When we came to the station house, the policeman gave Moneta a shove and told him to get along; he had not done anything, and was denied the honor of being arrested. The officer pushed Carpenter through the door, and bade the rest of us keep out.
Said Abell: "I am an attorney."
"The h.e.l.l you are!" said the other. "I thought you were an opery singer."
"I"m a practicing attorney," said Abell, "and I represent the man you have arrested. I presume I have a right to enter."
"And I am a prospective bondsman," I stated, with sudden inspiration. "So let me in also."
We entered, and the policeman led his prisoner to the sergeant at the desk. The latter asked the charge, and was told, "Disturbing the peace and blocking traffic."
"Now, sergeant," said I, "this is preposterous. All this prisoner did was to try to stop a mob from destroying property."
"You can tell all that to the magistrate in the morning," said the sergeant.
"What is the bail?" I demanded.
"You are prepared to put up bail?"
I answered that I was; and then for the first time Carpenter spoke.
"You mean you wish to pay money to secure my release? Let there be no money paid for me."
"Let me explain, Mr. Carpenter," I pleaded. "You will accomplish nothing by spending the night in a police cell. You will have no opportunity to talk with the prisoners. They will keep you by yourself."
He answered, "My Father will be with me." And gazing into the face of the sergeant, he demanded, "Do you think you can build a cell to which my Father cannot come?"
The officer was an old hand, with a fringe of grey hair around his bald head, and no doubt he had been asked many queer questions in his day. His response was to inquire the prisoner"s name; and when the prisoner kept haughty silence, he wrote down "John Doe Carpenter," and proceeded: "Where do you live?"
Said Carpenter: "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but he that espouses the cause of justice has no home in a world of greed."
So the sergeant wrote: "No address," and nodded to a jailer, who took the prophet by the arm and led him away through a steel-barred door.
Abell and I went outside and joined the rest of the group. None of us knew just what to do--with the exception of Everett, who sat on the steps with his notebook, and made me repeat to him word for word what Carpenter had said!
XLIX
Comrade Abell told us where the police-court was located, and we agreed to be there at nine o"clock next morning. Then I parted from the rest, and walked until I met a taxi and drove to my rooms.
I felt desolate and forlorn. Nothing in my old life had any interest for me. This was the afternoon when I usually went to the Athletic Club to box; but now I found myself wondering, what would Carpenter say to such imitation fighting? I decided I would stay by myself for a while, and take a walk and think things over. I had been dissatisfied with my life for a long time; the glamor had begun to wear off the excitement of youth, and I had begun to suspect that my life was idle and vain. Now I knew that it was: and also I knew that the world was a place of torment and woe.
I returned late in the afternoon, and a few minutes afterwards my telephone rang, and I discovered that somebody else was dissatisfied with life.
"h.e.l.lo, Billy," said the voice of T-S. "I see dat feller Carpenter is in jail. Vy don"t you bail him out?"
"He won"t let me," I said.
"Vell, maybe it might be a good ting to leave him in jail a veek, till dis Brigade convention gits over."
"Funny!" said I. "I had the same idea!"
"Listen," continued the other, "I been feelin" awful bad because I told dem fellers I didn"t know him. D" you suppose he knows I said dat, Billy?"
"Well," said I, "he knew you were going to say it, so probably he knows you said it."
"Vell," said T-S, "maybe you laugh at me, but I been tinkin" I tell dem fellows to go to h.e.l.l."
"What fellows?"
"De whole d.a.m.n vorld! Billy, I like dat feller Carpenter! I never met a feller like him before. You tink he vould let me go to see him in de jail?"
"I"m sure he"d be glad to see you," I said; "if the jailers didn"t object."
"Sure, I fix de jailers all right!"
"But T-S," I added, "I don"t believe he"ll sign any contract."
"Contract nuttin"," said T-S. "I shoost vant to see him, Billy. Is dere anyting I could do fer him?"
I thought for a moment; then I said: "You might do something for one of his friends, and that"s young Everett. He got pretty badly hurt, and he"s sticking at the job of taking down all Carpenter"s speeches. He ought to have a surgeon, and also a first cla.s.s stenographer to take turns with him. Have you got another man like him?"
"I dunno," said T-S. "You don"t find a young feller like Matt Everett everyday."
I started. "What do you say is his name?"
"Matthew," said T-S. "Vy you ask?"
"Nothing," said I; "just a coincidence!"
Our conversation ended with the remark by T-S that he would call up the station-house and arrange to see Carpenter. Five minutes later the telephone rang again, and I heard the magnate"s voice: "Billy, dey say he"s been bailed out!"
"What?" I cried. "He declared he wouldn"t have it done."
"Somebody done it vitout askin" him! De money vas paid, and dey turned him out!"
"Who did it?"
"Guess!"
"You mean it was you?"
"I vouldn"t "a dared. I only shoost found out about it. Mary Magna done it, and she"s took him avay somevere."
"Good Lord!" I exclaimed; and before my mind"s eye flashed another headline:
FAIR FILM STAR FREES LOVE-CULT PROPHET