"What"ll you have, Mr. Rand?" asked Holmes, suavely. "I"m elected for the Glengarry special, with a little carbonic on the side."
"Same," said Rand, laconically.
"Sandwich with it?" asked Holmes. "You"d better."
"Oh, I can"t eat anything," began Rand. "I-"
"Bring us some sandwiches, waiter," said Holmes. "Two Glengarry special, a syphon of carbonic, and-Jenkins, what"s yours?"
The calmness and the cheek of the fellow!
"I"m not in on this at all," I retorted, angered by Holmes"s use of my name.
"And I want Mr. Rand to understand-"
"Oh, tutt!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Holmes. "He knows that. Mr. Rand, my friend Jenkins has no connection with this enterprise of mine, and he"s done his level best to dissuade me from holding you up so summarily. All he"s along for is to write the thing up for-"
"The newspapers?" cried Rand, now thoroughly frightened.
"No," laughed Holmes. "Nothing so useful-the magazines."
Holmes winked at me as he spoke, and I gathered that there was method in his apparent madness.
"That"s one of the points you want to consider, though, Mr. Rand," he said, leaning upon the table with his elbows. "Think of the newspapers to-morrow morning if you call the police rather than hand that package over to me. It"ll be a big sensation for Wall Street and upper Fifth Avenue, to say nothing of what the yellows will make of the story for the rest of hoi polloi. The newsboys will be yelling extras all over town, printed in great, red letters, "A Club-man Held-Up in Broad Daylight, For $25,000 In Securities That Didn"t Belong to Him. Billington Rand Has Something To Explain. Where Did He Get It?-"
"For Heavens sake, man! don"t!" pleased the unfortunate Billington. "G.o.d! I never thought of that."
"Of course you didn"t think of that," said Holmes. "That"s why I"m telling you about it now. You don"t dispute my facts, do you?"
"No, I-" Rand began.
"Of course not," said Holmes. "You might as well dispute the existence of the Flat-iron Building. If you don"t want to-morrow"s papers to be full of this thing you"ll hand that package over to me."
"But," protested Rand, "I"m only taking them up to-to a-er-to a broker." Here he gathered himself together and spoke with greater a.s.surance. "I am delivering them, sir, to a broker, on behalf of one of our depositors who-"
"Who has been speculating with what little money he had left, has lost his margins, and is now forced into an act of crime to protect his speculation," said Holmes. "The broker is the notorious William C. Gallagher, who runs an up-town bucket-shop for speculative ladies to lose their pin-money and bridge winnings in, and your depositor"s name is Billington Rand, Esq.- otherwise yourself."
"How do you know all this?" gasped Rand.
"Oh-maybe I read it on the ticker," laughed Holmes. "Or, what is more likely, possibly I overheard Gallagher recommending you to dip into the bank"s collateral to save your investment, at Green"s chop-house last night."
"You were at Green"s chop-house last night?" cried Rand.
"In the booth adjoining your own, and I heard every word you said," said Holmes.
"Well, I don"t see why I should give the stuff to you anyhow," growled Rand.
"Chiefly because I happen to be long on information which would be of interest, not only to the police, but to the president and board of directors of the Kenesaw National Back, Mr. Rand," said Holmes. "It will be a simple matter for me to telephone Mr. Horace Huntington, the president of your inst.i.tution, and put him wise to this transaction of yours, and that is the second thing I shall do immediately you have decided not to part with that package."
"The second thing?" Rand whimpered. "What will you do first?"
"Communicate with the first policeman we meet when we leave here," said Holmes. "But take your time, Mr. Rand-take your time. Don"t let me hurry you into a decision. Try a little of this Glengarry and we"ll drink hearty to a sensible conclusion."
"I-I"ll put them back in the vaults to-morrow," pleaded Rand.
"Can"t trust you, my boy," said Holmes. "Not with a persuasive crook like old Bucket-ship Gallagher on your trail. They"re safer with me."
Rand"s answer was a muttered oath as he tossed the package across the table and started to leave us.
"One word more, Mr. Rand," said Holmes, detaining him. "Don"t do anything rash. There"s a lot of good-fellowship between criminals, and I"ll stand by you all right. So far n.o.body knows you took these things, and even when they turn up missing, if you go about your work as if nothing had happened, while you may be suspected, n.o.body can prove that you got the goods."
Rand"s face brightened at this remark.
"By Jove!-that"s true enough," said he. "Excepting Gallagher," he added, his face falling.
"Pah for Gallagher!" cried Holmes, snapping his fingers contemptuously. "If he as much as peeped we could put him in jail, and if he sells you out you tell him for me that I"ll land him in Sing Sing for a term of years. He led you into this-"
"He certainly did," moaned Rand.
"And he"s got to get you out," said Holmes. "Now, good-bye, old man. The worst that can happen to you is a few judgments instead of penal servitude for eight or ten years, unless you are foolish enough to try another turn of this sort, and then you may not happen on a good-natured highwayman like myself to get you out of your troubles. By-the-way, what is the combination of the big safe in the outer office of the Kenesaw National?"
"One-eight-nine-seven," said Rand.
"Thanks," said Holmes, jotting it down coolly in his memorandum-book.
"That"s a good thing to know."
That night, shortly before midnight, Holmes left me. "I"ve got to finish this job," said he. "The most ticklish part of the business is yet to come."
"Great Scott, Holmes!" I cried. "Isn"t the thing done?"
"No-of course not," he replied. "I"ve got to bust open the Kenesaw safe."
"Now, my dear Raffles," I began, "why aren"t you satisfied with what you"ve done already. Why must you-"
"Shut up, Jenkins," he interrupted, with a laugh. "If you knew what I was going to do you wouldn"t kick-that is, unless you"ve turned crook too?"
"Not I," said I, indignantly.
"You don"t expect me to keep these bonds, do you?" he asked.
"But what are you going to do with them?" I retorted.
"Put "em back in the Kenesaw Bank, where they belong, so that they"ll be found there to-morrow morning. As sure as I don"t, Billington Rand is doomed," said he. "It"s a tough job, but I"ve been paid a thousand dollars by his family, to find out what he"s up to, and by thunder, after following his trail for three weeks, I"ve got such a liking for the boy that I"m going to save him if it can be done, and if there"s any Raffles left in me, such a simple proposition as cracking a bank and puting the stuff back where it belongs, in a safe of which I have the combination, isn"t going to stand in my way. Don"t fret, old man, it"s as good as done. Good-night."
And Raffles Holmes was off. I pa.s.sed a feverish night, but at five o"clock the following morning a telephone message set all my misgivings at rest.
"h.e.l.lo, Jenkins!" came Raffles"s voice over the wire.
"h.e.l.lo," I replied.
"Just rang you up to let you know that it"s all right. The stuff"s replaced. Easiest job ever-like opening oysters. Pleasant dreams to you," he said, and, click, the connection was broken.
Two weeks later Billington Rand resigned from the Kenesaw Bank and went West, where he is now leading the simple life on a sheep-ranch. His resignation was accepted with regret, and the board of directors, as a special mark of their liking, voted him a gift of $2500 for faithful services.