MAKING A START
Two days later Tom Fernlea again called on Roland.
"My father says will you look round to his office to-morrow morning? He
did not tell me exactly what he wanted you for, but I expect it is all
right. He was very much interested in what I told him yesterday, and
when the old man takes a thing up he generally carries it through, so I
expect there is something in the wind. What a pity it is, Roland, you
did not see your father before he went away! I have been thinking it
over, and it seems to me that if he had told you the whole
circumstances, you would have been sure to have got some clue to work
upon."
"That is what I have thought a hundred times, Tom. I hope that we shall
hear from him ere long. I may tell you privately that he is in Canada.
My mother has had two short notes from him. He is evidently in a sadly
depressed state, but says he is well. The letters having Canadian stamps
on them, we knew they came from there, but he says nothing about where
he is. He is no doubt afraid that he may be traced and his extradition
demanded; but I hope soon that he will give us some address to which we
can write to him. Directly he does, I shall send him a letter saying
that I am settled here, and am going to make it the business of my life
to prove his innocence, and shall implore him to write to me fully every
detail he can respecting the affair, as his story may give me some sort
of a clue as to the real thief."
The next morning Roland presented himself at the office of Mr. Fernlea,
who was the leading lawyer of the town. He was at once shown into the
inner office.
"Glad to see you, Roland; you have not been up at the house with Tom for
the last month. He has been talking to me about this business of your
father's. I quite take the view you do. I have been puzzled over the
affair ever since I first heard of it, but your father's foolish flight
deceived me, as well as the rest of us. I have no doubt what you say is
correct, and that he has been so badly scared that he helped the game of
the rascals who are the real criminals by bolting. However, although
that may be your opinion and mine, it does not advance the case a bit.
Your father, by his own act, has, so to speak, pleaded guilty, and has
been condemned and sentenced accordingly by public opinion, and I tell
you frankly that I don't think it is likely you will ever obtain a
reversal of the sentence. Still, I approve of the resolution which Tom
tells me that you have taken. You could not have a nobler aim in life
than to clear your father's name, and I am ready to aid you so far as to
give you a seat in my office here with a salary of six dollars a
week--no great thing, but enough to keep you. It is unlikely, to my
mind, that you will ever get any clue which will aid you; but if you
should do, I shall be most heartily glad to help you with my advice, or
in any other way in my power. I had always a high respect for your
father, and will be glad to assist you for his sake, but I may say
frankly, I will do so especially because you are a great friend of my
Tom; and although he is not particularly bright he has, I think, enough
good sense to choose his friends wisely, and indeed I know now, from my
own observation in this instance, he has done so. Now what do you say to
my offer?"
"I am extremely obliged to you, sir; it is most kind of you, and is far
better than anything I had hoped for."
"That is settled then; you may as well begin at once. Mr. Mullins will
show you what you have to do."
Roland was indeed glad at the opening which Mr. Fernlea had made for
him. The utmost he had hoped for was to obtain a position in a store,
and as hitherto it had been intended that he should go to Harvard at the
beginning of the next term, the thought of entering a store had gone
somewhat against the grain. Now, with the position in Mr. Fernlea's
office he might be considered not only to retain the position he
occupied among his school-fellows and friends, but to have taken the
first step in a promising career.
When it became known in Brownsville that Mr. Fernlea had taken Roland
Partridge into his office, there was much surprise and comment. More
than one leading man in the place had made overtures to the lawyer for
placing his son with him, but he had always declined, saying that he
found that he and Mullins were able to get through the work, and that he
did not care for the trouble of teaching young bears. There was a
general feeling among these that the lawyer had, in some sort of way,
done them a personal wrong by thus taking into his office the son of a
defaulter, and one whom they had hoped would be obliged to leave the
place from his inability to find employment there.
The lawyer, however, was not the man to concern himself with the
opinions of others, and would have been unconscious of the comments his
decision had excited had not Tom told him, laughing, that he had
outraged the feelings of all the old women in the place. Tom did not
forget his promise to write to his cousin in New York, and to interest
him in the search which Roland had undertaken, and did this so
effectually that he received a letter by return saying that the writer
would do anything he could to aid his old school-fellow, and that he
would set enquiries on foot among all his acquaintances in brokers'
offices to find out, if possible, if any resident in Brownsville had
lately been going into extensive speculations. A few days after Roland
had entered upon his new duties Mr. Fernlea called him into his office.
"By the way, Partridge," he said, "I have been thinking over that matter
of yours with the idea that I might perhaps hit upon some clue upon
which you might work. I have not done so, for a curious difficulty at
once presented itself. It naturally occurred to me that one of the
methods to be first pursued was to find out through whose hands some of
the stolen securities had passed, and then to trace them backwards; but
when I came to think of it, it at once struck me that the list of the
securities stolen had never been published. This was so singular and so
out of the usual course that yesterday I spoke to one of the directors
of the bank, who had come in to smoke a cigar with me. He said it had
been decided by the board that as the frauds had extended over some
months, and as the defaulter had got safely away to Canada, there was no
chance of being able to recover the securities, which by this time had
probably passed through a dozen hands, and it was thought better for the
credit of the bank, and so on, to let the whole matter drop, but of
course the defaulter would be arrested at once if he ever showed his
face in this country again.
"The course the directors have taken strikes me as being a very unusual
one. I do not say that from some points of view it may not be a very
wise one. The loss may be heavier than people suppose, and they may
think it better not to call any further attention to it. It may be that
it was policy, in fact I think perhaps it was so. Still, it is certainly
unusual, and angry men do not always take the wisest course. I said as
much to my friend. From what he said, I gathered that they had been to
some extent influenced by a feeling of sympathy with you and your
mother, and by their respect for your father's former position in the
place. He said that was the view the president took, and that they all
fell in with it. It wasn't my business to make any remark, and I changed
the subject, but I must own, the more I think it over the more unusual
and singular it appears to me.
"No doubt they were influenced far more by the thought of the credit of
the bank than by their sympathy with your father and mother, and I must
say that I am glad I am not a large shareholder in the bank. Still, it
is curious, and at any rate one result is that there are no clues to be
obtained from following up any of the missing securities. Of course the
directors all know what has been taken, but naturally they will keep
their own council, and no help is to be obtained in that way."
Now that it was manifest that Roland Partridge was settled for good in
Brownsville the little party who had from the first taken his side
gained ground rapidly. Their argument was indeed unanswerable: now that
he was there it was as well to make the best of it. Tom Fernlea and
several others of his set would anyhow stick to him, and as he would be
met in their company it was of no use pretending to ignore his presence;
it would indeed only cause unpleasantness and disagreement.
Consequently, it was decided, with but few dissentient voices, headed by
Percy Johnstone, that Roland Partridge should again be received into the
set as if nothing unpleasant had taken place. Accordingly, he received
an invitation to one of the first parties that was got up. He showed it
to Tom Fernlea.
"Yes, I knew it was coming," Tom said, laughing. "We have won all along
the line."
"Of course I shall not go," Roland said.
"Of course you will go," Tom replied. "Don't make a fool or a martyr of
yourself. What has happened was natural enough. People thought your
father had got into a scrape, and all the shareholders of the bank
considered that they lost a lot of money by him. It was generally
thought that you would be leaving the town, and naturally there was some
sort of awkwardness about your joining in our fun as usual. Nobody
thought any the worse of you, for it was, of course, not your fault; it
was simply the awkwardness. Now that you are going to stay, the matter
has altered. A month has passed, and the story has become an old one.
Everyone will meet you just as before, and I shall be glad to have you
with us again. Besides, if you were to refuse, it would place me and
the others who have stuck to you all along in a very uncomfortable
position; for whenever you happened to be with us, and we met some of
the people whom you refuse to visit, we should either have to pass
without speaking, or you would have to stand aloof in the cold while we
were talking to them. You made up your mind to live here, and it is of
no use your putting your back up and going about like a moral hedgehog.
So sit down like a good fellow, and write and say that you will be happy
to accept the invitation; then go at once and secure a cutter for the
day, and ask Cissie White if she will keep her old engagement. I am
going to take Bessie Hartley, and I will arrange that two or three
others shall start just at the same time and place, so we can all drive
there together in a party."
Roland felt that his friend's advice was good, and, although it needed
an effort to follow it, he sat down at once and wrote saying that he
would be very glad to join the party. Then he went out and secured the
cutter, and called at Mrs. White's and saw Cissie.
"I have been asked to join the sleighing party next Thursday, Cissie;
will you let me drive you?"
"With pleasure, Roland. I have an outstanding engagement with you, you
know, and I have been hoping that you would call and remind me of it; in
fact I made so sure you would, that I considered myself engaged and
refused two invitations yesterday."
"That was good of you, Cissie; you have been my best friend all through
this business."
"Not better than many others, Roland," she said quietly. "The two sides
were pretty equally divided all along, and, now we have won, it is a
triumph for us all."
Four cutters drew up together at Mrs. White's door at four o'clock on
the Thursday afternoon. Tom Fernlea and Bessie Hartley occupied one; two
of the others were filled with couples full of life and spirits; while
Roland Partridge held the reins in the fourth. Cissie White was all
ready to start and came out at once, and was soon muffled in the rugs by
his side.
"Hoorah!" Tom Fernlea shouted as they started. "This is what I call
jolly--a glorious day, capital company, and lots of fun before us!"
The whole party were in great spirits, and their laughter rose high as,
at a rapid pace, they dashed along towards their destination. This was a
barn belonging to the father of one of the party, who lived ten miles
away. Two or three of the boys had gone over the day before to sweep and
decorate the place. The contributions of provisions had been sent over
in a sleigh the previous afternoon, and two or three cutters had driven
on an hour or two before the rest, to light the fire and prepare tea. A
fiddler had been engaged, and after tea they were to dance, and drive
back at ten o'clock by moonlight.
On the way the party overtook several of the cutters, and ten of them
dashed up together in procession to the barn. The jingling of the bells
and the joyous shouts brought the early arrivals to the door, and there
was general greeting and shaking of hands, and Roland, who had rather
dreaded the moment, soon felt himself at home again. First of all the
horses had to be put up in the stables and some empty barns, and when
this was done the boys made their way to the place of assembly. Some
forty young people were gathered there, all in the highest spirits. A
great wood fire blazed at one end, and over it hung a huge cauldron of
boiling water. Tables of boards and rough trestles were arranged down
the side of the barn. They were covered with snowy table-cloths, on
which were placed a great variety of eatables.
A committee had decided what each of those present should contribute.
The most solid viands had been provided by the lads, and cold turkeys,
chickens, and joints of meat showed that there was an ample store for
the fifty who were to share the feast; while the variety of fruit-pies,
cakes, and sweets of all descriptions showed that the girls had fully
done their share. As soon as the last comers had arrived the meal began,
and all did full justice to it, for the drive had sharpened their
appetites. By the time it was finished it was growing dark, and while
the boys cleared the tables and carried them outside, others lit the
candles, placed in the sconces hired for the occasion and nailed against
the sides of the barn, while the girls washed up the tea-things and
packed them away in baskets ready for transport home on the following
day. Then came five hours of dancing, and as the clock struck ten the
boys hurried off for the horses, and the party started for home. Roland
had enjoyed himself thoroughly. With the exception of Percy Johnstone
and one or two others, everyone had behaved to him just as if the last
month had been a blank, except perhaps that there was a little extra
kindness and cordiality, as if each wished to show how glad he or she
was to see him among them again.
"It was not so very dreadful, was it?" Cissie asked as they drove
homeward.
"It was not dreadful at all," he said. "I think, Cissie, half our
troubles arise from our own selfconsciousness. We fancy people are
thinking and talking about us, when in fact they are not giving us a
thought; and if one does but grasp the nettle firmly, one finds that
there is no sting in it."
The next morning Roland received a letter from his mother saying that
she had again heard from his father, and although he had not precisely
given his address, he had given indications by which a letter could be
addressed to him under a name not his own; and Roland that night sat
down and wrote to him at great length. He told him that he and his
mother were convinced that he was the victim of another's misdoings, and
that he had determined that if it was humanly possible he would find out
the guilty party; but that before he set about doing so with any chance
of success, it was absolutely necessary that he should be in possession
of all the facts of the case, and he implored him to write fully and
frankly to him, giving him every detail, however minute, which could
bear upon it. He concluded by saying:
"My dear father, I know how very painful to you the thought must be of
appearing in the light of a suspected person in the presence of those
who have known and respected you, but I cannot but think that it would
have been better if you had made an effort and faced it out, for your
innocence must sooner or later have been proved. However, for the sake
of your good name and my mother's happiness, it is clearly incumbent on
you now to aid us to the utmost in our effort to re-establish your good
name, even if to do so you should have to come back and demand a trial.
However, this is not necessary now, and I hope never will be. But the
first thing of all is for us to understand exactly what the
circumstances were that have caused a suspicion of this crime to fall
upon you."