The Firm of Girdlestone Read online

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  A MOMENTOUS RESOLUTION.

  During the months which Ezra Girdlestone had spent in Africa the affairsof the firm in Fenchurch Street had been exceedingly prosperous.Trade upon the coast had been brisker than usual, and three of thecompany's ships had come in at short intervals with excellent cargoes.Among these was the _Black Eagle_ which, to the astonishment of CaptainHamilton Miggs and the disgust of his employer, had weathered a severegale in the Channel, and had arrived safe and sound once more. This runof luck, supplemented by the business capacity of the old merchant andthe indomitable energy of young Dimsdale, made the concern look soflourishing that the former felt more than ever convinced that if hecould but stave off the immediate danger things would soon rightthemselves. Hence he read with delight the letters from Africa, inwhich his son narrated the success of the conspiracy and the manner inwhich the miners had been hoodwinked. The old man's figure grewstraighter and his step more firm as the conviction grew upon him thatthe company would soon return once again to its former condition ofaffluence.

  It may be imagined, therefore, that when the rumours of a bona fidediamond find in the Orange Free State came to his ears John Girdlestonewas much agitated and distressed. On the same day that he saw theannouncement in the papers he received a letter from his son announcingthe failure of their enterprise. After narrating the robbery, thepursuit, the death of Farintosh, and the announcement of the newdiscovery, it gave an account of his subsequent movements.

  "There was no doubt about the truth of the scoundrel's words," he said,"for when we went to the nearest farm to get some food and have thesergeant's wound dressed we found that every one was talking about it.There was a chap there who had just come from the State and knew allabout it. After hearing the details from him I saw that there was nodoubt of the genuineness of the thing.

  "The police rode back to Jacobsdal with Williams, and I promised to comeafter them; but when I came to think it over it didn't seem good enough.The fact of my having so many diamonds would set every tongue wagging,and, again, the sergeant had heard what Farintosh said to me, so it wasvery possible that I might have the whole district about my ears. As itwas, I had the stones and all my money in the bag. I wrote back to thehotel, therefore, telling the landlord to send on my traps to Cape Townby mail, and promising to settle my bill with him when I received them.I then bought a horse and came straight south. I shall take the firststeamer and be with you within a few days of your receiving this.

  "As to our speculation, it is, of course, all up. Even when the Russianbusiness proves to be a hoax, the price of stones will remain very lowon account of these new fields. It is possible that we may sell our lotat some small profit but it won't be the royal road to a fortune thatyou prophesied, nor will it help the firm out of the rut into which youhave shoved it. My only regret in leaving Africa like this is that thatvermin Williams will have no one to prosecute him. My head is almostwell now."

  This letter was a rude shock to the African merchant. Within a week ofthe receipt of it his son Ezra, gloomy and travel-stained, walked intothe sanctum at Fenchurch Street and confirmed all the evil tidings byword of mouth. The old man was of too tough a fibre to break downcompletely, but his bony hands closed convulsively upon the arms of thechair, and a cold perspiration broke out upon his wrinkled forehead ashe listened to such details as his son vouchsafed to afford him.

  "You have your stones all safe, though?" he stammered out at last.

  "They are in my box, at home," said Ezra, gloomy and morose, leaningagainst the white marble mantelpiece. "The Lord knows what they areworth! We'll be lucky if we clear as much as they cost and a margin formy expenses and Langworthy's. A broken head is all that I have got fromyour fine scheme."

  "Who could foresee such a thing?" the old man said plaintively.He might have added Major Clutterbuck's thousand pounds as another itemto be cleared, but he thought it as well to keep silent upon the point.

  "Any fool could foresee the possibility of it," quoth Ezra brusquely.

  "The fall in prices is sure to be permanent, then?" the old man asked.

  "It will last for some years, any way," Ezra answered."The Jagersfontein gravel is very rich, and there seems to be plenty ofit."

  "And within a few months we must repay both capital and interest.We are ruined!" The old merchant spoke in a broken voice, and his headsank upon his breast. "When that day comes," he continued, "the firmwhich has been for thirty years above reproach, and a model to the wholeCity, will be proclaimed as a bankrupt concern. Worse still, it will beshown to have been kept afloat for years by means which will be deemedfraudulent. I tell you, my dear son, that if any means could be devisedwhich would avert this--_any_ means--I should not hesitate to adoptthem. I am a frail old man, and I feel that the short balance of mylife would be a small thing for me to give in return for the assurancethat the work which I have built up should not be altogether thrownaway."

  "Your life cannot affect the matter one way or the other unless it weremore heavily insured than it is," Ezra said callously, though somewhatmoved by his father's intensity of manner. "Perhaps there is some wayout of the wood yet," he added, in a more cheerful tone.

  "It's so paying, so prosperous--that's what goes to my heart. If it hadruined itself it would be easier to bear it, but it is sacrificed tooutside speculations--my wretched, wretched speculations. That is whatmakes it so hard." He touched the bell, and Gilray answered the summons."Listen to this, Ezra. What was our turn over last month, Gilray?"

  "Fifteen thousand pounds, sir," said the little clerk, bobbing up anddown like a buoy in a gale in his delight at seeing the junior partneronce again.

  "And the expenses?"

  "Nine thousand three hundred. Uncommon brown you look, Mr. Ezra, to besure, uncommon brown and well. I hopes as you enjoyed yourself inAfrica, sir, and was too much for them Hottenpots and Boars." With thisprofound ethnological remark Mr. Gilray bobbed himself out of the roomand went back radiantly to his ink-stained desk.

  "Look at that," the old man said, when the click of the outer doorshowed that the clerk was out of ear-shot. "Over five thousand profitin a month. Is it not terrible that such a business should go to ruin?What a fortune it would have been for you!"

  "By heavens, it must be saved!" cried Ezra, with meditative brows andhands plunged deep in his trouser pockets. "There is that girl's money.Could we not get the temporary use of it."

  "Impossible!" his father answered with a sigh. "It is so tied up in thewill that she cannot sign it away herself until she comes of age.There is no way of touching it except by her marriage--or by her death."

  "Then we must have it by the only means open to us."

  "And that is?"

  "I must marry her."

  "You will?"

  "I shall. Here is my hand on it."

  "Then we are saved," cried the old man, throwing up his tremulous hands."Girdlestone & Son will weather the storm yet."

  "But Girdlestone becomes a sleeping partner," said Ezra. "It's for myown sake I do it and not for yours," with which frank remark he drew hishat down over his brows and set off for Eccleston Square.