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

by W. A. Wilkins

  CHAPTER XXIX.

  POOR MARY HARRIS.

  Go where you will, seek whom you may, converse with all whom you meet,and you will fail to find a person of either sex, arrived at years ofdiscretion, whose heart does not conceal a secret. Some have secretsof love, some secrets of business, while other heart-closets mayconceal the skeleton of a secret crime. Several of our characters havefaithfully retained secrets which, if known, would have long ere thisabruptly terminated our story.

  Senator Hamblin suffered intensely by his terrible secret. Fullyconscious that George Alden had committed no crime, to the oft-repeatedinquiries of his daughter concerning the defalcation he evaded directanswers by saying he believed him innocent, although the sum of fivethousand dollars had mysteriously disappeared. His agency in thesupposed death of George Alden weighed heavily upon him, while theimpending crash in his business affairs was a secret that gave him nopeace of mind.

  His daughter possessed two secrets; one of them, her marriage withGeorge Alden, was faithfully kept from all except those of her ownimmediate family. While it was publicly known that she mourned hisdeath, refusing comfort, none but those mentioned were aware of therelation she sustained toward the late cashier. Another secret whichshe guarded safely was her knowledge of the accusation which shesupposed caused her husband's death.

  Fannie Alden was unconscious of the charges made against her brother'sintegrity. Had she known the cause of George's disappearance, hersensitive nature would have received a wound from which she never couldhave recovered. Therefore, Belle felt justified in keeping this secretlocked in her breast, although she believed the charges false in everyparticular.

  Two other persons possessed a secret, over which they cracked manyjokes. Mannis and Sargent often met and talked over the success of theirscheme. The latter, now cashier of the bank, fully felt his importance.Sargent's thoughts sometimes reverted to the night when, playing therole of body-snatcher, he assisted to disguise a dead body to accountfor the absence of the living; and he never felt proud of that night'swork; but when a twinge of conscience disturbed him, he quieted his mindwith the oft-repeated remark:

  "Well, a man must look out for his own interests."

  Walter Mannis felt little remorse at the part he performed in thegame, for his was a callous conscience, and such little episodes neverdisturbed the serenity of his mind. The Congressional nomination wassought and won by him, thanks to money, and his election was easilyaccomplished. Considerable hostility to his nomination was evinced atfirst, but when the convention closed its deliberations, there was ageneral acquiescence in the result. The candidacy of Daley was toofresh in the minds of recalcitrant politicians to encourage a repetitionof the "bolting" game. Poor Daley, still an inmate of the asylum, andwith small hope of recovery, left a warning behind.

  Senator Hamblin, of late much with Mannis, fell under the influence ofhis companion, whose wily tongue and smooth manner again completely wonthe Senator's confidence and esteem. The father still entertained hopethat his daughter, recovering from grief occasioned by the death ofGeorge Alden, would ultimately become the wife of his friend.

  Mannis soliloquized one day in his room at the Manor, surrounded bybooks, letters, and scraps of paper covered with figures:

  "My case is desperate," he said, "and something must be done at once,or I shall be caught napping. The note on which I took the liberty ofendorsing Hamblin's name falls due next Wednesday. By Jove! it mustbe got out of the way, dead sure, or there will be trouble. It is forten thousand dollars, and if not taken care of at maturity, those citybankers will make me trouble."

  Lighting a cigar and stretching himself in an easy-chair, he watchedthe smoke for a moment or two as it curled above his head, and thencontinued: "Mannis, you are a cool fellow, and Hamblin falls an easyprey into your clutches. I feel sorry for him; I wouldn't have histender conscience for a fortune. He thinks he murdered Alden--ha! ha!ha!--a confounded good joke. But supposing the ex-cashier should walkin some day, with papers and documents, to say nothing of his face,to prove he is not dead? Wh-e-e-w-w! wouldn't there be a nice old timein Cleverdale? I only hope he will wait until I secure the girl, whomI have sworn to marry. Once married to Belle Hamblin, and I am saved;the old man's fortune can help me out of my trouble, and it must. Ihave lately hinted to him again my desire to marry his daughter, and hetakes kindly to the notion. They do say she is inconsolable at Alden'ssupposed death; but she will get over that; 'grief cannot kill'--" andsinging the refrain from a popular air, he seemed very happy, for heresumed:

  "See here, old fellow, you are a Congressman, but it will be some timebefore you go to Washington, and if you can get a hold there, perhapsyou too can make a strike. All those fellows get rich, and Walter Manniswill look out for number one. Oh, if I can only capture Belle Hamblin,and take her to Washington as my wife, what a brilliant couple we willmake, for I flatter myself I am not bad-looking. Ah, Mannis, you are anegotistical fellow. Egad! But how can you help it? I vow I will go toCleverdale to-morrow, see Hamblin, and again urge my suit. What wouldthe old man think if he knew of that note his name is on! But, pshaw,he will never know of it. I shall get it out of the way somehow, and atonce."

  He was interrupted by a servant entering and handing him a note, whichhe hastily tore open. As he read it a shade of anger crossed hiscountenance.

  "Confound that girl!" he said. "She thinks I will marry her, does she?She doesn't know me. I must get rid of her some way; but how? That'sthe question. Let me think."

  Dropping into a chair and passing his hand across his brow, he wasengaged in deep thought for almost ten minutes. Breaking the silence, hesaid:

  "Well, I must get her away from here, to begin with. This affairtroubles me more than any woman scrape I was ever engaged in. If herfather knew about it there would have to be a new election for aCongressman to fill my place. It is a bad go, for I certainly havedeceived the girl, and old Harris is a savage fellow, who wouldn'thesitate to pop the man who betrayed his daughter."

  Mannis, for once, was really troubled. He cared little for the miseryhe might bring upon others, but he fully realized that his life wouldbe endangered, did his treatment of Mary Harris reach the ears of herfather. The poor girl had been deceived by a promise of marriage, andthe note Mannis received was an appeal begging him to fulfil his word.The innocent creature was ignorant of the duplicity of the man she hadtrusted, for although many times before he had crushed young lives asif they were the merest baubles, he had managed to prevent any chargesappearing against him.

  For many minutes his nervous agitation was very great. He tried to drivefear from his mind by reading, but could arouse no interest in hisfavorite books, for the fear of Mary Harris haunted him, and he trembledfor his own personal safety.

  "This will never do," he suddenly said, "I will go to Cleverdale andvisit the Senator, and then make a pilgrimage to the great Babylon, NewYork, where something must turn up to help me out of my troubles."

  The same evening found him at Cleverdale, and at a late hour Sargent waswith him at the hotel. The precious couple engaged in a game of cards,surrounding themselves with clouds of cigar smoke, and drank champagneas they talked of Alden, and congratulated themselves their plans hadworked so well. And yet each in his heart wondered what had become ofthe victim.

  "How do you like your place, Sargent?" asked Mannis.

  "It is a very good situation, but a man can hardly get rich on thesalary. I'll tell you what it is, Mannis, I have had a notion forsome time that the silver hills of Colorado are the place for me.Those chaps out there are fast getting rich, while we salaried men,working infernally hard, can lay up nothing. To-day I read an accountof three young fellows who staked a claim last fall and now they aremillionaires. The excitement is intense, and the lucky chaps have beenoffered millions for the claim."

  "Who are they, Sargent? Where are they from?" asked Mannis.

  "Hanged if I know; but I wish I was one of them. You fellows withfortunes don't know the har
dships we paupers have to undergo; and themore I think of the matter, the more I believe in the advice, 'Go West,young man.'"

  The two men drank so heavily that before midnight several empty bottlesstood on the side-table, and both were in a very convivial condition,when Sargent, bidding Mannis good-night, wended his footsteps homewardin rather uncertain fashion.

  The next forenoon Mannis arose with a headache, but did not fail to callupon Senator Hamblin, whom he found busy, as usual, but glad to meet theCongressman-elect. After a few moments' conversation, Mannis said:

  "I am going to New York, Senator, for a few days' recreation. I havehad the blues lately, and have prescribed for myself a week's sojournin the gay city. The metropolis is the celestial city of the world, andwhen the pilgrim groans under a burden of blue devils a plunge into thepool washes away the load, and man comes forth brighter, better, andhappier. The forced seclusion of the country clogs the brain, deadensthe intellect, and makes man's heart heavy as lead."

  "You have the blues, Mannis! Why, I supposed you never felt a careexcept when a candidate for the people's suffrages."

  "But there is greater cause, my friend," and Mannis's voice assumed atone of sadness. "When a man sees the dearest object of his life beforehim, yet, like Tantalus, putting forth his hand to grasp it, it recedes,he is unhappy."

  "I cannot understand you, Mannis," said the Senator. "You speak inparables; be more explicit."

  "Were I married and quietly settled in life, I should be happy; but theonly woman I ever loved I fear will never be mine. Your daughter, myfriend, could make me supremely content."

  Senator Hamblin looked into the face of his companion and replied:

  "It would gratify me much if your hopes could be realized. Cheer up anddo not look so despondent. My daughter has been terribly grieved by thetragic death of her lover, but time will heal her wound. Be patientawhile longer."

  "Ah, my friend, you can easily say that, but could I have the hopethat at some future time she would be mine, I should indeed be happy.Urge her to receive my attentions. Tell her of my affectionate regardfor her, and if she gives encouragement let me know. Here is a cardcontaining my New York address. One word from you, and I will be here assoon as steam can convey me."

  He arose to depart, and Senator Hamblin, warmly grasping his hand, said:

  "Good-by, Mannis! Keep up a good heart and all may yet be well."

  The door closing behind him, Mannis passed into the street, and said tohimself:

  "Pretty well played, Mannis, my dear boy. If the old man would only giveme his ducats his pretty daughter might cry her eyes out if she wished."

  An hour later he was on the train bound for New York.