Mr. Bolton

“ He glanced at some books on the table, and at one or two in the book-shelves, and was struck at finding them to be nearly all confined to two classes—voyages and travels, and Italian books, the latter almost all bearing some reference to Dante, or to Dante’s great poem.
‘Odd!’ thought Jerome, and as he thought it, the door was opened, and Mr. Bolton entered.
A man of medium height, and of moderate proportions, with a round, obstinate-looking head, dark complexion, brown eyes, a mouth with a protruding under-lip, and an all-pervading expression of shrewdness, and strong, powerful common-sense. ”

“ His deserved popularity had already acquired such a height, that the nation might be said to participate in his sufferings; and he received the most consoling civilities from the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Clarence, and other illustrious and noble characters. Friends flocked around him. His worthy relatives hastened to attend and console him, from the country; and Mr. Bolton, in particular, was his constant companion. ”

“ I want Mr. Davis, who, as you know, is something of a physician to take a look at Miss Lightfoot. Chief Osceola says she’s been drugged. They are in the car ahead with Mr. Dixon. Believe me, Mr. Bolton, when I say that I’ve never seen a finer piece of sheer grit and nerve than the way you brought the young lady down that rusty lightning rod.”
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Bill shook his head. “We really ought to have waited for you chaps before we tackled that bunch in the house. ”

“ Jerome had been standing in one of the windows. At Mr. Bolton’s suggestion he took a chair, and a feeling curiously akin to mortification began to steal over him. Mr. Bolton was so very evidently the master-spirit here. Wellfield felt himself so entirely reduced to the level of a stranger—a mere [235] casual caller, in his old home, that at first he could hardly speak. ”

“ Bolton took off his pin, wrapped it in a little piece of paper, and thrust it into one corner of the valise, then locked it and handed the key to Tom. Then he turned and walked out.
"Mr. Bolton," said Tom, hurrying after him, "I never can repay——"
"Oh, yes, you can. Whenever you meet a fellow that is hard up, and you can afford it, just hand him a dollar or two, and that will make it all right. Now, be careful of yourself on the way up. You'll find some lawless men there who won't hesitate to take the last cent you've got. Remember me to Black Dan, and don't forget what I have told you. ”

“ Straight down de road—dat’s de way.”
Forced to obey, the Boltons took up their suitcases again and continued along the dusty highway, but this time accompanied by an armed rear guard.
“We’re arriving in style, anyway, with an armed guard,” Bill muttered to his father. “What sort of a dump do you suppose we’ve crashed into?”
Mr. Bolton, whose face was crimson with annoyance, shot a glance of reproof at the tall, broad-shouldered young fellow at his side.
“Whatever it is, you’ll only make things worse by trying to heckle these people. The men behind are quite evidently underlings. ”

“ Bolton’s confidential conversation of the night before with John Leyburn, he might have felt the distinction less flattering. John and Mr. Bolton had agreed that a great change had come over Nita, and both of them, though they did not openly speak it out, and confess it, owned tacitly that they considered that change had been brought about by her feelings for Jerome Wellfield. And Mr. Bolton had said:
‘He’ll never be any great shakes as a man of business, but it seems to me that it is safe enough to put the management of his own–what used [Pg 38] to be his own–place into his hands. ”

“ I know that your father is a wealthy man—very wealthy—but millions of dollars are not to be despised by anyone. There are very big things at stake, Bolton, very big indeed.”
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He leaned forward, his eyes fixed on Bill’s, the smoke from his cigarette curling up between them like a banner. “Well? Don’t misunderstand me, Bolton. I don’t mean that you’re to leave Mr. Evans. Oh, not at all. No need for you to have a row with him or anything of the sort. No, no, you can go on exactly as you are doing. Carry out whatever he has sent you here to do. ”

“ Bill told him, and ended by stating his worries concerning his father.
“Martinengo probably means to get money out of Mr. Bolton before shipping him over here. He’ll never let him go free, no matter what he may promise. If the secret of Shell Island ever leaks out, it means an end to Martinengo’s profits here.”
“Were you taken on the Island?”
Osceola laughed contemptuously. “I was a fool, Bolton. My ambition since I was a small boy has been to do something for my people. Once we were great warriors, today we are a degenerate, ignorant race. ”

“ While Jake dragged the dead man through the doorway beyond the card table, Slim Johnson drew out a gold case, selected a cigarette which he lighted, and filled his lungs with smoke.
“No doubt you’re shocked by the summary justice you saw meted out,” he remarked with a return of his languid air. “Treachery has its own reward in this business. I’m sorry if it disturbed you, Mr. Bolton.”
Bill did not reply. He was thinking that of all the cold-blooded murders he had ever heard of, this was certainly the worst. ”

“ Bill stared back at him and an angry devil rose within the lad. Bribery—so that was the object of his visit! And the man certainly played his cards well. He insinuated that Mr. Evans was a scoundrel, that Bill himself was being made a tool. That was bad enough, and the astuteness of his argument was apparent, but the bribery business stung young Bolton’s pride. He sprang to his feet, determined to lash out at the white, grinning face.
Sanders held up his hand, reading his purpose. “Bolton, I’m delighted. I can see you’re a good fellow. You refuse to give away your man. ”

“ Robert Bolton's regular circle of admirers and listeners are an undertaker, a greengrocer, a hairdresser, a baker, a large stomach surmounted by a man's head, and placed on the top of two particularly short legs, and a thin man in black, name, profession, and pursuit unknown, who always sits in the same position, always displays the same long, vacant face, and never opens his lips, surrounded as he is by most enthusiastic conversation, except to puff forth a volume of tobacco smoke, or give vent to a very snappy, loud, and shrill HEM! ”

“ Small (Pennybacker, Bigler and Small) came to Mr. Bolton with a piteous story of ruin in a coal operation, if he could not raise ten thousand dollars. Only ten, and he was sure of a fortune. Without it he was a beggar. Mr. Bolton had already Small's notes for a large amount in his safe, labeled "doubtful;" ”

“ This is worse than death. Mr. Harris is in great trouble. Why did I not at once sacrifice all and share his misfortunes? How noble in Gertrude to go ashore with her father. It is just like the child, for she is never happy except when she forgets self, and does for others."
Mrs. Harris sobbed as if her loved ones had been left in the tomb. Lucille tenderly held her mother's hand, and spoke comforting words: "Cheer up, mother, all will yet be well. Father can now take Mr. Searles to Harrisville."
"To see what, child—men misled and on a strike and the mills all closed down! ”

“ He held it so Bill could read it.
“Suffering cats! So you’re Ashton Sanborn—head of—”
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“Quite so. But to you and everyone else while we are on this case of the winged cartwheels, just plain ‘Mr. Davis’, if you please.” He laughed quietly at the look of genuine amazement on Bill’s face. “You see, one is never sure who may be listening, and I am fairly certain that the gentry we are dealing with have not got onto Mr. Davis yet!”
A telegraph messenger pedalled up the drive, sprang off his bicycle and ran up the steps to Bill.
“Wire for you, Mr. Bolton,” he said, handing him a yellow envelope. ”

“ Bill blurted out, and a moment later would have done anything to withdraw his words.
“Ah!” Sanders cried, “I thought so! He has been clever enough to conceal that. Exactly. So that is part of his game! Well, my young friend, it’s part of mine, too. It is nobody’s business at present but Mr. Evans’ and my own. And I tell you, there is no sacrifice I wouldn’t make to meet that man face to face, alone, for ten minutes. Look here, Bolton, to come to brass tacks, how much do you want in hard cash to tell me where Evans is at this moment?” ”

“ Bill told them the story in detail as the car bumped over the rutty road and his listeners sat silent, taking in every word.
“Jehosophat!” exploded Mr. Davis, when he had finished. “I’ve read about some of your other experiences, Bolton, but that is certainly one exciting tale! The old man with the wheezy voice is a maniac, of course, but people of that type can be exceedingly clever. In some ways, they often appear absolutely normal, too. ”

“ The man is an educated criminal. His actions prove it. Our position is certainly serious—very serious.”
“I vote we make a stab at getting out of that cell tonight,” suggested Bill. “If I can get hold of our bus or one of the other amphibians, we’ll get clear of Shell Island in short order.”
“We’ll spend the day thinking up a plan of operations,” agreed his father.
As they came into the settlement, Diego tapped Bill on the shoulder. “Come along with me, guy,” he ordered. “Not you—” he snarled at Mr. Bolton as he started to turn out of the road with his son. ”

“ In the parlour of the Green Dragon, a public-house in the immediate neighbourhood of Westminster Bridge, everybody talks politics, every evening, the great political authority being Mr. Robert Bolton, an individual who defines himself as 'a gentleman connected with the press,' which is a definition of peculiar indefiniteness. ”

“ Bolton. "Have no wine in my house? You forget my station and its duties, Mr. Warden, I must give dinner parties occasionally; I must allow beer to my servants. It is absurd. Nobody could expect me to take such a step as that."
"Listen to me," he said, earnestly, and with an authority quite at variance with his ordinary shyness. "I do not venture to hope for any other remedy. I have known men, ay, and women, who have not dared to pass close by the doors of a tavern for fear lest they should catch but the smell of it, and become brutes again in spite of themselves. ”

“ I want to add that I’m tickled to death to be working under you, Mr. Davis. All the world knows the big things you’ve put over. And just to think that when you were piloting Osceola and me up to Kolinski’s shack this morning, you probably knew a lot more than we did about the winged cartwheels!”
Mr. Davis made a gesture of dissent. “That’s where you’re wrong, Bolton. Until you told the story to Captain Simmonds and me in the car, I’d never heard of the emblems nor of the organization they represent.” ”

“ Bolton began, but Curtis interrupted him.
“The boy is safe—I will tell you that much,” he said; “but for reasons which you can guess, I think it better that he should be out of New York. When the proper time comes, and all is safe, he may come back, but not in time to help you in your cunning plans, Mr. Tim Bolton.”
“Then, I suppose,” said Bolton, assuming an air of mortification and discomfiture, “it is no use for me to remain here any longer.”
“You are quite right. I wish you a pleasant journey home. Give my love to Florence when you see her.”
“That man is a fiend!” ”

“ I love this old man for his good humour and good sense; and, more than for either, because his sallies excessively diverted the invalid left in my charge by the rest of the party, who had gone to return a visit at some distance from Marsden, and who came back before Mr. Bolton had taken his departure.
Mr. Johnson went first, and when he had made his bow, my uncle asked whether his father, [62] Sir Thomas Johnson, were not a very rich man.
“Yes,” replied Mr. Bolton, “he is called by courtesy a rich man. He has an immense extent of property, which gives him considerable influence ”

“ That old bird, if he is really an old man, as you guessed from his voice, may appear to be a solid and possibly useful citizen, to the majority of his friends and associates. But he’s cracked, just the same—mad as a March hare on one subject—I’ll stake my oath on it!”
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“And when we know what that one thing is,” chimed in Captain Simmonds, “We’ll be a long way ahead in solving this kidnapping. So he got away in a big Fokker! There aren’t so many of those busses around. You’d recognize his voice again, of course, Mr. Bolton?” ”

“ Harold Johnson, and you will tell him exactly where Mr. Evans is to be found. When you meet Johnson, you will nod, as I have a habit of doing, and you will say ‘Zenas,’ which happens to be my first name. You will also pass Johnson your word of honor that you will quit this game for good.”
“Stamford is a long way from here,” temporized Bill.
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“But you have an excellent plane at Parker’s, in Clayton.” Sanders laughed shortly. “This is not a lone hand I’m playing, Bolton. I have an organization behind me, and it is a thoroughly efficient one. ”

“ Bolton declares that her son was in love with Mrs. Jasher, and when he returned from Malta intended to marry her.”
“Impossible!” cried Sir Frank. “She engaged herself to Braddock.”
“But only after Bolton's death, remember.”
Don Pedro nodded.
“That is true. But what you say, Mr. Hope, proves the truth of Hervey's theory.”
“In what way?”
“Mrs. Jasher, as we know from what Random told us, wanted money. She would not marry a man who was poor. Bolton was poor, but of course the emeralds would make him wealthy, as they are of immense value. ”

“ Bolton had serious fore- bodings, and before sunrise, on the morning after the letter had been read, was on her way back to Switzerland alone. She found her husband attending to liis accustomed duties, when she reached Geneva, but his health was not fully i-estored. In the spring of 1858 he returned with Mrs. Bolton to Indianapolisj His family and friends enter- tained strong hope that, in the climate to which he had neai'ly all his life been accus- tomed, he would regain his health. The hope was vain. He died, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, on the twenty-sixth of November, 1858. Mr. ”