“You can see that we’re quite alone.”
Weegman drummed nervously on the arm of his chair. “I’m sorry this thing has gone so far,” he protested. “I didn’t look for it to, at first. I got involved and couldn’t back out. In fact, Garrity threatened me when I showed signs of holding back. That,” he declared, with an attempt at indignant resentment, “made me sore. Without my help in the beginning he never could have done a thing. Now he thinks he’s got me foul, he’s going to gobble everything. We’ll see about that! Perhaps it isn’t too late to stop him. Maybe we can do it, you and I. I’d like to show him.”
So the rascals had quarreled over the division of the spoils, as rascals so often do. And now one of them was ready to betray the other, if he could do so without disaster to himself. At the same time, he hoped to make an alliance with Lefty by which he might reap some actual benefit from his underhanded work. Suddenly Locke thought of another man who had been suspected of complicity.
“How about Parlmee?” he asked. “Where does he fit in? Did Garrity send him over the pond to wrench the control of the Blue Stockings from Collier?”
“I don’t know what Garrity has been doing with Parlmee,” Weegman confessed. “It was natural that I should want to turn Virginia against Parlmee, but I swear I didn’t know he was in this thing when I got the idea of making her believe he was. That was an inspiration that came to me all of a sudden. I had to keep her away from him. I faked up some evidence. She refused to believe at first. Then, by Jove, I found out that Garrity and Parlmee were really up to something. They’ve had dealings.”
Lefty’s heart, which had bounded high for a moment, sank heavily. After all, could it be true that two cleverer scoundrels had combined to work Weegman as a dupe? Had the confirmation of this fact helped Weegman to make up his mind to go back on Garrity? Was it not possible that this was the real cause of the quarrel between the worthy pair?
The southpaw continued to lead the other on. “What is Garrity’s scheme? What has he told you that he proposed to do?”
“Unless Collier receives outside assistance, Garrity’s got him cornered. Collier has met reverses generally. Garrity has got hold of a certain amount of Blue Stocking stock. Collier still holds enough to keep the balance of power, but he won’t hold it long. If he tries to his interest in the Northern Can Company will go to glory. Garrity has placed himself in a position to shake the old man out of that concern. If Collier loses that, he’s broke–a pauper. He can’t hang on, because he hasn’t the ready resources. He’ll have to sell his Blue Stockings stock to save Northern Can. If he had a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in ready cash he could pull through. It’ll take half of that to oust Garrity from Northern Can, and the other half is needed for the team. Garrity will put it up to him to-morrow. In the meantime, can you and I raise one hundred and fifty thousand?”
“You and I!” cried Lefty. “Not a dollar! Not a cent! How will Garrity put it up to Collier to-morrow? Collier is in–”
“Philadelphia!” cut in Weegman sharply.