CHAPTER XXIII
A STARTLING STORY
"This is a painful subject for me, as you must be aware," Kate Gilbertsaid. "I shall tell the story in as few words as possible, and if youare a gentleman, you will not interrupt or cause me more suffering byprotesting your innocence."
"I promise not to interrupt," Sidney Prale replied. "I want justice andnothing more, Miss Gilbert."
"Ten years ago you were a clerk in the office of Griffin, the bigbroker, were you not?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Griffin took a fancy to you, after your father died and left youalone in the world without any money. He gave you odd jobs to do aroundhis residence, fed and clothed you and arranged it so that you could goto school. Your uncle, the father of George Lerton, your cousin, woulddo nothing for you because there had been a family quarrel several yearsbefore.
"Had it not been for Mr. Griffin you might have been an ordinary streetArab. He sent you to a business college after you had finished thepublic schools, and then he took you into his office and started you ona business career.
"You showed great promise, and Mr. Griffin was delighted and advancedyou rapidly. You seemed to know the meaning of gratitude and workedhard. You were ambitious, too--always said that some day you would beworth a million dollars.
"Step by step, you went up the ladder. Then it happened that yourcousin, George Lerton, obtained a position in the same office after hisfather's death. He had had the advantage of a college education and knewhow to handle himself in the presence of other men, and yet you, afteryour early struggle and with an inferior education and inferioropportunities, easily outdistanced him.
"Other men began talking about you as a coming man--bankers and brokers,business men and financiers. Mr. Griffin finally gave you the post ofchief clerk and adviser. You worked hard and seemed to be loyal andfaithful. You got profits for your employer where other men would havecaused losses. So he let you more and more into his confidence.
"You got to know the secrets of big deals, the inside facts of thecountry's finance. You spoke in millions, but got only a nice salary.Your ambition to be worth a million dollars seemed to be not susceptibleof gratification. Yet you saved money, and took advantage of small,solid investments now and then.
"After a while you met a girl and fell in love with her. She was thesort who wished wealth above all, and you soon found that out. Youbecame engaged to her, however. Then a rival appeared in the field, awealthier man. You realized that the girl was shallow in that shefavored the man with more money, but you were so infatuated that youoverlooked that. You wanted the girl and, to get her, you had to havemore money.
"Then you began to feel dissatisfied. You didn't want to grow gradually,as other men did. You wanted the foundation for a fortune--enough to usein a plunge in the market. You wanted to be rich as soon as possible.
"You began to think, perhaps, that you were not getting ahead. Youworked in an atmosphere of wealth, you heard men speak in terms ofmillions, while you had less than ten thousand dollars in the bank. Youbegan to think that Mr. Griffin should do more for you, that he had notdone enough. You forgot that he had picked you up and made you what youwere, that you had so much more than other men who had not been equallyfortunate in finding a sponsor."
She ceased speaking for a moment, but Sidney Prale never took his eyesfrom her face. Be ungrateful to Griffin? He never had dreamed of that!He always had worshiped Griffin for what the broker had done for him; herealized what he might have been only for Griffin. But he had promisednot to interrupt, and so he said nothing, merely waited for Kate Gilbertto continue her recital.
"You made certain plans," she went on. "Certain big business deals werein the wind, and, as Mr. Griffin's confidential and chief clerk, youknew all about them. There were millions of dollars involved, thecontrol of several large companies, and more than that; for Mr. Griffinand his associates were fighting a group of financial thieves who weretrying to wreck excellent properties for the sake of making a gain. Itwas a fight for more than money--it was a fight to keep big businesshonest, to drive off the wolves and make finance solid. It was atremendous thing!
"And you, a boy picked up and educated by a broker, who had risenthrough his kindness, knew as much of the big deal contemplated as someof the wealthiest and most influential men of the country. There weremen in the other group who would have given a million gladly to knowwhat you, a clerk, knew.
"You were approached by one of that band of financial wolves. You werewilling to listen. You wanted money because the girl with whom you wereinfatuated demanded it before she would marry you. You believed thatGriffin had not done enough for you and you agreed to sell him out--himand his associates."
Sidney Prale gasped, sat up straight in his chair, opened his mouth asif to speak, but did not when he saw the expression in her face. Hedecided to keep his word.
"The agreement was made," she went on. "And you, who could have demandedhalf a million easily for the information you had, sold out yourbenefactor and his friends and the decent element on the Street for apaltry hundred thousand! You sold your honor and your manhood for that.
"At this juncture, the woman in the case informed you that she wished tobreak the engagement, because a man of money--your rival--had asked herto marry him, and she wanted his wealth. Instead of seeing what sort ofwoman she was--instead of coming to your senses then and stopping yourdeal with the other side--you took the opposite course. You would takethe money, betray your benefactor and his friends, and leave thecountry! With that money as a foundation, you would build up a fortune.And that is what you did, Sidney Prale!
"You arranged everything nicely. You gave those men the information andreceived your hundred thousand and then you quit your job and sailedaway to Honduras.
"The battle began on the Street, and because of the information you hadsold them, the financial wolves got the better of the honest element. Itwas a battle that lasted for two weeks. The wolves met every move,because they knew everything that had been planned. Fortunes were lostovernight. A score of big, decent men were ruined in their attempt todefeat the wolves and keep finance clean.
"Mr. Griffin, the man who had done everything for you, went down in thecrash--because you had sold him out! It was only five years ago that hegot new backing and fought his way up again. Others went down with him,and some never regained their footing--because of what you had done,because you had played traitor! They knew there had been a leak, andthere was an investigation. You had sailed away the day before the fightbegan, and that looked suspicious, for you had made up your mindsuddenly. Finally it was discovered that you were the traitor in thecamp!
"My father was one of Mr. Griffin's associates, Mr. Prale. He lost hisfortune, of course. We could have endured that, but the blow cost himhis health. He was a giant of a man at that time, the best father in theworld. You should see him now, Mr. Prale--see what your treason made ofhim. He is an invalid who sits all day in his wheel chair. At times hismind wanders and he fights that battle over again and calls curses downupon the head of the man who played traitor! My big, handsome, richfather is a broken, thin-faced man whose voice is a whisper and whosehands tremble--because of what you did. You beast!"
She began sobbing softly as she glanced through the window, and SidneyPrale started to get out of his chair. But she faced him again quicklyand motioned for him to remain silent.
"You wanted to hear it, and so I shall tell it all!" she declared. "Youhad been clever; you had done this thing in such a manner than the lawcould not touch you. Yet you must have been afraid of it, for you fledthe country. It was some time before things were adjusted, and thenthose men you had betrayed got together and determined to make you pay!
"They told the story to others, and they began gathering informationabout you. You were making your million, all right, on the foundationthat had wrecked a score of fortunes and lives--on treason instead ofsuperior financial ability--and they swore that you should pay.
"They knew
my father's story, of course, and knew that we had verylittle money. So they provided for him, and gave me funds and sent me toHonduras to spy upon you. Marie, my maid since girlhood, who worshipedmy father and knew all the circumstances, went with me. Soon after Ireached Honduras, I found that you were selling out with the intentionof returning to New York and enjoying your million.
"I communicated with the others and told them all I knew of your plans,whereupon they made some plans of their own. They won the sympathy ofthe most influential men in the city. They determined to make you pay!
"That is why the big trust company would not accept your account. Awhisper in the ear of the hotel manager by the president of the companythat owned the hotel, and you were as good as ordered out. Can youunderstand now, Sidney Prale? Coadley, the lawyer, was told that he willbe made a nobody by the influential men of the town unless he ceased towork for you, and he dropped your case.
"But there was to be no violence, and because they have descended tothat, I have ceased to be interested in the affair. I know nothing aboutthe Shepley murder case or any trouble it may have caused you. That isquite another matter. Now that I have told my story, I hope that you aresatisfied. It has shown you, I trust, that I know all, and that anyfalsehood you may utter will have no effect on me."
"I do not intend uttering a falsehood, Miss Gilbert," Sidney Praleassured her. "What you have said has amazed and shocked me. So that iswhy I was treated so badly upon returning to my home?"
"Exactly," she said.
"Now listen to me one moment, I beg of you. There is some mystery here,and though it is ten years old, I shall solve it. Miss Gilbert--whetheryou believe me or not--I am not guilty of such treachery. I had nodealings with the financial wolves. When I left the United States I tookwith me the ten thousand dollars I had saved--nothing more. And I leftnothing behind."
"You made a million in ten years with a capital of ten thousand?" sheasked, with a slight sneer.
"I did, Miss Gilbert! I can prove every transaction, show you or anybodyelse exactly how I did it. Disbelieve me or not, it is the truth that Iam innocent. If my people were sold out at that time, somebody else gotthe selling price. I was chagrined because my love affair had gonewrong. I shook the dust of New York from my feet. I did not even look ata New York newspaper for more than a year. Somebody else got the money,and I got a nasty name. And Mr. Griffin, who was as a father to me,thinks that I was an ungrateful cur!
"This thing is hard to believe, Miss Gilbert. But I never can thank youenough for telling me. I am going to clear myself before I am done."
"I cannot believe you, Mr. Prale! The proof was there!"
"And who furnished it?" he demanded. "Who is handling this campaign ofvengeance against me now?"
"You scarcely can expect me to tell you that," she said. "I amdone--have nothing more to do with the affair--but I am not going to bea traitor, as you were!"
"If you ever are convinced, Miss Gilbert, that I am entirely innocent,that somebody has put this stain upon me for their own reasons, can Icount upon your friendship?"
"Convince me that injustice has been done you, Mr. Prale, and I'll doeverything in my power to make amends--and so will all the others!"
"Thanks for that assurance," Prale said. "I am going to clear myself inyour eyes, and in the eyes of the others. I remember the details of thatbig deal perfectly and I shall know how to start to work."
"I cannot understand this," she said. "You speak as if you were indeedinnocent, but I cannot believe it!"
"I am innocent!"
"If so, who is guilty?"
"That is what I intend finding out."
"But you were in their confidence--you knew all the details of theirfinancial plans," Kate Gilbert said. "You were the only one who couldhave betrayed them. You scarcely expect me to believe that they betrayedthemselves."
"Any spying clerk in the Griffin offices could have told the enemyenough to betray the plans," Prale replied. "By the way, who is this manwho goes too far and insists upon using violence? Who is the man whoseems to be so extraordinary vindictive toward me in this affair?"
"I can tell you nothing more," she declared. "It would not be fair tothem."
"But they have Jim Farland, and Heaven knows what they are doing to him,simply because he will not turn against me. Is it fair to Jim Farland'swife and child?"
"I--I am being kept informed," she assured him. "If they treat Mr.Farland badly, or detain him much longer, I shall speak. But until then,I have nothing to say. You see, Mr. Prale, I cannot believe that you areinnocent and have been misjudged. The evidence against you is soconclusive, and I have learned to hate you as the man who betrayed hisbenefactor and friends and wrecked my father's health. But, if you areinnocent, I hope that you will forgive me."
"I'll forgive you gladly," said Sidney Prale. "I realize what you musthave suffered, and what your father must have suffered, too. I am goingto prove my innocence; and then I hope to claim you as one of myfriends."
"I am sorry that I cannot believe you," she said again, "although Iwould like to. I would prefer to think that no man could be soungrateful as to do such a thing. I'd like to have my faith in humannature restored. If you prove your innocence, I shall be very gladindeed!"
Then she called for Marie, and when the maid came from the adjoiningroom, Sidney Prale ushered the two women to the door and watched as theywent down the hall toward the elevator. But Kate Gilbert did not glanceback.