THE STORY-TELLER. HIS FATHER'S SON.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 19, 13 October 1883, Page 4

THE STORY- TELLER. HIS FATHER'S SON.

Old Maurice Lath vm, the moneylender was dmppointe 1 in his only son. He had boon chiefly inspire*! by his wife when ho determined to make a gentleman of the lad, but he had an eye to business also. Though luj was ostens.bly leading the life of a plain country squire, he srili continued his financial transactions through the medium of an nstute agent, and was as keen as ever nbout extending his connection. He had always cherished the idea that if his son should form acquaintances among you nap men of wealth and Nation, the circumstance might be turned to account. With this end in view he sent the lad to Eton, and subsequently to Chri t Church, but the experiment was not successful in any sense. Young Latham failed to distinguish himself either at school or at college — much to his mother's disappointment ; while he evinced no disposition to profit by his advantages in the manner his father secretly '*sirel. He was an o Id, taciturn sort ot youth, apparently devoid of ambition, yet possessing undoubted natural abilities and considerable force of character. When his wife died old Mmrice began to t 'link seriously of taking the young man into his confidence. Launceston Latham h.id then been tvo years at Oxford, and was doing no good. On the contnrv. lie was spending a great <leal of money in an eminently unsat sfactorv way. But old Maurice could never bring himself to reveal to his son the nature of his business. Fit 1 had hitherto carefully concealel it, and none of the neighbours had the least suspicion that 'ie ha 1 any other interest in j life beyond his garden and his orchards. < He feared fiat if lii.» son knew the truth he would >*corn and de-pise him, and the old man w.i** secretly very much awed by flu* lad's grave, imptTturbable manner. He ventured to M>und him cuitinusly once or twice, but Launceston never rose to the bait, and finally old Maurice resolved to keep his own conn- 1 gel. He could not refrain, however, from attempting to make use of him, and at length an opportunity occuired which was too good to be lost. Father anil "on wore seated over their wine after dinner on* 1 day, when the former ■said : 'What is this I hear about young Lord .Jubilee V 1 What have you heard V *Oh ! ail sort 5 ? of rumours,' said the old man. shrinking beneath his sou's direct, gaze. 'He seems to be going the pace." 1 Pretty well.'" returned Launceston, holding up his gla«s of ciaret to tiie light. * i Mippo«e W is nearly at the end of hit* t fiber/ .-> udi *he- old mm, cautiously. 'Hi* father is very rich/ returned Liunc^ron 4 No doubt the young man's expectations are good,' said old Maurice. * lint the Duke i* a stern man, from all I hear. He won't stand much more of it.' ' A« a f lot, I believe he has already stopped supplies/ said Lannceston carelessly. 'There, now!' exclaimed his father, excitedly. x Well, what will the young lord do V ' The old stoiy. Fly kites, I suppose. He will have no difficulty ahout getting enough money to go the devil/ returned Launceston, in a matter-of-fact, tone. 4 1 thought — I thoutrht Lord .Jubilee was a fri"iid of yours,' said old Maurice, looking rather disappointed. v Well, so he is — in a way. He is up -at OhrKt Church, and I knew him at Eton.' ' W hat I meant was this,' said old Maurice, hurriedly, ' 1 know a little of the world, and I foresee what will happen to young Lord Jubilee, tie wants assistance, and he will go somewhere or other to get it. The chances arc he will be swindled. Now I should be sony to encourage any young man in extiavaganre, but if he is bent on raising moivv. I know a rrian who would at lea^t treat him fairly.' *Wlmt!' ejaculated Lnunceston, for once startled into manifesting surprise. • t don't know the man in t..u way of business, of course,' sad old Maurice, in r/rent confusion. *Ho i<? a moneylender, I believe. But. in days gone by, I wa* able to do him a service, and if your fri-nd lies t go to him and mention my nun", he will sure to meet with fair treatment ' ' Wl-at i<- t l 9 name of your friend ?' aaid Ijauneestun, relapsing into ins in <lifTi r»'i»t in ,nner. 'Jir Spooner — Benjamin Spooner. New Hur in ton -tn-et/ paki the old ttinn, with alacrity. Lnunceston Jjatham pioduced a small ivory niemoranduin tablet, and quietly made a note o| the addre-s, ' I'U l.ear what you say in mind, in case Jubilee should ever speak to me about his affairs/ he said presently. ' Tf he does, Lanee — if he does — ! ; •would suggest your giving Lord Jubilee 21 note of introduction to -Spooney. Ton can mention that- you are my son. and that will be quite sufficient/ added old Man lice, • Will it .'' Pnid Lnunces'on, with another sharp glance. ' < 'h, very well Howe\<-)% I don't suppose anything will .come of it.' Old Maurice, was rather disappointed at t.he remark, and felt disposed to pre^ thp subject a little. His son's manner, however, was not encouraging, unA he was, therefore, fam to hold hib tonuue and trust to chance. He took t. « precaution, however, to write when Lauiuof-ton returned to Oxford, and give Urn agent a hint of their cotiveraati"H

It turned out that the oM man's 'rouble was not thrown away, for a. fesv days ater, lie received a letter from Mr Spooner, which contained the followingpur agr a ph. :—: — 4 lie young Lord J. I lost no time in acting on your suggestion, and have made enquiries about his prospects, &c. It was just as well I diil fo, for he called this afternoon with a leiter of introduction from your son, i\s advised. He seems a sensible young fellow, and is quite agreeable to sign whatever we mpy consider necessary in or ler to secure advances. He wants rather a large sum to begin with— £l2,ooo— but I think he is good for three or four times that amount. The only stipulation he makes i 3 that he siia'l not be abked to do anything which may lead to publicity, and, from what I have heard of the Duke the strictest secrecy is advisable in the interests of all parties — though, for that matter, Lord J. has large expectation* in other directions as well. Overleaf I send particulars of proposed securities.' Old Maurice was fairly delighted at tvs communication, for he foresaw a long series of profitable transactions He at once proceeded to give the necessary instructions with gre,»t minuteness of detail, and the matter waspeedily arranged. Lord Jubilee sk>ne ! hills at six and twelve months, and gave a charge on his reversionary interest under t he will of an ancestor, receiving £12,000, less considerable deductions for interest and expenses. Tue old man decided not to inform liis i>on of what had taken place. H > thought it might arouse tie la 's suspicious to hear that lie had been in communication wit.) Spooner, and consequently when Launceston next cam • down from Oxford to spend a few day* beneath the parental roof, old Maurice carefully refiained from alluding to the subject. On the second evening, however, Launceston s.iid abruptly : — 1 I want to tell yon about Lord Tubilee. I gave him a letter of introduction to your friend — what's his name .' — Spooner.' •Oil, i,\ 100 1! * said the oil nvin with lather a hollow attempt at dissembling. 4 He seems to have done business with him/ said Launceston, with a curioi^ smilp. 'No doubt. His expectations aie very good, and Spooner U not t e nun to throw away business ' returned old Maurice, uneasily. ' I expect Mr. Spooner is rather a fool.' observed the young man. ' Wi>y ?' inquired the elder, puzzled by bis son's manner. ' I never knew a nun so easily imposed upon,' said Launceston, mysteriously. • \V!iiit do you mean V cried his fat'.pr, turning pale. ' The terms he made were ridiculously easy. A man in Jubilee's position would have signed anything,' said Launceston, dHp'aying un<u>ppelcd cvnicistn. ' Oh, iw to t uit,' said old Maunct, feeling rather relieved, 'no doubt, out of consideration tor me, Spooner let vim down easy ' ' But what has he got to show for the money he advanced ?' demanded Laun ceston. mo'-e mysteriously than ever. ' Securities, I suppose, of the usual tlescriptit n.' answered the old man, attain > aguely alarmed. 'Spooner m.n be tvu^tel to take care of him^eli'.' ' Com, 1 , Father,' said young Launceston. speaking with «u Men directness; MtV no use beating about the bush. Spoone. is your agent — the money advanced \va» yours.' Old Maurice started and glance 1 furtively at his son beneath his bushy eyebrows. The expression on theyomiL man's face convinced him that furthei concealment was useless. He failed however, to 'trover the least si«, m of disgust or indignation, and this soltened the shock a ';oo 1 deal. 4 How flid you find that out ?' lie said, evasively. 4 Never mind. I suspected it, when you mentioned Spooners nnme the other day, nnd I've since satisfied my- j sMf,' c aid Lnuncpston quietly. 4 What wore yon saying just, now about secmities ?' inquired old Maurice, edging away from a delicate ?u ijett. an<i reverting to his alarm. ' Have you the documents V I 4Mr Spooner has — at lea^t, I suppose SO.' ! 4 Then you had better send for them \ at once.' ' Why what do you mean V cried old Maurice, too uneasy to dissimulate 4 Tlipy are perfectly useless. T!^ nic forgeries,' returned Launceston, in the most imperturbable manner. 4 G^od Lord ! You don't know what you're talking about, boy !' shriekel his fat'ier. 4 Just as well to get them out of Spooners hands,' proceeded Lanncpston. coolly. 4 Lord Jubilee never signed one of them. It was I who called on Hpooner, and personated Lord Jubilee throughout the transaction.' Old Maurice bounded from his chair, and fi^en fpll back n train, perfectly helpless from sheer amazement and horror. ' I toid you that Hpooner was a fool. It never sepnied to ero«^ his mind thai I wasn't Jubilee,' laughed Launceston, whose sen^e of humour was evident!) tic'cled by the whole gitnation. 4 What have you done, you — you rascal !' gasped old Mam ice, speaking as though he were strangled. ' Keep calm, father — don't get excited/ retorted T aunceston, in a vulgar tone, which seemed to come quite ' naturally, though it was in striking contrast to his ordinary quiet manner. 4 1 know what I'm about.' ' But you've had my money. You've robbed your own father, yon — you

wretch !' criol old Maurice, becoming purple in tho face, 'We can discnps thtt afterwards. Look nt these V suid LnuneeHton, quite | unmoved by this outburst. ! He produced, as lie spoke, two or three documents, which he flung 1 upon , the table. The old man picked them ' up with trembling hands and glanced at' thorn To his unspeakble niystiHcation, they were identical in terms to the securities which Lor 1 Jubilee wiw supposed to have executed in favour of Spooner, with the important difference that Lininceston Latham's name was inserted throughout as the lender. ' The signatures to those are perfectly genuine,' remarked Launceston, quietly. < What does this mean?' murmured his father, helplessly. ' The long and short of the matter is that I wanted some ready money, and I also desired to secure Jubilee as a client. I was able to pocket nearly £3,000 out of the money Sdpooner advanced* while Jubilee was quite content to give for ihe balance the security Spooner asked f< r the whole amount,' said the young 1 diau, wit i quiet complacency. * Ton my word, tins is barefaced impudence I' exclaimed old M.iuriee, though ho was btiuck with unwilling adiniiation at I. is son's i-utune^s and un<q\ upulous audacity. " Are you aware that you haveeommitfed a felony?' ' Yes. I want to know what you propose to do about it,' said Launceston, calmly taking 1 posse^ion of the documents iii^ain. ' WiuilJ' roared his father. ' You have two courses open to you,' continued Launceston, speaking as though lie were not personally interested in the matter. ' You can inform Jubilee, and get me prosecuted for forgery. I don't know whether that would he any satisfaction to you, and it would certainly make an awkward scandal. Besides which you would be a considerable loser from a pecuniary point of \ic\v. I should burn these documents, and you would have to recover what you could out of Jubilee. It's a legal question whether you could sue him for money advanced by me in nu o»\u name, though the money may hu\e been really yours. In any case, I don't suppose you would yet more than tin* .iciual amount of ea c h he received, so yon would be hound to lose several thousands " 4 You have evidently carefully considered the situation,' said old Maurice, driven to sarcasm in his bewilderment and perplexity, , ' 1 have, and I think the alternative fou"*e is the obvious one,' returned j L inneeston, in a more business-like i tone ' Tlu) facMs, guvn or, I've he»'n dabbling in your line of business for •iome time. Ive done very well since I've been at Oxford, though I've been \ery much hampered for want of capital, 4 Wiiy di In't you tell me my boy? You never mentioned it,' s;iid old Miinnce, m quite an affectionate tone. ' 1 thought yon would have cut up roug'i, and so I kept it elo.;o. You never hinted to me t'uvt you were in bu>ine«;p,' replied Launeeston. ' However, [ havn't wasted my time, for I've ser.iped together a useful connection at Oxford, and with capital 1 could make a foituue. 1 therefore propose that we smhl! go into paitncrship. If you will agree to that, I will assign Jubilee's K-cu (ties to you.' 1 Well, my boy, I fancy that can be arranged,' said old Maurice, secretly overjoyed at hie son's revelation, and inexpressibly relieved at 6nding his money w.ts >afe. I think you've been rather hard on your old fafch'T ; but we will say no more about. t-t.*t I will get the documents irom Spmnei at, i.iky, an 1 meamviii c, 1 tie addrd uuh a miibt of I'nthpsi.ism, ' we will <lniiiv Miccess to tne new firm. Fill your glass, my hoy!'