The Root of All Evil

by J. S. Fletcher

  CHAPTER IV

  _Birds of a Feather_

  Close countenance though Jeckie Farnish kept to all the world, herthoughts had never been so many nor so varied as at this eventful stageof her career. She spent many a sleepless night consideringpossibilities, probabilities, eventualities. She thought over ways andmeans; she reckoned up her resources. She tried to look ahead as far aspossible; to take everything into account. But, in all her reflectionsand plans and schemings, there was one dominant note--the desire to makemoney out of her lucky discovery--money, more money than she had everdreamed of possessing. She was in no hurry. She made Mortimer andFarebrother continue their boring operations until she became as certainas they were themselves. They had made these boreholes, so as to testthe whole of Jeckie's property, and had kept a careful journal of theboring, which was punctiliously entered up--Jeckie made a point ofinspecting that journal, and of examining the cores which the boringcylinders brought up and were duly labelled and laid out under cover.But she was not satisfied with this, nor with merely taking the opinionsof Mortimer and his friend. At her own instance and expense she calledin two acknowledged mining experts and a professor of geology from oneof the local universities; to these three she submitted the wholematter, only impressing upon them that she wanted an opinion that couldbe relied upon. All three agreed with Mortimer and Farebrother--coal wasthere, under the otherwise unpromising surface of the forty acres, invast quantity. So, as Mortimer was constantly saying, there was nothingto do but to arrange the financial side of the affair, and to get towork on the construction of the necessary mine.

  Jeckie was not going to be hurried about that, either; she had her ownideas. In spite of Mortimer's exhortations and Farebrother's hints, shekept them to herself until she was ready to act. But upon one point shewas determined, and had been determined from the very first. Neithersquire, nor parson, nor Stubley, nor Merritt, nor any Savilestowe partywas going to come in with her--no, nor was Mortimer, of whom, allunknown to him, she was making a convenience. She was going to keep thisEl Dorado to herself as far as ever she could--to be chief controller ofits destinies, to be master. Nevertheless, knowing, after her variousconsultations with Mortimer and Farebrother, that she did not possesssufficient capital of her own to establish a colliery, she had decidedto take in one partner who could contribute what she could not find. Shehad that partner in her mind's eye--Lucilla Grice.

  Lucilla, as Jeckie well knew, had long been top dog in the Grice menage.Albert, from the day of his marriage, had become more and more of anonentity; as years went by he grew to be of no greater importance thanone of his wife's umbrellas; a thing that had its uses now and then, butcould at any moment be tossed into a corner and disregarded for the timebeing. Lucilla managed everything. Lucilla invested the money which hegot for his partnership and received the dividends; Lucilla kept thepurse; Albert had no more concern with cash than the cob in his stable;all he knew of money was that he was allowed three-and-six a day tospend as he liked. Jeckie Farnish knew all this, and more. She knew thatLucilla's marriage portion of two thousand pounds, and Albert'spartnership money of five thousand, both secure and untouched inLucilla's hands, had been added to of late by legacies from Lucilla'sfather, the Nottingham draper, and her maternal uncle, a Londonsolicitor, which had materially increased Mrs. Albert Grice's fortune.The Nottingham draper had left his daughter ten thousandpounds--one-third of his estate; the maternal uncle, an old bachelor,regarding her as his favourite niece, had bequeathed to her all he diedpossessed of, some fourteen or fifteen thousand; Lucilla, therefore(Albert being ruled clean out of all calculations), was worth at thevery least thirty thousand pounds. And there were psychological reasonswhy Jeckie fixed on Lucilla as the proper person to come in with her.From the very first she had recognised in Lucilla, a kindred spirit--alover of money for money's sake. Jeckie had known it at their firstinterview; she had seen signs of it in their business dealings; she hadbeen quick to observe that when Lucilla received her important influxof money from her father and uncle, whose deaths had occurred about thesame time, she had not launched out into greater expenditure. She andAlbert still occupied the same villa residence, just outside Sicaster;still kept the same modest establishment; still stuck to the one cob andthe same dog-cart; still pursued the same uneventful course of life. Andas she spent no more than she had ever spent, Lucilla, according toJeckie Farnish's reckoning, must, since her receipt of the familylegacies, have added considerably to her capital. But--and here wasanother and more important psychological reason--Jeckie knew, byinstinct as much as by observation, that Lucilla, like herself, was oneof those persons who, having much, are always feverishly anxious to havestill more. There were few details of the life of that neighbourhoodwith which Jeckie was not thoroughly familiar, and she knew intimatelythe habits and customs of the Grice household. She was well aware, forinstance, that Albert, who had now grown a beard and become a somewhatfat man, more easygoing than ever, went into Sicaster every morning tospend his three-and-six and pass the time of day with his gossips in thebar-parlours of the two principal hotels; he left his door punctually atten o'clock for this daily performance and returned--even morepunctually--at precisely one o'clock. It was, therefore, at half-pastten one morning that Jeckie, armed with an old-fashioned reticule fullof papers, presented herself at the villa and asked to see its mistress;Lucilla, she knew, would then be alone.

  Lucilla had a certain feeling for Jeckie; a feeling closely akin to thatwhich Jeckie had for Lucilla; it centered, of course, in money. Lucillaknew how Jeckie had made money, and how Jeckie could stick to money, andfor money and anything and anybody that had to do with money Lucilla hadinstincts of respect which almost amounted to veneration. Accordingly,she not only welcomed her visitor with cordiality, but showed herpleasure at receiving her by immediately producing a decanter of portand a sponge cake, and insisting on Jeckie's partaking of both.

  "You'll have heard, no doubt, of what's been happening down our way?"said Jeckie, plunging straight into business as soon as she had acceptedthe proffered hospitality. "About finding coal under my land, I mean.It's generally known."

  "I have heard," assented Lucilla. "A sure thing, they say. Well!--if youaren't one of the lucky ones, Miss Farnish! Everything you touch turnsto gold. Why--you'll make a fortune out of it! I suppose it's deadcertain, eh?"

  Jeckie finished her port, shook her head as her hostess pointed to thedecanter, and began to pull her papers out of the old silk reticule.

  "Aye, it's as dead certain as that I'm sitting here, Mrs. Grice," shesaid. "That is, unless all them that ought to know is hopelessly wrong.To tell you the truth, and between ourselves, I've come to see you aboutit, and I'll give you the entire history of the whole affair. You'll ha'seen that smart London chap that's been staying at the 'Coach-and-Four'for some time now--Mortimer, Mr. Mallerbie Mortimer? Aye, well, it washim put me on to it. He's a mining expert--a member of the Institute ofMining Engineers--and he came down to these parts prospecting. He toldme, in confidence, that there was coal, no end of it, under Savilestowe,and particularly under forty acres o' poor land that belonged to BenScholes. Well, I said naught to nobody, but I bought that bit o' landfro' Ben--I gave him next to naught for it and had it properly conveyedto me. And then I told this here Mortimer to bore, and he got machineryand men, and another expert fro' London--a man called Farebrother. Andthey sunk these borings, at different spots' i' my land, and the resultwas splendid. But I worn't going to go on their word--right as it is. Igot two independent experts, t'best I could hear of, and a professor o'geology fro' Clothford University, and had them to go thoroughly intothe matter. And they all agreed with the other two--they tell me thatunder my forty acres there's coal of the very best quality, that it'lltake many and many a year to exhaust, and that there's a regular bigfortune in it. So--there's no possible doubt. But cast your eye overthese papers yourself--you'll be quite able to understand 'em."

  Lucilla readily understood the typewritten sheets which Jeckie h
anded toher. They were all technical reports, signed by the five men whom Jeckiehad mentioned--differing in phraseology and in detail, all were alike inasserting a conviction, based on the results of the borings, that coallay under Savilestowe Leys in vast quantity and of the best quality.Lucilla handed them back with obvious envy.

  "Well, if ye aren't lucky!" she exclaimed. "It's as I said--all turns togold that you handle. Then--what's going to happen next! You'll be for acompany, I suppose?"

  "No!" said Jeckie grimly. "I'll ha' no more fingers in my pie than I cankeep an eye on, I'll warrant you, Mrs. Grice! I've had no end o'suggestions o' that sort--the squire, and the parson, and Stubley, andMerritt, they'd all like to come in--the squire wanted to get up a biglimited liability company, with him as chairman, and do great things.But I shan't have aught to do wi' that. I know what there is under myland, according to these papers, and as I say, it's a pie that I'm notgoing to have a lot o' fingers poked into. But, I'll tell you what--andit's why I come here--I don't mind taking in one partner, just one.You!--if you like the notion."

  Lucilla blushed as if she had been a coy maiden receiving a firstproposal of marriage.

  "Me!" she exclaimed. "Lor', Miss Farnish!"

  "Listen to me!" said Jeckie, bending forward across the bearskinhearthrug. "You and me knows what's what about money matters--nobodybetter. I know--for I know most o' what goes on about here--that you'renow a well-to-do woman, what with what you had and with them legaciesyou've had left. Now, so am I, to a certain extent. What I propose is,let's you and me--just ourselves and nobody else--go into partnership towork this coal-mine. Farnish and Grice, Savilestowe Main--that's how itwould be. You and me--all to ourselves?"

  "Goodness gracious! It 'ud cost an awful lot of money, wouldn't it?"said Lucilla, in an awe-struck whisper. "To make a colliery! Why----"

  "Aye, and think what we should get out of it!" interrupted Jeckie."It'll take many a long year, they say, to exhaust what there is justunder my land. And it'll not be so expensive as in some cases, themaking of a mine. I've gone into that, too, and had estimates. It's thecharacter of the, what do they call 'em--strata; that's the variousstuffs, soils, and stones, yer know, they have to get through. They saythis'll be naught like so difficult as some, and that we could beworking in less nor two years."

  Lucilla, perched on her sofa, was already regarding Jeckie with dilatedand avaricious eyes. Her lips were slightly parted, but she saidnothing, and Jeckie presently bent still nearer and whispered.

  "There's hundreds o' thousands o' pounds worth o' that coal!" she said."And we've naught to do but to get it out!"

  Lucilla found her tongue.

  "How much should we have to put in?" she asked faintly.

  "Well, I've thought that out," answered Jeckie, readily enough."Supposing we put in twenty-five thousand each, to make a startingcapital o' fifty thousand? Then, as regards profits--as the land's mine,and the coal, too, you wouldn't expect to share equally. One-third ofthe profits to you, and the other two-thirds to me--that's what I think'ud be fair, and right, and reasonable. Even then, you'd have a rarereturn for your outlay. You know I could find a hundred people 'at 'udjust jump at such an offer. The squire 'ud fair leap at it! But I cameto you because I know that you understand money, same as I do, and I'drather have a woman for a partner nor a man. But look here. I'm a rarehand at figures, and I've worked this out. You come to this table, andgo into these figures wi' me."

  Jeckie had only just left the villa residence, when Albert returned tothe midday dinner. His wife said nothing of her visitor, and Albert wastoo full of his usual bar-parlour gossip to notice that Lucilla wasremarkably preoccupied and absent-minded. He remained innocent andunconscious of what was going on, nor was he aware that Jeckie Farnishvisited Lucilla during several successive mornings, and that on the lasttwo, both women went into town, and were closeted for some time with,first, solicitors, and, second, bankers. Albert, indeed, never enteredinto the thoughts of either Lucilla or Jeckie; he was not even acircumstance to be taken into account. There was, however, a man in theneighbourhood who had Miss Jecholiah Farnish very much in his thoughtsat this time. This was Farebrother, a more observant man than Mortimer,and Farebrother at last tackled his friend definitely as they sat diningone night in the parlour of the "Coach-and-Four."

  "Look here!" he said, suddenly. "It's about time you knew what thisFarnish woman's going to do. If you want the plain truth, Mortimer, Idon't trust her."

  "Oh, she's all right," exclaimed Mortimer. "A keen business woman, nodoubt, but not the sort to----"

  "My lad!" interrupted Farebrother, "you're always too optimistic, andtoo ready to believe in people. The woman's just the sort to do anybodyout of anything--she did both you and Scholes over the land. It'shers--and so is all that's beneath it, to the centre of the earth. Youshould have bought it yourself."

  "I?--a complete stranger!" protested Mortimer. "Impossible! There wouldhave been suspicion with a vengeance!"

  "Then you should have made an arrangement with her before she got it,"said Farebrother. "She's got it now--and all that it implies. And mybelief is that she's up to something. The last two or three times I'vebeen in the town I've seen her coming out of solicitors' offices--she'sat some game or another. She'll do you out of any share that you want toget in this very promising mine unless you're careful, and if you takemy advice you'll put it straight and unmistakably to her, and ask herwhat she's going to do."

  Mortimer protested and explained, but when dinner was over he went roundto Jeckie's private door, and after a slight interchange of casualremarks, asked her point-blank what she was going to do about startinga company to work the mine. Jeckie pointed to a large, legal-lookingenvelope which lay on the table.

  "It's done," she said calmly. "There'll be no company. Me and a friendof mine have gone into partnership to work it--there's the deed, dulysigned to-day. We're going to start operations very soon."

  Mortimer felt his cheeks flush--more from the memory of what Farebrotherhad said than with his very natural indignation.

  "But what about me?" he exclaimed. "Why--I gave you the idea! I saidfrom the first that I'd find money towards the company and knew otherswho would. It was my idea altogether--mine entirely. I only gave you thechance of coming in--I----"

  "Whose land is it?" demanded Jeckie, coolly. "Did I buy it? Is it mine?If you wanted it why didn't you buy it? I bought it; it's my land.And--all that's beneath it. Do you think I was going to do that forother folks? We do nowt for nobody hereabouts, unless there's somethingto be made at it, my lad! But, of course, I'll pay you and your friendfor your professional services--you must send your bill in."

  Mortimer rose from his chair and looked at the woman in whom,half-an-hour previously, he had expressed his belief.

  "So you've done me, too?" he said, simply. "You know well enough what myintentions were about this mine--of which you'd never have known, neverhave dreamed, if I hadn't told you of it. Do you call that honest--to dowhat you are doing?"

  "Send in your bill--and tell Farebrother to send in his," said Jeckie,in her hardest voice. "You'll both get your cheques as soon as I seethat you've charged right."

  Mortimer went away, worse than chagrined, and told Farebrother of hisdismissal; Farebrother forbore to remind him of what he had prophesied.

  "All right!" he said. "I see what it is. She learnt all she can fromus--now she's going to be what such a woman only can be--sole master!All right!"

  And being a practical man, he sat down to make out, what Jeckie styled,his bill.