The Whiskey Rebel

Certainly Reynolds was possessed of no uncommon name; there might be a dozen such or more in town. And yet I was not satisfied this was coincidence. The man who had run me from my rooms called himself Reynolds, but this man looked nothing like what my landlady had described. That man had worn spectacles and possessed gray hair and a gray beard. This man had brown hair, no beard, and no spectacles. Something curious had happened here, and given Hamilton ’s violent reaction when I mentioned the name to him, I thought it best to find out.

At once I set down my drink. “Hold here,” I said to Lavien, and left the tavern. When I reached the street, I saw the back of Reynolds, who was already half a block distant. Leonidas sat on a bench out front. I tapped him on the shoulder.

“That man there, he’s important. Follow him, find out where he lives, and anything else about him.”

He nodded and hurried off. I turned to reenter the City Tavern. As I did so, I pushed past a man who appeared, in some distant recess of my mind, familiar. When I turned, I saw he was the frog-faced gentleman I’d observed the previous evening in the Crooked Knight. He had been sitting alone the night before, watching me with his froggish eyes. Now he looked at me, smiled in a knowing way I did not like, and touched the brim of his hat. I had not a moment to think of how to respond, and before I could stop or ask him who he was, he was gone. I had not the luxury of time to dwell upon this man, who might be of no importance at all, only a familiar face, so I headed inside the tavern.

Many of the financial men, having concluded the morning’s trades, were gone or leaving, drifting off to their various homes and offices or retiring to different taverns to conduct more particular business. I rejoined Lavien, who sat sipping his tea, looking pleased with himself.

“Duer,” he said, “does not like to make himself available to men who are not of immediate use to him.”

“He is a speculator and Hamilton is Secretary of the Treasury. Good Lord, he even used to work at Treasury. Ca

“With you?”

“Well, ideally, but at least with you. He seems to treat you rather contemptuously.”

“ Hamilton ’s powers here are limited,” Lavien said. “If Duer does not wish to speak, Hamilton ca

“Then they are no longer friends?”

“Oh, I think they are friendly, and Duer will always seek favors and information from Hamilton, but there is a lack of trust. They are like old friends who find themselves on different sides, not precisely during war but certainly during a time of increasing hostility between two nations. Duer wants the United States to emulate Britain, where men of influence have always had their way before the public good.”

“And what does Hamilton want the United States to be like?”

“He wants it to be like itself,” Lavien said, “and that is an ever more challenging goal.”

Lavien was being surprisingly forthcoming, and I could see no reason to withhold any longer the secret I had uncovered. “I suppose so, particularly in light of the threat to his bank.”

He nodded his approval. “You learned of that quickly.”

“How long have you known?”

“We’ve been aware that there may be a plot against the bank for a week now.”

“What sort of plot?”

He shook his head. “We don’t know. The bank itself is located in Carpenters’ Hall, and it could be a threat against the physical space, though I find that unlikely. A move to take over the bank through acquisition of the shares, perhaps. A move to devalue the shares and cause a run. It could be anything.”

“And Duer’s involvement?”

He shrugged. “Likely none that he is aware of. Duer has borrowed a great deal of money from the bank, and he no doubt intends to return to that well again and again. He would not do anything to stop its flow.”

“But you said he owes the bank a great deal of money. Might he not want to see it fail to avoid repayment?”

“That would be like a man setting himself on fire to avoid paying his surgeon’s bill. If the bank were to face some major crisis, all financial instruments would suffer, and that would destroy the market and so destroy Duer. But the fact that he is not involved in a plot does not mean he does not know something. He may know more than he is aware.”

“Again, I must point out that you are being remarkably cooperative.”

“I hope for a trade,” he said.

“Of what sort?”

“Well, I depend upon your honor, for I have already given you what I have to offer-information about Duer and the bank-and now I want something from you, though in giving it to me, you will also be helping yourself.” He took from his pocket a piece of paper and showed it to me. It was written in code, one that looked, on first glance, identical to the simple one I’d cracked the night before.

Lavien whisked it away, before I could even begin to effect a decoding.

“Retrieved from the enterprising Miss Fiddler,” I said.

He nodded. “I could take it to someone at Treasury, but the fewer people who know about it, the more comfortable I will be. It is probable that Jefferson has spies at Treasury. Duer may have men loyal to himself as well. I may not want you involved, but I do trust you.”

I nodded, and he handed me the paper again. Without my asking, while I continued to look it over, he brought me a fresh piece of writing paper, a quill, and ink, but I did not need them. I had worked through the code just the night before, and it was fresh in my mind. It took me but a moment to read the following:

WD. JP suspects efforts with Million B. I took action as discussed. D.

Was WD William Duer? JP Jacob Pearson? Who then was D if not Duer, and, perhaps most important, since it appeared to be the heart of the message, what was Million B?

I posed that question to Lavien.

“The Million Bank,” he said, looking thoughtful. “I have not paid it much mind, but it is an effort to capitalize on the current enthusiasm for banks. It will be launched in New York City within the next week or two, but it is regarded by almost everyone as a foolish venture. I ca

“And yet, here is this note,” I said.

“This note, written by we know not who and intended, if we are to be honest, for the same. It is easy to imagine it is for Duer, but we have no real evidence.”

It was true enough. “Then Duer will have to answer my question,” I said.

“He has made a point of avoiding me. You think he will be less elusive for you?”

“No,” I said. “But I mean to catch him all the same.”

L ater that evening, I quenched my thirst at the Man Full of Trouble, ate a di

“Just delivered. It is a message for you.”

I grabbed the paper from his hand. “Very kind,” I murmured. I opened up the note and saw by the dim light of the tavern that it was from Leonidas. He wished to meet me at the corner of Lombard and Seventh. He said it was urgent. I finished my drink and set out.

L eonidas was leaning against redbrick, puffing upon a pipe, sending up thick clouds of smoke against the light of the streetlamp. “You took your time,” he said.

“I was upon important business.”

“So I smell.”

“You can’t expect a man to reform instantly. Now, what are you doing upon this corner?”