CHAPTER XV.MY UNCLE IS SAVAGE.Captain Halliard.CAPTAIN Halliard was as grim as an ogre, and evidently intended to make me pay the thousand dollars I owed my Aunt Rachel. Of course he did not care half so much about the money as he did to bring me to a realizing sense of the peril of living too fast. He had worked hard for me, and used his influence in obtaining the situation I then held. He was fond of power and influence, and a failure to consult him in regard to any important movement was a mortal insult.His views of life and living were different from mine, and I found it necessary to steer clear of him. I do not say that this was not a mistakeon my part—it was. If I had followed his prudent counsels, I should have kept out of trouble. I had sinned against my uncle, and was no more worthy to be called aprotégéof his. I had married, I had taken a house, I had furnished it, I had given a party, without consulting him, and even without inviting him to any of the later festive occasions. I knew that they were not to his taste, and it was almost a cause of offence to ask him to attend a merry-making of any kind.He had lent me three hundred dollars for my bridal tour, though he did not know what it was for—if he had he would not have loaned it to me. He made me pay him when it was the least convenient for me to do so. Now he crossed my path again in the same disagreeable manner. Aunt Rachel was very sick. Probably Captain Halliard had deemed it his duty to look over her papers while she lay insensible on her bed. Notes or interest might fall due. Perhaps it was proper enough that he should do so, but it was deused unfortunate for me.It was equally unfortunate that I had written this note “On demand, with interest.” I had done so because I did not wish to fix a time when Aunt Rachel would feel compelled to ask me forthe money. In avoiding a dun in this direction, I had courted one in an other. As sharp people are apt to do, I had overreached myself.The captain was in bad humor. I had once been his favorite. If I was so now, I was under a shadow. But the case was a very simple one. I had been acting without his advice, and contrary to his well known opinions, which was perhaps very imprudent in me. He was a man of the world, with no fine feelings to interfere with what he regarded as his duty. Of course I could not think of such a thing as paying him. He looked ugly, and my pride was touched by the attitude in which he placed himself.“Paley, you are going too fast!” said my uncle, sternly.“I don’t think so, sir.”“I think so!” he added, in a tone which was intended to indicate that he regarded the question as settled, and that it would be useless for me to attempt to argue the matter with him.“I don’t know what you mean by too fast,” I replied.“Champagne suppers!”“Only one, and probably I shall never have another as long as I live.”“You had a party at your house, and the champagne flowed as free as water. Two or three hundred dollars for wine in one evening, as I am informed by one who knows!”“Who was he?”“No matter who he was. Deny it if you dare.”“Well, I dare!”“Show me the bill, then!” said he, fiercely.I was vexed and indignant at this rude treatment. I forgot that this man had labored to procure my situation; that he was my mother’s brother; that he had always taken a deep interest in me. I could not bear to be regarded as a child, and be taken to task as such by any one. My pride revolted.“I don’t understand that you are my guardian,” I answered.“I’m not your guardian! If I were, I would send you a hundred miles from the city, and make you work on a farm. I’m the guardian of this note, though; and it must be paid, or I’ll trustee your salary. When you owe your aunt a thousand dollars, you shall not fool away your money on champagne suppers. Pay the note!”“The note don’t belong to you,” I added, doggedly,as I beat about me for the means of escaping from the uncomfortable dilemma.“Don’t belong to me!” growled my uncle. “What do you mean by that?”“How did the note come into your possession?”“None of your business how it came into my possession, you puppy! Do you mean to insult me?”“No, sir; but I think you mean to insult me.”“Insult you!” sneered he. “Why, you young cub, I am your uncle, and old enough to be your grandfather!”“You are not old enough to insult me.”“You have said enough! Will you pay the note?” demanded he, impatiently.He talked to me as though he were on the quarter-deck, while I belonged in the forecastle. He was not in the habit of permitting his positions to be disputed by those whom he regarded as his dependents or inferiors.“Not till you have shown me by what authority you hold the note.”“As the agent of the promisee!” snapped he.“Did she authorize you to collect it?” I inquired.He drew his out pocket-book, and tremblingwith rage and impatience took a document from it, which he thrust into my face. It was a general power of attorney, authorizing him to transact any and all business for my aunt, and ratifying all his proceedings under it. Of course it was dated before Aunt Rachel’s present sickness, but I could not deny his power to act under it.“Are you satisfied?” said he, in a triumphant tone, and he folded up the paper and restored it to his pocket-book.“I am,” I answered.“Pay then!”“When do you want the money?” I asked, in a tone of easy indifference, for I saw that I could make nothing by attempting to bluff the old fellow.“Now!”“Of course I don’t carry a thousand dollars around with me, in my pocket, and I did not expect to be called upon to pay this note to-day. It is not convenient for me to do so.”“I suppose not,” sneered my uncle. “But you seem to have money enough to pay for champagne suppers, and better furniture than I can afford to have in my house.”Buckleton was the villain who had been talking to my uncle! “Better furniture” meant theétagère. But I must not quarrel with my uncle. He had the power to throw me out of my situation in the bank. As my mother’s brother he would not be likely to do that. I was even willing to believe that he was acting for my good, but certainly he was doing so in a very clumsy and ungainly manner. He evidently wished to get me into a tight place, where he could control me, and thus compel me to forego my habits of extravagance.“Uncle, the champagne supper was a mistake. I did not know there was to be any wine until I saw it. My wife ordered it without my knowledge. I did not suspect she intended to have it, or I should have spoken in season to prevent it.”“Very well; let that pass,” said he, considerably mollified. “You have fifteen hundred dollars’ worth of furniture in your house. I will sell you all mine for half that sum.”“Buckleton cheated me into taking twice as much as I wanted.”“Humph! Did he?”“He did.”“Did you pay cash for all these things?”“Of course I did; though I did not intend to pay Buckleton for a month or two. But he is a scoundrel, and I was glad to get rid of him, even at the expense of sacrificing some stocks I had.”“Stocks?” said my uncle.“I haven’t been so reckless as you think I have,” I replied. “I saved two-thirds of my salary till I was married, and doubled it by speculation every year.”“What did you borrow a thousand dollars of your aunt for?”“Because I didn’t wish to sell a thousand dollars’ worth of ‘coppers’ I had, and still have,” I continued, knowing very well what would satisfy my uncle. “Somebody was ‘bearing’ them then; but they are all right now, and I shall make a pretty thing on them by-and-by.”“That’s all very well; but you are living too fast.”I was afraid he would ask me what “coppers” I had been dickering in, but he did not, probably reserving an inquiry into the details of my financial operations till we were on better terms.“I don’t think I am living beyond my means.”“I do think so. You must give up that house in Needham Street, and live within your means,” he added, sternly.I actually began to think that he was in league with Mrs. Oliphant.“I think I can live as cheaply there as anywhere else.”“You can board for half the money it will cost you.”“I differ from you there, uncle, I replied, mildly. “I paid—”“You differ from me!” exclaimed he, angrily. “Do you think I don’t know what I am talking about. I am older than you, and I have seen more of the world. I know what it costs a man to live.”“I think I know something about it.”“No, you don’t!” replied he, as arbitrarily as ever. “You can dispose of your lease, and sell your furniture for all it cost you, for houses are scarce.”“I don’t wish to do so; the house and furniture are worth as much to me as to any one.”“Paley, you are a fool!” said he, impatiently.“I came of your stock, then,” I retorted, rashly, for my blood was warm again.“None of your impudence to me!”“None of yours to me!”“I am an older man than you are.”“That gives you no right to call me a fool.”“Will you listen to reason?”“I will, but not to abuse.”“Do you know Brentbone?”“No, sir.”“He would have taken the house where you live if you had not. While he went to consult his wife you took it.”“I was told that another man would take the house in half an hour if I did not.”“Brentbone was the man. He was terribly disappointed, for he had set his heart upon having the house. He is an old friend of mine, and still wants it. He is willing to give you a hundred dollars bonus for the house, and pay all the bills for the furniture.”“I am much obliged to him for his liberal offer, but I must decline it,” I replied, firmly, for I could not think of leaving the English basement house, when I was just beginning to realize the joys of home.“Are you mad, Paley?”“Not just now.”“You can’t afford to live there. Your mother-in-law will board you at half the rate it will cost you to live in this house.”Upon my word, it looked more and more as if Captain Halliard was in league with “dear ma.”I hate mysteries, and I may as well explain the facts as I afterwards discovered them. Mr. Brentbone was a man of considerable means, who had just married a second wife. The house in Needham Street pleased him, and, too late, he found that it pleased his wife even more. He was acquainted with Mr. Oliphant and with my uncle. When he ascertained who had taken the house, he went to see Mrs. Oliphant, but this was about the time I moved in, and “dear ma” was too indignant to mention the subject to me, though I remembered that she had suggested the idea of selling out the furniture and giving up the lease.As we had moved in, Brentbone gave up his purpose, and tried to find a house elsewhere. Failing to suit himself, he again turned his attention to the house in Needham Street, and spoke to my uncle about it. Captain Halliard was probably startled to find I was living in a house which would satisfy a person of Brentbone’s means. The matter was left in my uncle’s hands for negotiation. He assured the would-be purchaser that there would be no difficulty in completing the arrangement. All this Brentbone told mehimself in self-defence, a few weeks later, when I made his acquaintance.As my uncle had in a measure pledged himself to complete the arrangement, he felt a pride in doing so. He honestly and sincerely believed that I was living beyond my means, and here was an opportunity for me to change my style, and make something by it at the same time. He might have succeeded better if he had not begun by attempting to drive me into compliance.“I have no idea of boarding with my mother-in-law again, and paying her thirty dollars a week for accommodations I can procure for ten,” I replied, to my uncle’s proposition.“Then board somewhere else. I don’t care where you board; but it will cost you three thousand dollars a year to live in that house.”“I think not.”“I know it will,” responded my uncle, sharply.“Time will tell.”“Leave a fool to his folly,” snarled the captain out of patience with me.“I will leave you to yours,” I replied.“Will you pay the note?”“When?”“Now.”“No, sir; I will not.”“When will you pay it?”“To-morrow,” I replied, willing to gain even a day’s’ delay.“Very well; if it isn’t paid to-morrow, I’ll trustee your salary, and keep doing it till the note is paid!” exclaimed he, darting out the ante-room where we had gone to talk over the matter.I felt very much like sinking through the floor. Not only was I cut off from obtaining the two thousand dollars from Aunt Rachel, but I was called upon to pay the thousand I already owed her. The means of making my account good with the bank were gone, for Aunt Rachel was too sick even to speak to me. What could I do?I went into the banking-room, and balanced my cash-two thousand short! No one knew it but myself. Mr. Bristlebach was a careful man. He made frequent forays into all the departments of the institution, and the fact could not long be concealed from him. It was about time for the directors to make an examination of the funds. I should be ruined in a few days, or weeks, at most. I could only study how to defer rather than avoid the catastrophe. I put my cash intothe safe, and left the building. My face was like a sheet as I saw it in the glass before I left the bank. My heart was in my throat. I could not see any thing or any body as I walked along State Street.“Glasswood, how are you?”I turned to the speaker. It was Cormorin, paying-teller of the Forty-third. I was well acquainted with him, and he lived near my house. He had been present at our party, and had drank more champagne than any other five persons present.“How are you, Cormorin?” I replied.“In a hurry, Glasswood?”“No, not specially.”“Come into Young’s with me and drink a bottle of wine.”That was just what I wanted in my misery—something to enliven my spirits. I went, and found that Cormorin had a mission with me.
CHAPTER XV.MY UNCLE IS SAVAGE.Captain Halliard.CAPTAIN Halliard was as grim as an ogre, and evidently intended to make me pay the thousand dollars I owed my Aunt Rachel. Of course he did not care half so much about the money as he did to bring me to a realizing sense of the peril of living too fast. He had worked hard for me, and used his influence in obtaining the situation I then held. He was fond of power and influence, and a failure to consult him in regard to any important movement was a mortal insult.His views of life and living were different from mine, and I found it necessary to steer clear of him. I do not say that this was not a mistakeon my part—it was. If I had followed his prudent counsels, I should have kept out of trouble. I had sinned against my uncle, and was no more worthy to be called aprotégéof his. I had married, I had taken a house, I had furnished it, I had given a party, without consulting him, and even without inviting him to any of the later festive occasions. I knew that they were not to his taste, and it was almost a cause of offence to ask him to attend a merry-making of any kind.He had lent me three hundred dollars for my bridal tour, though he did not know what it was for—if he had he would not have loaned it to me. He made me pay him when it was the least convenient for me to do so. Now he crossed my path again in the same disagreeable manner. Aunt Rachel was very sick. Probably Captain Halliard had deemed it his duty to look over her papers while she lay insensible on her bed. Notes or interest might fall due. Perhaps it was proper enough that he should do so, but it was deused unfortunate for me.It was equally unfortunate that I had written this note “On demand, with interest.” I had done so because I did not wish to fix a time when Aunt Rachel would feel compelled to ask me forthe money. In avoiding a dun in this direction, I had courted one in an other. As sharp people are apt to do, I had overreached myself.The captain was in bad humor. I had once been his favorite. If I was so now, I was under a shadow. But the case was a very simple one. I had been acting without his advice, and contrary to his well known opinions, which was perhaps very imprudent in me. He was a man of the world, with no fine feelings to interfere with what he regarded as his duty. Of course I could not think of such a thing as paying him. He looked ugly, and my pride was touched by the attitude in which he placed himself.“Paley, you are going too fast!” said my uncle, sternly.“I don’t think so, sir.”“I think so!” he added, in a tone which was intended to indicate that he regarded the question as settled, and that it would be useless for me to attempt to argue the matter with him.“I don’t know what you mean by too fast,” I replied.“Champagne suppers!”“Only one, and probably I shall never have another as long as I live.”“You had a party at your house, and the champagne flowed as free as water. Two or three hundred dollars for wine in one evening, as I am informed by one who knows!”“Who was he?”“No matter who he was. Deny it if you dare.”“Well, I dare!”“Show me the bill, then!” said he, fiercely.I was vexed and indignant at this rude treatment. I forgot that this man had labored to procure my situation; that he was my mother’s brother; that he had always taken a deep interest in me. I could not bear to be regarded as a child, and be taken to task as such by any one. My pride revolted.“I don’t understand that you are my guardian,” I answered.“I’m not your guardian! If I were, I would send you a hundred miles from the city, and make you work on a farm. I’m the guardian of this note, though; and it must be paid, or I’ll trustee your salary. When you owe your aunt a thousand dollars, you shall not fool away your money on champagne suppers. Pay the note!”“The note don’t belong to you,” I added, doggedly,as I beat about me for the means of escaping from the uncomfortable dilemma.“Don’t belong to me!” growled my uncle. “What do you mean by that?”“How did the note come into your possession?”“None of your business how it came into my possession, you puppy! Do you mean to insult me?”“No, sir; but I think you mean to insult me.”“Insult you!” sneered he. “Why, you young cub, I am your uncle, and old enough to be your grandfather!”“You are not old enough to insult me.”“You have said enough! Will you pay the note?” demanded he, impatiently.He talked to me as though he were on the quarter-deck, while I belonged in the forecastle. He was not in the habit of permitting his positions to be disputed by those whom he regarded as his dependents or inferiors.“Not till you have shown me by what authority you hold the note.”“As the agent of the promisee!” snapped he.“Did she authorize you to collect it?” I inquired.He drew his out pocket-book, and tremblingwith rage and impatience took a document from it, which he thrust into my face. It was a general power of attorney, authorizing him to transact any and all business for my aunt, and ratifying all his proceedings under it. Of course it was dated before Aunt Rachel’s present sickness, but I could not deny his power to act under it.“Are you satisfied?” said he, in a triumphant tone, and he folded up the paper and restored it to his pocket-book.“I am,” I answered.“Pay then!”“When do you want the money?” I asked, in a tone of easy indifference, for I saw that I could make nothing by attempting to bluff the old fellow.“Now!”“Of course I don’t carry a thousand dollars around with me, in my pocket, and I did not expect to be called upon to pay this note to-day. It is not convenient for me to do so.”“I suppose not,” sneered my uncle. “But you seem to have money enough to pay for champagne suppers, and better furniture than I can afford to have in my house.”Buckleton was the villain who had been talking to my uncle! “Better furniture” meant theétagère. But I must not quarrel with my uncle. He had the power to throw me out of my situation in the bank. As my mother’s brother he would not be likely to do that. I was even willing to believe that he was acting for my good, but certainly he was doing so in a very clumsy and ungainly manner. He evidently wished to get me into a tight place, where he could control me, and thus compel me to forego my habits of extravagance.“Uncle, the champagne supper was a mistake. I did not know there was to be any wine until I saw it. My wife ordered it without my knowledge. I did not suspect she intended to have it, or I should have spoken in season to prevent it.”“Very well; let that pass,” said he, considerably mollified. “You have fifteen hundred dollars’ worth of furniture in your house. I will sell you all mine for half that sum.”“Buckleton cheated me into taking twice as much as I wanted.”“Humph! Did he?”“He did.”“Did you pay cash for all these things?”“Of course I did; though I did not intend to pay Buckleton for a month or two. But he is a scoundrel, and I was glad to get rid of him, even at the expense of sacrificing some stocks I had.”“Stocks?” said my uncle.“I haven’t been so reckless as you think I have,” I replied. “I saved two-thirds of my salary till I was married, and doubled it by speculation every year.”“What did you borrow a thousand dollars of your aunt for?”“Because I didn’t wish to sell a thousand dollars’ worth of ‘coppers’ I had, and still have,” I continued, knowing very well what would satisfy my uncle. “Somebody was ‘bearing’ them then; but they are all right now, and I shall make a pretty thing on them by-and-by.”“That’s all very well; but you are living too fast.”I was afraid he would ask me what “coppers” I had been dickering in, but he did not, probably reserving an inquiry into the details of my financial operations till we were on better terms.“I don’t think I am living beyond my means.”“I do think so. You must give up that house in Needham Street, and live within your means,” he added, sternly.I actually began to think that he was in league with Mrs. Oliphant.“I think I can live as cheaply there as anywhere else.”“You can board for half the money it will cost you.”“I differ from you there, uncle, I replied, mildly. “I paid—”“You differ from me!” exclaimed he, angrily. “Do you think I don’t know what I am talking about. I am older than you, and I have seen more of the world. I know what it costs a man to live.”“I think I know something about it.”“No, you don’t!” replied he, as arbitrarily as ever. “You can dispose of your lease, and sell your furniture for all it cost you, for houses are scarce.”“I don’t wish to do so; the house and furniture are worth as much to me as to any one.”“Paley, you are a fool!” said he, impatiently.“I came of your stock, then,” I retorted, rashly, for my blood was warm again.“None of your impudence to me!”“None of yours to me!”“I am an older man than you are.”“That gives you no right to call me a fool.”“Will you listen to reason?”“I will, but not to abuse.”“Do you know Brentbone?”“No, sir.”“He would have taken the house where you live if you had not. While he went to consult his wife you took it.”“I was told that another man would take the house in half an hour if I did not.”“Brentbone was the man. He was terribly disappointed, for he had set his heart upon having the house. He is an old friend of mine, and still wants it. He is willing to give you a hundred dollars bonus for the house, and pay all the bills for the furniture.”“I am much obliged to him for his liberal offer, but I must decline it,” I replied, firmly, for I could not think of leaving the English basement house, when I was just beginning to realize the joys of home.“Are you mad, Paley?”“Not just now.”“You can’t afford to live there. Your mother-in-law will board you at half the rate it will cost you to live in this house.”Upon my word, it looked more and more as if Captain Halliard was in league with “dear ma.”I hate mysteries, and I may as well explain the facts as I afterwards discovered them. Mr. Brentbone was a man of considerable means, who had just married a second wife. The house in Needham Street pleased him, and, too late, he found that it pleased his wife even more. He was acquainted with Mr. Oliphant and with my uncle. When he ascertained who had taken the house, he went to see Mrs. Oliphant, but this was about the time I moved in, and “dear ma” was too indignant to mention the subject to me, though I remembered that she had suggested the idea of selling out the furniture and giving up the lease.As we had moved in, Brentbone gave up his purpose, and tried to find a house elsewhere. Failing to suit himself, he again turned his attention to the house in Needham Street, and spoke to my uncle about it. Captain Halliard was probably startled to find I was living in a house which would satisfy a person of Brentbone’s means. The matter was left in my uncle’s hands for negotiation. He assured the would-be purchaser that there would be no difficulty in completing the arrangement. All this Brentbone told mehimself in self-defence, a few weeks later, when I made his acquaintance.As my uncle had in a measure pledged himself to complete the arrangement, he felt a pride in doing so. He honestly and sincerely believed that I was living beyond my means, and here was an opportunity for me to change my style, and make something by it at the same time. He might have succeeded better if he had not begun by attempting to drive me into compliance.“I have no idea of boarding with my mother-in-law again, and paying her thirty dollars a week for accommodations I can procure for ten,” I replied, to my uncle’s proposition.“Then board somewhere else. I don’t care where you board; but it will cost you three thousand dollars a year to live in that house.”“I think not.”“I know it will,” responded my uncle, sharply.“Time will tell.”“Leave a fool to his folly,” snarled the captain out of patience with me.“I will leave you to yours,” I replied.“Will you pay the note?”“When?”“Now.”“No, sir; I will not.”“When will you pay it?”“To-morrow,” I replied, willing to gain even a day’s’ delay.“Very well; if it isn’t paid to-morrow, I’ll trustee your salary, and keep doing it till the note is paid!” exclaimed he, darting out the ante-room where we had gone to talk over the matter.I felt very much like sinking through the floor. Not only was I cut off from obtaining the two thousand dollars from Aunt Rachel, but I was called upon to pay the thousand I already owed her. The means of making my account good with the bank were gone, for Aunt Rachel was too sick even to speak to me. What could I do?I went into the banking-room, and balanced my cash-two thousand short! No one knew it but myself. Mr. Bristlebach was a careful man. He made frequent forays into all the departments of the institution, and the fact could not long be concealed from him. It was about time for the directors to make an examination of the funds. I should be ruined in a few days, or weeks, at most. I could only study how to defer rather than avoid the catastrophe. I put my cash intothe safe, and left the building. My face was like a sheet as I saw it in the glass before I left the bank. My heart was in my throat. I could not see any thing or any body as I walked along State Street.“Glasswood, how are you?”I turned to the speaker. It was Cormorin, paying-teller of the Forty-third. I was well acquainted with him, and he lived near my house. He had been present at our party, and had drank more champagne than any other five persons present.“How are you, Cormorin?” I replied.“In a hurry, Glasswood?”“No, not specially.”“Come into Young’s with me and drink a bottle of wine.”That was just what I wanted in my misery—something to enliven my spirits. I went, and found that Cormorin had a mission with me.
MY UNCLE IS SAVAGE.
Captain Halliard.
Captain Halliard.
Captain Halliard.
CAPTAIN Halliard was as grim as an ogre, and evidently intended to make me pay the thousand dollars I owed my Aunt Rachel. Of course he did not care half so much about the money as he did to bring me to a realizing sense of the peril of living too fast. He had worked hard for me, and used his influence in obtaining the situation I then held. He was fond of power and influence, and a failure to consult him in regard to any important movement was a mortal insult.
His views of life and living were different from mine, and I found it necessary to steer clear of him. I do not say that this was not a mistakeon my part—it was. If I had followed his prudent counsels, I should have kept out of trouble. I had sinned against my uncle, and was no more worthy to be called aprotégéof his. I had married, I had taken a house, I had furnished it, I had given a party, without consulting him, and even without inviting him to any of the later festive occasions. I knew that they were not to his taste, and it was almost a cause of offence to ask him to attend a merry-making of any kind.
He had lent me three hundred dollars for my bridal tour, though he did not know what it was for—if he had he would not have loaned it to me. He made me pay him when it was the least convenient for me to do so. Now he crossed my path again in the same disagreeable manner. Aunt Rachel was very sick. Probably Captain Halliard had deemed it his duty to look over her papers while she lay insensible on her bed. Notes or interest might fall due. Perhaps it was proper enough that he should do so, but it was deused unfortunate for me.
It was equally unfortunate that I had written this note “On demand, with interest.” I had done so because I did not wish to fix a time when Aunt Rachel would feel compelled to ask me forthe money. In avoiding a dun in this direction, I had courted one in an other. As sharp people are apt to do, I had overreached myself.
The captain was in bad humor. I had once been his favorite. If I was so now, I was under a shadow. But the case was a very simple one. I had been acting without his advice, and contrary to his well known opinions, which was perhaps very imprudent in me. He was a man of the world, with no fine feelings to interfere with what he regarded as his duty. Of course I could not think of such a thing as paying him. He looked ugly, and my pride was touched by the attitude in which he placed himself.
“Paley, you are going too fast!” said my uncle, sternly.
“I don’t think so, sir.”
“I think so!” he added, in a tone which was intended to indicate that he regarded the question as settled, and that it would be useless for me to attempt to argue the matter with him.
“I don’t know what you mean by too fast,” I replied.
“Champagne suppers!”
“Only one, and probably I shall never have another as long as I live.”
“You had a party at your house, and the champagne flowed as free as water. Two or three hundred dollars for wine in one evening, as I am informed by one who knows!”
“Who was he?”
“No matter who he was. Deny it if you dare.”
“Well, I dare!”
“Show me the bill, then!” said he, fiercely.
I was vexed and indignant at this rude treatment. I forgot that this man had labored to procure my situation; that he was my mother’s brother; that he had always taken a deep interest in me. I could not bear to be regarded as a child, and be taken to task as such by any one. My pride revolted.
“I don’t understand that you are my guardian,” I answered.
“I’m not your guardian! If I were, I would send you a hundred miles from the city, and make you work on a farm. I’m the guardian of this note, though; and it must be paid, or I’ll trustee your salary. When you owe your aunt a thousand dollars, you shall not fool away your money on champagne suppers. Pay the note!”
“The note don’t belong to you,” I added, doggedly,as I beat about me for the means of escaping from the uncomfortable dilemma.
“Don’t belong to me!” growled my uncle. “What do you mean by that?”
“How did the note come into your possession?”
“None of your business how it came into my possession, you puppy! Do you mean to insult me?”
“No, sir; but I think you mean to insult me.”
“Insult you!” sneered he. “Why, you young cub, I am your uncle, and old enough to be your grandfather!”
“You are not old enough to insult me.”
“You have said enough! Will you pay the note?” demanded he, impatiently.
He talked to me as though he were on the quarter-deck, while I belonged in the forecastle. He was not in the habit of permitting his positions to be disputed by those whom he regarded as his dependents or inferiors.
“Not till you have shown me by what authority you hold the note.”
“As the agent of the promisee!” snapped he.
“Did she authorize you to collect it?” I inquired.
He drew his out pocket-book, and tremblingwith rage and impatience took a document from it, which he thrust into my face. It was a general power of attorney, authorizing him to transact any and all business for my aunt, and ratifying all his proceedings under it. Of course it was dated before Aunt Rachel’s present sickness, but I could not deny his power to act under it.
“Are you satisfied?” said he, in a triumphant tone, and he folded up the paper and restored it to his pocket-book.
“I am,” I answered.
“Pay then!”
“When do you want the money?” I asked, in a tone of easy indifference, for I saw that I could make nothing by attempting to bluff the old fellow.
“Now!”
“Of course I don’t carry a thousand dollars around with me, in my pocket, and I did not expect to be called upon to pay this note to-day. It is not convenient for me to do so.”
“I suppose not,” sneered my uncle. “But you seem to have money enough to pay for champagne suppers, and better furniture than I can afford to have in my house.”
Buckleton was the villain who had been talking to my uncle! “Better furniture” meant theétagère. But I must not quarrel with my uncle. He had the power to throw me out of my situation in the bank. As my mother’s brother he would not be likely to do that. I was even willing to believe that he was acting for my good, but certainly he was doing so in a very clumsy and ungainly manner. He evidently wished to get me into a tight place, where he could control me, and thus compel me to forego my habits of extravagance.
“Uncle, the champagne supper was a mistake. I did not know there was to be any wine until I saw it. My wife ordered it without my knowledge. I did not suspect she intended to have it, or I should have spoken in season to prevent it.”
“Very well; let that pass,” said he, considerably mollified. “You have fifteen hundred dollars’ worth of furniture in your house. I will sell you all mine for half that sum.”
“Buckleton cheated me into taking twice as much as I wanted.”
“Humph! Did he?”
“He did.”
“Did you pay cash for all these things?”
“Of course I did; though I did not intend to pay Buckleton for a month or two. But he is a scoundrel, and I was glad to get rid of him, even at the expense of sacrificing some stocks I had.”
“Stocks?” said my uncle.
“I haven’t been so reckless as you think I have,” I replied. “I saved two-thirds of my salary till I was married, and doubled it by speculation every year.”
“What did you borrow a thousand dollars of your aunt for?”
“Because I didn’t wish to sell a thousand dollars’ worth of ‘coppers’ I had, and still have,” I continued, knowing very well what would satisfy my uncle. “Somebody was ‘bearing’ them then; but they are all right now, and I shall make a pretty thing on them by-and-by.”
“That’s all very well; but you are living too fast.”
I was afraid he would ask me what “coppers” I had been dickering in, but he did not, probably reserving an inquiry into the details of my financial operations till we were on better terms.
“I don’t think I am living beyond my means.”
“I do think so. You must give up that house in Needham Street, and live within your means,” he added, sternly.
I actually began to think that he was in league with Mrs. Oliphant.
“I think I can live as cheaply there as anywhere else.”
“You can board for half the money it will cost you.”
“I differ from you there, uncle, I replied, mildly. “I paid—”
“You differ from me!” exclaimed he, angrily. “Do you think I don’t know what I am talking about. I am older than you, and I have seen more of the world. I know what it costs a man to live.”
“I think I know something about it.”
“No, you don’t!” replied he, as arbitrarily as ever. “You can dispose of your lease, and sell your furniture for all it cost you, for houses are scarce.”
“I don’t wish to do so; the house and furniture are worth as much to me as to any one.”
“Paley, you are a fool!” said he, impatiently.
“I came of your stock, then,” I retorted, rashly, for my blood was warm again.
“None of your impudence to me!”
“None of yours to me!”
“I am an older man than you are.”
“That gives you no right to call me a fool.”
“Will you listen to reason?”
“I will, but not to abuse.”
“Do you know Brentbone?”
“No, sir.”
“He would have taken the house where you live if you had not. While he went to consult his wife you took it.”
“I was told that another man would take the house in half an hour if I did not.”
“Brentbone was the man. He was terribly disappointed, for he had set his heart upon having the house. He is an old friend of mine, and still wants it. He is willing to give you a hundred dollars bonus for the house, and pay all the bills for the furniture.”
“I am much obliged to him for his liberal offer, but I must decline it,” I replied, firmly, for I could not think of leaving the English basement house, when I was just beginning to realize the joys of home.
“Are you mad, Paley?”
“Not just now.”
“You can’t afford to live there. Your mother-in-law will board you at half the rate it will cost you to live in this house.”
Upon my word, it looked more and more as if Captain Halliard was in league with “dear ma.”
I hate mysteries, and I may as well explain the facts as I afterwards discovered them. Mr. Brentbone was a man of considerable means, who had just married a second wife. The house in Needham Street pleased him, and, too late, he found that it pleased his wife even more. He was acquainted with Mr. Oliphant and with my uncle. When he ascertained who had taken the house, he went to see Mrs. Oliphant, but this was about the time I moved in, and “dear ma” was too indignant to mention the subject to me, though I remembered that she had suggested the idea of selling out the furniture and giving up the lease.
As we had moved in, Brentbone gave up his purpose, and tried to find a house elsewhere. Failing to suit himself, he again turned his attention to the house in Needham Street, and spoke to my uncle about it. Captain Halliard was probably startled to find I was living in a house which would satisfy a person of Brentbone’s means. The matter was left in my uncle’s hands for negotiation. He assured the would-be purchaser that there would be no difficulty in completing the arrangement. All this Brentbone told mehimself in self-defence, a few weeks later, when I made his acquaintance.
As my uncle had in a measure pledged himself to complete the arrangement, he felt a pride in doing so. He honestly and sincerely believed that I was living beyond my means, and here was an opportunity for me to change my style, and make something by it at the same time. He might have succeeded better if he had not begun by attempting to drive me into compliance.
“I have no idea of boarding with my mother-in-law again, and paying her thirty dollars a week for accommodations I can procure for ten,” I replied, to my uncle’s proposition.
“Then board somewhere else. I don’t care where you board; but it will cost you three thousand dollars a year to live in that house.”
“I think not.”
“I know it will,” responded my uncle, sharply.
“Time will tell.”
“Leave a fool to his folly,” snarled the captain out of patience with me.
“I will leave you to yours,” I replied.
“Will you pay the note?”
“When?”
“Now.”
“No, sir; I will not.”
“When will you pay it?”
“To-morrow,” I replied, willing to gain even a day’s’ delay.
“Very well; if it isn’t paid to-morrow, I’ll trustee your salary, and keep doing it till the note is paid!” exclaimed he, darting out the ante-room where we had gone to talk over the matter.
I felt very much like sinking through the floor. Not only was I cut off from obtaining the two thousand dollars from Aunt Rachel, but I was called upon to pay the thousand I already owed her. The means of making my account good with the bank were gone, for Aunt Rachel was too sick even to speak to me. What could I do?
I went into the banking-room, and balanced my cash-two thousand short! No one knew it but myself. Mr. Bristlebach was a careful man. He made frequent forays into all the departments of the institution, and the fact could not long be concealed from him. It was about time for the directors to make an examination of the funds. I should be ruined in a few days, or weeks, at most. I could only study how to defer rather than avoid the catastrophe. I put my cash intothe safe, and left the building. My face was like a sheet as I saw it in the glass before I left the bank. My heart was in my throat. I could not see any thing or any body as I walked along State Street.
“Glasswood, how are you?”
I turned to the speaker. It was Cormorin, paying-teller of the Forty-third. I was well acquainted with him, and he lived near my house. He had been present at our party, and had drank more champagne than any other five persons present.
“How are you, Cormorin?” I replied.
“In a hurry, Glasswood?”
“No, not specially.”
“Come into Young’s with me and drink a bottle of wine.”
That was just what I wanted in my misery—something to enliven my spirits. I went, and found that Cormorin had a mission with me.