Part 75 (1/2)
THE STORY OF LUCKY JIM.
”From the moment when I appeared among you as Brooks, my work was double. I was bent upon posting myself thoroughly in regard to Jasper Lamotte, and day by day I became more interested in the career of this remarkable man.
”Step by step, I trod backward the path of his history, since his advent in W----, gathering my information from many sources.
”It would be tedious to enter into details; suffice it to say that while I worked here, two others, trained to such research, were beating up the past I was so anxious to become familiar with. And a third, across the water, was gathering up the history of John Burrill, another object of interest to me at that time.
”And now I will reverse the order in which we made our search, and, beginning where my men left off, give you, in brief, the history of a remarkable man.
”The man we know as Jasper Lamotte figured in various cities, twenty-five years ago, and still earlier, as _Lucky Jim_, a handsome, well educated, sharp witted, confidence man.
”He seldom gambled, and made his swindling operations of various sorts reap him a rich harvest; and, by his unvarying good luck, in escaping the dragons of the law, as well as because of his lucky ventures, he became known to his intimates as Lucky Jim.
”In these days, Miss Sybil Schuyler, the daughter of a wealthy old Maryland aristocrat, came to the city to reside with an aunt, while she completed her musical education. Lucky Jim saw her, and fell in love with her beautiful, haughty face.
”He contrived to make her acquaintance, and the rest was easy; it was a repet.i.tion of the old story; he was handsome and fascinating, she young and unsophisticated, with plenty of headstrong Southern blood and self will.
”After a brief courts.h.i.+p, Lucky Jim married the Maryland heiress. Her father, as may be supposed, repudiated the marriage, but she clung to her scamp, and so the old Maryland aristocrat sent her a small fortune, which was hers, inherited from her mother's mother, and beyond his control; and bade her consider herself no more a Schuyler, of _the_ Schuylers.
”For a time, Lucky Jim rode smoothly on the top wave of prosperity; his wife easily duped, believed him a Wall street operator. Frank was born, and then Sybil, and the Maryland beauty queened it in an elegant and secluded little home.
”But the crisis came. The silver cloud turned its dark side.
”Lucky Jim played a losing game, one day, and his wife suddenly found herself face to face with the truth.
”They lived through stormy times, but Jim had, in his palmy days, left his wife's fortune intact, and now it proved an anchor to windward.
”They absented themselves from this country for more than two years; then they came back, and Lucky Jim brought his family, which now included Evan, to W----. The Maryland fortune enabled them to set up as aristocrats, and Lucky Jim seems to have aspired to become a power in the community.
”I don't think he often attempted any of his old confidence and swindling games; but, during his absences from home, which were frequent, during his earlier residence here, he made a study of fine burglary.
”I can fancy how carefully he put his new schemes in practice, and how he pa.s.sed himself off upon W---- as a rising speculator.
”He probably spent years in gathering together that select society, known as the Diamond Coterie.
”At first, it consisted of four; himself, a city p.a.w.n-broker, known as Ezras, who received and negotiated the sale of the stolen goods, and who is as keen a rascal as ever escaped justice, and two noted cracksmen, who had headquarters in the city, and were famous in their day, but who were compelled to withdraw in the midst of their high career, one dying of a malignant fever, the other being killed by a woman.
”To replace these departed worthies, Ezras, who was always on the alert for pals, and who had had various crooked dealings with Jerry Belknap, brought this gentleman and Mr. Lamotte, or Lucky Jim together.
”Belknap proved the right man in the right place, and was soon admitted into the Coterie. Next to come under the favorable notice of Ezras, was John Burrill, who had come over from England, bringing with him some ill-gotten gains, and who set himself up in New York as a swell cracksman.
”Now, Burrill, the English boor, had an ambition. In this easy-going America, he hoped in some way to build himself into an aristocrat, and to s.h.i.+ne as one of the lords of the land. To this end he h.o.a.rded his share of all the spoils, and, adding it to the sum brought from England, he began to find himself a rich man.
”Meantime, Mr. Lamotte had speculated a little too freely; he had built a mansion, and built his factories. He had been living like a prince, and some of his late ventures had failed. Something must be done. And then his eye fell upon Burrill; he coveted the Englishman's h.o.a.rded dollars.
”He found it easy to persuade Burrill to come to W----, ostensibly to take the position of overseer at the factories; really to be more readily duped by Lucky Jim. Burrill came; he saw how his comrade was respected and bowed down to by all W----. He had always admired Lucky Jim for his gentlemanly polish and his aristocratic manners; and he now concocted a scheme for his own aggrandis.e.m.e.nt. The Lamottes had made themselves aristocrats, they should make an aristocrat of him.
”You all know the result; John Burrill divorced his wife; Jasper Lamotte sold his daughter.