Aladdin & Co.: A Romance of Yankee Magic
Lattimore, under any circumstances, if it hadn't been for the hope and
comfort your being here has given me!"
"I thought we were to say no more about that old time," said she; "I
thought the doings of Johnny Cornish were not to be remembered by or of
Bedford."
"The name I've asked you to call me by!" said he passionately. "Does
that mean--"
"It means nothing," said she. "Oh, please, please!--Good-night!"
I retired to the porch, and rapped again. She came to the door blushing
redly, and so fluttered by their leave-taking that I thanked God that
Jim was not in my place. There would have been division in our ranks at
once; for it seemed to me that her conduct to Cornish was too
complaisant by far.
"I came over," said I, "because Alice said you wanted to see me."
I think there must have been in my tone something of the reproach in my
thoughts; for she timidly said she was sorry to have given me so much
trouble.
"Oh, don't, Josie!" said I. "You know I'd not miss the chance of doing
you a favor for anything. Tell me what it is, my dear girl, and don't
speak of trouble."
"If you forbid reference to trouble," said she, smiling, "it will stop
this conference. For my troubles are what I want to talk to you about.
May I go on?--You see, our financial condition is awfully queer. Mamma
has some money, but not much. And we have this big house. It's absurd
for us to live in it, and I want to ask you first, can you sell it for
us?"
It was doubtful, I told her. A year or so ago, I went on, it would have
been easy; but somehow the market for fine houses was dull now. We would
try, though, and hoped to succeed. We talked at length, and I took
copious memoranda for my clerks.
"There is another thing," said she when we had finished the subject of
the house, "upon which I want light, something upon which depends my
staying here or going away. You know General Lattimore and I are
friends, and that I place great trust in his conclusions. He says that
the most terrible hard times here would result from anything happening
to your syndicate. You have said almost the same thing once or twice,
and the other day you said something about great operations which you
have in view which will, somehow, do away with any danger of that kind.
Is it true that you would all be--ruined by a--breaking up--or anything
of that sort?"
"Just now," I confessed, "such a thing would be dangerous; but I hope we
shall soon be past all that."
I told her, as well as I could, about our hopes, and of my mission to
New York.
"You must suspect," said she, "that my presence here is danger to your
harmony; and through you, to all these people whose names even we have
never heard. Shall I go away? I can go almost anywhere with mamma, and
we can get along nicely. Now that pa is gone, my work here is over, and
I want to get into the world."
I thought of the parallelism between her discontent and the speech Mr.
Cornish had made, referring so contemptuously to Lattimore. I began to
see the many things in common between them, and I grew anxious for Jim.
"Of all things," said she, "I want to avoid the role of Helen setting a
city in flames. It would be so absurd--and so terrible; and rather than
do such a hackneyed and harmful thing, I want to go away."
"Do you really mean that?" I asked, "Haven't you a desire to make your
choice, and stay?"
"You mustn't ask that question, Albert," said she. "The answer is a
secret--from every one. But I will say--that if you succeed in this
mission, so as to put people here quite out of danger--I may not go
away--not for some time!"
She was blushing again, just as she blushed when she admitted me. I
thought once more of the fluttering cry, "Oh, please--please!" and the
pause before she added the good-night, and my jealousy for Jim rose
again.
"Well," said I, rising, "all I can say is that I hope all will be safe
when I return, and that you will find it quite possible to--remain. My
advice is: do nothing looking toward leaving until I return."
"Don't be cross with me, Mr. Barslow," said she, "for really, really--I
am in great perplexity."
"I am not cross," said I, "but don't you see how hard it is for me to
advise? Things conflict so, and all among your friends!"
"They do conflict," she assented, "they do conflict, every way, and all
the time--and do, do give me a little credit for keeping the conflict
from getting beyond control for so long; for there are conflicts within,
as well as without! Don't blame Helen altogether, or me, whatever
happens!"
She hung on my arm, as she took me to the door, and seemed deeply
troubled. I left her, and walked several times around the block,
ruminating upon the extraordinary way in which these dissolving views of
passion were displaying themselves to me. Not that the mere matter of
outburst of confidences surprised me; for people all my life have bored
me with their secret woes. I think it is because I early formed a habit
of looking sympathetic. But these concerned me so nearly that their
gradual focussing to some sort of climax filled me with anxious
interest.
The next day I spent in the sleeping-car, running into Chicago. As the
clickety-_clack_, clickety-_clack_, clickety-_clack_ of the wheels
vibrated through my couch, I pondered on the ridiculous position of that
cautious Eastern bank as to the Fleischmann Brothers' failure; then on
the Lattimore & Great Western and Belt Line sale; and finally worked
around through the Straits of Sunda, in a suspicious lateen-rigged
craft manned by Malays and Portuguese. Finally, I was horrified at
discovering Cornish, in a slashed doublet, carrying Josie away in one of
the boats, having scuttled the vessel and left Jim bound to the mast.
"Chicago in fifteen minutes, suh," said the porter, at this critical
point. "Just in time to dress, suh."
And as I awoke, my approach toward New York brought to me a sickening
consciousness of the struggle which awaited me there, and the fatal
results of failure.
CHAPTER XXII.
In which I Win my Great Victory.
My plan was our old one--to see both Pendleton and Halliday, and, if
possible, to allow both to know of the fact that we had two strings to
our bow, playing the one off against the other. Whether or not there was
any likelihood of this course doing any good was dependent on the
existence of the strained personal relations, as well as the business
rivalry, generally supposed to prevail between the two Titans of the
highways. As conditions have since become, plans like mine are quite
sure to come to naught; but in those days the community of interests in
the railway world had not reached its present perfection of
organization. Men like Pendleton and Halliday were preparing the way for
it, but the personal equation was then a powerful factor in the problem,
and these builders of their own systems still carried on their private
wars with their own forces. In such a war our properties were important.
The Lattimore & Great Western with the Belt Line terminals would make
the Pendleton system dominant in Lattimore. In the possession of
Halliday it would render him the arbiter of the city's fortunes, and
would cut off from his rival's lines the rich business from this feeder.
Both men were playing with the patience of Muscovite diplomacy the old
and tried game of permitting the little road to run until it got into
difficulties, and then swooping down upon it; but either, we thought,
and especially Pendleton, would pay full value for the properties rather
than see them fall into his opponent's net.
I wired Pendleton's office from home that I was coming. At Chicago I
received from his private secretary a telegram reading: "Mr. Pendleton
will see you at any time after the 9th inst. SMITH."
We had been having some correspondence with Mr. Halliday's office on
matters of disputed switching and trackage dues. The controversy had
gone up from subordinate to subordinate to the fountain of power itself.
A contract had been sent on for examination, embodying a _modus vivendi_
governing future relations. I had wired notice of my coming to him also,
and his answer, which lay alongside Pendleton's in the same box, was
evidently based on the supposition that it was this contract which was
bringing me East, and was worded so as to relieve me of the journey if
possible.
"Will be in New York on evening of 11th," it read, "not before. With
slight modifications, contract submitted as to L. & G. W. and Belt Line
matter will be executed. HALLIDAY."
I spent no time in Chicago, but pushed on, in the respectable isolation
of a through sleeper on a limited train. Once in a while I went forward
into the day coach, to give myself the experience of the complete
change in the social atmosphere. On arrival, I began killing time by
running down every scrap of our business in New York. My gorge rose at
all forms of amusement; but I had a sensation of doing something while
on the cars, and went to Boston, and down to Philadelphia, all the time
feeling the pulse of business. There was a lack of that confident
hopefulness which greeted us on our former visits. I heard the
Fleischmann failure spoken of rather frequently. One or two financial
establishments on this side of the water were looked at askance because
of their supposed connections with the Fleischmanns. Mr. Wade, in hushed
tones, advised me to prepare for some little stringency after the
holidays.
"Nothing serious, you know, Mr. Borlish," said he, still paying his
mnemonic tribute to the other names of our syndicate; "nothing to be
spoken of as hard times; and as for panic, the financial world is too
well organized for _that_ ever to happen again! But a little tightening
of things, Mr. Cornings, to sort of clear the decks for action on lines
of conservatism for the year's business."
I talked with Mr. Smith, Mr. Pendleton's private secretary, and with Mr.
Carson, who spoke for Mr. Halliday. In fact I went over the L. & G. W.
proposition pretty fully with each of them, and each office had a
well-digested and succinct statement of the matter for the examination
of the magnates when they came back. Once while Mr. Carson and I were on
our way to take luncheon together, we met Mr. Smith, and I was glad to
note the glance of marked interest which he bestowed upon us. The
meeting was a piece of unexpected good fortune.
On the 10th I had my audience with Mr. Pendleton. He had the typewritten
statement of the proposition before him, and was ready to discuss it
with his usual incisiveness.
"I am willing to say to you, Mr. Barslow," said he, "that we are willing
to take over your line when the propitious time comes. We don't think
that now is such a time. Why not run along as we are?"
"Because we are not satisfied with the railroad business as a side line,
Mr. Pendleton," said I. "We must have more mileage or none at all, and
if we begin extensions, we shall be drawn into railroading as an
exclusive vocation. We prefer to close out that department, and to put
in all our energies to the development of our city."
"When must you know about this?" he asked.
"I came East to close it up, if possible," I answered. "You are familiar
with the situation, and we thought must be ready to decide."
"Two and a quarter millions," he objected, "is out of the question. I
can't expect my directors to view half the price with any favor. How can
I?"
"Show them our earnings," I suggested.
"Yes," said he, "that will do very well to talk to people who can be
made to forget the fact that you've been building a city there from a
country village, and your line has been pulling in everything to build
it with. The next five years will be different. Again, while I feel sure