To which quip of Caine’s the Fighter retaliated by depressing Steeloid stock. This bit of practical repartee led to a second editorial to the effect that what was done was done, and that perhaps the wisest and most dignified course would be to let the unfortunate matter rest where it was. The lesser newspapers of the town, having bayed with incredible loudness and ferocity the moment the Star gave voice, now showed inclination to follow the leader’s example in letting the scandal die out.
There were no further developments in the case to warrant continuous re-hashing of the story through their columns. Ex-Governor Parkman, finding himself and his crusade unceremoniously side-tracked by this more interesting turn affairs had taken, sulked in his tent. Caleb, after that first momentous interview, would see no reporter. A new sensation was thoughtfully provided by the assistant cashier of the Aaron Burr National Bank who wandered one day from his post of duty and neglected to return; taking with him, in equal absent-mindedness, $18,000 of the bank’s funds.
Caleb and his inspired confession, for all these excellent reasons, were not even a nine-day wonder. Within a week the volcano had subsided. The incident, apparently, was closed. Whether or not the Grand Jury would take steps toward criminal prosecution remained to be seen.
At the end of the week, Caleb, in answer to a peremptory summons, called on Desirée.
“Where have you been?” she catechised with the air of an Angora kitten enacting the role of Rhadamanthus.
“I’ve been busy,” he evaded, “Workin’ on a new deal we’re puttin’ through, an’—”
“Do you know it is eight whole days since you have been near me?” she demanded.
“Nine,” he corrected humbly. “I—I been busy, an’—”
“And you haven’t called anywhere else?”
“Where else could I?” he asked in amaze. “There’s only one place I expected to call. That’s at the Standishes’. An’ they’ve got mumps, there. Besides, I kind of thought I’d wait until some of this noospaper talk quieted down before I went anywheres. That’s—that’s why I didn’t come here, either,” he went on, shamefacedly.