When we left for the evening, Oakes shook my hand with a stout, firm grasp, the kind that means friendliness and inspires confidence. When outside, I asked of my companion what he privately thought of the affair at the Mark Mansion.
"There is something extraordinary there, surely," answered the physician. "Knowing Oakes as I do, Stone, I am fully convinced that he is deeply worried over the matter. He would never think of having us in such an affair unless he desired our company. He is as brave as any man—his record shows that; but he is also noted for caution. He sees, or thinks he sees, a dangerous game here—a plot, perhaps—where our presence will be a support. He has often told me in conversation, that he regards the legal and medical minds as particularly adapted to pass judgment on certain problems of a peculiar nature. He has an idea that our training will perhaps help him in the matter, I think."
With this remark, we parted at Broadway and Forty-second Street, and went to our respective homes.
The Departure
Next morning, while at breakfast, I received a letter from Mandel & Sturgeon which was satisfactory to me, and I went down to my office and notified my partner, Hart, that I was about to take a vacation.
Fortunately, we had just successfully finished a long legal fight in the courts, and my excuse was a natural one.
I then went out and bought a good revolver, such as Oakes had told me to get when we discussed details the night before. He had insisted upon our being armed all alike, and furnished with the same kind of cartridges. We could then exchange weapons in an emergency, and still be supplied with ammunition.