The next day, Ingham went away as usual, and stayed until nearly dark. When he saw Mrs. Sanford, he professed to be in a very sulky mood, and said that he had been gambling all day.
"At first I won right along, and I was nearly two thousand dollars ahead at one time; but the cursed luck changed, and I began to lose every bet; so that, when I left, I had only ten dollars in my pocket out of all that money I got for the bonds."
Ingham could not control his feelings as he thought of his loss, and he swore and raved like a crazy man. Mrs. Sanford was very much disappointed, also, but she did not say much, except that he ought to have known better than to gamble. There were two or three new lodgers coming in and out while he was there, so that he did not have much time to talk to her, and he went away early in the evening.
Owing to the arrest of Ingham, and his quarrel with Mrs. Sanford, I had decided to relieve him from this operation, and to put another man in his place. His story about gambling was a part of my plan; and the next day, when he called upon her, he was under instructions to announce his intended departure from the city. Accordingly, he did so, giving as a reason the fact that he had lost all his money, and that the police were watching him so closely that he was afraid to attempt another robbery in Chicago. He told her that he was going to St. Louis, and that he should come to see her immediately, if he ever should return.
She appeared very much distressed at the thought of losing him, and told him that when she got her money, she would let him have as much as he wanted. She made him promise to write to her, and when he went away, she cried with seemingly genuine sorrow.
Three days later Mrs. Sanford received a visit from a gentleman who said he wished to rent a furnished room. Mrs. Sanford seemed to like his appearance, and she offered him the small back room at a low rent. Having decided to take it, he told her that his name was Henry C. Morton, recently from England.
"Oh! I am so glad you are from the old country," said Mrs. Sanford, "as I am from Edinboro' myself, and my father is Lord Chief Justice of the courts there. He is very rich, and has treated me very liberally since I left my husband; why, only last week, he sent me three thousand dollars."
Just then a Mr. Bruce, the owner of the furniture store below, came in, looking rather tipsy. Mrs. Sanford introduced the two men, and Mr. Bruce said something about being an Irishman.
"Why, what a strange coincidence," said Mr. Morton. "Here are three persons, each representing one of the three kingdoms of Great Britain. If I had some one to send for some ale, we would drink a toast to Britannia, God bless her!"
After talking together for some time, Mrs. Sanford and Mr. Morton went into the sitting-room, and Mr. Bruce went down to his store. Then Morton said that he had left his valise at the Stock Yards, and that he would go for it at once. On his return, he found two rough-looking men at the door trying to get in, but the bell would not ring, and so Morton went away for half an hour, leaving the men knocking and kicking on the door. About eight o'clock, he came back and found the door open. He went upstairs and entered the sitting-room. Mrs. Sanford was full of apologies for having locked him out, but she said that she had had trouble with one of her boarders, and she had resolved to keep him out of the house. While they were talking, the two men whom Morton had seen at the door came in, and a quarrel immediately sprang up between Mrs. Sanford and the younger of the two. In a short time, they both became furiously angry, and they used the most bitterly opprobrious language toward each other. Finally, Mrs. Sanford, who was ironing, rushed at the young man with a flatiron in her hand, and she would undoubtedly have seriously injured him if he had not escaped into his own room at the head of the stairs. She then laid a heavy poker on the table beside her, and said that she would mash his skull if he came near her again. In a short time, he again reëntered the room, when, seizing the poker, she rushed at him like a fury. He succeeded in avoiding her until Morton and the other man induced her to give up the poker; and both the strangers then went away, saying that they should be back at eleven o'clock.