"Take a seat, Mr. Denton," said the squire coldly.
Tony did not seem at all put out by the coldness of his reception.
"I s"pose you remember what pa.s.sed at our last meeting, Mr. Duncan,"
he said, in a jaunty way.
"Well, sir," responded Prince Duncan, in a forbidding tone.
"We came to a little friendly arrangement, if you remember,"
continued Denton.
"Well, sir, there is no need to refer to the matter now."
"Pardon me, squire, but I am obliged to keep to it."
"Why?"
"Because I"ve been unlucky??"
"I suppose, Mr. Denton," said the squire haughtily, "you are capable of managing your own business. If you don"t manage it well, and meet with losses, I certainly am not responsible, and I cannot understand why you bring the matter to me."
"You see, squire," said Tony, with a grin, "I look upon you as a friend, and so it is natural that I should come to you for advice."
"I wish I dared kick the fellow out of the house," thought Prince Duncan. "He is a low scamp, and I don"t like the reputation of having such visitors."
Under ordinary circ.u.mstances, and but for the secret which Tony possessed, he would not have been suffered to remain in the squire"s study five minutes, but conscience makes cowards of us all, and Mr.
Duncan felt that he was no longer his own master.
"I"ll tell you about the bad luck, squire," Tony resumed. "You know the bond you gave me the last time I called?"
Mr. Duncan winced, and he did not reply.
"I see you remember it. Well, I thought I might have the luck to double it, so I went up to New York, and went to see one of them Wall Street brokers. I asked his advice, and he told me I"d better buy two hundred shares of some kind of stock, leaving the bond with him as margin. He said I was pretty sure to make a good deal of money, and I thought so myself. But the stock went down, and yesterday I got a letter from him, saying that the margin was all exhausted, and I must give him another, Or he would sell out the stock."
"Mr. Denton, you have been a fool!" exclaimed Mr. Duncan irritably.
"You might have known that would be the result of your insane folly.
You"ve lost your thousand dollars, and what have you got to show for it?"
"You may be right, squire, but I don"t want to let the matter end so. I want you to give me another bond."
"You do, eh?" said Duncan indignantly. "So you want to throw away another thousand dollars, do you?"
"If I make good the margin, the stock"ll go up likely, and I won"t lose anything."
"You can do as you please, of course, but you will have to go elsewhere for your money."
"Will I?" asked Tony coolly. "There is no one else who would let me have the money."
"I won"t let you have another cent, you may rely upon that!"
exclaimed Prince Duncan furiously.
"I guess you"ll think better of that, squire," said Tony, fixing his keen black eyes on the bank president.
"Why should I?" retorted Duncan, but his heart sank within him, for he understood very well what the answer would be.
"Because you know what the consequences of refusal would be,"
Denton answered coolly.
"I don"t understand you," stammered the squire, but it was evident from his startled look that he did.
"I thought you would," returned Tony Denton quietly. "You know very well that my evidence would convict you, as the person who robbed the bank."
"Hush!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Prince Duncan, in nervous alarm.
Tony Denton smiled with a consciousness of power.
"I have no wish to expose you," he said, "if you will stand my friend."
In that moment Prince Duncan bitterly regretted the false step he had taken. To be in the power of such a man was, indeed, a terrible form of retribution.
"Explain your meaning," he said reluctantly.
"I want another government bond for a thousand dollars."
"But when I gave you the first, you promised to preserve silence, and trouble me no more."
"I have been unfortunate, as I already explained to you."
"I don"t see how that alters matters. You took the risk voluntarily.
Why should I suffer because you were imprudent and lost your money?"
"I can"t argue with you, squire," said Tony, with an insolent smile.
"You are too smart for me. All I have to say is, that I must have another bond."
"Suppose I should give it to you--what a.s.surance have I that you will not make another demand?"
"I will give you the promise in writing, if you like."
"Knowing that I could not make use of any such paper with out betraying myself."
"Well, there is that objection, certainly, but I can"t do anything better."
"What do you propose to do with the bond?"
"Deposit it with my broker, as I have already told you."
"I advise you not to do so. Make up your mind to lose the first, and keep the second in your own hands."