Chapter TWENTY-FOUR

Winston was at his post when the great "Overland Express" rolled into the station at Ysleta, with clanging bell and coughing air-pump and dazzled sunbeams dancing from its varnish.

Winston was an engineer and he was not impervious to a stimulating thrill at the exhibition of power and progress of which the train was a type, from the ponderous, six-wheeled locomotive, to the last car of the shining train that it dragged. This thrill did not interfere with business and he had imperative, pressing business on hand. His quick eye singled out the man for whom he was waiting and almost as quickly he was by his side.

"Good morning, Mr. Seymour."

Without any haste, Seymour's grip was in his hand, and with no conscious volition on his part, Seymour was threading his way at Winston's side through the throng of disembarking passengers, those waiting for incoming friends, curious loafers, and rattling express trucks.

"Have you had breakfast?" Winston hardly paused, as they left the station and came out upon the gravelly, palm-fringed walk.

"Yes, and a good one too. The dining service has improved. Couldn't do much better in New York."

"That's a good deal for a New Yorker to say. It's worth money to the road; at least, it would be if they got hold of it."

"What's the program for today?" Mr. Seymour dropped pleasantries.

"If you're not tired, we'll go to the office at once. They are expecting us."

"Will Mr. Berl be there?"

"No. Not today."

"Hasn't he been notified."

"No."

"Why?" Seymour asked sternly.

"This, and much more, will come out at the meeting."

As Seymour swung along beside Winston, there was a meditative smile on his face. He was not accustomed to receiving curt answers to his inquiries. He had been watching Winston narrowly, and his first favorable impressions were being strengthened. Besides, he had lost no confidence in his own ability to take care of himself. They reached the office and entered.

Winston handed Seymour's grip to a waiting boy, and, without further ceremony, entered the private room. Uncle Sid and Helen were already there.

"Mr. Seymour, I think you have met Miss Lonsdale?"

Seymour greeted Helen with conventional affability; she was conscious of a piercing, though momentary, glance that seemed to read every nook of her soul.

"Captain Harwood, shake hands with Mr. Seymour." Winston made use of the hearty Western formula.

"Pleased to do so, Senner."

"Senner" was Uncle Sid's version of the stately Spanish senor, which had greatly taken his fancy. Neither the cordial "senner," nor the beaming smile, hid from Seymour the rectangular lines of the wrinkled face.

The party seated themselves, and before there was a suggestion of an embarrassing pause, Uncle Sid broke in. His glance shot from face to face then rested on Winston.

"We're cleared for action. Mr. Winston, it's your watch."

Seymour glanced appreciatively at Uncle Sid.

"You're naval, I see."

"Aye, aye, sir; from main truck to orange groves."

Winston began to speak. There was neither haste nor deliberation.

"There is no use in preliminaries. I take it, Mr. Seymour, that what brought you out here, was the theft of the fifty thousand dollars of the company's money?"

Seymour nodded curtly to Winston's question. Winston resumed.

"There's no use calling it by a softer name; but I submit that there were modifying circumstances which may appeal to you. Miss Lonsdale will submit them; Mr. Berl will not be here. No one knows exactly where he is. I am sure that he took the money without, at the time, realizing fully what his act would be called. I think I am right in saying that he is driven to desperation, now that he is brought face to face with his own interpretation of what he has done. If you insist, I am confident that he can be found within twenty-four hours, and that he will come here of his own accord, but I hope that you will not insist upon this step. When I find him, I want to be able to tell him exactly what he is to expect."

Without comment, Seymour turned to Helen.

"What are the modifying circumstances?"

Without a quaver, Helen met Seymour's piercing glance. She was alive to the fact that a single false step might mean ruin to Elijah, but she did not fear.

"For years, Mr. Berl has studied the conditions of orange growing, not only in this country, but in others. Previous to the organization of the Las Cruces company, he began a series of investigations as to the ranges of temperature. These investigations were not completed at the time this company was formed, farther than this. He had found that the greater part of the lands now held by the Las Cruces were in a belt where the temperature never went to freezing. He did not then know how much more extensive the belt was. At that time he transferred every foot of land which he controlled." Helen paused, looking at Seymour. He appeared politely patient, questioning the bearing of her words. She resumed.

"From this time he did not act alone, nor was he alone responsible for what was done. In my capacity of secretary, I discovered, what he did not tell you of, that is, the frostless belt. From maps, I found that the belt reached into territory not owned by the company, and I brought these facts to his notice. Whether rightly or not, this does not matter, he feared that I or others would make use of this knowledge. This fear led him to act at once without consulting the wishes of the company. There were movements on foot to secure this tract without knowledge of its special value, simply for its speculative value. Mr. Berl acted at once. At this time the Pacific Bank failed, and the fifty thousand dollars saved to the company through his influence,--I don't pretend to defend this,--was used by him for the purchase of the Pico ranch."

"One moment," Seymour interrupted. "Did Mr. Berl intend to restore this money?"

"I can only give you facts, Mr. Seymour, not opinions."

"Very well. But from your own showing, if other parties had secured this property, we would have had the revenue from the sale of the water and our money beside."

"I don't think that follows. But the actual fact is, that other parties did not get this tract and that Mr. Berl did."

"Has Mr. Berl got it now?"

"He has not."

Uncle Sid interrupted.

"I expect I can contribute some facts, Senner. The truth is, your company would have been fifty thousand dollars out, if it hadn't been for 'Lige Berl,--I don't defend him, either. As it is, you've got a bank account fatter than it was, an' I'm owner o' the Pico ranch."

"And our money having been risked without our consent, you are getting the sole benefit of it?" Seymour's voice was biting.

"That's just as you say, Senner. I'm goin' to let in a few others, Helen an' Ralph, an' we've no objections to you if you want to come in."

Seymour's face flushed angrily. He mistook the kindly old man's offer for a bribe.

"I've made money, but I've made it honestly, not by taking bribes."

Uncle Sid's face grew purple. His eyes shone from a maze of deep, hard lines.

"Look here, Mr. Seymour, I've got a name reachin' back three hundred years. You just shin up your jenny-logical tree an' shake out your ancestors, an' I'll match 'em as they fall, hides, an' horns, an' taller, an' what's more, if they line up better'n mine, I'll go along where you're more than half minded to send 'Lige."

Seymour was quick in thought and quick in action. He saw that he had been mistaken. A kindly, if somewhat cynical, smile softened his face.

"I beg your pardon, Captain. I won't put you to that trouble."

"No trouble at all, Senner, if 'twill ease you up any." Uncle Sid's face relaxed.

"I think you have all of the essential facts, Mr. Seymour," Winston began. "Mr. Berl took fifty thousand dollars of the company's money. It has been returned. According to the strict interpretation of the law, this restitution does not free Mr. Berl from its penalties. If you fail to prosecute, it will have the appearance of compounding a felony; that is, if Mr. Berl took the money with no intention of restoring it. Whether he had such intentions, no one, not even Elijah himself, can prove before the law. The question is, whether we will prosecute Mr. Berl, or whether we will forgive the past, and try to restore him to himself."

Winston looked fixedly at Seymour. There was an anxious hush as he ceased speaking. Seymour rested motionless with his eyes on the floor. At last he looked up.

"When I started out here, it was with the full expectation of finding you all more or less involved in this business. From what I have seen and heard since I have been in this office, I am prepared to say, without reservation, that my suspicions were groundless. So far as I am concerned, Mr. Berl is a free man with no shadow of fear. This affair can be kept strictly to ourselves with no injustice to any one. We will consider this episode in our history closed once and for all."

Uncle Sid's face was wreathed in smiles.

"I want to beg your pardon, Senner. You make me think of these prickly pears out here. They're mighty fine eatin' when you get the spines off 'em."