CHAPTER XXIIA COMPROMISE
"If I had any money of my own," Alora said to Janet Orme on the morningof the twelfth day of imprisonment, "I would gladly pay it to free."
Janet flashed a quick glance at her. "Do you mean that?" she asked withill-suppressed eagerness.
"I do, indeed," declared the girl, moaning dismally; "but I never havea cent to call my own."
Janet sat still, for some time, thinking.
"I, too, wish you were free," she admitted, resuming the conversation,"for my position as jailer obliges me to share your confinement, andit's wearing on me, as it is on you. But you have unconsciously givenme a thought--an idea that seems likely to lead to a compromise betweenus. I'm going to consider it seriously, and if it still looks good tome I'll make you a proposition."
Saying this, she retired to her bedroom and closed the door after her,leaving Alora in a fit of nervous trembling through half-formed hopesthat she might gain her release.
It was nearly an hour before Janet returned. When she came from herroom she stood before the girl for a time and seemed to study her face.Alora was anxious and did not endeavor to conceal the fact. In her handthe woman held a paper, which she presently laid upon the center-table.
"I have decided to make you a proposition," she said, turning to seatherself near the table. "If it interests you, all right; if it doesn't,you may of course reject it. My offer is this: If you will tell mewhere to find your father and will promise not to mention me to him orto warn him of my intentions, and if you will sign this paper which Ihave prepared, I will allow you to return to your friends to-day. Youare not especially fond of Jason Jones, I believe?"
"Not especially, although he is my father," returned Alora, eyeing thewoman expectantly.
"Then you can have no objection to my forcing him to disgorge my shareof his income, which you would not get in any event. I don't know howmuch of an allowance he makes you, but----"
"I don't get any allowance," said Alora, "In fact, he gives menothing."
"Then my demands on your father will not affect your interests. Are youwilling to give me his address, and promise not to warn him?"
"Under the circumstances, yes."
"Very well. I accept your plighted word--your word of honor. Now signthis paper and you may go."
She took the paper from the table and handed it to Alora, who read asfollows:
"For value received, in services faithfully rendered and which I herebyfreely and without coercion acknowledge, I hereby promise and agree topay to Janet Orme Jones on the day that I attain my majority the sum ofFifty Thousand Dollars, which sum is to be paid from my estate withoutrecourse, equivocation or attempt to repudiate the said obligation,inasmuch as I willingly admit the said sum to be justly due the saidJanet Orme Jones."(Signed:)................."
Alora read the paper twice, with, growing indignation. Then she glancedup at her jailer and muttered questioningly: "Jones? Janet Orme_Jones?"_
"A family name, my dear. The Joneses are so thick and so unimportantthat generally I do not use the name, but this is a legal document. Ihope you won't try to claim relationship," she added with a lightlaugh.
"I'm not going to promise you so enormous a sum as fifty thousanddollars, even to secure my liberty," said Alora. "It's out of allreason--it's--it's--outrageous!"
"Very well," returned Janet, coolly; "that's your own affair. This ismerely a compromise proposition, suggested by yourself, as I told you.Let us say no more about it."
Alora was greatly disheartened. After allowing her hopes to run so highthe disappointment was now doubly keen. Her defiance melted away withthe thought of all the weary days of imprisonment she must endure untilJanet was ready to act.
"I--I might agree to give you _five_ thousand dollars," she ventured.
"Nonsense. I'm not gunning for small game, Alora. Did you but realizeit, I am quite considerate in exacting only fifty thousand. Your estateis worth two millions. Your income is something like eighty thousand ayear, and this payment would leave you thirty thousand to use the firstyear after you come into your fortune. I don't believe you could spendthirty thousand in a year, when you are eighteen years of age."
Alora turned away and going to the front window, looked through itsstained and unwashed panes into the gloomy street below. The sightemphasized her isolation from the world. Her imprisonment was becomingunbearable. After all, she reflected, in reckless mood, what did sosmall a share of her prospective fortune weigh against her presentcomfort--and health--and happiness?
Janet was stealthily watching her.
"Should you decide to sign the paper," said the nurse, "you must makeup your mind not to raise a row when pay-day comes. The money will comeout of your income, and instead of investing it in more bonds, you willhave invested it in your liberty. You won't be inconvenienced in theslightest degree. On the other hand, this money will mean everything to_me_--a modest competence for my old age and relief from the drudgeryof working. I've had a hard life, my girl, for nursing is mere slaveryto the whims of sick people. Consider, also, that for six years JasonJones squandered all my savings in trying to paint pictures that werenot worth the canvas he ruined. If I had that money now I wouldn't needto descend to this disgraceful mode of recouping my bank account; but,under the circumstances, don't you think I am justly entitled to someof the Jones money?"
"You're going to get a lot from my father."
"True; but that is for his indebtedness, while this amount is for yourfreedom. A scrape of the pen and you secure liberty, fresh air and theprivilege of rejoining your friends, who are probably getting anxiousabout you. If you are the sensible girl I take you to be, you won'thesitate."
Alora knew the woman was pleading her own case, but the argumentsappealed to her. She was weak and nervous and her longing for libertyoutweighed her natural judgment.
"I suppose I'm a fool, but----"
Slowly she approached the table where the written promissory note stilllay. Janet had placed a pen and inkstand beside it.