The Road Of Crime s-39 Page 12

  “I accept,” decided Graham.

  “Good,” returned Dowser, smiling.

  Graham Wellerton sat down and lighted a cigarette. He realized that great work lay ahead. Simultaneously, he could undo Ezra Talboy’s evil work by turning misgained millions into funds spent for philanthropic purposes.

  With the same joy, Graham knew that be could frustrate Carma’s claims for wealth. The woman did not know he was in Southwark. By the time she had located him - if that time should ever come - the wealth could be diminished by Graham’s own efforts.

  THUS did Graham Wellerton begin his new career. Instead of becoming a wanderer, he had gained tremendous wealth. Only two persons of the past could block him. One, Wolf Daggert, was a fugitive; the other, Carma Urstead, did not know what had become of Graham Wellerton.

  There were two others who knew the truth regarding Graham Wellerton. The young man thought of them as he sat alone with Harwin Dowser. Those two were Ralph Delkin and his daughter Eunice. They would never reveal what he had told them, Graham felt sure.

  Strange that Graham Wellerton forgot one other! Oddly, his mind failed to consider The Shadow. Dazed by thoughts of wealth, Graham’s brain no longer dwelt upon the unseen stranger who had saved his life the night that Ezra Talboy had been mortally wounded.

  Potentially, Graham Wellerton was a crook with millions at his disposal. Although he planned to use his wealth for good, it might reasonably be judged that he would spend the hoarded coin for evil - by any who knew his past.

  The Shadow knew Graham Wellerton’s past. The master of darkness had seen the young man’s present, here in Southwark. The Shadow, bound on other errands, had left this vicinity, but his agent, Harry Vincent, still remained, a temporary resident in the town.

  An amazing future lay ahead of Graham Wellerton - a career now on the balance point, ready to swing toward evil or good as Graham himself might decide. That fact would not escape the watchfulness of The Shadow!

  For The Shadow, master of justice, was one who remained ever vigilant. His hand was one that aided those who strove for right; his same hand was one that struck down all who favored evil.

  Well would it be for Graham Wellerton if he persisted in his determination to devote another’s misgained millions to affairs of restitution. Woe to him should he weaken in his mission.

  The Shadow knew the past; The Shadow would know the future!

  The Shadow always knows!

  CHAPTER XVIII

  THE PAST RISES

  THE next month proved an amazing one to the town of Southwark. First came the announcement of Ezra Talboy’s great wealth - a sum that far exceeded the most extravagant beliefs of those who had tried to estimate the size of the old miser’s hoard. Coupled with that was the remarkable news that Graham Wellerton had inherited the entire estate left by his uncle.

  These facts were the beginning of a new era. Even while the estate was still undergoing settlement, Graham Wellerton launched forth a campaign that was bewildering because of its Utopian qualities.

  Every worthy representative of charity that called upon Southwark’s new multimillionaire was granted a reception that was more than welcome. Every local institution found itself the recipient of a handsome gift, the greatest being a promise of half a million dollars to the County Hospital.

  More than that, the affairs of the Southwark State Bank took a strange turn. Extensions were granted to those who had received loans. Farmers whose mortgages would have been foreclosed were accorded fair treatment. In all his business dealings, Graham Wellerton showed a fairness that surpassed all belief.

  Human beings are difficult creatures to convince. Hence Graham’s open methods brought a curious medley of reactions. To many citizens of Southwark and the surrounding territory, Graham Wellerton was regarded as an idol. This was particularly true of those who had dealings - direct or indirect - with the man himself.

  There were some who openly expressed the sentiment that Graham Wellerton was a fool. This group included those who were cautious and accumulative by nature, particularly those who profited least by Graham Wellerton’s benefactions.

  Finally, there was a shrewd class which looked for a game behind it all - sophisticated individuals who saw in Graham’s prodigal philanthropy the making of a scheme which would some day have a startling development.

  Among those who admired Graham Wellerton was Sheriff Ellis Taussig. One who regarded the young man as a fool was old Justice Schuble. An individual in the group who looked for the catch was Harwin Dowser.

  None of these three expressed their thoughts. Taussig, hard-boiled and taciturn, showed his admiration by listening to the praises voiced by others. Schuble, solemn in his position as justice of the peace, said nothing. Dowser, as Graham’s attorney, did not discuss his client’s affairs.

  As weeks went by, however, Graham noticed the effect which his actions were having upon Dowser. The old lawyer had become a wise owl. Often Graham wondered what was passing in the attorney’s brain. He did not care, for he felt sure that Dowser, a man who handled the affairs of every class of society, was keeping all his thoughts to himself.

  GRAHAM saw but little of Ralph Delkin. He met the manufacturer once, in a business way. Delkin appeared at the bank, bringing the three hated notes. Graham told him to tear them up. Delkin refused. He did, however, ask for an extension.

  Graham granted it - on his own terms. He told Delkin that if he would not destroy the notes, he could keep them. Delkin promised to do this for a term of three months. Graham let it go at that.

  However, the young man kept a careful watch on Delkin’s business transactions and saw that the manufacturer was having trouble. The prosperous era for which Delkin had hoped had been delayed. Graham fancied that there would be another request for an extension at the end of the ninety days. In fact, he would not have been surprised had Delkin asked for another loan.

  Several times, Graham was on the point of offering money to the manufacturer. On each occasion he desisted. He feared that he might injure Delkin’s pride should he broach the subject of his own accord.

  It was partly the thought of Delkin that made Graham use discretion in his philanthropic transactions. He did not wish to exhaust his funds; there might be a future time when he could put money to emergency use. Moreover, Graham had reserved a large amount for a specific purpose - to restore to certain banks the funds which he had robbed.

  This, of course, Graham intended to do by proxy. In summing up the total of his depredations, Graham found that they amounted to no more than a quarter of a million dollars. Cash gained at the points of guns had often proven very disappointing in its sum.

  Graham was also conscious of the impressions which he was creating. Those people who believed him foolish and those who suspected him of hidden purposes were ones whom he intended to spike. This caused him to ease his release of cash.

  His most wary policy, however, was that of keeping all his dealings within a limited territory. Southwark was far from New York. Graham was not anxious to have reports of his wealth reach Carma Urstead, who he knew was there, nor Wolf Daggert, who might, by this time, be back in Manhattan.

  GRAHAM was living in his uncle’s old home. Among the friends whom he had made in Southwark was a young man named Harry Vincent. This chap was interested in real-estate development. He had but recently settled down in Southwark. A native of Michigan, Vincent had, however, spent much time in New York. He became a frequent visitor to Wellerton’s new home.

  Despite his wealth, despite his willingness to make amends for his past, Graham Wellerton felt that a great barrier lay between himself and Eunice Delkin. He met the girl occasionally on the street and always paused to chat with her for a few minutes. Both, however, tactfully avoided all mention of the past.

  It was bitter to be living here in Southwark and yet be forced, in justice, to avoid a girl whom he admired so greatly as he did Eunice Delkin. That was Graham Wellerton’s one sorrow. Time and again, he felt a
surge of resentment toward Carma Urstead, the adventuress who had tricked him into marriage. Graham felt that he could wipe out his criminal past; but he could never be free to seek a woman’s love while Carma still remained.

  In the periods of righteous exuberance which dominated his new life, Graham was so taken up with many affairs that he had little time to study individuals. In the midst of his mad whirl of monetary restitution, he could think only of new ways to help the community. Hence his career became a matter of easy routine, with no forebodings of approaching disaster.

  The end of the first month found Graham Wellerton completely oblivious to any thoughts of hostility on the part of other persons. His only worry concerned Ralph Delkin. Graham knew that adversity could produce strange changes in individuals; and with his knowledge that Delkin’s affairs were troublous, Graham tried in vain to think of some way that he might approach the manufacturer with an offer of financial aid.

  Hence when trouble did strike, it came with the effect of a bombshell. In one brief episode, Graham Wellerton found himself in a terrible situation which he had lulled himself into believing would be impossible.

  IT happened on an evening when Graham was at home. Harry Vincent had dropped in for a chat. The two young men were indulging in reminiscences; and both, by natural coincidence, were using discretion in their talk.

  Graham Wellerton, jocular and sophisticated, was taking great care not to mention anything that would give an inkling to his old career of crime.

  Harry Vincent, pleasant and frank in manner, was carefully avoiding any statement that might reveal him as The Shadow’s agent. Harry was just lighting his pipe when the doorbell rang.

  “Sit still, Vincent,” urged Graham. “Probably someone to see me for only a few minutes.”

  “Think I’ll be running along,” responded Harry, donning his hat and coat to accompany his host to the door.

  No one was in sight as Graham opened the door. Harry stepped out upon the porch. Graham saw him tip his hat as a figure moved in from the side. Harry kept on; Graham stepped back as a woman entered.

  Had Graham Wellerton looked beyond this visitor, he would have seen Harry Vincent step to the side of the path and wait. But Graham had no thought of what might be happening outside. Harry Vincent had passed completely from his mind. Totally dazed, Graham was closing the door and was staring in consternation at the face of the feminine visitor who had come to see him.

  All the misery of the past seemed suddenly hoisted upon Graham Wellerton’s shoulders.

  The woman who had entered his home was Carma!

  CHAPTER XIX

  THE DEMAND

  To Graham Wellerton’s dazed eyes, Carma’s painted face was a sneering mask. The young man stood stock-still as the woman strolled past him, entered the living room and settled herself in a comfortable chair. Despairingly, Graham followed. Carma greeted him with a coarse laugh.

  “Not glad to see your long-lost wife, eh?” the woman jeered. “Thought you’d double-crossed me, big boy?”

  “When it comes to double-crossing,” returned Graham huskily, “you are the real artist.”

  Carma took the words as a compliment. She tilted back her head and laughed. She lighted a cigarette, then eyed Graham with a cold glare of malice.

  “You’re worth a lot of dough, aren’t you?” questioned the woman.

  “That’s my affair,” retorted Graham.

  “Spending it pretty free, I hear,” was Carma’s remark. “Doing nice things around this place. Gone goody-goody, haven’t you?”

  Graham made no reply.

  “Well” - Carma’s tone became scoffing - “you can spend it the way you want - provided I get my share. I’m giving you a break. Pay me off and we’re quits.”

  Graham maintained his silence.

  “Fifty-fifty,” Carma kept talking. “That’s on the original amount. Get the idea, big boy?”

  “Your demands are moderate, aren’t they?” quizzed Graham, in a sarcastic tone.

  “They are,” agreed Carma. “That’s not all gravy - by a long shot. I’m not the only one who is coming in for a big profit.”

  “You mean -“

  “That this may be a hick town, but there’s people here who know their onions. Get that? Flatter yourself, old bean - you fooled me right enough. I’d never have looked for you here, but someone sent for me.”

  “Someone in Southwark?”

  “Someone in Southwark,” sneered Carma. “Laugh that off. A small-town bozo with big-town ideas.”

  “Whom do you mean?”

  “Guess for yourself.”

  “You mean - someone who learned that I was crooked? How could anyone here have landed that fact?”

  “I’m not telling all I know,” Carma laughed. “You muffed things a bit - that’s all - around the time your uncle took the bump. Thought you had good friends in this burg - people who wouldn’t get envious when they saw you throwing your cash away, like the sap you are.

  “Well, someone got ideas - and I’m not telling you how or why. The finish of the big idea was to bring me here. Little Carma has a way of getting dough - so far as you’re concerned. You’ve heard my terms. I want five million dollars.”

  “How soon?” questioned Graham sharply.

  “Pretty quick,” taunted Carma. “You’d, better start thinking about it pronto. Fix it up tomorrow. Then you can go down to see your lawyer the day after. I’m staying at the Southwark House. Carma Urstead is my name - Carma Wellerton to you.”

  “When are you coming back here?”

  “Tomorrow night.”

  “And you expect me to have all the arrangements prepared?”

  “Yes. Settle the way you’ll divide. When I show up, give me the figures. If it’s on the level, we’ll make a legal settlement the next day. You and I and the lawyer. If you don’t come through, I’ll cook you.”

  Carma rose defiantly. She strode toward the door of the room. Graham followed her. At the front door, he put a short, abrupt question:

  “Who told you I was here in Southwark?” demanded Graham. “Who looked you up in New York?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” returned the woman. “You’ve got a noodle. Use it. The more you think, the more you’ll know it’s pay up. It won’t do you any good to argue with the man who brought me here. He has you tied up - and he knows everything. It’s curtains, big boy.”

  Carma turned and opened the door. As she walked defiantly from the porch, Graham Wellerton slammed the door. He paced back and forth, fuming. Malice dominated his thoughts. All his past resentment toward the world surged violently through his brain.

  As he pondered over Carma’s words, Graham became enraged. He noted that it was not quite eleven o’clock. Seizing his hat and coat, he stormed from the front door, rounded the bank building and strode in the direction of Ralph Delkin’s home.

  In his fury, Graham, did not notice a coupe parked near his house. The car rolled silently along the street after Graham had disappeared from view. When the young man neared Delkin’s home, the car was on that street, its lights extinguished. Harry Vincent was watching from a distance.

  Lights were showing in Delkin’s living-room windows. Graham rapped at the door. Eunice opened it. Staring beyond the girl, Graham, saw Ralph Delkin.

  Without a word to Eunice, the young man strode forward to encounter the manufacturer. Delkin arose from his chair and stood in surprise as he faced the intruder.

  “What is the matter, Graham?” he questioned.

  “The matter!” Graham looked at Delkin, then at Eunice, who had entered the room. “I’ve been double-crossed - that’s all. Misplaced confidence.”

  “What has happened?”

  There was a peevishness in Delkin’s tone. The man seemed worried and Graham took it as a sign of guilt. In cold, scoffing terms, he broke loose with an outpour of indignation.

  “My wife is in town,” he asserted. “She has come here to demand money. She told me how she discove
red where I was. Someone in Southwark sent for her.”

  “Someone in Southwark!” echoed Delkin feebly.

  “Someone who has learned about my past,” declared Graham. “Someone who has seen a way to make me pay out millions. It’s blackmail, of the meanest kind.”

  “This is most unfortunate,” observed Delkin.

  “For me, yes,” sneered Graham. “But not for the man who is to profit by his treachery. Someone has squealed - and there’s only one man in Southwark who knows the facts about me - only one to whom I have revealed my past life.”

  “You are accusing me?” queried Delkin harshly.

  “No,” scoffed Graham. “You are accusing yourself. I was right when I was crooked. I trusted no one then. I refused your friendship because I suspected everyone who ever pretended to be my friend. You’re no worse than a lot of others, Delkin, but you’re no better. Carma put me wise without realizing it. You’re the one who framed this game!”

  “Get out of my house!” ordered Delkin indignantly. “Get out, before I call the police!”

  “You won’t call anyone,” retorted Graham. “You’re playing too big a game -“

  “Graham!” It was Eunice who interrupted. “You know well that my father would not betray you. You must not talk this way!”

  Graham paid no attention to the girl’s words. Face to face with Ralph Delkin, he poured out his contempt of the man whom he had branded as a traitor.

  “I told you to destroy those notes,” declared Graham. “You refused. Why? I’ll tell you. Because they were made out to my uncle; because they bore dates that will stand as proof of the robbery I committed. Where are the notes now?”

  “At the factory,” asserted Delkin.

  “I want them,” said Graham. “At once.”

  “You will not get them by demand,” returned Delkin. “Wait until you have come to your senses. This is outrageous -“

  “So you’re keeping them, eh?” jeered Graham. “Well - go ahead. They don’t matter. Carma is your trump card. She’s here - to make me pay. I know your financial situation, Delkin. I’ve been ready to offer you aid should you request it.