directory.
"One cent, if you look yourself; three cents, if we look," said the boy,
producing a thick volume from beneath the counter.
"One cent?" said Lawrence, smiling at the oddity of this charge, as he
opened the book and turned to the letter K.
"Yes," said the boy, "and if the fine print hurts your eyes, we'll look
for three cents."
At this moment a man came from one of the desks at the other end of the
room, and handed the boy a letter with which that young person
immediately departed. The new-comer, a smooth-shaven man of about
thirty, with the air of the proprietor or head manager very strong upon
him, took the boy's position behind the counter, and remarked to
Lawrence: "Most people, when they first come here, think it rather queer
to pay for looking at the directory, but you see we don't keep a
directory to coax people to come in to buy medicines or anything else.
We sell nothing but information, and part of our stock is what you get
out of a directory. But it's the best plan all round, for we can afford
to give you a clean, good book instead of one all jagged and worn; and
as you pay your money, you feel you can look as long as you like, and
come when you please."
"It is a very good plan," said Lawrence, closing the book, "but the name
I want is not here."
"Perhaps it is in last year's directory," said the man, producing
another volume from under the counter.
"That wouldn't do me much good," said Lawrence. "I want to know where
some one resides this year."
"It will do a great deal of good," said the other, "for if we know where
a person has lived, inquiries can be made there as to where he has gone.
Sometimes we go back three or four years, and when we have once found a
man's name, we follow him up from place to place until we can give the
inquirer his present address. What is the name you wanted, sir? You were
looking in the K's."
"Keswick," said Lawrence, "Junius Keswick."
The man ran his finger and his eyes down a column, and remarked: "There
is Keswick, but it is Peter, laborer; I suppose that isn't the party."
Lawrence smiled, and shook his head.
"We will take the year before that," said the man with cheerful
alacrity, heaving up another volume. "Here's two Keswicks," he said in a
moment, "one John, and the other Stephen W. Neither of them right?"
"No," said Lawrence, "my man is Junius, and we need not go any farther
back. I am afraid the person I am looking for was only a sojourner in
the city, and that his name did not get into the directory. I know that
he was here year before last."
"All right, sir," said the other, pushing aside the volume he had
been consulting. "We'll find the man for you from the hotel books, and
what is more, we can see those two Keswicks that I found last. Perhaps
they were relations of his, and he was staying with them. If you put the
matter in our hands, we'll give you the address to-morrow night,
provided it's an ordinary case. But if he has gone to Australia or
Japan, of course, it'll take longer. Is it crime or relationship?"
"Neither," replied Lawrence.
"It is generally one of them," said the man, "and if it's crime we carry
it on to a certain point, and then put it into the hands of the
detectives, for we've nothing to do with police business, private or
otherwise. But if it's relationship, we'll go right through with it to
the end. Any kind of information you may want we'll give you here;
scientific, biographical, business, healthfulness of localities,
genuineness of antiquities, age and standing of individuals, purity of
liquors or teas from sample, Bible items localized, china verified; in
fact, anything you want to know we can tell you. Of course we don't
pretend that we know all these things, but we know the people who do
know, or who can find them out. By coming to us, and paying a small sum,
the most valuable information, which it would take you years to find
out, can be secured with certainty, and generally in a few days. We know
what to do, and where to go, and that's the point. If it's a new bug, or
a microscope insect we put it into the hands of a man who knows just
what high scientific authority to apply to; if it's the middle name of
your next door neighbor we'll give it to you from his baptismal record.
I'm getting up a pamphlet-circular which will be ready in about a week,
and which will fully explain our methods of business, with the charges
for the different items, etc."
"Well," said Lawrence, taking out his pocket-book, "I want the address
of Junius Keswick, and I think I will let you look it up for me. What is
your charge?"
"It will be two dollars," said the man, "ordinary; and if we find
inquiries run into other countries we will make special terms. And then
there's seven cents, one for your look, and two threes for ours. You
shall hear from us to-morrow night at your hotel or residence, unless
you prefer to call here."
"I will call the day after to-morrow," said Lawrence, producing a
five-dollar note.
"Very good," replied the proprietor. "Will you please pay the cashier?"
pointing at the same time to a desk behind Lawrence which the latter had
not noticed.
Approaching this desk, the top of which, except for a small space in
front, was surrounded by short curtains, he saw a young girl busily
engaged in reading a book. He proffered her the note, the proprietor at
the same time calling out: "Two, seven."
The girl turned the book down to keep the place; then she took the note,
and opened a small drawer, in which she fumbled for some moments.
Closing the drawer, she rose to her feet and waved the note over the
curtain to her right. "Haven't any change, eh?" said the man, coming
from behind the counter, and putting on his hat. "As the boy's not here,
I'll step out and get it."
The girl turned up her book, and began to read again, and Lawrence stood
and looked at her, wondering what need there was of a cashier in a place
like this. She appeared to be under twenty, rather thin-faced, and was
plainly dressed. In a few moments she raised her eyes from her book, and
said: "Won't you sit down, sir? I am sorry you have to wait, but we are
short of change to-day, and sometimes it is hard to get it in this
neighborhood."
Lawrence declined to be seated, but was very willing to talk. "Was it
the proprietor of this establishment," he asked, "who went out to get
the money changed??"
"Yes, sir," she answered. "That is Mr Candy."
"A queer name," said Lawrence, smiling.
The girl looked up at him, and smiled in return. There was a very
perceptible twinkle in her eyes, which seemed to be eyes that would like
to be merry ones, and a slight movement of the corners of her mouth
which indicated a desire to say something in reply, but, restrained
probably by loyalty to her employer, or by prudent discretion regarding
conversation with strangers, she was silent.
Lawrence, however, continued his remarks. "The whole business seems to
me very odd. Suppose I were to come here and ask for information as to
where I could get a five-dollar note changed; would Mr Candy be able to
tell me?"
"He would do in that case just as he does in all others," she said;
"first, he would go and find out, and then he would let you know. Giving
information is only half the business; finding things out is the other
half. That's what he's doing now."
"So, when he comes back," said Lawrence, "he'll have a new bit of
information to add to his stock on hand, which must be a very peculiar
one, I fancy."
The cashier smiled. "Yes," she said, "and a very useful one, too, if
people only knew it."
"Don't they know it?" asked Lawrence. "Don't you have plenty of custom?"
At this moment the door opened, Mr Candy entered, and the conversation
stopped.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, sir," said the proprietor, passing some
money to the cashier over the curtain, who, thereupon, handed two
dollars and ninety-three cents to Lawrence through the little opening in
front.
"If you call the day after to-morrow, the information will be ready for
you," said Mr Candy, as the gentleman departed.
On the appointed day, Lawrence came again, and found nobody in the place
but the cashier, who handed him a note.
"Mr Candy left this for you, in case he should not be in when you
called," she said.
The note stated that the search for the address of Junius Keswick had
opened very encouragingly, but as it was quite evident that said person
was not now in the city, the investigations would have to be carried on
on a more extended scale, and a deposit of three dollars would be
necessary to meet expenses.
Lawrence looked from the note to the cashier, who had been watching him
as he read. "Does Mr Candy want me to leave three dollars with you?" he
asked.
"That's what he said, sir."
"Well," said Lawrence, "I don't care about paying for unlimited
investigation in this way. If the gentleman I am in search of has left
the city, and Mr Candy has been able to find out to what place he went,
he should have told me that, and I would have decided whether or not I
wanted him to do anything more."
The face of the cashier appeared troubled. "I think, sir," she said,
"that if you leave the money, Mr Candy will do all he can to discover
what you wish to know, and that it will not be very long before you have
the address of the person you are seeking."
"Do you really think he has any clew?" asked Lawrence.
This question did not seem to please the cashier, and she answered
gravely, though without any show of resentment: "That is a strange
question after I advised you to leave the money."
Lawrence had a kind heart, and it reproached him. "I beg your pardon,"
said he. "I will leave the money with you, but I desire that Mr Candy
will, in his next communication, give me all the information he has
acquired up to the moment of writing, and then I will decide whether it
is worth while to go on with the matter, or not."
He, thereupon, took out his pocket-book and handed three dollars to the
cashier, who, with an air of deliberate thoughtfulness, smoothed out the
two notes, and placed them in her drawer. Then she said: "If you will
leave your address, sir, I will see that you receive your information as
soon as possible. That will be better than for you to call, because I
can't tell you when to come."
"Very well," said Lawrence, "and I will be obliged to you if you will
hurry up Mr Candy as much as you can." And, handing her his card, he
went his way.
The way of Lawrence Croft was generally a very pleasant one, for the
fortunate conditions of his life made it possible for him to go around
most of the rough places which might lie in it. His family was an old
one, and a good one, but there was very little of it left, and of its
scattered remnants he was the most important member. But although
circumstances did not force him to do anything in particular, he liked
to believe that he was a rigid master to himself, and whatever he did
was always done with a purpose. When he travelled he had an object in
view; when he stayed at home the case was the same.
His present purpose was the most serious one of his life: he wished to
marry; and, if she should prove to be the proper person, he wished to
marry Roberta March; and as a preliminary step in the carrying out of
his purpose, he wanted very much to know what sort of man Miss March had
once been willing to marry.
When five days had elapsed without his hearing from Mr Candy, he became
impatient and betook himself to the green door with the tin sign.
Entering, he found only the boy and the cashier. Addressing himself to
the latter, he asked if anything had been done in his business.
"Yes, sir," she said, "and I hoped Mr Candy would write you a letter
this morning before he went out, but he didn't. He traced the gentleman
to Niagara Falls, and I think you'll hear something very soon."
"If inquiries have to be carried on outside of the city," said Lawrence,
"they will probably cost a good deal, and come to nothing. I think I
will drop the matter as far as Mr Candy is concerned."
"I wish you would give us a little more time," said the girl. "I am sure
you will hear something in a few days, and you need not be afraid there
will be anything more to pay unless you are satisfied that you have
received the full worth of the money."
Lawrence reflected for a few moments, and then concluded to let the
matter go on. "Tell Mr Candy to keep me frequently informed of the
progress of the affair," said he, "and if he is really of any service to
me I am willing to pay him, but not otherwise."
"That will be all right," said the cashier, "and if Mr Candy is--is
prevented from doing it, I'll write to you myself, and keep you
posted."
As soon as the customer had gone, the boy, who had been sitting on the
counter, thus spoke to the cashier: "You know very well that old
Mintstick has given that thing up!"
"I know he has," said the girl, "but I have not."
"You haven't anything to do with it," said the boy.
"Yes, I have," she answered. "I advised that gentleman to pay his money,
and I'm not going to see him cheated out of it. Of course, Mr Candy
doesn't mean to cheat him, but he has gone into that business about the
origin of the tame blackberry, and there's no knowing when he'll get
back to this thing, which is not in his line, anyway."
"I should say it wasn't!" exclaimed the boy with a loud laugh. "Sendin'
me to look up them two Keswicks, who was both put down as cordwainers in
year before last's directory, and askin' 'em if there was any Juniuses
in their families."
"Junius Keswick, did you say? Is that the name of the gentleman Mr Candy
was looking for?"
"Yes," said the boy.
Presently the cashier remarked: "I am going to look at the books." And
she betook herself to the desk at the back part of the shop.
In about half an hour she returned and handed to the boy a memorandum
upon a scrap of paper. "You go out now to your lunch," she said, "and
while you are out, stop at the St. Winifred Hotel, where Mr Candy found
the name of Junius Keswick, and see if it is not down again not long
after the date which I have put on this slip of paper. I think if a
person went to Niagara Falls he'd be just as likely to make a little
trip of it and come back again as to keep travelling on, which Mr Candy
supposes he did. If you find the name again, put down the date of arrival
on this, and see if there was any memorandum about forwarding letters."
"All right," said the boy. "But I'll be gone an hour and a half. Can't
cut into my lunch time."
In the course of a few days Lawrence Croft received a note signed Candy
& Co. "per" some illegible initials, which stated that Mr Junius Keswick
had been traced to a boarding-house in the city, but as the
establishment had been broken up for some time, endeavors were now being
made to find the lady who had kept the house, and when this was done it
would most likely be possible to discover from her where Mr Keswick had
gone.
Lawrence waited a few days and then called at the Information Shop.
Again was Mr Candy absent; and so was the boy. The cashier informed him
that she had found--that is, that the lady who kept the boarding-house
had been found--and she thought she remembered the gentlemen in
question, and promised, as soon as she could, to look through a book, in
which she used to keep directions for the forwarding of letters, and in
this way another clew might soon be expected.
"This seems to be going on better," said Lawrence, "but Mr Candy doesn't
show much in the affair. Who is managing it? You?"
The girl blushed and then laughed, a little confusedly. "I am only the
cashier," she said.
"And the laborious duties of your position would, of course, give you no
time for anything else," remarked Lawrence.
"Oh, well," said the girl, "of course it is easy enough for any one to
see that I haven't much to do as cashier, but the boy and Mr Candy are
nearly always out, looking up things, and I have to do other business
besides attending to cash."
"If you are attending to my business," said Lawrence, "I am very glad,
especially now that it has reached the boarding-house stage, where I
think a woman will be better able to work than a man. Are you doing this
entirely independent of Mr Candy?"
"Well, sir," said the cashier, with an honest, straightforward look
from her gray eyes that pleased Lawrence, "I may as well confess that I
am. But there's nothing mean about it. He has all the same as given it
up, for he's waiting to hear from a man at Niagara, who will never write
to him, and probably hasn't any thing to write, and as I advised you to
pay the money I feel bound in honor to see that the business is done, if
it can be done."
"Have you a brother or a husband to help you in these investigations and
searches?" asked Lawrence.
"No," said the cashier with a smile. "Sometimes I send our boy, and as
to boarding houses, I can go to them myself after we shut up here."
"I wish," said Lawrence, "that you were married, and that you had a
husband who would not interfere in this matter at all, but who would go
about with you, and so enable you to follow up your clew thoroughly. You
take up the business in the right spirit, and I believe you would
succeed in finding Mr Keswick, but I don't like the idea of sending you
about by yourself."
"I won't deny," said the cashier, "that since I have begun this affair I
would like very much to carry it out; so, if you don't object, I won't
give it up just yet, and as soon as anything happens I'll let you know."