"Sit down," repeated the captain. "I"ve been cruisin" so much this forenoon that I"m glad of the chance to sit. From what I"ve been able to learn you"ve been movin" pretty lively, too. A little rest won"t do either of us any harm. Sit down, Mr. Phillips. Take the rocker."
Phillips walked to the front window, looked out, hesitated, and then, returning, did take the rocker. He looked at his fellow-townsman.
"Well?" he asked.
Kendrick nodded. "Yes," he agreed, "it is well, real well, now that I"ve caught up with you. I"ll say this for you, you"re as good a craft for leavin" a crooked wake as any I ever chased. For a while there you had me hull down. But I"m here now--and so are you."
Egbert"s slim hand slowly stroked his mustache.
"There appears to be some truth in that remark," he declared. "We do seem to be here--yes.... But----"
"But you are wonderin" why _I_ am here? Well, to be honest, I came to find you. I judged that you were thinkin" of leavin" us--for a spell, anyhow--and before you went I wanted to talk with you, that"s all."
A pause, and more mustache stroking. The two men regarded each other; the captain blandly beaming, Phillips evidently pondering.
"I don"t know," he said, at last, "what you may mean by my thinking of leaving you. However, that is not material, and I am always delighted to see you, of course. But as I am rather busy this afternoon perhaps you"ll be good enough to come to the point.... If there is a point."
"Yes, there is. Oh, yes, there"s a point. Two or three points."
"Indeed! How interesting. And what are they? Please be as--ah--brief as you can."
Sears crossed his legs. All this had been but preliminary maneuvering.
Here now was the real beginning of the fight; and he realized only too keenly that his side in that fight was tremendously short of ammunition.
But he did not mean that his adversary should guess that fact, and with the smiling serenity of absolute confidence he fired the opening gun.
"Egbert," he began--"you don"t mind my callin" you Egbert? Knowin" you as well as I do, it seems foolish to stand on ceremony, don"t you think?
You don"t mind?"
"Not at all. Charmed, I"m sure.... Well?"
"Well--yes. We"ve got a good many mutual friends--you and I, Egbert. One of "em is named George Kent. He"s a great friend of both of us. Nice boy, too."
At the mention of the name the Phillips hand, caressing the Phillips mustache, paused momentarily. But it resumed operations almost at once.
Other than this there was no sign of perturbation on its owner"s part.
He slowly shook his head.
"My _dear_ Captain Kendrick----" he drawled.
"Oh, call me Sears. _Don"t_ be formal."
"My dear man, if it is possible for you to come to the point? Without too great a strain on your--ah--intellect?"
"I"m comin", Egbert. Right abreast there now. George--our mutual friend--is in trouble. He has used some money that he can"t spare, used it in a stock deal. I won"t go into the particulars because you know "em just as well as I do. You got him into the trouble in the first place, I understand. Now, to a man up a tree, as the boys say, it would seem as if you ought to be the one to get him out. Particularly as you are his very best friend. Don"t you think so?"
Egbert sighed before answering, a sigh of utter weariness.
"And may I ask if _this_ is the--ah--point?" he inquired.
"Why, yes--I guess so. In a way."
"And you are acting as our young friend"s representative? He has seen fit to take you into his confidence concerning a matter which was supposed to be a business secret between--ah--gentlemen?"
"I could see he was in trouble and I offered to do what I could to help.
Then he told me the whole thing."
"Indeed? A changeable youth. When I last heard him mention your name it was not--pardon me--in a--shall we say strictly affectionate tone?"
"That so? Too bad. But we are all liable to be mistaken in our judgments. Men--and women, too."
Again there was a slight pause; Egbert was regarding the speaker intently. The latter"s countenance was about as expressive as that of a wooden idol, a good-natured one. Mr. Phillips glanced once more at the clock, languidly closed his eyes, opened them, sighed for the third time, and then spoke.
"So I am to understand that our--ah--juvenile acquaintance has turned his business affairs over to you," he said. "I congratulate him, I"m sure. The marked success which you have attained in the--ah--management of--ah--other business affairs has inspired him with perfect trust, doubtless."
"That must be it. The average man has to trust somebody and I gathered that _some_ trusts of his were beginnin" to slip their moorin"s.
However, here"s the situation. You got him to buy some stock on margin.
The stock, instead of goin" up, as you prophesied, went down. You suggested his puttin" up more margin. He"d used all his own money, so he used some belonging to some one else. Now he"s in trouble, bad trouble.
What are you goin" to do about it?"
"I? My dear man, what should I do about it? What can I do? I have explained my situation to him. I am, owing to circ.u.mstances and the--ah--machinations of certain individuals--both circ.u.mstances and individuals of your acquaintance, I believe--in a most unfortunate position financially. I have no money, or very little. Our--your young protege wished to risk some of his money in a certain speculation. I did the same. The speculation was considered good at the time. I still consider it good, although profit may be deferred. He took the risk with his eyes open. He is of age. He is not a child, although--pardon me--this new action of his might lead one to think him such. I am sorry for him, but I do not consider myself at all responsible."
"I see. But he has used money which wasn"t his to speculate with."
"I am sorry, deeply sorry. But--is that my fault?
"Well, that might be a question, mightn"t it? You knew he was usin" that money?"
"Pardon me--pardon me, Kendrick; but is that--ah--strictly true?"
"Well, he says it is. However, the question is just this: Will you help him out by buyin" up his share in this C. M. deal? Pay him back his sixteen hundred and take the whole thing over yourself?"
Mr. Phillips for the first time permitted himself the luxury of a real smile.
"My _dear_ man," he observed, "you"re not seriously offering such a proposition as that, are you? You must be joking."
"It"s no joke to poor George. And he"s only a boy, after all. You wouldn"t want him to go to jail."
The smile disappeared. "I should be pained," protested Egbert, and proved it by looking pained. "It would grieve me deeply. But I can"t think such a contingency possible. No, no; not possible. And in time--my brokers a.s.sure me a very short time--the stock will advance."
"And you won"t take over his share and get all that profit yourself?"
"I can"t. It is impossible. I am so sorry. In former days--" with a gesture of resignation--"it would have been quite possible. Then I should have been delighted. But now.... However, you must, as a man of the world, see that all this is quite absurd. And it is painful to me, as a friend--still a friend of young Kent"s. Pardon me again, but I am busy this afternoon and----"
He rose. Sears did not rise. He remained seated.
"Jail"s a mean place," he remarked, with apparent irrelevance. "I"d hate to go there myself. So would you, I"ll bet."
Another pause on Phillips" part. Then another wearied smile.