Sit down and we"ll talk. I must lock that door, or some blundering fool will be stumbling in without taking the trouble to knock. But first give me a kiss from those sweet lips, my dear, to a.s.sure me you don"t quite dislike me, you know."
As he spoke he flung his arm about the girl"s slender waist, and it was then that Margery"s piercing scream rang out so loudly upon her father"s ears, fairly electrifying him as he stood with his hand upon the k.n.o.b of the door of the private office.
CHAPTER XX.
A FATHER"S RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION
For an instant the old cashier stood like one suddenly paralyzed before the door of the private office from which that terrified scream had issued.
Great G.o.d! was he mad or dreaming, that he should imagine he heard his daughter Margery"s voice calling for help from within?
But even as he stood there, trembling, irresolute, the piercing cry was repeated more shrilly, more piteous than before, and it cut through the frightened father"s heart like the thrust of a dagger.
"I am coming, I am here, Margery!" he answered, twisting the bronze k.n.o.b fiercely; But the door did not yield to his touch as usual, and to his horror he realized that it was locked upon the inside!
With the fury of a tiger, David Conway threw himself against it with all his strength; strong as the lock was, it could not withstand the weight that was brought to bear upon it, and in an instant it was snapped asunder, the door falling in with a crash.
With a terrible imprecation Kendale wheeled about, his grasp around the girl"s waist slackening for a single instant.
And in that instant Margery sprang from him, darting into the arms of her father, who had leaped over the threshold.
"How dare you enter here?" shrieked Kendale, fairly beside himself with baffled rage.
The old cashier thrust his daughter behind him and walked up to the foiled villain, gazing him steadily, unflinchingly in the eye.
"I am here just in time to defend my child," he cried, white to the lips, "and here to chastise you, you villain, old man as I am"--and with the rapidity of lightning his clinched fist fell upon the face of the man before him with stinging blows, that resounded with all the strength and force of a steel hammer.
Kendale, who was by this time entirely under the influence of the brandy he had imbibed, was no match for the enraged cashier, who followed up his advantage by ringing blows, which fell as thick and fast as driving hail, until the other, coward as he was, fell down on his knees before him, shrieking out for mercy.
The unusual disturbance soon brought a throng of cashiers, bookkeepers and clerks flocking to the scene.
The old cashier turned upon them, holding up his hand to stay their steps as they crowded over the threshold, Mr. Wright, the manager, calling upon him anxiously to explain at once this unusual scene--this disgraceful encounter between his employer, who seemed unable to speak because of his injuries, and himself.
"It is due you all to know just what has happened," replied the old cashier, in a high, clear voice, "but I say to you, by the G.o.d above me, if this hound dares arise from his knees ere I have finished, I will kill him before your very eyes. There is something he has to say before you all while still on his knees. Let no man speak until I have had my say, and then you--my companions of years, my fellow-workers, my friends of a lifetime--shall judge of my action in this matter and deal with me accordingly."
The scene was so extraordinary that no man among them seemed capable of uttering so much as a syllable, so great was their consternation at beholding their employer on his knees, groveling before the old cashier, who stood over him like an aroused, avenging spirit.
In a voice high and clear the old cashier, whom they had known and revered for years, told his story in a simple, straightforward way, yet quivering with excitement, drawing his terror-stricken daughter Margery into the shelter of his strong arms as he spoke.
"I am Margery"s father--her only protector," he said, in conclusion.
"Is there a man among you with a father"s heart beating in his bosom who would not have done as I have done to the villain who dared to thus insult his child. Ay, there are men among you who would not have hesitated to have stricken him dead with a single blow--who would have considered it a crime to have spared him."
By this time Kendale was recovering from the stunning blows which had been dealt him--realized that help was at hand; the employees would be in duty bound to protect him from the enraged man before him.
He realized, too, that the old cashier meant that he should remain there on his knees and beg the girl"s pardon before all these people.
Ere Mr. Conway could judge of his design the bogus Lester Armstrong had bounded to his feet and into the midst of the crowd.
"You are discharged!" he cried, turning to the old cashier. "I will give you just ten minutes to get out of this building--you and the girl, both of you. It was a plan hatched up between you and her to extort money from me."
The old cashier attempted to spring at him, but the strong hands of indignant, pitying friends held him back.
Suddenly he stopped short, saying, with a dignity wonderful to behold:
"It is not necessary, I think, to ask any of you, who all know me so well and know also my little Margery, not to give credence to so heinous a statement. I am going from this place, friends. I would not stay another moment in this villain"s employ, nor would my Margery, though he weighed us down with all the wealth the world holds. Come, Margery."
The crowd slowly parted, making way for them, and together Margery and her father pa.s.sed through the line of sympathizing faces, hand in hand--the old man white, stern and resolute, pretty Margery sobbing as though her heart would break.
Mr. Wright, the manager, who had been--like the old cashier--fully five and twenty years beneath that roof, turned and faced the throng, saying, huskily:
"Mr. Armstrong, I herewith tender you my resignation. My friend of a lifetime is going, and I shall go, too."
"And I," "And I," "And I," quickly rang out, voice after voice.
"Confound you all, I discharge the whole lot of you!" shouted Kendale, now quite sobered by the excitement he was pa.s.sing through. "Don"t think your going troubles me even a little bit. The set of men don"t live who will ever trouble me or my business!"
With great rapidity the men fled from the private office, and, without waiting even to close their ledgers, took down their coats and hats, got into them quickly and filed downstairs.
Kendale never could fully comprehend how it happened that in five minutes" time the five hundred employees of the place heard what had occurred, and in less time than it takes to recount it the strangest event that had ever taken place in the annals of a great New York business house occurred--there was a mighty uproar and by one accord the great throng of employees quitted their tasks--badly as they needed work--and dashed out into the street, leaving the vast emporium to the hundreds of astonished customers with which it was crowded at that hour.
For an instant Kendale was horror-stricken when he realized what was occurring.
"G.o.d Almighty!" he gasped, "I am ruined, disgraced! A thousand furies take that girl; but she shall pay dearly for this. The police will be here to quell the riot and disperse the crowd outside, and turn out the people who are still inside!"
Looking from the window, he saw that the throng of angry employees were gathered around the old cashier and his daughter in a mighty mob.
"Good Lord! if Halloran were only here, to advise me this time," he muttered, turning pale with fear. He could hear their loud, angry voices hurling imprecations at him, and he knew full well that he would never be able to pa.s.s through that throng of thoroughly aroused and angry men without their doing him bodily injury, and he told himself in affright that all the Marsh millions for which he had bartered his soul would not save him from the hands of that raging mob.
CHAPTER XXI.
"I LIKE HER BETTER THAN ANY I HAVE MET--I SHALL MARRY HER."
Kendale was clever and quick of resource. He realized that there must be sudden action on his part. Should he fly headlong from the place and give up all? Then a remembrance of the yacht and the horses came to him, and he set his teeth hard together.
"I will see this game through, come what may," he muttered.
At that instant a daring thought came to him, and he acted upon it before he could have time to back down through cowardice.
Throwing open the window wide, he stepped boldly out upon the ledge in full view of the angry crowd of five hundred employees.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he exclaimed, raising his voice to a high key that all might hear, "I have something to say, and it is only due me that you should listen and then pa.s.s judgment.