A FORTUNE IN A NAME.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 902, 21 December 1867, Page 3

A FORTUNE IN A NAME.

IN FOUII CHAPTEES — CHAP. 111.

[Conci/dded.]

It was my wife, not I, who invented the new, improved syphon -pipe ! But 'l will explain how it happened. The individuals who had so strangely selected me out of the millions of the population of London as their prospective partner, followed up the matter most determinedly. It was impossible for me to escape becoming a manufacturer of drain-pipes. As for understanding the affair, that was out of the question ; but it was evident it was no hoax— at anyrate, I could not be the person hoaxed. Messrs. Hill and Black, in subsequent interviews, repeated that I was ; not to put any money into the venture ; and, to remove my lingering hesitancy, they even suggested that what property I already possessed might be settled upon my wife, to prevent its being made liable by the partnership. It would have been an absolute flying in the face of Providence to have resisted the matter beyond a certain limit ; but I and Letitia exercised every possible prudence. The agreement of partnership proposed was • sent down in draft to a relative of my wife's, who was an attorney, and ho pronounced it to be entirely safe and satisfactory, although, according to it, I was not only to be a partner, in the concern, without its -costing me a penny, but I was to be at the. head of the firm ! lat last mustered courage, executed the agreement, and boldly embarked in the „ pipe-manufac-turing business. The early proceedings of my partners were on a piece with this eccentric beginning : it would not be wise commencing on any large scale, they said, until I had hit on some improvement in the construction of those pipes ! In the first instance, small premises were taken by them in the Kentish Town district, and 'there I was practically initiated into my new business. A variety of the grotesquely shapen pottery, in its completed condition, was procured for my inspection ; also, all forms and sizes 'of moulds; together with a quantity of dirty clay, for the purpose of prosecuting my experiments. I will not detail my labours under the superintendence of Mr. Black, and the additional oversight of Mr. Hill ; what is more to the purpose is, that Letitia every morning duly accompanied me to this queer laboratory . Whether she was afraid it might turn out to be a deeply-laid plot for kidnapping me, and so depriving her of her natural protector, I cannot say; but. every day she insisted upon visiting Kentish Town along with me, and there she remained for just as many hours as I had the patience to be Black's pupil, alternately sitting and standing, with her hands in her muff, and an expression of wonder on her face, amidst the heaps of wet clay and piles of dusty moulds. After this had gone on for four or five days, and as Mr. Black was once, more repeating his not very lucid explanations of the theory of the joints of drain-pipes, Letitia (who was always very quick in seizing anything) made a suggestion in the way of a trivial alteration, which my partners instantly snatched at, ungallantly giving me the credit of it. I know now that the modification was in reality no improvement at all — indeed, it rather tended the other way, as making fractures more likely. But Mr. Hill and Mr. Black were fully satisfied with it ; they at once took the formal steps for registering the design, and announced that we were now in a position to begin busi-. ness in earnest.

Nor was this simply talk. We shifted our quarters ; quite an extensive place by tlio river, some distance below London Bridge, being taken ; workmen were employed ; materials of all kinds came pouring in ; and it seemed to me that we instantly, so to speak, launched into a brisk trade. My part in it was of the very smallest, so far as any practical service went ; I was, as Mr. Black at the outset promised me, the gentleman of the concern. All that fell to me was to sign letters and saunter about the place, occasionally answering to my name in case of persons calling upon business. This, how - ever, appeared to be quite sufficient duty to satisfy my easy partners, both of whom, the one in the commercial department, and the other in the practical management of the works, labored harder than the common workmen. Still, they were modestly content to remain as the " C 0.," while, on the other hand, as much as possible seemed to be mtido of mo, my name flaming upon invoice-headings and tradecirculars — being, in fact, put forward on every occasion. It was clear, too, by the simplest calculations, that wo were making large profits ; gold was in the perspective as well as honour in the present. I and Letitia felt as if an El Dorado had suddenly discovered itself at our feet. Now and then, curious flashes of suggestion came across me ; some of the letters we received appeared to intimate that we had been in business much longer than I knew we had ; and a few other things set me puzzling not unfrequently. I had had enough of that kind of dissatisfaction, and I checked it as much as possible ; but I suddenly the explanation came ! Matters had gone on in this inconceivably pros- I peroi^s fashion for some six weeks, when one afternoon an elderly gentleman, his face crimson, eyes flashing with fury, gray moustache bristling in every hair, came stumbling into the small counting-house where I was. Thrusting aside the workman who had guided him thither, ho pressed forward to the desk; there he steadied himself, placed his eye-glasses on his nose, and visibly turned of a wrathful pallor, in lieu of the angry crimson, as he surveyed me. " Oh, you are he !" was his first exclamation, accompanied rather than followed by a sneering laugh. • "Who are you — what do you say your name is ?" he boldly demanded. " Satterthwaite," I answered, in wondering apprehension. "Itis a falsehood, sir, and j r ou know it is !" thundered the choleric gentleman. " There is but one family of us, and every one of them can be traced. It is a villainous conspiracy, but it shall not succeed. I'll track you, sir ; the mask shall be torn from you. I'll find out who you really are V ■ " I am Ralph Satterthwaite," I repeated. "No inquiry is needed ; that is who I am." " Ralph ! 0 yes, sir, we understand it!" and he seemed nearly choking with his passion. "It is like your spoiling the syphon-pipe by an alteration, and then registering it as an improvement — " Satterthwaite's Improved Pipes I" Not eoni tent with Satterthwaite s, but Satterthwaite's improved ! Ha, ha !" he added in a horrible laugh. " I do not understand this at all," I was beginning, but I could get no further. " You very soon shall understand it !" he roared, shaking his eye-glasses at me. 11 1 wished just to see you before commencing proceedings, and though I knew you were an impostor, I did not expect to find you so impudent. You are worse than that rascal Black, and I only wish I could hang him : hanging is too good, sir, for you;" .'■••-. " Whether or not Mr. Black is a rascal, .1 am -not.} and "I .will not be abused in this w,ayf".;l shouted;^ove his voice. "Do you Mean to saf' iSajelnot a righi to my

" Oh, I shall explode I", he said, now shaking both fists, his countenance nearly black with rage. " My- name is Satterthwaite, and I come from ," mentioning ihy native place.

"You persist in it to my face !" he gasped, with an air of genuine astonishment. "I had thought of a mere injunction from Chancery, in the first instance; but now, sir, it shall be an indictment against you all for conspiracy ! The most severe punishment the law can give, that you shall have ! — Ah, you thieves, i only wish I could include you," he shrieked in a fresh access of fury, as, in turning about, he caught sight of the staring workmen, who had been attracted by the noise, and were assembling in the yard outside the office, commanding a view of us through the glass-door. " You knew it was robbery, and every one of you ought to be transported. — I know you — I know you!" he repeated, • nodding as he spoke to some among them; and I observed that most of the men seemed to recognise the speaker, two or three of them giggling as they slunk away. " I, in turn, wish to know who you are, sir ?" I asked, following him towards the door.

" Who I am ?" he echoed, again confronting me. "Do you not know me ? lam .Ralph Satterthwaite !" he thundered.

" And do yoti make drain-pipes ?" I next inquired—for a clear light' suddenly began to break in upon me. " What do you mean ? Are you going to pretend to be mad ?" and he glared at me.

lf Stay, while I fetch my partners," I said. As chance would have it, both Black and Hill were out of the way. " Your partners !" he sneered. " I shall do nothing of the kind,", he went on, striding away. "This hole of a place shall very soon be tumbled about your ears, and all of you in jail, please God !. At anyrate, you ! Satterthwaite, eh P you'll have to prove, that in court, my fine fellow. Ha, ha !"' He pretended to laugh, disappearing through the frontshop. A few questions put to the workmen (who, in answering, laughed sarcastically, as if they understood my ignorance to be pretended) fully satisfied me how matters stood, even before going in search of Messrs. Hill and Black. JN"o doubt the reader also now understands it clearly enough. For a generation past, there had been a firm of drain-pipe manufacturers in London of the name of "E. Satterthwaite & C 0.," known all over the country, and tho public had doubtless been led to consider our works a new establishment of the old house ; the announcement that Satterthwaite's improved pipes were there manufactured, possibly giving them the first impression that it was the new head-quarters of the firm ! Messrs. Hill and Black appeared to have been expecting this explosion, for the former only smiled, and the latter grinned, when I communicated it to them.

" Neither Chancery nor any other court can say you are not at liberty to trade in your own name, because it happens to be that of another person as well : we had a legal opinion upon that point before we began," mildly said Mr. Hill. "Of course not. Either that, or he must buy us out," chucklingly added Mr. Black ; " and as far as I go, he'll have to pay stiffly for it." I and ray " partners" had a quarrel. I need not go into the particulars of it. There was not much credit due to me for resenting my entanglement in what was only one remove from a fraud. Any praise I was entitled to,. I did not get from them ; they said I must have known they did not force a gratuitous partnership on me for nothing. I soon saw that I was in a fix. The legal deed of agreement between us existed in spite of me ; and Messrs. Hill and Black had taken good care to have it drawn in a way which made my withdrawal entail a pecuniary penalty which was altogether out of my means. Letitia, when I took home the news, in the first instance informed me that she had foreseen something of the sort = from the very commencement; but, in the second place, the good creature set about helping mo to devise how best to deal with the case. CHAPTER TV. " If this be true," said my amazed prototype, leaning on the desk in his granc 3 office, filliping with his fingers at the copies of registers of births and deaths and other documents relating to my family lying be- j fore him ; "ifhe is a Satterthwaite, what is to be done ? — How many more of you are there, sir?" he demanded, turning from his lawyer to me. I informed him that I was the only male surviving in our branch of the family. " But there might have been a dozen of them !" querulously said the other and greater bearer of the Satterthwaite designation, his glance going back to the attorney. " It is very lucky there is biit one," answered that gentleman. " If, as you say, there had been a dozen, there is but one perfectly safe way of dealing with the matter." *' Why " — and the speaker gave himself an angry shake — " we shall have to take you into the firm, sir ! You will have to become a partner in our business !" Once more, I was being forcibly laid hold of as a partner, and again being thrust, willy-nilly, into the profitable drain-pipe manufacture ! But I had not reached this satisfactory stage without some trouble. After the explosion of the mystery, as related in the last chapter, it was easy enough to learn full particulars about my high and mighty namesake, so newly and strangely discovered. I was told that he was reputed to be nearly a millionaire, and his name was beginning to bo whispered in connection with high civic dignities ; but, unfortunately, I found that he was as obstinate as he was wealthy and reputable. I presented myself at his extensive works in Street, Borough, and was shewn to the door before I had uttered six words. It was in vain that I sent him through the post a detailed account of my part in the transaction. Possibly, he did not read it ; at anyrate, I received no answer, but instead, I was duly served with a citation to appear before the judges of Her Majesty's Court of Chancery to shew cause why I should not be restrained from using the style and title of "E. Sattorthwaite & Co." — that is to say, I was, to be put on my trial for calling myself by my own name ! Messrs. Black and Hill, meanwhile, carried on the business as before, and seemed to lose very little of their equanimity. I could not keep away from the place, which exercised a kind of fascination over me, and in my angry conversations with them, I learned that, before definitely proposing their terms to me, they had obtained vouchers of my baptism, &c, formally proving that I was myself, and nobody else. Armed with this evidence, they allowed the proceedings of justice 1 to take their course, coolly informing me that I should see things in the right light, they knew, in the end. I at length called to my aid my wife's relative, who was learned in the law, and finally, he, I, and Letitia visited my prototype's lawyer. -Luckily for everybody, I found him inoye accessible than his client. My wife's relative 'had brought with him

far satisfied his legal brothe? that, at the ; last moment, the Chancery proceedings : were stayed; and ultimately, I had the? 7 honour .01 an interview with the greafrman « in his counting-house, returning his, call upon me in mine ! . " Hill and Black are of course thinking . ; of being bought out/ quietly remarked the : lawyer, folio wing- : up the conversation already given. " Not a, penny for Black J" shotitedMr. . . Satterthwkite, undergoing another explbr '] sion of rage, passion seemed much more bitter against Black than against Hill, the reason of which I subsequently learned to be, that the former had been- his foreman, haying only left the forks', in conse- . quence of some dispute, a fortnight or so prior to his presenting himself at my house. Mr. Hill, it turned out, was a mere moneylender, with whom Black had formed an acquaintance; ■■..--:■-■- ■ • ; "Leave both of them to me," soothingly said the lawyer. "It was a Tery clever dodge ; but 1 will see they do hoimake so profitable an affair of it as they are thinking." •'• ■ . . ■ ' . ' " It isn't a very profitable affair tome," muttered the sharer of my name, contemplating me with anything but a pleased expression of face. — " I see now you have got the Satterthwaite nose," he added, „; r mentioning it half indignantly, as though I iought not^o to have presumed in the shapa ; *V of that feature. "It is clear the brother.;^ of my father's father always remained. '$j.#y*wild scamp he i 'was at starting. " Inste^t^f^h going abroad,. as the family understood>ne"^ slunk into your jmrt of the country.- Th&|'^ must be it ; aha I now have "to^ -fQitJ?*'

The documentary evidence Letitia's *■ tive had been fortunate enough to Kgljs "i^ upon made this pretty clear. Xdid realljiV belong to the same stock aa^tie great pipe-%? r maker. A brother of his grandfather, twig was understood to have gone out of the country, had either not shipped himself at all, or else, for some unexplained reason, he had returned unknown to his relatives, and settled in a far-off nook of the country, where he married, I now being the sole male representative of this branch of the family. "Come along, sir; I must introduce you to my son,' resumed the head of the Satterthwaites, trying to niolify his tones. • "I am not blaming you ; you do not appear tohave known what you were doing : although it does seem incredible that you ■ could have lived anywhere in this country . without hearing of Satterthwaite's pipes." I, as respectfully as possible, again' asseverated my inexplicable ignorance upon this point. . " Well," he continued, leadirig-the way to his son's separate office, 1 ""it seems you are one of us, and we must make you junior member of the firm. I made my money out of my brains ; you have found your fortune in your name, sir." -V " You ought to make the clever fellows who publish the Post-qffice Directory a handsome present for ferreting but your name so accurately," whispered the law-^ yer, poking me in the ribs good-humour- * edly. "Black and Hill would see it.in^ the new edition, and that suggested this :* 'cute trick to thqm." % . I was duly introduced to Mr. 'Satjberthwaite's son, arid if hereceivedmealittle coolly, there was nothing very unnatural in that; any more than there was, in. the female members of the family subsequently bearing themselves somewhat patronisingly towards my good Letitia, who had in the meantime 'recollected, though I had quite forgotten it, that she always-pre-dicted matters would turn out satisfactorily. Messrs. Black and Hill -did not, %f ; ter all, make a great profit out of their partnership with me. They had reckoned upon a little more unscrupulousness on * my part, fancying equal cupidity would, . : have led mo to fall in entirely with their views, and so had not fixed the penalty for my breaking up the firm high enough. The lawyer explained that a suit at equity * would have fully relieved me from tie/ partnership without any forfeit; but* after calm reflection, Mr. Satterthwaite •« thought it was better now matters had : . gone as they had clone, not to make the • affair any more public than could be helped. The lawyer, however, found out ■ ; ... ' that, by a strict construction of the.wording of the deed, I was entitled to a return of one-third of the money I had to pay down, it having to be shared among -all the partners. He also took good care to mulct Messrs. Hill and Black pi*etty well on the remaindei", by some very ingeniously contrived wets and expenses. Both I and my wifo, I may add, are on a better footing with our great namesakes now ; for, as luck would have it, I one day did in reality what that rascal Black first shammed that I had done — the im-" - '"' proved Satterthwaite's. pipe now in use, I am proud to say-, was my invention. 1,, however, willingly admit that I found my fortune in my name.