Captain Palliser"s slight laugh contained no hint of being shocked by any possibilities whatever.
"There are extremely private asylums and so-called sanatoriums where the discipline is strict, and no questions are asked. One sometimes reads in the papers of cases in which mild-mannered keepers in defending themselves against the attacks of violent patients are obliged to use force--with disastrous results. It is in such places that our investigations should begin."
"Dear me! Dear me!" Mr. Grimby broke out. "Isn"t that going rather far? You surely don"t think--"
"Mr. Tembarom"s chief characteristic was that he was a practical and direct person. He would do what he had to do in exactly that businesslike manner. The inquiries I have been making have been as to the whereabouts of places in which a superfluous relative might be placed without attracting attention."
"That is really astute, but--but--what do you think, Palford?" Mr.
Grimby turned to his partner, still wearing the shocked and disturbed expression.
"I have been recalling to mind a circ.u.mstance which probably bears upon the case," said Mr. Palford. "Captain Palliser"s mention of the portrait reminded me of it. I remember now that on Mr. Temple Barholm"s first visit to the picture-gallery he seemed much attracted by the portrait of Miles Hugo. He stopped and examined it curiously.
He said he felt as if he had seen it before. He turned to it once or twice; and finally remarked that he might have seen some one like it at a great fancy-dress ball which had taken place in New York."
"Had he been invited to the ball?" laughed Palliser.
"I did not gather that," replied Mr. Palford gravely. "He had apparently watched the arriving guests from some railings near by--or perhaps it was a lamp-post--with other news-boys."
"He recognized the likeness to Strangeways, no doubt, and it gave him what he calls a "jolt,"" said Captain Palliser. "He must have experienced a number of jolts during the last few months."
Palford & Grimby"s view of the matter continued to be marked by extreme distaste for the whole situation and its disturbing and irritating possibilities. The coming of the American heir to the estate of Temple Barholm had been trying to the verge of extreme painfulness; but, sufficient time having lapsed and their client having troubled them but little, they had outlived the shock of his first appearance and settled once more into the calm of their accustomed atmosphere and routine. That he should suddenly reappear upon their dignified horizon as a probable melodramatic criminal was a fault of taste and a lack of consideration beyond expression. To be dragged-into vulgar detective work, to be referred to in news-papers in a connection which would lead to confusing the firm with the representatives of such branches of the profession as dealt with persons who had committed acts for which in vulgar parlance they might possibly "swing," if their legal defenders did not "get them off," to a firm whose sole affairs had been the dealing with n.o.ble and ancient estates, with advising and supporting personages of stately name, and with private and weighty family confidences. If the worst came to the worst, the affair would surely end in the most glaring and odious notoriety: in head-lines and daily reports even in London, in appalling pictures of every one concerned in every New York newspaper, even in baffled struggles to keep abominable woodcuts of themselves-- Mr. Edward James Palford and Mr. James Matthew Grimby--from being published in sensational journalistic sheets! Professional duty demanded that the situation should be dealt with, that investigation should be entered into, that the most serious even if conservative steps should be taken at once. With regard to the accepted report of Mr. James Temple Barholm"s tragic death, it could not be denied that Captain Palliser"s view of the naturalness of the origin of the mistake that had been made had a logical air.
"In a region full of rioting derelicts crazed with the lawless excitement of their dash after gold," he had said, "ident.i.ties and names are easily lost. Temple Barholm himself was a derelict and in a desperate state. He was in no mood to speak of himself or try to make friends. He no doubt came and went to such work as he did scarcely speaking to any one. A ma.s.s of earth and debris of all sorts suddenly gives way, burying half-a-dozen men. Two or three are dug out dead, the others not reached. There was no time to spare to dig for dead men. Some one had seen Temple Barholm near the place; he was seen no more. Ergo, he was buried with the rest. At that time, those who knew him in England felt it was the best thing that could have happened to him. It would have been if his valet had not confessed his trick, and old Temple Barholm had not died. My theory is that he may have left the place days before the accident without being missed. His mental torment caused some mental illness, it does not matter what. He lost his memory and wandered about--the Lord knows how or where he lived; he probably never knew himself. The American picked him up and found that he had money. For reasons of his own, he professed to take care of him. He must have come on some clue just when he heard of his new fortune. He was naturally panic-stricken; it must have been a big blow at that particular moment. He was sharp enough to see what it might mean, and held on to the poor chap like grim death, and has been holding on ever since."
"We must begin to take steps," decided Palford & Grimby. "We must of course take steps at once, but we must begin with discretion."
After grave private discussion, they began to take the steps in question and with the caution that it seemed necessary to observe until they felt solid ground under their feet. Captain Palliser was willing to a.s.sist them. He had been going into the matter himself. He went down to the neighborhood of Temple Barholm and quietly looked up data which might prove illuminating when regarded from one point or another. It was on the first of these occasions that he saw and warned Burrill. It was from Burrill he heard of Tummas Hibblethwaite.
"There"s an impident little vagabond in the village, sir," he said, "that Mr. Temple Barholm used to go and see and take New York newspapers to. A cripple the lad is, and he"s got a kind of craze for talking about Mr. James Temple Barholm. He had a map of the place where he was said to be killed. If I may presume to mention it, sir,"
he added with great dignity, "it is my opinion that the two had a good deal of talk together on the subject."
"I dare say," Captain Palliser admitted indifferently, and made no further inquiry or remark.
He sauntered into the Hibblethwaite cottage, however, late the next afternoon.
Tummas was in a bad temper, for reasons quite sufficient for himself, and he regarded him sourly.
"What has tha coom for?" he demanded. "I did na ask thee."
"Don"t be cheeky!" said Captain Palliser. "I will give you a sovereign if you"ll let me see the map you and Mr. Temple Barholm used to look at and talk so much about."
He laid the sovereign down on the small table by Tummas"s sofa, but Tummas did not pick it up.
"I know who tha art. Tha"rt Palliser, an" tha wast th" one as said as him as was killed in th" Klondike had coom back alive."
"You"ve been listening to that servants" story, have you?" remarked Palliser. "You had better be careful as to what you say. I suppose you never heard of libel suits. Where would you find yourself if you were called upon to pay Mr. Temple Barholm ten thousand pounds" damages?
You"d be obliged to sell your atlas."
"Burrill towd as he heard thee say tha"d swear in court as it was th"
one as was killed as tha"d seen."
"That"s Burrill"s story, not mine. And Burrill had better keep his mouth shut," said Palliser. "If it were true, how would you like it?
I"ve heard you were interested in "th" one as was killed.""
Tummas"s eyes burned troublously.
"I"ve got reet down taken wi" th" other un," he answered. "He"s noan gentry, but he"s th" reet mak". I--I dunnot believe as him as was killed has coom back."
"Neither do I," Palliser answered, with amiable tolerance. "The American gentleman had better come back himself and disprove it. When you used to talk about the Klondike, he never said anything to make you feel as if he doubted that the other man was dead?"
"Not him," answered Tummas.
"Eh! Tummas, what art tha talkin" about?" exclaimed Mrs.
Hibblethwaite, who was mending at the other end of the room. "I heerd him say mysel, `Suppose th" story hadn"t been true an" he was alive somewhere now, it"d make a big change, would na" it?" An" he laughed."
"I never heerd him," said Tummas, in stout denial.
"Tha"s losin" tha moind," commented his mother. "As soon as I heerd th" talk about him runnin" away an" takin" th" mad gentleman wi" him I remembered it. An" I remembered as he sat still after it and said nowt for a minute or so, same as if he was thinkin" things over. Theer was summat a bit queer about it."
"I never heerd him," Tummas a.s.serted, obstinately, and shut his mouth.
"He were as ready to talk about th" poor gentleman as met with th"
accident as tha wert thysel", Tummas," Mrs. Hibblethwaite proceeded, moved by the opportunity offered for presenting her views on the exciting topic. "He"d ax thee aw sorts o" questions about what tha"d found out wi" pumpin" foak. He"d ax me questions now an" agen about what he was loike to look at, an" how tall he wur. Onct he axed me if I remembered what soart o" chin he had an" how he spoke."
"It wur to set thee goin" an" please me," volunteered Tummas, grudgingly. "He did it same as he"d look at th" map to please me an"
tell me tales about th" news-lads i" New York."
It had not seemed improbable that a village cripple tied to a sofa would be ready enough to relate all he knew, and perhaps so much more that it would be necessary to use discretion in selecting statements of value. To drop in and give him a sovereign and let him talk had appeared simple. Lads of his cla.s.s liked to be listened to, enjoyed enlarging upon and rendering dramatic such material as had fallen into their hands. But Tummas was an eccentric, and instinct led him to close like an oyster before a remote sense of subtly approaching attack. It was his mother, not he, who had provided information; but it was not sufficiently specialized to be worth much.
"What did tha say he"d run away fur?" Tummas said to his parent later.
"He"s not one o" th" runnin" away soart."
"He has probably been called away by business," remarked Captain Palliser, as he rose to go after a few minutes" casual talk with Mrs.
Hibblethwaite. "It was a mistake not to leave an address behind him.
Your mother is mistaken in saying that he took the mad gentleman with him. He had him removed late at night some time before he went himself."
"Tak tha sov"rin"," said Tummas, as Palliser moved away. "I did na show thee th" atlas. Tha did na want to see it."
"I will leave the sovereign for your mother," said Palliser. "I"m sorry you are not in a better humor."
His interest in the atlas had indeed been limited to his idea that it would lead to subjects of talk which might cast illuminating side- lights and possibly open up avenues and vistas. Tummas, however, having instinctively found him displeasing, he had gained but little.
Avenues and vistas were necessary --avenues through which the steps of Palford and Grimby might wander, vistas which they might explore with hesitating, investigating glances. So far, the scene remained unpromisingly blank. The American Temple Barholm had simply disappeared, as had his mysterious charge. Steps likely to lead to definite results can scarcely be taken hopefully in the case of a person who has seemed temporarily to cease to exist. You cannot interrogate him, you cannot demand information, whatsoever the foundations upon which rest your accusations, if such accusation can be launched only into thin air and the fact that there is n.o.body to reply to --to acknowledge or indignantly refute them--is in itself a serious barrier to accomplishment. It was also true that only a few weeks had elapsed since the accused had, so to speak, dematerialized.
It was also impossible to calculate upon what an American of his cla.s.s and peculiarities would be likely to do in any circ.u.mstances whatever.
In private conference, Palford and Grimby frankly admitted to each other that they would almost have preferred that Captain Palliser should have kept his remarkable suspicions to himself, for the time being at least. Yet when they had admitted this they were confronted by the disturbing possibility--suggested by Palliser--that actual crime had been or might be committed. They had heard unpleasant stories of private lunatic asylums and their like. Things to shudder at might be going on at the very moment they spoke to each other.
Under this possibility, no supineness would be excusable. Efforts to trace the missing man must at least be made. Efforts were made, but with no result. Painful as it was to reflect on the subject of the asylums, careful private inquiry was made, information was quietly collected, there were even visits to gruesomely quiet places on various polite pretexts.
"If a longer period of time had elapsed," Mr. Palford remarked several times, with some stiffness of manner, "we should feel that we had more solid foundation for our premises."