“No we couldn’t,” Herbert exclaimed, chagrined that his father evinced so little gratitude for Mr. Grey’s help. “I was in it—was behind the scenes and I know we would have gone to the wall if the other bank hadn’t helped us, and we ought to be eternally grateful.”
The judge frowned, straightened himself up, threw out his stomach, and said, “Certainly, of course, we are grateful and glad the thing is over. I was never so insulted in my life. Yes, sir, we are grateful.”
He bowed rather stiffly to Mr. Grey, on whose face there was an amused smile as he replied, “You are quite welcome to any service we rendered you. I am very glad your bank stood the test.”
“Stood! of course it stood,” the judge answered testily, unwilling, in his small soul, to acknowledge, as he ought, the great favor which had been shown him, or that his bank, the First National, could possibly have been in any real danger.
At this moment the White carriage with the black horses drew up before the door, and Fred suggested that Louie be sent home in that. She was too dazed to object to anything, and was soon seated, with the judge beside her, and Fred and Herbert in front of her, and was driven in state through the village, where knots of men were still congregated at the corners of the streets, talking the matter over and feeling ashamed of the part they had had in it.
“Stood like a rock!” they said, referring to the bank; “and it almost seemed as if the more we took out the more there was to take.” And not one of them had a suspicion of the truth, so well had it been managed.
As the White carriage passed them a few turned their faces away, while others nodded hesitatingly, and one, bolder than the rest, called out, “Hello, Judge, I congratulate you. Yes, I do. The old bank stood fire well.”
The judge neither looked at the men, nor answered the salutation, but his face was like a thunder cloud as he muttered to himself, “Go to the d—— with your congratulations. Nobody wants them.”
Fred Lansing, on the contrary, touched his hat, and his example was followed by Herbert, who, however, felt more like fighting than being civil to the men who had made them so much trouble. When Mr. Grey’s gate was reached both Fred and Herbert accompanied Louie to the house, one on either side of her, and each with a hand on her arm as if she needed support.
“I trust your fatigue will not prevent you from coming to-night. You will be the star of the evening,” Fred said, as they reached the door.