While the cockney bartender of the English Tavern1 in the Champs Elysées counted out the change, Tod, with an unsteady hand, raised to his lips the glass of foaming2, sparkling Clicquot.
"Here's to Uncle Dick—bless him!"
The regular frequenters of the place, jockeys, bookmakers, racing6 touts7, and other persons of dubious8 appearance and pursuits who make up that queer riffraff of British sporting characters always found drifting about the French metropolis9, either flush after recent winnings at Longchamps or out at elbow from an extraordinary run of ill luck—all these worthies10 nudged each other and grinned as they watched the two Americans. There was no doubt in everyone's mind as to the nationality of the strangers. Only Yankees could afford the luxury of opening "fizz" so early in the day. What the onlookers11 did not know, of course, was that an event of exceptional importance had brought the two Americans together on this particular morning and that Tod Chase and Bascom Cooley, the well-known New York lawyer, were celebrating an auspicious12 event by "setting 'em up." Otherwise there would be little excuse for loitering in the small, stuffy13 barroom, with its pungent14 odor of stale beer and atmosphere thick with tobacco smoke, when the call of the beautiful world without was so strong.
It was a glorious Spring morning, one of those perfect days when Paris, decked in her loveliest raiment, is seen at her best. Under the shade of the fine oak trees lining15 the entire length of the noble avenue were dozens of buxom16 nou-nous, attractive in their neat caps and long streamer ribbons. They sat knitting and gossiping while their daintily dressed charges, happy and healthy, romped17 noisily in the bright sunshine. Out in the broad, immaculately clean roadway, a heavy three-horse omnibus Porte Maillot-Hôtel de Ville creaked its way up to the Place de l'Etoile.
Todhunter Chase was not a bad-looking boy. There was something about him which at once attracted the stranger. Small hours and cold bottles had spoiled his complexion18 somewhat, and the vernacular19 and usages of the Tenderloin had not improved his speech and manners. But people overlooked his foibles because of his intense good nature. Nothing could down that. Always smiling, always jolly, ever ready to go out of his way to oblige a friend, it was little wonder that he was popular. His features were well cut and his athletic20, well-knit figure was well groomed21. With his frank, engaging personality and more than average intelligence, there was no career in which he might not have done himself credit. But unfortunately for Tod, he was afflicted22 with matritis. In other words, his mother was solely23 to blame for his having reached the age of twenty-five without earning as much as the price of a celluloid collar button. Selfish and short sighted, as are many mothers with growing sons, the then Mrs. Chase had preferred to have her boy dangling24 at her skirts rather than see him prepare himself seriously to battle with the world. After leaving college without honors, he made a half-hearted effort to get something to do. He tried a dozen things and succeeded in none. Utterly25 unable to concentrate on any one thing he failed miserably26 in everything. Office routine he found irksome; discipline intolerable. So, for several years he just drifted, leading a lazy, irresponsible life that soon rendered him unfit for anything, more than gambling27 or carousing28 with his cronies. As he grew older he acquired more sense, but then it was too late. His mother at times worried about it, but more often took it philosophically29. As long as the money held out, there was enough for her boy. There was plenty of time to think of his future. Tod was so popular that he would be sure to marry well. He would get some rich girl whose father would take him in as partner. Then he would find a position in life ready made. There was no hurry. Besides, would they not be rich themselves one day? Thus had Tod's career, also, been marred30 in a measure by the same dazzling "prospects31" which had ruined his stepfather!
He was weak and he had been foolish, yet at heart Tod was not a bad sort. A little wild, perhaps, as are most boys of his age and opportunities, but by no means a fool. Anyone who took him for lacking in gray matter would make a serious mistake. His moral sense was blunted and his environments were bad—that was all. The fundamentals were good and when a man's fundamentals are good his case is never quite hopeless.
Always in buoyant spirits, to-day Tod felt especially jubilant. Things certainly seemed to have changed for the better. He had been in Paris only two weeks, and he had already secured the American agency of two of the most important French automobile32 makers5, and on top of this unlooked-for success had come the surprising news from home that John Marsh33 was dead at last. The event so long waited for had actually happened. Too much good fortune is bad for anyone, and for the last few hours Tod had been celebrating not wisely, but too well. His face was flushed and his speech thick as he went on:
"The old gentleman must have been a decent sort to cash in just now. It couldn't have come at a better moment. Things at home were getting pretty queer. Jimmy will be simply tickled34 to death!"
His companion, a big, heavily built, coarse-looking man, considerably35 his senior in years, pursed his lips and nodded.
"I guess you're not sorry," he said dryly.
"Hang it! Cooley, why should I care?" cried Tod explosively. "He was nothing to me. I never even saw him. Yet—do you know—I sometimes felt a sneaking36 respect for the old man for the delicious way he snubbed Jimmy. No doubt he was disgusted with him long ago. You know he wouldn't see him or have anything to do with him. I guess he knew him better than any of us. Jimmy's the limit—there's no doubt of that. I'm no saint myself, but I know when to stop. The mater must have been wuzzy when she married him. She's had a peck of trouble with him—you've no idea! Of course this windfall puts everything right. I'd have given a couple of hundred to have seen Jimmy's face when he opened your cable."
Mr. Cooley smiled grimly.
"Yes—I guess he didn't sleep much that night. He's waited long enough."
"Waited!" ejaculated the other. "Why, he has thought of nothing else—sleeping or waking. If anything should happen to rob him of that inheritance I think it would kill him."
"Ain't much chance of that," replied the lawyer, puffing37 out his chest. "I drew up the will. When Bascom Cooley attends to a thing, it's likely to be for keeps. The will was witnessed and executed right in my presence, so there isn't any question about it. The will is now in our safe-deposit vaults38. That is why I must go back immediately. Nothing can be done until I return. By the time I reach New York, the funeral will be over. Then we can read the will."
Bascom Cooley, who for many years had looked after the late John Marsh's interests, and to-day was one of Jimmy Marsh's closest cronies, was one of the most widely known criminal lawyers in the United States. His reputation was not of the best, but he was prosperous and the world forgives much to the successful man. Shrewd, utterly unprincipled, all kinds of questionable39 yet profitable legal business came his way, and thanks to a brilliant talent, and a domineering, blustering40 manner which intimidated41 judge and jury alike, he usually contrived42 to score a victory for his client. It is true that only the guilty went to him. Law breakers knew that if Bascom Cooley could not help them escape the consequences of their misdeeds no one else could. He was known to be a crooked44 lawyer. Corrupt45 practices, flagrant dishonesty, shameless perjury46 of which he had been guilty had often been hinted at, yet none dare attack him openly. His mysterious influence with the big political leaders made him a man to be feared. It was Cooley's boast that the law could not touch him. When it was seen that by the powerful influence behind him he could break policemen, smother47 indictments48, muzzle49 the authorities, and make and unmake judges at will, the public began to believe him.
He was born in New York City, of Irish parents. His father was a policeman who, thanks to political pull, was able to reach a captaincy. His salary and perquisites50 enabled him to give his son a better education than he himself had received, and when it came to the choosing of a career, Bascom decided51 on law. He was admitted to the Bar and began practice in the ninth ward52 where he had the advantage of his father's influence. A chip of the old block, he realized early in life the power of money. He resolved to be successful, no matter by what means, and with this determination constantly in mind it is not surprising that he soon became involved in all kinds of shady schemes, all looking to the fattening53 of his bank roll. In a single notorious real-estate deal—the purchase of land for the purpose of a public park—he robbed the city of nearly $250,000. That is to say, it was shown that the price the city was compelled to pay for the land was exactly $250,000 more than it was worth. Not that he himself got all the money. He did not expect that. More than half of the spoils in the gigantic, bare-faced steal, went to the men higher up, to those in the inner ring of boodle politicians, a shameless coterie54 of rascals55 who at once brought to bear all the power of the System to shield Bascom Cooley from prosecution56 and themselves from exposure and disgrace. Laughing at threats of disbarment, snapping his fingers at the hue57 and cry in the newspapers, Mr. Cooley went his way, stealing, perjuring58 himself, openly defying public opinion.
The news of John Marsh's death was most welcome to Mr. Cooley. He was taking a vacation in Europe and enjoying the sights of Paris when his New York office notified him of what had occurred, and he cabled that he would return at once. For a long time the wily attorney had had his eye on the Marsh millions. Otherwise, how explain his close friendship for Jimmy Marsh? Such a poor, weak fool could have nothing in common with the famous lawyer whose brain teemed59 only with big schemes. If he tolerated Jimmy, and dined and wined him and got him elected at his club when no other club would admit him, it was with a purpose distinctly Machiavellian60 in view. When Jimmy's financial affairs reached an acute crisis it was always Mr. Cooley who obligingly bridged the chasm61. Jimmy, as already hinted, had borrowed freely on his prospects. Cooley was nearly always the lender. Now the time had come to settle, and Mr. Cooley promised himself not only to get back his own, plus interest, but a substantial bonus besides. He knew a few things about Jimmy Marsh—things Jimmy would rather not have the world, and especially the yellow newspapers, know. And no doubt Jimmy would pay up like a man. The money had come at a most convenient time. He had some big deals on hand and needed cash badly. Things could not have turned out better. He would go back at once and get in touch with things. It was while he was hurrying from his hotel to go and secure his passage home by the first steamer that he stumbled across Tod, who cheerfully accepted his invitation to drink to the health of the inheritance.
"What gets me is that the old man left Jimmy any money at all! They never saw each other. The old man utterly disapproved64 of his brother's way of living, and had nothing to do with him."
"There was no one else to whom he could leave it—that's why," replied the lawyer. "John Marsh," he went on, "was a peculiar65 man. He was distant and reserved, I might say secretive—even with me, his legal adviser66. No one knew the real workings of his mind. I drew up his will according to a rough draft, written by him."
"When was that?"
"Twenty-five years ago."
"So Jimmy has been waiting twenty-five years?"
"Yes," said the lawyer, "twenty-five years—the average span of human life."
"Suppose he has made another will since? Did Jimmy ever think of that?"
"No—no danger of that. Why should he? If he had, wouldn't I know of it? I have always remained on the best of terms with the old gentleman. I have attended to other legal business for him, so if he did change his mind in regard to the disposition69 of his estate, why wouldn't he come to me? No, I don't think so. He kept aloof70 from his brother, but it's no more than he did from anyone else. The man was eccentric—peculiar—you must let it go at that."
"What was the old beggar worth? Have you any idea?"
"Twenty years ago he was several times a millionaire. What he has done with the money, how he has invested it, I can't say. But he was no spendthrift. There'll be enough to go round, I promise you that." Draining his glass, he added: "I suppose you'll give up this automobile business now, and go back and do some fancy figure skating on Broadway. There's more fun in that, eh?"
Tod shook his head.
"No—Cooley—you're wrong. Like everyone else, you think I'm crazy for money. But I'm not—honest to God! I've had my fling and I'm through. I'm sick of Broadway, its rotten men and painted women. I'm sick of that idle, stupid existence which stifles71 every decent impulse a fellow may have. It's always the same, the same crowd, the same drinks and stunts72, the same old headache the next morning. I tell you I'm through with that sort of life. I believe I was intended for something better, and, by God, I'm going to make the effort! These last two weeks I've actually respected myself because I've succeeded in making my board bill. Let Jimmy and mater enjoy the money. I want none of it. I tell you I'm going to win out by myself. You see if I don't! Here—have another drink!"
The lawyer laughed. This kind of talk from Tod was something entirely73 new. He wondered how much the champagne74 was responsible for it.
"Shall you go back to New York?" he asked.
"Oh, I suppose so," replied Tod carelessly. "I ought to go on general principles. I only came here on a brief visit."
"I sail to-morrow on the Adriatic," said the lawyer. "Come with me."
The young man shook his head.
"That's out of the question. I still have some business to attend to. I may go Saturday on the Touraine."
"Oh, then you'll be right behind me. I'll let them know you're on the way home."
"Tell Jimmy not to have all the money spent before I get there," grinned Tod.
The lawyer made a move towards the door.
"Well— I must be off. It's late, and I've a lot to attend to. I have to go to the Palais-Royal first. Are you going my way?"
A moment later they were on the avenue hailing a cab. The cocher, aroused by the promise of an extra pourboire, drove off briskly in the direction of the Rue43 de Rivoli, and soon they were rolling smoothly75 along that street of wonderful arcades76. Passing the gilded77 gates of the Tuileries gardens they soon came abreast78 of the Louvre. Tod glanced up at the gloomy, time-discolored walls.
"That's one place I must take in before I leave Paris. Not that I know one picture from another. Ever been there?"
Mr. Cooley gave a snort of disapproval79.
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1
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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makers
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| n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式） | |
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racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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touts
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| n.招徕( tout的名词复数 )；（音乐会、体育比赛等的）卖高价票的人；侦查者；探听赛马的情报v.兜售( tout的第三人称单数 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报 | |
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8
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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worthies
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| 应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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onlookers
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| n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 ) | |
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auspicious
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| adj.吉利的；幸运的，吉兆的 | |
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stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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pungent
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| adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的 | |
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lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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buxom
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| adj.（妇女）丰满的，有健康美的 | |
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romped
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| v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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vernacular
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| adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名 | |
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athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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groomed
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| v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗 | |
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afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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carousing
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| v.痛饮，闹饮欢宴( carouse的现在分词 ) | |
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philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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marred
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| adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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blustering
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| adj.狂风大作的，狂暴的v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的现在分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
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intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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42
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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perjury
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| n.伪证；伪证罪 | |
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smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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indictments
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| n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告 | |
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muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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50
perquisites
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| n.（工资以外的）财务补贴( perquisite的名词复数 )；额外收入；（随职位而得到的）好处；利益 | |
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51
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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53
fattening
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| adj.（食物）要使人发胖的v.喂肥( fatten的现在分词 )；养肥（牲畜）；使（钱）增多；使（公司）升值 | |
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coterie
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| n.(有共同兴趣的)小团体，小圈子 | |
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rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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58
perjuring
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| v.发假誓，作伪证( perjure的现在分词 ) | |
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teemed
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| v.充满( teem的过去式和过去分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
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machiavellian
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| adj.权谋的，狡诈的 | |
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chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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63
blurted
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| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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disapproved
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| v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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66
adviser
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| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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68
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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71
stifles
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的第三人称单数 )； 镇压，遏制 | |
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72
stunts
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| n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 )；（广告中）引人注目的花招；愚蠢行为；危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 ) | |
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73
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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74
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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76
arcades
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| n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物 | |
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gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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