"On receiving this letter my uncle, on my behalf, took measures to claim this sum, and for this purpose came to Boston. Imagine his surprise and indignation when the lawyer positively denied having received any such deposit and called upon him, to prove it. With great effrontery he declared that it was absurd to suppose that my father would have entrusted him with any such sum without a receipt for it. This certainly looked plausible, and I acknowledge that few except my father, who never trusted without trusting entirely, would have acted so imprudently.
""Where is the clerk who was in your office at the time?" inquired my uncle.
The lawyer looked somewhat discomposed at this question.
""Why do you ask?"he inquired abruptly.
""Because," was the reply, "his evidence is very important to us. My brother states that he was present when the deposit was made."
""I don"t know where he is," said the lawyer. "He was too dissipated to remain in my office, and I accordingly discharged him."
"My uncle suspected that the clerk had been bribed to keep silence, and for additional security sent off to some distant place.
"Nothing could be done. Strong as our suspicions, and absolute as was our conviction of the lawyer"s guilt, we had no recourse. But from that time I devoted my life to the exposure of this man. Fortunately I was not without means. The other half of my father"s property came to me; and the interest being considerably more than I required for my support, I have devoted the remainder to, prosecuting inquiries respecting the missing clerk. Just before I came to Rossville, I obtained a clue which I have since industriously followed up.
"Last night I received a letter from my agent, stating that he had found the man--that he was in a sad state of dest.i.tution, and that he was ready to give his evidence."
"Is the lawyer still living?" inquired Frank.
"He is."
"What a villain he must be."
"I am afraid he is, Frank."
"Does he still live in Boston?"
"No. After he made sure of his ill-gotten gains, he removed into the country, where he built him a fine house. He has been able to live a life of leisure; but I doubt if he has been as happy as he would have been had he never deviated from the path of rect.i.tude."
"Have you seen him lately?" asked Frank.
"I have seen him many times within the last few months," said the young man, in a significant tone.
Frank jumped to his feet in surprise. "You don"t mean----" he said, as a sudden suspicion of the truth dawned upon his mind.
"Yes," said Mr. Morton deliberately, "I do mean that the lawyer who defrauded my father lives in this village. You know him well as Squire Haynes."
"I can hardly believe it," said Frank, unable to conceal his astonishment. "Do you think he knows who you are?"
"I think he has noticed my resemblance to my father. If I had not a.s.sumed a different name he would have been sure to detect me. This would have interfered with my plans, as he undoubtedly knew the whereabouts of his old clerk, and would have arranged to remove him, so as to delay his discovery, perhaps indefinitely. Here is the letter I received last night. I will read it to you."
The letter ran as follows:
"I have at length discovered the man of whom I have so long been in search. I found him in Detroit. He had recently removed thither from St.
Louis. He is very poor, and, when I found him, was laid up with typhoid fever in a mean lodging-house. I removed him to more comfortable quarters, supplied him with relishing food and good medical a.s.sistance.
Otherwise I think he would have died. The result is, that he feels deeply grateful to me for having probably saved his life. When I first broached the idea of his giving evidence against his old employer, I found him reluctant to do so--not from any attachment he bore him, but from a fear that he would be held on a criminal charge for concealing a felony. I have undertaken to a.s.sure him, on your behalf, that he shall not be punished if he will come forward and give his evidence unhesitatingly. I have finally obtained his promise to, do so.
"We shall leave Detroit day after to-morrow, and proceed to New England by way of New York. Can you meet me in New York on the 18th inst.? You can, in that case, have an interview with this man Travers; and it Will be well to obtain his confession, legally certified, to guard against any vacillation of purpose on his part. I have no apprehension of it, but it is as well to be certain."
This letter was signed by Mr. Morton"s agent.
"I was very glad to get that letter, Frank," said his companion. "I don"t think I care so much for the money, though that is not to be despised, since it will enable me to do more good than at present I have it in my power to do. But there is one thing I care for still more, and that is, to redeem my father"s memory from reproach. In the last letter he ever wrote he made a specific statement, which this lawyer declares to be false. The evidence of his clerk will hurl back the falsehood upon himself."
"How strange it is, Mr. Morton," exclaimed Frank, "that you should have saved the life of a son of the man who has done so much to injure you!"
"Yes, that gives me great satisfaction. I do not wish Squire Haynes any harm, but I am determined that justice shall be done. Otherwise than that, if I can be of any service to him, I shall not refuse."
"I remember now," said Frank, after a moment"s pause, "that, on the first Sunday you appeared at church, Squire Haynes stopped me to inquire who you were."
"I am thought to look much as my father did. He undoubtedly saw the resemblance. I have often caught his eyes fixed upon me in perplexity when he did not know that I noticed him. It is fourteen years since my father died. Retribution has been slow, but it has come at last."
"When do you go on to New York?" asked Frank, recalling the agent"s request.
"I shall start to-morrow morning. For the present I will ask you to keep what I have said a secret even from your good mother. It is as well not to disturb Squire Haynes in his fancied security until we are ready to overwhelm him with our evidence."
"How long shall you be absent, Mr. Morton?"
"Probably less than a week. I shall merely say that I have gone on business. I trust to your discretion to say nothing more."
"I certainly will not," said Frank. "I am very much obliged to you for having told me first."
The two rose from their gra.s.sy seats, and walked slowly back to the farmhouse.
CHAPTER x.x.x. FRANK CALLS ON SQUIRE HAYNES
The next morning Mr. Morton was a pa.s.senger by the early stage for Webbington, where he took the train for Boston. Thence he was to proceed to New York by the steamboat train.
"Good-by, Mr. Morton," said Frank, waving his cap as the stage started.
"I hope you"ll soon be back."
"I hope so, too; good-by."
Crack went the whip, round went the wheels. The horses started, and the stage rumbled off, swaying this way and that, as if top-heavy.
Frank went slowly back to the house, feeling quite lonely. He had become so accustomed to Mr. Morton"s companionship that his departure left a void which he hardly knew how to fill.
As he reflected upon Mr. Morton"s story he began to feel an increased uneasiness at the mortgage held by Squire Haynes upon his father"s farm.
The time was very near at hand--only ten days off--when the mortgage might be foreclosed, and but half the money was in readiness.
Perhaps, however, Squire Haynes had no intention of foreclosing. If so, there was no occasion for apprehension. But about this he felt by no means certain.
He finally determined, without consulting his mother, to make the squire a visit and inquire frankly what he intended to do. The squire"s answer would regulate his future proceedings.
It was Frank"s rule--and a very good one, too--to do at once whatever needed to be done. He resolved to lose no time in making his call.
"Frank," said his mother, as he entered the house, "I want you to go down to the store some time this forenoon, and get me half a dozen pounds of sugar."