The Root of All Evil

by J. S. Fletcher

  CHAPTER I

  _Avarice_

  Five years after George Grice had been gathered to his fathers, by whichtime Jeckie Farnish had achieved her ambition and become the richestwoman in Savilestowe, there walked into the stone-flagged hall of the"Coach-and-Four" one fine spring morning, a gentleman who wore a smartsuit of grey tweed, a grey Homburg hat, ornamented by a black band, andswung a handsome gold-mounted walking cane in his elegantly-glovedfingers. There was an air of consequence and distinction about him,though he was apparently still on the right side of thirty; the way inwhich he looked around as he stepped across the threshold, showed thathe was one of those superior beings who are accustomed to give ordersand have them obeyed, and Steve Beckitt, the landlord, who chanced to bein the hall at the time, made haste to come forward and throw open thedoor of the best parlour. The stranger, who was as good-looking as hewas well-dressed, smiled genially, showing a set of fine teeth beneath acarefully trimmed dark moustache, and removed his hat as he walked inand glanced approvingly at the old-fashioned furniture. "You thelandlord?" he asked pleasantly, and with another smile. "Mr. Beckitt,then?--I had your name given me by the landlady of the 'Red Lion' atSicaster, where I've been staying for a week or two. I've just walkedout from there--and, to begin with, I should like a glass or two of yourbest bitter ale, Mr. Beckitt. Bring a jug of it--I know you've alwaysgood ale in these country inns!--and join me. I want to have a word ortwo with you."

  Beckitt, a worthy and unimaginative soul, full of curiosity, fetched theale and poured it out; the stranger, producing a handsome silver case,offered him a cigar and lighted one himself. And when he had tasted andpraised the ale, he dropped into an easy chair and swinging one leg overthe other, looked smilingly at the landlord, whom he had waved to aseat.

  "My name's Mortimer," he said, with almost boyish ingenuousness,"Mallerbie Mortimer--I'm from London. I've been having a holiday in theNorth here, and for the last fortnight I've been staying in Sicaster--at'the Red Lion.' Now, I've a fancy to stay a bit longer in these parts,Mr. Beckitt, and I have heard in Sicaster that this is a very pretty andinteresting neighbourhood. So I walked out this morning to see if youcould put me up for a week or two at the 'Coach-and-Four'? How are youfixed?"

  Beckitt, who was sure by that time that his visitor was a moneyedgentleman, put his thumbs in the armholes of his waistcoat--a sure signthat he was thinking.

  "Well, sir," he replied, "it isn't oft 'at we're asked for accommodationo' that partik'lar nature, but, of course, twice a year we do entertaint'steward--a lawyer gentleman--when he comes to collect t'rents. He hasthis room for a parlour, and there's a nice big bedroom upstairs--he'sallus expressed his-self as very well satisfied wi' all 'at we do forhim. Of course, it's naught but plain cookin' at we can offer--butt'steward, he allus takes to it."

  "And so should I," affirmed the caller, who was evidently disposed tolike anything and everything. "Good, plain, homely fare and cooking, Mr.Beckitt--that's all I want. And for whatever I have, I'll pay youwell--now, supposing you call your good lady, and let me see thebedroom, and have a talk to her about my meals?"

  Within ten minutes of his entrance Mr. Mallerbie Mortimer had settledmatters with the host and hostess of the "Coach-and-Four." He wasevidently a man who was accustomed to arrange affairs in quick time; hetold Mrs. Beckitt precisely what he wanted in a very few sentences, andthen offered her for board and lodging a certain weekly sum which wasabout half as much again as she would have asked him. Immediately on heracceptance of it, he pulled a handful of loose gold out of his trouserspocket, paid his first week's bill in advance, and turning to thelandlord, asked him to send somebody with a trap to Sicaster to fetchhis luggage--three portmanteaux and two suit-cases. Then, arranging fora mutton-chop at half-past one, he went out and strolled down thevillage street, his Homburg hat at a jaunty angle, and his caneswinging lightly in his gloved hand. The folk whom he met wondered athim, and Jeckie Farnish, who happened to be standing at the door of hershop, wondered most of all. Strangers were rare in Savilestowe, and thisone was evidently a man of far-off parts.

  But before twenty-four hours had gone by, Mr. Mallerbie Mortimer hadmade himself known to most people in the village. He was an eminentlysociable person, and after his first dinner at the "Coach-and-Four"--aroast chicken, the cooking of which he praised unreservedly--he wentinto the bar-parlour and fraternised with the select company whichassembled there every evening. He was generous in the matter of payingfor drinks and cigars; he was also an adept in drawing men out. Within anight or two, he knew all the affairs of the place, and all theprincipal inhabitants by name; also, he had heard, from more than oneinformant, the full story of Jeckie Farnish and George Grice. He showedhimself possessed of pleasant and ingratiating manners, and might beseen chatting in the blacksmith's forge, or lounging in the carpenter'sshop, or exchanging jokes with the miller, or hanging about thechurchyard with the sexton; he talked farming with Stubley, and smokedan afternoon pipe with Merritt. And when he was not doing any of thesethings, he was all over the place--farmers met him crossing fields andgoing about meadows, and along the side of hedgerows; thus encountered,Mr. Mallerbie Mortimer always showed his white teeth and his engagingsmile, and said he hoped he wasn't trespassing, but he had a mania forgoing wherever his fancy prompted when he was in the country. Nobody, ofcourse, objected to so pleasant a gentleman going wherever he pleased,and by the end of the week he had thoroughly explored the parish. Andhad anybody been with him on these solitary excursions they would haveobserved that the stranger took a most curious interest in the varioussoils over which he walked, and that in certain places he would linger along time, closely inspecting marl and loam and clay and sandstone andoutcropping limestone. But the Savilestowe folk saw nothing of this; allthey saw was a very smart young gentleman who wore a different,apparently brand-new, suit every day, put on black clothes and a dinnerjacket every evening, received piles of letters and bundles ofnewspapers each morning, and, in spite of his grandeur and hismoney--his abundant possession of which was soon made evident--hadno snobbishness about him, and was only too willing to behail-fellow-well-met with everybody from the parson to the ploughman.

  Mr. Mortimer informed Mrs. Beckitt, at the end of his first week's stayat Savilestowe, that he was so well satisfied with his quarters that hehad decided to remain where he was for a while longer--he might, hefurther informed her, be having a friend down from London to stay for aweek or so in this truly delightful spot. Beckitt and his wife were onlytoo pleased; Mr. Mortimer was not only a very profitable lodger, butfree of his money in the bar-parlour, where he made a practice ofspending his evenings after his seven o'clock dinner. He was in thatparlour every night until nearly the second week of his visit had goneby. Then, one night, instead of crossing the hall from his sitting roomto join the company which had grown accustomed to his genial presence,he waited until night had fallen, put a light overcoat over his eveningclothes, drew on a soft cap, and taking some papers from a dispatch-boxwhich he kept, locked, in his bedroom, slipped out of the"Coach-and-Four" and strolled down the village street. Five minuteslater found him knocking gently at the private door of Jeckie Farnish'shouse.

  Jeckie, by this time, kept a couple of maidservants. But it was growinglate, and they had gone to bed, and it was Jeckie herself who opened thedoor and shone the light of a hand-lamp on the caller. Now up to thattime Jeckie was about the only person in Savilestowe to whom Mr.Mallerbie Mortimer had not introduced himself; he had passed her shopscores of times, but had never entered it. She stared wonderingly at himas he removed his cap with one hand and offered her a card with theother.

  "May I have a few minutes' conversation with you, Miss Farnish--inprivate?" he asked, favouring Jeckie with the ingratiating smile. "Icame late purposely--so that we might have our talk all toourselves--you are, I know, a very busy woman in the day-time."

  Jeckie looked at the card suspiciously. Mr. Mallerbie Mortimer,M.I.M.E., 281c, Victoria Street, London, S.W. The letters at the end oft
he name conveyed nothing to her. "You're not a traveller?" she askedabruptly, showing no inclination to ask the caller in. "I only seetravellers on Fridays--three to five. I can't break my rule."

  "I am certainly not a traveller--of that sort," laughed the visitor. "Iam a professional man--staying here for a professional purpose. Don'tyou see, ma'am, what I am, from my card?--a member of the Institute ofMining Engineers? I want to see you alone, on a most important businessmatter."

  Jeckie motioned him to enter.

  "I didn't know what those letters meant," she said, with emphasis on thepersonal pronoun. "But come in--though upon my word, mister, I don'tknow what you want to see me about, mister! This way, if you please."

  Mortimer laughed as he followed her into a parlour where there was abright fire in the grate--coal was cheap in that neighbourhood--and alamp burning on the centre table. He closed the door behind him, andwhen Jeckie had seated herself, dropped into an easy chair in front ofher.

  "I'll tell you why I've come to see you, Miss Farnish," he said in lowsuave tones. "There's nothing like going straight to the point. I cameto you because, having now been in Savilestowe, as you're aware, forclose on a fortnight, I know that you're the richest person in theplace--man or woman! Eh?"

  Jeckie had heard this sort of thing before, more than once. It usuallyprefaced a demand on her purse, and she looked at Mortimer withincreased suspicion.

  "If it's a subscription you're wanting," she began, and then stopped,seeing the amusement in her visitor's face. "What do you want, then?"she demanded. "You said business."

  "And I mean and intend business!" answered Mortimer. "You're a businesswoman, and I'm a business man, so we shall understand each other if Ispeak freely and plainly. Look here! Since I came to stay at the'Coach-and-Four,' nearly a fortnight ago I've heard all about you, MissFarnish. How you beat that old fellow Grice, drove him out, and all therest of it. You're a smart woman, you know; you've brains, and go, andinitiative, and determination--you're just the person I want!"

  "For what?" demanded Jeckie, who was not insensible to flattery. "What'sit all about?"

  Mortimer edged his chair nearer to hers, and gave her a knowing look.The hard and strenuous life she had lived had robbed Jeckie of some ofher beauty, but she was a handsome woman still, and there wasrecognition of that undoubted fact in the man's bold eyes.

  "You're one of the sort that wants to get rich quick!" he said. "Right!so am I. There's a bond between us. Now, as I said, I know for a factyou're the richest person in this place, leaving the squire out of thequestion. You know that's so! but only yourself knows how well-off youare. Yet, how would you like to be absolutely wealthy?"

  "I believe in money," said Jeckie. She saw no use in denying the truthto this persistent and plausible stranger. "I've worked for money,naught else! What do you mean?"

  "Supposing I told you of how you could make money in such a fashion thatwhat you're making now would be as nothing to it?" said Mortimer, stillwatching her keenly. "Would you be inclined to take the chance?"

  Jeckie gave her visitor a good, long look before she replied. AndMortimer added another word or two.

  "I'm talking sense!" he affirmed. "I mean what I say."

  "If I saw the chance o' making money in the way you speak of," answeredJeckie, at last, "it 'ud be a queer thing if I didn't take it. I nevermissed a chance yet!"

  "Don't miss this!" said Mortimer. "Listen! You don't know why I'm here;you don't know what I mean; you don't know what I've come to see youabout. I'll tell you in one word if you'll promise to keep this toyourself?"

  "If it's aught about business and money you can be certain I shall,"asserted Jeckie. "I'm not given to talking about my affairs."

  "Very good," continued Mortimer. "Then, do you know what there is underthis village of Savilestowe, under its fields and meadows, aye,underneath where you and I are sitting just now. Do you?"

  "What?" demanded Jeckie, roused by his evident enthusiasm. "What?"

  Mortimer leaned forward, laid a hand on her arm, and spoke oneword--twice.

  "Coal!" he said. "Coal?"

  Jeckie stared at him, silently, for awhile. And Mortimer kept his eyesfixed on hers, as if he were exercising some hypnotic influence on her.She stirred a little at last, and spoke, wonderingly.

  "Coal?" she said, in a low voice. "You mean----"

  "I mean that there's no end of coal beneath our feet!" said Mortimer."Listen! You know--for you must have heard--how the coal-miningindustry's been increasing and developing in this part of Yorkshireduring the last few years. Now, I'm a mining expert; here's a pocketfulof references and testimonials about me that I'll leave with you, tolook over at your leisure; and I came over to Sicaster three weeks or soago to have a look round this neighbourhood. From something I saw oneday when I was out for a walk in this direction I decided to come hereand go carefully over the ground. I've been carefully over it--everyyard of this village! I tell you, as an expert, there's no end of coalunder here--no end! And whoever works it'll make--a huge fortune!"

  Jeckie sat, almost spellbound, listening; such imagination as shepossessed was already stirred. And when she spoke it seemed to her thather voice sounded as if it came from a long way off.

  "But--it's down there!" she said.

  "But--it is there!" exclaimed Mortimer. "All that's wanted is for man toget it out! I know how to do that. All that's wanted is money! capital!"

  He got up from his chair, thrust his hands in his pocket, and jingledthe loose coins which lay in them, looking down at Jeckie with asignificant smile.

  "Capital!" he repeated. "Capital! I'm so certain of what I say that I'mwilling to find a good lot myself. But not all that's wanted. And what Iwant to know is--are you coming in, now that I've told you? Look here,for every ten thousand that's put into this business there'll be ahundred thousand within a very short time of getting to work. I'll stakemy reputation--not a bad one, as you'll learn from these papers--thatthis'll be one of the richest mines, in quantity and quality, inEngland. A regular gold mine! I know!"

  "But--the land?" said Jeckie. "You've to buy the land first, haven'tyou?"

  Mortimer laughed, and picked up his cap.

  "I know how to do that in this case," he said. "Not another word now:I'll come and see you again to-morrow evening, same time. In themeantime--strict secrecy. But take my word for it, if you come in withme at this I'll make you a richer woman than you've ever dreamed ofbeing. And I think you've had some ambitions that way--what?"

  Then, with a brief, almost curt, good-night, he went away, and Jeckie,after letting him out and fastening her door, read through the paperswhich he had left with her. There was a banker's reference, and asolicitor's reference, and numerous testimonials to the great ability ofMr. Mallerbie Mortimer as a mining expert. Jeckie knew enough of thingsto estimate these papers at their proper value, especially the banker'sreference, and she went off to bed with new ideas forming in her brain.Coal!--there, beneath her feet--black, shining stuff that could beturned into yellow gold. It seemed to her that she hated the greenfields and red earth that lay between it and her avaricious fingers.