The young master of Hyson Hall

The next day but one after the visit of the two gentlemen to Hyson Hall, Mr. Touron, at his residence in New York, read in his morning paper a short account of the boys who had saved part of the cargo of a burning steamboat, by running her ashore. The name and residence of Philip Berkeley were given, and mention was made of the handsome sum he and his companions were to receive for their services.

The French gentleman instantly suspected the effect which this event would have upon himself. Philip Berkeley would pay off the interest on the mortgage, and Hyson Hall would not be sold by the sheriff nor bought by the Tourons.

“What slow and stupid dolts these country lawyers are!” said Mr. Touron, angrily, to himself. “That foreclosure should have been made a week ago, and the whole affair settled, and Mr. Markle should have bought the property in my name, as I directed him. I will go down there myself. There may be time yet to finish up the matter.”

When Emile heard that his father was going to Boontown he asked that he might go with him. He had not told his father anything about the affair with the gun, having explained his sudden departure by saying that he had heard that he would be attacked by the boys from Hyson Hall if he stayed there any longer. But he had taken care to relate the treatment he had received from Phœnix Poole and Susan, and he hoped that, by his father’s influence, these outrages might be made to offset the little affair on the road.

He also had a morbid desire to see if the gun were still between the mattresses of the bed. He would make some pretence to go to the room he had occupied, and if the gun were still there he would, at all hazards, get it away and drop it into the river.

Perhaps they would stay at Boontown all night, and then he would have a good chance. What he would do or say if he should not find the gun where he had left it, he did not consider.

When Mr. Touron and his son arrived at Boontown they found that they were in time. Mr. Harrison, who had heard of their arrival, hurried to Mr. Welford’s office to know if the boys’ money had been received.

But, although Phil and his two friends had been with Mr. Welford in the morning, and had arranged for the equal division of the salvage-money, with the proviso, which was agreed upon in writing by the parents of Chap and Phœnix, that all the money should for the present be placed at Phil’s disposal, nothing had been heard from the railroad company. No cheque had been received.

There was nothing surprising in this, as such things are generally not done in great haste; but the delay, under the circumstances, was very unfortunate.

But Mr. Welford was anxious to do whatever he thought he ought to do in this matter, and he and Mr. Harrison went around to Mr. Markle’s office, where the Tourons were.

Here there was soon a stormy scene. Old Mr. Touron would listen to nothing that Mr. Welford or Mr. Harrison said, and insisted that matters should be instantly settled.

He complained loudly of the treatment received by his son, and of the negligence and delay of Mr. Markle. At last Mr. Harrison spoke up.

“If you choose to press your affair,” he said, “perhaps we can also press something on our side.”

He then told the story, which Phil had given him, of Emile’s assault, and the theft of the gun.

Mr. Alexander Muller had heard of the arrival of the Tourons, and had strolled into Mr. Markle’s office, where nobody seemed to notice his presence. Before Mr. Harrison had quite finished his story he went out.

“What you say to that?” asked Mr. Touron, of his son, when the lawyer had finished.

“It is not true!” said Emile. “It is all one vile tale!”

And he went on, at considerable length, to assert that this was only part of the persecution to which Phil and the other boys were subjecting him.

“What proof have you of the charge you make?” asked Mr. Touron of Mr. Harrison.

“We can bring forward the testimony of Philip Berkeley,” said Mr. Harrison, “the boy whose life was threatened, and from whom the gun was taken. His character has been proved to be an excellent one, and I believe his testimony would be received by any jury in this county.”

“It is not as good as zat!” cried Emile, snapping his fingers. “I can prove what he and ze ozers haf done to me, and my word will be as good as his.”

“Excuse me for interrupting your conversation,” said Mr. Alexander Muller, who had re-entered the room a minute or two before, “but this gun which that young gentleman left between the mattresses of his bed, on the evening when he so suddenly went away from town, may be useful in proving the charge which Mr. Harrison has made.”

When Emile saw Old Bruden, he stepped back quickly, as if he were afraid of it. Then he suddenly exclaimed,—

“I know not’ing about zat gun! I never saw it before!”

“The tavern-keeper informs me,” continued Mr. Muller, “that no one but myself has occupied the room in which I found the gun since that young gentleman left it. He also asserts that this gun belongs to Mr. Godfrey Berkeley. He knows it very well. It has been in the neighborhood a long time. It is also, as you see, without a ramrod, which corresponds with young Berkeley’s story, as Mr. Harrison has just told it. But I measured the barrels with a stick, and I find it is loaded, although neither barrel went off, and these two caps were snapped,” and he slightly raised the hammers, and showed the two split percussion-caps. “I can swear,” he added, “that this is the condition in which I found it.”

“I think,” said Mr. Welford, who had carefully attended to everything that was going on, “that without any reference to the mortgage proceedings or anything else, we should get out a warrant against this young man. It is due to him, as well as to all parties concerned, that the case should be investigated before a justice of the peace. You must not think that we are trying to intimidate you,” he continued, addressing Mr. Touron. “This matter, as I said before, has nothing to do with the other affair.”

So saying, he left the office, accompanied by Mr. Harrison and Alexander Muller, the latter carrying Old Bruden carefully under his arm.

Mr. Touron leaned back in his chair and thought over the matter. He was very much afraid that this charge against Emile could be proved. He had no confidence in his son’s word, and the matter was a very serious one.

Mr. Touron was a prudent man, and considered the subject carefully. In pressing the proceedings against Mr. Berkeley’s estate, he did not wish to recover the money which was due him. He only desired that the place might be sold by the sheriff that he might buy it. He already owned property in Boontown, and had long wished to possess Hyson Hall, which he intended to make his summer residence.

He knew that if he turned the Berkeleys out of it in the way he proposed, it would make him unpopular in the neighborhood for a time; but he supposed that this feeling would soon pass away, and he did not care much about it. But if, almost at the same time that Hyson Hall was sold by the sheriff, his son should be brought to trial here on a charge that might send him to the penitentiary, his unpopularity might be a very serious thing.

A jury selected from this vicinity would not be likely to deal gently with Emile. He thought it better, therefore, to wait awhile before pressing the foreclosure matter, and see how things would turn out. In six months, more interest would be due on the mortgage, and he felt quite certain that there would be no money to pay it. Godfrey Berkeley would not have run away if he had not been bankrupt, and it was not at all likely that there would be another steamboat for the boy to save. In six months he could get the property without any trouble.

He therefore arranged with Mr. Markle that the foreclosure business need not be pressed for the present, and left the office with his son, intending to quietly take the first train for New York; but before he reached the station Emile was arrested, and taken before a justice of the peace.

Phil and Mr. Muller were sent for, and gave their testimony, and at the conclusion of the examination, Emile was required to give bail for his appearance in court early the next month. His father gave the required bail, and the two left town.

Of course, this affair created a great deal of talk in Boontown, and it interfered very much with the sleep of certain persons at Hyson Hall, and at the Webster and Poole farms.

As soon as the cheque was received the interest on the mortgage was paid, and the small sum remaining was divided among the three boys. Phœnix bought his knife, which he kept for a long time, and which he always called his Thomas Wistar.