"I met Coleman on the street just now," said Partridge. "He's too busy with his Vigilantes to do much with us to-day."
"I hope he'll get his twenty thousand men and drive every hoodlum out of town," said Nelson. "Is it true that Kendrick is going to die?"
My heart climbed into my throat at this disturbing question. The business as well as the personal reasons that would make his death a calamity had led me to put this thought rigorously out of my mind, and it was an emotional shock to be compelled to face it.
"I can't think so," I replied, as soon as I could command my voice. "But I'm sorry to say he is no better. When I left the house this morning, he was still unconscious."
"I heard he had no chance," said Nelson, "but I hoped it wasn't so."
For a moment I lost the firmness of mind that had supported me in the trials of the situation. Between the affection I had conceived for Wharton Kendrick and the thought of the confusion in which his affairs would be left, the apprehension of his death threw me into mental distraction. I was recalled by the voice of Partridge:
"Well, we must get down to business. Here's a list of men who will call for loans. There'll be plenty of others. By the way, Hampden, I got pledges of seven hundred and twenty-five thousand more to go into the pool. You can deposit it, if you like, with the rest of the syndicate fund." And he tossed me a bundle of checks.
This simple act of confidence pleased me more than words. These men treated me as one of them. I was trusted as Wharton Kendrick would have been trusted under the same circumstances, and at this certificate of confidence I was warmed by a pardonable glow of pride.
The morning was a repetition of its predecessor, as the elements of the city's commercial woes trickled in concentrated form through the office. It was a depressing business, as the line of embarrassed merchants, brokers and speculators passed rapidly before us. Some were snatched from the brink of ruin. Some were sent about their business as frauds, seeking to use the syndicate's funds in speculation. Some--too unimportant to affect the commercial fabric in their failure--were left to stand or fall as their own strength should determine.
"I never supposed there was so much rotten timber afloat," said Partridge.