CHAPTER XXII
There were two people in that house who ate a real breakfast thefollowing morning. One was Primmie and the other was Augustus Cabot. Ittook much, very much, to counteract Miss Cash's attraction toward food,and as for the Boston banker, the combination of Cape Cod air andMartha Phipps' cooking had sharpened his appetite until, as he told hishostess, he was thoroughly ashamed, but tremendously contented.
Martha smiled a faint recognition of the joke. Galusha, sitting oppositeher, did not smile; he was plainly quite unaware that there was humoranywhere. The little archaeologist looked, so Primmie told Zach lateron, "like one of them wax string beans, thin and drawed-out and yeller."He kept his gaze fixed on his plate and, beyond wishing her an uncertaingood-morning, not once did he look at or venture to address MarthaPhipps.
While they were at table Lulie came in. Considering all that she hadundergone, the young lady was wonderfully radiant. Her eyes sparkled,there was color in her cheeks, and Mr. Cabot, who, in his time, hadaccounted himself a judge, immediately rated her as a remarkably prettygirl. Her first move, after greeting the company, was to go straight toGalusha and take his hand.
"Mr. Bangs," she cried, "how can I thank you? How can Nelson and I ever,ever thank you?"
Galusha's embarrassment managed to pump a little color into his wancheeks. "I--I--ah--dear me, it was nothing," he stammered. "I--Iam--ah--yes, quite so. Please don't mention it."
"But I shall mention it. Indeed, I shall. Why, Martha, do you realizewho was really responsible for father's being so suspicious of MariettaHoag last evening? It was Mr. Bangs here, and no one else. Do youremember I told you that father had been receiving printed things,booklets and circulars, in the mails for the past few days, and that hehad been reading them and they seemed to agitate him very much? Do youremember that?"
Martha said of course she remembered it.
"Yes. Well, those circulars and books came from the Psychical ResearchSociety--the people who look up real spirit things and expose the otherkind, the fraud kind, you know. Those told all about lots of cases ofcheats like Marietta, and father read them, and he confessed to me thismorning that they disturbed his faith in her a lot and he was suspiciouswhen the seance began. Don't you know he hinted something about it?"
"Yes, yes, Lulie, I remember. But what did Mr. Bangs have to do withthose circulars and things?"
"He sent them. Or he had them sent, I am sure. They came from Washingtonand who else could have done it? Who else would have had them sent--fromthere--to father--and just at the right time? You did have them sent,didn't you, Mr. Bangs?"
Of course, the others now looked at Galusha and also, of course, thishad the effect of increasing his embarrassment.
"Why--why, yes," he admitted, "I suppose I am responsible. You see,I--well--ah--I have friends at the Washington branch of the Society andI dropped a line requesting that some--ah--literature be sent to CaptainHallett. But it was nothing, really. Dear me, no. How is your fatherthis morning, Lulie?"
Lulie's face expressed her happiness. "Oh, he is ever and ever so muchbetter," she declared. "Last night I was so afraid that the shock andthe dreadful disappointment and all might have a very had effect uponhim, but it hasn't. He is weak this morning and tired, of course, buthis brain is perfectly clear and he talks as calmly as you or I. Yes,a good deal more calmly than I am talking just now, for I am very muchexcited."
She laughed a little. Then, with a blush which caused the Bostonconnoisseur to re-endorse his own estimate of her looks, added: "I justmust tell you this, Martha, you and Mr. Bangs, for I know you will bealmost as much delighted as I am--of course, I put in the 'almost.'This morning, a little while ago, I ventured to mention Nelson's nameto father and to hint that perhaps now that he knew Marietta's 'medium'nonsense to be all a fraud, he would believe as I did that the thingsshe said about Nelson were frauds, too. I said it in fear and trembling,and for some time he didn't answer. Then he called me to him and said heguessed I was probably right. 'You seem to have been right most of thetime, Lulie,' he said, 'and I've been clear off the course.' Then hesaid something about his getting old and about ready for the scrap heap,but at the end he said: 'You ask that young Howard to cruise aroundhere and see me some one of these days. I want to talk to him.' There!"triumphantly. "Isn't that splendid? Isn't that something for him tosay?"
Martha beamed delightedly. "For your father to say it's more thansomethin', it's a whole big lot," she declared. "Well, well, well! Cap'nJeth invitin' Nelson to come and see him and talk with him! Mercy me!'Wonders 'll never cease, fish fly and birds swim,' as my own fatherused to say," she added, with a laugh. "Mr. Cabot, excuse me for talkin'about somethin' you don't understand, but, you see, Lulie is--Well,Primmie, what is it?"
Primmie's face expressed great excitement as she pushed it around theedge of the kitchen door. "My savin' soul!" was her salutation. "Whodo you suppose is comin' right up our walk this very minute? RaishPulcifer, that's who! And--and I bet you he's heard about last night'sdoin's, Miss Martha."
A little of Miss Cash's excitement was communicated to the others by herannouncement. To every one except Mr. Bangs, of course. Galusha,after his acknowledgment of Lulie's thanks, had relapsed into hisabsent-minded apathy. Martha looked at Lulie.
"Humph!" she said, after a moment. "Well, let him come, as far as I'mconcerned. I never was afraid of Raish Pulcifer yet and I'm not now.Lulie, if you don't want to meet him, you might go into the sittingroom."
Lulie hesitated. "Well, perhaps I will," she said. "Father has told mea little about--Well, I imagine Raish will be disagreeable and I don'tfeel like going through more disagreeableness just now. I'll wait inhere till he goes, Martha."
"Perhaps you'd like to go, too, Mr. Cabot," suggested Martha.
Cabot shrugged. "Not unless you wish me to," he replied. "I've nevermet this agent of ours and I wouldn't mind seeing what he looks like.Williams hired him, so he doesn't know me from Adam."
For the first time that morning Miss Phipps addressed her boarderdirectly. "How about you, Mr. Bangs?" she asked.
Galusha did not appear to hear the question, and before it was repeateda knock, loud, portentous, threatening, sounded upon the door.
"Let him in, Primmie," commanded Miss Phipps.
Mr. Pulcifer entered. His bearing was as ominous as his knock. He noddedto Martha, glanced inquiringly at Cabot, and then turned his gaze uponGalusha Bangs.
"Well, Raish," said Martha, cheerfully, "you're an early bird thismornin'. How do you do?"
The great Horatio's only acknowledgment of the greeting was a nod. Hedid not even remove his cap. He was looking at the little man in thechair at the foot of the table and he seemed quite oblivious of any oneelse. And Galusha, for that matter, seemed quite as oblivious of him.
The Pulcifer mouth opened and the Pulcifer finger pointed.
"Say," commanded Raish. "Say--you!" And as this seemed to have little orno effect upon the individual toward whom the finger pointed, he added:"Say, you--er--What's-your-name--Bangs."
Galusha, who had been absently playing with his napkin, twisting it intofolds and then untwisting it, looked up.
"Eh?" he queried. "Oh, yes--yes, of course. How do you do, Mr.Pulcifer?"
This placidity seemed to shut off Raish's breath for the moment, but itreturned in full supply.
"How do I DO!" he repeated. "Well, I ain't what you'd call fust-rate,I'd say. I'm pretty darn sick, if anybody should ask you. I've hadenough to make me sick. Say, look here, Bangs! What kind of a game isthis you've been puttin' over on me--hey?... Hey?"
"Game?... I--ah--pardon me, I don't know that I quite understand, Mr.Pulcifer."
"Don't you? Well, I don't understand neither. But I cal'late to prettyquick. What did Jeth Hallett mean last night by sayin' that he'd soldhis four hundred Development a couple of months ago? What did he mean byit?"
Martha Phipps was about to speak. Cabot, too, leaned forward. ButGalusha raised a protesting hand.
"Pl
ease," he said. "Mr. Pulcifer has a perfect right to ask. Ihave--ah--been expecting him to do so. Well, Mr. Pulcifer, I presumeCaptain Hallet meant that he had--ah--sold the stock."
"He did? I want to know! And what did he mean by sayin' he'd sold it toYOU?"
Again Miss Phipps and Cousin Gussie seemed about to take a hand andagain Galusha silenced them.
"If you please," he begged. "It is quite all right, really.... Isuppose, Mr. Pulcifer, he meant that he had done just that. He did.I--ah--bought his stock."
"You did! YOU did? Say, what kind of a--Say, am I crazy or are you?"
"Oh, I am. Dear me, yes, Mr. Pulcifer. At all events, I purchased thestock from Captain Hallett. I bought Miss Phipps' shares at the sametime."
It took more than a trifle to "stump" Raish Pulcifer. He was accustomedto boast that it did. But he had never been nearer to being stumped thanat that moment.
"You--bought--" He puffed the words as a locomotive puffs smoke whenleaving a station.
"Yes," said Galusha, calmly, "I bought both his and hers."
"You did!... You did!... Well, by cripes! But--but why?"
"Because, I--ah--For reasons of my own, Mr. Pulcifer. Please pardon meif I do not go into that. I do not wish to appear rude, but the reasonsare quite personal, really."
"Personal!... Well, I'll be dummed if this ain't the nerviest piece ofbrass cheek ever I--Say, look here, Bangs! Why didn't you tell me you'dbought them shares? What did you--Why, you must have had 'em all thetime I was offerin' you commissions for buyin' 'em. Hey? DID you have'em then?"
"Why--ah--yes, I did."
"And you never said nothin', but just let me talk! And--and how aboutthis seance thing? You was the one put me up to making Marietta pretendto get messages from Jeth's wife tellin' him to sell his stock to me.YOU done it. I'd never thought of it if you hadn't put the notion in myhead. And--and all the time--Oh, by CRIPES!"
Again his agitation brought on a fit of incoherence. And he was not theonly astonished person about that table. Galusha, however, was quitecalm. He continued to fold and unfold his napkin.
"It may be," he said, slowly, "that I owe you an apology, Mr. Pulcifer.I did deceive you, or, at least, I did not undeceive you." He paused,sighed, and then added, with a twisted smile, "I seem to have beena--ah--universal deceiver, as one might say. However, that is notmaterial just now. I had what seemed to me good reasons for wishingCaptain Hallett to learn that Miss Hoag was not a genuine--ah--psychic.It occurred to me that a mention of his late wife's wish to have himsell something he did not possess might accomplish that result. I misledyou, of course, and I apologize, Mr. Pulcifer. I am sorry, but it seemednecessary to do so. Yes, quite."
He ceased speaking. Martha drew a long breath. Mr. Cabot looked verymuch puzzled. Raish slowly shook his head. "Well!" he began; triedagain, but only succeeded in repeating the word. Then he blurted out hisnext question.
"Who'd you buy them shares for?"
"Eh? For?"
"Yes, for. Who did you buy Cap'n Jeth's and Martha's stock for? Who gotyou to buy it? 'Twasn't the Trust Company crowd, was it?"
"The Trust Company? I beg pardon? Oh, I see--I see. Dear me, no. Ibought the stock myself, quite on my own responsibility, Mr. Pulcifer."
Raish could not believe it. "You bought it yourself!" he repeated. "No,no, you don't get me. I mean whose money paid for it?"
"Why, my own."
Still it was plain that Horatio did not believe. As a matter of fact,the conviction that Galusha Bangs was poverty-stricken was so thoroughlyimplanted in the Pulcifer mind that not even a succession of earthquakeslike the recent disclosures could shake it loose. But Raish did notpress the point, for at that moment a new thought came to him. Hisexpression changed and his tone changed with it.
"Say, Bangs," demanded he, eagerly, "do you mean you've still got thatsix hundred and fifty Development? Mean you ain't turned 'em over yet toanybody else?"
"Eh? Why, no, Mr. Pulcifer, I haven't--ah--turned them over to any oneelse."
"Good! Fust-rate! Fine and dandy! You and me can trade yet. You're allright, Perfessor, you are. You've kind of put one acrost on me, butdon't make the mistake of thinkin' I'm holdin' that against you. No,sir-ee! When a feller's smart enough to keep even with your Uncle Raishin a deal then I know he gets up early--yes, sir, early, and that's whenI get up myself. Hey, Perfessor? Haw, haw! Now, I tell you: Let's youand me go down to my office or somewheres where we can talk business.Maybe I might want to buy that stock yet, you can't tell. Hey? Haw,haw!"
He was exuding geniality now. But just here Mr. Augustus Cabot spoke.Judging by his face, he had enjoyed the passage at arms between hiscousin and his business agent hugely. Now he entered the lists.
"That's all right, Pulcifer," he said. "You needn't trouble. I'll lookout for that stock, myself."
Horatio turned and stared. He had scarcely noticed the visitor before,now he looked him over from head to foot.
"Hey? What's that?" he demanded. Cabot repeated his statement. Raishsnorted.
"You'll look after the stock!" he repeated. "YOU will? Who are you?"
Cousin Gussie tossed a card across the table. "Cabot is my name," hesaid.
Galusha suddenly remembered.
"Oh, dear me!" he exclaimed. "I--I forgot. Please forgive me.Cousin Gussie, this is Mr. Pulcifer. Mr. Pulcifer, this gentleman ismy--ah--Cousin Gu--I mean my cousin, Mr. Cabot, from Boston."
But Mr. Pulcifer did not hear. He was staring at the names of theindividual and of the firm upon the card and icy fingers were playingtunes up and down his vertebrae. For the second time that morning hecould not speak. Cabot laughed.
"It's all right, Pulcifer," he said, reassuringly. "You won't have toworry about the Development matter any longer. I'll handle the rest ofit. Oh, you did your best. I'm not blaming you. I'll see that you get afair return, even if you couldn't quite deliver. But you must keep stillabout the whole thing, of course."
Raish breathed heavily. Slowly the icy fingers ceased trifling withhis spine and that backbone began to develop--quoting Miss Phipps'description--at least one new joint to every foot. He suppled visibly.He expressed himself with feeling. He begged the honor of shaking handswith the great man from Boston. Then he shook hands with Galusha andMiss Phipps. If Primmie had been present doubtless he would haveshaken hands with her. When Cabot suggested that the interview had bestterminate, he agreed with unction and oozed, rather than walked, throughthat doorway. Watching from the window, they saw him stop when hereached the road, draw a long breath, take a cigar from his pocket,light it, hitch his cap a trifle to one side, and stride away, a movingpicture of still unshaken and serene self-confidence.
Cabot laughed delightedly. "That fellow is a joy forever," he declared."He's one of the seven wonders of the world."
Martha sniffed. "Then the world better keep a sharp watch on the othersix," was her comment. "I wouldn't trust Raish Pulcifer alonewith Bunker Hill monument--not if 'twas a dark night and he had awheelbarrow."
Lulie came rushing from the sitting room. She had heard all thePulcifer-Bangs' dialogue and her one desire was to thank Galusha. ButGalusha was not present. While Martha and Mr. Cabot were at the windowwatching the departure of Raish, the little man had left the room.
"But I must see him," cried Lulie. "Oh, Martha, just think! He isresponsible for EVERYTHING. Not only for sending father the PsychicalSociety books, but for planning all that happened at the seance. Youheard what Raish said. He said that Mr. Bangs put him up to bribingMarietta to pretend getting the message ordering father to sell hisstock. Why, if that is true--and, of course, it must be--and if--ifNelson and I should--if it SHOULD end right for us--why, Martha, he willbe the one who made it possible. Oh, do you believe he did plan it, asRaish said?"
Martha nodded and turned away. "He seems to have spent most of his timeplannin' for other folks," she said.
"He didn't come through the sitting room," said Lulie, "so he must be inthe kitchen with Primmie. I'm going to find
him."
But she did not find him. Primmie said that Mr. Bangs had come out intothe kitchen, taken his hat and coat, and left the house by the backdoor. Looking from that door, they saw his diminutive figure, already agood distance off, moving across the fields.
"He's on his way to the graveyard," declared Primmie. Cabot wasstartled.
"On his way to the graveyard!" he repeated. "Why, he looked remarkablywell to me. What do you mean?"
Lulie laughingly explained. A few minutes later, declaring that she mustleave her father alone no longer, she hurried away. Martha watched hergo.
"She scarcely knows there is ground under her feet," she observed. "Alight heart makes easy ballast, so my father used to say."
Cabot expressed his intention of starting for the city shortly afternoon.
"Now that I know where those missing shares are, I can go with an easyconscience," he said. "I came 'way down here to get them and the fasterI came the farther off they were. Ha, ha! It's a great joke. I've hada wonderful time, Miss Phipps. Well, I must see Galusha and get him tosell that stock to me. I don't anticipate much difficulty. The old boydidn't even know nor care where Barbour had put it."
Martha seemed to hesitate a moment. Then she said: "Mr. Cabot, I wonderif you could spare a few minutes. I want to talk with you aboutthe money I owe--the money he GAVE me--for that stock, and a littleabout--about your cousin himself. Last night when you spoke of him Iwas--well, I was excited and upset and I didn't treat you very well, I'mafraid. I'm sorry, but perhaps you'll excuse me, considerin' all thathad happened. Now I want to ask you one or two questions. There are somethings I don't--I can't quite understand."
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