HOLTON ESTATE TO BE INVESTIGATED
Phil"s face grew serious. Her father had not been home for several days and she knew that his business in Indianapolis had absorbed his time and attention increasingly.
"I"m sure I don"t know anything about it," she answered, "and of course if you thought I did you wouldn"t ask me."
"Of course not, Phil. But it"s a mess. And I don"t know whether to print something about it or let it go. Bill Holton"s out of town and I don"t like to shoot without giving him a chance. But I owe him a few. If the company goes bust, there"s going to be a row round here we won"t forget in a hurry. Every widow and orphan in the county has got some of that stuff. They worked that racket as hard as they could--home road for the home people. What"s the answer?"
Phil drew up the editor"s clip of paper and wrote:--
"Mr. Amzi Montgomery went to Indianapolis yesterday to attend the Nordica concert."
Barker stared at this item blankly.
"What"s that got to do with it?"
"Nothing," said Phil indifferently; "it"s only an item."
"Amzi"s always going to concerts," remarked the editor inconsequently.
"I thought maybe he wasn"t going to this one, for the excellent reason that he declined to take me along."
Barker ran his hand through his hair, looked at Phil with dawning intelligence, and his brow cleared.
"I haven"t said anything," remarked Phil discreetly, "because I don"t know anything."
Barker put on his coat and hat.
"Guess I"ll go out and sniff the local feeling on this proposition. It"s about time I blew the lid off and said a few things about Bill Holton.
If Bernstein brings in copy for his Christmas "ad," whistle for the boy and tell "em to hustle it. Hang your stuff on the hook and I"ll write the heads later. Don"t let your playful humor get away with you, and if any farmers come in with the biggest pumpkin ever raised on Sugar Creek, note the name and weight carefully, call the boy and send the precious fruit right home to our wife. Our annual biggest pumpkin is long overdue and undelivered. You might just head that item "When the Frost is on the Punkin." We have captious subscribers who check up on favorite quotations and our aim is to please one and all."
A desk stood by the window from which the editorial eye in its frenzied rollings enjoyed a fine sweep of Main Street. To Phil Main Street ran round the world. Its variety was infinite. No one knew the ways, the interests, the joys and sorrows of Montgomery better than she. Every one was, in a sense, a character. More or less unconsciously she fitted them all into little dramas, or sketched them with swift, telling strokes.
The fact that this Main Street summarized American life; that there were hundreds of Main Streets presenting much the same types, the same mild encounters and incidents, appealed to her sense of humor. Her longest journey in the world had been a summer excursion to New England with her father, and she had been struck by the similarity of the phenomena observable in Williamstown, Pittsfield, Northampton--and Montgomery! In every town, no matter what its name, there was always the same sleepy team in front of the Farmers" Bank, the same boy chasing his hat, the same hack-driver in front of the hotel, the same pretty girl bowing to the same delighted young man near the same town pump or the soldiers"
monument in the square.
Phil wrote busily. It was easy for her to write, and when, looking up casually, items were suggested to her by the pa.s.sers-by, she returned to her work with a smile on her face. Judge Walters pa.s.sed carrying a satchel; this meant that he had returned from holding court in Boone County; Captain Wilson stumped by with a strange young man who Phil reasoned immediately must be the nephew he had expected to visit him during the holidays. The new auto-truck of the express company, which had long been forecast in Main Street rumor, rumbled by, and she heralded its arrival in a crisp paragraph. "Spress," the venerable dog that for ages had followed the company"s old horse and wagon, was at last out of commission, Phil"s "brevity" recited. The foreman came in from the composing-room, told her gravely that the paper was overset, and departed with her copy.
She took up the article relating to Sycamore Traction and read it through to the end. Many of the terms meant nothing to her; but the guarded intimations of improper conduct on the part of the promoters and directors were sufficiently clear. What interested her most of all was the accusation, cautiously attributed "to one in a position to know,"
that the estate of Samuel Holton had been so manipulated as to conceal part of the a.s.sets, and that a movement was on foot to reopen the estate with a view to challenging the inventory. The names of Charles Holton and his Uncle William, president of the First National Bank of Montgomery, appeared frequently in the article, which closed with a statement signed by both men that the stories afloat were baseless fabrications; that the company was earning its charges and that the rumors abroad through the state were the result of a conspiracy by a number of stockholders to seize control of the company.
Looking up, Phil saw her father pa.s.s the window, and before she could knock on the gla.s.s to attract his attention he came in hurriedly.
""Lo, daddy!"
"What are you up to, Phil? Where"s Barker?"
"Out taking the air. His local"s quit and I"m doing a few literary gems for him." She rose and leaned across the counter. Anxiety was plainly written on her father"s face, and she surmised that something of importance had brought him back from the city at this hour. He had not expected to return until Sat.u.r.day, and this was only Thursday.
"I must see Barker. Where do you suppose he went?"
"He"s trying to make up his mind what to do about that," said Phil, indicating the clipping.
Kirkwood took from his pocket several sheets of typewritten legal cap, and ran them over.
"I want him to print this; it must get in to-day. The people here mustn"t be stampeded by those stories. A repet.i.tion of them in the "Star" might do great harm--incalculable harm to the community and to all its interests."
"It doesn"t sound pretty--that piece in the "Advertiser.""
"It"s all surmise and speculation. That"s what I"ve been in the city about lately; and if they give us a chance we"ll pull it out without scandal."
"Suppose I write an interview with you along that line and stick your statement on the end of it?"
"I"ll have to see Barker first: he"s supposed to be unfriendly to the Holtons--old political feeling."
It occurred to Phil that it was odd for her father to be interposing himself between the Holtons and scandalous insinuations of the press as to their integrity. Tom Kirkwood reflected a moment, then opened the gate in the office railing and sat down beside her.
"I"ve got to get the twelve o"clock train back," he said, "and this must go in to-day. We must rea.s.sure the people as quickly as possible."
She wrote an opening paragraph without further parley and read it. He made a few changes, and then dictated a statement as attorney for the Desbrosses Trust & Guaranty Company, trustee for the Sycamore bondholders.
The stories set afloat at Indianapolis were gross exaggerations, he declared, and there was no occasion for alarm in any quarter. It was true that the company had suffered serious losses owing to unfortunate accidents, but these were not of a character to jeopardize the interests of bondholders. A thorough investigation was in progress, and judgment should be reserved until the exact truth should be known. The trustee meant to safeguard every interest of the investors.
Kirkwood was lost in thought for several minutes, and then took a sheet of paper and experimented with a number of sentences until these survived his careful editing:--
"I personally believe that the affairs of the Sycamore Traction Company will be speedily adjusted in a way that will satisfy those concerned, and meanwhile all efforts to shake public confidence in any of the interests or inst.i.tutions of Montgomery can only react disastrously upon those guilty of such attempts."
He read this over frowningly.
"I think that will be all, Phil," he said, handing her a clean copy.
While she was numbering the pages, Barker came in and Kirkwood drew him into a corner, where they conversed earnestly. The editor had met that morning many citizens who spoke bitterly of the Sycamore Traction Company. The Indianapolis "Advertiser"s" circulation in Montgomery was almost equal to that of the "Evening Star"; and on the wintry corners of Main Street, in the lobby of the Morton House, and in the court-house, men were speculating as to the effect of the reports from Indianapolis upon the Holton bank. The Holtons were Democrats and the "Evening Star"
was the Republican county organ. Barker disliked William Holton on personal grounds and here was his chance for reprisal.
"They"re all crooks," said the editor hotly; and cut Kirkwood short with "No one knows that better than you."
Kirkwood ignored this thrust.
"It isn"t your feeling or mine, Barker, about these people. It"s the town and its best interests we"ve got to consider. I give you my word that I believe these kinks in Sycamore will be straightened out. n.o.body knows more about the situation than I do. If you repeat this "Advertiser" article, you"ll start a run on the First National Bank, and if it should go down, it wouldn"t do any of us any good, would it? It wouldn"t help the town any, would it? I want you to trust me about this.
There"s no question of newspaper enterprise involved; but there is a chance for you to serve the community. The very fact that you have never been friendly to the Holtons will give additional weight to what you print to-day. I"m not asking you to smother this talk as a favor to me, but for the good of the town--all of us. And I believe you"re big enough and broad enough to see it."
Barker was reluctant to yield. His paper was one of the most influential country papers in the state. He was proud of its reputation and anxious to do nothing that would injure its hard-won prestige.
"That"s all right, Kirkwood, but how about that swindling construction company the Holtons worked as a side line? The bad service the company has given from the start pretty nearly proves that there was crooked work there. How do you get around that?"
"You"ll have to believe what I say, that we will handle it all to the satisfaction of the public. But smashing a bank won"t help any. We"re trying to manage in such way that no innocent party will suffer."
"Well, there"s nothing innocent about these Holtons. Sam died and got out of it, but Will and this young Charlie are off the same block. And now Jack"s come back to make trouble for them. I don"t see myself jumping in to protect these fellows; if they"ve got themselves in a hole, let them wiggle out."
"You"re not talking like a reasonable human being, Barker. Try to overcome personal prejudices. Just remember that several hundred people--our friends and neighbors--are going to be hurt if the bank fails. I"ve just headed off Waterman. He was about to bring suit for a receiver on behalf of one of the local bondholders on the ground of mismanagement. That would be a mistake. It"s in our plans to bring up the road"s efficiency at once. The trustee is in a position to do that.
I want you to help me quiet these disturbing rumors. If I didn"t believe it would all come out right, I"d tell you so very frankly."