“Mr. Mellen!” interjected Herzog. His voice conveyed a rebuke; but his look was austere rather than offended.
Grinnell frowned. He spoke to Mellen with impatience in his voice: “Mr. Mellen, you have asked me many questions, which you had no right to ask. I’ve not said anything about it before; but I tell you now that you annoy me!”
Mellen turned livid. “I—” he began. “Listen, please,” interrupted Grinnell quickly, his face growing stem. “I am going to tell you about that gold. That is, I shall tell if you do not interrupt me. I don’t wish you to ask me any more questions—not one.”
For many years no one had spoken thus to Mellen. But he answered nothing; his eyes were fixed on Grinnell’s lips with a fascinated stare. Dawson, unconsciously, had allowed a frown of intense interest to contract his brows. Mr. Herzog’s head was bent forward as if not to lose a word, his bright little eyes blinking furiously. Grinnell spoke very clearly and deliberately:
“My father-in-law, Mr. Robinson, two years ago at the height of the boom thought the stock-market must collapse sooner or later: I became engaged to his daughter, whom I had known ever since I was a boy. He naturally talked over his affairs with me in a general way, though I am not a business man.” He paused as if to pick his next words. A curious smile flickered for a fraction of a minute on Mr. Herzog’s lips.
“He wished to sell most of his stock holdings in various companies and then buy bonds. But if stocks were too high, bonds were not low enough. It was therefore decided to sell stocks at once, but to defer the purchase of bonds until a more propitious occasion. That occasion came last week. Mr. Herzog bought the bonds for him. That’s where he comes in.”
The young man paused again. Mellen did not interrupt; he nodded twice, not quickly at all, but in an acquiescent manner that invited further revelations. Grinnell continued slowly: