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father," she said. "You have managed to deceive him into believing
that
you are what you claim to be. Mr. Bince has known from the start that
you are incompetent and incapable of accomplishing the results
father
thinks you are accomplishing. Now that you know that I know you to
be an
impostor, what do you intend to do?"
"I intend to keep right on with my work in the plant, Miss Compton,"
replied Jimmy.
"How long do you suppose father would keep you after I told him
what I
know of you? Do you think that he would for a moment place the
future of
his business in the hands of an ex-waiter from Feinheimer's---that he
would let a milk-wagon driver tell him how to run his business?"
"It probably might make a difference," said Jimmy, "if he knew, but
he
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will not know--listen, Miss Compton, I have discovered some things
there that I have not even dared as yet to tell your father. The whole
future of the business may depend upon my being there during the
next
few weeks. If I wasn't sure of what I am saying I might consider
acceding to your demands rather than to embarrass you with certain
knowledge which I have."
"You refuse to leave, then?" she demanded.
"I do," he said.
"Very well," she replied; "I shall tell father when he returns to this
room just what I know of you."
"Will you tell him," asked Jimmy, "that you went to the training
quarters of a prize-fighter, or that you dined unescorted at
Feinheimer's at night and were an object of the insulting attentions of
such a notorious character as Steve Murray?"
The girl flushed. "You would tell him that?" she demanded. "Oh, of
course, I might have known that you would. It is difficult to realize
that any one dining at my father's home is not a gentleman. I had
forgotten for the moment."
"Yes," said Jimmy, "I would tell him, not from a desire to harm you,
but
because this is the only way that I can compel you to refrain from
something that would result in inestimable harm to your father."
CHAPTER XXI.
JIMMY TELLS THE TRUTH.
Mr. Compton returned to the room before Jimmy had discovered
whether
the girl intended to expose him or not. She said nothing about the
matter during dinner, and immediately thereafter she excused
herself,
leaving the two men alone.
During the conversation that ensued Jimmy discovered that Bince
had been
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using every argument at his command to induce Compton to let him
go, as
well as getting rid of the certified public accountants.
"I can't help but feel," said Compton, "that possibly there may be
some
reason in what Mr. Bince says, for he seems to feel more strongly on
this subject than almost any question that has ever arisen in the plant
wherein we differed, and it may he that I am doing wrong to
absolutely
ignore his wishes in the matter.
"As a matter of fact, Mr. Torrance, I have reached the point where I
don't particularly relish a fight, as I did in the past. I would rather
have things run along smoothly than to have this feeling of unrest and
unpleasantness that now exists in the plant. I do not say that you are
to blame for it, but the fact remains that ever since you came I have
been constantly harassed by this same unpleasant condition which
grows
worse day by day. There is no question but what you have
accomplished a
great deal for us of a practical nature, but I believe in view of Mr.
Bince's feelings in the matter that we had better terminate our
arrangement."
Jimmy suddenly noted how old and tired his employer looked. He
realized, too, that for a week he had been fighting an incipient
influenza and that doubtless his entire mental attitude was influenced
by the insidious workings of the disease, one of the marked symptoms
of
which he knew to be a feeling of despondency and mental depression,
which sapped both courage and initiative.
They were passing through the hallway from the dining-room to the
library, and as Compton concluded what was equivalent to Jimmy's
discharge, he had stopped and turned toward the younger man. They
were
standing near the entrance to the music-room in which Elizabeth
chanced
to be, so that she overheard her father's words, and not without a
smile
of satisfaction and relief.
"Mr. Compton," replied Jimmy, "no matter what you do with me, you
simply
must not let those C.P.A.'s go until they have completed their work. I
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know something of what it is going to mean to your business, but I
would
rather that the reports come from them than from me."
"What do you mean?" asked Compton.
"I didn't want to be the one to tell you," replied Jimmy. "I preferred
that the C.P.A.'s discover it, as they will within the next day or
two--you are being systematically robbed. I suspected it before I had
been there ten days, and I was absolutely sure of it at the time I
suggested you employ the C.P.A.'s. You are being robbed at the rate of
approximately one thousand dollars a week."
"How?" asked Compton.
"I would rather you would wait for the report of the C.P.A.'s,"
returned
Jimmy.
"I wish to know now," said Compton, "how I am being robbed."
Jimmy looked straight into the older man's eyes. "Through the
pay-roll," he replied.
For a full minute Compton did not speak.
"You may continue with your work in the plant," he said at last, "and
we
will keep the accountants, for a while at least. And now I am going to
ask you to excuse me. I find that I tire very quickly since I have been
threatened with influenza."
Jimmy bid his employer good night, and Mr. Compton turned into the
library as the former continued along across the hall to the entrance.
He was putting on his overcoat when Elizabeth Compton emerged
from the
music-room and approached him.
"I overheard your conversation with father." she said. "It seems to me
that you are making a deliberate attempt to cause him worry and
apprehension--you are taking advantage of his illness to frighten him
into keeping you in his employ. I should think you would be ashamed
of
yourself."
"I am sorry that you think that," said Jimmy. "If it was not for your [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]