“Here is $500 for you.  Spare neither trouble or expense.”

“Thank you, sir,” said the man as he pocketed the money.  “Leave it to me.”

“That’s about all, I think.  Regarding the other matter, we’ll see how the letter works.”

He touched a bell and rose, which was a signal to the visitor that the interview was at an end.  Mr. Bagley entered.

“Sergeant Ellison is going,” said Mr. Ryder.  “Have him shown out, and send the Republican Committee up.”

CHAPTER X

“What!” exclaimed Shirley, changing colour, “you believe that John Burkett Ryder is at the bottom of this infamous accusation against father?”

It was the day following her arrival at Massapequa, and Shirley, the judge and Stott were all three sitting on the porch.  Until now, by common consent, any mention of the impeachment proceedings had been avoided by everyone.  The previous afternoon and evening had been spent listening to an account of Shirley’s experiences in Europe and a smile had flitted across even the judge’s careworn face as his daughter gave a humorous description of the picturesque Paris student with their long hair and peg-top trousers, while Stott simply roared with laughter.  Ah, it was good to laugh again after so much trouble and anxiety!  But while Shirley avoided the topic that lay nearest her heart, she was consumed with a desire to tell her father of the hope she had of enlisting the aid of John Burkett Ryder.  The great financier was certainly able to do anything he chose, and had not his son Jefferson promised to win him over to their cause?  So, to-day, after Mrs. Rossmore and her sister had gone down to the village to make some purchases Shirley timidly broached the matter.  She asked Stott and her father to tell her everything, to hold back nothing.  She wanted to hear the worst.

Stott, therefore, started to review the whole affair from the beginning, explaining how her father in his capacity as Judge of the Supreme Court had to render decisions, several of which were adverse to the corporate interests of a number of rich men, and how since that time these powerful interests had used all their influence to get him put off the Bench.  He told her about the Transcontinental case and how the judge had got mysteriously tangled up in the Great Northern Mining Company, and of the scandalous newspaper rumours, followed by the news of the Congressional inquiry.  Then he told her about the panic in Wall Street, the sale of the house on Madison Avenue and the removal to Long Island.

“That is the situation,” said Stott when he had finished.  “We are waiting now to see what the Senate will do.  We hope for the best.  It seems impossible that the Senate will condemn a man whose whole life is like an open book, but unfortunately the Senate is strongly Republican and the big interests are in complete control.  Unless support comes from some unexpected quarter we must be prepared for anything.”