The Blind Man's Eyes

  CHAPTER XXIV

  THE FLAW IN THE LEFT EYE

  Santoine, after Harriet had left the library, stood waiting until heheard the servant go out and close the door; he had instructed the manand another with him to remain in the hall. The blind man felt nophysical weakness; he was wholly absorbed in the purpose for which hehad dressed and come downstairs; now, as he heard Avery start forwardto help him, he motioned him back. It was the rule in Santoine's housethat the furniture in the rooms he frequented should be kept always inthe same positions; the blind man could move about freely, therefore,in these rooms.

  He walked slowly now to a large chair beside the table in the center ofthe room and sat down, resting his arm on the table; when he felt thefamiliar smoothness of the table under his finger-tips he knew he wasfacing the part of the room where the sound he had just heard had toldhim Avery must be.

  "When did you learn that Eaton was Hugh Overton, Avery?" he asked.

  "To-day."

  "How did you discover it?"

  He heard Avery, who had been standing, come forward and seat himself onthe arm of the chair across the table from him; the blind man turned toface this place directly.

  "It was plain from the first there was something wrong with the man,"Avery replied; "but I had, of course, no way of placing him until hegave himself away at polo the other day."

  "At polo? Then you knew about it the other day?"

  "Oh, no," Avery denied. "I saw that he was pretending not to know agame which he did know; when he put over one particular stroke I wassure he knew the game very well. The number of men in this countrywho've played polo at all isn't very large and those who can play greatpolo are very few. So I sent for the polo annuals for a few yearsback; the ones I wanted came to the club to-day. His picture is in thegroup of the Spring Meadows Club; he played 'back' for them five yearsago. His name was under the picture, of course."

  "You didn't tell me, however, that he could play polo when you firstfound it out."

  "No; I wanted to be sure of him before I spoke; besides, Harriet hadseen it as well as I; I supposed she had told you."

  "I understand. I am glad to know how it was. One less certain of yourfidelity than I am might have put another construction on your silence;one less certain, Avery, might have thought that, already knowingEaton's identity, you preferred instead of telling it to me to have mediscover it for myself and so, for that reason, you trapped him into apolo game in Harriet's presence. I, myself, do not think that. Theother possibility which might occur to one not certain of your fidelitywe will not now discuss."

  For a moment Santoine paused; the man across from him did not speak,but--Santoine's intuition told him--drew himself suddenly togetheragainst some shock; the blind man felt that Avery was watching him nowwith tense questioning.

  "Of course," said Santoine, "knowing who Eaton is, gives us no aid indetermining who the men were that fought with him in my study lastnight?"

  "It gives none to me, Mr. Santoine," Avery said steadily.

  "It gives none to you," Santoine repeated; "and the very peculiarbehavior of the stock exchange to-day, I suppose that gives you no helpeither. All day they have been going down, Avery--the securities, thestocks and bonds of the properties still known as the Latronproperties; the very securities which five years ago stood staunchagainst even the shock of the death of the man whose coarse butpowerful personality had built them up into the great properties theyare to-day--of Matthew Latron's death. To-day, without apparentreason, they have been going down, and that gives you no help either,Avery?"

  "I'm afraid I don't follow you, sir."

  "Yet you are a very clever man, Avery; there is no question about that.Your friend and my friend who sent you to me five years ago was quitecorrect in calling you clever; I have found you so; I have been willingto pay you a good salary--a very good salary--because you are clever."

  "I'm glad if you have found my work satisfactory, Mr. Santoine."

  "I have even found it worth while at times to talk over with youmatters--problems--which were troubling me; to consult with you. HaveI not?"

  "Yes."

  "Very well; I am going to consult with you now. I have an infirmity,as you know, Avery; I am blind. I have just found out that for severalyears--for about five years, to be exact; that is, for about the samelength of time that you have been with me--my blindness has been usedby a certain group of men to make me the agent of a monstrous andterrible injustice to an innocent man. Except for my blindness--exceptfor that, Avery, this injustice never could have been carried on. Ifyou find a certain amount of bitterness in my tone, it is due to that;a man who has an infirmity, Avery, cannot well help being a littlesensitive in regard to it. You are willing I should consult with youin regard to this?"

  "Of course I am at your service, Mr. Santoine." Avery's voice washarsh and dry.

  The blind man was silent for an instant. He could feel the uneasinessand anxiety of the man across from him mounting swiftly, and he gave itevery opportunity to increase. He had told Eaton once that he did notuse "cat and mouse" methods; he was using them now because that was theonly way his purpose could be achieved.

  "We must go back, then, Avery, to the quite serious emergency to whichI am indebted for your faithful service. It is fairly difficult nowfor one contemplating the reverence and regard in which 'big' men areheld by the public in these days of business reconstruction to recallthe attitude of only a few years ago. However, it is certainly truethat five years ago the American people appeared perfectly convincedthat the only way to win true happiness and perpetuate prosperity wasto accuse, condemn and jail for life--if execution were not legal--theheads of the important groups of industrial properties. Just at thattime, one of these men--one of the most efficient but also, perhaps,the one personally most obnoxious or unpopular--committed one of hisgravest indiscretions. It concerned the private use of deposits innational banks; it was a federal offense of the most patent andprovable kind. He was indicted. Considering the temper of anypossible jury at that time, there was absolutely no alternative but tobelieve that the man under indictment must spend many succeeding years,if not the rest of his life, in the Federal penitentiary at Atlanta orLeavenworth.

  "Now, not only the man himself but his closest associates contemplatedthis certainty with dismay. The man was in complete control of a groupof the most valuable and prosperous properties in America. Before hisgaining control, the properties had been almost ruined by differencesbetween the minor men who tried to run them; only the calling ofMatthew Latron into control saved those men from themselves; theyrequired him to govern them; his taking away would bring chaos and ruinamong them again. They knew that. There were a number of importantpeople, therefore, who held hope against hope that Latron would not beconfined in a prison cell. Just before he must go to trial, Latronhimself became convinced that he faced confinement for the rest of hislife; then fate effectively intervened to end all his troubles. Hisbody, charred and almost consumed by flames--but nevertheless theidentified body of Matthew Latron--was found in the smoking ruins ofhis shooting lodge which burned to the ground two days before histrial. I have stated correctly these particulars, have I not, Avery?"

  "Yes." Avery was no longer sitting on the arm of the chair; he hadslipped into the seat--he was hunched in the seat watching the blindman with growing conviction and fear.

  "There were, of course," Santoine went on, "many of the violent andpassion-inflamed who carped at this timely intervention of fate andcriticised the accident which delivered Latron at this time. But thesewere silenced when Latron's death was shown to have been, not accident,but murder. A young man was shown to have followed Latron to theshooting lodge; a witness appeared who had seen this young man shootLatron; a second witness had seen him set fire to the lodge. The youngman--Hugh Overton--was put on trial for his life. I, myself, as awitness at the trial, supplied the motive for the crime; for, though Ihad never met Overton, I knew that he had los
t the whole of a largefortune through investments recommended to him by Latron. Overton wasconvicted, sentenced to death; he escaped before the sentence wascarried out--became a fugitive without a name, who if he everreappeared would be handed over for execution. For the evidence hadbeen perfect--complete; he had shot Latron purely for revenge, killedhim in the most despicable manner. For there was no doubt Latron wasdead, was there, Avery?"

  Santoine waited for reply.

  "What?" Avery said huskily.

  "I say there was no doubt Latron was dead?"

  "None."

  "That was the time you came into my employ, Avery, recommended to me byone of the men who had been closest to Latron. I was not connectedwith the Latron properties except as an adviser; but many papersrelating to them must go inevitably through my hands. I was rather onthe inside in all that concerned those properties. But I could notmyself see the papers; I was blind; therefore, I had to have othersserve as eyes for me. And from the first, Avery, you served as my eyesin connection with all papers relating to the Latron properties. Ifanything ever appeared in those papers which might have led me tosuspect that any injustice had been done in the punishment of Latron'smurderer, it could reach me only through you. Nothing of that sortever did reach me, Avery. You must have made quite a good thing out ofit."

  "What?"

  "I say, your position here must have been rather profitable to you,Avery; I have not treated you badly myself, recognizing that you mustoften be tempted by gaining information here from which you might makemoney; and your other employers must have overbid me."

  "I don't understand; I beg your pardon, Mr. Santoine, but I do notfollow what you are talking about."

  "No? Then we must go a little further. This last year a minorreorganization became necessary in some of the Latron properties. Myfriend, Gabriel Warden--who was an honest man, Avery--had recentlygreatly increased his interest in those properties; it was inevitablethe reorganization should be largely in his hands. I remember nowthere was opposition to his share in it; the fact made no impression onme at the time; opposition is common in all things. During his workwith the Latron properties, Warden--the honest man, Avery--discoveredthe terrible injustice of which I speak.

  "I suspect there were discrepancies in the lists of stockholders,showing a concealed ownership of considerable blocks of stock, whichfirst excited his suspicions. Whatever it may have been Wardencertainly investigated further; his investigation revealed to him thefull particulars of the injustice done to the nameless fugitive who hadbeen convicted as the murderer of Matthew Latron. Evidently thishelpless, hopeless man had been thought worth watching by some one, forWarden's discoveries gave him also Overton's address. Warden riskedand lost his life trying to help Overton.

  "I do not need to draw your attention, Avery, to the very peculiarcondition which followed Warden's death. Warden had certainly hadcommunication with Overton of some sort; Overton's enemies, therefore,were unable to rid themselves of him by delivering him up to the policebecause they did not know how much Overton knew. When I found thatWarden had made me his executor and I went west and took charge of hisaffairs, their difficulties were intensified, for they did not dare tolet suspicion of what had been done reach me. There was no course opento them, therefore, but to remove Overton before my suspicions werearoused, even if it could be done only at desperate risk to themselves.

  "What I am leading up to, Avery, is your own connection with theseevents. You looked after your own interests rather carefully, I think,up to a certain point. When--knowing who Eaton was--you got him into apolo game, it was so that, if your interests were best served byexposing him, you could do so without revealing the real source of yourknowledge of him. But an unforeseen event arose. The drafts and listsrelating to the reorganization of the Latron properties--containing thevery facts, no doubt, which first had aroused Warden's suspicions--weresent me through Warden's office. At first there was nothingthreatening to you in this, because their contents could reach me onlythrough you. But in the uncertainty I felt, I had my daughter takethese matters out of your hands; you did not dare then even to ask meto give them back, for fear that would draw my attention to them and toyou.

  "That night, Avery, you sent an unsigned telegram from the office inthe village; almost within twenty-four hours my study was entered, thesafe inaccessible to you was broken open, the contents were carriedaway. The study window had not been forced; it had been left open fromwithin. Do you suppose I do not know that one of the two men in thestudy last night was the principal whose agents had failed in twoattempts to get rid of Overton for him, whose other agent--yourself,Avery--had failed to intercept the evidence which would have revealedthe truth to me, so that, no longer trusting to agents, he himself hadcome in desperation to prevent my learning the facts? I realize fully,Avery, that by means of you my blindness and my reputation have beenused for five years to conceal from the public the fact that MatthewLatron had not been murdered, but was still alive!"

  The blind man halted; he had not gone through this long conversation,with all the strain that it entailed upon himself, without a definiteobject; and now, as he listened to Avery's quick breathing and thenervous tapping of his fingers against the arm of his chair, herealized that this object was accomplished. Avery not only realizedthat the end of deception and concealment had come; he recognizedthoroughly that Santoine would not have spoken until he had certainproof to back his words. Avery might believe that, as yet, the blindman had not all the proof in his possession; but Avery knew--as he wasaware that Santoine also knew--that exposure threatened so many menthat some one of them now was certain to come forward to save himselfat the expense of the others. And Avery knew that only one--and thefirst one so to come forward--could be saved.

  So Santoine heard Avery now get up; he stood an instant and tried tospeak, but his breath caught nervously; he made another effort.

  "I don't think you have much against me, Mr. Santoine," he managed; itwas--as the blind man had expected--only of himself that Avery wasthinking.

  "No?" Santoine asked quietly.

  "I didn't have anything to do with convicting Overton, or know anythingabout it until that part was all over; I never saw him till I saw himon the train. I didn't know Warden was going to be killed."

  "But you were accessory to the robbery of my house last night and,therefore, accessory to the murder of Wallace Blatchford. Last night,too, knowing Overton was innocent of everything charged against him,you gave orders to fire upon him at sight and he was fired upon. Andwhat were you telling Harriet when I came in? You have told the policethat Overton is the murderer of Latron. Isn't that so the police willrefuse to believe anything he may say and return him to the death cellfor the sentence to be executed upon him? The law will call thesethings attempted murder, Avery."

  The blind man heard Avery pacing the floor, and then heard him stop infront of him.

  "What is it you want of me, Mr. Santoine?"

  "The little information I still require."

  "You mean you want me to sell the crowd out?"

  "Not that; because I offer you nothing. A number of men are going tothe gallows or the penitentiary for this, Avery, and you--Isuspect--among them; though I also suspect--from what I have learnedabout your character in the last few days--that you'll take any meansopen to you to avoid sharing their fate."

  "I suppose you mean by that that I'll turn State's evidence if I get achance, and that I might as well begin now."

  "That, I should say, is entirely up to you. The charge of what Iknow--with the simultaneous arrest of a certain number of men indifferent places whom I know must be implicated--will be madeto-morrow. You, perhaps, are a better judge than I of the cohesion ofyour group in the contingencies which it will face to-morrow morning.I offer you nothing now, Avery--no recommendation of clemency--nothing.If you prefer to have me learn the full facts from the first of anotherwho breaks, very well."

  Santoine waited. He heard Ave
ry take a few more steps up and down;then he halted; now he walked again; they were uneven steps as Santoineheard them; then Avery stopped once more.

  "What is it you want to know, sir?"

  "Who killed Warden?"

  "John Yarrow is his name; he was a sort of hanger-on of Latron's. Idon't know where Latron picked him up."

  "Was it he who also made the attack on the train?"

  "Yes."

  "Who was the other man on the train--the one that claimed the telegramaddressed to Lawrence Hillward?"

  "His name's Hollock. He's the titular owner of the place on theMichigan shore where Latron has been living. The telegram I sent nightbefore last was addressed to his place, you know. He's been a sort ofgo-between for Latron and the men--those who knew--who were managingthe properties. I'd never met him, though, Mr. Santoine, and I didn'tknow either him or Hollock on the train. As I said, I wasn't in theknow about killing Warden."

  "When did you learn who Eaton was, Avery?"

  "The day after we got back here from the West I got word from Latron;they didn't tell me till they needed to use me." Avery hesitated; thenhe went on--he was eager now to tell all he knew in his belief that bydoing so he was helping his own case. "You understand, sir, aboutLatron's pretended death--a guide at the shooting lodge had been killedby a chance shot in the woods; purely accidental; some one of the partyhad fired at a deer, missed, and never knew he'd killed a man with thewaste shot. When the guide didn't come back to camp, they looked forhim and found his body. He was a man who never would be missed orinquired for and was very nearly Latron's size; and that gave Latronthe idea.

  "At first there was no idea of pretending he had been murdered; it wasthe coroner who first suggested that. Things looked ugly for a while,under the circumstances, as they were made public. Either the schememight come out or some one else be charged as the murderer. That putit up to Overton. He'd actually been up there to see Latron and hadhad a scene with him which had been witnessed. That part--all but theevidence which showed that he shot Latron afterwards--was perfectlytrue. He thought that Latron, as he was about to go to trial, might bewilling to give him information which would let him save something fromthe fortune he'd lost through Latron's manipulations. Thecircumstances, motive, everything was ready to convict Overton; itneeded very little more to complete the case against him."

  "So it was completed."

  "But after Overton was convicted, he was not allowed to be punished,sir."

  Santoine's lips straightened in contempt. "He was not allowed to bepunished?"

  "Overton didn't actually escape, you know, Mr. Santoine--that is, hecouldn't have escaped without help; Latron was thoroughly frightenedand he wanted it carried through and Overton executed; but some of theothers rebelled against this and saw that Overton got away; but henever knew he'd been helped. I understand it was evidence of Latron'sinsistence on the sentence being carried out that Warden found, afterhis first suspicions had been aroused, and that put Warden in aposition to have Latron tried for his life, and made it necessary tokill Warden."

  "Latron is dead, of course, Avery, or fatally wounded?"

  "He's dead. Over--Eaton, that is, sir--hit him last night with threeshots."

  "As a housebreaker engaged in rifling my safe, Avery."

  "Yes, sir. Latron was dying when they took him out of the car lastnight. They got him away, though; put him on the boat he'd come on. Isaw them in the woods last night. They'll not destroy the body or makeaway with it, sir, at present."

  "In other words, you instructed them not to do so until you had foundout whether Overton could be handed over for execution and the factsregarding Latron kept secret, or whether some other course wasnecessary."

  The blind man did not wait for any answer to this; he straightenedsuddenly, gripping the arms of his chair, and got up. There was morehe wished to ask; in the bitterness he felt at his blindness havingbeen used to make him an unconscious agent in these things of whichAvery spoke so calmly, he was resolved that no one who had sharedknowingly in them should go unpunished. But now he heard the noisemade by approach of Eaton's captors. He had noted it a minute or moreearlier; he was sure now that it was definitely nearing the house. Hecrossed to the window, opened it and stood there listening; the peopleoutside were coming up the driveway. Santoine went into the hall.

  "Where is Miss Santoine?" he inquired.

  The servant who waited in the hall told him she had gone out. AsSantoine stood listening, the sounds without became coherent to him.

  "They have taken Overton, Avery," he commented. "Of course they havetaken no one else. I shall tell those in charge of him that he is notthe one they are to hold prisoner but that I have another for themhere."

  The blind man heard no answer from Avery. Those having Overton incharge seemed to be coming into the house; the door opened and therewere confused sounds. Santoine stood separating the voices.

  "What is it?" he asked the servant.

  "Mr. Eaton--Mr. Overton, sir--fainted as they were taking him out ofthe motor-car, sir. He seems much done up, sir."

  Santoine recognized that four or five men, holding or carrying theirprisoner between them, had come in and halted in surprise at sight ofhim.

  "We have him!" he heard one of them cry importantly to him. "We havehim, sir! and he's Hugh Overton, who killed Latron!"

  Then Santoine heard his daughter's voice in a half cry, half sob ofhopeless appeal to him; Harriet ran to him; he felt her cold, tremblingfingers clasping him and beseeching him. "Father! Father! Theysay--they say--they will--"

  He put his hands over hers, clasping hers and patting it, "My dear," hesaid, "I thought you would wait for me; I told you to wait."

  He heard others coming into the house now; and he held his daughterbeside him as he faced them.

  "Who is in charge here?" he demanded.

  The voice of one of those who had just come in answered him. "I,sir--I am the chief of police."

  "I wish to speak to you; I will not keep you long. May I ask you tohave your prisoner taken to the room he occupied here in my house andgiven attention by a doctor? You can have my word that it is notnecessary to guard him. Wait! Wait!" he directed, as he heardexclamations and ejaculations to correct him. "I do not mean that youhave mistaken who he is. He is Hugh Overton, I know; it is because heis Hugh Overton that I say what I do."

  Santoine abandoned effort to separate and comprehend or to try toanswer the confusion of charge and questioning around him. Heconcerned himself, at the moment, only with his daughter; he drew herto him, held her and said gently, "There, dear; there! Everything isright. I have not been able to explain to you, and I cannot take timenow; but you, at least, will take my word that you have nothing to fearfor him--nothing!"

  He heard her gasp with incredulity and surprise; then, as she drew backfrom him, staring at him, she breathed deep with relief and claspedhim, sobbing. He still held her, as the hall was cleared and thefootsteps of those carrying Overton went up the stairs; then, knowingthat she wished to follow them, he released her. She drew away, thenclasped his hand and kissed it; as she did so, she suddenly stiffenedand her hand tightened on his spasmodically.

  Some one else had come into the hall and he heard another voice--awoman's, which he recognized as that of the stenographer, Miss Davis.

  "Where is he? Hugh! Hugh! What have you done to him? Mr. Santoine!Mr. Santoine! where is he?"

  The blind man straightened, holding his daughter to him; there wasanxiety, horror, love in the voice he heard; Harriet's perplexity wasgreat as his own. "Is that you, Miss Davis?" he inquired.

  "Yes; yes," the girl repeated. "Where is--Hugh, Mr. Santoine?"

  "You do not understand," the voice of a young man--anxious and strainednow, but of pleasing timbre--broke in on them.

  "I'm afraid I don't," Santoine said quietly.

  "She is Hugh's sister, Mr. Santoine--she is Edith Overton."

  "Edith Overton?
And who are you?"

  "You do not know me. My name is Lawrence Hillward."

  Santoine asked nothing more for the moment. His daughter had left hisside. He stood an instant listening to the confusion of question andanswer in the hall; then he opened the door into the library and heldit for the police chief to enter.