“I will make my decision within twenty-four hours.”
CHAPTER X
WHICH TELLS OF HOW HERBERT CAME TO LEAVE THE TOWN OF CLEVERLY
As soon as he arrived at the office of the Banner on the following morning, Herbert showed Noah Brooks the letter he had received from New York, and said he had not yet decided whether to accept or decline the proffer of the position on the New York Argus.
“It is not a matter of salary, Mr. Brooks,” he said, “but the question of my future. The prospect of an opening in the metropolis is alluring, yet I dislike the idea of leaving Cleverly.”
“Take your time and do the right thing, Herbert,” said the veteran editor. “As you are aware, your time with me expired some months ago, and your further continuance depends entirely upon yourself. I am frank enough to say that there is not much chance of advancement here.”
A few minutes later the young man left the office for the purpose of transacting some business with the postmaster of the town. That official had stepped out for the moment, but his clerk courteously invited Herbert to take a seat in his private office and await his return. For a few minutes the young man whiled away the time by idly turning over the pages of some newspapers that he found upon the postmaster’s desk. Presently his attention was attracted by the sound of footsteps in the outside corridor. It was nearly mail time, and people were assembling for the purpose of receiving their letters and papers. The board partition between the private office and the outside room was very thin, and Herbert could hear bits of conversation. He paid no attention to them at first, but after a while the mention of his father’s name caused him to prick up his ears in wonder. He recognized the voices of the two speakers; one was a well-to-do farmer named Bingham who operated an extensive place just outside of Cleverly; the other, John Peterson, a wholesale grocer, ranked among the leading citizens of the town. They were in a secluded corner of the post office, and after a while their conversation became quite animated. Bingham was doing most of the talking. He said very earnestly:
“I always liked Dave Harkins, and it has been a standing regret with me that the mystery of his last days was never cleared up.”
“I have heard a great deal about that,” responded Peterson, “but I have never been able to get head or tail of the affair. There was a mystery sure enough, and Harkins died under a cloud; but it was never explained to me by anyone who was in a position to talk about the matter.”
“Well,” replied the other slowly, “I can’t say that I am an authority on the subject; yet I know some of the facts. It seems that old man Black took an unaccountable dislike to Dave Harkins and went to him and insisted upon the immediate repayment of a loan that he had made some time previous. Harkins was not supposed to have an extra dollar in the world. Yet he paid the loan in full the following day. That night—or rather the night before—Black’s place was broken into and a bundle of money stolen. Now the curious part of the story is the allegation that the money which Harkins used to pay off his debt to Black, was the identical cash that was taken from Black’s desk the night before. That is the shape the rumors took. For my part I don’t believe it; and yet, unfortunately, Dave Harkins died before he could set himself straight with the community. His wife and son have never attempted to clear the matter up. Probably they are unable to do so. You don’t suppose that Dave Harkins could have been tempted to take the money, do you?”
“Lord forbid,” rejoined the other, “I believe that he was a thoroughly honest man; but the thing is to get other people to believe the same thing. A bit of scandal is a terrible thing; it may start out in the beginning no bigger than the tip end of a pin; but by the time it gets through growing it is taller than one of those skyscraping office buildings in New York. To tell you the truth I dislike to talk about such things. You are the first man I ever discussed the Harkins case with. Whenever the subject is brought up—and it has been mentioned to me once or twice—I always pooh-hooh it.”