A Man of Two Countries Part 12

"Indeed!"

"I'm thinking that it would be safe to approach him in this case of Bob's."

"Are you going to try it?" Danvers' tone continued impersonal.

The Honorable William Moore hurried on. He breathed as one having put forth more strength than was required--breathed as he had breathed when the detachment of Mounted Police rode up to the small trading-post where he had barely succeeded in concealing his smuggled whiskey. He laughed a little, threw his cigar away and put his thumbs firmly together with fingers clasped--a familiar mannerism.

"See here, Danvers! This case mustn't go against Burroughs. Bob's a good fellow. He did what any one else would have done. He wasn't looking out for Joe Hall. He did all the head-work, and at the time Joe was satisfied with the price. Of course you know that Bob's going to run for United States Senator next winter. And he's not over popular in Montana; you know how it is, moneyed interest against labor (so the common herd think), and this case has made more talk than everything else put together that Bob ever did."

"Well?" Philip's eyes had a gleam that Moore did not care to meet.

Perhaps he had been too confidential. He walked about the room, nervously, his right hand grasping the rear of his coat. At last he forced himself to say bluntly:

"If you'll go to Judge Latimer and tell him how you feel--that Burroughs is your brother-in-law--that sort of talk, and that if the case goes against Bob, Latimer'll never get re-elected to the supreme bench--oh, you know what to say. Anyway, if you'll do this you'll be twenty-five thousand dollars better off--that's all; and I tell you, you'll need the money before next winter is over if this drouth continues. Your cattle must be in bad shape now. Just tell Latimer how you feel."

"How do you know how I feel about this case?" Danvers kept himself well under control, though he felt his blood pounding.

"It isn't so much what you feel as what you say."

Philip looked at the man.

"You haven't got the money, Bill."

"Haven't I?" boasted Moore. "Look at this!" He made a quick dive inside his coat. "Three packages of twenty-five thousand each!" He exulted as he displayed the bills. "They were handed to me just before I took the train, and----"

"Bill Moore," said the cattleman curiously, "did you think for a moment that I could be purchased?"

The Honorable Mr. Moore sparred.

"Or Arthur Latimer?" continued Danvers.

"What else am I here for?" cried Moore in a rage. "Every man's got his price. Latimer's poor as a church mouse. He's got a wife like a vampire.

And as for you--I know cattle raising isn't all profit!"

"The trouble with you, Bill," said Danvers, dispa.s.sionately, "is that you judge every man by yourself. You can't understand a man like Judge Latimer--the thing would be impossible!"

"It's you who are judging by yourself! We all know you're a fanatic--or used to be. I thought perhaps you'd gotten over some of those notions. I know Judge Latimer as well as you do. If we don't get him one way, we'll take another. We're goin' to win!"

Danvers made no reply. The Honorable William waited for a moment, and then put back the packages he had flung on the table. He looked his surprise; he could not understand how he had been foiled with no anger.

"You say you know my standards," began Danvers, slowly. "Then why did you come to me?"

"We had to make the try; n.o.body could influence Judge Latimer like you."

"But what good would the money do him?" questioned Danvers, unable to follow the reasoning of the politician. "It would be found out and Latimer would be ruined."

"Oh, no, it wouldn't." Moore was hopeful again.

"Why didn't you approach him yourself?" It was an afterthought.

"It looks more natural for you to be interested in your brother-in-law.

Bob said to see you."

"So this is his method of beginning a campaign for a seat in the United States Senate!"

"We knew we could trust you!" replied Moore.

And Danvers knew that the man believed he was paying a sincere tribute.

More than a month after this conversation Judge Latimer also paid a visit to Fort Benton and straightway sought his dearest friend.

"I wanted to get away from business, from--everything that distracts one," he explained, "and I wanted to see you, Phil, and the doctor, and dear old sleepy Fort Benton again."

He looked worn and distracted--thinner than Philip remembered him, and in need of something more than physical relaxation.

"Are you quite well, Arthur?" asked Danvers solicitously. "I'm going to have the doctor over to give you a thorough examination, and I'll see that you carry out all his directions. You don't take a bit of care of yourself!"

But in the evening, after a day in the open air, he brightened, and under the old spell of comradeship he took on the boyish manner that had been so marked a characteristic.

"And how are all our friends at Helena?" inquired the doctor, after he had secured a favorable report of Eva and the baby. "All well, of course, or I should have heard from them!" he went on, with the geniality that Latimer remembered so well. "And little Arthur--he must be quite a lad now----"

"Six--and so proud of his new sister," replied the father, with a note of pride that Danvers marked with thankfulness. The tenderness in the man's eyes told him that this little son was the sole balm of a harra.s.sed life, and he wondered if even this great compensation was adequate for all the man had given--and lost.

"Why didn't you bring the little chap with you?" questioned the doctor.

"I did think of it," confessed Latimer, "but this is a business trip chiefly, if I must own up to it. I want to talk over the situation with someone I know--someone I can trust."

"Anything special?" asked the doctor.

"Politics!" replied the judge. "The political pot is beginning to get a sc.u.m on the top, preparatory to boiling."

"How domestic a simile!" jeered the doctor.

Latimer laughed. "We've been without a maid lately, and I've had a chance to see the inside workings of a kitchen. Not that it's Eva's fault," he added hastily. "Maids are hard to get."

"H-m-m," a.s.sented the doctor, judicially, and soon the three were deep in Montana politics.

The probable nominees for state officials were gone over, and Danvers remarked:

"You are sure of re-election, Arthur."

"No, I'm not; not even of nomination," objected the judge. "The Honorable William Moore has been to see me----"

Danvers shot him a keen glance, and the doctor listened curiously.

"He was interested in the Hall and Burroughs case." Latimer hesitated, and a spot of color suddenly burned in his cheeks. "Moore evidently thought it necessary to come to me and ask that Burroughs have _fair play_!"

The doctor laughed. It was an opportunity to tease the boy he loved; not a serious impeachment of the character of the judge of the Supreme Court.