CHAPTER XVI.
THE FIRST STEP.
It was a proud day for the ex-medical student when he first entered thecounting-house of the African firm and realized that he was one of thegoverning powers in that busy establishment. Tom Dimsdale's mind was anintensely practical one, and although he had found the study of sciencean irksome matter, he was able to throw himself into business withuncommon energy and devotion. The clerks soon found that the sunburnt,athletic-looking young man intended to be anything but a sleepingpartner, and both they and old Gilray respected him accordingly.
The latter had at first been inclined to resent the new arrangement asfar as his gentle down-trodden nature could resent anything. Hithertohe had been the monarch of the counting-house in the absence of theGirdlestones, but now a higher desk had been erected in a more centralportion of the room, and this was for the accommodation of the newcomer. Gilray, after his thirty years of service, felt this usurpationof his rights very keenly; but there was such a simple kindness aboutthe invader, and he was so grateful for any assistance in his newduties, that the old clerk's resentment soon melted away.
A little incident occurred which strengthened this kindly feeling.It chanced that some few days after Tom's first appearance in the officeseveral of the clerks, who had not yet quite gauged what manner of manthis young gentleman might be, took advantage of the absence of theGirdlestones to take a rise out of the manager. One of them, a greatrawboned Scotchman, named McCalister, after one or two minor exhibitionsof wit concluded by dropping a heavy ruler over the partition of the oldman's desk in such a way that it crashed down upon his head as he satstooping over his writing. Tom, who had been watching the proceedingswith a baleful eye, sprang off his stool and made across the office atthe offender. McCalister seemed inclined for a moment to brazen it out,but there was a dangerous sling about Tom's shoulders and a flush ofhonest indignation upon his face. "I didn't mean to hurt him," said theScotchman. "Don't hit him, sir!" cried the little manager. "Beg hispardon," said Tom between his teeth. McCalister stammered out some lameapology, and the matter was ended. It revealed the new partner,however, in an entirely novel light to the inmates of thecounting-house. That under such circumstances a complaint should becarried to the senior was only natural, but that the junior shouldactually take the matter into his own hands and execute lynch law thenand there was altogether a new phenomenon. From that day Tom acquired agreat ascendancy in the office, and Gilray became his devoted slave.This friendship with the old clerk proved to be very useful, for bymeans of his shrewd hints and patient teaching the new comer gained agrasp of the business which he could not have attained by any othermethod.
Girdlestone called him into the office one day and congratulated himupon the progress which he was making. "My dear young man," he said tohim in his patriarchal way, "I am delighted to hear of the way in whichyou identify yourself with the interests of the firm. If at first youfind work allotted to you which may appear to you to be rather menial,you must understand that that is simply due to our desire that youshould master the whole business from its very foundations."
"There is nothing I desire better," said Tom.
"In addition to the routine of office work, and the superintendence ofthe clerks, I should wish you to have a thorough grasp of all thedetails of the shipping, and of the loading and unloading of ourvessels, as well as of the storage of goods when landed. When any ofour ships are in, I should wish you to go down to the docks and tooverlook everything which is done."
Tom bowed and congratulated himself inwardly upon these new duties,which promised to be interesting.
"As you grow older," said the senior partner, "you will find it ofinestimable value that you have had practical experience of what yoursubordinates have to do. My whole life has taught me that. When youare in doubt upon any subject you can ask Ezra for assistance andadvice. He is a young man whom you might well take as an example, forhe has great business capacity. When he has gone to Africa you can cometo me if there is anything which you do not understand."John Girdlestone appeared to be so kindly and benevolent during this andother interviews, that Tom's heart warmed towards him, and he came tothe conclusion that his father had judged the old merchant harshly.More than once, so impressed was he by his kindness, that he was on thepoint of disclosing to him his engagement to his ward, but on eachoccasion there arose within him a lively recollection of Kate'sfrightened face when he had suggested such a course, and he felt thatwithout her consent he had no right to divulge the secret.
If the elder Girdlestone improved upon acquaintance it was exactly thereverse with his son Ezra. The dislike with which Tom had originallyregarded him deepened as he came in closer contact, and appeared to bereciprocated by the other, so that they held but little intercoursetogether. Ezra had taken into his own charge all the financial part ofthe concern, and guarded it the more jealously when he realized that thenew partner was so much less simple than he had expected. Thus Tom hadno opportunity of ascertaining for himself how the affairs of the firmstood, but believed implicitly, as did Gilray, that every outlay wasbringing in a large and remunerative return. Very much astonished wouldboth of them have been had they realized that the working expenses wereat present being paid entirely from their own capital until such time asthe plot should ripen which was to restore the fortunes of the Africancompany.
In one respect Tom Dimsdale was immeasurably the gainer by hisconnection with the firm, for without that it is difficult to say how hecould have found opportunities for breaking through the barrier whichseparated him from Kate. The surveillance of the merchant had becomestricter of late, and all invitations from Mrs. Dimsdale or otherfriends who pitied the loneliness of the girl were repulsed byGirdlestone with the curt intimation that his ward's health was not suchas to justify him in allowing her to incur any risk of catching a chill.She was practically a prisoner in the great stone cage in EcclestonSquare, and even on her walks a warder in the shape of a footman was, aswe have seen, told off to guard her. Whatever John Girdlestone'sreasons may have been, he had evidently come to the conclusion that itwas of the highest importance that she should be kept secluded.
As it was, Tom, thanks to his position as one of the firm, was ableoccasionally, in spite of every precaution to penetrate through the oldman's defensive works. If a question of importance arose at FenchurchStreet during the absence of the senior partner, what more natural thanthat Mr. Dimsdale should volunteer to walk round to Eccleston Square inorder to acquaint him with the fact. And if it happened that thegentleman was not to be found there, how very natural that the young manshould wait half an hour for him, and that Miss Harston should take theopportunity of a chat with an old friend? Precious, precious interviewsthose, the more so for their rarity. They brightened the dull routineof Kate's weary life and sent Tom back to the office full of spirit andhope. The days were at hand when the memory of them was to shine outlike little rifts of light in the dark cloud of existence.
And now the time was coming when it was to be decided whether, by a lastbold stroke, the credit of the House of Girdlestone was to be saved, orwhether the attempt was to plunge them into deeper and more hopelessruin. An unscrupulous agent named Langworthy had, as already indicated,been despatched to Russia well primed with instructions as to what to doand how to do it. He had been in the employ of an English corn merchantat Odessa, and had some knowledge of the Russian language which would beinvaluable to him in his undertaking. In the character of an Englishgentleman of scientific tastes he was to establish himself in someconvenient village among the Ural Mountains. There he was to remainsome little time, so as to arouse confidence in the people before makinghis pretended discovery. He was then to carry his rough diamonds toTobolsk, as the nearest large town, and to exhibit them there, backingup his assertion by the evidence of villagers who had seen him dig themup. The Girdlestones knew that that alone would be sufficient whentelegraphed to England to produce a panic in the sensitive diamondmarket
. Before any systematic inquiry could be made, Langworthy wouldhave disappeared, and their little speculation would have come off.After that the sooner the people realized that it was a hoax the betterfor the conspirators. In any case, there seemed to be no possibilitythat the origin of the rumour could be traced. Meanwhile, EzraGirdlestone had secured his passage in the Cape mail steamer _Cyprian_.On the night that he left he sat up late in the library at EcclestonSquare talking over the matter for the last time with his father.
The old man was pale and nervous. The one weak point in his characterwas his affection for his son, an affection which he strove to hideunder an austere manner, but which was none the less genuine. He hadnever before parted with him for any length of time, and he felt thewrench keenly. As to Ezra, he was flushed and excited at the thought ofthe new scenes which lay before him and the daring speculation in whichhe was about to embark. He flung himself into a chair and stretched histhick, muscular limbs out in front of him.
"I know as much about stones," he said exultantly, "as any man inLondon. I was pricing a bag of rough ones at Van Helmer's to-day, andhe is reckoned a good judge. He said that no expert could have done itbetter. Lord bless you! pure or splints, or cracked, or off colour, orspotted, or twin stones, I'm up to them all. I wasn't a pound out inthe market value of any one of them."
"You deserve great credit for your quickness and perseverance," repliedhis father. "Your knowledge will be invaluable to you when you are atthe fields. Be careful of yourself when you are there, my son, if onlyfor my sake. There are rough fellows at such places, and you must givethem soft words. I know that your temper is quick, but remember thosewise words, 'He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh acity.'"
"Never fear for me, dad," said Ezra, with a sinister smile, pointing toa small leather case which lay among his things. "That's the bestsix-shooter I could get for money. I've taken a tip, you see, from ourgood friend, the major, and have six answers for any one that wants toargue with me. If I had had that the other day he wouldn't have bouncedme so easily."
"Nay, but Ezra, Ezra," his father said, in great agitation, "you willpromise to be careful and to avoid quarrels and bloodshed. It isagainst the great law, the new commandment."
"I won't get into any rows if I can help it," his son answered."That's not my game."
"But if you think that there is no mistake, if your opponent isundoubtedly about to proceed to extremities, shoot him down at once, mydear lad, before he has time to draw. I have heard those who have beenout there say that in such cases everything depends upon getting thefirst shot. I am anxious about you, and shall not be easy until I seeyou again."
"Blessed if he hasn't tears in his eyes!" Ezra exclaimed to himself,much astonished at this unprecedented occurrence.
"When do you go?" his father asked.
"My train leaves in an hour or so. I reach the steamer at Southamptonabout three in the morning, and she starts with the full tide at six."
"Look after your health," the old man continued. "Don't get your feetwet, and wear flannel next your skin. Don't forget your religiousduties either. It has a good effect upon those among whom you dobusiness."
Ezra sprang from his chair with an exclamation of disgust and began topace up and down. "I wish to Heaven you would drop that sort of gammonwhen we are alone," he said irritably.
"My dear boy," said the father, with a mild look of surprise upon hisface, "you seem to be under a misapprehension in this matter.You appear to consider that we are embarking upon some unjustifiableundertaking. This is not so. What we are doing is simply a smallcommercial ruse--a finesse. It is a recognized maxim of trade toendeavour to depreciate the price of whatever you want to buy, and toraise it again when the time comes for selling."
"It's steering very close to the law," his son retorted."No speculating, now, while I am away; whatever comes in must go towardsgetting us out of this scrape, not to plunging us deeper in the mire."
"I shall not expend an unnecessary penny."
"Well, then, good-bye." said the young man, rising up and holding outhis hand. "Keep your eye on Dimsdale and don't trust him."
"Good-bye, my son, good-bye--God bless you!"
The old merchant was honestly moved, and his voice quivered as he spoke.He stood motionless for a minute or so until the heavy door slammed, andthen he threw open the window and gazed sorrowfully down the street atthe disappearing cab. His whole attitude expressed such dejection thathis ward, who had just entered the room, felt more drawn towards himthan she had ever done before. Slipping up to him she placed her warmtender hand upon his sympathetically.
"He will soon be back, dear Mr. Girdlestone," she said. "You must notbe uneasy about him."
As she stood beside him in her white dress, with a single red ribbonround her neck and a band of the same colour round her waist, she was asfair a specimen of English girl-hood as could have been found in allLondon. The merchant's features softened as he looked down at her freshyoung face, and he put out his hand as though to caress her, but someunpleasant thought must have crossed his mind, for he assumed suddenly adarker look and turned away from her without a word. More than oncethat night she recalled that strange spasmodic expression of somethingakin to horror which had passed over her guardian's features as he gazedat her.