CHAPTER XVII
Galusha had some difficulty in falling asleep that night. The habit ofdropping into a peaceful and dreamless slumber within five minutes afterblowing out his lamp, a habit which had been his for the past month, wasbroken. He had almost succeeded in forgetting the Wellmouth DevelopmentCompany. His distress of mind and conscience concerning his dealingswith it had very nearly vanished also. He had been forced into deceit tosave Martha Phipps from great trouble, and the end justified the means.Having reached that conclusion in his thinking, he had firmly resolvedto put the whole matter from his mind.
His one plunge into the pool of finance he had come to believe destinednever to be revealed. No one had mentioned the Development Company orits stock for weeks. It was, apparently, dead and satisfactorily buried,and the Bangs' secret was entombed with it.
And now, if Martha's surmise was correct, here was a "resurrection man,"in the person of Mr. Horatio Pulcifer, hanging about the cemetery. Thecapacity for hating was not in Galusha's make-up. He found it difficultto dislike any one strongly. But he could come nearer to disliking RaishPulcifer than any one else, and now to dislike was added resentment.Why in the world should this Pulcifer person interfere with his peace ofmind?
In the morning, and with the bright September sunshine streaming intothe room, his disquietude of the previous night seemed rather foolish.No doubt Miss Martha had been mistaken; perhaps Horatio had not had anyidea of buying her shares. Martha herself seemed a little doubtful.
"I've been thinkin' it over," she said, "and I wonder if I just imaginedthat's what he was after. It seems almost as if I must have. I can'tthink of any sensible reason why a man who was so dreadfully anxious tosell, and only a little while ago, should be wantin' to buy now. Perhapshe didn't mean anything of the kind."
Galusha comforted himself with the thought that this was, in allprobability, the truth: Miss Martha had misinterpreted the Pulciferpurpose; Raish had not meant anything of the kind.
But the comfort was short-lived. A few days later Doctor Powers calledat the Phipps' home. After he had gone Martha came to the sitting room,where her lodger was reading the paper, and, closing the door behindher, said:
"Mr. Bangs, I guess I was right, after all. Raish Pulcifer WAS hintin'at buyin' my Wellmouth Development stock."
Galusha dropped the paper in his lap. "Oh, dear! I--I mean, dear me!" heobserved.
"Yes, I guess there isn't much doubt of it. Doctor Powers came here totell me that he had sold his shares to him and that Eben Snow and JimHenry Willis have sold theirs in the same place. He says he doesn'tknow for certain, but he thinks Raish has bought out all the littlestockholders. He's been quietly buyin' the Development stock for thelast week."
Mr. Bangs took off his spectacles and put them on again.
"Good gracious!" he stammered.
"That's what Doctor Powers says. He stopped in, just as an old friend,to drop the hint to me, so that I could be ready when Raish came to buymine. I asked him what the Pulcifer man was payin' for the stock. Hesaid as little as he had to, as near as he could find out. Of course, noone was supposed to tell a word about it--Raish had asked 'em not to dothat--but SOMEBODY told, and then it all began to come out. As a matterof fact, you might as well ask water to run up hill as to ask Jim Willisto keep quiet about his own business or keep out of any one else's. Theprice paid, so the doctor says he's heard, runs all the way from eightdollars a share up to fourteen and a half. Poor old Mrs. Badger--DariusBadger's widow--got the eight dollars. She was somethin' like me, Iguess--had given up the idea of ever gettin' a cent--and so she tookthe first offer Raish made her. Eben Snow got the fourteen and a half,I believe, the highest price. He needed it less than anybody else, whichis usually the way. Doctor Powers sold his for twelve and a half. Saidhe thought, when he was doin' it, that he was mighty lucky. Now hewishes he hadn't sold at all, but had waited. 'Don't sell yours for apenny less than fifteen, Martha,' he told me. 'There's somethin' up.Either Raish has heard somethin' and is buyin' for a speculation,or else he's actin' as somebody else's agent.' What did you say, Mr.Bangs?"
Galusha had not said anything; and what he said now was neitherbrilliant nor original.
"Dear me, dear me!" he murmured. Martha looked at him, keenly.
"Why, what is it, Mr. Bangs?" she asked. "Raish's buyin' the stock won'tmake any difference to you, will it?"
"Eh?... To ME? Why--why, of course not. Dear me, no. Why--ah--how couldit make any difference to me?"
"I didn't mean you, yourself. I meant to the Cabot, Bancroft and Cabotpeople, or whoever it was that bought my stock."
"Oh--oh, oh! To them? Oh, yes, yes! I thought for the moment youreferred to me personally. Ha, ha! That would have been very--ah--funny,wouldn't it? No, I don't think it will make any difference toCousin--ah--I mean to the purchasers of your shares. No, no,indeed--ah--yes. Quite so."
If Miss Phipps noticed a slight incoherence in this speech, she did notcomment upon it. Galusha blinked behind his spectacles and passed a handacross his forehead. His landlady continued her story.
"I asked Doctor Powers what reason Raish was givin' people for hisbuyin'. The doctor said he gave reasons enough, but they weren't verysatisfyin' ones to a thinkin' person. Raish said he owned a big block ofthe stock himself and yet it wasn't big enough to give him much say asto what should be done with the company. Of course, nothin' could bedone with it at present, but still some time there might and so hethought he might as well be hung for an old sheep as a lamb and buy inwhat he could get, provided he could get it cheap enough. He had come tothe doctor first, he said. Ha, ha! That was kind of funny."
"Eh?... Oh, yes, certainly.... Of course."
"But I haven't told you yet why it was funny. It seems he told everyperson he went to that he or she was the first. Doctor Powers prideshimself on bein' a pretty good business man and I guess it provoked himto find that Raish had fooled him into takin' a lower price than someof the rest got. He said as much to me. He said that he agreed with whatRaish said, that about he might as well be hung for an old sheep as alamb. So long as he WAS hung, so the doctor said, he didn't care what itwas for."
She laughed again and her lodger smiled, although rather feebly. Hemurmured that it was very amusing.
"Yes, wasn't it?" said Martha. "Well, the doctor was very anxious thatI should not sell at a cent less than fifteen dollars a share. I wonderwhat he, or Raish Pulcifer either, would say if they knew I HAD soldalready, and for as much as father paid, too. Oh, I wonder if Raishhas been to see Cap'n Jeth yet. He won't buy HIS shares for any eightdollars a piece, he can be sure of that."
Galusha nodded; he was sure of it, too.
"But," said Martha, ending the conversation for the time, "why do yousuppose Raish is buyin' at all? What is goin' on, anyway?"
She was by no means the only one who was asking that question. Threedays later Captain Jethro asked Galusha the same thing. They met in thelane leading to the village and the light keeper approached the subjectwithout preamble.
"Say, Mr. Bangs," he demanded, "what's Raish Pulcifer cal'late he'sdoin'?"
Galusha smiled. "I thank you for the compliment, CaptainHallett," he said, "but my intuition cannot keep pace with Mr.Pulcifer's--ah--calculations. No, indeed."
Jethro pulled his beard. "I asked you," he said, solemnly, "what RaishPulcifer cal'lated he was doin' buyin' up Development stock? Do youknow?"
"No. Is he buying it?"
"If you ain't heard that he is, you're about the only one in EastWellmouth. Ain't you heard it?"
Galusha would have liked to change the subject, but with Jethro Hallettthat was not an easy task, as he knew from experience. He did notimmediately make the attempt.
"Why--ah--yes," he admitted. "I have heard that he hasbought--ah--some."
"Um-hm. Who told you; Martha?"
"Why--why--really, Captain, I don't know that I ought--You'll pardon me,but--"
"Been tryin' to buy Martha's, has he?"
Galusha
sighed. "Have you noticed," he suggested, "what a remarkableview one gets from this point? The village and the bay in front, and, inthe rear, the--ah--light and the--ah--rest. Quite remarkable, don't youthink so, Captain?"
Captain Jethro looked gravely at the view.
"Raish been to see Martha about buyin' her stock, has he?" he asked.
Galusha rubbed his chin. "I have often wondered," he said, "why nosummer cottage has been built just here. The spot would seem to possessvery marked advantages. Very--ah--very much so."
The light keeper cleared his throat. "Zach said he see Raish comin' outof your gate t'other day," he said. "Been to see Martha about her sharesthen, had he?"
"The--ah--proximity to the main road is an advantage in particular,"Galusha continued. "One would be near it and yet, so to speak, secludedfrom it. Really, a very exceptional spot, Captain Hallett."
Captain Jethro stroked his beard, frowned, and gazed steadily at theface of the little archaeologist. Galusha gazed serenely and with apleased interest at the view. After a moment the light keeper said:"He's been after mine, too."
"Eh?... Oh, indeed? You mean--"
"I mean Raish Pulcifer's been tryin' to buy my Development stock same ashe has Martha's. Hey? What say?"
"I said nothing, Captain. Not a word, really"
"Humph!... Well, he's been tryin' to buy mine, anyway. And, nigh's asI can find out, he's bought every loose share there is. All hands aretalkin' about it now; some of 'em are wonderin' if they hadn't betterhave hung on. Eben Snow came to me this mornin' and he says, 'I don'tknow whether I did right to let go of that stock of mine or not,' hesays. 'What do you think, Jeth?' I haven't got much use for Eben,and ain't had for years; I went to sea with him one v'yage and thatgenerally tells a man's story. I've seen him at church sociables--in thedays when I wasted my time goin' to such things--spend as much asfive minutes decidin' whether to take a doughnut or a piece of pie. Hecouldn't eat both, but he was afraid whichever he took the other mightturn out to be better. So when he asked me my opinion about his sellin'his Development, I gave it to him. 'You've been wantin' to sell, ain'tyou?' says I. 'I've heard you whinin' around for months because youcouldn't sell. Now you HAVE sold. What more do you want?' He got mad.'You ain't sold YOUR holdin's at any fourteen dollars a share, haveyou?' he says. I told him I hadn't. 'No, and I'll bet you won't,either,' says he. I told him he'd make money if he could get somebody totake the bet. Humph! the swab!"
For the first time Galusha asked a direct question.
"Did--ah--Mr. Pulcifer actually--ah--bid for your Development shares,Captain Hallett?" he inquired.
"Oh, he come as nigh to doin' it as I'd let him. Hinted maybe that he'dgive me as much as he did Snow, fourteen fifty. I laughed at him.I asked him what made him so reckless, when, the last time he and Italked, he was tryin' to sell me his own shares for ten. And now hewanted to buy mine at fourteen and a half!"
"And--ah--what reason did he give for his change of heart? Or didn't hegive any?"
"Humph! Yes, he gave a shipload of reasons, but there wouldn't anyone of 'em float if 'twas hove overboard. He ain't buyin' on his ownaccount, that I KNOW."
"Oh--ah--do you, indeed. May I ask why you are so certain?"
"For two reasons. First, because Raish ain't got money enough of his ownto do any such thing. Second, and the main reason why I know he ain'tbuyin' for himself is because he says he is. Anybody that knows Raishknows that's reason enough."
Galusha ventured one more question.
"When he--ah--approached you, did you--that is, what excuse did you givehim for--for your lack of interest, so to speak?"
"Hey? I didn't give him any. And I didn't tell him I wasn't interested.I am interested--to see how far he'll go. I sha'n't tell him I've soldalready, Mr. Bangs; your Boston friends needn't worry about that. When Isign articles I stick to my contract."
They had reached the Phipps' gate by this time and there they parted.The light keeper strode off, rolling heavily, his beard blowingacross his shoulder. He had been, for him, remarkably good-humored andtalkative. Galusha was inclined to attribute the good humor to the factthat Captain Jethro considered he had made a good bargain in selling hisown shares at a price so much higher than that obtained by Snow and therest. The next time they conversed the good humor was not as apparent.But that occasion was almost a fortnight later.
And, meantime, Mr. Pulcifer had become the center of interest in EastWellmouth and its neighborhood. An important figure he always was,particularly in his own estimation, but now the spotlight of publicitywhich beat upon his ample figure had in its rays the blue tinge ofmystery. The question which all Wellmouth was asking was that whichCaptain Jethro had asked Mr. Bangs: "What is Raish up to now?"
And Mr. Pulcifer firmly refused to answer that question. Or, to bemore exact, he always answered it, but the answers were not consideredconvincing. Some pretended to be satisfied with his offhand declarationthat he "had a little chunk of the stock and just presumed likely Imight as well have a little more. Ain't nothin' to make a fuss about,anyhow." A few pretended to accept this explanation as bona fide, butthe remainder, the majority, received it with open incredulity.
The oddest part of it all was the fact that the great Horatio appearedto dislike the prominent position which his activities held in thecommunity mind. Ordinarily prominence had been the delight of his soul.In every political campaign, wherever the limelight shone brightestthere had strutted Mr. Pulcifer, cigar in mouth, hat over one eye,serene self-satisfaction in the possession of mysterious knowledgeradiating from his person. He loved that sort of thing; to be thepossessor of "inside information," however slight, or even to bepopularly supposed to possess it, had hitherto been the meat upon whichthis, Wellmouth's, Caesar, fed and grew great.
But Raish was not enjoying this particular meal. And his attitudewas not pretense, either; it was obvious that the more East Wellmouthdiscussed his buying the Development stock the less he liked it. Whenhis fellow townsmen questioned him he grew peevish.
"Oh, forget it!" he exclaimed to one of the unfortunate who came seekinginformation. "You make me tired, Jim Fletcher, you and Ras Beebe and thewhole gang. By cripes, a feller can't as much as take a five cent cigarout of his pocket without all hands tryin' to make a--a molehill out ofit. Forget it, I tell you!"
Mr. Fletcher was a simple soul, decidedly not one of East Wellmouth'sintellectual aristocracy, but he was persistent.
"Aw, hold on, Raish," he expostulated, "I never said a word about yourtakin' a five cent cigar out of your pocket.... Er--er--you ain't takenone out, have you?"
"No, and I ain't goin' to--not now."
"All right--all right. _I_ never asked you. All I said was--"
"I know what you said."
"Why, no, you don't neither. You're all mixed up. Nobody's said anythingabout cigars, or makin'--er--er--What was it you said they made?"
"Oh, nothin', nothin'. A molehill is what I said."
"What kind of a hill?"
"A molehill. Didn't you ever hear of a ground mole, for heaven sakes?"
"Course I've heard of a ground mole! But what's a ground mole got to dowith a cigar, I want to know? And you said a moleHILL. What's a groundmole doin' up on a hill?"
"Not up ON one--IN one. A molehill is what a ground mole lives in, ain'tit? It's just a sayin'.... Oh, never mind! Go on! Take a walk."
"_I_ don't want to walk. And a ground mole lives in a hole, not a hill,like a--like a ant. You know that as well as I do. And, anyhow, nobodysaid anything about ground moles, or--or mud turtles neither, far's thatgoes. No, nor five cent cigars. Now, Raish, I'll tell you what they'resayin'; they say--"
"And I'll tell YOU! Listen! Listen, now, because this is the last timeI'll tell anybody anything except to go--"
"Sshh, shh, Raish! Alvira's right in the kitchen and the window'sopen.... No, 'tain't, it's shut. Where will they go?"
"Listen, you! I've bought those few extra shares of Development becauseI had some myself and
thought I might as well have a few more. I bought'em and I paid for 'em. Nobody says I ain't paid for 'em, do they?"
"No, no. Don't anybody say that. All they say IS--"
"Be still! Now I bought those shares. What of it? It's my business,ain't it? Yes. And I haven't bought any more. You can tell 'em that: IHAVEN'T BOUGHT ANY MORE."
"Oh, all right, Raish, all right. I'll tell 'em you ain't. But--"
"That's all. Now forget it! For-GET it!"
Which should, perhaps, have been sufficient and convincing. But therewere still some unconvinced. For example, Martha happened to meet onemorning, while on an errand in the village, the president of the DenboroTrust Company. He explained that he had motored over, having a littlematter of personal business to attend to.
"I haven't seen you for some time, Miss Phipps," he observed. "Not sinceour--er--little talk about the Wellmouth Development stock. That was thelast time, wasn't it?"
Martha said that it was. He lowered his voice a very little and asked,casually: "Still holding on to your two hundred and fifty shares, areyou?"
"Why, that was what you told me to do, wasn't it?"
"Yes, yes. I believe it was. Humph! Just so, yes. So you've still gotthose shares?"
Martha smiled. "I haven't sold 'em to Raish Pulcifer, if that's whatyou're hintin' at," she said.
He seemed a bit embarrassed. "Well," he admitted, with a laugh, "I guessI'll have to own that I did mean that. There seems to be a good many whohave sold to Pulcifer. All the little fellows, the small holders. Youhaven't, you say?"
"I haven't sold a share to him."
"Humph! Neither has Cap'n Jeth Hallett; he told me so just now....Hum!... What is Raish buying for? What's the reason he's buying? Haveyou heard?"
"I've heard what he's told other folks; that's all I know about it."
"Hum.... Yes, yes. Well, here's my advice, Miss Phipps: If I wereyou--if I were you, I say, and he came to me and wanted to buy, Ishouldn't be in too big a hurry to sell. Not in too big a hurry, Ishouldn't."
"Why not?"
He glanced at her quickly. "Oh, he HAS been to see you about buying yourshares, then?" he suggested.
She shook her head. "I didn't say he had," she replied. "I just askedwhy I shouldn't sell if he wanted to buy, that's all. Why shouldn't I?"
He seemed more embarrassed and a trifle irritated.
"Why--why--Oh, well, I suppose you should, perhaps, if he offers youenough. But I wish you wouldn't until--until--Well, couldn't you let meknow before you give him his answer? Would you mind doing that?"
And now she looked keenly at him. "What would I gain by that?" sheasked. "YOU aren't thinkin' of buyin' more of that stock, are you? Theother time when we talked, you told me the Trust Company had all theycared to own and were keepin' it because they had to. I would have beenglad--yes, awfully glad, to sell you my shares. But you wouldn't evenconsider buyin'. Do you want to buy now?"
He frowned. "I don't know what I want," he said, impatiently. "Exceptthat the one thing we want to find out is why Pulcifer is buying. TheTrust Company holds a big block of that stock and--and if there isanything up we want to know of it."
"What do you mean by 'anything up'?"
"Oh, I mean if some other people are trying to get--er--into the thing.Of course, it isn't likely, but--"
He did not finish the sentence. She asked another question.
"Has Raish been to see you about buyin' the Trust Company stock?" sheasked.
"No. He hasn't been near us."
"Perhaps he would if you told him you wanted to sell."
"I don't know that we do want to sell. That's a pretty good piece ofproperty over there and some day--Ahem! Oh, well, never mind. But Iwish you would let us know before you sell Pulcifer your holdings. Itmight--I can't say positively, you know--but it MIGHT be worth yourwhile."
Martha, of course, made no promise, but she thought a good deal duringher walk homeward. She told her lodger of the talk with the TrustCompany official, and he thought a good deal, also.
His thoughts, however, dealt not with the possible rise in value ofthe six hundred and fifty shares which, endorsed in blank, reposed,presumably, somewhere in the vaults of Cabot, Bancroft and Cabot. Hethought not at all of anything like that. He had gotten rid of thosecertificates and hoped never to hear of them again. But now, with allthis stir and talk, there was distinct danger that not only he butothers might hear of them. Galusha Bangs and Raish Pulcifer had, justnow, one trait in common, both detested the publicity given theirdealings in the securities of the Wellmouth Development Company.
But, in spite of this detestation, Horatio still seemed anxious to dealin those securities. He visited the Phipps' home twice that week, bothtimes after dark and, as the watchful Primmie observed and commentedupon, each time coming not by the lane, but across the fields. And whenhe left, at the termination of his second visit, the expression upon hisface was by no means one of triumph.
And Martha, of course, told her lodger what had transpired.
"I declare," she said, after her caller had gone, "I shall really beginto believe somethin' IS up in that Development Company, just as theTrust Company man said. Raish certainly wants to buy the two hundred andfifty shares he thinks I've got. This is the third time he's been to seeme, sneakin' across lots in the dark so nobody else would see him,and each time he raised his bid. He got up to eighteen dollars ashare to-night. And, I do believe, if I had given him the least bit ofencouragement, he would have gone higher still. What do you think ofthat, Mr. Bangs?"
Galusha did not know what to think of it; he found it extremelyunpleasant to think of it at all.
"Have you--ah--have you told him you do not intend selling?" he asked.
"Why, no, I haven't. You see, if I do he'll think it's awfully queer,because he knows how anxious I was, a while ago, TO sell. I just keepputtin' him off. Pretty soon I suppose I shall HAVE to tell him I won'tsell no matter what he offers; but we'll try the puttin' off as longas possible." She paused, and then added, with a mischievous twinkle,"Really, Mr. Bangs, I am gettin' a good deal of fun out of it. A fewmonths ago I was the one to go to him and talk about that stock. Now hecomes to me and I'm just as high and mighty as he ever was, you can besure of that. 'Well, Raish,' I said to him to-night, 'I don't know thatI am very much interested. If the stock is worth that to you, I presumelikely it's worth it to me.' Ha, ha! Oh, dear! you should have seen himsquirm. He keeps tryin' to be buttery and sweet, but his real feelin'scome out sometimes. For instance, to-night his spite got a little toomuch for him and he said: 'Humph!' he said, 'somebody must have willedyou money lately, Martha. Either that or keepin' boarders must paypretty well.' 'Yes,' said I, 'it does. The cost of livin is comin'down all the time.' Oh, I'm havin' a beautiful game of tit-for-tat withRaish."
She laughed merrily. Galusha did not laugh. The game was altogether toorisky for him to enjoy it. A person sitting on a powder barrel couldscarcely be expected to enjoy the sight of a group of children playingwith matches in close proximity. An explosion, sooner or later, might beconsidered certain. But the children continued to play and day afterday went by, and no blow-up took place. Galusha sat upon his barrelpondering apprehensively and--waiting. There were times when, facingwhat seemed the inevitable, he found himself almost longing for thepromised summons from the Institute. An expedition to the wilds of--ofalmost anywhere, provided it was remote enough--offered at least a meansof escape. But, to offset this, was the knowledge that escape by flightinvolved giving up East Wellmouth and all it had come to mean to him.Of course, he would be obliged to give it up some day and, in allprobability, soon--but--well, he simply could not bring himself to thepoint of hastening the separation. So he shifted from the powder barrelto the sharp horn of the other dilemma and shifted back again. Bothseats were most uncomfortable. The idea that there was an element ofabsurdity in his self-imposed martyrdom and that, after all, what hehad done might be considered by the majority as commendable rather thancriminal, did not occur to hi
m at all. He would not have been GalushaCabot Bangs if it had.
He meditated much and Primmie, always on the lookout for new symptoms,noticed the meditations. When Primmie noticed a thing she neverhesitated to ask questions concerning it. She was dusting the sittingroom one morning and he was sitting by the window looking out.
"You're thinkin' again, ain't you, Mr. Bangs?" observed Primmie.
Galusha started. "Eh?" he queried. "Thinking? Oh, yes--yes!--I suppose Iwas thinking, Primmie. I--ah--sometimes do."
"You 'most always do. I never see anybody think as much as you do, Mr.Bangs. Never in my born days I never. And lately--my savin' soul! Seemsas if you didn't do nothin' BUT think lately. Just set around and thinkand twiddle that thing on your watch chain."
The thing on the watch chain was a rather odd charm which Mr. Bangs hadpossessed for many years. "Twiddling" it was a habit of his. In fact, hehad twiddled it so much that the pivot upon which it had hung broke andMartha had insisted upon his sending the charm to Boston for repairs. Ithad recently been returned.
"What is that thing, Mr. Bangs?" asked Primmie. "I was lookin' at itt'other day when you left your watch chain layin' out in the sink."
"In the sink? You mean BY the sink, don't you, Primmie?"
"No, I don't, I mean IN it. You'd forgot your watch and Miss Martha shesent me up to your room after it. I fetched it down to you and you andher was talkin' in the kitchen and you was washin' your hands in thesink basin. Don't you remember you was?"
"Was I? I--I presume I was if you say so. Really I--I have forgotten."
"Course you have. And you forgot your watch, too. Left it layin' rightalongside that tin washbasin full of soapsuds. 'Twas a mercy you didn'tempty out the suds on top of it. Well, I snaked it out of the sinkand chased out the door to give it to you and you was halfway to thelighthouse and I couldn't make you hear to save my soul. 'Twas thenI noticed that charm thing. That's an awful funny kind of thing, Mr.Bangs. There's a--a bug on it, ain't there?"
"Why--ah--yes, Primmie. That charm is a very old scarab."
"Hey? A what? I told Miss Martha it looked for all the world like apertater bug."
Galusha smiled. He held out the charm for her inspection.
"I have had that for a long time," he said. "It is a--ah--souvenir of myfirst Egyptian expedition. The scarab is a rather rare example. I foundit myself at Saqqarah, in a tomb. It is a scarab of the Vth Dynasty."
"Hey? Die--what?"
"The Vth Dynasty; that is the way we classify Egyptian--ah--relics, bydynasties, you know. The Vth Dynasty was about six thousand years ago."
Primmie sat down upon the chair she had been dusting.
"Hey?" she exclaimed. "My Lord of Isrul! Is that bug thing there sixthousand year old?"
"Yes."
"My savin' soul! WHAT kind of a bug did you say 'twas?"
"Why, I don't know that I did say. It is a representation of an Egyptianbeetle, Ateuchus Sacer, you know. The ancient Egyptians worshiped thebeetle and so they--"
"Wait! Wait a minute, Mr. Bangs. WHAT did you say they done to it?"
"I said they worshiped it, made a god of it, you understand."
"A god! Out of a--a pertater bug! Go long, Mr. Bangs! You're foolin',ain't you?"
"Dear me, no! It's quite true, Primmie, really. The ancient Egyptianshad many gods, some like human beings, some in the forms of animals. Thegoddess Hathor, for example, was the goddess of the dead and is alwaysrepresented in the shape of a cow."
"Eh! A cow! Do you mean to sit there and tell me themfolks--er--er--went to church meetin' and--and flopped down and saidtheir prayers to a COW?"
Galusha smiled. "Why, yes," he said, "I presume you might call it that.And another god of theirs had the head of a hawk--the bird, you know.The cat, too, was a very sacred animal. And, as I say, the beetle, likethe one represented here, was--"
"Hold on, Mr. Bangs! HO-OLD on! Don't say no more to me NOW. Let me kindof--of settle my stomach, as you might say, 'fore you fetch any moreonto the table. Worshipin' cows and--and henhawks and--and cats and bugsand--and hoptoads and clams, for what _I_ know! My savin' soul! Whatmade 'em do it? What did they do it FOR? Was they all crazy?"
"Oh, no, it was the custom of their race and time."
"WELL!" with a heartfelt sigh, "I'm glad times have changed, that'sall I've got to say. Goin' to cow meetin' would be too much for ME! Mr.Bangs, where did you get that bug thing?"
"I found it at a place called Saqqarah, in Egypt. It was in a tombthere."
"A tomb! What was you doin' in a tomb, for the land sakes?"
"I was opening it, looking for mummies and carvings, statues, relics,anything of the kind I might find. This scarab was in a ring on thefinger of the mummy of a woman. She was the wife of an officer in theroyal court. The mummy case was excellently preserved and when the mummyitself was unwrapped--"
"Wait a minute! Hold on just another minute, won't you, Mr. Bangs?You're always talkin' about mummies. A mummy is a--a kind of an image,ain't it? I've seen pictures of 'em in them printed report things youget from that Washin'ton place. An image with funny scrabblin' andpictures, kind of, all over it. That's a mummy, ain't it, Mr. Bangs?"
"Why, not exactly, Primmie. A mummy is--"
He proceeded to tell her much concerning mummies. From that he went onto describe the finding of the particular mummy from whose finger thescarab had been taken. Miss Cash listened, her mouth and eyes openingwider and wider. She appeared to be slowly stiffening in her chair.Galusha, growing interested in his own story, was waxing almosteloquent, when he was interrupted by a gasp from his listener. She wasstaring at him, her face expressing the utmost horror.
"Why, dear me, Primmie, what is it?" he begged.
Primmie gasped again. "And you set there," she said, slowly, "and tellme that you hauled that poor critter that had been buried six thousandyears out of--of--My Lord of Isrul! Don't talk no more to me now, Mr.Bangs. I sha'n't sleep none THIS night!" She marched to the door andthere, turning, looked at him in awe-stricken amazement.
"And to think," she said, slowly, "that I always cal'lated you was meekand gentle and--and all like that--as Moses's grandmother. WELL, it justshows you can't tell much by a person's LOOKS. Haulin' 'em out of theirgraves and--and unwrappin' 'em like--like bundles, and cartin' 'em offto museums. And thinkin' no more of it than I would of--of scalin' aflatfish. My savin' soul!"
She breathed heavily once more and departed. That evening she cameto her mistress with a new hint concerning the reason for the Bangs'absent-mindedness.
"It's his conscience," she declared. "He's broodin', that's what he'sdoin'. Broodin' and broodin' over them poor remains in the showcasesin the museums. He may be a good man; I don't say he ain't. He's justlovely NOW, and that's why his conscience keeps a-broodin', poor thing.Oh, I know what I'm talkin' about, Miss Martha. You ask him some timewhere he got that bug thing--a Arab, he calls it--that he wears on hiswatch chain. Just ask him. You'll hear somethin' THEN, I bet you! Whew!"
Galusha found considerable amusement in talks like those. Primmie wasa distinct relief, for she never mentioned the troublesome DevelopmentCompany. Talk in the village concerning it was dying down and Mr.Pulcifer's assertion that he had bought only the shares of the smallholders was becoming more generally believed. But in the Gould's Bluffssettlement this belief was scoffed at. Captain Jeth Hallett told Galushathe truth and his statement was merely a confirmation of Martha Phipps'.
"Raish is hotfoot after that stock of mine," growled the light keeper."He's 'round to see me every day or two. Don't hint any more neither;comes right out and bids for it. He's got to as high as nineteen ashare now. And he'd go higher, too. HOW far he'll go I don't know, but Ical'late I'll keep him stringin' along till I find out."
He pulled at his beard for a moment and then added:
"It's plain enough, of course, that Raish is agent for somebody thatwants to buy in that stock. Who 'tis, though, I can't guess. It ain'tyour Cabot, Bancroft and Cabot crowd, M
r. Bangs. That's plain enough,too."
Galusha tried to look innocently interested.
"Oh--ah--yes," he said. "Is it?"
"Sartin 'tis. THEY wouldn't need to be sendin' anybody to buy my shares,would they? They've bought 'em already. The whole thing is queer. Lookhere! Why should anybody be chasin' ME for those shares? Why don't theyget a list of stockholders from the books? Those transfer books ought toshow that I've sold, hadn't they? They would, too, if any transfer hadbeen made. There ain't been any made, that's all the answer I can thinkof. I signed those certificates of mine in blank, transferred 'em inblank on the back. And somebody--whoever 'twas bought 'em--ain't turned'em in for new ones in their own name, but have left 'em just the waythey got 'em. That's why Raish and his crowd think I've still got mystock. Now ain't that funny, Mr. Bangs? Ain't that strange?"
It was not at all funny to Galusha. Nor strange. The light keeper tuggedat his beard and his shaggy brows drew together. "I don't know's I didright to let go of that stock of mine, after all," he said, slowly."Don't know as I did, no."
Galusha asked him why.
"Because I don't know as I did, that's all. If I'd hung on I might havegot more for it. Looks to me as if Raish's crowd, whoever they are, aremighty anxious to buy. And the Denboro Trust Company folks might bidagainst 'em if 'twas necessary. They've got too much of that stock tolet themselves be froze out. Humph!... Humph! I ain't sure as I didright."
"But--but you did get a profit, Captain Hallett. The profityou--ah--expected."
"Humph! I got a profit, but how do I know 'twas the profit Julia meant?I ought to have gone and asked her afore I sold, that's what I ought tohave done, I cal'late."
He frowned heavily and added, in a tone of gloomy doubt: "I presumelikely I've been neglectin' things--things like that, lately, and that'swhy punishments are laid onto me. I suppose likely that's it."
Galusha, of course, did not understand, but as the captain seemed toexpect him to make some remark, he said: "Oh--ah--dear me! Indeed?Ah--punishments?"
"Yes. I don't know what else they are. When your own flesh and blood--"He stopped in the middle of his sentence, sighed, and added: "Well,never mind. But I need counsel, Mr. Bangs, counsel."
Again Galusha scarcely knew what to say.
"Why--ah--Captain Hallett," he stammered, "I doubt if my advice would beworth much, really, but such as it is I assure you it--"
Captain Jethro interrupted.
"Counsel from this earth won't help me any, Mr. Bangs," he declared."It's higher counsel that I need. Um-hm, higher."
He walked away without saying more. Galusha wondered what had set himoff upon that tack. That afternoon, while in the village, he met NelsonHoward and the latter furnished an explanation. It seemed that the youngman had been to see Captain Jethro, had dared to call at the light withthe deliberate intention of seeing and interviewing him on the subjectof his daughter. The interview had not been long, nor as stormy asNelson anticipated; but neither had it been satisfactory.
"It's those confounded 'spirits' that are rocking the boat," declaredNelson. "The old man practically said just that. He seems to have gottenover some of his bitterness against me--perhaps it is, as you say, Mr.Bangs, because I have a better position now and good prospects. Perhapsit is that, I don't know. But he still won't consider my marrying Lulie.He seems to realize that we could marry and that he couldn't stop us,but I think he realizes, too, that neither Lulie nor I would think ofdoing it against his will. 'But why, Cap'n Hallett?' I kept saying.'WHY? What is the reason you are so down on me?' And all I could get outof him was the old stuff about 'revelations' and 'word from above' andall that. We didn't get much of anywhere. Oh, pshaw! Wouldn't it makeyou tired? Say, Mr. Bangs, the last time you and I talked you said youwere going to 'consider' those Marietta Hoag spirits. I don't know whatyou meant, but if you could consider some sense into them and into Cap'nJeth's stubborn old head, I wish you would."
Galusha smiled and said he would try. "I don't exactly know whatI meant, myself, by considering them," he admitted. "However,I--ah--doubtless meant something and I'll try and--ah--consider what itwas. It seems to me that I had a vague thought--not an idea,exactly, but--Well, perhaps it will come back. I have had a numberof--ah--distractions of late. They have caused me to forget the spirits.I'm very sorry, really. I must try now and reconsider the considering.Dear me, how involved I am getting! Never mind, we are going to win yet.Oh, I am sure of it."
The distractions to which he referred were, of course, the recentand mysterious machinations of Raish Pulcifer. And he was to be againdistracted that very afternoon. For as, after parting with Howard,he was walking slowly along the main road, pondering deeply upon theproblem presented by the love affair of his two young friends and itsspirit complications, he was awakened from his reverie by a series ofsharp clicks close at his ear. He started, looked up and about, and sawthat he was directly opposite the business office of the great Horatio.He heard the clicks again and realized that they were caused by thetapping of the windowpane by a ring upon a masculine finger. Thering appeared to be--but was not--a mammoth pigeon-blood ruby and itornamented, or set off, the hand of Mr. Pulcifer himself.
Galusha stared uncomprehendingly at the hand and ring. Then the handbeckoned frantically. Mr. Bangs raised his eyes and saw, through thedingy pane, the face of the owner of the hand. The lower portion of theface was in eager motion. "Come in," Mr. Pulcifer was whispering. "Comeon in!"
Galusha wonderingly entered the office. He had no desire forconversation with its proprietor, but he was curious to know what thelatter wanted.
"Ah--good-afternoon, Mr. Pulcifer," he said.
Raish did not answer immediately. His first move was to cross to thedoor by which his visitor had entered, close and lock it. His next wasto lower the window shade a trifle. Then he turned and smiled--nay,beamed upon that visitor.
"Set down, set down, Perfessor," he urged, with great cordiality. "Well,well, well! It's good to see you again, be hanged if it ain't now! How'sthings down to the bluffs? Joggin' along, joggin' along in the same oldrut, the way the feller with the wheelbarrer went to market? Eh? Haw,haw, haw! Have a cigar, Perfessor?"
Galusha declined the cigar. He would also have declined the invitationto sit, but Mr. Pulcifer would not hear of it. He all but forced hiscaller into a chair.
"Set down," he insisted. "Just as cheap settin' as standin' andconsider'ble lighter on shoe leather, as the feller said. Haw, haw! Hey?Yes, indeed. Er--Have a cigar?"
But Galusha was still resolute as far as the cigar was concerned. Raishlighted one himself and puffed briskly. To a keen observer he might haveappeared a trifle nervous. Galusha was not a particularly keen observerand, moreover, he was nervous himself. If there had been no otherreason, close proximity to a Raish Pulcifer cigar was, to a sensitiveperson, sufficient cause for nervousness.
Mr. Pulcifer continued to talk and talk and talk, of the weather, of theprofits of the summer season just past, of all sorts of trivialities.Mr. Bangs' nervousness increased. He fidgeted in his chair.
"Really," he stammered, "I--I fear I must be going. You will excuse me,I hope, but--ah--I must, really."
Pulcifer held up a protesting hand. It was that holding the cigar and hewaved it slowly back and forth. One of Galusha's experiences had been tobe a passenger aboard a tramp steamer loaded with hides when fire brokeout on board. The hides had smoked tremendously and smelled even moreso. As the dealer in real estate slowly waved his cigar back and forth,Galusha suddenly remembered this experience. The mental picture wasquite vivid.
"Wait, Perfessor," commanded Horatio. "Throttle her down. Put her intolow just a minute. Say, Perfessor," he lowered his voice and leanedforward in his chair: "Say, Perfessor," he repeated, "do you want tomake some money?"
Galusha gazed at him uncomprehendingly.
"Why--ah--Dear me!" he faltered. "I--that is--well, really, I fear I donot fully grasp your--ah--meaning, Mr. Pulcifer."
Raish seemed to find th
is amusing. He laughed aloud. "No reason why youshould yet awhile, Perfessor," he declared. "I'll try to get it acrossto you in a minute, though. What I asked was if you wanted to makemoney. Do, don't you?"
"Why--why, I don't know. Really, I--"
"Go 'way, boy!" derisively. "Go 'way! Don't tell me you don't wantmoney. Everybody wants it. You and me ain't John D.'s yet, by aconsider'ble sight. Hey? Haw, haw! Anyhow _I_ ain't, and I'll say thisfor you, Perfessor, if you are, you don't look it. Haw, haw!"
He laughed again. Galusha glanced despairingly at the locked door. Mr.Pulcifer leaned forward and gesticulated with the cigar just before hisvisitor's nose. The visitor leaned backward.
"If--if you don't mind," he said, desperately, "I really wish youwouldn't."
"What?"
"Put that thing--that cigar quite so near. If you don't mind."
Raish withdrew the cigar and looked at it and his companion.
"Oh, yes, yes; I see!" he said, after a moment. "You object to tobacco,then?"
Galusha drew a relieved breath. "Why--ah--no," he said, slowly, "notto--ah--tobacco." Then he added, hastily: "But, really, Mr. Pulcifer, Imust be going."
Pulcifer pushed him back into the chair again. His tone became brisk andbusinesslike. "Hold on, Perfessor," he said. "You say you want to makemoney?"
Galusha had not said so, but it seemed scarcely worth while to deny theassertion. And Raish waited for no denial. "You want to make money,"he repeated. "All right, so do I. And I've got a scheme that'll help usboth to make a little. Now listen. But before I tell you, you've got togive me your word to keep it dark; see?"
Galusha promised and Raish proceeded to explain his scheme. Briefly itamounted to this: Galusha Bangs, being a close acquaintance of MarthaPhipps and Jethro Hallett, was to use that acquaintanceship to inducethem to sell their shares in the Development Company. For such aneffort, if successful, on the part of Mr. Bangs, he, Horatio Pulcifer,was prepared to pay a commission of fifty dollars, twenty-five when hereceived Martha's shares and twenty-five when Jethro's were delivered.
"There," he said, in conclusion, "is a chance I'm offerin' you, as afriend, to clean up fifty good, hard, round dollars. What do you say,old man?"
The "old man"--Galusha winced slightly at the appellation--did not seemto know what to say. His facial expression might have indicated any orall of a variety of feelings. At last, he stammered a question. Why didMr. Pulcifer wish to obtain the Development stock? This question Raishwould not answer.
"Never mind," he said. "I do, that's all. And I've got the money to doit with. I'll pay cash for their stock and I'll pay you cash when you orthey hand it over. That's business, ain't it?"
"But--but, dear me, Mr. Pulcifer, why do you ask ME to do this? Why--"
"Ain't I told you? You're a friend of mine and I'm givin' you the chancebecause I think you need the money. That's a reason, ain't it?"
"Why--yes. It is--ah--a reason. But why don't you buy the stockyourself?"
For an instant Raish's smoothness deserted him. His temper flared.
"Because the cussed fools won't sell it to me," he snapped. "That is,they ain't said they'd sell yet. Perhaps they're prejudiced againstme, I don't know. Maybe they will sell to you; you and they seem tobe thicker'n thieves. Er--that is, of course, you understand I don'tmean--Oh, well, you know what I mean, Perfessor. Now what do you say?"
Galusha rose and picked up his hat from the floor.
"I'm afraid I must say no," he said, quietly, but with a firmness whicheven Raish Pulcifer's calloused understanding could not miss. "I couldnot think of accepting, really."
"But, say, Perfessor--"
"No, Mr. Pulcifer. I could not."
"But why not? IF--Well, I tell you, maybe I might make it sixty dollarsinstead of fifty for you."
"No. I couldn't, Mr. Pulcifer.... If you will kindly unlock the door?"
Pulcifer swore. "Well, you must be richer'n you look, that's all I'vegot to say," he snarled. He kicked the wastebasket across the room andgrowled: "I'll get the stuff away from 'em yet, just the same. What thefools are hangin' on for is more'n I can see. Martha Phipps was downon her knees beggin' me to buy only a little spell ago. Old Jeth,of course, thinks his 'spirits' are backin' HIM up. Crazy old loon!Spirits! In this day and time! God sakes! Humph! I wish to thunder Icould deal with the spirits direct; might be able to do business withTHEM. Perfessor, now come, think it over. There ain't anything crookedabout it.... Why, what is it, Perfessor?" eagerly. "Changed your mind,have you?"
Galusha's expression had changed, certainly. He looked queerly at Mr.Pulcifer, queerly and for an appreciable interval of time. There was anodd flash in his eye and the suspicion of a smile at the corner of hislips. But he was grave enough when he spoke.
"Mr. Pulcifer," he said, "I appreciate your kindness in--ah--consideringme in this matter. I--it is impossible for me to accept your offer, ofcourse, but--but--"
"Now, hold on, Perfessor. You think that offer over."
"No, I cannot accept. But it has occurred to me that perhaps...perhaps... Mr. Pulcifer, do you know Miss Hoag?"
"Hey? Marietta Hoag? KNOW her? Yes, I know her; know her too well for myown good. Why?"
"Have you any--ah--influence with her? That is, would she be likely tolisten to a suggestion from you?"
"Listen! SHE? Confound her, I've got a note of hers for seventy-fivedollars and it's two months overdue. She'd BETTER listen! Say, what areyou drivin' at, Perfessor?"
Galusha deposited his hat upon the floor again, and sat down in thechair he had just vacated. Now it was he who, regardless of the cigar,leaned forward.
"Mr. Pulcifer," he said, "an idea occurred to me while you were speakingjust now. I don't know that it will be of any--ah--value to you. But youare quite welcome to it, really. This is the idea--"
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