"co."

CHAPTEE I. " Dart, Maitlund, Dart & Co." So the name stood ixpo t brass plate , ; and m thesp, 8ftffie8 hft the business of the bank efeLt ptuden,y and profltably condur foj, ftg manj. years as the majori(y of the inhabitunts of HighborogJi ÖOuid recall Traue pftnics had laid -waste many CJiother long-established firm ; bankruptcy had swooped unexpectedly upon many a house where wealth had seemed as liniitless as here ; but the bank of Messrs. Dart, Maitland, Dart &■ Co. heldits head high above all treacberous waters, and stood unmoved and utterly ecure aiter the heaviest gales had )assed. The name of the firm was a passport f trust and relianoe, as well aaa prompt ntroduction to the first society oí the ountry ; and the present repreeentatives were these ; Maurice Dart, the sisnior jartner, a handsome man of 50 years, whoimagined the wishes, the Weaknesses nd the hopes peculiar to other men ould not move hirn now ; and Walter Vlaitland, both in appearance and monner, a strong contrast to his seuior partier. Though but ten years younger, he ooked nearer 30 than 40, and the frankness of his blue eyes, and the gay words o prompt upon his lips, seemed doubly rank and doubly gay, contrasted with lis senior's reticence and gravity. The jiird partner was one in name alone. lis fathers death had left him a rich hare in the bank, but his only intercourse with it was the polite periodical acknowledgment qf its having swept away the debts which were the worst enemies he had had to iight since he entered the army. About the "Co." there was of course that vagueness which is inseparable i'rom .he cognomen. In the outer world it was supposed that an unlimitcd number of people had invested their savings or ,heir patrimony on purpose to be conidered"of the firm." But among the lerks only one oase was known with certainty. He was neither the oldest nor the most experienced, though the most cheerful, perhaps, and the most industrious. He had deposited in the firm the sum which his father, through a forty years' course of valued and profitable managership, had accumulated to bequeath to him; and so, being enabled to draw what doubled his salary as cJerk, Torn Leslie looked upon himself as a partner of no mean order, and built lof ty castles f or a time when his name should stand upon the brass plate otherwise than as " Co." Cheerfully and constantly he erected these edifices; but to attempt to lay their foundations on terra firma, either by saving or speculating, never entered Tom's liead. With ras mother - a little old lady, as hopeful and cheerful, and trustful as he was himself - Torn lived in a pretty white cottage beyond the town, and here he had flowers all the year round, and birds, that sang in the gloomiest weatlier, and a piano on which he was no mean performer. And as regularly as Saturday morning came around i'om, taking his hat, would say in the most natural nianner: " I think we should like a couple of the younger fellows out to diuner to-morrow - shouldn't we, mother ? Their salaries are not like mine, and things are dear, you say." True, their salaries were uot like his, but then he would not have the sniiill, bright house, nor the sniall, bright mother, denied any comfort he could think of, and so there was never one penny of Tom's salary left when the year was up. Once or twice Mrs. Leslie would inquire ruefully where her sou picked up the dinnerless clerks whom he delighted to bring home to supper - or, as he always called it, " to a Httle music." But her genial hospitality was, after all, as prompt as his ; and so, though she kept the accounts, there wiis, as I said, nevir a penny of Tom's salary left when the year was up. " He thinks that that L400 a year oí liis is a King's revenue," thought Mrs. Leslie, one Saturday morning, watching her son cross the road, drop his gift into the expectant hand of the crossing-sweeper, and turn at the corner to nod to her.. "He will soon expect me to adopt a few young men whose salaries are loss than his owb. If he liad but inherited his father's saving nature !" She tned to regret this dolefully; but, after all, she coald not help the warmth of perfect satisl'aetion filling her eyes. Even his practical father had rejoiced that his nature was hifi mother's froni the time that nature began to assert iteelf in little Torn-" Little Torn " then to hisparents; "Little Torn Leslie" afterward among his schoolfellows ; "Little Leslie" now among his f ellowclerks. On this particular Saturday morning, as he walked to the bank, Torn loitered a little in one street - a quiet street oi handsome private houses, before one oí which stood a couple of cabs piled with boxes. Torn waited long1 enough to bc sure that the caba bore nothing bu! luggage. Then he walked briskly on, and, entering the bank excitedly, tok bis fellow-clerks of the arrival of th( Colonel's household; and for fully fivi minutes forgot, in his excitement, tf add his genial invitation for the morrow. When the coming of tl] e regiment had b oen discussed, he turned to liïs desk, not to loiter again ttaroughout the day. An hour afterward Mr. Dart drove up, and with a quiet "good morning !" passed tlirough tlie bank to bis own private room. Here presently Mr. Maitland joined liim, ancf, standing before the fire, discnssed various items of towu news - among thein, of course, the arrival of the regiment. " Col. Oonynghamhasonly one daughter.' We must help to introduce her. Young Dart having once belonged to the regiment gives it, as it ivere, a claim upon us." " The Colonel's daughter will need bufc little introduction," remarked Maurice Dart, quietly. CHAFTER II. "Dart, Maitland, Dart & Co." The names stood unaltered on the great plate ; yet - except the sleeping partner, away in India now- each ona represented by that sign -was perfeccly tewaxe that a great alteration had been growing in himself ever since Col. Conyngham and his daughter had been living in Highborough. The strong bank walls no longer ïimited his hope &nO ambitioii. Beyond theni stood ïevealed a home of love, and case, and enashir . brightly possible ; and in this fnt-are h only mission of the good rj„ i)anlt„a to furnish the home mtli '■ "a LmW Waa staiis, w ifi the loaded blunderbuss be?,- !ÍB bed. But in his brilbantly'llted drawing-room at home, the senior partnel' sat alone - a Btriking-looking mail in his evening dress, with the hotïouse flowers fading in his coat. The room had been filled with guests up to ;his time, but now Mr. Dart sat alone sefore the fire, buried in a thought which deepened minute by minute, until the door was opened and Walter Maitlnud re-enterêd the room .he had jut lately left. " I could not help coming back," he said, beginning hurriedly to speak, as if ihe words forced themselves from him n his nervous haste. "There is one ;hing about which I must speak to you to-night - about which I have wanted to speak to you for a long time. I feel " - ie was leaning against the chimneynoce opposite bis friend, and looking vïth intense scrutiny into his quiet ace - "that ï have been dreaming a Iream which a word of yours could at his moment dispel. Teil me if it is so. 't will be a greater kindness than your silence, though the kindness is sure to e the motive of that. Teil me at once, )art. It cannot be very pleasant to you ;o see my anxiety. You are far too good a fellow to feel pleasure m that." " What am I to teil you?" inquired Maurice Dart, without meeting his comjanion's eyes, " Surely you know ! I said to myself hat when I met Isabel here in your ïouse, to-night, I would find it out if my 'eavs were well-grounded ; and if I could not discover, I would ask you for the ruth before I left. Dart ! end this wearing suspense for me. It has been growing through all these months side )j side with my love, and has become unbearable at last 1" Maurice raised his head now, and met lis companion's anxious, questioning eyes. "I am glad you have spoken, Maitland!" he said. "I have guessed at your anxiety, while I have feit my own; and I have often wished to break he silence we have held on this one point. : fancied you had something to teil me. ; fancied so but now, when I saw you ; enter the room." "Indeed, no !" exclaimed Walter, with his usual frankness. "I wish to heaven I had. I wish I dared to say that Isabel liad given me encouragement enongli to make me even hope. And I could not ask her to- to-love me while I 'elt that you knew how useless it would se." 'I do uot know," returned Dart - lis words sounding very slowly after Walter's eagérness, yet all his self-command failing to hide their new ring oí' ïope. "Isabel has never iieard a word of love from me. She is gentle and kind, ind winning nlways; HÍ I cannot rcad )eyond." " To me, too, she is bright and pleasant always," put in Maitland, rêstlessly; "and I can discover notliing more. I faneied you conld put me out of one abase of' this imcertaiüty. " "And you are vory glad to flnd I cannot," said the eider partner. And then ïeir eyes met, with a smile which was strangeiy wistful for such strong and nianly faces. " Dai-t !" said Mr. MaiÜand, "you are the eider man- the richer- the better, too. You shall speak first. Do it as soon as you can." ' ' tíeniority lias no claim in such a case as this," said the senior partner. "We can wait. " "I can wait.no longer !" put ia the yötnger man, iiiipatiently. "Anything will be botter than tuis shspense. Why on earth ahould we walt? Isabel knows us botli thoroughly, now. She knows we are both too oíd for this'love of ours to be anydiing but deeply earnest.. Sho knows enough of us and of our positkm to make her decisión easy to her. So let us know the worst, or- best. You havn the right to speak first." "I will not take it!" said Mr. Dart, speaMng more quiokly thiin he had yet done. "Lot us write. Let us wntetogetlwr." A few minutes silence, while Walter tliought this over - leaning his head on the arm which rested on the ciünineypieöe. "Let that bedecided,"urgi Maurice. "We will write to-morrow. Let her receive the two letters together, that she may think of us together. Promise me your letter shll be ready for tomorrow's post." "1 promise," said Maitland, raising his head again. " Thank you for this arrangement." CHAI'XIHl III. The fire roared and cmckled eheerily in the private room : at the bunk, but neither of the partners had arrived. "I never knew him so late," remarked Toni Loslie, as if finishing aloud a puzzling conjecture. "Who? OldDartf' "Bit. Dart, Yes." " Leslie feels it incumbent on him to uphold the dignity of his partners," put in another clerk. "His breast swelk proudly with a f'ellow-íeeling. " "What an ïdle Bef you are, this moming !" remarked Toiii, tnraing from his Jesk with the quick, kindly smile which made his face so pleasiint to look upon. "As soon as I am senior partner I shall giv(i you all a swe.eping dismissal. " The listenerslaughed,enjoying the absurdity of the idea; apd oeor two questionecl him, with luock anxiety, as to the treat he intended to stand them on the occasion. Through all the laughter Torn pursued his work, and Dart noticsd tliis Vhen he entered the bank; and though it was but very curtly that he nns'wered Tom's quiet greeting yst before lie reached the inner door lie turned and spoke to him. " Cold ontside, Leslie. Keep up good fir'js. It is hard," he muttered to himseLf, "to pass him without a word." T'üen Mr. Dart let the spring door close behind him, and, sitting down in his office chair, leaned on one arm only - as very calm men do when they are ill at ease, as well as tired. He was sitting so, looking moodily down into the fire, when Mr. Maitland entered the room. The senior partner did not turn to greet him; and, even when Walter stood upon the rug beside him, he did not venture to meet his eyes. "Maurice," began the younger man, " I suppose I may congratúlate you. 1+ is rather hard; yet ro one oiight to io j so heartily as I - I, who know what a good feUow you are, and 'llftt_what a wife you have won. " A glance of me into Ms Mends tace and th-fl Mr_ Dart spoko in few words. - was hig Cllgtom: ■ Olie has refused me, Maitland." " Refused you!" Walter repeated the words, though not incredulouBly. Only truth, he knciv, could have weighted them bo sadly. "Shehas refused me, too!" he said. " She has never cared for me but RH a friend - siinply and only as a friend," "In a few kind words to me," said Mr. Dart, without looking up, "shetold me she had given her love elsewhere. I was trying, when yoa came in, to prepare myself to teil you, ' I rejoioe in yotir happ:ness, Maitland.' And now you - you come and say the same to me." Buried in one long, sad thought, the partners in the good old firm sat in their silent room, while the work and pleasure of the world went on without. But the day's duties had to be gone through and these were not the men to shun them seliishly. "I suppose we had better settle with Leslie about his holiday," remárked Mr. Maitland that afternoon, sending to summon Toni to the partners' room. He will lose every glimpse of summer if he waits longer." "Heshould not have postponed his holiday. He had his choice. Well, Leslie, when do you wish to start ?" inquired the senior partner, when Torn entered the room. "You said about the middle of October, and this is the 20th." " Thank you, Mr. Dart; but if it would make no difference I would rather take iny holiday from the 29th." " Then 'it is to be hoped you are going on a visit," remarked Walter Maitland, pleasantly ; "for November days are not the pleasantest for a tourist." " I am not going on á tour, sir." Torn hesitated only a moment ; then both his listenere were conscious of a new earnestness in his voice ; " I should like to teil you, gentlemen, why I want my holiday then. The 29th is to be my, wedding-day." Mr. Dart retumed quietly to his writing. Mr. Maitland rose í'rom his seat and moved to the fire, turning his back to Torn. Before the eyes of both the partners there hovered a face which had led them, too, to dream of a possible wedding-day- dreams from which they had so lately been awakened. It would be hard, with these memories rising thick, to talk to theír favorito elerk of his good fortune ; yet it was not in Wnlter Maitland's nature to let any selflsh feeling prevent him. "Indeed, Leslie!" he said, "I am surprised ; but very glad, of course, to haar it. I prognosticaté every happiness for your wife. Of course I cannot do so for you until I know who she is." " You know her well, gentlemen, said Torn, flushing. " Her father, Ooi. Conyngham, is my mother's cousin. We have rarely visited them except when they were alone, because- at my mother's cottage, of course, we could not entertain their guests. We have always been- as old friends andrelatives should be ; and I have always loved Isabel. But it was necessary for us to wait a little. Though it would be difficult for you to realize the fact, gentlemen, a marriage ia an expense, and debt - - " "You can go, Leslie," remarked Mr. Dart, without raising his head. " And the holiday, sir ? " "Take your holiday when you choose ; only don't make such a ïuss bout it," "And is there hothing more you intended to say to me, Mr. Maitland '1 " inquired Torn. "Iehould say," remarked Walter, with a jealous anger in his eyes, "itis an irreparable mistake you are making to marry on your iücoine - unless you had chosen a wife in your own position and used to such a life as your mother's," "My mother's life was such a life as Isabel's, at Isabel's age," said Torn, and for a moment his face -was really handsome in its flush of honest pride ; " and Isabel has known what my mother's life is for many a year past. Would I marry her under any i'alse pretenses ?" " I presume, then, that Miss Conyngham knows the extent of your inoome ? " asked Maitlund, with compressed lips ; ' ' or have you, in your f oolery, been representing yourself as a partner in tliis bank ? Her eyes are open to the folly of what she is doing, eh?" " She knows everyüiing, sir," rejoined Toni, his eyes much puzzled, and a little angry ; " and she does not cali it folly." "You can go." The clerk left the room, closing the dooi1 quietly behind him. "They must have had haraesing letters," he said to himself, trying tp account for the p'artners' impatience. ' ' They have a good deal of anxiety which we subordinates are spared." Am thinking this, he took his seat and wrote away more diligently than ever, while his fellow-clerks wondered over his mood. " Leslie ought to go." Those were the words which at las' broke the silence of the room whicl Torn had left. "Yes." Then the day's woïk went on to it close, and the partners, BeparWbieg 01 the bank steps, went their several wtiyb thinking very longingly of one to whom both liad been faithful. This was tin first night for many months which either had spent without these bright, vague ilicams of what his home might be witl Isabel at its head; and their hearts were iilled with resentment against the winnei of the prize wlrich they had coveted "You knew this morning that she was t marry some one else - why should youi thoughts be harder now that you know who has won her?" So a voice seemec arguing with them, but below all the angry thoughts surged on. ' ' Por him to be the one to gain her - he, a paid servant in the bank !" CHAPÏJSlt IV, When Mr. Partreaohed the bank iux I morning, Wjfn nd liarapsnil '" sleepless nigíit, lie found Üiat Maitland, contrary to his usual eustom, liad arrived before him. Though tlie two friends greeted each other as usual, a most unusual silence sottled presently upon them both. Eventually the senior partner, making an effort, remarked on the coldness of the weather; and his companion, putting down a letter which lio held, answerëd leisurely. But his pleasant blue í-yes were restless and rather dim, and the moment the answer was givf n tlie silenoe wrapped them both once more. For an hour the office clock had ticked a solo in the quietness, when Walter Maitland rose slowly from his chair, with the Times unïolded in his hand, and, letting the paper fall, carne and stood upon the rug beside his friend, Vv'nn had just re-entered from the bank. Very gently he laid his hand upon his senior's shoulder. " Dart, old friend ! I want to speak a few words to you in great earnestness. Since we met yesterday morning, I have grown to feel quite certain of one thing - quite. The time has not in reality been very long, but it seemed so, and gave me plenty of opportunity for thought; and what I have grown to feel so siire of is this: I sliall never marry now." " Nor I," replied Maurice, meaning it as men do not often mean the phrase, though they utter it as firmly. "I - fancied not. Now we are both 'wealthy men, Dart," eontinued Walter, bravely and "and this wealtli we offered, a day or two ago, to Isabel Conyngham. You guess what I am going to say ? Shall she benefit by our - love for her ?" The senior partner looked up slowly, questioningly. A thought, which had been hnunting him all night, made the full meaning of these words quite plain to him, " Yes, I see you have feit this," resumed Walter, quietly, " just as I have feit it. I see that my words oüly came as an ending to your thought. Iiinderstnnd how it put itself to you._ Leslie has invested all his father's fiavings - all his as one may say- in our bank, and spends his whole days here most conscientiously, mosttrustworthily. All he draws for this cannot keep a house which we - you and I - like to picture' as Isabel'shome. Andthen hismotherhas to be provided for. You think, Dart, that it would not hurt us and could not make any difference to Capt. Dart, who has no voice in any bank matters - if Leslie had power to draw what would keep them more comfortably. In short -in short, old fellow ! you would make him equal partner with me." "With ourselves," said Mr. Dart, shortly - " with ourselves, you mean ? If we were all equal partners " "Let us discuss it this afternoon. Think it over till then, Maurice," put in Walter, feeling that the senior partner should have time to inake his decisión; "we will talk it over again." The discussion was duly held that afternooi, in the partners' private room; then Torn was summoned to hear the result of it. Though not a long interview, it was one impossible to desoribe - for how could any words show the utter failure of Mr. Dart's effort to maintain his grave reserve hrough Tom's extravagant, boyish, Immble, proud, ridiculous gratitude'? Or describe Walter Maitland's persistent (thongh alwnys disregarded) assurance that, as Mr. Dart had ecided to makt: this arrangement, he vas very glad to accede to it? And, fier that interview, who could repeat ihe limitless promises Toin made to his ellow-clerks when he told them of his narriage ? Or teil how he reached home n half his usual time, and put his aims iround lus möthér, with his oyes full of ;ears- justas if he had Won 13, instead of 30?' But, above all, who couM describe sabel's mute, wondering gratitude to ie two men whpm she had given sucli Dain ? "I am very, very grateful, Torn," si ie said appealing to him, with tears ;hick upon her lashss; "but I would ratlier not talk about it - yet. Let me uwe time to think of it." Quick to xinderstand her wish, and delcate in oarrying it out, Torn left Isabel, delighted that his news had moved her so, yet wondering over it a little, too - jecause the secret of the partners was so safe in the keeping of the girl whom ihey had - not unworthily - loved. But ïardest of all would it bc to describe how brilïiantly before Tom's eyes that night there came a visión of that identicai brass plato which renlly niet him 'aceto face when, af ter his "holidnys," ie üvst rearhed the heavy, familiar doors of tho Highborongh Bnnk - "Dart, Maitland, Dart & Leslie." " Co." was n'o more.