"With incredible quickness, Nattie produced a revolver
from an inner
pocket and fired point-blank, at the nearest Ronin." (See page 40)
The extreme gloom and the excitement of the moment caused Nattie to aim badly, and the bullet whizzed past the object for which it was intended, striking the ground several paces away instead. The shot had one result, however.
It caused the assailants to hesitate. One even started to retreat, but he was checked by a guttural word from the evident leader. The slight delay was instantly taken advantage of by the boys. Still holding his weapon in readiness for use, Nattie hurriedly wheeled both 'rikishas between them and the Ronins.
Thus a barricade was formed behind which Grant and Nattie sought refuge without loss of time. As yet, not a word had been exchanged. In fact, the events had occurred in much less time than it takes to describe them. Now Grant took occasion to remark in tones of deep conviction:
"This is Ralph Black's work, Nattie. It is the sequel to my discovery of him in that low tea house this afternoon. He has bribed these cutthroats to assault us."
"No doubt. But we can't stop to probe the why and wherefore now. They intend to attack us again. It's a good job I brought this gun with me to-night. I have six shots left, and I'll put them to use if—look out! they are coming!"
While speaking, he noticed something stealthily advancing through the darkness. He took rapid aim, but before he could pull the trigger he was struck upon the shoulder by a stone which came from in front. The force of the blow was sufficient to send him staggering against one of the 'rikishas. He dropped the revolver, but it was snatched up by Grant.
The lame youth instantly used it, firing hastily through the wheel of one of the carriages. A shrill cry of pain came from the shadows, then a loud shout sounded at the lower end of the street. Twinkling lights appeared, and then echoing footsteps indicated that relief was at hand.
The thugs were not slow in realizing that retreat was advisable under the circumstances. They gave the boys a parting volley of stones, then all three disappeared into an adjacent house.
"Are you injured, brother?" anxiously asked Grant, bending over Nattie.
"No; a bruise, that's all. The police are coming at last, eh? They must have heard the shots. What are you going to say about this affair? Will you mention your suspicions?"
"No; it would be useless. We have no proof that he set these men upon us. We must bide our time and watch the scamp. Hush! they are here."
A squad of Japanese police, carrying lanterns, dashed up at a run. Their leader, a sub-lieutenant, wearing a uniform similar to that of a French gendarme, flashed his light over the capsized 'rikishas and their late occupants; then he asked the cause of the trouble in a respectful tone.
"We have been waylaid and attacked by three Ronins bent on robbery," replied Grant, in the native tongue. "We were on our way home from the theatre and while passing through this street were set upon and almost murdered."
"Which way did the scoundrels go?" hastily queried the lieutenant.
"Through that house. The karumayas fled in that direction also."
Leaving two of his men with the boys, the leader started in pursuit of the fugitives. No time was wasted in knocking for admission. One of the policemen placed his shoulder to the door and forced it back without much effort.
A moment later the sounds of crashing partitions and a glare of light from within indicated that a strict search was being carried on. Grant and Nattie waited a moment; then the latter said:
"Suppose we go home. We might hang around here for hours. If they catch the rascals they can call for us at the house."
Grant favored the suggestion. He told one of the policemen to inform the lieutenant of their address, then he and his brother secured a couple of 'rikishas in an adjacent street, and were soon home once more. The excitement of the night attack had driven sleep from them, so they remained out upon the cool balcony and discussed the events of the day until a late hour.
After viewing the situation from all sides, it was finally decided that a waiting policy should prevail. To boldly accuse Ralph Black of such a nefarious plot without stronger proof was out of the question.
"If any of the Ronins or the karumayas are captured, they may be induced to confess," said Grant. "In that case we can do something. Otherwise, we will have to bide our time."
Both boys arose early on the following morning and started for the office immediately after breakfast. They called in at the main police station on their way downtown and learned that nothing had been seen of the Ronins or jinrikisha men.
The officer in charge promised to have the city scoured for the wretches, and apologized profusely for the outrage. On reaching the office, Grant called in several coolies and set them to work cleaning up the interior. By noon the counting-room had lost its former appearance of neglect. The desks and other furniture were dusted, the books put in order, and everything arranged for immediate work.
At the "tiffin," or midday lunch hour, the brothers dropped in at a well-known restaurant on Main Street. As they entered the front door a youth arose hastily from a table in the center and disappeared through a side entrance. It was Ralph Black.
"If that don't signify guilt, I'm a chicken," remarked Nattie, with a grim smile. "He's a fool."
"All he needs is rope enough," replied Grant, in the same tone, "and he will save us the trouble of hanging him. I suppose he was ashamed or afraid to face us after last night's treacherous work."
On returning to the counting-room they found the young Japanese, Mori, awaiting them. To say that he was cordially greeted is but half the truth. There was an expression upon his face that promised success, and Nattie wrung his hand until the genial native begged him to desist.
"My answer is ready," he announced, producing a bundle of papers. "I suppose you are anxious to know what it is?"
"You don't need to tell us," chuckled Nattie, "I can read it in your eyes. Shake, old boy! Success to the new firm!"
"You have guessed aright," said Mori. "And I echo with all my heart what you say. Success to the new firm of Manning Brothers & Okuma. If you will come with me to your consul we will ratify the contract without loss of time."
Grant's eyes were moist as he shook hands with the young Japanese.
"You are indeed a friend," he exclaimed, fervently. "You will lose nothing by it, I assure you. If hard work and constant application to duty will bring us success, I will guarantee that part of it."
An hour later the newly-formed firm of importers and traders was an acknowledged fact. In the presence of the American Consul as a witness, Mori paid into the foreign bank the sum of twenty thousand dollars, and Grant, as his late father's executor, turned over to the firm the various contracts and the mortgages on the warehouse and office building.
"The very first thing we must see about is that debt of Black & Company," announced the lame youth. "It won't do to have the new firm sued. We will call at their office now and pay it under a written protest."
"Yes, and deposit their receipt in the bank," added Nattie, grimly.
"Nothing was found of the first receipt?" asked Mori, as they left the consulate.
"Not a sign. I have searched through all the papers in the office, but without result. There is some mystery about it. Father never was very orderly in keeping documents, but it is hard to believe that he would mislay a paper of that value."
"Who was in the office when your father—er—when the sad end came?"
"Three clerks under the charge of a bookkeeper named Willis Round. Mr. Round was seated at a desk next to father's at the moment. I was in the outer office."
"Was your father lying upon the floor when you were called?" asked Mori; then he added, hastily: "Forgive me if I pain you, Grant. Perhaps we had better allow the subject to drop."
"No, no. I see what you are driving at. You think that possibly Mr. Round may have stolen the receipt?"
"Exactly. Take a case like that; a valuable paper and an unscrupulous man within easy reach, and you can easily see what would happen. I don't remember this Mr. Round. What kind of a man was he?"
"I never liked him," spoke up Nattie. "He had a sneaking face, and was always grinning to himself, as if he had the laugh on other people. Then I saw him kick a poor dog one day, and a man who would do that is not to be trusted."
"I guess you are right," agreed Grant. "Come to think of it, I never liked Mr. Round myself. He was a thorough bookkeeper though, and knew his business."
"Where is he now?" asked Mori.
"I think he left for England. He was an Englishman, you know. After our firm closed he waited around town for a while, then I heard somebody say he returned to London."
The office of Black & Company was on the Bund, only a few squares from the consulate, so the boys walked there instead of taking the omnipresent jinrikishas. The building was a dingy structure of one story, and bore the usual sign over the door.
As Grant and his companions entered the outer office a tall, thin man, carrying a much-worn Gladstone bag, brushed past them and vanished down the street. The lame youth glanced at the fellow's face, then he turned to Nattie with a low whistle.
"There's a queer thing," he said. "If that man wore side whiskers, I would wager anything that he was Mr. Willis Round himself."
"You don't say?" ejaculated the lad, stopping near the door. "Why, perhaps it was. Wait, I'll follow him and see."
Before either Grant or Mori could offer an objection, Nattie darted from the office into the street. There were several clerks in the counting-room, and they eyed the newcomers curiously. At the far end of the room was a door leading into the private office of the firm.
A hum of voices came from within. Grant waited a moment undecided what to do, then he approached a clerk, and asked him to announce to Mr. Black that Grant Manning wished to see him on important business. The message produced immediate results.
The fellow had hardly disappeared when the senior member himself stalked majestically into the outer apartment. Waving an official document in one hand, he glowered at the lame youth and exclaimed, in a harsh voice:
"Your call will do you no good, sir. I have already instituted the suit. I suppose you have come to beg for time, as usual?"
"You suppose wrong, sir," coldly replied Grant.
"Well, what is the object of this visit, then?"
"Please make out a receipt for the full amount of our debt."
Mr. Black's face expressed the liveliest amazement. The door leading to the inner office creaked, and Ralph's familiar countenance appeared in the opening. It was evident that he had been listening.
"W-h-hat did you say?" gasped the merchant.
"Please make out a receipt in full for the money owed to you by the firm of Manning & Company," repeated Grant, calmly.
"Then you mean to pay it?"
"Yes."
"But how can you? It is over fifty-eight hundred dollars, boy."
"Five thousand, eight hundred and fifty dollars, in round numbers," replied the lame youth, in a businesslike voice. "The receipt, please. I will draw you a check for the amount at once."
He drew a small book from his pocket, and proceeded to write the figures as if such items were mere bagatelles in his business. Mori, who had been an interested but silent spectator now stepped forward and whispered a few words to Grant. The latter nodded, and said, again addressing Mr. Black:
"By the way, sir, I think you had better accompany me to the American or English consulate. In view of past happenings, I prefer to have a reputable witness to this payment."
The merchant's face flushed a deep red, and then paled again. Before he could reply, Ralph emerged from the inner office and advanced toward Grant with his hands clinched and a threatening look upon his dark countenance.
"What do you mean, you scoundrel?" he stormed. "Do you dare to insult my father in his own office? I've a notion to——"
He broke off abruptly and lowered his hands. Mori had stepped before Grant in a manner there was no mistaking. The young Japanese was small of stature, but there was an air of muscular solidity about him which spoke eloquently of athletic training.
"No threats, Ralph Black," he exclaimed, coolly. "We are here on a matter of business with your father. Please remember that you have to deal with me as well as Mr. Manning."
"What have you to do with it?" grated the youth. "Mind your own business."
"That is exactly what I am doing," was the suave reply.
"Enough of this contention," suddenly exclaimed Mr. Black, with a semblance of dignity. "Ralph, return to the inner office. I will soon settle these upstarts. Simmons, a receipt for the debt owed us by Manning."
The latter sentence was addressed to a clerk, who promptly came forward with the required paper. Taking it, the merchant extended his hand for the check. Grant hesitated and glanced at Mori. That youth nodded his head, and whispered:
"We may as well waive the precaution of having it paid before the consul. The receipt will answer the purpose. There are two of us, you know."
"Well, do you intend to pay?" impatiently demanded Mr. Black.
The lame youth gave him the check without deigning to reply. The merchant glanced at the amount, then he eyed the signature in evident surprise.
"What does this mean?" he asked, harshly. "This is signed 'Manning Brothers & Okuma.' What absurdity is this?"
"It means what it says, sir," answered Grant, a suspicion of triumph in his voice. "I may as well tell you what Yokohama will know before night. The importing and trading firm of Manning & Company has been revived. Mr. Okuma here is a partner in the house, and we commence business at once. You act as if you do not believe me, sir. Please satisfy yourself by sending to the foreign bank."
As it happened, at that moment a clerk from the bank in question entered the office with some papers. A brief question addressed to him by the merchant brought instant proof of the lame youth's words. As if dazed, Mr. Black gave him the receipt and entered the inner office without a word. Grant and Mori left at once.
They looked up and down the street for Nattie, but he was not in sight. After waiting for several moments at the corner they set out for the counting-room. The young Japanese seemed preoccupied at first as if buried in thought, but he finally turned to his companion and said:
"There is something about this business of the Black debt that I do not understand. How is it you could find no trace of the payment at the bank or among your canceled checks? It would surely be there."
"Why, I thought I had explained that to you," replied Grant. "The money paid them by my father was in cash, not by check. I remember that on that day we had received almost six thousand dollars in English gold from the skipper of a sailing ship. The money was placed in the small safe."
"And it was gone when you examined the safe after your father's death?"
"Exactly. That is why I am so positive the debt was paid. That fact and the unfinished entry in father's book is proof enough."
"It certainly is," replied Mori, with conviction. "Well, something may turn up in time to establish the fact. Here is the office. We will wait until Nattie returns."
In the meantime an important scene had taken place in the counting-room they had just left. After their departure, Mr. Black cleared his private apartment of his secretary and closing the door leading to the outer room, bade his son draw a chair up to the desk.
The merchant's face appeared grim and determined. He nervously arranged a pile of papers before him, and then, with the air of a man who had recently heard unpleasant news, he confronted Ralph.
"Did you hear what that crippled whelp said?" he asked.
"Yes," sullenly replied his son. "He's induced Mori Okuma to go in with him, and they intend to commence business at once."
"Do you know what that means to us?"
"Another rival, I suppose. Well, we needn't be afraid of them."
"Zounds! you can be stupid at times, sir. We have every reason to be alarmed at the formation of the new firm. If you paid more attention to the affairs of Black & Company and less to running around with the sports of Yokohama, you would be of more assistance to me."
"What is the matter now?" snarled the youth, arising from his chair. "These rows are getting too frequent, and I won't stand it. I am no baby to be reproved by you whenever you please. I won't——"
"Sit down!" thundered the merchant. "Don't be a fool." Then he added, more mildly: "Remember that I am your father, Ralph. It is sometimes necessary to reprove you as you must acknowledge. But enough of that now. We have a more weighty subject to discuss. You evidently do not see what this new firm means to us. I can explain in a few words. You have doubtless heard rumors of trouble with China about Corea?"
"Yes, but that is an old tale. I heard it two years past."
"Well, there is more truth in it now than you believe. I have private means of obtaining information. If I am not mistaken we will have war before the end of the present year."
"What of it?"
The merchant held up his hands in evident disgust.
"It is easy to be seen that you have little of the instincts of a merchant in you," he said, bitterly. "Hold! I do not intend to reprove you. I will not waste the time. If you don't know, I will tell you that war means the expenditure of money, and the purchase of arms and stores. I know that the government is preparing for the coming conflict, and that they need guns and ammunition and canned provisions."
"Why don't you try for the contracts then?"
"I intend to. As you may remember, that little affair of the fodder last year for the cavalry horses has hurt my credit with the war department. I think I still stand a show, however—if there are no other bidders."
"How about the German firms?"
"Their rivalry won't amount to anything, but if this Grant Manning comes in he will secure the contracts without the shadow of a doubt. Why, he is hand-in-glove with Secretary Yoshisada Udono, of the army. The Japanese fool thinks Grant is the soul of honesty, and the cleverest youth in Japan besides."
Ralph leaned forward in his chair, and pondered deeply for a moment. Then, tapping the desk with his fingers, he said, slowly, and with emphasis:
"I understand the case now. It means a matter of thousands of pounds to us, and we must secure the contract, come what will. If these Manning boys stand in our way we must break them, that's all. One thing, we have a good ally in Willis Round. With him as——"
He was suddenly interrupted by a sound at the door. Before either could move it was thrown open, admitting a tall, thin man, carrying a much-worn Gladstone bag. Behind him and almost at his heels was Nattie Manning, an expression of determination upon his handsome face.
When Nattie left his brother and Mori in the office of Black & Company, it was with the determination to ascertain whether the tall, thin man with the Gladstone bag was really the late bookkeeper, Willis Round.
If the lad had been asked why he was placing himself to so much trouble for such a purpose he could not have answered.
There was no reason why Round should not return to Yokohama if he so minded. And he had every right to remove his whiskers if he chose to do so; and again, there was no law to prevent him from calling upon the firm of Black & Company.
Still, in view of recent circumstances, it seemed suspicious to Nattie, and he sped down the street with the firm resolve to prove the identity at once. As the reader may have conjectured, the younger Manning brother had a strong will of his own.
It was his claim, not uttered boastfully, that when he set a task unto himself, he generally carried it out if the thing was possible. He proved that characteristic in his nature in the present instance.
On reaching the corner of the next street, which happened to be the broad thoroughfare running at right angles from the Bund, he caught sight of his man in the door of a famous tea house much frequented by the good people of Yokohama.
The fellow had paused, and was glancing back as if suspicious of being followed. On seeing Nattie, he turned quickly and disappeared into the tea house. When the lad reached the entrance, he found the front room untenanted save by a group of waiter girls.
They greeted his appearance with the effusive welcome of their class, but he brushed them aside with little ceremony and passed on into the next apartment. This also was empty. The more imposing tea houses of Japan are generally two-story structures, divided into a multitude of small and large rooms.
The one in question contained no less than a round dozen on the ground floor, and as many in the second story. There was no central hall, but simply a series of public rooms extending from front to rear, with private apartments opening on each side.
Nattie had visited the place times out of mind, and he knew that an exit could be found in the rear which led through a small garden to a gate, opening upon a back street. The fact caused the lad to hasten his steps.
While hurrying through the fourth apartment, he heard voices in a side room. They were not familiar, but he halted at once. Suppose Round—if it were he—should take it into his head to enter one of the private apartments? He could easily remain concealed until a sufficient time had elapsed, and then go his way unseen.
For a brief moment Nattie stood irresolute. If he remained to question the matsumas it would give the evident fugitive time to escape by the rear gate. And if he hurried through the garden and out into the back street, Round could leave by the main entrance.
"Confound it! I can't stay here twirling my thumbs," he exclaimed. "What shall it be, back gate or a search through the blessed shanty? I'll leave it to chance."
Thrusting a couple of fingers into a vest pocket, he extracted an American quarter, and flipped it into the air.
"Heads, I search these rooms; tails, I go out the back gate," he murmured, catching the descending coin with great dexterity.
"Tails it is. Here goes, and may I have luck," he added.
Hurrying through the remaining apartments, he vanished into the garden just as a tall, thin man carrying a Gladstone bag cautiously opened a side door near where Nattie had juggled the coin. There was a bland smile upon the fellow's face, and he waved one hand airily after the youth.
"Ta, ta, Master Manning," he muttered. "I am thankful to you for leaving the decision to a piece of money. It was a close call for me, as I do not care to have my identity guessed just at present. Now that the coast is clear, I'll drop in on the Blacks again and tell them to be careful."
Making his way to the main entrance, he called a passing 'rikisha and ordered the karumaya to carry him to the Bund through various obscure streets. In the meantime, Nattie had left the garden by way of the rear gate. A hurried glance up and down the narrow thoroughfare resulted in disappointment.
A search of adjacent streets produced nothing. Considerably crestfallen, the lad returned to the tea house and questioned the head of the establishment. He speedily learned to his chagrin that the man for whom he had been searching had left the place not five minutes previously.
"Just my luck," he murmured, petulantly. "Here, Komatsu, give this to a beggar; it's a hoodoo."
The affable manager accepted the ill-omened twenty-five cent piece with many bows and subsequently placed it among his collection of rare coins, with the inscription: "Yankee Hoodoo. Only one in Yokohama. Value, ten yen."
It was with a very disconsolate face that Nattie left the tea house on his way to the office of the new firm. He felt positive in his mind that the thin man was really Willis Round, and the actions of the fellow in slipping away so mysteriously tended to increase the lad's suspicions.
"If he cared to return to Yokohama, he could do so," he reasoned, while walking down Main Street. "It's no person's business that I can see. And if he desired to increase his ugliness by shaving off his whiskers it was his own lookout. But what I don't like is the way he sneaked out of Black's counting-room without speaking to us. He was certainly trying to avoid recognition, and that's flat.
"I wonder what he had to do with that debt?" added the lad, after a while. "He is mixed up with the Blacks in some way, and I'll wager the connection bodes ill to some one. Perhaps it is to us."
He had reached this far in his reflections when he chanced to look down a small alley leading from the main thoroughfare to a public garden. A jinrikisha was speeding past the outlet. The vehicle contained one man, and in an instant Nattie recognized in him the subject of his thoughts.
To cover the distance to the garden was a brief task for the lad's nimble feet. As he emerged from the alley, however, he plumped into a couple of American man-of-war's men. The collision carried one of them into the gutter, but the other grasped wildly at his supposed assailant's collar.
"Nattie plumped into a couple of American man-of-war's
men. The
collision carried one of them into the gutter, but the other
grasped
wildly at his supposed assailant's collar." (See page 64)
He missed, but nothing daunted, the sailor started in pursuit, calling out in a husky voice at every step. In his eagerness to catch up with Willis Round, Nattie had continued his flight. The hubbub and outcry behind him soon brought him to a halt, and he faced about just as several policemen and a dozen foreigners and native citizens joined in the chase.
What the outcome would have been is hard to say had not help arrived at that opportune moment in the shape of a friend—a clerk at the legation—who suddenly appeared in the doorway of a private residence within a dozen feet of the lad.
"What is the matter, Manning?" hastily asked the newcomer.
As quick as a flash Nattie bounded past him, and closed the door just as the infuriated sailor reached the spot.
"For goodness' sake, old fellow, get me out by the back way!" breathed the lad. "I haven't time to explain now. I'll tell you all about it this afternoon. I am following a man, and I mustn't lose him. Let me out by the rear, please."
Considerably mystified, the clerk obeyed. A moment later Nattie was again speeding down a street toward the Bund. As luck would have it, he caught sight of his man at the next corner. The jinrikisha had stopped in front of Black & Company's office.
Hurrying ahead, the lad contrived to enter the door at the heels of the fugitive. He stepped lightly across the counting-room, and was within a foot of him when he threw open the door leading into the merchant's private office.
At sight of them both Ralph and his father sprang to their feet. Totally unsuspicious of the proximity of his pursuer, the tall, thin man tossed his portmanteau upon a chair, and was on the point of greeting the occupants of the office when he saw them looking behind him in evident surprise.
He turned, gave Nattie one startled glance, then made an involuntary movement as if contemplating flight. The lad barred the way, however. Grinning triumphantly, he lifted his hat with a polite bow, and said:
"Why, this is an unexpected pleasure, Mr. Round. I did not know you had returned to Yokohama. How is everything in London?"
"What are you talking about?" growled the fellow. "I don't know you."
"Indeed! How poor your memory must be. You worked for my father as confidential clerk and bookkeeper for many years. Surely you must remember his son, Nattie Manning?"
The mocking tone caused Round to frown darkly. He saw that further denial was useless. Curtly turning his back to Nattie, he stalked to a chair and sat down. During this little byplay Ralph had been staring at the intruder in a peculiarly malevolent manner.
"What do you want in here?" he demanded, at last. "This is our private office, and we receive people by invitation only. Get out."
"With the greatest pleasure," sweetly replied Nattie. "I have secured all that I desire. I wanted to satisfy myself as to that man's identity, and I have succeeded. The removal of one's whiskers don't always form an effectual disguise, you know. Ta! ta!"
He left the office with a triumphant smile, and quickly made his way to the counting-room of the new firm. Grant and Mori were engrossed in drawing up several tables of import orders, but they gave instant attention to his story.
"It certainly proves one thing," remarked the lame youth. "Mr. Willis Round attempted to visit Yokohama in disguise. Now what can be his reason?"
Before either Nattie or Mori could reply, the front door was thrown open, and the very man they were discussing stepped into the office. There was an expression of cordial good nature upon his face, and he advanced with one hand extended in a friendly attitude.
"How do you do, Master Grant? I am pleased to see you," exclaimed the newcomer. "And Master Nattie here is still the same good-looking lad as of old. Is this the new member of the firm? The old company has called in native blood, eh? Well, it is not a bad idea."
Disregarding the cold stare of surprise given him by Grant, the speaker seated himself in a comfortable chair and gazed blandly around the office. He was a man of extreme attenuation of features, and restless, shifting eyes. He was modestly clad in a dark suit of English tweed, and carried the conventional cane of bamboo.
For a moment there was an awkward silence, then Nattie laughed—a short, curt laugh, which brought a perceptible flush to Round's sunken cheeks.
"So you are our old bookkeeper after all?" said the lad, with a sly wink at Mori.
"Yes, I am inclined to believe so," replied the visitor, airily. "I have an explanation to make about that little incident, my boy. D'ye see, I returned from London by way of India yesterday morning. I had my reasons for arriving incog., therefore I denied myself to you this afternoon. As the cat is out of the bag now, I'll tell you all about it."
He paused and glanced at his auditors. Nothing daunted by their evident coldness, he resumed, in the same light manner:
"I had a little deal on with the government here and certain people in England, and I came over to push it through. Remembering the firm of Black & Company, I went to them first. The interview was not satisfactory, however. Hearing that you had resumed your father's business. I lost no time in coming here. Am I right in believing that you are open for valuable contracts?"
Both Nattie and Mori instinctively left the conversation to Grant. In a matter of business, he was the proper person, they well knew. The lame youth leaned back in his chair, and eyed the visitor with extreme gravity.
"So you are here to do business with us, Mr. Round?" he asked, slowly.
"Yes."
"May I ask the nature of the contracts?"
The ex-bookkeeper arose to his feet and walked with catlike steps to the front door. Opening it slightly, he peered forth. Then he repeated the performance at the remaining doors and windows. Evidently satisfied, he returned to the desk. Bending over, he said, in a stage whisper:
"Government."
"Yes, I know," exclaimed Grant, impatiently. "You said that before. But for what class of articles?"
"Arms and ammunition, my boy. I have inside information. I know that Japan will be at war with China before the end of the year. I also know that the government intends to place an order for many millions of cartridges and hundreds of thousands of rifles and revolvers within a very short time."
"Indeed?"
"Yes. Now, I represent two firms—one English and one German, and we wish to secure a resident agent in Japan. I can recommend you to them, and I will on one condition."
"What is it?" asked Grant, drumming nervously upon the desk.
Nattie leaned forward in evident expectancy. He knew that the drumming was an ominous sign on his brother's part, and that a climax was impending.
"I wish to remain in Yokohama, and I desire a situation. If you will give me the same position I formerly occupied in this office, I will secure you the good will of my firms. What do you say?"
Grant selected a letter from a pile on the desk and glanced over it. He smiled as if particularly well pleased at something, and then asked in a suave voice:
"When did you leave London, Mr. Round?"
"Why—er—on the second of last month."
"And when did you reach that city after leaving my father's service?"
"What the deuce?—I mean, about two months later. Why do you ask these questions?"
"Then you have been away from Japan for some time?"
"Of course. I could not be in London and in this country very well," replied Round, with a sickly smile.
"It is certainly strange," remarked Grant, reading the letter again. "Have you a twin brother, sir?"
At this apparently preposterous query, the visitor lost his affability.
"No, I haven't," he almost shouted. "Mr. Manning, I did not come here to lose valuable time in answering silly questions. I have made you a proposition in good faith. Will you please give me a reply?"
"So you wish to enter our employ as bookkeeper?"
"Yes."
"And if we engage you we can become the agents of your English and German firms in this matter of the government contracts?"
"Yes, yes."
Grant arose from his chair, and leaning one hand upon the desk, he added, impressively:
"Will you also promise to clear up the mystery of the Black debt, Mr. Round?"
Nattie and Mori, who were keenly watching the visitor's face, saw him pale to the very lips. He essayed to speak, but the words refused to come. Finally regaining his composure by a violent effort, he replied, huskily:
"I don't understand you, Grant. What mystery do you mean?"
"You know very well, sir."
The lame youth's voice was sharp and cutting. Nervously wiping his face, Mr. Round glanced down at the floor, then cast a furtive glance at his companions. If ever guilt rested in a man's actions, it did then with those of the ex-bookkeeper. He probably recognized the futility of his chances, as he started to leave without further words. He was not to escape so easily, however.
"You have not heard my answer to your proposition," called out Grant, with sarcasm. "I'll tell you now that we would not have you in this office if you paid us a bonus of a thousand pounds. You had better return to your confederates, Black & Company, and inform them that their effort to place a spy in this office has failed."
"You will regret these words," retorted Round, with a muttered oath. "I'll show you that you are not so smart as you think."
"Have a care, sir," replied the lame youth. "Perhaps we will be able to prove your connection with that debt swindle, and send you up for it."
"Bah! You are a fool to——"
He did not finish the sentence. At that juncture, Nattie, who had been quietly edging his way across the office, bounded forward. There was a brief struggle, a crash at the door, and suddenly the visitor found himself in the street, considerably the worse for the encounter.
"That's the proper way to get rid of such callers," remarked the lad, cheerfully. "Talk is all right in its place, but actions are necessary at times. What a scoundrel he is!"
"He is a discovered villain," said Mori, quaintly. "In the expressive language of the American street gamin, 'We are on to him.' He was evidently sent here by the Blacks as a spy. By the way, what was in that letter?"
Grant laughed, and tossed the document to the young Japanese.
"It was simply a bluff. I had an idea the man had not left the country, so I pretended to read a letter giving that information. He bit beautifully."
"One thing is certain," remarked Mori, with a shrug of his shoulders. "We have made an implacable enemy."
"What's the difference?" chimed in Nattie. "The more the merrier. We need not fear anything from Willis Round. He's a dead duck now."
"So Black & Company have wind of the impending contracts, eh?" mused Grant. "I must run up and see Secretary Udono at once. I think I can prove to him that we are worthy of the contracts. Nattie, take this advertisement and have it inserted in all the foreign and native papers. Tell them to place it on the first page in display type. We'll let the world know that we are ready for business."
"I'll call on several old friends of my father in the morning and bid for the next tea and rice crop," said Mori, jotting down the items in his notebook. "How much can we use this quarter?"
"All we can secure," was the prompt reply. "I intend to cable our American houses at once. The New York and San Francisco firms are good for two shiploads at the very least. By the way, Nattie, while you are out just drop in on Saigo Brothers and see what they have on hand in lacquered novelties. Speak for a good order to go on the steamer of the tenth."
During the next two hours the three members of the new firm were head and ears in business. Grant was in his element, and Mori seemed to like the routine also. But Nattie presently yawned, and left on his errands. Outdoor life was evidently more to his taste.
In the press of work the incidents connected with the visit of Willis Round were forgotten. Grant and Mori labored at the office until almost midnight. After attending to the advertisements Nattie inspected the company's "go down," or warehouse, and made preparations for the receiving of tea.
The following day was spent in the same manner, and on the second morning the purchases of the firm began to arrive. By noon Manning Brothers & Okuma were the talk of Yokohama. Grant's popularity and business reputation secured him a warm welcome in the trade.
A force of native clerks was installed in the office under charge of an expert foreign bookkeeper. It was finally decided to assign the drumming up of trade to Grant, and the interior buying and selling to Mori. Nattie was to have charge of the shipping and the care of the warehouse.
The latter found time, however, to practice for the coming wrestling match on the seventh of July. He had secured the services of a retired wrestler, and was soon in great form. As can be expected, he awaited the eventful day with growing impatience.
Grant Manning was a youth wise beyond his years. His continued ill health and his physical frailty kept him from mixing with the lads of his age. The seclusion drove him to self-communion and study. As a general rule, persons suffering from physical deformity or lingering sickness are compensated by an expansion of mind.
It is the proof of an immutable law. The blinding of one eye increases the strength of the other. The deaf and dumb are gifted with a wonderful sense of touch. Those with crippled legs are strong of arm. The unfortunates with brains awry are endowed with muscles of power.
In Grant's case his intellect made amends for his deformity of body. He loved commercial work, and the several years passed in the counting-room under his father's régime had made him a thorough master of the business.
When orders commenced to find their way to the new firm he was in his element. As I have stated before, he had many friends in Yokohama and the capital, Tokio, and the native merchants made haste to open trade with him. To aid this prosperity, was the fact that no stain rested upon the firm of John Manning & Company.
The very name was synonymous with honesty, integrity and merit. Foreign houses established in Eastern countries too often treat their customers as uncivilized beings destined to be tricked in trade. John Manning had never entertained such an unwise policy, and his sons now felt the results.
The announcements in the various papers brought an avalanche of contracts and orders. On the fourth day after the birth of the new firm, Mori—who was really a shrewd, far-seeing youth—had secured the cream of the tea and rice crop. He was also promised the first bid for silks.
On his part, Grant had secured a satisfactory interview with the secretary of war in regard to the army contracts for arms and ammunition. Business was literally booming, and every foreign importing firm in Yokohama felt the new competition.
It is not to be supposed that they would permit the trade to slip away without an effort to retain it. Not the least of those disturbed was the firm of Black & Company, as can well be imagined. The merchant and Ralph were wild with rage and despair. Orders from various English houses were on file for early tea and rice, but the market was empty. Mori had been the early bird.
"If this continues we will have to close our doors," exclaimed Mr. Black, gloomily. "I could not buy a dozen boxes of tea this morning, and we have an order of three hundred to leave by to-morrow's steamer. The fiend take that crippled whelp! He is here, there, and everywhere, and the natives in town are begging for his trade."
"He will make a pretty penny raising the prices too," replied his son, in the same tone. "Why, he and that Japanese fool have made a regular corner in rice."
"But he is not going to increase the price, if rumor speaks the truth. Although he has control of the crop, he ships it to America at the old rates."
"That is a shrewd move," acknowledged Ralph, reluctantly. "It will make him solid with every firm in the United States. What is the matter with all of the old merchants, eh? Fancy a man like you letting a boy get the best of him in this manner. If I was the head of an established house and had gray hairs like you I'd quit the business."
This brutal speech caused the merchant to flush angrily. He was on the point of retorting, but he checked himself and remained buried in thought for some time. His reflections were bitter. It was humiliating to think that a firm of boys should step in and steal the trade from men who had spent years in the business.
The brow of the merchant grew dark. He would not stand it. If fair means could not avail, he would resort to foul. His conscience, long deadened by trickery, formed no bar to his resolution. Striking the desk with his open hand, he exclaimed:
"I will do it no matter what comes."
"What's up now, dad?" asked Ralph, with a show of interest. He added, sneeringly: "Are you awakening from your 'Rip Van Winkle' sleep? Do you think it is time to get up and circumvent those fools? Name your plan, and I will give you my help with the greatest pleasure."
"You can assist me. We must destroy the credit of the new firm. They have a working capital of only twelve or thirteen thousand dollars. I learned this morning that they had given notes for ninety days for twice that amount of money. It is also said that the firm of Takatsuna & Company has sold them ten thousand dollars' worth of tea at sight. Grant arranged for an overdraw with a native bank inside of an hour. Now if we can get up a scare, Takatsuna will come down on the bank for his money, and the bank will call on the Mannings for it."
"That is a great scheme," said Ralph, admiringly. "We will try it at once."
"Go to Round's hotel and bring him here. In the meantime I will finish the details, my son. If all goes well, that cripple and his brother will be paupers before night."
"And we will be able to fill our orders by to-morrow at the latest. If Manning Brothers & Okuma fail, the dealers will gladly come to us."
"I do not care a snap of a finger for the tea business," replied Mr. Black, contemptuously. "It is that army contract I am after. I have been told that Grant has had an interview with the secretary. Now, if we don't kill the firm they will have the plum as sure as death. Bring Round here without delay."
Ralph laughed as he walked to the door.
"Willis has been in the sulks since he failed to carry out our little scheme of placing him in the Manning counting-room as a spy. He hates them worse than ever. He will prove a valuable ally in the present plan."
In the course of an hour he returned with the ex-bookkeeper. Before noon strange rumors commenced to circulate among the foreign merchants and the banks. By one o'clock the native houses were agog with the news. Men met on the Bund and talked over the startling intelligence. At two a representative from the firm of Takatsuna called at the office of Manning Brothers & Okuma.
"I am very sorry," he said, "but my firm is in pressing need of money. It is short notice, I acknowledge, but we must have the ten thousand dollars you owe us for tea at once."
Grant looked surprised, but he politely sent the representative to the Yokohama bank where the check had been negotiated. In half an hour an urgent call came from the bank for the senior member of the firm. When Grant returned to the office his face wore an anxious expression.
"Boys, our enemies are at work," he said. "It is said on 'Change that we are pinched for funds. Black & Company are urging the native merchants to ask for their bills. The bank paid Takatsuna their money, but the directors want it refunded at once."
He had hardly ceased speaking before a knock sounded at the door of the private office. Nattie opened it, giving admission to a portly Japanese. The newcomer's dress was disordered, and he appeared wild with anxiety. It was the president of the Yokohama bank.
At his heels were several merchants and half a dozen reporters. Ill news travels fast. Regardless of ceremony, the visitors crowded into the office. Grant's face became set, and his eyes glittered. Nattie appeared highly amused. He saw the comical side of the invasion, not the serious.
It was really a critical moment. In commercial circles there is nothing more disastrous and credit-snapping than a run on a bank, or the failure to promptly pay a bill. The standing of a new firm is always uncertain. Like gold, it requires time and a trial in the fire of experience.
Grant realized the danger at once. As the newcomers surged into the office, he arose from the desk and grasped the back of his chair with a clutch of despair. His thoughts traveled fast. He saw the ruin of his hopes, the success of his enemies; and he almost groaned aloud.
Outwardly he was calm, however. Politely greeting the president of the bank, he asked the nature of his business. With feverish hands, the man produced a paper, and requested the payment of the ten thousand dollars.
"Remember, my dear sir, I am first on the spot," he said.
The words were significant. It meant a call for money from all creditors. It meant the swamping of their credit and absolute failure. Preserving his calmness, Grant picked up the firm's check-book, and glanced over the stubs.
Of the twenty thousand dollars paid in by Mori, but a trifle over one-half remained. There were other creditors at the door. To pay one meant a demand from the others. To refuse the payment of the bank's debt was to be posted as insolvent. That meant ruin.
Sick at heart, Grant was on the point of adopting the latter course, when there came a sudden and most unexpected change in the state of affairs.
During the scene in the private office of the firm Mori had remained silent and apparently indifferent. Apparently only—those who knew him best would have augured from the appearance of the two bright red spots in his dark cheeks that he was intensely interested.
He watched the movements of the crowd at the door, he listened to the demand of the bank president, and he noted Grant's struggle to appear calm. Then just as the lame youth turned from the check-book to his auditors with an announcement of their failure to pay trembling upon his lips, the young Japanese introduced himself into the proceedings.
"What is the meaning of this, sir?" he asked the president, sharply. "What do you wish?"
"I am here for my money," was the defiant reply. "I have presented the note, and I await payment."
"Don't you think this is rather sudden?" asked Mori, with a suspicious calmness in his voice. "It was negotiated but yesterday. Why this haste?"
"I want my money," was the only answer vouchsafed.
"And you at the door," continued the Japanese youth, turning his gaze in that direction. "Are you here for the same reason?"
Some one in the rear rank replied in the affirmative.
Mori's eyes flashed. Taking a private check-book from his pocket, he rapidly wrote several lines therein, and, detaching a leaf, tossed it to Grant.
"Pay them, every one," he said, carelessly. "You will find that sufficient, I think."
The lame youth eagerly read the check, and then his face became suffused with emotion. The amount called for was thirty thousand dollars! Mori had placed his whole fortune to the firm's account! Afraid to trust his voice, Grant hobbled over to the youthful native, and, in the presence of the whole assemblage, threw his arms around him.
"God bless you!" he exclaimed. "You are a friend and a man."
"Nonsense," replied Mori, gently. "It is nothing. Pay these cattle off, and put them down in your black book. Pay them in full and rid the office of the mob for good. And, understand," he added, addressing the bank president and his companions, "we will have no further dealings with you. Hereafter we will trade with men not liable to scare at the slightest rumor."
The official took the check extended him by Grant with a crestfallen air. He saw that he had made a mistake and had lost the business of the new firm. Too late he recalled the fact that he had really heard nothing of moment. Rumors had been circulated, but try as he would, he could not recollect their source.
The remaining creditors also suffered a revulsion of feeling. Some attempted to slink away, but the three members of the firm singled them out one by one, and compelled them to accept checks for the amount of their bills.
In an hour eighteen thousand dollars had been paid out, but the credit of the firm was saved. When the last man had been sent away Nattie and Grant overwhelmed the clever young Japanese with congratulations and heartfelt thanks. Mori's modesty equaled his generosity, and he threatened them with immediate dissolution if they did not refrain.
"It is nothing, my friends," he exclaimed, for the hundredth time. "I am only glad that I was able to furnish the money."
"You must withdraw the entire amount just as soon as it is available," insisted Grant. "We should hear from the American houses within five weeks, and then we will return to the old basis."
"I would like to have a photograph of old Black's face when he hears the news," said Nattie, with a grin. "Or, better still, overhear his comments."
"It was a shrewd trick, but it failed, I am glad to say," remarked the lame youth. "We must take advantage of the opportunity and clinch the effect. Now is the time to set our credit upon a solid foundation."
Taking several sheets of paper, he scribbled half a dozen lines upon them.
"Nattie, take these to the different newspaper offices, and have them inserted in to-morrow's issues," he said. "Then drop in at the printing office and tell Bates to work up a thousand posters to be displayed about town. How does this sound?
"'TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
"'A despicable attempt having been made this day by certain interested parties to injure the credit of the undersigned firm, notice is hereby given that all outstanding bills will be settled in full at ten A. M. to-morrow. A reward of one thousand yen is also offered for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons starting the slander.
"'Manning Brothers & Okuma'"
"That is just the thing!" exclaimed Mori. "It could not be better. We'll have the posters distributed broadcast over Yokohama and also Tokio. Make it five instead of one thousand, Grant. Really, I believe that little affair will do us a great deal of good. It is an excellent advertisement."
Nattie hurried away to the printing office, and by night the two cities were reading the posters. At ten o'clock the following morning fully two score merchants had called upon the firm, but they came to ask for trade, not to present bills.
The conspiracy had resolved itself into a boomerang, and the firm of Manning Brothers & Okuma was more prosperous than ever. Black & Son were correspondingly depressed. The failure of their latest scheme caused the elder merchant much humiliation. At a meeting held in his office, attended by Ralph and Mr. Round, it was resolved to stick at nothing to defeat the enemy.
"It is war to the knife now," exclaimed the head of the firm, grinding his teeth. "Something must be done before the first of next month, as the army contracts will be awarded then."
"And that means a little trifle of twenty thousand pounds, eh?" replied the ex-bookkeeper, softly rubbing his hands.
"Yes, one hundred thousand dollars. That is clear profit."
"Many a man would commit murder for less than that," mused Ralph, absently stabbing the arm of his chair with a penknife.
Mr. Black gave his son a keen glance.
"Yes," he said, in a peculiar tone. "Whole families have been put out of the way for as many cents. But," he added, hastily, "there is no such question in our case. Ha! ha! the idea is simply preposterous!"
His companions echoed the laugh, but in a strained fashion. Ralph continued to stare moodily at the floor. After a while Willis Round announced that he had a proposition to make.
"You said a few moments ago that it was war to the knife now," he commenced.
"Yes."
"It is to your interest to ruin the new firm before the awarding of the army contracts, eh?"
"Certainly. If they are in business by the end of the present month they will secure the valuable contracts without a doubt."
"What would you give if they were rendered unable to bid for them?"
The merchant stared at his questioner half contemptuously.
"Why do you ask? You do not think you could ruin them single-handed?" he asked, banteringly.
"Never you mind," was the dogged reply. "Answer my question. What would you give if the contracts were placed in your way?"
"Twenty per cent. of the profits and our assistance in any scheme you may propose. Do you really mean to say that you have a plan promising success?"
The merchant left his chair in his eagerness and approached the ex-bookkeeper. Ralph showed a renewed interest also. Before replying, Round cautiously opened the door leading into the counting-room. After satisfying himself, he talked long and earnestly to his companions. At the conclusion the faces of the merchant and his son were expressive of the liveliest satisfaction. There was trouble still in store for the new firm of Manning Brothers & Okuma.