A moment of rest and mental relaxation had descended upon the personal staff of Obadiah. His hive of commercial industry had, for the moment, ceased to buzz. Suddenly, the hall door was thrown open. Mr. Jones suffered a severe laceration from the point of his own blade. Even the artistic soul of Kelly was shaken by the abrupt intrusion.

Hezekiah Wilkins entered. His manner was hurried. Not as a messenger bearing joyous news of great triumphs, but rather as an emissary charged with intelligence of bitter flavor, who desires to get rid of it, that he may turn to happier matters.

Having been courteously advised by the bleeding outer guard that the manufacturer was not engaged at the moment, Hezekiah entered the inner citadel. Obadiah was reading a voluminous ma.s.s of typewritten pages which he laid aside at the coming of his attorney. Waving the lawyer to a chair, he intimated that he awaited the further pleasure of his legal adviser.

Seating himself, Hezekiah shoved both of his feet as far in front of him as his short legs would permit. He studied the aspect of his shoes thus presented, as if he had never before appreciated their beauty.

"Well?" Obadiah spoke curtly.

"I wish to discuss the matter of that young man in the hospital. Curtis is his name--I think."

"All right," Obadiah agreed.

Hezekiah placed his palms together and gazed upwards as if in pious meditation upon the words which he was about to utter.

Obadiah viewed the att.i.tude of his adviser with disapprobation. "Go ahead," he urged roughly. "Don't take all day."

The lawyer gave his employer a look of reproof. "It is very important,"

he announced with great calmness, "that legal matters be accurately presented so that the facts deduced shall afford a sound basis for correct judgment when appearing in court." Hezekiah explained with dignity. "I have found that a moment given to the correct logical presentation of facts tends to expedite a just solution of perplexing questions." As he ceased speaking, he appeared to drift away into a condition of deep cogitation under the very eyes of his employer.

Before this display of profound thought, Obadiah was helpless. Properly chastened, he awaited in patience the outcome of the mental processes of his learned subordinate.

After a period in which no sound was heard but the ticking of the clock, Hezekiah recovered from his abstraction with a start, and announced, "This young Curtis refuses to accept your check."

"Bigger fool he," Obadiah responded with indifference.

Hezekiah turned sharply upon the mill owner, "I don't agree with you at all," he rapped.

Obadiah had great confidence in the judgment of his legal adviser. There had been times when failing to follow it had cost him money. He became uneasy. "Do you think that he has a case against me?"

"I would rather have his chances before a jury than yours."

"Is he going to bring suit?" Obadiah's uneasiness increased. He did not care to be at the mercy of a South Ridgefield jury. He usually was stuck.

"Yes, it's my opinion that he intends to bring an action against you.

He displayed marked animus."

"He displayed what?"

"Animus--unfriendliness," Hezekiah interpreted.

Obadiah's uneasiness affected his temper. "Why don't you speak English?" he demanded, the pitch of his voice getting higher.

For an instant there was a flash in Hezekiah's eyes but when he spoke he was perfectly calm. "I beg pardon, I failed to make allowances for--your understanding."

Obadiah regarded his attorney angrily but made no reply. Years of experience had warned him against verbal combat with this man. Usually he did not awaken to the danger until he rankled under one of Hezekiah's darts.

Disregarding the exchange of compliments, the lawyer went on, perfectly unruffled, "Is there a reason for this young man to entertain ill will against you?"

"I never heard of the fellow before," protested Obadiah.

"Is he acquainted with your daughter?"

"No." Obadiah hesitated after his denial and modified it. "She helped to take him to the hospital and she has visited him since, I understand."

"Ah!" Comprehension lighted Hezekiah's face. "You told me," he suggested, "that your daughter considered herself to be to blame for the accident."

"Yes," Obadiah agreed with reluctance. "Virginia has a silly idea that she was at fault. She felt very badly over the matter."

"And went to the hospital to express her regret and conceded responsibility for the accident to the injured man. He told me that he could rely on your daughter as a witness in his behalf."

"I'll be hanged," cried Obadiah, the tone of his voice reminding one of Hennie's likening of him to a mosquito.

"You'll be stung with a fat verdict if he gets you into court with your own daughter testifying against you. That's what will happen to you.

Probably she admitted responsibility in the presence of witnesses,"

Hezekiah pointed out with deepest pessimism.

"I won't have my daughter dragged into court as a witness against me,"

groaned Obadiah.

"How are you going to stop it? Ship her out of the state?" Hezekiah suggested with a promptness which displayed unethical resourcefulness in the suppression of embarra.s.sing witnesses.

"Can't you arrange a compromise?" begged Obadiah.

"Not after this mistake." Hezekiah returned the check for twenty-five dollars. "I'm as popular as a mouse in a pantry with that young fellow after attempting to pa.s.s that on him." He gave the mill owner a glance of curiosity. "How far would you let me go now?"

"Use your own judgment, only keep Virginia out of court."

Both men were silent for a time and then the lawyer spoke. "I tried to sound young Curtis. I endeavored to discover if he had any settlement in mind. All I found was a p.r.o.nounced hostility to you personally and,"

Hezekiah smiled reminiscently, "to me as your representative."

"That's your imagination," exclaimed Obadiah and then, after the custom of a malefactor of great wealth, went on, "How can we get at him? He must be got at."

"I might suggest something--," Hezekiah appeared doubtful, lacking in his usual a.s.surance.

It irritated Obadiah to have this man upon whose judgment he had staked his fortune display indecision in this trivial affair. "Out with it!

What's the matter with you? Have you got cold feet?" he stormed.

Hezekiah chuckled. "This case is complicated. The other side is most unfriendly. It's pretty hard to keep out of court when the other fellow wants to put you there," he argued, "I believe that I see a way if you will give me full authority to make such settlement as I deem advisable and," Hezekiah shifted uneasily, "allow me the a.s.sistance of counsel."

"Hezekiah Wilkins, have you gone crazy? Do you mean to ask me to hire another lawyer to help you in this insignificant automobile case?"

groaned Obadiah.

"I haven't asked you to employ a lawyer. I asked for counsel."

"For the love of Mike, whose counsel do you require in this tempest in a teapot?" shouted the exasperated mill owner.

"I wish, with your permission, to ask your daughter Virginia to be of counsel."