"What would I do if I were Ruef?" Frank asked himself. But no answercame. He paced up and down the corridor, pondering the situation. Atintervals he paused before the Supervisors' chamber. Once he found thedoor slightly ajar and listened shamelessly. He saw Big Jim Gallagher,red-faced, excited, apparently much flustered, reading a paper. Hethought he heard Langdon's name and Heney's. There seemed to bedissension in the board. But before he learned anything definite awatchful attendant closed the portal with an angry slam. Frank resumedhis pacing.
Finally he went out for a bite to eat.
Frank returned half an hour later to find the reporters' room in anuproar. Big Jim Gallagher had dismissed Langdon from office with thecorroboration of the Board of Supervisors, as a provision of the cityordinance permitted him to do. Ruef had been appointed districtattorney.
Langdon's forces were not disconcerted by the little boss's coup. Latethat evening Frank advised his paper of a counterstroke. Heney hadaroused Judge Seawell from his slumbers and obtained an order of thecourt enjoining Ruef from actual assumption of the title he hadarrogated to himself.
Judge Graham upheld it. Langdon remained the district attorney. ThoughRuef imposed every possible obstacle, the Grand Jury was impaneled,November 7, and began its work of investigation with such startlingcelerity that Ruef and Schmitz faced charges of extortion on fivecounts, a week later.
CHAPTER LXXXIII
IN THE TOILS
Meanwhile Schmitz, who had but recently returned from Europe, becameofficially involved in the anti-Japanese agitation.
"He's summoned East to see the President," said a Burns operative toFrank one morning as they met at Temple Israel. "Lucky devil, that bigfellow! Here's the town at sixes and sevens about the 'little brownbrother.' Doesn't want him with its white kids in the public schools.The Mikado stirs the devil of a row with Washington about it. And Teddysends for 'Gene. Just his luck to come back a conquering hero."
But Schmitz fared badly at the Capital, whence Roosevelt dispatched a"big stick" message to the California Legislature. At the same timeGeorge B. Keane, the Supervisors' clerk, and a State Senator as well,was working for the "Change of Venus bill," a measure which if passed,would have permitted Ruef to take his case out of the jurisdiction ofJudge Dunne. But the bill was defeated. Once more Ruef's straining atthe net of Justice had achieved no parting of the strands.
On March 6 Stanley greeted Mayor Schmitz as he stepped from a train atOakland Mole. Correspondents and reporters gathered round the tall,bearded figure. Schmitz looked tired, discouraged.
Perfunctorily, uneasily, Schmitz answered the reporter's queries. He haddone his level best for San Francisco. As for the charges pendingagainst him, they would soon be disproved. No one had anything on him.All his acts were open to investigation.
"Do you know that Ruef has skipped?" Frank asked.
"Wh-a-a-t!" the Mayor set down his grip. He seemed struck all of a heapby the announcement.
"Fact!" another newsman corroborated. "Abie's jumped his bond. He's thewell-known 'fugitive from justice.'"
Without a word the Mayor left them. He walked aboard the ferry boatalone. They saw him pacing back and forth across the forward deck, hislong overcoat flapping in the wind, one hand holding the dark, soft hatdown on his really magnificent head.
"A ship without a rudder," said Frank. The others nodded.
* * * * *
Over the municipal administration was the shadow of Ruef's flight. Theshepherd had deserted his flock. And the wolves of the law were howling.
Frank was grateful to the Powers for this rushing pageant of politicalevents. It gave him little chance to grieve. Now and then the tragedy ofBertha gripped him by the throat and shook him with its devastatingloneliness. He found a certain solace in Aleta's company. She was alwaysready, glad to walk or dine with him. She knew his silences; sheunderstood.
But there were intervals of grief beyond all palliation; days when heworked blindly through a grist of tasks that seemed unreal. And at nighthe sought his room, to sit in darkness, suffering dumbly through thehours. Sometimes Dawn would find him thus.
Robert Windham and his family had returned from the Hawaiian Islands.They had found a house in Berkeley; Windham opened offices on Fillmorestreet. Robert and his nephew visited occasionally a graveyard in thewestern part of town. The older man brought flowers and his tears fellfrankly on a mound that was more recent than its neighbors. But Stanleydid not join in these devotions.
"She is not here," he said one day. "You know that, Uncle Robert."
"She's up above," returned the other, brokenly. "My poor, wrongedchild!"
Frank stared at him a moment. "Do you believe in the conventionalHeaven?"
"Why--er--yes," said Windham, startled. "Don't you, Frank?"
"No," said Stanley, doggedly. "Not in that ... nor in a God that letsmen suffer and be tempted into wrongs they can't resist ... makes themsuffer for it."
"What do you mean? Are you an atheist?" asked Windham, horrified.
"No ... but I believe that God is Good. And knows no evil. Sometimes inthe night when I've sat thinking, Bertha seems to come to me; tells methings I can't quite understand. Wonderful things, Uncle Robert."
The other regarded him silently, curiously. He seemed at a loss.
"I've learned to judge men with less harshness," Frank spoke on. "Ruefand Schmitz, for instance.... Every now and then I see the Mayor pacingon the ferryboat. It's rather pathetic, Uncle Robert. Did God raise himup from obscurity just to torture him? He's had wealth andhonor--adoration from the people. Now he's facing prison. And those poordevils of Supervisors; they've known luxury, power. Now they're huddledlike a pack of frightened sheep; everybody thinks they're guilty. Ruef'sforsaken them. Ruef, with his big dream shattered, fleeing fromthe law...."
He faced his uncle fiercely, questioning. "Is that God's work? AndBertha's body lying there, because of the sins of her forebears! Forgiveme, Uncle Robert. I'm just thinking aloud."
Windham placed a hand upon his nephew's shoulder. "I'm afraid I can'tanswer you, Frank," he said slowly. "You're a young man. You'll forget.The world goes on. And our griefs do not matter. We fall and we get upagain ... just as Ruef and the others will."
"Do you suppose they'll catch him--Ruef, I mean?"
"Not if the big fellows can prevent it. If he's caught there'll be thedeuce to pay. Our Pillars of Finance will topple.... No, I think Ruefis safe."
"I don't quite understand," said Stanley.
"Ruef, himself, is nothing; a political boss, a solicitor of bribes. Butour corporation heads. The town will shake when they're accused, perhapsindicted. I know what's been going on. We're close to scandals that'llecho round the world."
Frank looked at his uncle wonderingly. Windham was a corporation lawyer.Doubtless he knew. Silently the two men made their way out of thegraveyard. Frank determined to ride down town with his uncle, and thentelephone to Aleta. He hadn't seen her for a week.
As the car passed the Call building they noted a crowd at Third andMarket streets, reading a bulletin. People seemed excited. Frank jumpedfrom the moving car and elbowed his way forward. In the newspaper windowwas a sheet of yellow paper inscribed in large script: "BURNS ARRESTSRUEF AT THE TROCADERO ROADHOUSE."
CHAPTER LXXXXIV
THE NET CLOSES
Frank discussed the situation with Aleta one evening after Ruef'scapture. Her friend, the Supervisor, had brought news of the alarm.
"He says no one of them will trust the other; they're afraid ofGallagher; think he'll turn State's evidence, or whatever you call it.'Squeal,' was what he said."
"Burns and Heney must be putting on the screws," commented Frank.
"Frank," Aleta laid a hand impulsively upon his arm, "I don't supposethere's any way to save this man ... I--oh, Frank, it would be awful ifhe went to prison."
He stared at her. "What do you mean, Aleta?"
"I mean," she answered, "that he's done things for m
e ... because heloves me ... hopes to win me. He's sincere in that.... Oh, can't you seehow it would hurt if--"
"If he gets caught--stealing," Frank spoke harshly. "Well, you shouldhave thought of that before, my dear."
A touch of anger tinctured the appeal with which her eyes met his. "Onedoesn't always reason when the heart is sore. When one is bitterwith--well--yearning."
He did not answer. He was rather startled by that look. Finally shesaid, more gently: "Frank, you'll help him if you can--I know."He nodded.
It was late. Aleta had to hurry to the theatre. Frank left her there andwalked down Sutter street.
He turned south toward Heney's office. It was in a little house betweenGeary and O'Farrell, up a short flight of stairs. Above were the livingquarters of Heney and his companion, half clerk, half bodyguard.
There was a light in the office, but the shades of the bay-window weretightly drawn. Frank rang the bell, which was not immediately answered.Finally the bodyguard came to the door. "Mr. Heney's very busy, verybusy." He seemed tremendously excited.
"Very well," said Frank; "I'll come tomorrow."
"We'll have big news for you," the man announced. He shut the doorhastily and double-locked it.
Frank decided to remain in the neighborhood. He might learn something.The morning papers had been getting the best of it recently in theway of news.
It proved a tiresome vigil. And the night was chilly. Frank began towalk briskly up and down the block. A dozen times he did this withoutresult. Then the sudden rumble of a motor car spun him about. He saw twomen hasten down the steps of Heney's office, almost leap into the car.Instantly it drove off. Frank, who followed to the corner, saw ittraveling at high speed toward Fillmore street. He looked about for amotor cab in which to follow. There was none in sight. Reluctantly heturned toward home. He had been outwitted, doubtless by a watcher. Butnot completely. For he was morally certain that one of the men who leftHeney's office was Big Jim Gallagher. That visit was significant. Fromhis hotel Frank tried to locate the editor of his paper by telephone. Hewas not successful. He went to bed, disgusted, after leaving adaylight call.
It was still dark when he dressed the next morning, the previousevening's events fresh in his thought.
He had scarcely reached the street before a newsboy thrust a morningpaper toward him. Frank saw that the upper half of the front page wascovered with large black headlines. He snatched it, tossing the boy a"two-bit piece," and, without waiting or thinking of the change, becameabsorbed in the startling information it conveyed.
Sixteen out of the eighteen Supervisors had confessed to taking bribesfrom half a dozen corporations. Wholesale indictments would follow, itwas stated, involving the heads of public service companies--men ofunlimited means, national influence. Many names were more thanhinted at.
Ruef, according to these confessions, had been the arch-plotter. He hadreceived the funds that corrupted an entire city government. Gallagherhad been the go-between, receiving a part of the "graft funds" to bedivided among his fellow Supervisors.
Each of the crooked sixteen had been guaranteed immunity fromimprisonment in consideration of their testimony.
"Well, that saves Aleta's friend, at any rate," thought Frank. Herecalled his uncle's prediction that Ruef's capture would result inextraordinary revelations. But it had not been Ruef, after all, who"spilled the beans." Ruef might confess later. They would need histestimony to make the case complete.
As a matter of fact, Ruef had already begun negotiations with Langdonand Heney looking toward a confession.
* * * * *
The Grand Jury acted immediately upon the wholesale confessions ofRuef's Supervisors. They summoned before them the heads of manycorporations, uncovering bribery so vast and open that they wereastounded. They found that $200,000 had been paid for the trolleyfranchise and enormous sums for permits to raise gas rates, fortelephone franchises, for prize-fight privileges and in connection witha realty transaction.
The trolley bribe funds had been carried in a shirt box to Ruef by thecompany's attorney. Other transactions had been more or less "covered."But all were plain enough for instant recognition. San Francisco, whichhad suspected Ruef and his Supervisors with the easy tolerance of apeople calloused to betrayal, was aroused by the insolent audacity ofthese transactions. It demanded blood.
And Heney was prepared to furnish sanguine vengeance. He was after the"higher-ups," he stated. Like a passionate evangel of Mosaic law, he setout to secure it. Louis Glass, acting president of the telephonecompany, was indicted on a charge of felony, which made a greathallabaloo, for he was a personable man, a clubman, popular andgenerally esteemed.
A subtle change--the primary index of that opposition which was todevelop into a stupendous force--was noted by the prosecution. Heney andLangdon had been welcomed hitherto in San Francisco's fashionable clubs.Men of wealth and standing had been wont to greet them as they lunchedthere, commending their course, assuring them of cooperation.
But after the telephone indictment there came a cooling of theatmosphere. Glass seemed more popular than ever. Langdon and Heney wereoften ignored. People failed to recognize them on the street. EvenSpreckels and Phelan, despite their wealth and long establishedstanding, suffered certain social ostracisms.
Wealthy evildoers found themselves as definitely threatened by the lawas were the Supervisors. But wealth is made of sterner stuff. It did notcringe nor huddle; could not seek immunity through the confessional.Famous lawyers found themselves in high demand. From New York, where hehad fought a winning fight for Harry Thaw, came Delphin Delmas. T.C.Coogan, another famous pleader, entered the lists against Heney indefense of Glass.
Meanwhile the drawing of jurors for Ruef's trial progressed, inexorably.
CHAPTER LXXXV
THE SEVEN PLAGUES
Several weeks passed. Politics were in a hectic state, and peoplegrumbled. Frank discussed the situation with his Uncle Robert. "Whydon't they oust these grafters from office?" he asked.
Windham smiled. "Because they daren't, Frank," he answered. "If theprosecution forced the Supervisors to resign, which would be easyenough, do you know what would happen?"
"Why, they'd fill their posts with better men, of course."
"Not so fast, my boy. The Mayor has the power to fill all vacancies dueto resignations. Don't you see what would happen? Schmitz could selectanother board over whom the prosecution would hold no power. Then, ifnecessary, he'd resign and his new board would fill the Mayor's chairwith some one whom Ruef or the Mayor could trust. Then the citygovernment would once more be independent of the law."
"Lord! What a tangle," Frank ruminated. "How will they straighten itout?"
"Remove the Mayor--if they can convict him of felony."
"Suppose they do. What then?"
"The prosecution forces can then use their power over theboodlers--force them to appoint a Mayor who's to Langdon's liking.Afterward they'll force the Supervisors to resign and the new Mayor willput decent people in their stead."
"Justice!" apostrophized Frank, "thy name is Red Tape!"
Heney alone was to enter the lists against Delmas and Coogan in thetrial of Louis Glass. The charge was bribing Supervisor Boxton to voteagainst the Home telephone franchise.
Frank had seen Glass at the Press Club, apparently a sound and honestcitizen. A little doubt crept into Frank's mind. If men like that couldstoop to the bribing of Supervisors, what was American civilizationcoming to?
He looked in at the Ruef trial to see if anything had happened. For thepast two months there had been nothing but technical squabbles,interminable hitches and delays.
Ruef was conferring with his attorneys. All at once he stepped forward,holding a paper in his hand. Tears were streaming down his face. Hebegan to read in sobbing, broken accents.
The crowd was so thick that Frank could not get close enough to hearRuef's words. It seemed a confession or condonation. Scattered fragmentsreached Frank
's ears. Then the judge's question, clearly heard, "What isyour plea?"
"Guilty!" Ruef returned.
* * * * *
Ruef's confession served to widen the breach between Class and Mass. Heimplicated many corporation heads and social leaders in a sorry tangleof wrongdoing. Other situations added fuel to the flame of economic war.The strike of the telephone girls had popular support, a sympathy muchstrengthened by the charges of bribery pending against telephoneofficials.
All at once he stepped forward.... Tears were streamingdown his face. Then the judge's question, clearly heard, "What is yourplea?" "Guilty!" Ruef returned.]
Ten thousand ironworkers were on strike at a time when their service wasimperative, for San Francisco was rebuilding feverishly. Capital madetelling use of this to bolster its impaired position in the public mind.While "pot called kettle black," the city suffered. The visitation ofsome strange disease, which certain physicians hastened to classifyas bubonic plague, very nearly brought the untold evils of a quarantine.A famous sanitarian from the East decided it was due to rats. He cameand slew his hundred-thousands of the rodents. Meanwhile the malady hadceased. But there were other troubles.
Fire had destroyed the deeds and titles stored in the Recorder's office,as well as other records. Great confusion came with property transferand business contracts. But, worst of all, perhaps, was the streetcar strike.