USA > California > A picture of pioneer times in California, illustrated with anecdotes and stores taken from real life > Part 53
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" You will have, my friend, to let your poor, dear sister into the secret; but caution her against mentioning it to any one. I assure you, my friend, I feel more for her in this matter than I do for any of us."
" I do not doubt it, Captain; but she is a little soldier from her childhood up, and I am not sure but that she will bear it better than any of us."
" Well, I trust so, friend Walter; so go and break it to her gently, and, in an hour or so, I will call and consult with you as to what had best be done; for all those bills for your furniture are to come in to-morrow, you know."
Walter started, turned a little pale, and said:
" Yes, sure enough; what on earth will I do ?"
" Well, that is a very hard matter to decide, Walter; but I will call as I said, and we will consult about it. So go to your poor sister without delay."
Walter left, and he was no sooner out of the room than a gen- eral merry laugh ran round the crowd he left behind him.
" Well, Captain," said Brown, "you did that well, as you al- ways do when you hold the helm yourself."
" None of your laughing, boys," said Ward; " we have a nice game to play yet, and if you all do your parts as well as you did to-day, all will work to a charm."
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Then, turning to Brown, he said:
" Go at once and start in all those bills for the furniture, and tell each man to say that he will call to-morrow afternoon for the money, in accordance with terms they sold on. I will be at the house when the bills come, and will work up this part of my plan."
When Walter reached home, Minnie had just taken off her things, and was giving some directions about lunch in a cheer- ful, happy voice, while the hired girl listened and talked at the same time.
" Well, wasn't the old Father cross at first, though ?"
" Oh, yes, Jane, a little ; but it is his manner. You can see that, and that he has a very kind, loving heart."
" Oh, yes, Miss; sure that must be so, or he wouldn't take to caring for helpless children as a business for his whole life; that is plain, Miss."
" I was glad to find he remembered mother and father. It makes me feel as if I had found an old friend here in San Fran- cisco. He is the first I have found in the whole State, except one gentleman who is now in Oregon, though it is said that San Francisco is the greatest place in the world for meeting with old friends."
" Yes, Miss ; so they say. But I have only just arrived from the States, and have met no one I knew before, as yet."
Minnie at that moment heard Walter's step in the sitting-room, and went to meet him. The moment her eyes rested on him, she saw something was wrong. His step was slow, his eyes turned away from her look, and he was very pale, and looked excited. She stopped short, as she walked towards him, saying :
" Walter dear, are you sick ?"
Without at once answering, he threw himself into a chair, and said :
" No, Minnie, dear; I am not sick, but I have some very bad news to tell you, and you must be a brave little woman and stand up against it."
With one bound, Minnie was opposite his chair, with her hands clasped tightly before her, her head leaned forward, her eyes fixed on Walter, and her whole expression of face, that of in- tense alarm; while the only word that escaped her lips was:
" Mother!"
" No, Minnie, no; I have heard nothing from dear mother, and am sure she is well."
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"James De Forest ?" said Minnie, without a change of posi- tion or countenance, but in a lower and softer tone.
" No, no, Minnie; it is not-"
" Fannie Eaton ?" went on Minnie, without waiting to hear Walter.
" No, no, Minnie; it is not the death of any one."
" Oh, thank God ! thank God !" said Minnie. And she stood erect and clasped her hands on her temples, as if to steady her excited thoughts. Then she threw herself into a chair near her brother, saying:
" Oh, dear Walter, I know your news must indeed be bad, for you look so sad and pale. But I can bear it now with com- posure, for I know it is not to take away our lives or the lives of loved ones; nor can it tarnish our names; and anything else, Walter, Californians ought not to shiink from. All last night my dreams were of poor father and darling mother. I was with them; and oh, so happy! And they spoke to me of God, of truth, of courage and of fortitude, and smiled and blessed me. So they were in my mind all day, and when you told me of bad news, I could think of nothing but poor mother."
Walter took Minnie's hand in his, and said :
" Your words have already given me courage, Minnie, so I do not hesitate to tell you that last night we were robbed of every dollar I brought down to the city. In all, seven thousand dol- lars."
Minnie stopped for a moment, while her hand grasped her brother's tightly. Then, looking up calmly in his face, she said:
" Walter, it is but a very little time since you arrived in this very city, without a dollar in your pocket, and fifty dollars in debt, and without any experience of California life. You drove team for White, McGlynn & Co., to make your first start. Three times since then you made a handsome beginning after a sweep- ing loss. You can do the same again. Yes; and, if I cannot help you in your first move, I will at least be no drawback, for, you know, I can make hundreds of dollars giving music lessons in this city, which I will do until such time as you get a little ahead again."
" Oh, Minnie, I am ashamed of myself when I hear you speak. You are always so hopeful, so courageous. Difficulties appear to be your glory, and somehow you always triumph over them."
" Walter, I am but your sister in that respect; for every time
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fortune has turned you back, you have pushed on again, and again won a new position."
" Well, then, Minnie, let come what will, we will not be dis- 'couraged. Our present greatest difficulty is to pay for this furni- ture. Captain Ward says he has something to suggest in regard to this point of the business; so let us hear what he has to say, before we decide what to do."
Then Walter told Minnie how the robbery had been effected, and all the particulars. And just as he had concluded doing so, he saw Ward across the street. Walter went to the door, and, as he reached it, the bell rang. The Captain was evidently sur- prised to meet the brother and sister in such calm and self- possessed spirits. Minnie extended her hand to meet his, and said, with a smile :
" So you and Mr. Brown lost, too, Captain ?"
" Oh, yes, my dear Miss Minnie; we lost all our ready money." And then he added, in a low, mysterious voice: "But I have great hopes, by keeping the matter a perfect secret, that we will recover most of the lost money."
" Yes ; so my brother tells me. But I must confess I am not sanguine."
Then, after some further talk over the robbery, Jane announced that lunch was ready, and the Captain accepted an invitation to join them, saying :
" After lunch I will explain to you, Wagner, how you had bet- ter manage these furniture bills."
While they sat at lunch, the bell rang four times, and each time the girl went to the door, she came back with a bill for furniture, and a message that they would call to-morrow, in the afternoon, for the money. When lunch was over, Ward and Walter lit their cigars, and retired to a little porch at the back part of the house, to smoke. When seated, Ward began :
" Friend Wagner, I see this terrible loss has put you in a tight place, old fellow. Now, there is but one way out of it. It is this: Draw your note for two thousand dollars at sixty days, and get it discounted at Page, Bacon & Co.'s bank."
" In the first place, Captain, they would not discount my note, unindorsed; and, in the next place, I could not meet it in sixty days, even if they did."
" Oh, well, as to your last objection, Walter, I will have plenty of money by that time; for a five thousand dollar transaction
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I have on hand will be in cash in about forty days from this date, and I will lend you the money for a few months. And to make you feel at your ease about taking it, I will charge you a reasonable interest, though I would in truth rather yon accepted the use of the money without paying a dollar interest. No; don't speak, Walter, until I get through. Now, as to your first objec- tion, I will undertake to get a friend of mine, with whom I do a large business, to indorse your note. This friend's indorsement will get the money for you as fast as it can be counted out."
" Captain, that would be putting me under too much obliga- tion to you. I see no show of very soon repaying you."
" Oh, there will be no difficulty about that, Walter ; I may have to call upon you for a favor some time; and I think I see one not far in the distance now, that I will call on you for; so that will make us even, you know. And when the two thousand dollars that Hilton owes you are paid, you can pay your note due me. This plan will enable you to live here with your sister for the present, and you will soon find something to do, if we are not lucky in recovering our money from the thieves."
This proposition did look well to Walter ; so he told the Cap- tain he would take it into consideration, and call upon him early in the morning. After the Captain left, Walter explained the proposition to Minnie.
" Well, Walter dear, you know you are the best judge in all matters of business. The only objection I see to it, is that I have the greatest dislike to putting ourselves under such an obligation to Captain Ward. As to meeting the note, why, as you say, the money due from Hilton will do that, after four months. And then, you know, we can sell the the piano. It is new, and pianos are scarce in San Francisco. It was only by a chance Brown succeeded in getting it; so it ought to bring us the money readily."
" Yes, dear sister; we will sell it, or anything that is neces- sary ; but I would rather look around and see what we can do be- fore I sell anything, especially your piano. I should think, Minnie, that you would now be satisfied that Captain Ward is a sincere friend. See how, notwithstanding his own great loss, he thinks of us so kindly. I know both you and De Forest have had a great prejudice against him."
" I confess, Walter, that you are right in that; but I now begin to hope we were mistaken."
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" Why, Minnie, how can you hesitate about it? Look at his generous conduct on this occasion. What could be more off- hand and kind ?"
" Well, Walter, I say I begin to doubt my first impression. First impressions are often right, but they are sometimes greatly in the wrong, too; and I now begin to hope this is one such case."
" Begin to hope, Minnie ? I cannot understand why you do not acknowledge at once your first impressions, in this case, positively wrong."
" Walter, I am satisfied to take your view of this matter as the correct one, because the facts before us compel me to do so. Let that satisfy you, dear Walter."
"Well, that is all right, dear Minnie; and when James De Forest comes, he will be surprised to find how mistaken his judgment was in this case."
Just as they had come to this compromise, the bell rang, and another furniture bill was handed in, with the same message that accompanied the others.
Early the next morning, Walter was at the Oriental Hotel. Ward received him most cordially. He drew from his desk a blank note, such as was used by the bank of Page, Bacon & Co., and filled it up nicely for two thousand dollars at sixty days. Walter signed it. Then Ward told him to remain where he was while he went to get it indorsed by his friend. In an hour he returned, and as he entered the room he said:
" Well, did the young man bring the note ?"
" No, Captain; I have seen no one since."
" Oh, well," said the Captain, " he will be here in a few min- utes. When I went out that time I was called off, and I gave the note to a young friend of mine to take to Macondray & Co. and request in my name to have that firm indorse it for me; and I told him as soon as indorsed to bring it to you."
As Ward spoke, a not very prepossessing young man walked in, with the note in his hand.
" Oh, I got here before you," said Ward, addressing the young man. " Well, did the old Captain indorse it ?"
" Mr. Otis did, sir," said the young man, as he handed the note to Ward, now indorsed " Macondray & Co." " When I got there, the Captain was alone, and he said I would have to wait for Mr. Otis, as he never attended to that sort of business. That was what delayed me."
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" Oh, well, that is all right. You can go, Henry, as I have some business with my friend here."
Then, turning to Walter, Ward continued :
" Are you acquainted at the bank, Wagner ?"
" Not in the least."
" Well, you will have to get some one well acquainted there to introduce you."
" Well, I know John A. McGlynn. I once worked for him. I met him yesterday, and he recollected me, and was very friendly. I am also well acquainted with the firm of Allen, Wheeler & Co."
Ward thought a moment, and then said :
" Oh, it is not necessary for you to go hunting up any one. Let us walk up towards the bank, and I will strike some one just there, who will introduce you on my say so. I would do it my- self, but I have heretofore done my business with Burgoyne & Co., and am not acquainted with the people at Page, Bacon & Co.'s."
So, lighting their cigars, Walter and Ward walked up to Mont- gomery street, and stood talking at the corner of California and Montgomery. In a few minutes Michael Reese came along, and, just as he turned to enter the bank, Ward stopped him, saying :
" Please let me ask you a favor, Mr. Reese."
Michael looked a little cautious, not knowing what was next coming, and there was a sort of a nervous twitching near his pocket, as if he feared a break was going to be made in that di- rection, in some way he did not comprehend. However, as soon as he understood that that was not Ward's intention, an expres- sion of relief and almost pleasure spread over Michael's great, big, always sorrowful-looking, fat face, and Ward went on :
"I just want you, Mr. Reese, to recognize my friend, Mr. Wagner, here, in the bank, as he has a little business to do with them."
" With pleasure," said Michael; and he walked in with Wal- ter, and introduced him in an off-hand, decided way, as though he was an old acquaintance, and then went into the company's private office to attend to his own business.
The note was examined, found all right, and the money was handed out without hesitation to Walter, who immediately left to pay up his furniture bills, which he did that afternoon, and found that he had just two hundred dollars left. This put him, for the present, quite at his ease, and he began to plan and make
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inquiries for an opening where he could make a new beginning. He had a long talk with Mr. McGlynn, Edmund Allen and others; but a start was not to be made in a day, when one had no money to help him. So nearly three weeks passed, without much pro- gress being made in the way of making a permanent new start. Two or three openings did appear, but Ward and Brown always persuaded Walter to wait a little longer, pretending that they had got on the track of the lost gold-dust, and were in hopes of soon recovering it.
Minnie had been to see her old friend, Mrs. Allen, and was by her introduced to two or three families, who had daughters anxious to take music lessons. So Minnie at once commenced to teach music, and found pupils enough to fill her spare hours. As she had her own piano, the scholars came to her cottage, and her time passed pleasantly, as well as profitably. She had one serious annoyance, that sometimes was almost intolerable to her. It was Captain Ward's constant and devoted attentions. When polite to him, he seemed to grow wild with excitement, and over- whelming in his devotions to her. He brought her all sorts of little presents. She did not want to take them; but yet they were too trifling to refuse. When she was decidedly cold and repelling in her manner, his countenance would often become frightfully dark; so that, in actual fear, she would again smile, and again he would grow fierce in his devotion. Thus three weeks passed, and it was now the first week in May.
CHAPTER XIX.
MORE TROUBLE FOR WALTER-MINNIE'S REQUEST.
When Walter walked off from the bank with the money to pay his furniture debts, Ward looked after him with a grim smile, as he muttered to himself:
" He little thinks that he is now a forger in the eyes of the law, and that at any moment I can show him the door of San Quentin, if he refuses any request I make of him. Oh, yes; my work is as good as done! I have him now where I want him! I wonder what would old Captain Macondray, or that sharp young Jim Otis think if they were to see that note discounted to-day, with their indorsement on it ? But it is an excellent imitation of their handwriting; I am proud of the way I executed it. Yes; my old ability in that line has not left me. If Jim Otis ever sees it, he will, at first, believe he must have written it him- self; but lie never will see it if Walter does as I order him to do. Yes, order him; I have him now where I can order him, but I will take things cool; I will be as devoted to Minnie as any lover should be. I will not press things too fast at first. I will make her trifling presents, and act the cool, moderate lover; that is the way to take her sort. Then if she scorns me"-here his brow knit to a heavy frown, and his eyes shone with a dark fire, as he continued, in a low, menacing tone: "I will just ex- plain to her her brother's true position. Oh, that will settle mat- ters ; for to save him from disgrace, I believe she would walk into the infernal regions with any one, and she will lose nothing by taking me; for, personally, I am a much handsomer man than this De Forest."
Ward had now reached the Oriental, and found Brown wait- ing for him.
" Well, Brown," said he ; " all went off first-rate. £ The note is in the bank ; he has taken the money. I have him now where I want him."
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" Well, Captain, how soon will you open on them, and bring things to a conclusion ? Do not wait too long, for I tell you these Yankee Californians can overcome any difficulty, and this fellow Wagner is one of them, sure. The first thing you know will be that he has some lucrative speculation on hand, and that he has contrived to get the money to pay that note."
" I grant you, Brown, that if you and I were asleep, that might be so. No; we must watch to prevent his getting into any such good luck. We can prevent it by throwing out hints, in a private way, to damage his character; but in doing so we must be careful to whom we talk of him, for a discovery that either you or I spoke of him slightingly would be ruinous. It will not do for me to rush matters with my intended. No; I must try to win the girl by soft means, so that she will find it easier to save her brother by taking me when the time comes."
" Well, how long are you going to fool around here ?" said Brown, in a dissatisfied tone of voice.
" Well, I will promise you to bring things to a conclusion by the first week in May."
" All right, Captain ; I will hold you to your word."
In about two weeks after this conversation, Brown strolled one morning into Ward's room, and, as he threw himself into a chair. he said :
" Well, Captain, how do you come on in love matters ? Are you keeping Lizzie quiet, and are you winning your way all right with Miss Wagner ?"
" As to Lizzie," said Ward, laughing, " she is all right. No trouble in that quarter, as I often told you before, though Miss . Scott had the impudence to tell me, the last day I called there, that she ' really thought it was time for me to save Miss Lawson from remark by at once fulfilling my engagement to her.' I un- derstood the old maid, but I did not pretend to. She wanted to impress me as to the highly respectable character of her house. Oh, yes; I understood her perfectly, but I gave her no satisfac- tion, and gave my usual excuse to Lizzie herself for not bring- ing the parson." And here Ward laughed again, and then went on : " As to Miss Wagner, of whom you inquire, I can not say I get on very satisfactorily. She is making more money than I like at teaching music, and is very independent all at once, as her brother would be, too, if I had not balked some of his plans. Sometimes Minnie is in one mood, sometimes in another. I will
.
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not fool, as you call it, much longer with her. I have deter- mined to have her next week, either with her consent or without it. I do not now care much which."
The last part of this speech was made in the bitterest tone of voice, and with a dark, fierce look. Brown did not care to pur- sue the conversation any further ; so rising, he said :
" Well, I will hold everything about the Blue Bell in perfect readiness for sea."
" All right, Brown ; I will give you one day's notice."
On the morning following this conversation between the con- federates, as Walter arose from the breakfast table, the bell rang, and he was handed a note. It was from Ward, and ran in this way :
MY DEAR FRIEND : I want to see you at once. I have made a painful dis- covery, which you should at once know of. Come as soon as you can to my room at the Oriental, but do not let Miss Minnie know that I have sent for you, as we must keep the painful discovery from her. Your sincere friend, WARD.
Minnie's eyes were on Walter while he read the note, and she saw that he looked surprised and troubled; but she waited in silence for him to speak. Walter read the note over a second time. Then, turning to Minnie and handing it to her, said:
" I wonder what in the world that can mean! He says not to mention the matter to you, Minnie; but Captain Ward does not know that you are my chief of counsel-my first lieutenant, with- out whom the ship, in the first place, would never have put to sea, and in the next place, without whom it would have gone ashore after it was at sea."
Minnie was too anxious as to the contents of the note to notice Walter's compliments. She glanced over it quickly; then did as Walter had done-read it slowly over again. Looking up with the same sort of surprise on her countenance, she said:
" I cannot imagine, Walter, but I suppose it must be that they have discovered something that shows the impossibility of your ever getting back a dollar of the stolen money."
" Yes, Minnie; that must be what it means. But that does not bother me much, for I had but very little hope left about that money."
" Why, the fact is, I am glad the matter is at an end, Walter, for the hope was a sort of drawback to you. So go and see what it is, and come and teil me."
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Walter at once left for the Oriental Hotel, and Minnie, feeling sure that they anticipated correctly what the trouble was, waited without much anxiety for Walter's return. In an hour he came, but he was pale and haggard-looking. His step, as he ap- proached the house, was awkward and unsteady. Minnie saw all this from the window, and, springing to the door, threw it open, seized Walter's arm, and, looking up into his face with a countenance as pale as his own, but calm, said:
"Speak, darling Walter, speak ! And, whatever it is you have to tell, try and not forget that God is right here by us, and will guard us !"
" Minnie," said Walter; " the news is surely bad, but, as you say, God can guard us, and to Him alone can we turn."
" Go on, darling Walter ! Courage has already come to me to listen."
While speaking, they had entered the parlor, and sat together on the sofa. Minnie's eyes were fixed on Walter's face, as she listened to what he told her. He explained in as few words as possible, that Ward had last night discovered that the indorse- ment of Macondray & Co., on the note Walter had discounted in the bank, was a forgery.
Ward, he said, had happened to call at Macondray & Co.'s, on some business, and was surprised when Mr. Otis began to ex- plain to him why it was that he could not comply with his request the other day, and indorse that note he had sent them for in- dorsement. Ward said he saw at once that something must be wrong, but did not let Mr. Otis observe this, but returned home, and, with Mr. Brown's assistance, hunted up the young man who took the note to Macondray & Co., and was astonished when the fellow acknowledged that the old Captain himself and Mr. Otis had both refused to indorse the note, and that it was he himself who had written the indorsement. The young fellow's only ex- cuse for this act of villainy was that he wanted to borrow a twenty from Ward, and feared Macondray & Co.'s refusal would put him in such bad humor, that he would not lend the money. Walter now continued:
" Of course the way would be for me to take this note up at once and destroy it; but where is the money to do it with ? Ward has not got it, Brown has not a dollar, and of course I have not."
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