softly sam crossed the room and closed the door. this left him and tom alone and unobserved in the vacant offices formerly occupied by mr. royse. the closing of the door also enabled them to hear more plainly, as it shut out noises from the street.
“just state your case, mr. doolittle,” said the lawyer. “and be as brief as possible, as i am very busy.”
“well, it’s this way,” began mr. doolittle. he then went into details concerning the business relations he had had with tom’s father. much of this was new to tom, but some was an old story. in a way, however, it revealed to him that his father had trusted mr. doolittle and captain hawkesbury a great deal farther than was prudent. it also revealed the fact that mr. taylor had larger business dealings than tom had suspected.
most of what mr. doolittle related was strictly[pg 191] businesslike—sharp practice, perhaps, but nothing criminal in it. tom waited anxiously for some reference to the railroad land—that on which stood one end of the big bridge.
presently mr. doolittle, with captain hawkesbury putting in a word or two, came to that. it was a complicated transaction. mr. taylor did owe some money to the two conspirators, but they could have paid themselves by the sale of a much less valuable piece of property than that along the river where the railroad was sure to come.
“but we thought we had a right to make as much as we could, since we took the risks,” mr. doolittle said.
“then, as i understand it,” the lawyer put in, “you destroyed the real deed of trust—”
“no, we didn’t exactly destroy it,” said captain hawkesbury, “but we didn’t put it on file.”
“it’s the same thing!” exclaimed the lawyer. “in other words, you converted this property to your own uses.”
“we sold it to the railroad,” mr. doolittle admitted.
“and now, since a complication has arisen, and since the railroad has made a demand on you to show them better authority than you have hitherto shown as owners and sellers of this land, you want me to take your case and help you out of a dilemma; is that it?” asked mr. royse.
[pg 192]
“that’s it,” said mr. doolittle, eagerly. “we hear you are the best corporation lawyer in these parts, and so the captain and i planned to come to you. i don’t mind admitting that the railroad lawyer has made me nervous.”
“will you take the case?” asked captain hawkesbury. “we will pay you well. you had better give him a retaining fee now, mr. doolittle.”
“he had better do nothing of the kind,” said mr. royse, with unexpected energy.
“wha—what?” stammered mr. doolittle, and though tom and sam could only hear through the ventilation opening, and could not see, still they could fancy the look of surprise on the face of the crabbed, wealthy man. “won’t you take a retaining fee? it’s usual.”
“not with me—in a case like this.”
“you mean you don’t want a retaining fee?” asked captain hawkesbury.
“i mean i don’t want your case!” exclaimed the lawyer. “i would not handle such a case! it is little—if anything—short of criminal!”
“be careful!” blurted out the captain.
“it is you who had better be careful,” said the lawyer. “i don’t want your case—no decent member of the bar would. in fact i am not sure but what i ought to proceed against you.”
“don’t you dare!” cried mr. doolittle.
[pg 193]
“oh, i’m not afraid,” was the retort. “the only question is about getting the evidence against you. if i knew this young tom taylor—”
“you’re going to know him, and very soon,” said tom in a whisper to his chum, as, with a grim smile on his face, he started toward the door.
“where are you going?” sam asked.
“up there to face them,” was the answer.
“it is nothing short of taking the money the railroad company paid for the land, and using it yourselves,” the lawyer went on. “the money should go to mr. taylor’s widow and his son. if i knew him—”
“don’t you dare proceed against us!” cried mr. doolittle. “if you try to make use of the information we gave you i’ll have you disbarred. you don’t dare!”
“oh, yes i do dare,” was the calm assurance. “in fact i have just made up my mind that i will endeavor to find this young man and his mother, and see what i can do to make restitution to them. i feel that i would be concealing a crime if i did not. i wish i could see this tom taylor—”
“you’re going to see him!” exclaimed tom. “come on, sam!”
he fairly jumped up the stairs, three at a time, sam following. at the head of the second flight was a door similar to the one they had first entered.[pg 194] without knocking, tom entered. he came at a dramatic moment.
mr. doolittle and captain hawkesbury had arisen, and were facing the lawyer. mr. royse was a big man, and he remained seated. it was easy to see that he was not at all alarmed. righteous indignation showed in his face. at the entrance of tom and sam the two conspirators faced about suddenly.
“you—here?” gasped mr. doolittle.
“tom taylor!” echoed captain hawkesbury. “how dare you leave the academy?” he demanded, too flustered, evidently, to return the salute which tom and sam gave with military precision.
“we have a permit, captain hawkesbury,” tom said, calmly. “i beg your pardon, sir,” he went on to the lawyer, “but i accidentally overheard you express a wish to see me.”
“to see you? i’m afraid i haven’t the honor of—”
“i’m tom taylor, a cadet at the united states military academy,” tom said. “it is my father’s land those two men sold to the railroad,” and he pointed an accusing finger.
“here’s a copy of the trust deed they spoke of, or, rather, a rough draft of it,” he went on, putting on the desk in front of the lawyer the pasted paper that had so strangely come back to him.
[pg 195]
“oh—ah!” said mr. royse, seemingly rather at a loss to know what action to take.
“will you act for me—for my mother?” tom went on, eagerly. “i can’t pay you a big retaining fee, but i understand it is sometimes the practice for lawyers to take cases like this on a contingency fee basis.”
“it is done every day,” mr. royse said. “i shall look into this matter—”
“if you dare take up this case, and proceed against us,” fairly shouted mr. doolittle, “i’ll have you—i’ll have you—”
captain hawkesbury touched his companion on the arm.
“we had better go to see another lawyer,” he suggested.
“i think so myself,” said mr. royse, dryly, “though i doubt if you can get a reputable one to take up your case. good afternoon. you will probably hear from me very soon,” he added, significantly.
mr. doolittle opened his mouth, as though to splutter out some angry words, but captain hawkesbury, with a vindictive look at tom and sam, led his companion from the room.
“now, let’s get down to business,” suggested mr. royse, as tom presented his chum, sam.
tom told his story quickly. it fitted in with what he had heard through the ventilating hole,[pg 196] and he explained to the lawyer how it had come about that the two cadets had followed the conspirators.
“i didn’t think, when i moved my office upstairs, that i would get a case like this,” said the lawyer. “but i’ll do my best for you, tom. mind, i don’t promise anything, but it looks very much as though your mother would get her rights.”
“that’s all i want,” tom said. “it will be a big load off my shoulders to know that my mother is provided for. and now what is the next thing to do?”
“you may leave everything to me,” said the lawyer. “i will at once start the ball rolling.”
“i—i’m not prepared to pay anything—now,” tom faltered.
“i wouldn’t ask you to,” was the laughing answer. “i turned down one retaining fee this afternoon, so you may know i’m not suffering financially. no, leave everything to me, and i’ll communicate with you at west point.”
“and that’s the place we’d better be heading for on the double quick, tom,” put in sam. “if we don’t hustle we’ll overstay our leave and that may give captain hawkesbury a chance to skin us.”
“i fancy he won’t do much more skinning,” said mr. royse, significantly. “if i can bring this[pg 197] matter home to him it will be a bad mark against him.”
“it’s too bad,” tom said, “but—”
“it’s best to have it all come out,” the lawyer assured him.
tom left the pasted copy of the trust deed with mr. royse, and the two cadets reached west point just in time not to be reported. they saw nothing of captain hawkesbury, and it became known that night that he had left the academy on a two days furlough.
“probably he and doolittle have gone off to try and stop the exposure,” sam said.
“it looks that way,” tom admitted.
tom was so excited by what he had just gone through that he did not sleep well that night. nor did he give the proper attention to his lessons the next day. he made a failure and was given some demerits. events occurred rapidly during the next few days. mr. royse was busy, sending telegrams and letters, having lawyers in other cities look up records, and in communicating with the railroad company.
captain hawkesbury returned to west point glummer than ever, and “as mean as they make ’em,” to quote sam leland. he seemed to be eagerly looking to catch tom in some violation of rules, that he might punish him. but tom refrained from taking part in any pranks during[pg 198] those perilous times, though several of his chums took chances.
then came the climax.
mr. royse sent tom a telegram which read:
“restitution will be made. railroad company has in trust large sum of money owing on land. this will come to your mother and you. can also force doolittle and hawkesbury to pay back all they wrongfully took. charges to be preferred against captain hawkesbury, of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.”
“whew!” whistled tom, as he showed this to sam. “things are certainly happening!”
