University of Virginia Library

9. CHAPTER IX.

WHETHER Mr. Kittle had allowed his mind to dwell
upon mere worldly matters during the Sabbath just
past, or not, we have no means of knowing, and as he attended
with his customary strictness to all the duties of the day,
we have no right to believe that he did; but we have the
best reasons in the world for presuming that with Monday's
light his thoughts reverted back to the subject which had
occupied them on Saturday night, as earnestly as though no
Sunday had intervened. For no sooner did he reach his
store than he grasped the notes of Tremlett & Tucks which
he had bought of the Messrs. Mildmen, and hastened with
them to those gentlemen, and gave orders for their sale at a
larger discount than that at which they had been purchased,
which was a very large discount indeed, for they were some
of Fred's renewal notes. Mr. Kittle did not give any explanations,
but merely said that he was in want of the money,
which the brothers Mildmen understood in a figurative sense,
for they knew that Mr. Kittle was a moneyed man, and that
he could procure as much as he might want at legal interest;
therefore they inferred that he had discovered something unfavorable
in relation to our new firm, and as they held some
of Fred's notes themselves, as collateral security for a temporary

loan, they resolved to protect their own interests first
by making sale of the notes in their possession, and offer those
belonging to Mr. Kittle afterwards. Mr. Kittle could very
easily have obtained the money for the notes by offering them
at the Grocers' Bank of which he was a director, but as he
would in that case have been obliged to put his own name
upon them, he would have gained nothing by the operation.

While the Brothers Mildmen are running about trying to
make sale of their securities, we will look in upon the new
firm and see how they succeed with their suspended bargain,
upon which their own fortunes, as well as the fortunes of
many who do not as yet dream of danger, hang. Tom and
his brother met their partner when he came into the office
with a pleasant smile, and shook him cordially by the hand,
an unusual demonstration of good feeling, and then rubbed
their own hands as though they were excessively happy; and
they well might be, the mails had brought them intelligence
from every quarter of a rise in coffee, and they informed John
that they had completed the bargain for the new cargo that
had stood in their way. He enquired upon what conditions,
and they, or rather Tom, informed him, after locking the
door, in a whisper, that they were to give endorsed notes at
ninety days, upon condition that the notes should not be put
into the Banks and that the terms should not be made public.

“And who is the endorser?” asked John.

“Who?” replied the financier, “ha! ha! ha! old Kittle,
of course.”

“But he has refused; and I will sooner forego the whole
profit of the speculation than ask him again,” said John.

“Never mind; a bird that can sing, and won't sing, must
be made to sing,” said the financier, “leave him to me. I have
got his name, and all that I require of you is to complete the
arrangement with the owners of the coffee, and keep the transaction
to yourself. Ask no questions.”

“But I must ask one question, and it must be answered,”

said John, “by what means did you gain Mr. Kittle's consent
to this arrangement?”

“I see no necessity for your asking such a question,” said
Tom, “and I have already told you that it is a private arrangement,
and it must remain so.”

“It takes Tom to do the financiering,” said the junior partner,
with a knowing wink.

“But in a matter like this,” said John, “you have no right
to have any secrets, you must not forget that I am a party interested,
and I shall consent to no arrangement so important
as this, unless I know all the conditions of it.”

“Then you may go to—” the financier checked himself
suddenly and gulphed down whatever word it was that he
was going to utter. “Do you doubt my honor?” he continued,
more mildly, but still with an angry flash of his grey eyes,
“do you leave me to do all the business of the house, make all
the contracts, write all the letters, and after you have yourself
failed to complete a negotiation for an endorser, insist on
breaking the contract when I have succeeded in arranging for
one through the aid of my personal friends and my own personal
influence? To gratify your stubborn whims, myself
and mother and brother must be ruined, when we gave you
an interest in the concern out of charity to you.”

“You have said enough,” replied John, “I will destroy
nobody's property or happiness to gratify my own feelings;
but bear in mind that you and I are no longer as we were.
I will ask for no explanations; complete the arrangement that
you have begun and when this speculation has been closed,
we will revert to this morning's talk again.”

“Just as you please,” replied Tom, “but henceforth I am
going to be head of this house, whether my name stands first
or not.”

“We will not quarrel about that now,” said John, and one
of the clerks coming in just at that moment, put an end to the
conversation, and when they were left alone again, the financier

requested John to call upon the managing partner of the
house of Madden & Co., the owners of the Sumatra coffee,
and tell him that they would complete the bargain for the
entire cargo by a delivery of the notes the next day, to the
estimated amount of two-thirds of its value, according to
agreement.

“Curse him,” said Tom, as his partner closed the door,
“we will have him now, and if he doesn't repent of the day
that he was dragged from the pauper's nest where he belongs,
my name is not Tom Tuck.”

But this hideous speech called forth no remark from his
brother Fred, who sat behind his violet curtain reading the
last new novel; nor was it in truth intended to do so, it being
a kind of soliloquy in which the financier indulged too often
to excite any particular remark when he was overheard,
as he was not in this instance. Fred was deeply engaged in
in the midst of one of those delicious bits of description which
the fertile pens of the great geniuses in Great Britain are constantly
throwing off for the benefit of our young ladies and
gentlemen, and steam presses and paper makers and literary
street hawkers and pedlars, and he had become quite
oblivious to coffee speculations and ninety days notes, being
employed much more to his liking in cramming himself with
such interesting facts as these:

“The round red sun was fast sinking like a weary and
“battle-stained knight, far into the distant west, while a gor
“geous canopy of glorious clouds, bathed in streams of fiery
“gold, hovered around him as though they were the hangings
“of the violet-colored bed in which he was about to stretch
“his mail-covered limbs, when Sir Reginald halted on his
“coal-black charger before the quaintly carved oaken gates of
“a somewhat dilapidated baronial castle of the olden time.
“On either side might be seen clumps of England's glorious
“trees, while above the distant coppice a light blue smoke
“arose in the air, like some gentle spirit just exhaled from
“the earth. In front was a terrace flanked with quaintly
“carved flower-pots, and beyond that stretched a lawn several

“possed to the eyes of all who looked upon it. Beyond the
“lawn again were seen the lines of a distant city, apparently
“of considerable extent. Winding along at the foot of the
“hill and making the commencement of what might be called
“a plain—though to say the truth, the wide space to which
“we must give that name, was broken by many undulations
“—appeared a hard but sandy road, from which a carriage
“way led by a circuit up to the mansion. In some places
“high banks covered with shrubs and bushes, &c.—The
“Castle itself had nothing very remarkable in its appearance
“and therefore we give a particular description of it. The
“middle part consisted of a large square mass of stone
“masonry, rising somewhat higher and projecting somewhat
“farther than the rest of the building. On either side of this
“centre was a wing flanked with a small square tower, and
“in each wing and in each tower was a small door opening
“upon the terrace. Manifold lattices, too, with narrow panes
“set in lead, ornamented these inferior parts of the building
“in long strait rows, and chimneys nearly as numerous tow
“ered up from the tall ivy-clad gables, not quite in keeping
“with the trim regularity of the other parts of the building.
“It had in the centre a large hall door with a flight of stone
“steps, and on each side of the entrance were three small
“windows in frames of chisselled stone, &c.”

He had already read near two hundred pages of similar
description about distant copses, quaintly carved pots, lattice
windows, and England's glorious clumps of trees; and he
had in the course of his life read some millions of pages of
similar powerful writing, by the same eloquent and prolific
author, who had for twenty years produced his three or four
novels yearly, to the utter amazement and great delight of
hosts of readers on the American Continent, who never could
cease wondering at his amazing fertility; although, had they
ever looked through a kaleidiscope and noticed what an infinite
number of shapes may be made by shaking together half
a dozen bits of stained glass, and then remembered that there
are some forty thousand words in the dictionary, it strikes us
that their wonder need not have been so excessive.

The splendid production from which the above glowing
extract was made, was a novel called “Sir Reginald, a Tale
of other days,” which at this time was in everybody's hands;
and everybody was fired with a noble emulation to see who
should read it through first, so that when the question should
be put, “have you read Jones' last novel?” they could say,
“yes.” But we doubt not Fred Tuck had left every body
behind him, unless indeed it were the Editors, who have a
wonderful faculty of reading through all new books the same
day that they are issued, provided they be re-publications from
the English Press and issued here by some wealthy publishers
who has grown rich by pilfering the fruit of other
people's labors. And then these patriotic Editors relieve their
overburdened hearts and enlighten their readers by bringing
out their most exciting expletives, “powerful,” “brilliant,”
“splendid,” “glorious,” “profound;” and the literary circles,
and the literary street hawkers are in a state of most brilliant
excitement for at least two days. Our main object, however,
in making this extract was not for the purpose of stating
these grave facts, but that our readers might know what it
was that so fascinated the junior partner of the firm of
Tremlett & Tucks, and diverted his mind from the really
grave and important cares which should have pressed heavily
upon him; which gave his mind that romantic tinge so remarkably
developed in his “beau ideal villa,” and the general
style of his conversation and dress. It was owing to this
very “Sir Reginald,” that he forgot to make provision for the
check which his brother had sent to Mr. Jacobs on Saturday,
in consequence of which that gentleman had became involved
in a most unpleasant dilemma, that cannot but lead to the
unhappiest results.

Mr. Jacobs had been so imprudent as to join an association
of gentlemen who were extremely averse to eating bread
which was savoured by their own sweat, probably from an
ignorance of the fact that such food was conducive in a high

degree both to sweet sleep and healthy digestion. The means
adopted by these gentlemen for making a genteel living, was
by circulating very exact resemblances to bank notes, which
were in truth, so far as intrinsic value was concerned, in
every particular as valuable as the originals, being composed
of exactly the same materials, and quite as creditable as works
of art. And no doubt these financiers looked upon themselves
as very honest people, and entertained a proper degree
of righteous indignation towards those unworthy men who
circulate counterfeit coin, which is a very different thing from
what it appears to be, and will not bear the test of analysis;
whereas a counterfeit bank note will. We do not intend to
defend these associates in their bad practices, but we are unwilling
to judge any man harshly, and therefore we give the
best construction to their motives which they will bear. Furthermore,
they had each made a private resolve, unbeknown
to the others of course, that in case of difficulty by coming in
contact with the law, they would turn state's evidence, and
get clear of imprisonment themselves by informing against
their associates, and therefore they were not troubled by any
of those hideous fears which often, perhaps always, afflict
those who indulge in solitary crimes. But if this feeling of
there being a secret passage of escape in time of difficulty
tended to make their lives more pleasant and comfortable, it
had a counterbalancing ill effect by rendering them more
careless in their operations, and consequently more liable to
detection than they would otherwise have been. And in consequence
of this very resolve, Mr. Jacobs had the ill luck to
be detected in attempting to pass a ten dollar note in payment
for a bowl of oyster soup at a cellar in Mulberry Street. The
proprietor of the establishment, “the Mulberry Oyster Saloon”
chanced to be a good judge of bank-bills from the fact
of his having been engaged in the manufacture of them once
himself, and he knew that Mr. Jacobs' tender was a counterfeit
the moment he put his eye upon it, and guessing the
character of his customer, he leapt over his bar and caught
the unfortunate gentleman in his brawny arms before he had
a chance to escape.

Mr. Jacobs was vehement in his protestations of innocence,
and swore that he had just received the note from the teller of
the Bank. But the Mulberry gentleman knew something of
the world—at least the worst part of it, which is alone called
The World, by the world—and, to use his own expression,
he read Mr. Jacobs like a book, which, in justice to him, we
acknowledge was a very bad simile, since his manner of reading
a book was the very reverse of facile, while his reading of
his prisoner was very neat and precise. Therefore he turned
an adder-like ear to all his oaths and protestations and dispatched
his colored assistant to the police office for his old
acquaintance and chum, Cornele Racry, into whose hands he
meant to deliver Mr. Jacobs with an understanding that they
should share in whatever emoluments might arise from his
arrest. But no sooner had the black emissary left the saloon
than Mr. Jacobs became alarmed for his personal freedom and
offered the oyster proprietor a very large sum if he would allow
him to escape. And we are by no means positive that he
would not have overcome his captor's scruples, but, unfortunately,
the gross amount of real money which he had in his
possession did not exceed four and sixpence, and the honest
gentleman remained as inflexible as Brutus.

When the police officer arrived, who, of all other men, should
he prove, but the very individual that had arrested Mr. Jacobs
before on the complaint of Jeremiah. They knew each other
at a glance, and the prisoner made no attempt at concealment;
but knowing that police officers and proprietors of oyster saloons
were possessed of like feelings with other men, he made
his captors a plump offer of a thousand dollars, if they would
let him go as soon as it should be paid. Now, as this was a
much larger sum than they could hope to gain by delivering
him into the hands of Justice, they would have accepted his

proposition without hesitation had they not thought, from his
making so handsome an offer at first, that they would get
more by holding off. Therefore they made a great parade of
their indignation, which they did so well that even Mr. Jacobs
was deceived by it, and he kept increasing his offer, five
hundred dollars a bid until he reached five thousand dollars,
when they gave in; although the sum appeared to them so
preposterously large that they had scarce a hope of its being
paid. Had Mr. Jacobs been possessed of that magnificent
sum himself, it is probable that he would not have parted with
it to purchase his neck from a halter, but as he meant that
somebody else should pay it, he cared less about it, although
his instinct made him higgle for a good bargain. He had, as
he thought, exhausted the Tucks long before, and he would
not, under ordinary circumstances, have dared to apply to
them, but now there was no other resource for him, and he
sent them the threatening letter which the reader has already
seen, and increased his demand six hundred dollars that he
might have something in his pocket when he got clear of his
present difficulty.

Almost as much to his own surprise as that of his captors,
he received a letter from Tom Tuck, with a check enclosed,
for the required amount. As the police officer could not be
known in this transaction without injury to his professional
reputation, he was obliged to entrust the check to his chum
to get it cashed; and this gentleman had no sooner got it in
his possession than he conceived the brilliant idea of keeping
the whole amount, and not returning to his saloon. But he
was prevented from carrying out this idea, for the Teller of
the Bank refused to pay the check, alledging as a reason that
the account of the firm was not good for it. But Mr. Jacobs
assured the exasperated gentlemen, when they threatened to
hurry him off to prison, that the check would be paid on
Monday, and begged them to furnish him with refreshments
becoming a person of his station while they kept him in confinement.

And the proprietor of the saloon, with great good
nature, allowed him to call for the choicest refreshments in
his establishment.

When Monday arrived the check was again presented, and
again refused; and as the Teller eyed the holder of it very
suspiciously, he began to fear that Mr. Jacobs had been playing
a foul game, and he retreated very precipitately from the
Bank, and called at the office of Tremlett & Tucks to enquire
whether the check were genuine or not. Unluckily both the
Tucks were out, and as John, on referring to the check books
could find no entry of such a check, and none of the clerks
knew of any such payment being made, he pronounced it a
forgery, although the filling up and signature so nearly resembled
his partner's hand. He was about to question the
Mulberry gentleman as to his becoming possessed of it, when
that personage took flight, lest he should be arrested as an
accomplice, and ran with all his might until he reached the
saloon, when, not content with heaping all the abusive epithets
of which he was master on Mr. Jacobs' head, he had the
meanness to bestow upon him some pretty severe kicks. It
was in vain now, that Mr. Jacobs begged for more time, both
the officer and the saloon proprietor were so exasperated that
they would listen to none of his explanations and promises,
but after they had emptied his pockets of everything of value
that they contained, they hurried him off to the house of detention
and cursed themselves for putting any faith in the representations
of a rogue.

Mr. Jacobs' reflections when he found himself in prison
were the very reverse of agreeable, as may well be conceived;
'twas a strange fact, considering the risks which he voluntarily
encountered, but he had a horror of confinement amounting
almost to mania. Indeed, it might have been owing in
a great degree to his love of freedom, that he had never
adopted any regular business, but preferred the uncertainties
and dangers of the lawless life he had led, with its sweets of

liberty, to the irksome confinement of a profitable profession.
He could hardly believe that the Tucks had intentionally deceived
him, although he had not formed a very high opinion
of their morals from his intercourse with them, and yet it was
evident enough that they had treated him with neglect and
allowed him to be sent to prison; and he felt bitterly disposed
towards them. If he did not render them a greater disservice
than they had done him, it would be rather out of consideration
to his own happiness than theirs. He paced up and down
the narrow apartment in which he was confined, debating in
his mind whether or not the pleasure of ruining two persons
would be a sufficient compensation for bringing ruin upon
himself, when the grated door of his prison was unlocked
and another subject was thrust in. As the new-comer was
decently dressed, and wore altogether a respectable rather
than a flashy air, Mr. Jacobs felt happy in the prospect of a
genteel companion, for he hated low company with all his
heart, probably from never having been familiar with any
other. So he advanced towards his new companion and held
out his hand in a frank and agreeable manner, but, as he took
a nearer look he started back with unfeigned amazement and
consternation, as we doubt not almost any other person would
have done under similar circumstances. The new prisoner
was Jeremiah Jernegan.