The Morris County chronicle., 1907-09-03
CHAPTER XIII.
The Confederates.


When he once found himself
abroad and out of the reach of i'm
mediate danger, Irton had said of
John Adair that he would hold up
his head and be himself again. Nor
did it require the air of the conti-
nent to revive him. Miserable as
was his aspect as he skunk away
from Bedford Row, he seemed, like
Antaeus, to gather strength and con-
fidence with every football. He had
been in good many ugly holes, it
was true; and, what was worse, Irton
was aware, it seemed, that he had
been On the brink of one which, as
compared with the rest. was at the
bottomless pit itself. He had suf-
fered a terrible penalty for having
been so near it, the thought of which
on reconsideration, he now felt as
| sured that there was no intention
on the lawyers part to pursue the
matter to the bitter end.
This might arise, as Triton had said,
from an unwillingness to disgrace
those belonging to him, or from the
difficulty Of establishing the charge;
and if the latter the sooner he left
England, and the longer he kept
away the less likely it was to be
brought home to him. Who the wit
ness of his attempted crime could
be, Adair could make no guess, Rer-
haps there had been no witness;
though the suspicion against him
| must have been strong indeed to
have induced the invention of such
testimony. But it was evidently re-
solved by his enemies (as he termed
! those whom he had wronged and
ruined) that he should either fly the
country or make acquaintance with
| the dock of a criminal court; and
there was no hesitation on his part
which to choose. He had already
been contemplating fight on other
grounds; and should he be arrested,
no matter on what charge, his seizure
would be the signal for half dozen
other prosecutions. He had long
been prescient OF this evil day, which
nothing but the success of the San
Sobrano scheme, which had come to
the ground with crash that could
4 not be stifled, could have STAYED off,
and had made his arrangements ac-
cordingly.
AS even small income can be
made to go good way if we are
deaf to the claims of others, and
spend every penny Of it upon our.
selves, SO even among the ruins of
failure there is money to be picked
up by the INSCRIPTIONS; and Adair,
as the lawyer had foreseen, had
feathered his nest pretty completely,
or, in other words, had laid his hands
upon everything that could be real
lied and turned into portable prop
erty. Whenever he touched that
breast pocket of his he experienced
a pleasurable glow which with some
people is the substitute for all gem
erous emotions--the consciousness
of the possession of capital. For all
that had come and gone, he still had
q complacent confidence in his own
natural abilities. Backed by the ex-
perience of the last five years -
which, though acquired at great cost,
had nevertheless been paid for by
other peoples money--he felt him
self capable of great commercial en-
a terprises. These, however, would be
of different kind from those with
which he had hitherto been connect
!, ed. and which had failed (as he per-
suaded himself) by the pusillanim-
ity and want Of enterprise of others.
HE amn hand and hrajn ShnuId for
} the future direct them; and, in par
ticular, he would take care to sepa-
rate himself completely from these
coadiutors. or rather confederates,
. with whom perforce he had of late
! consorted. He would put them to
one more use, and then have done
J with them.
1t was in company with one of
} these the man Dawson that he
! was about to isave England that
} very evening: and by him all ar
rangements had been made for that
purpose. Dawson was not only
, aware chat Sophy and the child were
going with Adair. but had suggested
their doing So He knew all their
circumstances. and had pointed out
Z how important it was to Adair's flu
: ture prospects Tin which Mr.. Daw-
son fiattered himself he would have
some share) that he should keep his
! wife and his daughter (whom he
, pIayFully termed the goose and the
} gosling with the golden eggs) under
his own eye.