CHAPTER VI.
Before the sun was an hour high Prairieville was greatly excited overthe news of the burglary at Lakeside and the subsequent arrest ofO'Rourke on suspicion of having been concerned in it.
He was, however, speedily at large again, Nolan not being able to swearpositively to his identity, and Colonel Bangs coming forward with an_alibi_ in his favor. He made oath that O'Rourke had been with him inhis private office at the precise time when he was supposed to havebeen at Lakeside taking the money from the parlor cupboard.
He (Bangs) had had a fit of wakefulness, and thinking it must be timeto rise, had summoned Phelim to light a fire in the office. On lookingat his watch, when Phelim came in answer to the summons, he had foundit barely three o'clock. Still, feeling sure he should not be able tosleep again, he had his order carried out. The fire was slow to burn,and Phelim did not leave the room till the clock had struck four--longafter McAllister and Nolan had given up their pursuit of the burglarand returned to Lakeside.
This testimony, of course, completely exonerated O'Rourke, unless uponthe unlikely supposition that Lawyer Bangs was perjuring himself toshield one in whom he had no greater interest than that of a master inhis servant. Barney Nolan was, perhaps, the only person who stillindulged strong suspicions against Phelim.
There was a grain of truth in the lawyer's story. He had called Phelimfrom his bed between two and three o'clock that morning, but it was byan arrangement entered into the previous evening, during a privateinterview held shortly after O'Rourke's return from the depot; andwithout waiting to light a fire at all the Irishman had set out on hisevil errand.
After making good his escape from his pursuers (McAllister and Nolan)he gained Bangs's residence by a circuitous route, and, under cover ofthe darkness, crept cautiously in at a back door, opened for him by thelawyer himself, who had a few moments before taken his stand beside it,and was waiting there, listening intently for the expected sound ofapproaching footsteps.
"Ah, at last!" he exclaimed, half under his breath, as his accomplicestepped in. "Don't breathe so loud if you can help it; some one may belistening. This way--into the office."
They groped their way through the dark passage into a room beyond,dimly lighted by a smouldering fire. Bangs struck a match and lighted alamp.
"Won't it shine out intil the street, sor?" asked Phelim, glancingapprehensively around at the windows.
"No; can't you see that the shutters are closed and the blinds drawndown? Now, what success? I was never on any former occasion so anxiousto have you succeed."
"I s'pose not, sor, seein' as there's on'y us two to divide the plunderthis toime. An' it's mesilf as should pocket the lion's share, I'm athinkin', seein' as yer honor kep' safe under shelter here, while Idone all the wurruk an' tuk all the resk."
"Ah, but if suspicion fastens upon you, I'm the man to save you fromthe clutches of the law! But here, man, let's see what the spoilamounts to before we quarrel over the division."
At that Phelim drew a little package from his breast-pocket and openedit, Bangs looking on with eagle-eyed watchfulness and suspicion.
"Ah, what's that? a thousand-dollar note!" he exclaimed, clutchingeagerly at it.
"Half's moine, sor; don't ye forgit that!" growled Phelim, keeping fasthold of one end.
"Tut, man! it's marked--do you see?--and won't be of any use to eitherof us," grunted Bangs, letting go of the note in disgust.
"Eh! What difference does that make?" queried Phelim, examining itcritically and with a crestfallen air.
"All the difference in the world; for, of course, we couldn't pass itwithout exposing ourselves to almost certain detection as having had ashare in the robbery."
Phelim ripped out an oath, adding, "They's all marked--ivery wan ovthim; an' I've resked a tarm o' years in the pinetintiary fer jistnothin' at all at all!"
"Never fear; I'll take care of that," returned Bangs, grimly. "I can'tafford to let you rot in prison so long as you share your profits withme," he added, with an unpleasant laugh. "You'd better leave these withme. They'll be of no use to you, and if found on your person would sendyou to jail in spite of all I or anybody else could do to keep you outof it."
"Mabbe they moight come intil use wan o' these days," muttered Phelim,turning the smaller notes over in his hands and gazing ruefully atthem. "I'll kape these fer the prisent, and yer honor can hide that bigwan in yer strong box, rememberin' it's to be divided atween us whinthe toime comes."
"All right," said Bangs, adding to himself, with an inward chuckle,"but possession's nine points of the law."
Then he went on to urge the wisdom of leaving the smaller notes also inhis care, assuring Phelim it would be highly dangerous for him toretain them in his possession, till at length all but one weresurrendered to him.
Phelim then stole on tiptoe to the attic room appropriated to his use,undressed, and got into bed, where, some hours later, he was found bythe constable, fast asleep, and taken into custody.
Bangs, having seen the prisoner discharged, went directly from themagistrate's office to Lakeside to condole with the family on theirloss and suggest measures for the recovery of the money and theapprehension of the thief.
On being told that the notes were marked, he expressed himself soconfident of their final recovery that the despoiled family were quitecheered, and Miriam, in her thankfulness for the hope his words gavethem, was more gracious to him than she had been for a long time.
He observed it with great satisfaction, and, thinking he had made afavorable opening, began putting questions, though in a guarded way,with the design of obtaining the information he so greatly desired inrespect to their hold upon the property and the extent to which thisloss was likely to embarrass them.
But divining his motive, her manner at once changed to one of extremecoldness and hauteur, as she gave him distinctly to understand that shewould brook no prying into her affairs.
He replied with an angry denial of the correctness of the implication;his queries were put from a sincere desire to be of service, and fromno other motive; prying curiosity was utterly beneath him--utterlyforeign to his character. And with that he rose, bowed himself out, andwent away in a rage.
"Mirry, dear," remonstrated the gentle old grandmother, "I'm afraid youare too proud and ready to take offence. It may be the colonel onlymeant to be kind."
"I don't believe it, grandma; I doubt if the man ever did anything froma purely unselfish motive."
"I fear you have mortally offended him," remarked Ronald, with a slightlaugh.
"I hope so, indeed," she returned, her breast heaving and her eyessparkling, "and that his sister may take up his quarrel sufficiently tosecure us against a visit of condolence from her."
Vain hope! Bangs's anger was not of the kind to lead him to abandon hispurpose; and the next day Mrs. Wiley, as sweet, smiling, and graciousas ever, again presented herself at their door.
Bertie showed her into the sitting-room, which she found quitedeserted, though through the open door of the adjoining bedroom shecaught a glimpse of Ronald reclining upon his couch.
"Is your poor, dear brother worse?" she asked.
"He's not quite so well to-day, ma'am," Bertie answered, placing achair for her near the fire. "Please sit down, and I'll callgrandmother."
"Sister Miriam too, my dear; I came to see them both."
"Mirry is busy with the baking; she can't come, I know; but I'll tellher," the child answered, softly closing Ronald's door, in obedience toa sign from him, then passing into the kitchen, where the ladies of thefamily were busied with housewifely labors, the grandmother preparingvegetables for dinner, Miriam making pies and baking bread; for theykept no servant or cook except in the busy harvest time.
Both turned an anxious look upon Bertie as he came in. They hadthought, on hearing the ring, that the caller was probably Mr. Himes,the holder of the mortgage, coming for his interest. It was due thatday; he had always been very punctual in calli
ng for it, and hithertohad never failed to find it ready for him.
Bertie did not wait to be questioned. "It's that lady that alwayssmiles and calls everybody 'dear,'" he said, "and she came to see youboth--grandmother and Mirry."
"Mrs. Wiley!" ejaculated Miriam, her cheeks flushing hotly. "I wish shehad less leisure to bestow upon us--enough to do at home to keep herthere."
"Ah, well, child, we must try to have patience! I dare say she means tobe very kind," sighed the old lady, hastily washing her hands andtaking off the large work-apron worn to protect her neat calico dress."I hope she won't stay long, though, or I shall not be able to getthese potatoes and turnips ready in time for dinner."
"Never mind that, grandma," returned Miriam; "I can manage it all ifyou will excuse me to her; but I cannot and will not leave my baking tosee her for even a moment."
Bangs had given his sister a detailed account of his yesterday'sinterview with Miriam, arousing in her breast fierce anger against thegirl. "How dared she treat advances from my brother in that style!" sheexclaimed, grinding her teeth. "She shall be well paid for it, theimpudent hussy! I hope you are cured now of the desire to make her yourwife; but get the property if you can. I'll do all in my power to helpyou."
"And with such an ally I can hardly fail," he responded, with grimsatisfaction.
So this was the secret object of her call.
She had at first wished to see Miriam; but before Mrs. Heath came toher she decided that events had shaped themselves in the very bestmanner for the carrying out of her schemes; the old lady was likely tobe just now in the state of mind most favorable to her designs uponher; gentle-tempered and loath to see the feelings of another wounded,she would naturally feel anxious to make amends for Miriam's rudenessto Avery; and with a mind full of their recent loss, she would open herheart in response to well-simulated sympathy.
The event proved Mrs. Wiley's shrewdness and penetration; the guilelessold lady straightway fell into her trap. But of course the wily womanapproached her object in a roundabout way, and while she listened to acircumstantial account of the robbery, given in response to her earnestrequest, there was a second arrival.
Miriam, glancing from the window, saw the holder of the mortgage driveup to the gate in his farm wagon.
"There he is!" she exclaimed. "Bertie, run out and ask Mr. Himes if hewill mind coming to the kitchen to see me. Tell him I can't leave mybaking just now, and as there is a lady caller in the sitting-room, andno fire in the parlor, this is the only place where we can have acomfortable private talk."
Bertie obeyed, and in another minute or two Mr. Himes was stamping thesnow from his feet on the back porch.
Miriam opened the door, bade him a cheerful good-morning, invited himin, and set a chair near the fire, apologizing at the same time forasking him there.
"Needn't say another word, Miss Heath," he said, seating himself andglancing about him; "it's a nice, comfortable place to come to out o'the cold and the snow; neat as wax and warm as toast. But I'm insomethin' of a hurry, having a long ride to get back home, ye know, andit's snowing so fast that the roads will be dreadful heavy afore night;so you'll excuse me if I begin on business at once."
Miriam had grown pale, and he noticed it.
"I don't want to be hard on ye," he said; "you've always been promptwith that interest, and I know you was a hopin' fer to pay off a parto' the principal this fall. I don't calkilate ye can do that now (Iheard in town this mornin' ye'd been robbed; and I'm mighty sorry ferit, fer your sake as well's my own; and I say that gang o' burglars hadought to be strung up higher'n Haman, every one on 'em); but I hopethey didn't git all, and that you kin let me have the interest, for I'mwantin' it bad."
"I wish I could, Mr. Himes," Miriam said, low and falteringly; "but theburglar got so nearly all, that I can pay only fifty dollars to-day."
"Why, that's only a quarter of it!"
"Yes, I know; and I'm very sorry."
She went on to explain about the loss of the notes and the ground oftheir hope of speedily recovering them, adding a promise to pay off theremainder of the interest and half the principal immediately upon theirrestoration.
"Well, well, I hope ye'll git it," he said. "I don't want to be hard onye," he repeated; "if ye can't, ye can't; and though it's dreadfulinconvenient, I'll wait a little, hoping the rascal will be caught withall he stole from you."
Miriam took her purse from her pocket and a fifty-dollar note from it."You see I expected you, Mr. Himes," she said, with a sad sort ofsmile, and pointing to a little side table, where were pen, ink, andpaper. "Will you write me a receipt for this? And then, if you are notin too great haste, you must let me set you out a lunch, for you mustbe hungry after your long ride."
"Thank'e; I am that; and your cookin' has a powerful good smell," hereturned, pocketing the note, seating himself at the table, and takingup the pen; "I don't know but it'll pay to take time to snatch amouthful or so."
Regarding this as an acceptance of her invitation, Miriam moved brisklyabout, spread a snowy cloth on one end of the large table at which shehad been at work, and by the time the farmer had gone through with thebusiness of writing the receipt--a slow and toilsome one to him--hadquite a tempting little repast of cold meat, hot rolls and butter, pie,and gingerbread ready for him.
He did it hasty but ample justice--eating being more in his line thanwriting--thanked her with hearty praise of her cooking, and went away,his parting words a strongly expressed hope that the apprehension ofthe thief would soon put her in a position to keep her promises ofpayment to him.
As Miriam closed the door upon him and turned to her work again, herheart was heavy with a sad foreboding of the consequences to her dearones and herself should that hope fail of realization.
"Bertie," she said, noticing the child standing at the window intentlywatching Mr. Himes as he made his way down the garden-path toward hishorses and wagon, "what made you stare so at the man while he waseating? I was quite ashamed of your rudeness."
"Why, sister," returned the child, slowly, "he never thanked the Lordat all for his victuals, and I was watching to see him choke--you knowgrandmother said the other day she should expect to choke if she didthat way. But he didn't, though, not a bit."
"Grandma would tell you that our Father in heaven is very kind andpatient with us all, and that that is another reason why we should notabuse His goodness," Miriam answered, in a cheerful tone, the thoughtof that goodness helping her to throw off for a time her heavy burdenof care.
Not much occurring in her vicinity ever escaped the sharp eyes and earsof Madam Wiley. She had seen Mr. Himes piloted by Bertie to the kitchendoor, and full of curiosity in regard to his errand there, had strainedher ears to hear the talk between him and Miriam; but the girl's toneswere low, the farmer's utterance was indistinct, and Miriam hadpurposely seated him on the side of the room farthest from thecommunicating door between it and the sitting-room; besides, there wasthe distracting necessity of listening to and answering the remarks ofMrs. Heath.
With all these hindrances, the seeker after information found the taskshe had set herself beset with difficulties. She could not get so muchas an inkling of the subject-matter of discourse in the kitchen.
It was very provoking; and only by the most determined effort was sheable to maintain her suavity of speech and manner and pay sufficientattention to what the old lady said, to avoid answering wide of themark. But at last the farmer went, and rallying all her energies to thesuccessful carrying out of her purpose, she skilfully drew the old ladyon to pour into her sympathizing ear the story of their familydifficulties and perplexities.
"But, dear Mrs. Heath, you surely need not feel quite cast down by thisloss, seeing that you own this lovely place. You have it quite clear ofincumbrance, have you not?--no mortgage on it? no flaw in the title?"she at length queried in her sweetest, most tenderly sympathetic tones;and her victim was just beginning a sad-voiced, hesitating reply whenRonald, who had some time before softly set his d
oor ajar, called:
"Grandmother!"
"Ah! excuse me for a moment, my boy is wanting something," the old ladysaid, hastily rising and hurrying to him.
He motioned to her to close the door after her; then, drawing her downto him, whispered in her ear, "Grandmother, don't trust that woman;don't let her know anything of our affairs."
"Well, no, child, not if it vexes you; but I'm sure she means verykindly. But what shall I do? I never was good at evading questions; Ican't tell a lie, and don't know any other way to avoid telling thetruth."
"Well, I'd sooner talk to her as Mirry did to her brother the other daythan let her pry into the family secrets. But bring her in here to seeme, and let me always be present at your interviews after this. I'llwarrant she'll put a curb upon her curiosity when I'm by."
In accordance with his wishes, the invitation was promptly given; butsuddenly, finding it high time she was at home, the unwelcome visitortook her departure.