0215
For many years no one had spoken thus to Mellen. But he answered nothing; his eyes were fixed on Grinnell’s lips with a fascinated stare. Dawson, unconsciously, had allowed a frown of intense interest to contract his brows. Mr. Herzog’s head was bent forward as if not to lose a word, his bright little eyes blinking furiously. Grinnell spoke very clearly and deliberately:
“My father-in-law, Mr. Robinson, two years ago at the height of the boom thought the stock-market must collapse sooner or later: I became engaged to his daughter, whom I had known ever since I was a boy. He naturally talked over his affairs with me in a general way, though I am not a business man.” He paused as if to pick his next words. A curious smile flickered for a fraction of a minute on Mr. Herzog’s lips.
“He wished to sell most of his stock holdings in various companies and then buy bonds. But if stocks were too high, bonds were not low enough. It was therefore decided to sell stocks at once, but to defer the purchase of bonds until a more propitious occasion. That occasion came last week. Mr. Herzog bought the bonds for him. That’s wherehecomes in.”
The young man paused again. Mellen did not interrupt; he nodded twice, not quickly at all, but in an acquiescent manner that invited further revelations. Grinnell continued slowly:
“Mr. Robinson had been a rich man for years, but I did not suspect how rich until he had sold all his stocks, when he told me he had fifty-four millions to his credit at his banks. To me this was so incredible that it made me think a man with that much cash in bank might do other things just as incredible. He is one of the unknown millionaires whom the newspapers discover when their wills are probated. That fact, the ignorance as to the extent of his wealth, also would help. As at that time so many of our financial institutions were unsafe because their officers were gambling in stocks and underwriting ventures, we concluded to lose the interest on it and turn it into gold. Once we had accumulated fifty millions in gold, the existence of which was unsuspected by bankers or brokers or newspapers, it was obvious that there were various ways in which the gold and the secret of it could be made valuable. Mr. Robinson, lacking the excitement of active speculation in stocks, and having retired from active business, was quite willing to indulge in a few psychological experiments. I had suggested various plans. He accepted one of them. So, we got the gold together.” Grinnell made an end of speaking and looked at Mr. Herzog meditatively, as if trying to remember whether he had forgotten anything, and speculating on whether he need say anything more. Herzog, oblivious of the presence of Mellen and Dawson, asked eagerly:
“Yes, buthow? Wheredid you get that much gold?” It was the one thing he could not guess.
“There was only one way that I could see. We withdrew gold coin from circulation, gradually, all over the country, but principally in San Francisco. We spent two years at it. It took a great deal of care and trouble. Indeed, that was the hardest part. As fast as we got it I took it to my house, which I had bought for that very purpose, and melted it into bars so heavy that no burglar could carry away one. I painted them black and put them in the cellar, near the back wall. They were safe.”
“Ah!” The sigh came from the Hebrew banker who now leaned back in his chair and looked at Dawson. The president’s lips were slightly parted, and the frown was still on his face, his eyes on Grinnell. Mellen’s face had lost its tense look. He said, very quietly: “I see!”
“I deposited the gold, as Assay Office checks, in Mr. Dawson’s bank, and stopped calling on myfiancée. Later, I bought the bonds. I didn’t see Mr. Herzog until they were cheap.”
The president, his voice husky with anger, said: “Then you deliberately—”
“Don’t!” commanded the young man sharply. “Of course, I assumed that business training and Wall Street practices did not kill the imaginative faculty. That is what I had to work on. No financier can be great that has not great imagination. And you gentlemen are great financiers. If you will recall my exact words at the various times that I had the pleasure of seeing you, Mr. Dawson, you will not find one that is untrue. I made no assertion that was not justified by facts. I recall every word because I studied them very carefully.” There was no self-complacency in the young man’s manner. It was a trifle deprecatory toward the end; the light in his eyes kept it from being humility.
“You scound——”
“Richard!” interjected the richest man in the world, soothingly. He had already reckoned the extent of his enormous losses, for he would have to buy back at high prices bonds he had sold at low, and he would have to reverse the process in stocks. Grinnell, or his father-in-law, probably had made fifteen or twenty millions through the mistake. Mellen’s losses, because of the imaginative faculty, would probably be twice as great. But gold was gold still, and therefore, he was not ruined. He would retrieve the loss. He saw what he must do.
He turned with a look of almost benignity to the young man and said suavely: “Mr. Grinnell, I should like to have you come to see me when you have time. You have told me a very interesting story. I should like to see more of you. You are rich, but—” He stopped, to look encouragingly at the young man.
“Oh, no,” laughed Grinnell, “my father-in-law is. But even he is not in your class.”
“Come and see me anyhow. There is no telling what classyouwill be in.” In his mild earnestness and soft voice there was an unmistakable promise. The young man did not answer. Dawson now smiled affably.
“Mr. Grinnell, you are still one of our depositors, you know,” he said, with an air of claiming family relationship.
“Yes; to the extent of $342. I’ll give that to the detectives who—Oh, no offence, Mr. Dawson. I’m sorry I must leave you. We married men have trials.” He shook hands warmly with Mr. Herzog, nodded pleasantly to Dawson and Mellen, and said: “Good-morning, gentlemen.”
As the door closed on George Kitchell Grinnell, Mellen, thinking of the new working alliance he must effect with Herzog in order to facilitate the campaign of retreat and re-conquest, turned to the Hebrew banker and said quietly, “Now, Herzog let us get down to business.”