CHAPTER XXX
GREEN CHARTREUSE
There is a common law of character which is greater than the canons. Itfills many volumes of records in the high court of Experience, and weadd to it daily by our instinctive decisions in small matters; but onlythe finer natures, highly endowed with discernment, master itsintricacies. The decalogue is a safe guidepost on the great highway oflife; but it does not avail the lost pilgrim who stumbles in remoteby-paths. The spirit is the only arbiter of the nicer distinctionsbetween right and wrong. James Wheaton did not steal; he would do nomurder; he was not even unusually covetous. If the tests which Destinyapplied to him had related to the great fundamentals of conduct, hewould not have been found wanting; but they were directed againstseemingly unimportant weaknesses, along the lines of his leastresistance to evil.
A week had passed since Saxton's appointment to the receivership andWheaton went to and from his work with many misgivings. Several ofWheaton's friends had confided to him their belief that he ought to havebeen appointed receiver instead of Saxton, and there was little that hecould say to this, except that he had no time for it. He had becomenervous and distraught, and was irritable under the jesting of hisassociates at The Bachelors'. There was a good deal of joking at theirtable for several days after Saxton's appointment over Margrave'sdiscomfiture, to which Wheaton contributed little. He felt decidedly illat ease under it. Thompson, the cashier, had come home, and Wheatonfound his presence irksome.
He had seen Margrave several times at the club since their lastinterview at the bank and Margrave had nodded distantly, as if he hardlyremembered Wheaton. Wheaton assumed that sooner or later Margrave wouldoffer to pay him for his shares of Traction stock. But while the loss ofhis own certificate, under all the circumstances, did not trouble him,Margrave's appropriation of Evelyn Porter's shares was an unpleasantfact that haunted all his waking hours.
One evening, a week after the receivership incident, he resolved to goto Margrave and demand, at any hazard, the return of Evelyn'scertificate. The idea seized firm hold upon him, and he set out at oncefor Margrave's house. He inquired for Margrave at the door, and the maidasked him to go into the library. They were entertaining at dinner, shetold him, and he said he would wait. He walked nervously up and down inthe well-appointed library, where Warry Raridan's purchases looked outat him from the solid mahogany bookcases. He heard the hum of voicesfaintly from the dining-room.
He picked up a magazine and tried to read, but the printed pages did nothold his eyes. He did not know how Margrave would treat him, and hewould have escaped from the house if he had dared. Margrave came inpresently, fat and ugly in his evening clothes. He welcomed Wheatonnoisily and introduced him to his guests, two directors of theTranscontinental and their wives, who were passing through town on theirway to California.
Mrs. Margrave and Mabel greeted Wheaton cordially. Mabel was dressed toimpress the ladies from New York, and was succeeding. The colored butlerpassed coffee and cigars and green chartreuse, and when Wheaton declineda cigar, Mabel brought him a cigarette from the taboret from which "TheMen" were helped to such trifles. Mrs. Margrave was oppressed by thepresence in her home of so many millions and so much social distinctionas her guests represented, and she contributed only murmurs of assent tothe conversation which Mabel led with ease, discoursing in her mostTyringhamesque manner of yacht races, horse shows and like matters ofmetropolitan interest. Wheaton was glad now that he had come; Margrave'sguests were people worth meeting; he liked the talk, and the chartreusegave elegance to the occasion.
Margrave accommodated his heavy frame to the soft indulgence of a hugeleather chair and drained the liqueur from his glass at a gulp.
"Well, gentlemen, I'm glad Mr. Wheaton could drop in to-night. He's afriend of the road and of ours. If everybody treated theTranscontinental as well as he does,--well, a good many things would bedifferent!"
He looked at Wheaton admiringly, and his guests followed his gaze withpolite interest.
"Why, gentlemen," said Margrave, straining forward until his face waspurple, "Wheaton did his level best for me in that Traction deal; yes,sir, he worked with us on that, and if it hadn't been for that fooljudge we'd have had it all fixed." He leaned back and nodded at Wheatonbenignantly.
Wheaton had merely murmured at intervals during this deliverance. He didnot know what Margrave meant. He moved over by Mrs. Margrave and triedto make talk with her. As soon as he felt that he could go decently, herose and shook hands with the visiting gentlemen and bowed to theladies. Margrave took him by the arm with an air of great intimacy andaffection and walked with him to the hall, where he made much of helpingWheaton into his overcoat.
"I wanted to see you on a business matter," Wheaton began, in a lowtone.
"Oh, yes," said Margrave loudly, "I forgot to mail you that check. I'vebeen terribly rushed lately; but in time, my boy, in time!"
The people in the library could hardly have failed to hear every word.
"Oh, not that, not that! I mean that other certificate." Wheaton wastrying to drop the conversation to a whispering basis as he drew on hisgloves. Margrave had again taken his arm and was walking with him towardthe front door, talking gustily all the while. He swung the door openand followed Wheaton out upon the front step.
"A glorious night! glorious!" he ejaculated, puffing from his walk. Hishand wandered up Wheaton's arm until it reached his collar, and after hehad allowed his fingers to grasp this lingeringly, he gave Wheaton asudden push forward, still holding his collar, then raised his fat legand kicked him from the step.
"Come again, Jim?" he called pleasantly, as he backed within the doorand closed it to return to his guests.
Wheaton reached his room, filled with righteous indignation. He mighthave known that a coarse fellow like Margrave cared only for people whomhe could control; and he decided after a night of reflection that he hadacted handsomely in saving Porter's package of securities from Margravethe night of the encounter at the bank. The more he thought of it, themore certain he grew that he could, if it became necessary to protecthimself in any way, turn the tables on Margrave. He called Margrave ascoundrel in his thoughts, and was half persuaded to go at once toFenton and explain why Margrave had been at the bank on the night thatFenton had found him there.
Wheaton continued to call at the Porters' daily to make inquiry for thehead of the house. On some of these occasions he saw Evelyn, but Mrs.Whipple, whose staying qualities were born of a rigid military sense ofduty, was always there; and he had not seen Evelyn alone since she gavehim her father's key. Other young men, friends of Evelyn, called, hefound, just as he did, to make inquiry about Mr. Porter. Mrs. Whipplehad a way of saying very artlessly, and with a little sigh that carriedweight, that Mr. Raridan was so very kind. Wheaton wanted to be verykind himself, but he never happened to be about when the servants werebusy and there were important prescriptions to be filled at theapothecary's.
On the whole he was very miserable and when, one morning, whilePorter's condition was still precarious, he received a letter fromSnyder, postmarked Spokane, declaring that money was immediatelyrequired to support him until he could find work, he closed that issuefinally in a brief letter which was not couched in diplomatic language.The four days that were necessary for the delivery of this letter hadhardly passed before Wheaton received a telegram sharply demanding aremittance by wire. This Wheaton did not answer; he had done all that heintended to do for William Snyder, who was well out of the way, and muchmore safely so if he had no money. The correspondence was not at an end,however, for a threatening letter in Snyder's eccentric orthographyfollowed, and this, too, Wheaton dropped into his waste paper basket anddismissed from his mind.
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