CHAPTER VIII.COMING TO THE POINT.I WAS not pleased at the meeting, and ventured to suggest that I had important business at home; but my uncle gently dragged me into the insurance office. It was not pleasant to see him just then, and for several weeks I had avoided him, so far as it was practicable to do so. Captain Halliard was a rich man, and it could not possibly make any difference to him whether or not I paid the money I owed him. But I knew that he was exacting.“I think you said you did borrow three hundred dollars of me,” said my uncle, as he seated himself at the long table and took out his pocket-book, evidently for the purpose of finding the note.“There is no doubt about it,” I replied, with what self-possession I could command.“Just so; I had forgotten the particulars,” he continued, as he took the note from the papers in his pocket-book.He might as well have told me that I had forgotten it, as that he had; but I am sorry to say that both of us had a bad habit of pretending not to remember what, from the nature of the case, must have been uppermost in the mind. It was a stupid and ridiculous affectation. My creditors were often in my mind, and I am sure his debtors were as faithfully remembered.“I am not prepared to pay the note just now,” I began, with more candor than I generally used.“But, Paley, it is three or four months since I lent you the money; and you promised to pay it in a few weeks.”His memory was improving wonderfully.“I have just furnished my house, uncle, and that cost me a good deal of money,” I pleaded.“But you got trusted for that,” said he, sharply.“For only a small portion of it,” I answered, wondering how he could know that I owed any thing.“Paley, how much do you owe?” he demanded.“O, only a few hundred dollars! I don’t know precisely how much, but not more than I can pay in a short time.”“I’m glad to hear it,” replied he, rather dryly. “In how short a time?”“In a few weeks.”“That won’t do. When I lend money to any one I expect him to pay me, whether friend or foe, in the family or out of it. I’m afraid you are getting along a little too fast.”“I don’t think so.”“Your wife is rather extravagant, I’m told.”“I don’t think so.”“Where have you taken a house.”“In Needham street.”“Humph! What do you pay for it?”“Six hundred dollars.”“Six hundred dollars!” exclaimed he, leaping to his feet.“A very moderate rent for the house,” I added, not at all pleased at what I considered the impudence of my uncle.“That is more than I pay, Paley. I’m astonished!”“I think it is a fair rent.”“I don’t think so. What did it cost you to furnish it?” he continued, fixing a severe gaze upon me.“About eight hundred dollars,” I answered, not deeming it prudent to give more than half of the actual cost.“You are crazy, Paley! You will run yourself out in a couple of years, at this rate. Eight hundred dollars! When I was married I didn’t spend a hundred dollars on my house. Paley, I will give you three days to pay this note. If you don’t do it in that time, I shall do the next thing.”“What’s the next thing?” I asked, indignantly.“I’ll trustee your salary!”“You needn’t trouble yourself about the little sum I owe you; I will pay you,” I replied, rising and walking towards the door. “The next time I have occasion to ask a favor, I shall not go to a relation.”Doubtless he regarded this as a very savage threat, though perhaps he did not think its execution involved any great hardship on his own part. I walked out of the insurance office with a degree of dignity and self-possession which would have been creditable in a bank president. My uncle must be paid. There was no doubt of that. I would not be thorned by him for all the money in the world, for he was a very uncomfortable sort of man to a debtor, and very obstinately insisted on collecting his dues.It was patent to me that some one had been talking to Captain Halliard. Perhaps that mischievousstable-keeper had been in communication with him; and it was possible that my friend Buckleton had mentioned the trivial circumstance that I owed him eight hundred dollars. It was not impossible that Mr. Bristlebach and my uncle had been discussing my affairs. They were intimate acquaintances, and the captain did business at the Forty-ninth.Tom Flynn.I must pay Captain Halliard, or there would be a tempest about me at once. Not that he would trustee my salary, or anything of that kind; for this was only a hint that he would mention the matter to the president of our bank. I must pay him, but how to do so, was a matter about which I could not venture an opinion. I had little money, and I had already bled my friends as much as it was prudent to bleed them. I must “raise the wind,” or go under. I walked up State Street, trying to think who should suffer next for my sins, when I metTom Flynn. We never passed each other without stopping to speak, though we stood side by side in the bank during business hours. I saw that he looked embarrassed, and it flashed upon my mind before he opened his mouth that he wanted his money, and that he had made up his mind to ask me for it. I did not regard it as proper for him to do so.“Tom, I’m glad to see you,” I began. “I wanted to meet you.”“That’s just my case. I was going down to the bank to find you, after calling upon you at Mr. Oliphant’s. I wanted to see you very badly;” and the honest fellow looked more embarrassed than ever.“Well, that’s a coincidence,” I replied, deeming it my duty to spare him any unnecessary embarrassment. “I have just had a call for a little money I owe, and it was not convenient for me to pay it. It was awkward, because I have a habit of paying up all these little things at sight, even if I have to borrow the money to do so. I shall be flush in three or four days, but I dislike to make this particular fellow wait. Could you lend me a hundred dollars till Monday?”“I am very sorry, Paley,” replied the poor fellow,the wind all taken out of his sails. “The fact is, I’m short myself.”“O, well, never mind it. I’m sorry I said any thing,” I continued.“There was no harm in saying it to me,” laughed he, apparently more troubled at my necessity than his own. “I had a chance to buy some stock at a low figure, if I could raise the money to-day, so that the owner can leave to-night for New York. I am one hundred short of the amount required; but no matter; let it go.”“I’m sorry I haven’t the amount about me,” I replied, with a troubled look. “Perhaps I can raise it for you.”“O, no! I don’t want you to do that. You said you should be flush in a few days.”“Yes; I shall have some money on Monday.”“Well, then, Paley, since you can’t help me out, I can help you out,” said the noble fellow, with a generous smile. “I can’t buy my stock, and you may as well have the money as to let it remain idle.”“Thank you, Tom,” I replied, warmly.“You said a hundred dollars,” he continued, stepping into a doorway and drawing out his wallet.“I said a hundred dollars, but only because I had not the cheek to mention more. I must raise three hundred to-morrow—but only till Monday you know.”“Three hundred,” said he musing. “I think I can help you out.”“Thank you, Tom. Next Monday I will pay you this and the other hundred I owe you. And by the way, I had quite forgotten that you held my note.”“It’s of no consequence. I haven’t wanted it very badly. But I have a chance to invest what little I possess next week, and if I can get it then it will suit me better than to receive it now.”“You shall have the whole next Monday, without fail,” I replied, though I had no more idea where the money was to come from than I had of the source of the Nile.“That will fit my case exactly.”“We will step into the bank, and I will give you a note.”Every body had left the bank except the messenger, and I wrote the note. I had the three hundred dollars in my fist. I was intent upon taking the sting out of my uncle’s tongue. I meant to overwhelm him by paying my note beforeI slept. I parted with Tom in the street, and hastened to the insurance office, where I had left Captain Halliard. I found him tipped back in his chair in the inner room, talking with Mr. Bristlebach. I suspected that my case was the subject of their discussion.“Is that you, Paley?” called my uncle, as I made a movement to retire.“Yes, sir; but I won’t trouble you now, if you are engaged,” I replied.“Come in; we were talking about you, Mr. Glasswood,” said the president. “I was just telling your uncle how well satisfied I am with you.”“Thank you, sir. I am very much obliged to you for your good opinion, and I hope I shall always merit it,” I added, with becoming modesty.“Do you wish to see me, Paley?” asked my uncle.“Only for a moment, sir; but I will wait till you are at leisure.”Mr. Bristlebach took his hat and left the office, saying he had no particular business with my uncle.“The president of the Forty-Ninth speaks well of you, Paley,” said my uncle, good-naturedly.“I was glad to hear it, for I had a hint that you were going a little too fast. Bristlebach and I talked the matter over yesterday.”“I’m glad you found it all right. Have you my note in your pocket now?” I continued, rather stiffly.“Yes, I have it.”I drew my wallet, and took out the three hundred dollars I had just borrowed.“You needn’t trouble yourself about that just now,” said he, laughing.“I don’t like to be driven into so close a corner as you put me into a little while ago. Here is the amount of the note, with the interest.”“What I said was spoken under a misapprehension. You needn’t pay the note till you get ready.”“I am ready now, uncle.”“Of course, I don’t object to taking the money; but I didn’t mean to press you.”“Didn’t you, indeed? You gave me three days to pay the note, and threatened to trustee my salary if it was not paid in that time. If that was not pressing me, I took it as a gentle hint. If I don’t know any better than to borrow money of my relations another time, I ought to be hung for being a fool.”“I am sorry now that I said any thing, Paley. I will take it all back.”“Take principal and interest also, and I shall be satisfied.”It was not in his nature to refuse money under any circumstances. He gave up my note and pocketed the amount. It is quite probable that he wondered where I had obtained the funds so readily, and he even hinted at a desire to be enlightened on the subject. Perhaps he would suspect that I had taken them from the vault of the bank; but if he consulted Mr. Bristlebach on the matter, the messenger could inform him that the vault had not been opened during my last visit. To remove any such disagreeable impression as this from his mind, I said something about having a sum of money due me from a friend which I had kept in reserve for another purpose.After the excellent character which the president had given me, I think my uncle was satisfied. He apologized for the sharpness of his words and declared that he had more regard for my moral welfare than for any thing else. Perhaps he had, but his ideas of morality were very indefinite, for he had helped me into my situation by pulling down Tom, though I must do him the justice tosay that he helped my friend into his present situation, by declaring that new light entirely convinced him of the innocence of Tom.I left my uncle with the feeling that I had completely overwhelmed him, and made him blush for his conduct. I was satisfied that I could borrow five hundred dollars of him within a reasonable time, and with a reasonable explanation of the necessity. The affairs of the day had improved rather than injured my reputation. My integrity and honesty stood at the highest point. I had made a friend of the cashier, who had stupidly placed himself in my power when open conduct would have served him better in the end. I owed no more than before, but I had hampered myself with a promise to pay Tom Flynn four hundred dollars the next Monday. I had said Monday, because I had a faint hope that I might go down to Springhaven on Saturday and get the amount out of my aunt, who had at least another thousand dollars salted down in her bureau.There was time enough to think of this matter before the day of payment; but, if the worst came, Tom could easily be cajoled, and even made to insist upon my retaining the money another week or another month. While all these eventswere transpiring, the unfortunate relations which I sustained to my beautiful wife were hardly out of my mind for a moment. It was nearly six o’clock when I started for home, and all my thoughts were then of Lilian and the new house.I was tempted to recede from my hard and trying situation, and I probably should have done so if I had not been endowed with a certain obstinacy, sometimes called firmness. It seemed to me that my wife was not my wife while she remained in the home of “dear ma.” Her mother had more influence over her than I had, and I could not be happy till I had redeemed her from this bondage. My mother-in-law was swindling me for the benefit of her unmarried daughters. I could not endure it any longer, and come what would come, I would not. I entered the house the saddest and most miserable man in the whole city.The hour for final action had come. I had informed Lilian that I should move into the English basement house that day. I had ordered an express wagon to come for my luggage at seven o’clock. We had nothing to move but our trunks, in which, for the want of suitable closets, our clothing was still kept. I had seen Biddy in themorning, and told her to have supper for me at half-past seven. I went up to our room. Lilian was there. I saw that she had been crying, but whether from grief or from anger I could not tell. I put my arm around her neck and kissed her, as I always did, when I came into the house.“You are late, Paley,” said she, in forced tones of calmness.“I was detained at the bank by the president,” I replied. “But the wagon will be here at seven, Lilian.”“The wagon? What wagon?” she asked.“The wagon to take our trunks to Needham Street, Lilian.”“You do not mean that, Paley?” said she, looking up into my face, while her lips quivered and her chest heaved with emotion.“Of course I mean it, Lilian.”“Do you mean to say that you intend to drag me to that house, whether I am willing to go or not?”“Certainly not. I have never hinted at any thing of the kind. I only say that I am going; and going at seven o’clock this evening.”“O, Paley! I did not think you would do such a thing!” sobbed she.“I did not think, Lilian, after I had done all I could to please you; after I had carried out the arrangement we agreed upon when we came to board at your mother’s; after I had nearly ruined myself in fitting up the house, that you would refuse to live in it,” I pleaded. “I acknowledge that I have done wrong, but I cannot help it now. If you will go to the new house with me, I will promise to give it up in a reasonable time, if you are not happy there.”“I willnotgo, Paley! I have said it, and I mean it,” said she, spitefully.“Very well. I am going at seven o’clock,” I replied, sadly enough.I began to pack my trunk, while she sobbed in her chair.
CHAPTER VIII.COMING TO THE POINT.I WAS not pleased at the meeting, and ventured to suggest that I had important business at home; but my uncle gently dragged me into the insurance office. It was not pleasant to see him just then, and for several weeks I had avoided him, so far as it was practicable to do so. Captain Halliard was a rich man, and it could not possibly make any difference to him whether or not I paid the money I owed him. But I knew that he was exacting.“I think you said you did borrow three hundred dollars of me,” said my uncle, as he seated himself at the long table and took out his pocket-book, evidently for the purpose of finding the note.“There is no doubt about it,” I replied, with what self-possession I could command.“Just so; I had forgotten the particulars,” he continued, as he took the note from the papers in his pocket-book.He might as well have told me that I had forgotten it, as that he had; but I am sorry to say that both of us had a bad habit of pretending not to remember what, from the nature of the case, must have been uppermost in the mind. It was a stupid and ridiculous affectation. My creditors were often in my mind, and I am sure his debtors were as faithfully remembered.“I am not prepared to pay the note just now,” I began, with more candor than I generally used.“But, Paley, it is three or four months since I lent you the money; and you promised to pay it in a few weeks.”His memory was improving wonderfully.“I have just furnished my house, uncle, and that cost me a good deal of money,” I pleaded.“But you got trusted for that,” said he, sharply.“For only a small portion of it,” I answered, wondering how he could know that I owed any thing.“Paley, how much do you owe?” he demanded.“O, only a few hundred dollars! I don’t know precisely how much, but not more than I can pay in a short time.”“I’m glad to hear it,” replied he, rather dryly. “In how short a time?”“In a few weeks.”“That won’t do. When I lend money to any one I expect him to pay me, whether friend or foe, in the family or out of it. I’m afraid you are getting along a little too fast.”“I don’t think so.”“Your wife is rather extravagant, I’m told.”“I don’t think so.”“Where have you taken a house.”“In Needham street.”“Humph! What do you pay for it?”“Six hundred dollars.”“Six hundred dollars!” exclaimed he, leaping to his feet.“A very moderate rent for the house,” I added, not at all pleased at what I considered the impudence of my uncle.“That is more than I pay, Paley. I’m astonished!”“I think it is a fair rent.”“I don’t think so. What did it cost you to furnish it?” he continued, fixing a severe gaze upon me.“About eight hundred dollars,” I answered, not deeming it prudent to give more than half of the actual cost.“You are crazy, Paley! You will run yourself out in a couple of years, at this rate. Eight hundred dollars! When I was married I didn’t spend a hundred dollars on my house. Paley, I will give you three days to pay this note. If you don’t do it in that time, I shall do the next thing.”“What’s the next thing?” I asked, indignantly.“I’ll trustee your salary!”“You needn’t trouble yourself about the little sum I owe you; I will pay you,” I replied, rising and walking towards the door. “The next time I have occasion to ask a favor, I shall not go to a relation.”Doubtless he regarded this as a very savage threat, though perhaps he did not think its execution involved any great hardship on his own part. I walked out of the insurance office with a degree of dignity and self-possession which would have been creditable in a bank president. My uncle must be paid. There was no doubt of that. I would not be thorned by him for all the money in the world, for he was a very uncomfortable sort of man to a debtor, and very obstinately insisted on collecting his dues.It was patent to me that some one had been talking to Captain Halliard. Perhaps that mischievousstable-keeper had been in communication with him; and it was possible that my friend Buckleton had mentioned the trivial circumstance that I owed him eight hundred dollars. It was not impossible that Mr. Bristlebach and my uncle had been discussing my affairs. They were intimate acquaintances, and the captain did business at the Forty-ninth.Tom Flynn.I must pay Captain Halliard, or there would be a tempest about me at once. Not that he would trustee my salary, or anything of that kind; for this was only a hint that he would mention the matter to the president of our bank. I must pay him, but how to do so, was a matter about which I could not venture an opinion. I had little money, and I had already bled my friends as much as it was prudent to bleed them. I must “raise the wind,” or go under. I walked up State Street, trying to think who should suffer next for my sins, when I metTom Flynn. We never passed each other without stopping to speak, though we stood side by side in the bank during business hours. I saw that he looked embarrassed, and it flashed upon my mind before he opened his mouth that he wanted his money, and that he had made up his mind to ask me for it. I did not regard it as proper for him to do so.“Tom, I’m glad to see you,” I began. “I wanted to meet you.”“That’s just my case. I was going down to the bank to find you, after calling upon you at Mr. Oliphant’s. I wanted to see you very badly;” and the honest fellow looked more embarrassed than ever.“Well, that’s a coincidence,” I replied, deeming it my duty to spare him any unnecessary embarrassment. “I have just had a call for a little money I owe, and it was not convenient for me to pay it. It was awkward, because I have a habit of paying up all these little things at sight, even if I have to borrow the money to do so. I shall be flush in three or four days, but I dislike to make this particular fellow wait. Could you lend me a hundred dollars till Monday?”“I am very sorry, Paley,” replied the poor fellow,the wind all taken out of his sails. “The fact is, I’m short myself.”“O, well, never mind it. I’m sorry I said any thing,” I continued.“There was no harm in saying it to me,” laughed he, apparently more troubled at my necessity than his own. “I had a chance to buy some stock at a low figure, if I could raise the money to-day, so that the owner can leave to-night for New York. I am one hundred short of the amount required; but no matter; let it go.”“I’m sorry I haven’t the amount about me,” I replied, with a troubled look. “Perhaps I can raise it for you.”“O, no! I don’t want you to do that. You said you should be flush in a few days.”“Yes; I shall have some money on Monday.”“Well, then, Paley, since you can’t help me out, I can help you out,” said the noble fellow, with a generous smile. “I can’t buy my stock, and you may as well have the money as to let it remain idle.”“Thank you, Tom,” I replied, warmly.“You said a hundred dollars,” he continued, stepping into a doorway and drawing out his wallet.“I said a hundred dollars, but only because I had not the cheek to mention more. I must raise three hundred to-morrow—but only till Monday you know.”“Three hundred,” said he musing. “I think I can help you out.”“Thank you, Tom. Next Monday I will pay you this and the other hundred I owe you. And by the way, I had quite forgotten that you held my note.”“It’s of no consequence. I haven’t wanted it very badly. But I have a chance to invest what little I possess next week, and if I can get it then it will suit me better than to receive it now.”“You shall have the whole next Monday, without fail,” I replied, though I had no more idea where the money was to come from than I had of the source of the Nile.“That will fit my case exactly.”“We will step into the bank, and I will give you a note.”Every body had left the bank except the messenger, and I wrote the note. I had the three hundred dollars in my fist. I was intent upon taking the sting out of my uncle’s tongue. I meant to overwhelm him by paying my note beforeI slept. I parted with Tom in the street, and hastened to the insurance office, where I had left Captain Halliard. I found him tipped back in his chair in the inner room, talking with Mr. Bristlebach. I suspected that my case was the subject of their discussion.“Is that you, Paley?” called my uncle, as I made a movement to retire.“Yes, sir; but I won’t trouble you now, if you are engaged,” I replied.“Come in; we were talking about you, Mr. Glasswood,” said the president. “I was just telling your uncle how well satisfied I am with you.”“Thank you, sir. I am very much obliged to you for your good opinion, and I hope I shall always merit it,” I added, with becoming modesty.“Do you wish to see me, Paley?” asked my uncle.“Only for a moment, sir; but I will wait till you are at leisure.”Mr. Bristlebach took his hat and left the office, saying he had no particular business with my uncle.“The president of the Forty-Ninth speaks well of you, Paley,” said my uncle, good-naturedly.“I was glad to hear it, for I had a hint that you were going a little too fast. Bristlebach and I talked the matter over yesterday.”“I’m glad you found it all right. Have you my note in your pocket now?” I continued, rather stiffly.“Yes, I have it.”I drew my wallet, and took out the three hundred dollars I had just borrowed.“You needn’t trouble yourself about that just now,” said he, laughing.“I don’t like to be driven into so close a corner as you put me into a little while ago. Here is the amount of the note, with the interest.”“What I said was spoken under a misapprehension. You needn’t pay the note till you get ready.”“I am ready now, uncle.”“Of course, I don’t object to taking the money; but I didn’t mean to press you.”“Didn’t you, indeed? You gave me three days to pay the note, and threatened to trustee my salary if it was not paid in that time. If that was not pressing me, I took it as a gentle hint. If I don’t know any better than to borrow money of my relations another time, I ought to be hung for being a fool.”“I am sorry now that I said any thing, Paley. I will take it all back.”“Take principal and interest also, and I shall be satisfied.”It was not in his nature to refuse money under any circumstances. He gave up my note and pocketed the amount. It is quite probable that he wondered where I had obtained the funds so readily, and he even hinted at a desire to be enlightened on the subject. Perhaps he would suspect that I had taken them from the vault of the bank; but if he consulted Mr. Bristlebach on the matter, the messenger could inform him that the vault had not been opened during my last visit. To remove any such disagreeable impression as this from his mind, I said something about having a sum of money due me from a friend which I had kept in reserve for another purpose.After the excellent character which the president had given me, I think my uncle was satisfied. He apologized for the sharpness of his words and declared that he had more regard for my moral welfare than for any thing else. Perhaps he had, but his ideas of morality were very indefinite, for he had helped me into my situation by pulling down Tom, though I must do him the justice tosay that he helped my friend into his present situation, by declaring that new light entirely convinced him of the innocence of Tom.I left my uncle with the feeling that I had completely overwhelmed him, and made him blush for his conduct. I was satisfied that I could borrow five hundred dollars of him within a reasonable time, and with a reasonable explanation of the necessity. The affairs of the day had improved rather than injured my reputation. My integrity and honesty stood at the highest point. I had made a friend of the cashier, who had stupidly placed himself in my power when open conduct would have served him better in the end. I owed no more than before, but I had hampered myself with a promise to pay Tom Flynn four hundred dollars the next Monday. I had said Monday, because I had a faint hope that I might go down to Springhaven on Saturday and get the amount out of my aunt, who had at least another thousand dollars salted down in her bureau.There was time enough to think of this matter before the day of payment; but, if the worst came, Tom could easily be cajoled, and even made to insist upon my retaining the money another week or another month. While all these eventswere transpiring, the unfortunate relations which I sustained to my beautiful wife were hardly out of my mind for a moment. It was nearly six o’clock when I started for home, and all my thoughts were then of Lilian and the new house.I was tempted to recede from my hard and trying situation, and I probably should have done so if I had not been endowed with a certain obstinacy, sometimes called firmness. It seemed to me that my wife was not my wife while she remained in the home of “dear ma.” Her mother had more influence over her than I had, and I could not be happy till I had redeemed her from this bondage. My mother-in-law was swindling me for the benefit of her unmarried daughters. I could not endure it any longer, and come what would come, I would not. I entered the house the saddest and most miserable man in the whole city.The hour for final action had come. I had informed Lilian that I should move into the English basement house that day. I had ordered an express wagon to come for my luggage at seven o’clock. We had nothing to move but our trunks, in which, for the want of suitable closets, our clothing was still kept. I had seen Biddy in themorning, and told her to have supper for me at half-past seven. I went up to our room. Lilian was there. I saw that she had been crying, but whether from grief or from anger I could not tell. I put my arm around her neck and kissed her, as I always did, when I came into the house.“You are late, Paley,” said she, in forced tones of calmness.“I was detained at the bank by the president,” I replied. “But the wagon will be here at seven, Lilian.”“The wagon? What wagon?” she asked.“The wagon to take our trunks to Needham Street, Lilian.”“You do not mean that, Paley?” said she, looking up into my face, while her lips quivered and her chest heaved with emotion.“Of course I mean it, Lilian.”“Do you mean to say that you intend to drag me to that house, whether I am willing to go or not?”“Certainly not. I have never hinted at any thing of the kind. I only say that I am going; and going at seven o’clock this evening.”“O, Paley! I did not think you would do such a thing!” sobbed she.“I did not think, Lilian, after I had done all I could to please you; after I had carried out the arrangement we agreed upon when we came to board at your mother’s; after I had nearly ruined myself in fitting up the house, that you would refuse to live in it,” I pleaded. “I acknowledge that I have done wrong, but I cannot help it now. If you will go to the new house with me, I will promise to give it up in a reasonable time, if you are not happy there.”“I willnotgo, Paley! I have said it, and I mean it,” said she, spitefully.“Very well. I am going at seven o’clock,” I replied, sadly enough.I began to pack my trunk, while she sobbed in her chair.
COMING TO THE POINT.
I WAS not pleased at the meeting, and ventured to suggest that I had important business at home; but my uncle gently dragged me into the insurance office. It was not pleasant to see him just then, and for several weeks I had avoided him, so far as it was practicable to do so. Captain Halliard was a rich man, and it could not possibly make any difference to him whether or not I paid the money I owed him. But I knew that he was exacting.
“I think you said you did borrow three hundred dollars of me,” said my uncle, as he seated himself at the long table and took out his pocket-book, evidently for the purpose of finding the note.
“There is no doubt about it,” I replied, with what self-possession I could command.
“Just so; I had forgotten the particulars,” he continued, as he took the note from the papers in his pocket-book.
He might as well have told me that I had forgotten it, as that he had; but I am sorry to say that both of us had a bad habit of pretending not to remember what, from the nature of the case, must have been uppermost in the mind. It was a stupid and ridiculous affectation. My creditors were often in my mind, and I am sure his debtors were as faithfully remembered.
“I am not prepared to pay the note just now,” I began, with more candor than I generally used.
“But, Paley, it is three or four months since I lent you the money; and you promised to pay it in a few weeks.”
His memory was improving wonderfully.
“I have just furnished my house, uncle, and that cost me a good deal of money,” I pleaded.
“But you got trusted for that,” said he, sharply.
“For only a small portion of it,” I answered, wondering how he could know that I owed any thing.
“Paley, how much do you owe?” he demanded.
“O, only a few hundred dollars! I don’t know precisely how much, but not more than I can pay in a short time.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” replied he, rather dryly. “In how short a time?”
“In a few weeks.”
“That won’t do. When I lend money to any one I expect him to pay me, whether friend or foe, in the family or out of it. I’m afraid you are getting along a little too fast.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Your wife is rather extravagant, I’m told.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Where have you taken a house.”
“In Needham street.”
“Humph! What do you pay for it?”
“Six hundred dollars.”
“Six hundred dollars!” exclaimed he, leaping to his feet.
“A very moderate rent for the house,” I added, not at all pleased at what I considered the impudence of my uncle.
“That is more than I pay, Paley. I’m astonished!”
“I think it is a fair rent.”
“I don’t think so. What did it cost you to furnish it?” he continued, fixing a severe gaze upon me.
“About eight hundred dollars,” I answered, not deeming it prudent to give more than half of the actual cost.
“You are crazy, Paley! You will run yourself out in a couple of years, at this rate. Eight hundred dollars! When I was married I didn’t spend a hundred dollars on my house. Paley, I will give you three days to pay this note. If you don’t do it in that time, I shall do the next thing.”
“What’s the next thing?” I asked, indignantly.
“I’ll trustee your salary!”
“You needn’t trouble yourself about the little sum I owe you; I will pay you,” I replied, rising and walking towards the door. “The next time I have occasion to ask a favor, I shall not go to a relation.”
Doubtless he regarded this as a very savage threat, though perhaps he did not think its execution involved any great hardship on his own part. I walked out of the insurance office with a degree of dignity and self-possession which would have been creditable in a bank president. My uncle must be paid. There was no doubt of that. I would not be thorned by him for all the money in the world, for he was a very uncomfortable sort of man to a debtor, and very obstinately insisted on collecting his dues.
It was patent to me that some one had been talking to Captain Halliard. Perhaps that mischievousstable-keeper had been in communication with him; and it was possible that my friend Buckleton had mentioned the trivial circumstance that I owed him eight hundred dollars. It was not impossible that Mr. Bristlebach and my uncle had been discussing my affairs. They were intimate acquaintances, and the captain did business at the Forty-ninth.
Tom Flynn.
Tom Flynn.
Tom Flynn.
I must pay Captain Halliard, or there would be a tempest about me at once. Not that he would trustee my salary, or anything of that kind; for this was only a hint that he would mention the matter to the president of our bank. I must pay him, but how to do so, was a matter about which I could not venture an opinion. I had little money, and I had already bled my friends as much as it was prudent to bleed them. I must “raise the wind,” or go under. I walked up State Street, trying to think who should suffer next for my sins, when I metTom Flynn. We never passed each other without stopping to speak, though we stood side by side in the bank during business hours. I saw that he looked embarrassed, and it flashed upon my mind before he opened his mouth that he wanted his money, and that he had made up his mind to ask me for it. I did not regard it as proper for him to do so.
“Tom, I’m glad to see you,” I began. “I wanted to meet you.”
“That’s just my case. I was going down to the bank to find you, after calling upon you at Mr. Oliphant’s. I wanted to see you very badly;” and the honest fellow looked more embarrassed than ever.
“Well, that’s a coincidence,” I replied, deeming it my duty to spare him any unnecessary embarrassment. “I have just had a call for a little money I owe, and it was not convenient for me to pay it. It was awkward, because I have a habit of paying up all these little things at sight, even if I have to borrow the money to do so. I shall be flush in three or four days, but I dislike to make this particular fellow wait. Could you lend me a hundred dollars till Monday?”
“I am very sorry, Paley,” replied the poor fellow,the wind all taken out of his sails. “The fact is, I’m short myself.”
“O, well, never mind it. I’m sorry I said any thing,” I continued.
“There was no harm in saying it to me,” laughed he, apparently more troubled at my necessity than his own. “I had a chance to buy some stock at a low figure, if I could raise the money to-day, so that the owner can leave to-night for New York. I am one hundred short of the amount required; but no matter; let it go.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t the amount about me,” I replied, with a troubled look. “Perhaps I can raise it for you.”
“O, no! I don’t want you to do that. You said you should be flush in a few days.”
“Yes; I shall have some money on Monday.”
“Well, then, Paley, since you can’t help me out, I can help you out,” said the noble fellow, with a generous smile. “I can’t buy my stock, and you may as well have the money as to let it remain idle.”
“Thank you, Tom,” I replied, warmly.
“You said a hundred dollars,” he continued, stepping into a doorway and drawing out his wallet.
“I said a hundred dollars, but only because I had not the cheek to mention more. I must raise three hundred to-morrow—but only till Monday you know.”
“Three hundred,” said he musing. “I think I can help you out.”
“Thank you, Tom. Next Monday I will pay you this and the other hundred I owe you. And by the way, I had quite forgotten that you held my note.”
“It’s of no consequence. I haven’t wanted it very badly. But I have a chance to invest what little I possess next week, and if I can get it then it will suit me better than to receive it now.”
“You shall have the whole next Monday, without fail,” I replied, though I had no more idea where the money was to come from than I had of the source of the Nile.
“That will fit my case exactly.”
“We will step into the bank, and I will give you a note.”
Every body had left the bank except the messenger, and I wrote the note. I had the three hundred dollars in my fist. I was intent upon taking the sting out of my uncle’s tongue. I meant to overwhelm him by paying my note beforeI slept. I parted with Tom in the street, and hastened to the insurance office, where I had left Captain Halliard. I found him tipped back in his chair in the inner room, talking with Mr. Bristlebach. I suspected that my case was the subject of their discussion.
“Is that you, Paley?” called my uncle, as I made a movement to retire.
“Yes, sir; but I won’t trouble you now, if you are engaged,” I replied.
“Come in; we were talking about you, Mr. Glasswood,” said the president. “I was just telling your uncle how well satisfied I am with you.”
“Thank you, sir. I am very much obliged to you for your good opinion, and I hope I shall always merit it,” I added, with becoming modesty.
“Do you wish to see me, Paley?” asked my uncle.
“Only for a moment, sir; but I will wait till you are at leisure.”
Mr. Bristlebach took his hat and left the office, saying he had no particular business with my uncle.
“The president of the Forty-Ninth speaks well of you, Paley,” said my uncle, good-naturedly.“I was glad to hear it, for I had a hint that you were going a little too fast. Bristlebach and I talked the matter over yesterday.”
“I’m glad you found it all right. Have you my note in your pocket now?” I continued, rather stiffly.
“Yes, I have it.”
I drew my wallet, and took out the three hundred dollars I had just borrowed.
“You needn’t trouble yourself about that just now,” said he, laughing.
“I don’t like to be driven into so close a corner as you put me into a little while ago. Here is the amount of the note, with the interest.”
“What I said was spoken under a misapprehension. You needn’t pay the note till you get ready.”
“I am ready now, uncle.”
“Of course, I don’t object to taking the money; but I didn’t mean to press you.”
“Didn’t you, indeed? You gave me three days to pay the note, and threatened to trustee my salary if it was not paid in that time. If that was not pressing me, I took it as a gentle hint. If I don’t know any better than to borrow money of my relations another time, I ought to be hung for being a fool.”
“I am sorry now that I said any thing, Paley. I will take it all back.”
“Take principal and interest also, and I shall be satisfied.”
It was not in his nature to refuse money under any circumstances. He gave up my note and pocketed the amount. It is quite probable that he wondered where I had obtained the funds so readily, and he even hinted at a desire to be enlightened on the subject. Perhaps he would suspect that I had taken them from the vault of the bank; but if he consulted Mr. Bristlebach on the matter, the messenger could inform him that the vault had not been opened during my last visit. To remove any such disagreeable impression as this from his mind, I said something about having a sum of money due me from a friend which I had kept in reserve for another purpose.
After the excellent character which the president had given me, I think my uncle was satisfied. He apologized for the sharpness of his words and declared that he had more regard for my moral welfare than for any thing else. Perhaps he had, but his ideas of morality were very indefinite, for he had helped me into my situation by pulling down Tom, though I must do him the justice tosay that he helped my friend into his present situation, by declaring that new light entirely convinced him of the innocence of Tom.
I left my uncle with the feeling that I had completely overwhelmed him, and made him blush for his conduct. I was satisfied that I could borrow five hundred dollars of him within a reasonable time, and with a reasonable explanation of the necessity. The affairs of the day had improved rather than injured my reputation. My integrity and honesty stood at the highest point. I had made a friend of the cashier, who had stupidly placed himself in my power when open conduct would have served him better in the end. I owed no more than before, but I had hampered myself with a promise to pay Tom Flynn four hundred dollars the next Monday. I had said Monday, because I had a faint hope that I might go down to Springhaven on Saturday and get the amount out of my aunt, who had at least another thousand dollars salted down in her bureau.
There was time enough to think of this matter before the day of payment; but, if the worst came, Tom could easily be cajoled, and even made to insist upon my retaining the money another week or another month. While all these eventswere transpiring, the unfortunate relations which I sustained to my beautiful wife were hardly out of my mind for a moment. It was nearly six o’clock when I started for home, and all my thoughts were then of Lilian and the new house.
I was tempted to recede from my hard and trying situation, and I probably should have done so if I had not been endowed with a certain obstinacy, sometimes called firmness. It seemed to me that my wife was not my wife while she remained in the home of “dear ma.” Her mother had more influence over her than I had, and I could not be happy till I had redeemed her from this bondage. My mother-in-law was swindling me for the benefit of her unmarried daughters. I could not endure it any longer, and come what would come, I would not. I entered the house the saddest and most miserable man in the whole city.
The hour for final action had come. I had informed Lilian that I should move into the English basement house that day. I had ordered an express wagon to come for my luggage at seven o’clock. We had nothing to move but our trunks, in which, for the want of suitable closets, our clothing was still kept. I had seen Biddy in themorning, and told her to have supper for me at half-past seven. I went up to our room. Lilian was there. I saw that she had been crying, but whether from grief or from anger I could not tell. I put my arm around her neck and kissed her, as I always did, when I came into the house.
“You are late, Paley,” said she, in forced tones of calmness.
“I was detained at the bank by the president,” I replied. “But the wagon will be here at seven, Lilian.”
“The wagon? What wagon?” she asked.
“The wagon to take our trunks to Needham Street, Lilian.”
“You do not mean that, Paley?” said she, looking up into my face, while her lips quivered and her chest heaved with emotion.
“Of course I mean it, Lilian.”
“Do you mean to say that you intend to drag me to that house, whether I am willing to go or not?”
“Certainly not. I have never hinted at any thing of the kind. I only say that I am going; and going at seven o’clock this evening.”
“O, Paley! I did not think you would do such a thing!” sobbed she.
“I did not think, Lilian, after I had done all I could to please you; after I had carried out the arrangement we agreed upon when we came to board at your mother’s; after I had nearly ruined myself in fitting up the house, that you would refuse to live in it,” I pleaded. “I acknowledge that I have done wrong, but I cannot help it now. If you will go to the new house with me, I will promise to give it up in a reasonable time, if you are not happy there.”
“I willnotgo, Paley! I have said it, and I mean it,” said she, spitefully.
“Very well. I am going at seven o’clock,” I replied, sadly enough.
I began to pack my trunk, while she sobbed in her chair.