"That settles it. Now get right out after that lawyer of yours at once,
to-night, and have him withdraw those papers and destroy them—or no,
better than that, you bring them here to me to-morrow—no, bring them
_to-night_—I’ll wait for you. And hurry, will you please, for I’m quite
busy and must be rid of this as quickly as possible. I’ll look for you
within an hour."
* * * * *
Mr. Phillips could not have been very busy, for he did nothing but walk
the room till Porter returned. And two hours had passed before that
time.
"I’m sorry to keep you waitin’ so long, suh," the negro apologized; "but
me and Mistuh Shaw had to hunt up the officer to git the papers. It was
so late when he served ’em he couldn’ retu’n ’em to court to-night, and
he was holdin’ ’em over in his pocket till mornin’."
"Thank Heaven for that. Did you tell him to keep his mouth shut?"
"Yes, suh."
"And will he do it?"
"I think he will, suh. Mistuh Shaw fixed him. He’s a frien’ of Mistuh
Shaw."
"Well, he’d better. I’ll hold Shaw responsible for him. Let me see the
papers.... Yes, this is all right.... Now here’s ten dollars and a
receipt for that much in full of all claims for breach of promise and so
forth you and your daughter have against Hayward Graham. You just sign
the receipt, and I’ll pay you the balance of the five thousand
to-morrow—there’s not a tenth of that sum in the house to-night. You’ll
take my promise for the balance, won’t you?"
"Yes, suh—oh yes, suh," said Mr. Porter, his manner showing his full
appreciation of the fact that between gentlemen of standing the ordinary
strict rules of business could be waived with perfect safety. With all
his discernment, however, he saw nothing more in this proceeding than
his trusting Mr. Phillips for $4,990 till the morning.
* * * * *
When he was ushered into the President’s office the next morning Henry
Porter received from Mr. Phillips’ own hands the $4,990 in currency of
the highest denominations fresh from the treasury. He verified the
correctness of the amount almost at a glance.
"I’ll give you a receipt, suh," he said.
"Oh, no, don’t trouble; the receipt for ten dollars in Hayward Graham’s
name in settlement of the claim for breach of promise answers every
purpose legally."
As he spoke the President smiled in a satisfied way, and it occurred to
Black Henry that a ten dollar breach of promise suit would be quite a
contemptible and ridiculous affair if it got to the newspapers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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