The Lever Part 34

"Business is business," James replied, sagely.

The elder Riley's lips came close together as he rose quietly yet quickly from his chair. In a moment more he had seized James by the collar, and with a sudden, violent action, made easier by the rec.u.mbent att.i.tude, deposited the younger man in a heap on the floor. Too surprised by the unexpectedness of the attack, James made no defence, and before he could even attempt to rise from his humiliating position the old man stood over him, shaking his fist in his face.

"Ye d.a.m.n dirty spalpeen, lie there f'r a time, will ye? I'll break ivery bone in ye'er body if ye even make a move ter git up. Do ye think I've spint me life f'r nothin' better than ter rear up a blackmailer an' th'

like iv ye? Do ye think me an' th' ol' woman, G.o.d rist her soul, slaved th' flesh off our bones f'r nothin' better than ter raise a brat who'd sell th' man whose hand was always out f'r me an' mine? It's ye'er fa-ather talkin' ter ye now, James Riley, an' it's ye'er fa-ather who's goin' ter sc.r.a.pe off some iv thim fine airs thim Tammany thieves an'

blacklegs has learned ye. It's manny th' time I've licked ye good, Jimmie, when ye was a la-ad, an' it's agin I'll do it if I has ter, ter learn ye honesty. Now git up an' set in that chair an' do phwat I tell ye, if ye know phwat's best f'r ye."

James Riley rose from the floor and sat obediently in the chair his father indicated. Had he chosen to a.s.sert his strength, the elder man would have been but a child in opposition; but the fire which flashed from those angry eyes, and the tone in which his father's scathing castigation was administered, took him back twenty years when the same angry flash and the same convincing tones were backed up by a physical force which made them worthy of respect. James Riley was again the offending boy, and his father--stern, severe, unrelenting in his own ideas of right and wrong--held him in a grip he could not break.

"Set there, d.a.m.n ye," the elder Riley repeated, breathing hard from excitement and from the unusual exertion. "Now tell me phwat ye found out when ye was workin' on ye'er own account."

James tried desperately to summon courage enough to oppose his father's will, but to no avail.

"I've mixed a bit with Buckner--the first husband--that's all."

"An' phwat did ye find out?" Riley demanded, sternly.

James hesitated.

"Out wid it!" the old man shouted.

"He's been married again since."

"Ah, ha! th' feller phwat says me Misther Robert's wife ain't his wife, 'cause th' divorce warn't reg'lar, has been married agin, has he?"

Riley's good-humor began to return with this cheerful bit of information. "Then that makes him a liar or a Mormon--take ye'er choice.

Which do ye think it is, Jimmie?"

"Liar," James replied, sententiously.

"Right ye are, Jimmie! Right ye are! Liar it is, tho' 'twud serve him right ter be th' other. An' where's his second wife?"

"That's what's a-worryin' him; he don't know."

"Ah, ha!" Riley chuckled, "why shouldn't it? It's bad enough when th'

wife don't know where ye are, but when ye don't know where th' wife is an' her apt ter turn up anny minnit! Ah, let him worry; it's good f'r him. What else did ye find out by ye'er mixin's?"

"That's all, so far, but I can get more. Buckner likes me."

The old man's pa.s.sing amus.e.m.e.nt was gone, and his indignation returned with full force.

"P'r'aps ye can git th' likin's iv a man who says me Misther Robert's wife ain't his wife, but 'twill be healthier f'r ye if ye gits th'

likin's iv Misther Robert himself. Now, ye'll go ter him to-morrer mornin'--d'ye mind--an' ye'll tell him all ye've tol' me, an' there won't be no price asked, an' ye'll keep on findin' out all ye can f'r Misther Robert, an' ye'll play fair, an' ye'll take phwat pay he chooses ter give ye, an' if ye thry anny more thricks like th' dirty wan I've just catched ye wid I'll be back ter see ye, James Riley, an' I'll break ivery d.a.m.n bone in ye'er body, James Riley. Now, good-night ter ye an'

ye'er prosperities. I'll tell Misther Robert ye'll be up ter see him at nine o'clock to-morrer mornin'."

The old man drew himself up majestically, cast one more withering glance on the completely humiliated James, and took his departure.

The next morning nine had not ceased striking on the clock standing on the mantelpiece in Mr. Gorham's study when James Riley was formally and seriously ushered by his father into these, the sacred precincts, where none entered except by its owner's invitation; but it was a far different James from the man who had called upon Mr. Gorham some weeks earlier. The younger Riley's self-a.s.surance was missing, his jaunty air was replaced by a bearing almost timid in its gentleness, his voice had become halty; and when Mr. Gorham first spoke to him he started suddenly, turning his face toward his questioner, and showing apprehension in every feature.

Gorham noticed the change, and, being ignorant of the tragic events of the evening before, was frankly surprised.

"Have you been ill, James?" he inquired, quietly.

"Oh, no, sir--I'm feeling very well, I thank you, sir," James answered in a quick, frightened voice.

"I am glad to hear it," Gorham answered, but his tone suggested incredulity.

"I have been some worrited lately," James added, by way of explanation.

"I s'pose you knows how that tells on a feller, sir."

"Yes, James," Gorham agreed. "It comes to all of us sooner or later.

Now tell me what is the important information which your father promised me you would bring with you ?"

"Hasn't he told you, sir?"

"Not a word, James. Has it to do with the matter you have been working on for me, or is it some trouble of your own which has caused the worry you speak of?"

James was seated on the edge of his chair with his thin hands folded and resting on his knees. His eyes roved about the room, looking anywhere except into Mr. Gorham's face. As a matter of fact, he had in reality pa.s.sed through some "worrited" times since his father's call, and his humiliation was complete. It was a relief to him to know that his father had not discussed the matter with Mr. Gorham, but even that consolation was not equal to the task of restoring him to his former equinimity.

"Well," interrogated Mr. Gorham, helpfully, striving to a.s.sist him in what was evidently a serious undertaking.

"You see, sir," James began, "there's another Mrs. Buckner."

"What!" cried Gorham, genuinely surprised and rising from his chair.

"Buckner has been married again, you say?"

"That's what I understand, sir; leastwise that's what he told me. He was drunk when he said it, and perhaps that's why he did say it; but I believe it's true."

James had the satisfaction of witnessing a sight which few men had seen during Mr. Gorham's lifetime--he was visibly excited, and, what was stranger still, he made no effort to conceal his emotion.

"If there is anything in what you say, James, this information is the most cheering piece of news which I have heard for many a day. Now tell me all you know about it."

In another half-hour James Riley was painfully making his way to the nearest subway station, giving no indication, either in his face or in his movements, as to whether the result of his mission had turned out more or less favorably, in its financial probabilities, than would have been the case had he followed his original intentions. He had found his father waiting for him in the front hall after he came down-stairs from Mr. Gorham's library, but the only remark the old man vouchsafed was, "Have ye done phwat I told ye, Jimmie?" Then the door swung upon its hinges while the younger man went out, leaving his father chuckling softly.

"Jimmie's th' fine la-ad, afther all," Riley muttered quietly to himself. "He has th' temptations same as we all has, but he seen his duty when his fa-ather shown it ter him." Then the old man became reflective. "It's sorry I'd 'a' been ter have had ter mess Jimmie all up," he continued--"but I'd 'a' done it. It's lucky f'r him he didn't show fight; it's lucky f'r him, I'm tellin' ye."

In the mean time Gorham had sought Eleanor and Alice, and told them the news which had come to him so unexpectedly. The problem now was to find the second Mrs. Buckner, and as quickly as possible. James had explained to Mr. Gorham that even Buckner himself did not know where the woman was. He had lived in several cities during the last few years. His wife might have died or moved away; but as Gorham pointed out in answer to the doubts Eleanor and his daughter expressed, if it was a fact, there must be a way to find conclusive evidence.

"I cannot delay a moment," Gorham at length declared. "It will take some time at best to run this matter down, and with the certainty so near at hand to prove our fears groundless, I am all impatience to take steps toward securing the actual evidence itself. It is imperative that I leave for Chicago to-morrow, and I must get this investigation under way before then."

Eleanor and Alice sat for some moments in silence after Gorham left the house. The girl watched the older woman, waiting for her to speak. The anxious lines were still in Eleanor's face; her pallor remained, and Alice wondered that she gave no evidence of relief from the nerve-racking strain which she had endured, in the face of so hopeful a turn in the whole situation. Still more, to the girl's surprise, Eleanor rose abruptly from beside her, and walked irresolutely to the window.

"I cannot, I cannot," she cried at last, all the pent-up feeling of the last few moments finding expression in these brief words. Alice was quickly beside her.

"You cannot do what, dear?" she asked, sympathetically.

"I cannot tell him."

"Haven't you told him yet?" Alice asked, a shade of reproach showing in her voice.