"Mr. Chase."
Paula hesitated.
"Mr. Chase--I--I can"t go--make some excuse."
"Shall I take the message?" asked Mrs. Parkes.
Remembering Mr. Ricaby"s parting admonition Paula shook her head.
"No--I--must not receive any message," she replied.
As she spoke she was standing in a position commanding a view of the street. Suddenly she started back in consternation and beckoned to the landlady.
"Mrs. Parkes, come here, quick!"
Pointing out of the window, she said:
"Do you see that man standing on the corner--the one looking up here? I don"t want him to see me. Who is it? Tell me."
"It"s Dr. Zacharie with some stranger," said the landlady, peering out.
"Ah, I thought so!" exclaimed the young girl excitedly. "I was sure of it. He seems to be watching, doesn"t he--watching the house?"
"Yes," said Mrs. Parkes, looking again, "it"s the doctor all right, with another gentleman--the gentleman who was here before. Why, there"s three of them!"
"Three of them!" echoed Paula, dismayed.
Fearfully, she looked over Mrs. Parkes" shoulder.
"Yes, I see. It"s my uncle and Mr. Cooley. They"re pointing at this house and whispering together. What can they want?" Frightened, she turned to the landlady: "Mrs. Parkes, don"t let anyone into this house to-night, do you hear? What can they be doing?"
"They seem to be waiting for someone."
"Don"t let them see you looking," cried the girl, becoming more and more nervous. "Careful--don"t let them see you! This is some new move! They know Mr. Ricaby has gone to Albany. Oh, what can I do?"
"Why, what are you afraid of, my dear?" demanded the landlady, surprised.
"I don"t know," replied the trembling girl, in a frightened whisper, "only--don"t let them in, Mrs. Parkes. Whatever you do, don"t let them in!"
"Why, my dear!" exclaimed the old lady; "what ails you? Whatever is the matter, your hands are as cold as ice--what is it?"
"I don"t know," gasped the other. "I can"t explain even to myself, but I don"t want to see that man again--don"t leave me, Mrs. Parkes."
"But I want to go and give Mr. Chase your message," said the other.
"Mr. Chase--oh, yes!" cried Paula. "Tell him I want to see him--tell him to come here at once! I can"t be entirely alone. I must see Mr. Chase.
Tell him to come at once!"
Before the landlady could obey, however, there was a loud peal of the front door bell. Paula turned pale.
"It must be those men!" she exclaimed. "Look out! Can you see them there now?"
Mrs. Parkes hurried to the window and looked out.
"No," she said, "they"re gone."
In the hall outside was the sound of footsteps and voices.
"They"ve come for me!" cried Paula, in an agony of fear. "They"ve come for me! He said he would, and he has." Wringing her hands, she cried: "Why did Mr. Ricaby go away! I"ll go to my room--they dare not come there--they dare not."
Rushing into her room, she shut the door and locked it. Mrs. Parkes went to the door and only partly opened it.
"Miss Marsh cannot see anyone," she said, trying to shut the door in the intruders" faces.
Outside was heard Bascom Cooley"s loud, coa.r.s.e voice:
"But she must see us--she must. It"s the mandate of the court!"
Someone pushed the door open. Mrs. Parkes, unable to resist, fell back.
Bascom Cooley entered, followed by Jimmy Marsh and Harry Parkes.
CHAPTER XIV.
Mr. Ricaby was not mistaken when he said that Bascom Cooley never admitted defeat and would stop at nothing to gain his ends. The situation, as far as Jimmy Marsh and Cooley were concerned, was certainly desperate. Even in the short time that Jimmy had had Paula"s fortune under his control, he had so mismanaged it--to employ only a polite term--as to make his guardianship little short of a scandal. Wall Street, race horses, and the card table had already swallowed a considerable part of the Marsh millions, and that a goodly share of the money had gone to Jimmy"s unscrupulous lawyer no one could doubt. A day of reckoning must come sooner or later.
Both men knew this well, and Mr. Cooley also knew that whatever exposure and punishment awaited the ward"s uncle would also implicate himself.
The important thing, therefore, was to put off that day as long as possible, if not altogether, and the resourceful Cooley was not slow in hitting upon an idea. The girl, he said, must not be permitted to claim her estate. In a few more weeks she would be of age and legally ent.i.tled to demand of her uncle an accounting of his stewardship. There was no time to be lost. They must show that the girl was incapable of taking care of her own affairs. Was not her conduct strange and eccentric enough to justify this belief? Had she not flatly refused to live with her uncle, preferring the small, uncomfortable quarters of a cheap boarding house to a luxurious suite in a fine residence? Did she not a.s.sociate habitually with socialists, paupers, and other undesirables?
Were there not rumors that she had affianced herself to the almost imbecile son of her landlady? Had she not announced her intention to give all her money to these people, once it came into her possession?
Was she not at all times highly nervous, morose, melancholy? Did she act rationally? What were all these traits and eccentricities but proof of an unsound mind?
It was a very sad state of affairs, of course, but the truth was that the young woman was mentally unbalanced and needed the rest cure. She should be sent somewhere where her special case could receive proper attention. At first Jimmy was staggered by this audacious proposal.
There were some lengths to which even he hesitated to follow Cooley. But his resistance was not long lived. When the lawyer, without mincing words, showed him in what peril he stood and that this step was necessary if he wished to be spared the ignominy of wearing prison stripes, he gave way. The next question was the method of procedure. How could the girl be placed in an inst.i.tution without regular commitment papers? Again, Mr. Cooley sprang into the breach. Dr. Zacharie would swear to anything for a consideration.
Mr. Cooley next went before a judge of a competent court, and pet.i.tioned for an order for the commitment to an asylum of Paula Marsh, a minor and ward of his client, Mr. James Marsh, on the alleged ground that she was of unsound mind and liable to do injury to someone. At the same time he submitted an affidavit sworn to by Dr. Zacharie, a recognized specialist in nervous and mental diseases, to the effect that on several occasions when he had observed and examined the said Paula Marsh, he had found her highly nervous and excitable and subject to hallucinations. On one occasion, in his presence, she had uttered threats of bodily violence against the said James Marsh. The court thereupon appointed physicians to examine the said Paula Marsh, the physicians being Dr. McMutrie, visiting inspector of the State Asylum for the Insane, and Professor Bodley, a country doctor recommended by Cooley. If in the opinion of these medical experts the girl was insane, commitment papers would be granted. Armed with this formidable mandate of the court, Mr. Cooley gathered his forces and made his sudden raid on Mrs. Parkes" boarding house.
It was in vain that the landlady tried to bar the way. The burly lawyer, more aggressive than ever, now that he felt himself armed with the authority of the Court, roughly pushed his way in.
"Now, my good lady," he said coaxingly, in a clumsy effort to be amiable. "I will a.s.sume the entire responsibility and that ought to relieve you of any further anxiety."
"I know, sir," said Mrs. Parkes, "but Mr. Ricaby"s orders----"
Paula had already taken refuge in her own room. Harry tried to prevent Cooley"s further entrance.
"Miss Marsh doesn"t want to see you," he said. "Her orders were----"