CHAPTER I
A STRANGE COMPACT
"Well, of all the hare-brained proposals I ever listened to, this takes the bun"; and Felix Muller adjusted his pince-nez and lay back in his chair and laughed softly.
"But why hare-brained?" asked his companion, seriously. "Singular, I admit it may be; startling if you like, but I do not see that there is anything in it to laugh at."
"You don't?" and the lawyer's face became suddenly grave. "Do you realise what your proposal implies?"
"I think I do," and Rufus Sterne's face flushed slightly; "but you are thinking of a contingency that will never arise."
"Perhaps I am; but every contingency must be guarded against," and Felix Muller took off his glasses and wiped them meditatively. "You say you are confident of success, and I am bound to admit, from what I know of you and your scheme, I think your confidence is well founded. But you know as well as I do, that nothing is certain in this world but death."
"Well?"
"You may fail. Something may happen you cannot foresee."
"I grant it, as a remote – an exceedingly remote – possibility. But in such an event you will be covered by my life assurance policy."
"But you may live for another fifty years."
Rufus Sterne shook his head and smiled gravely.
"If I fail," he said, "I shall have no further use for life. You need be under no apprehension on that score. The money for which my life is insured will be paid into your hands without any unnecessary delay. I know the company."
"But it would be a direct contravention of the law, and would entitle the company to refuse – "
"My dear sir," Sterne interrupted, sharply, "there are many roads into the land of oblivion. Exits can be arranged, if the parties so desire, in a perfectly natural manner. You need not fear that trouble will arise on that score."
"Nevertheless, I confess I do not like the proposal."
"You seem to have grown suddenly very squeamish," Sterne said, with a slight curl of the lip. "I have always understood that you set no particular value on human life. Indeed, I have heard you argue that a man's life is his own to do as he likes with – to continue it or end it, as seems good in his own eyes."
"I am still of the same opinion. No, I am no sentimentalist. The rubbish talked by parsons and so-called humanitarians makes me ill. All the same I would prefer that someone else – "
"There is no one else," Rufus Sterne broke in, irritably. "You are my last hope. A thousand pounds now will lead me on to fame and fortune. You have the money. You can lend it to me if you like, and for security I make you my sole legatee."
"But the money is not mine, and must be paid back by the 31st of December of next year without fail."
"That gives eighteen months and more," and Sterne laughed. "My dear fellow, six months or a little more will see the thing through."
"I like to see a man confident," Felix Muller said, a little uneasily. "But there is such a thing as over-confidence, as you know. I should be better pleased if you were a little less cocksure."
"But man alive, I have been working at this thing for years. I have tested every link in the chain, if you will allow me to say so. I have faced every possible contingency. I have gone over the ground so often that I know every inch of the way. I have anticipated every objection, every weakness, every flaw, and have provided against it. All I want now is a thousand pounds in hard cash, and in a year's time I shall be able to repay it ten-fold."
"You hope so."
"I am sure of it; as far as a man can be sure of anything in this stupid world. The more or less unpleasant contingency that you persist in looking at will never occur."
"But it may occur," Muller persisted.
"Well, if it does you will not suffer; and I shall be glad to hide myself and be at rest."
"You say that now."
"Do you doubt my courage or my honour?" Sterne demanded, sharply.
"No, I doubt neither," Muller said, slowly; "but the instinct of life is strong – especially in the young."
"When a man has something to live for – some great purpose to achieve, or some proud ambition to realise, he naturally wants to live. But take away that something, and life is a squeezed orange which he is glad to fling away."
"People still cling to life when they have nothing left to live for," Muller said, reflectively.
"Sentimentalists and cowards," Sterne broke in, hastily. "Men who have been robbed of their courage by priestly superstitions. But you and I have thrown off the swaddling clothes in which we were reared. Your German philosophers have not reflected and written for nothing."
"I am an Englishman," Muller broke in, hastily.
"I do not dispute it for a moment," Sterne said, with a laugh. "But let us not get away from the subject we have in hand. The question is will you accommodate me or will you not?"
"If I do not you will curse me to-day," Muller said, with a drawl; "and if I do, you may curse me more bitterly eighteen months hence. So it seems to me it is a choice between two evils."
"There you are mistaken," Sterne replied. "I certainly shall curse you if you refuse me, but if you become my friend to-day I shall never cease to bless you."
