The hours that followed were trying ones for Katherine. She sat about with her aunt till toward ten o’clock. Then her father returned from his last call, and soon thereafter they all went to their rooms. Katherine remained upstairs till she thought her father and aunt were settled, then slipped down to the parlour, set the front door ajar, and sat waiting in the darkness. She heard the Court House clock with judicial slowness count off eleven o’clock—then after a long, long space, count off twelve. A few minutes later she heard Blake’s car return, and after a time she heard the city clock strike one.
It was close upon two when soft steps sounded upon the porch and the front door opened. She silently shook hands with her two vague visitors.
“We didn’t think it safe to come any sooner,” explained Old Hosie in a whisper.
“You’ve been with them out at The Sycamores?” Katherine eagerly inquired of Manning.
“Yes. For a four hours’ session.”
“Well?”
“Well, so far it looks O. K.”
In a low voice he detailed to Katherine how they had at first fenced with one another; how at length he had told them that he had a formal proposal to the city to buy the water-works all drawn up and that on the morrow he was going to present it—and that, furthermore, he would, if necessary, increase the sum he offered in that proposal to the full value of the plant. Blake and Peck, after a slow approach to the subject, in which they admitted that they also planned to buy the system, had suggested that, inasmuch as he was only an agent and there would be no profit in the purchase to him personally, he abandon his purpose. If he would do this they would make it richly worth his while. He had replied that this was such a different plan from that which he had been considering that he must have time to think it over and would give them his answer to-morrow. On which understanding the three had parted.
“I suppose it would hardly be practicable,” said Katherine when he had finished, “to have a number of witnesses concealed at your place of meeting and overhear your conversation?”
“No, it would be mighty difficult to pull that off.”