“I’m not so sure about that,” said Bobby. “Look up everything connected with it in the morning, and I’ll see you at noon.”
When they met the next day at noon, however, before Bobby could talk about the business in hand, Chalmers, with a suppressed smile, handed him a folded slip of paper.
Bobby examined that legal document—a dissolution of the injunction which had tied up a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in his bank for more than two years—with a sigh of relief.
“It seems,” said Chalmers dryly, “that at the time you laid yourself liable to Madam Villenauve’s breach-of-promise suit she had an undivorced husband living, Monsieur Villenauve complacently hiding himself in France and waiting for his share of the money. Let this be a lesson to you, young man.”
Bobby hotly resented that grin.
“I’ll swear to you, Chalmers,” he asserted, “I never so much as thought of the woman except as a nuisance.”
“I apologize, old man,” said Chalmers. “But at least this will teach you not to back any more grand opera companies.”
“I prefer to talk about the electric situation,” said Bobby severely. “What have you found out about it?”
“That the Ebony Jewel Coal Company, a former Stone enterprise, has threatened suit against the Consolidated for their bill. The Consolidated is in a pinch and must raise money, not only to buy that allotment of the new waterworks bonds, but to meet the Ebony’s and other pressing accounts. It must also float this bond issue, for it is likely to fall behind even on its salary list.”
“Fine!” said Bobby. “I can see a lot of good citizens in this town holding stock in a bankrupt illuminating concern. Just watch this thing, will you, Chalmers? About this nice, lucky hundred and fifty thousand, we may count it as spent.”