The Cleverdale Mystery; or, The Machine and Its Wheels: A Story of American Life

by W. A. Wilkins

  CHAPTER XVI.

  THE PRINCE OF MANNIS MANOR.

  Havelock, the home of Hon. Walter Mannis, is a beautiful villagesituated in a valley surrounded by lofty hills. The place is not a busyone, but the home of many old and wealthy families who reside thereduring the summer months. The streets are lined on either side withwell-grown shade trees, and the handsome residences are surrounded byspacious grounds tastefully laid out.

  Mannis Manor had passed down from father to son for four successivegenerations, each inheritor marking his ownership with additions oralterations until the fine old house displays architectural styles ofdifferent periods of the past century. Walter Mannis inherited this oldmanor and its two hundred acres, beside a fortune in cash of over aquarter of a million dollars. Having been in possession about ten years,with so much money at his command, is it strange that he had devotedmuch of his time to pleasure and dissipation?

  Both parents dying during his childhood, in the conduct of householdmatters he was dependent upon a house-keeper, an inmate of the old manormany years before he became its owner.

  Mrs. Culver felt her responsibility, and considered it her privilegeas well as duty to keep a motherly eye upon the young master. One ofthose good souls found in every community, she enjoyed her work, andher word about the manor was law. Mannis humored her whims, for she wasa most valuable member of his household. She was sixty years of age,prudent, systematic, orderly, thoroughly competent and trustworthy.While carefully managing household affairs, she devoted much time tothe supervision of farm duties, acknowledging no authority except themaster himself, who had great confidence in her ability. Looking afterhis domestic comforts, she kept his suite of rooms in perfect order;regulated his wardrobe, and saw every garment kept in repair. Sheoccasionally scolded him for extravagance in dress, and he received hersevere words good-humoredly, for he really loved the kind, motherlyattention bestowed upon him. In sickness she was a valuable nurse, andher closet of "yarbs and nostrums" a curiosity. With cup and spoon inhand ready to dose a patient, she was supremely happy. She was proud of"her Walter," although the young man caused her many hours of anxiety.

  At college he had sought merry young men for associates, and as he wasprovided with plenty of money he had no trouble to find them. Witty,vivacious, and eloquent, these brilliant adjuncts made him a lion insociety, young men seeking him, while the ladies felt honored at hisattention. He was a great flirt, and his conquests of hearts werefrequent, yet he never until now had surrendered his own. While his eyesparkled with intelligence, it did not impress a student of human natureas being the eye of an honest man; even children could sometimes see init something that made them distrustful.

  He enjoyed the gay life money enabled him to follow, and much of histime was passed away from home. During the winter his abiding-place wasthe great metropolis. Allowing himself to be led to palatial gamblingdens, he played, and lost heavily, yet his passion was not cooled byreverses. Wall Street tempted him, and his ventures at first returnedhim fair margins, but his later investments were unsuccessful. Becominginterested in politics, he was twice elected member of assembly, and hismanner, fortune, and intellectual qualities made him a great favorite atAlbany.

  The legislator who can gain the personal friendship of his associatescan accomplish more than the cold, dignified man, so often electedsimply to give character to his constituency. Mannis was not only a gooddebater on the floor, but a "powerful persuader" between sessions, andcould accomplish more with members from the "rural districts" than anyman in either house. The farmer members looked upon him as a kind ofdeity. He flattered them, and when they were unable to frame a bill inpresentable shape, assisted them, and thus won their regard, though forhis own part he felt that many buckwheat producers had been spoiled bysending an equal number of farmers to the State Legislature.

  Mannis was well adapted to politics, and really liked its excitements.Having served two terms, he was only prevented seeking a renominationbecause it had been the custom to alternate the office, every two years,between the northern and southern part of his assembly district. Heseriously thought of overthrowing this old time-honored custom, butfriends persuading him to wait or look for something higher, he turnedhis aspirations to Congress, and was trying to educate his forces toassist in the consummation of this wish.

  In business speculations he was seldom successful, for money investedin many enterprises always returned him less than he put in. His lossestroubled him, and he was often haunted with the idea that he wouldeventually become a poor man. Investing in government bonds and drawingthe interest at stated intervals was too slow a way of making money.Observing friends gaining fortunes by speculation, he felt that he toocould make money in the same way.

  At the time this story began he had lost half his fortune in speculationand gambling, and realized that his available funds were graduallypassing from his hands. His farm yield, though not enough to help himout of his difficulty, was, thanks to the management of Mrs. Culver,sufficient to support his household without making drafts on his bankaccount. But his extravagant private expenses worried and caused himhours of anxious thought.

  "There's nothing else to do," he would say to himself; "I must make awealthy marriage. With a fortune and a wife I can save myself and keep alife-lease on the old manor."

  It was this thought that actuated him partially in his desire towed Belle Hamblin. While he admired her brilliant personality,and confessed that he was never before so charmed with a lady, heacknowledged to himself that her father's fortune was necessary to savehim from the financial disaster which he feared.

  He sat in his room one evening smoking a cigar and thinking. All aboutwere evidences of his aesthetic taste. Bric-a-brac crowded the mantels,while many fine pictures adorned the walls. Easels, arranged with a viewto throwing light upon the works they held, were on all sides. Orientalrugs lay on the floor, while the luxurious furniture about the apartmentseemed to coax the visitor or inhabitant to lounge upon soft cushions.Curtains of costly material hung before the large plate-glass windows,and as the afternoon sun peered through them it saw a picture of whichthe owner of the apartment was not the least handsome part.

  A servant entered with a number of letters, which Mannis hastilyshuffled through his fingers as if they had been cards. His eye quicklydetecting the one he was looking for, he dropped the rest, and said:

  "Here it is: let me see what the Senator has to say. What a man heis! He seems to be as infatuated with me as I am with his beautifuldaughter. Well, I am infatuated with her; she is certainly the mostcharming creature I ever met; and I am determined to win with her herfather's fortune also, for I have no father of my own to return to, andhave the 'fatted calf' business done for me. Let me see what Hamblin haswritten."

  Opening the letter, he read it carefully through, then smiled and said:

  "Yes, he will do anything to rid himself of Alden. When I proposedentrapping him he was startled, but now can hardly wait for mysuggestions. He hates Alden; he is ambitious that his daughter shallmake a brilliant match; he thinks me the personification of brilliancy,and, by Jove, he doesn't miss it much. Ah, Senator, if you knew how Iwas running through my fortune you would change your mind. This is avery good joke you are playing on yourself."

  Returning to his letters, he opened another, when his countenancesuddenly changed, and he exclaimed:

  "Great God! I am almost ruined!"

  He arose, and for a moment walked the room without uttering a word, whenhe suddenly stopped and said:

  "Fifty thousand dollars gone at once! I must raise the money somehow topay what I have borrowed. What a fool a man is when he is not satisfiedto reach forth his hand and pluck the ripe fruit hanging near him,instead of letting his appetite for the unattainable ruin him. What canI do? I cannot mortgage the estate, for that would expose me at once.But how can I raise the money--that is, who--will--lend--it--to--me?S-h-h! I have it. I can raise it in New York on the notes of my friends,and my friends need never k
now it. It is a desperate game, but my estateis good for it, and in an emergency men do many queer things."

  He walked the room in a nervous manner, running his fingers through hishair, rubbing his hands together, and occasionally saying words that arenot in the dictionary.

  "It is the old story," he resumed. "I've killed the goose that laidthe golden eggs. Well, there is one trick left in my hand, and that isBelle Hamblin. I will go to work at once and help the Senator get ridof Alden. I will go to Cleverdale on the evening train. The girl has astrong will, and is very correct in her ideas of right and wrong; if shehears that Alden is a defaulter she will shed a few tears and never wishto see him again. He must be sacrificed; so the quicker the better."

  Ringing the bell, a servant appeared.

  "Tell Mrs. Culver I desire to see her immediately."

  In a few moments Mrs. Culver entered, and said:

  "What do you wish, sir?"

  "I am going away this evening, and will be absent a few days."

  "But you don't look well; are you sick? I am afraid you are not takingcare of yourself. I have been fixing some medicine for you, which youmust take before going away. Young men are so careless, they don't knowhow to take care of their health."

  "I am all right. Don't trouble your kind heart about me. I need freshair and out-door exercise, and a two-day jaunt will tone me up. TellHenry to hitch up the sorrels and take me to the seven-thirty trainthis evening. I shall take a nap first, as I have a headache, and aftera light supper shall be ready to start. So, never mind your doctor'sstuff. If I am not well on my return you shall have two days' enjoymentdosing me."

  When the evening train left Havelock it bore away Hon. Walter Mannis,who had previously sent a dispatch to Senator Hamblin stating that hewould be at the Cleverdale Hotel after the arrival of the evening train.

  On his arrival he was greeted by Hamblin. A few remarks were madeconcerning politics and business, when Mannis said:

  "I received your letter while preparing to leave for Cleverdale. Fromit I learned you have not changed your intention concerning Alden. Youstill mean to get rid of him?"

  "Yes, he must be put out of the way, for since his promotion he ismore obnoxious to me than ever. No time must be lost, for he is a morefrequent visitor at my house than before. He must be dropped as soon aspossible."

  "Draw your chair closer to mine: we must speak low and be guarded. Youask what I have to suggest. My plan is this: Sargent, you say, willdo anything you desire: well, is he a good penman, and can he imitatehandwriting?"

  "Yes, he is an expert at that business."

  "Good! now for it. He must alter the bank books, and make it appear thatAlden has embezzled five thousand dollars."

  "Great God!" exclaimed Hamblin.

  "Don't start, Senator; it is a desperate game, but it's often beenplayed successfully. You say you shall get him out of the way at allhazards: well, this plan will effectually dispose of the ambitious youngman."

  "Suppose he shows fight?"

  "He must be allowed to run away. You can work that up. The affair canbe kept between yourself, Sargent, and Alden, and when the latter isexposed you can feign sympathy, telling him if he will leave at once theaffair will remain a secret. Yes, you can even offer to loan him themoney to pay the deficiency. Make the evidence so strong against himthat he cannot possibly see a way of escape, and if I know anything ofhuman nature he will run away rather than be exposed."

  "Suppose he should first see my daughter, and she should advise him toremain and face the danger."

  "It must be done when she is absent from home. You must find somepretence to send your wife and daughter on a visit to friends, or elsesend them to New York."

  "You are a shrewd fellow, Mannis, and no mistake."

  "A shrewd rogue, you mean."

  "No, I do not. In this affair I am but doing the duty that a father owesto his child. She is in danger of being sacrificed to an adventurer whoonly wants her father's money. But she shall be saved."

  The plotters talked a while longer about the matter; then SenatorHamblin withdrew, and Mannis said to himself:

  "Now my case does not seem as desperate as it did."

  And as Senator Hamblin stepped into the street, he said:

  "I don't like this affair at all, but I am losing heavily, and theventures I have lately made have turned out bad. Mannis' fortune addedto my own will save me from disaster. Poor Belle must be temporarilymade unhappy, but when she finds herself the wife of Hon. Walter Mannisperhaps she will thank me for saving her."

  Perhaps the state prisons will one day hold the great rogues insteadof small ones, but they did not do it in 187-, or the above recordedconversation could not have taken place.