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He has said he would not; that means a great deal, I am sorry to say." He then told him of Elias Droom's strange invitation, adding that he believed the old man was ready to reveal all that he knew. "She must go with you to-night, then," said Cable. "It is necessary. She wants to know the truth. She has said so." "It won't matter, sir, so far as I am concerned. She "
He was mystified and not a little upset by this almost peremptory summons from the old man. He hurried over to Droom's quarters the next morning, after ascertaining that the steamer would not reach the dock until two or three o'clock. Droom was at work on one of his amazing models. "Hello," he said ungraciously. "I thought I invited you for to-night."
He wondered whether she would retract her avowal that she could not be his wife with the shame upon her; he rejoiced in her tearless, lifeless promise to hold him in no fault for what had happened. Distressed and miserable, he spent the remainder of the night in Elias Droom's squalid rooms, sitting before the little stove which his host replenished from time to time during the weary hours.
He says there is a movement on foot to secure a pardon for father. Father hasn't asked anyone to intercede. It is known that he will go to England to live as soon as he is released. That's an inducement, you see," he said bitterly. Droom's face turned a frozen white; his steely eyes took on a peculiar glaze, and his hand grasped his leg as if it were a vise intended to hold him in his chair.
Do you or not?" The self-confident, athletic youth did not stand in physical awe of the clerk. "No," was the simple and sufficient answer. "Well then I'm off," said Graydon a trifle less airily. Droom's overcoat was on and buttoned up to his chin; his long feet were encased in rubbers of enormous size and uncertain age.
Forgetting his wet garments, he entered a drug store and telephoned to Bansemer's home. His employer answered the call so readily that Droom knew he had not been far from the instrument that evening. There was a note of disappointment in his voice when Droom's hoarse tones replied to his polite: "Hello!" "I'll be over in half an hour," said Droom. "Very important business. Is Graydon there?"
As he stepped out into the night for a short walk over town he wondered, with a great pain in his heart, if Graydon Bansemer would turn from Jane when he heard the truth concerning her. "It's Harbert," said Elias Droom. "Why didn't you say to him that I am busy? I don't want to see him," said his employer in a sharp undertone. Droom's long finger was on his lips, enjoining silence.
Three nights later, however, he took Rosie to the play, and on the fourth night he was Droom's guest again in the rooms across the river. He was well prepared to begin the campaign of insinuation which was to affect Bansemer in the end.
Forgive me for deserting you " Graydon was saying incoherently when his father lifted his face suddenly, a fierce, horrified look of understanding in the eyes that flashed upon Elias Droom. Even as he clasped his son's hand in the bitterness of small joy, his lips curled into a snarl of fury. Droom's eyes shifted instantly, his uneasy gaze directing itself as usual above the head of its victim.
Jane was recalled from her polite scrutiny of the women at the next table by hearing her name mentioned in Droom's hoarsest voice, modified into something like a whisper. "Miss Cable, I not only asked you to come here in order to tell you the name of your father, but to point him out to you." There was an instant of breathless silence at the table.
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