AUNT JANE'S NIECES AT MILLVILLE
BY
EDITH VAN DYNE (one of L. Frank Baum's pen names)
1908
Continued....
CHAPTER XXIII.
MR. WEST EXPLAINS.
A cry of amazed protest burst from the girls. The
Major whistled softly
and walked to the window.
"I find the stock properly transferred," continued
Uncle John, grimly
conscious that he was as thoroughly disappointed as
the girls. "It is
signed by both Wegg and Thompson, and witnessed in
the presence of a
notary. I congratulate you, Mr. West. You have
acquired a fortune."
"But not recently," replied the hardware dealer,
enjoying the confusion
of his recent opponents. "I have owned this stock
for more than three
years, and you will see by the amount endorsed upon
it that I paid a
liberal price for it, under the circumstances."
Uncle John gave a start and a shrewd look.
"Of course you did," said he. "On paper."
"I have records to prove that both Captain Wegg and
Will Thompson
received their money," said West, quietly. "I see it
is hard for you to
abandon the idea that I am a rogue."
There could be no adequate reply to this, so for a
time all sat in moody
silence. But the thoughts of some were busy.
"I would like Mr. West to explain what became of the
money he paid for
this stock," said Louise; adding: "That is, if he
will be so courteous."
West did not answer for a moment. Then he said, with
a gesture of
indifference:
"I am willing to tell all I know. But you people
must admit that the
annoyances you have caused me during the past
fortnight, to say nothing
of the gratuitous insults heaped upon my head,
render me little inclined
to favor you."
"You are quite justified in feeling as you do,"
replied Uncle John,
meekly. "I have been an ass, West; but circumstances
warranted me in
suspecting you, and even Joseph Wegg did not know
that the Almaquo stock
had been transferred to you. He merely glanced at it
at the time of his
father's death, without noticing the endorsement,
and thought the fire
had rendered it worthless. But if you then owned the
stock, why was it
not in your possession?"
"That was due to my carelessness," was the reply.
"The only notary
around here is at Hooker's Falls, and Mr. Thompson
offered to have him
come to Captain Wegg's residence and witness the
transfer. As my
presence was not necessary for this, and I had full
confidence in my
friends' integrity, I paid them their money, which
they were eager to
secure at once, and said I would call in a few days
for the stock. I did
call, and was told the notary had been here and the
transfer had been
legally made. Wegg said he would get the stock from
the cupboard and
hand it to me; but we both forgot it at that time.
After his death I
could not find it, for it was in the secret drawer."
"Another thing, sir," said Uncle John. "If neither
Wegg nor Thompson was
then interested in the Almaquo property, why did the
news of its
destruction by fire shock them so greatly that the
result was Captain
Wegg's death?"
"I see it will be necessary for me to explain to you
more fully,"
returned West, with a thoughtful look. "It is
evident, Mr. Merrick, from
your questions, that some of these occurrences seem
suspicious to a
stranger, and perhaps you are not so much to be
blamed as, in my
annoyance and indignation, I have imagined."
"I would like the matter cleared up for the sake of
Ethel and Joe," said
Mr. Merrick, simply.
"And so would I," declared the hardware dealer. "You
must know, sir,
that Will Thompson was the one who first led Captain
Wegg into investing
his money. I think the Captain did it merely to
please Will, for at that
time he had become so indifferent to worldly affairs
that he took no
interest in anything beyond a mild wish to provide
for his son's future.
But Thompson was erratic in judgment, so Wegg used
to bring their
matters to me to decide upon. I always advised them
as honestly as I was
able. At the time I secured an option on the Almaquo
tract, and wanted
them to join me, Will Thompson had found another lot
of timber, but
located in an out-of-the-way corner, which he urged
the Captain to join
him in buying. Wegg brought the matter to me, as
usual, and I pointed
out that my proposed contract with the Pierce-Lane
Lumber Company would
assure our making a handsome profit at Almaquo,
while Thompson had no
one in view to cut the other tract. Indeed, it was
far away from any
railroad. Wegg saw the force of my argument, and
insisted that Thompson
abandon his idea and accept my proposition. Together
we bought the
property, having formed a stock company, and the
contract for cutting
the timber was also secured. Things were looking
bright for us and
royalty payments would soon be coming in.
"Then, to my amazement, Wegg came to me and wanted
to sell out their
interests. He said Thompson had always been
dissatisfied because they
had not bought the other tract of timber, and that
the worry and
disappointment was affecting his friend's mind. He
was personally
satisfied that my investment was the best, but, in
order to sooth old
Will and prevent his mind from giving way, Wegg
wanted to withdraw and
purchase the other tract.
"I knew there was a fortune in Almaquo, so I went to
New York and
mortgaged all I possessed, discounting a lot of
notes given me by
farmers in payment for machinery, and finally
borrowing at a high rate
of interest the rest of the money I needed. In other
words I risked all
my fortune on Almaquo, and brought the money home to
pay Wegg and
Thompson for their interest. The moment they
received the payment they
invested it in the Bogue tract--"
"Hold on!" cried Uncle John. "What tract did you
say?"
"The Bogue timber tract, sir. It lies--"
"I know where it lies. Our company has been a whole
year trying to find
out who owned it."
"Wegg and Thompson bought it. I was angry at the
time, because their
withdrawal had driven me into a tight corner to
protect my investment,
and I told them they would bitterly regret their
action. I think Wegg
agreed with me, but Will Thompson was still
stubborn.
"Then came the news of the fire at Almaquo. It was a
false report, I
afterward learned, but at that time I believed the
newspapers, and the
blow almost deprived me of reason. In my excitement
I rushed over to
Wegg's farm and found the two men together,
whereupon I told them I
was ruined.
"The news affected them powerfully because they had
just saved
themselves from a like ruin, they thought. Wegg was
also a sympathetic
man, in spite of his reserve. His old heart trouble
suddenly came upon
him, aggravated by the excitement of the hour, and
he died with scarcely
a moan. Thompson, whose reason was tottering long
before this, became
violently insane at witnessing his friend's death,
and has never since
recovered. That is all I am able to tell you, sir."
"The Bogue tract," said Uncle John, slowly, "is
worth far more than the
Almaquo. Old Will Thompson was sane enough when
insisting on that
investment. But where is the stock, or deed, to show
they bought that
property?"
"I do not know, sir. I only know they told me they
had effected the
purchase."
"Pardon me," said the Major. "Have you not been
through this cupboard
before?"
West looked at him with a frown.
"Yes; in a search for my own stock," he said. "But I
found neither that
nor any deed to the Bogue property. I am not a
thief, Major Doyle."
"You stole the keys, though," said Louise,
pointedly.
"I did not even do that," said West. "On the day of
the funeral Joe
carelessly left them lying upon a table, so I
slipped them into my
pocket. When I thought of them again Joe had gone
away and I did not
know his address. I came over and searched the
cupboard unsuccessfully.
But it was not a matter of great importance at that
time if the stock
was mislaid, since there was no one to contest my
ownership of it. It
was only after Mr. Merrick accused me of robbing my
old friends and
ordered my payments stopped that I realized it was
important to me to
prove my ownership. That is why I came here today."
Again a silence fell upon the group. Said Uncle
John, finally:
"If the deed to the Bogue tract can be found, Joe
and Ethel will be
rich. I wonder what became of the paper."
No one answered, for here was another mystery.
AUNT JANE'S NIECES AT MILLVILLE
Continued....
 
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