"Yes; I--I----" she stammered.
"You don"t stop to think," rejoined her companion bitterly, "that his family is the cause of your present predicament. You might say it is his fault."
"His mother"s fault, perhaps, but not his," corrected Paula quickly.
"You don"t like him--you never liked him. Yet he is my friend--the one friend I feel I can depend upon besides yourself. Won"t you try and like him for my sake?"
The lawyer shook his head. Doggedly he replied:
"If I don"t like him that is my affair. I don"t see why you should take it so much to heart."
"Well, don"t--don"t say anything to him, will you?"
"No, no, of course not. I only wish I could share your good opinion of him."
Paula was about to reply, when they heard the noise of approaching footsteps. The next instant Tod came in, beaming over with high spirits.
"h.e.l.lo, people! h.e.l.lo!" he cried heartily.
His jocular manner and hearty greeting might lead one to think that it was a pleasure jaunt rather than a sympathy call on an inmate which had brought him to the asylum. Not understanding his gaiety, Paula and the lawyer stared at him in amazement. It was the first time that Paula had seen him since they were parted so unceremoniously at the ferry, and she thought he might show a little more concern.
"How are you, Mr. Ricaby?" he said cheerily. "Miss Paula, I never saw you looking better!" Looking around curiously, he went on enthusiastically: "Do you know this is a great little place up here?
Gee, the scenery is great!--finest view of Long Island Sound I ever saw.
Well, they got us at the ferry, didn"t they? If the blamed old boat hadn"t broken down they"d never have caught us, would they?"
"It was very good of you to come to see me," said Paula, somewhat distantly.
He stared at her in well-feigned astonishment.
"To see you?" he exclaimed. "Why, I"m up here for my own health. Mother is with me. She wants to see you. You know I"m going to spend a couple of weeks here and rest up. I"ve just looked the place over and I tell you it beats all your summer hotels to a standstill. No bands of music, no bridge parties for mother, no late suppers for me, no late hours, not even a golf link! Oh, it"s just the place for me. I"m glad I came--I"m all run down, and I--I need----"
Suddenly he noticed Paula"s pale face and traces of recent weeping. He stopped chattering and for the first time looked serious. But the girl was not deceived. She knew that his apparent carelessness was only make-believe. With a forced smile, she said:
"You"re trying to cheer me up."
"Why shouldn"t I?" he laughed. "Don"t you deserve it?"
Mr. Ricaby was impatient to hear what news the young man had brought.
"You came to see me?" he interrupted anxiously.
"Incidentally, yes," smiled Tod.
"How did you know I was here?" demanded the lawyer.
"Missed you at your office. Listen, we"ll just talk business a few minutes, Miss Marsh, and then devote ourselves to the enjoyment of the place. Gee, what air! what ozone! what trees----" Suddenly stopping, he scratched his hand vigorously. "And what mosquitoes! Now, in the first place, Ricaby, I"m your witness--you can depend on me. I can prove that Jimmy needed money--and that he was compelled to resort to desperate means to raise it."
The lawyer looked at him keenly.
"Are you aware," he said, "that it will involve your mother?"
"Your mother!" cried Paula, astonished. "Oh, no! You--can"t do that. Oh, Tod, your mother!"
"She"s all right," cried the young man. "She has left Jimmy----"
"Left him!" cried Mr. Ricaby.
"Yes, left him for good and all! I explained his dastardly conduct to her, and when I refused to live in the same house with him, she said: "If you won"t live with him, neither will I." So she just left him, and if I can help it she"ll never go back to him. You can count on mother and me, and I think that between us we ought to bottle up Jimmy and Mr.
Cooley."
The lawyer held out his hand.
"I"ve done you a wrong, Mr. Chase, but I--you"ll forgive me, won"t you?"
"Don"t speak of it," laughed Tod good-humoredly.
"You may be of great value," went on the lawyer hastily. "Of course, it depends on what kind of evidence you have. What proof have you?"
"The best of proof," replied the young man mysteriously, "but don"t let us bother her with it-- I"ll show you my proofs later on."
Mr. Ricaby"s face brightened. Perhaps they might yet be able to trap the wily Cooley, after all. Thoughtfully he said:
"If you could persuade your mother to furnish us with some evidence of his intention to defraud----"
Paula protested.
"Oh, don"t ask him to do that! Betray his own mother," she exclaimed.
"It seems so--so--unnatural!"
Tod laughed. Looking at the girl fondly, he said:
"Paula, for your sake I"d--I"d commit every crime on the calendar!
Anything short of murder goes with me. Desperate diseases require desperate remedies. My stepfather and Bascom Cooley are the most desperate diseases I"ve ever encountered." Looking out of the window, he continued, with pretended enthusiasm: "Gee! but this is a lovely spot!
Look at that sunlight shimmering on the water! This air is like the c.o.c.ktail that exuberates but does not intoxicate! I"ll be writing poetry if I stay here long."
The door leading to the wards suddenly opened and Mrs. Johnson appeared. Advancing toward Paula, she said:
"Dr. Zacharie thinks it advisable for you to rest before the others see you. Come, Miss Marsh."
She took her patient by the arm, but Paula, made bolder by the presence of friends, shook her off:
"I don"t wish to go," she avowed decisively.
"Does Dr. Zacharie know we"re here?" demanded Tod, turning to the lawyer.
"Yes," rejoined the other.
"You had better come, miss," said the attendant firmly.
Paula looked at Mr. Ricaby and Tod helplessly.