CHAPTER XL
SHIFTED BURDENS
Porter insisted that Margrave should not have the Traction Company atany price, though the general manager of the Transcontinental waspersistent in his offers. As Margrave did not care to deal with Porter,who was not, he complained, "an easy trader," he negotiated with Fentonand Saxton. After several weeks of ineffectual effort he concluded thatFenton and Saxton were almost as difficult. He called Saxton a "stubbornbrute" to Saxton's face; but offered to continue him in a responsibleposition with the company if he would help him with the purchase. Hestill wanted to control the company for political reasons, but there wasalso the fact of his having invested the money of several of his friendsin the Transcontinental directorate, prior to the last annual meeting.
These gentlemen had begun to inquire in a respectful way when Margravewas going to effect the _coup_ which, he had been assuring them, he hadplanned. They had, they were aware, no rights as against thebondholders; and as Margrave understood this perfectly well, he was veryanxious to buy in the property at receiver's sale for an amount thatwould satisfy Porter and his allies, and give him a chance to "squarehimself," as he put it. This required additional money, but he was ableto command it from his "people," for the receiver had demonstrated thatthe property could be made to pay. While these negotiations werepending, Saxton and Fenton were able to satisfy their curiosity as tothe relations which had existed between Wheaton and Margrave. Margravehad no shame in confessing just what had passed between them; he viewedit all as a joke, and explained, without compunction, exactly the mannerin which he had come by the shares which had belonged to Evelyn Porterand James Wheaton.
When Saxton came back from Colorado, Porter was ill again, and Fentonwas seriously disposed to accept a price which Margrave's syndicate hadoffered. Margrave's position had grown uncomfortable; he had to gethimself and "his people" out of a scrape at any cost. His plight pleasedFenton, who tried to make Porter see the irony of it; and this view ofit, as much as the high offer, finally prevailed upon him. He saw atlast the futility of securing and managing the property for himself; hishealth had become a matter of concern, and Fenton insisted that a streetrailway company would prove no easier to manage than a bank.
Porter was, as John had said, "a peculiar brick," and after the finalorders of the court had been made, and Saxton's fees allowed, Portersent him a check for five thousand dollars, without comment. Fenton madehim keep it; Porter had done well in Traction and he owed much to John;but John protested that he preferred being thanked to being tipped; butthe lawyer persuaded him at last that the idiosyncrasies of the richought to be respected.
Porter felt his burdens slipping from him with unexpected satisfaction.He grew jaunty in his old way as he chid his contemporaries and friendsfor holding on; as for himself, he told them, he intended "to dierested," and he adjusted his affairs so that they would give him littletrouble in the future. The cottage which he had bought on the NorthShore was a place they had all admired the previous summer. Porter hadliked it because there was enough ground to afford the lawn and flowerbeds which he cultivated with so much satisfaction at home. The placewas called "Red Gables," and Porter had bought it with its furniture, sothat there was little to do in taking possession but to move in. TheWhipples were their first guests, going to them in mid-July, when theywere fully installed.
The elder Bostonians whom Porter had met the previous summer promptlyrenewed their acquaintance with him. He had attained, in their eyes, anew dignity in becoming a cottager. The previous owner of "Red Gables"had lately failed in business and they found in the advent of thePorters a sign of the replenishing of the East from the West, whichinterested them philosophically. Porter lacked their own repose, butthey liked to hear him talk. He was amusing and interesting, and theyhad already found his prophecies concerning the markets trustworthy. Theladies of their families heard with horror his views on the Indianquestion, which were not romantic, nor touched with the spirit of Bostonphilanthropy; but his daughter was lovely, they said, and her accent waswholly inoffensive.
So the Porters were well received, and Evelyn was glad to find herfather accepting his new leisure so complacently. She and Mrs. Whippleagreed that he and the general were as handsome and interesting as anyof the elderly Bostonians among their neighbors; and they undoubtedlywere so.
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