"Whether or not he is undesirable."
"Decidedly, I should say, desirable."
"You make that statement as an American citizen?"
"I do. I make it unreservedly because my future son-in-law is rather
a difficult man to make friends with. I am acting merely as Rathbone's
agent. On the other hand, I should be a cheerful liar if I told you I
wasn't interested. What do you know?"
"Everything," answered Cutty, quietly.
"You know where this young man is?"
"At this moment he is in my apartment, rather seriously battered and
absolutely penniless."
"Well, I'll be tinker-dammed! You know who he is, of course?"
"Yes. And I want all your information so that I may guide my future
actions accordingly. If he is really undesirable he shall be deported
the moment he can stand on his two feet."
The banker pyramided his fingers, rather pleased to learn that he could
astonish this interesting beggar. "He has on account at my bank half
a million dollars. Originally he had eight hundred thousand. The three
hundred thousand, under cable orders from Yokohama, was transferred to
our branch in San Francisco. This was withdrawn about two weeks ago. How
does that strike you?"
"All in a heap," confessed Cutty. "When was this fund established with
you?"
"Shortly before Kerensky's government blew up. The funds were in our
London bank. There was, of course, a lot of red tape, excessive
charges in exchange, and all that. Anyhow, about eight hundred thousand
arrived."
"What brought him to America? Why didn't he go to England? That would
have been the safest haven."
"I can explain that. He intends to become an American citizen. Some time
ago he became the owner of a fine cattle ranch in Montana."
"Well, I'll be tinker-dammed, too!" exploded Cutty.
"A young man with these ideas in his head ought eventually to become a
first-rate citizen. What do you say?"
"I am considerably relieved. His forbears, the blood--"
"His mother was a healthy Italian peasant--a famous singer in her time.
His fortune, I take it, was his inheritance from her. She made a fortune
singing in the capitals of Europe and speculating from time to time.
She sent the boy, at the age of ten, to England. Afraid of the home
influence. He remained there, under the name of Hawksley, for something
like fourteen years, under the guardianship of this fellow Gregory. Of
Gregory I know positively nothing. The young fellow is, to all purposes,
methods of living, points of view, an Englishman. Rathbone, who was
educated at Oxford, met him there and they shared quarters. But it was
only in recent years that he learned the identity of his friend. In 1914
the young fellow returned to Russia. Military obligations. That's all I
know. Mighty interesting, though."