Mr. Cartwright

“ Cartwright opened his mouth and stared at the admiral in surprise. Then he began to imagine he understood. Sir Richard Dunn had evidently been somewhere on the night of his disappearance which would not suit him to have known.
"Ah, I see," said Cartwright, with a subtle smile.
"I've my own notions as to the brand of justice dispensed in this State, Mr. Cartwright. It is considerably milder than the native liquors. I want your assistance in doing without the law, and in administering justice myself. Have you any notion of the gentleman who shipped me in the California?" ”

“ Mr. Cartwright shouted. “Coming!” As he ran across the lawn, closely followed by Jones, he snatched a heavy coil of rope left by the workmen who had been swinging hammocks and arranging for Mrs. Cartwright’s outdoor bazaar.
“Call again, if you can,” Mr. Cartwright 163 yelled. Faintly, a voice seemed to come up out of the earth. “Help, help! Oh, please!”
Mr. Cartwright caught the direction of the voice, and ran along the cliffs. In a moment he espied the fallen bridge and guessed what had happened; then he and Jones saw the two girls in their perilous position. ”

“ Cartwright was such a pious man, and likely to do so much good in the neighbourhood. Among all these, the Fancy Fair announced to be held there on the 12th of July, created a lively interest. All the world determined to attend; and half the world gave themselves up to the making of pincushions and pen-wipers with as much zeal as if the entire remnant of the Jewish people, as well as the whole population of Fababo, were to be converted thereby.
The mansion and grounds of Mr. Cartwright's residence began to give note of very great and splendid preparation for this serious fête. ”

“ But Miss Cartwright was occupied by a volume of engravings which lay before her, and Rosalind left the room without having met her eye.
It is impossible to imagine a demeanour or address more perfectly gentlemanlike and respectful than those of Mr. Cartwright as he walked across the room to receive Miss Torrington. Strong as her feelings were against him, this still produced some effect ”

“ A man who could make my governess laugh was a man capable of anything. Going to the end of the room, he took a figure of a boy in a Tam o' Shanter cap out of his bag, and, setting it upon his knee, started absolutely the best entertainment I have seen in the whole course of my existence. We all rested on the floor; my mother stood near the doorway, but I was too much interested in Mr. Cartwright's performance to pay attention to her. ”

“ It was then that the Vicar of Wrexhill remembered his cousin Stephen. And it was then that Fanny Mowbray, looking round the room in which the whole family was assembled, said, "Where is Helen?"
This question, which, as it seemed, no one could answer, and the recollection of his library guest, coming at one and the same moment across him, made Mr. Cartwright start. Poor man! He was most heartily fatigued and worn out by the honours, glories, and hospitalities of the day, and wished for nothing on earth so much as soda-water and a bed-room bougie. ”

“ Cartwright was the owner of a factory called Rawfolds, in Liversedge, not beyond the distance of a walk from Roe Head. He had dared to employ machinery for the dressing of woollen cloth, which was an unpopular measure in 1812, when many other circumstances conspired to make the condition of the mill-hands unbearable from the pressure of starvation and misery. Mr. Cartwright was a very remarkable man, having, as I have been told, some foreign blood in him, the traces of which were very apparent in his tall figure, dark eyes and complexion, and singular, though gentlemanly bearing. ”

“ I remarked that this showed how popular he was in society; my mother gave a word approving businesslike habits. It seemed exactly like Mr. Cartwright that he should arrive in the cab at the precise hour arranged.
“Had a good journey?” I cried, running to him in the hall as he was getting out of his thick overcoat. “I was afraid, somehow, that you’d back out of it at the last moment.”
“Never disappoint the public,” he replied cheerfully. “Sometimes I disappoint myself, but that is another matter.”
p. 6I asked what he had in his large bag. ”

“ When at length it appeared evident that every middle-aged lady for ten miles round had, for some excellent good reason or other, declined the office, Mr. Cartwright proposed that gentlemen, instead of ladies, should perform it. But to this Miss Charlotte Richards, who happened to be present when the difficulty was discussed, entered a violent protest, declaring that she was quite sure, if such a measure were resorted to, not one hundredth part of the goods would be sold. ”

“ The captain looked round and his eyes fell upon Mrs. Cartwright. “D’ ye think ye could get some change of clothes for the young lady, some clothes to take away with her, mistress?” said he. “She can’t go away from home for a month or so without a change of clothes to wear. You can see that for yourself.”
“Shall I go, Edward?” said Mrs. Cartwright.
Mr. Cartwright groaned. “You’ll have to go, Polly,” he said; “there ‘s nothing else to do. But, oh, you villains, mark my words! You’ll hang for this, every mother’s son of you!”
“Why, I like your spirit, Mr. Tobacco-Planter,” said the pirate captain ”

“ Cartwright. "Most of those manuals are written from the point of view of the man. That's where they fall short. I should make the Girl herself do the advising. I should let her give the 'pointers,' as Mr. Awdas calls them. I should divide them into little chapters: 'Of Proposing,' 'Of Presents,' 'Of In-Laws,' 'Of Caresses'——"
"'Of Caresses,'" took up Captain Ross, with another laugh, "is going to get you banned by the libraries."
"Not it. I," said Mrs. Cartwright, knitting, "shall not treat the subject in—in that way." ”

“ The tall, obsequious curate, who hardly dared to say his soul was his own, though he freely took upon himself to pronounce the destiny of other people's, bent before him, lower than mortal ever need bend to mortal; and he was rewarded for it by being permitted to aspire to the hand of the only daughter of Mr. Cartwright, of Cartwright Park. ”

“ John P. Sant, captain of the Harvester, now lying in the bay and sailing the day after to-morrow, I can arrange it."
But both the postscripts were written on separate pieces of paper. Mr. Cartwright was not chief of police in a land of justice for nothing. He knew his way about. ”

“ Bangs on the front door and rings bell. Head of old Mr. Cartwright at first-floor window:
“Who the devil’s that?”
“It’s me. Where’s Tom?”
“Tom! Haven’t seen him for weeks!”
“Good God! Let me in.”
Cartwright family aroused. Panic. Fainting scene in drawing-room. Brandy, smelling-salts and eau-de-cologne. Young George Cartwright mounts his bicycle—rides to the police-station; on the way talks to policeman on point duty. No, no one heard anything of a thin man with a snuff-colored mustache. At police-station, no accidents so far reported. Chief inspector will make a note and await developments. ”

“ By universal consent he was called "The Father of Parliamentary Reform."
Mr. Cartwright was born in 1740. He entered the navy as a midshipman, saw a great deal of hard fighting, reached the post of first lieutenant, became distinguished for his science and [148] skill in the service, and at the age of thirty-four abandoned the seas, and turned his mind to politics. In 1774, he published Letters on American Independence, addressed to the House of Commons, in which he took radical ground in favor of the rights of the Colonies. ”

“ Señor Brigot lived in some style for a man who was on the verge of ruin. He had a small house at Maisons Lafitte and a flat on the Boulevard Webber. He was a heavy, tired-looking man, with a dark moustache, obviously dyed, and a short beard, bearing evidence of the same attention. M. Brigot, like Mr. Cartwright, had many interests; but his chief interests were his own tastes and predilections. It was Señor Brigot’s boast that, although he had lived for twenty years in Paris, he had never seen Paris between the hours of six in the morning and one in the afternoon. ”

“ Effingham.”
“An appointment with Mr. Effingham! Oh, Francis!”
“Cartwright’s letter was what did it. Cartwright says Effingham is the kind of a fellow who either likes you or doesn’t like you, straight off the bat. I tell you, I think a lot of Cartwright’s writing all the way from Chicago about this, taking so much pains for a man that’s almost a stranger to him.”
“Oh, you never do anything for people yourself!” said his wife sarcastically.
“I never did anything for Cartwright—except put his wife once on the right train,” said Mr. Townsend. “Now, what’s the matter with these trousers?” ”

“ He had good reason to know Solomon Brothers, who had taken a large block of shares in his new syndicate.
“I have just had a telegram from Solomon Brothers,” said Señor Brigot, speaking slowly, “and they ask me to give them the date when my property was transferred to your syndicate. They tell me it is included in your properties which you have floated. You know best, Mr. Cartwright, whether my little mine is worth half a million English pounds to you—especially if I put a date agreeable to you.” ”

“ Secrets the human race never has suspected. Remaking the human civilization almost overnight."
"And you," said West, "right at the center, pulling all the strings."
"So," said Cartwright.
"I want a few to pull myself."
Nevin held up his hand. "Just a minute, Mr. West. We would like to know just how—"
Cartwright laughed at him. "Forget it, Louis. He knew about your painting. He had Annabelle. Where do you suppose he found out?"
"But—but—" said Nevin.
"Maybe he didn't use a painting," Cartwright declared. "Maybe he used other methods. After all, there are others, you know. ”

“ He raised his eyebrows to the unexpected apparition of Cartwright. “What are you doing here?”
“I have come to see my friend,” said Cartwright, “Miss O’Grady.”
“It is forbidden to enter the theatre through the saloon of artistes,” said the small man pompously. “If Miss O’Grady is your friend, you must wait for her until the performance is over.”
Cartwright took no notice. He was a tall man of athletic build and shouldering his way past the others with no difficulty, he tapped on the panel. ”

“ Did she ask for me?"
"No, Charles: nor for me either!"
"And where on earth is she gone?"
"No one in the house has the remotest idea: it is impossible even to guess. But she has taken Fanny and Curtis with her."
"When did she set out?"
"While Rosalind and I were eating our miserable melancholy dinner. Mr. Cartwright, I find, called after you went, and was shown, as usual, to her dressing-room; but he did not stay, Thomas says, above half an hour, for he both let him in and out. Soon after he went away, Fanny was sent for ”

“ Although it was not generally known that he was associated in any of Cartwright’s enterprises, there had been a whisper of an inquiry in influential quarters, and it had been hinted to him that, on the whole, it would be better if he kept himself aloof from the gentleman who, admirable business man as he was, had a passion for enterprises which occasionally verged upon the illegal. ”

“ He had not searched long before he came upon a small package of newspaper cuttings, bound about by a rubber band. He read them at first without interest, and then without comprehension. There was one cutting, however, which had been clipped from its context, which seemed to tell the whole story of the rest. It ran:
“When Cartwright stood up for sentence he did not seem to be greatly troubled by his serious position. As the words ‘twenty years’ passed Mr. Justice Maxell’s lips, he fell back as if he had been shot. Then, springing to the edge of the dock, he hurled an epithet at his lordship. ”

“ The other business doesn’t seem decent——”
“Ten thousand pounds!” murmured Cartwright.
“It is a lot,” agreed the girl, “but how am I coming out of this business? I come out hopelessly compromised.”
Cartwright shrugged his shoulders with a deprecating smile.
“My dear girl——” he began.
“Wait a moment,” she said quietly; “let’s have a clear understanding. You don’t expect me to walk up to Señor Brigot the first time I meet him, or even the second, and say: ‘You’ve a very nice property. What will you sell it for?’ That is not the kind of transaction you expect me to conduct, is it?” ”

“ Cartwright was a rich man, accounted a millionaire by his friends; but he was that type of millionaire who was never at a loss for a thousand, but who was generally hard up for ten thousand. He came to London much against his will, in response to an urgent telegram, and, having cleared the difficulties which his subordinates had found insuperable, he had a few hours to attend to his private affairs before he took the train back to Paris. ”

“ Cartwright picked up the bill.
“T. A. C. Anderson,” he read. “What does T. A. C. stand for—‘Take A Chance’?”
“I understood he was named after you—Timothy Alfred Cartwright,” said the secretary.
“Yes; of course,” Cartwright grinned. “Still, Take A Chance isn’t a bad name for a kid. When is he arriving?” ”

“ I’ve an idea in the back of my mind that the matter is a much bigger one for you than you’ve told me.”
“How big do you imagine?” bantered Cartwright.
“I think it is big enough to ruin you,” said the girl calmly, “and that you’d be willing to pay any price to get this property. Otherwise, you’d go to the man or send your lawyer in the ordinary way. Now, I don’t want your ten thousand pounds, but I’m going to make a proposition to you. I’ve said I like you and that’s no more than the truth. You told me you were a bachelor and I’ve told you that I’m man-free and heart-free. ”