“Again you miss the point, my dear sir. If the money be not yours, you have no concern with it further than to hand it over to its lawful owners.”
“Who are either dead or wish they were, and could not possibly be traced in either case.”
“That certainly complicates matters,” said Mr. Clare, laughing; “but, as some of them were negroes, as I understand it, you might donate a part at least to the Commission”—
“I’ll be hanged if I do! Besides, they never owned a penny in their lives, poor devils! The money was made at their expense, but was not theirs.”
“Dr. Richards, I fear you’re a humbug. Don’t you see that you have the feeling of property in this money? You speak of it as not yours, yet you’ll give it to this one, and be hanged if you give it to that”—
“I know!” cried Alice suddenly, her perceptions quickened, perhaps, by the feeling that her husband was coming off second best from the encounter of wits; “I know. They are going to sell more stock at ‘Prices’ next month; we could invest this money in Freddy’s name, and the income from it would give him a support if anything happened to us, Fred.”
Mr. Clare waited for Dr. Richards to express his approval. “Well, I don’t know that you could do better,” he said somewhat reluctantly. “It would be as near to returning the principal to its lawful owners as we are at all likely to come, and Freddy’s due proportion of the national wealth would amount to considerably more than the interest at five per cent, I suppose.”
“I shouldn’t wonder,” said Mr. Clare, who seemed pleased to pass to a less personal subject. “They want to start a job-printing office at ‘Prices.’ There are a couple of printers among the small shareholders who would rather be employed by the community than to work as Hal o’ the Wynd fought, for their own hand; and they think by joining forces they could get together a pretty good trade. I could get them some little ecclesiastical printing, you know; and they are looking for some one who can design crosses, crowns, Greek letters and symbols generally for that department, and also heads for checks, notes, and so on for the banks and business houses. I believe, though, it was Louis who undertook to sound Freddy on the subject. I don’t know whether he draws on wood or not.”
“I had him taught that branch especially and particularly, though I can’t say it is his favorite,” said the doctor. “He’d like to paint the Landing of Columbus, and Edith searching for the body of Harold, I dare say, if he could stand up to it.”
“He has not disdained to paint slippers,” said Alice; “but that craze is dying out, and I should be very glad for him to have a more permanent position. He is so much happier to feel himself earning money, and his earnings have been very useful,” she added quietly. Truly, Alice’s trials had been also useful.